Last season the Green Bay Packers came into Atlanta for a divisional round matchup against a Falcons team that came into the game 13-3 and coming off a first round bye.
The Falcons were the No. 1 seed and the wild card Packers came into the dome and schooled the league’s most dominant team.
This year the Packers felt the disappointment that the Falcons felt last year when they lost this past Sunday to the New York Giants.
The Giants, who are a very good team, came into Green Bay and completely dominated the game. They forced multiple turnovers and put up almost 40 points on the scoreboard.
The Packers came in off of a first round bye and had a regular season record of 15-1. The Packers were also the favorites to win the Super Bowl this season, well apparently someone forgot to tell the Giants that they had no business winning this game.
So this brings the question, is there really an advantage to being the number 1 seed? Sure, you get home field advantage throughout the playoffs and you get a bye in the first week of the postseason, but does that really give you an advantage?
Did it give the New England Patriots an advantage last season when the New York Jets came into Gillette Stadium and upset the No. 1 seed in the AFC?
And it did not seem to help the Packers out this season, they did not seem ready for this matchup at all. Maybe they underestimated the Giants? Maybe they thought it would be an easy win since they already defeated New York once this season? Or maybe, just maybe, being the No. 1 seed actually did not do the Packers any good.
Professional athletes are creatures of habit, it is their habit to go through a weekly routine that includes playing a game on the weekend.
When you give a team a first round bye and take them out of their routine, does that really give them an advantage?
The Giants came into the game fresh off of a win over the Falcons in the first round, the Packers have not played a meaningful game in three weeks.
Sure they have home field, sure they get another week of rest, but it did not seem to give them an advantage.
In fact, since 2000, only two teams that earned the number 1 seed in the playoffs won the Super Bowl (2003 Patriots; 2009 Saints).
So the number 1 seed might make you look like the best team in football. Sure you had the best record in your conference, congrats, let’s see what that really means when you get to the postseason.
The Giants did not fear the Packers’ great offense. They did not fear going into Green Bay.
The Giants did not feel that the Packers were better than them just because of the 15-1 record. And they showed it.
Until I see more number 1 seeds winning Super Bowls, I won’t put much value or emphasis on being the number 1 seed.
It’s just a number in front of the team name. The playoffs is like a whole new season, all the teams are good and there are no easy wins. Everyone that is there is capable of winning it all, and there is no room for error.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to
tyrollason@yahoo.com.
