Beating a team 3 times in one season

[Broncos6482]

I'm sure you've all heard the saying that it's hard to beat a team 3 times in one season. It got me wondering just how true that was. I thought it was relevant since there is a decent chance the Broncos and Chiefs meet up again in the playoffs.

So I looked back at all of the playoff matchups between teams from the same division going back to 2002 (I stopped at 2002 since that was the year the NFL realigned the divisions, and I didn't want to have to research what teams were in what division prior to that; if someone else would like to go back even further, be my guest). If those division teams split their regular season meetings, I ignored it. This made up the majority of the games, which didn't surprise me, since both teams had to be good to make the playoffs and it would be likely they would split. Here's what I found.

Teams that went 0-2 against a division rival and then beat them in the playoffs:
2007 Giants over Cowboys
2004 Vikings over Packers

Teams that went 2-0 against a division rival and completed the 3-0 sweep:
2009 Cowboys over Eagles
2008 Steelers over Ravens
2004 Rams over Seahawks
2002 Steelers over Browns

Looking at that, I don't think that going 3-0 against a team is as difficult as some will make it sound. I think the saying really just shows that two good teams from the same division are likely to split.

Now this is obviously a small sample size, but it is something to keep in mind if the Broncos and Chiefs do meet up and the so-called experts start saying how hard it is to beat a team 3 times in one season.

 

[Black Adam]

We'll be ready...(evil laughter)...

 

[iknowftbll]

Thanks for posting this. I have been meaning to do so but have had no desire to do the research. In general if two teams from the same division are both in the playoffs, those two teams are good enough to have split with each other in the regular season. And sometimes the team that sweeps doesn't even get a chance to see their rival in the playoffs. The 2000 Broncos (11-5) swept the Raiders (12-4) but both got beat by the Ravens that year.

Playing the Chiefs a third time would not be the worst matchup in the playoffs. Right now the game would take place in Denver. If the Chiefs win two and the Broncos drop one of their next games, the game would be in KC. Winning in KC twice would be hard. The Broncos need to take care of business so they don't have to worry about that.

 

[Broncos6482]

Just to add a little further to this, I saw a stat this morning that said that since the merger, the team that sweeps in the regular season is 13-7 in the playoff rematch.