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The postseason setback from the previous season hasn’t affected the Philadelphia Eagles or San Francisco 49ers in 2023.
Both sides have an opportunity to turn their recent setbacks into victories when they play in Sunday’s rematch of the NFC title game from the previous season.
Following their Super Bowl defeat to Kansas City in the previous season, Philadelphia has become just the fourth Super Bowl runner-up team to begin the following season with a 10-1 record or better, following the 1991 Bills, the 1975 Vikings, and the 1972 Dolphins who went undefeated.
To match those 1972 Dolphins—one of three teams to win the Super Bowl the year after losing the championship game—is Philadelphia’s (10-1) objective. Dallas accomplished this feat the year before by defeating Miami, and the Patriots accomplished it in 2018 following a defeat to the Eagles the year prior.
The Eagles are the fourth team in NFL history to start back-to-back seasons with at least 10 victories in their first 11 games. They became members of the Bears (1941–42), Dolphins (1972–73), and Colts (2005–06).
The Niners have lost the NFC championship game to the Rams in 2021 and the Eagles last season, so they have two years of playoff near misses hanging over them.
San Francisco, which is now 8-3 after winning three straight games, will look to become the fourth team to win a Super Bowl after losing two straight conference championship games. The Raiders in 1976, the Niners in 1995, and the Patriots in 2014 all accomplished it.
With the 49ers and Eagles presently holding the top two NFC seeds, a rare rematch of the NFC title game is possible. The only other times it had occurred, the Niners were involved, having played Dallas in back-to-back seasons in 1971–72 and for three straight years in 1992–94.
In the AFC, it has occurred five times, including the previous season when the Chiefs hosted the Bengals for the second consecutive year.
PUSH FOR THE PLAYOFFS
A team will make the playoffs after finishing with a losing record after 11 games for the sixth time in a row.
The winner of that division will increase the number of playoff teams that had a losing record after 11 games to at least 20 in the previous 20 seasons, with all four of the NFC South teams having losing records, led by Atlanta and New Orleans at 5-6.
In 17 of the previous 19 seasons, at least one team with a losing record after 11 games has advanced to the postseason; Tampa Bay and Jacksonville both did so in the previous campaign. Philadelphia accomplished this in the years 2018, 2019, and 2021; Chicago and Washington accomplished the same in 2020. It didn’t occur in the previous season.
Other losing teams contending for a postseason berth this year include the Rams (5-6), who are just half a game out of the NFC’s final wild-card spot, and Green Bay (5-6).
Eight teams, tied for the most with that many wins at this stage of the season since the 2002 realignment, have eight or more wins going into Week 13. Additionally, it occurred in 2020, 2019 and 2003.
SCORING SLUMP
The New England Patriots’ defense cannot be held responsible for their last two losses.
After losing to Indianapolis 10-6 in Germany, New England lost to the New York Giants 10-7 on Sunday. This makes them the sixth team in the Super Bowl era to lose consecutive games when giving up 10 points or less per game.
The last team to accomplish that was the Patriots in 1993; the other four times it happened was during the lower scoring 1970s.
In regular season and postseason play, New England had gone 77-0 when Tom Brady was starting at quarterback and the opposition was giving up 10 points or less per game.
Essentially, what is the point?
In terms of differential in scoring, the Buffalo Bills have been outstanding. The stories of the victories and defeats differ.
Despite having a 6-6 record, the Bills have outscored their opponents by 101 points, which is fourth best in the NFL.
Buffalo is just the second team in the league to outscore its opponents by 100 points or more in the first 12 games of the season without finishing with a winning record out of 269 teams. In 1950, Philadelphia had a plus-113 point differential through 12 games, but they finished 6-6 overall.
164 of the 172 teams that have made the playoffs out of those that have outscored their opponents by at least 100 points through the first 12 games of the season since the merger. It will be difficult for Buffalo to avoid missing the postseason and becoming the first of those teams since the 2005 Chargers.
OH CANADA!
At last, the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to surpass the 400-yard mark.
Pittsburgh defeated Cincinnati with 421 offensive yards in their first game since firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada. The Steelers had not amassed 400 yards in a single contest since losing to Cleveland in the 2020 postseason while Randy Fichtner was their coordinator.
The 2021 season began with Canada in charge, and Pittsburgh never gained 400 yards while calling plays in 45 games. During Canada’s tenure, the other teams in the league played 333 games in the regular season or playoffs combined for at least 400 yards of offense.
The Steelers had not gained 400 yards in any of their previous 58 regular-season games; this was the second-longest drought in the previous 30 seasons, trailing only the Raiders’ 75-game stretch from 2005 to 2010.