Two years ago, in the same round of the playoffs, the Texans and the Rams both had to not only go on the road, but into the cold, for the divisional playoffs — and both teams saw their seasons end.
That history only half repeated itself on Sunday — as Houston fell to 0-7 lifetime in the "Elite Eight," but the Rams overcame an 11-degree wind chill (they had been 17-30 since 1992 on the road at northern, outdoor venues in November or later) to oust the Bears at Soldier Field and advance to the "Final Four."
The factor that might have propelled the Rams was playoff experience: where just four years ago they won the Super Bowl, the Bears haven't so much as gotten to the Final Four in 15 years — when Lovie Smith (his real first name!) was their head coach, and the lovely and talented Jay Cutler was their starting quarterback.
The Rams will have playoff experience going for them in next week's NFC championship game, as well — and the opening line on the game reflects this. Despite having finished two games behind the Seahawks and the game at Seattle's Lumen Field, the Rams opened as a mere 1 1/2-point underdog (home field is generally considered to be worth three points). Seattle's last Final Four appearance was in 2014 (after defeating Green Bay therein, the 'Hawks lost Super Bowl XLIX to New England).
And how much is a weather advantage worth?
Dating back to the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, home teams in the regular season have won 57.2% of the time. But home teams playing their home games in cold weather have won 70.6% of all playoff games when hosting warm-weather and domed-stadium teams since the first such game was played in 1950.
That's a huge difference.
With the Chiefs, Bills, Steelers and Ravens all watching the rest of the playoffs at home in the AFC, and the Eagles, Packers, Lions, and 49ers doing the same in the NFC, this year's Super Bowl champion could be a 21st-century redux of Arcangues, a horse named after a village in the extreme southwestern corner of France, the country where the horse was bred — the 133-1 shot who won the 1993 Breeders' Cup Classic.
Wouldn't you have wanted to get a bet in on the Patriots, Broncos, Seahawks, or Rams back in August? (Especially the Pats, who were 4-13 in 2024.)
Think of all the hedging you could have been doing the past three weeks!
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