The Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs this weekend was decidedly better than Wild Card Weekend and a big reason is because the road teams decided to show up.
After the home teams won five of six games a week ago—with four of those results coming by at least 16 points—road teams took three of four games this week.
A quick browse through the pages of Pro-Football-Reference shows it’s just the third time in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) that three of four road teams won in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, and the first time since 2008. Coinciding with playing on the road this time of year, each of those teams also won as an underdog.
Underdogs have pulled outright upsets in the first three divisional games. Underdogs have never won all four divisional-round games, per @MackNova.
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) January 23, 2022
It was nearly a perfect four-for-four for road dogs, as the Buffalo Bills pushed the Kansas City Chiefs to the brink but ultimately lost in overtime.
The road warriors who did get it done didn’t do so without drama, of course. Each game came down to field goals as time expired, and each represented an upset of a team with legitimate claims as title contenders. The Cincinnati Bengals (+3.5) knocked off the AFC’s top-seeded Tennessee Titans. The San Francisco 49ers (+5.5) beat the NFC’s top-seeded Green Bay Packers. The Los Angeles Rams (+2.5) beat the reigning Super Bowl champion Buccaneers.
Prior to 2008, three road teams hadn’t won in the Divisional Round of playoffs since 1971, before the Wild Card round existed.
Road teams have fared better in other rounds of the playoffs. Just last season, in the first year of the extended playoff format, four of six road teams won in the Wild Card round. And road teams have swept the conference championships on different occasions, most recently in 2018.
If not for an immaculate game-tying drive by Kansas City with just 13 seconds in the fourth quarter, there would have been a sweep in the Divisional Round for the first time. Instead, that piece of history will have to wait for another year.