Watching the Seahawks lose to Chicago a couple weeks ago got me thinking about how many postseason games Seattle has played in recent years. Immediately I could think of numerous games and this inspired me to analyze a little further. I decided to look at the past 8 playoffs, and specifically the 15 NFC teams. I recorded playoff appearances, games played, wins, and superbowl appearances. The results were astounding. Since the 2004 playoffs, the Seahawks have made the playoffs 6 times, played in 11 games, won 5, and appeared in 1 superbowl. In each of those 4 categories, Seattle ranks 1st or 2nd among all NFC teams.
Based on this data, there are many conclusions one can make. What I take away from this is that Seattle has been the 2nd most consistently good NFC team over the past 8 seasons, just behind the Eagles. The numbers don’t lie, and while I’d trade it all in for 1 superbowl WIN, this run the Seahawks are on is quite impressive. We’re getting spoiled here in Seattle watching our team make the playoffs 6 out of the past 8 years. Who could have imagined that 10 years ago?
-Dan
andrewlong7
dpscansen
Joe Loughery
Matthew
The Good Guys Sports Blog 
Actually this just means the Seahawks were more consistently better than the other three teams in their division. Which isn’t saying much. It’s been a nice run, though. Personally I think the Seahawks are the best example of why division winners shouldn’t get an automatic home game in the playoffs. With eight four-team divisions, the odds of a mediocre team slipping in are too great.
That’s a pretty good point. Although, the amount of wins in the playoffs defuses that argument a little bit, in my opinion. You could say the Seahawks have won more games in the playoffs just because they’ve made more appearances, and that legitimizes your argument a little more.
The Hawks are averaging a win per appearance during this stretch. Surprisingly, the team that has averaged the most wins per appearance over this stretch is the Arizona Cardinals.
If you break wins/appearance down by division it is like this:
NFC West – 11/10
NFC South – 10/11
NFC North – 11/11
NFC East – 12/16
As we see here, the NFC West has the least amount of appearances in the playoffs during this span, but also has the highest winning percentage. I’m not arguing that the NFC West is anywhere close the the NFC East, but it has been successful over the years. The last 2 years it has really fallen on hard times, but the years before were undeniably successful for the division.
Also, I agree with your opinion on the NFL needing to change it’s playoff format.