Green Bay May Be the Greatest Six-Loss Team
When the Green Bay Packers squeaked into the playoffs with a 10-6 record, not many people picked them to get to the Super Bowl. But there the Packers are, not just headed to Dallas but a betting favorite over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A closer look at the Packers' six losses, however, shows why Green Bay is better than its record would indicate, and why the Packers are the favorites: They played close, competitive games even in defeat, in a way no NFL team ever had.
The Packers lost twice by field goals in overtime, twice by field goals in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter, and twice by four points, with both of those four-point losses coming on the road with quarterback Aaron Rodgers injured. No team in NFL history had ever before had a six-loss season with all six losses by four points or fewer, according to Stats Inc.
In fact, until this season's Packers, no team had even had a five-loss season with all the losses by four points or fewer. The only team that ever had four losses all by four or fewer was the 1987 Washington Redskins, who went on to win the Super Bowl.
For the bettors in Las Vegas, the margin of victory matters more than who wins and who loses, and counting the playoffs, Green Bay has now outscored its opponents by a total of 187 pointsa better scoring margin than the Steelers, who have outscored their opponents by 155 points. So even though the Steelers have a better record, it's no surprise that the Packers are the Super Bowl favorites.
Close Calls
Here are the teams with the most regular-season losses, where every loss was by four or fewer points.
TEAM RECORD
2010 Packers 10-6
1987 Redskins 11-4
2000 Titans 13-3
1962 Lions 11-3
1960 Browns 8-3-1
1953 Rams 8-3-1
1953 49ers 9-3
1934 Lions 10-3
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