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Before you run me out of town for dredging up this painful memory, give me a few moments. I happened to be on Long Island (pronounced LONG-GUY-LUND) in April. While ending the day with a colleague at a local watering hole, I struck up a conversation with a dude sitting next to us. He was, of course, an NYG fan. It was a very good conversation with virtually no homerism, just him sharing his excitement and me sharing my disappointment. He had an interesting thing to say when we discussed the moments after the clock ticked to zero. As he was jumping up and down, elated for his team's seemingly impossible victory, he thought of how utterly dejected New England fans must be. How painful this loss was. History riding in the balance, they just couldn't get it done.
We talked about Tyree's amazing helmet catch. We discussed Asante's near interception (I have to call BS on him being blamed for the loss. It was a catchable ball for Moss not Samuel). We talked about whether or not Strahan should retire (I think he should). All in all, a good conversation between 2 football fans. My poor colleague, a resident of the Philadelphia area and not a football fan, just absorbed the goings on. He's from Sweden anyway. They hit a little rubber disc with sticks.
The conversation got me thinking, how successful have Super Bowl winners been in the next season, so here we go.
Season | Winner | Loser | Score |
Playoffs in |
2006 | Colts | Bears | 29-17 | Yes |
2005 | Steelers | Seahawks | 21-10 | No |
2004 | Patriots | Eagles | 24-10 | Yes |
2003 | Patriots | Panthers | 32-29 | Yes |
2002 | Buccaneers | Raiders | 48-21 | No |
2001 | Patriots | Rams | 20-17 | No |
2000 | Ravens | Giants | 34-7 | Yes |
1999 | Rams | Titans | 23-16 | Yes |
1998 | Broncos | Falcons | 34-19 | No |
1997 | Broncos | Packers | 31-24 | Yes |
What this tells us is 6 out of 10 Super Bowl winners went on to the playoffs in the next season. So the Super Bowl champion Giants appear to have a 60% chance of making the playoffs, right? Not so fast. The NFC only won 2 of the 10 Super Bowls prior to the Giants win against NE. History is not on the NFC's side for a) winning a Super Bowl and b) returning to the playoffs as a Super Bowl champ.