All Four NFL Playoff Favorites Covered the Spread this Weekend, the First Time That Has Happened Since January of 1991
By Jason Lisk
When Washington jumped out to a 14-0 lead yesterday, it looked like we would have all four home teams winning for the second consecutive year in the wildcard round. Instead, with Griffin III laboring with a knee injury, Seattle came back to win 24-14, sealing a weekend where chalk prevailed.
Never before had all four favorites in the wildcard round all won and covered, since the league expanded the format to provide four wildcard games. The last time all four favorites won on a playoff weekend was back in January of 1991, in the divisional round, when the 49ers, Giants, Bills, and Raiders all won. (via pro-football-reference finder playoff data against the spread). The only other weekends where it happened since 1978 was the January 1982 (1981 season) divisional round and January 1989 divisional round. If you are the type that believes in omens, curses, and Mayans, the 49ers played in the championship game in all those years, and two of them produced famous finishes in Candlestick Park.
Meanwhile, three other weekends have seen all the underdogs prevail: January of 1992 (wildcard round), January of 2004 (divisional round) and January of 2007 (divisional round).
[photo via USA Today Sports Images]