USA Today
First Team to Clinch Playoff Spot Doesn't Guarantee Postseason Success
So, the Eagles became the first team to clinch a playoff spot, doing it with their 48-22 win over the New York Giants.
Super Bowl here they come.
Not exactly. Rarely has it worked out that way for teams who were the first ones to qualify for the postseason.
Since 2010, just three teams have won the Super Bowl after being the first team to make the playoffs that year, according to The Elias Sports Bureau.
One of those was the Eagles in 2017 when they beat the New England Patriots, 41-33.
The other two were the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 and the New England Patriots in 2014.
Seattle topped the Denver Broncos 43-8 and the Patriots beat the Seahawks, 28-24, the following year.
Three other teams who were the first to clinch a playoff spot made it to the Super Bowl but lost.
They were the 2015 Carolina Panthers, who fell to the Broncos, the 2018 Los Angeles Rams, who lost to the Patriots, and the 2020 Kansas City Chiefs, who the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat.
What does it mean?
Well, for starters, it means the Eagles can’t afford to take a deep breath just yet, if at all.
They say they won’t. To a man, everyone said there is more work to do, such as winning the NFC East and earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
If not for the Dallas Cowboys continuing to win, those goals may have been locked up already, but Dallas won’t go away. Maybe that’s a good thing because it won’t allow the Eagles to fall into bad habits over the final four games.
Here is The Elias Sports Bureau’s list of teams that were the first to clinch a playoff spot and how they fared:
2010: New England Patriots … lost in the divisional round to Jets, 28-21
2011: San Francisco 49ers/Green Bay Packers
The Packers lost in the divisional round to Giants, 37-20
The 49ers lost in NFC Championship to Giants, 20-17
2012: Denver Broncos/Atlanta Falcons/Houston Texans/New England Patriots
None of the four made the Super Bowl.
Denver lost in the divisional round to the Ravens, 38-35
Atlanta lost in NFC Championship to the 49ers, 28-24
Houston lost in the divisional round to the Patriots, 41-28
New England lost to Ravens in AFC Championship, 28-13
2013: Seattle Seahawks … beat Denver 43-8 in Super Bowl
2014: Arizona Cardinals/New England Patriots/Indianapolis Colts/Denver Broncos
The Patriots won the Super Bowl, 28-24, over the Seahawks
2015: Carolina Panthers … Lost in Super Bowl, 24-10, to Broncos
2016: Dallas Cowboys … Lost to Packers in the divisional round, 34-31
2017: Pittsburgh Steelers/Eagles
The Eagles won the Super Bowl
Steelers lost in the divisional round to Jaguars, 45-42
2018: Los Angeles Rams … Lost to Patriots in the Super Bowl, 13-3
2019: New Orleans Saints … Lost in the wild-card round to Vikings, 26-20
2020: New Orleans Saints/Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs lost in the Super Bowl to Bucs, 31-9
The Saints lost in the divisional round to Bucs, 30-20
2021: Green Bay Packers … Lost in the divisional round to 49ers, 13-10
2022: Philadelphia Eagles …?
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
