Here’s how Tom Brady and the Buccaneers could make NFL playoff history if they beat the Packers in the NFC title game



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Tom Brady and the Buccaneers could make NFL history this year if they can beat the Packers on Sunday. If that happens, the Buccaneers would become the first team to play a Super Bowl at their stadium.

The Super Bowl has been around for 54 years, and during that time no team has ever been able to play the game in their stadium. The fact that the Buccaneers are even in the game of the NFC title is remarkable because it is something that almost never happens. You could call it a Super Bowl housing jinxes or just bad luck, but teams will hardly ever make the playoffs in a season they host the Super Bowl. Including the Buccaneers, there have only been nine instances in NFL history where a team made the playoffs in a season their stadium hosted the Super Bowl.

Of the host teams that made the playoffs – the Dolphins (1970, ’78, ’94, ’98), Buccaneers (2000), Cardinals (2014), Texans (2016) and Vikings (2017) – only one of them have already reached the conference title game and it was the Vikings, who beat the Saints to advance to the NFC Championship in 2017, where they would lose to the Eagles. The Buccaneers became the second team to reach the NFC title game, also beating the Saints.

Prior to this year, the eight Super Bowl hosts who made the playoffs had a 3-8 playoff record in the season when the big game was played at their stadium.

If the Buccaneers are to end the jinx hosting the Super Bowl, they just need to do something they’ve already accomplished this year: beat the Packers. Returning in Week 6, the Buccaneers destroyed Green Bay 38-10 in a game that was played at home. This time around, the Buccaneers will have to win at Lambeau Field.

In a twist, if the Buccaneers win, they would become the first wild card team to make it to the Super Bowl since the Packers did in 2010. A win over Green Bay would also mean the Buccaneers’ first home game of the playoffs. would come in the Super Bowl. The Bucs opened the postseason game in Washington, then won in New Orleans.

While neither team has ever played a Super Bowl in their home stadium, two teams were able to play the Super Bowl in their home market. After spending the season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Rams headed to Super Bowl XIV, which was played at the nearby Rose Bowl. Being close to home didn’t help the Rams, however, as they lost 31-19 to the Steelers.

The only other team that was able to play near their home was the 1984 San Francisco 49ers. In Super Bowl XIX, the 49ers beat the Dolphins 38-16 in a game that was played at Stanford Stadium, which was in. less than 30 miles from their old home in Candlestick Park.



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