A Look at an NFC Team's Playoff Seed and How Far They Go

With the NFL Playoffs only a few weeks away, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at how well seeded teams perform throughout the NFL Playoffs. Always interested in statistics, I wanted to know if a team's seed ranking affects their respective performance in the playoffs. Keep in mind there are no in depth team analysis or statistics here, just a simple compilation of data consisting of a team's seed ranking, and how far they tend to advance in the playoffs. Below you will find the data for NFC seedings and how they tend to perform after the NFL expanded the playoffs to 12 teams. Have fun! And if you're interested, I've also compiled a short article on how well a team's seed affects their respective Super Bowl performance, assuming the team reaches the Super Bowl. Click here to go to that article. Also click here to go to my other article listing how an AFC team's seed affects performance in the NFL playoffs. Of if you are interested, click here to read my quick article on how a Super Bowl team's overall seeding affects their probability of winning the Super Bowl.

NFC #1 Seed

Unlike their AFC counterpart, the NFC #1 playoff seed tends to dominate the NFL playoffs. Of the 18 NFC #1 seeds that have played in the NFL playoffs since the NFL expanded to a 12 team format, 17 of them (94.4%) have defeated their opponent in the divisional round and advanced to the NFC championship game and 11 number one seeded teams (61.1%) have gone on to play in the Super Bowl.

NFC #2 Seed

The NFC #2 seed also does fairly well in the playoffs. 14 of 18 NFC #2 seeds (77.7%) have advanced to the NFC championship and 5 teams (27.7%) have advanced to the Super Bowl. Given these numbers, there is a high probability that the NFC #1 and #2 seeds will play in the NFC championship. Since the NFL expanded to a 12 team format, the NFC #1 and #2 seeds have played in the NFC championship game 13 times.

NFC #3 Seed

Unlike their AFC counterpart, the NFC #3 seed has some difficulty advancing past the Wild Card round. Historically, only 9 of 18 teams (50%) have advanced past the Wild Card round. Of these remaining teams, only two NFC #3 seeded teams have reached the NFC championship game and only one has reached the Super Bowl.

NFC #4 Seed

As for the NFC #4 seed, 12 out of 18 teams (66.7%) have advanced past the Wild Card round. However, that is as far as any NFC #4 seeded team has advanced. No NFC #4 seeded team has ever advanced past the divisional playoff round.

NFC #5 Seed

The NFC #5 seed faces an uphill battle to advance in the playoffs. Only 6 of 18 teams have advanced past the Wild Card round (33.3%) and only two teams (11.1%) have ever reached the Conference Championship. But one NFC #5 seeded team has reached the Super Bowl, the 2007 New York Giants. And in that year they won it all.

NFC #6 Seed

The lowest seed always has the most difficult road to the Super Bowl, having to play at the minimum the #3 and #1 NFC seeded teams in the playoffs. However, unlike their AFC counterparts the NFC #6 seed tends to see a slightly greater amount of success. 9 NFC #6 seeded teams (50%) have advanced past the Wild Card round. But like the NFC #4 seed that is as far as any NFC #6 seeded team has advanced. No NFC #6 seeded team has ever advanced past the divisional playoff round.