Half the field has been set; the back half starts with the 9th overall seed - coming in ahead of the perfect team that preceded them, the 1973 Miami Dolphins.
1. 1973 MIAMI DOLPHINS v. 16. Play In Winner 1999 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS/1981 CINCINNATI BENGALS
1. 1973 SUPER BOWL CHAMPION MIAMI DOLPHINS
Pythag: 12-2
Off: 5th
Def: 1st
d. Bengals Div Rnd 34-16
d. Raiders AFC Title 27-10
d. Vikings Super Bowl 24-7
HC Don Shula OC Bill McPeak DC Bill Arnsparger
1st TM All Pro: FB L.Csonka (27) WR P.Warfield (31) FS J.Scott (28) SS D.Anderson (27) K G.Yepremian (29)
16. 1999 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Pythag: 13-3
Off: 6th
Def: 1st
d. Dolphins Div Rnd 62-7
Lost Titans AFC Title 33-14
HC Tom Coughlin DC Dom Capers
1st TM AP: RLB K.Hardy (26) LT T.Boselli (27)
16. 1981 AFC CHAMPION CINCINNATI BENGALS
Pythag: 11-5
Off: 3rd
Def: 12th
d. Bills Div Rnd 28-21
d. Chargers AFC Title 27-7
Lost 49ers Super Bowl 26-21
HC Forrest Gregg HC Lindy Infante DC Hank Bullough
1st TM AP: QB K.Anderson (32) P P.McInally (28)
Dolphins fans continue to wait for the perfect '72 team, but the '73 sequel is at the top of Region 9; they'll face the first tournament entrant of either the Jags or Bengals.
8. 2015 CAROLINA PANTHERS v. 9. 1966 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
8. 2015 NFC CHAMPION CAROLINA PANTHERS
Pythag: 12-4
Off: 1st
Def: 6th
d. Seahawks Div Rnd 31-24
d. Cards NFC Title 49-15
Lost Super Bowl Broncos 24-10
HC: Ron Rivera OC Mike Shula DC Sean McDermott
1st TM AP: QB C.Newton (26) FB M.Tolbert (30) RLB T.Davis (32) MLB L.Kuechly (24) RCB J.Norman (28)
9. 1966 AFL CHAMPION KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Pythag: 11-3
Off: 1st
Def: 2nd
d. Bills AFL Title 31-7
Lost Super Bowl Packers 35-10
HC: Hank Stram
1st TM AP: QB L.Dawson (31) FL O.Taylor (24) TE F.Arbanas (27) RS J.Robinson (28) LLB B.Bell (26) RDT B.Buchanan (27) LDE J.Mays (27)
Couple of Super Bowl losers here in the 8/9 game; the Chiefs won the AFL Title and then lost SB1; the Panthers were the top offense in 2015 and fell to Denver.
5. 2011 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS v. 12. 1965 BUFFALO BILLS
5. 2011 AFC CHAMPION NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Pythag: 12-4
Off: 3rd
Def: 15th
d. Div Rnd Broncos 45-10
d. AFC Title Ravens 23-20
Lost Giants Super Bowl 21-17
HC: Bill Belichick OC Bill O'Brien
1st TM AP: WR W.Welker (30) TE R.Gronkowski (22)
12. 1965 AFL CHAMPION BUFFALO BILLS
Pythag: 10-4
Off: 3rd
Def: 1st
d. Chargers AFL Title 23-0
HC Lou Saban
1st TM AP: QB J.Kemp (30) RCB B.Byrd (24) RS G.Saimes (24)
The '65 Bills were the last AFL Champ before the SB; they head to New England to meet the other Pats squad that lost to the Giants in the SB.
4. 1976 OAKLAND RAIDERS v. 13. 2003 TENNESSEE TITANS
4. 1976 SUPER BOWL CHAMPION OAKLAND RAIDERS
Pythag: 10-4
Off: 4th
Def: 12th
d. Patriots Div Rnd 24-21
d. Steelers AFC Title 24-7
d. Vikings Super Bowl 32-14
HC: John Madden
1st TM AP: WR C.Branch (28) TE D.Casper (24) P R.Guy (27)
13. 2003 TENNESSEE TITANS
Pythag: 11-5
Off: 5th
Def: 13th
d. Ravens WC 20-17
lost Patriots Div Rnd 17-14
HC Jeff Fisher OC Mike Heimerdinger DC Jim Schwartz
1st TM AP RLB K.Bulluck (26)
Upper half of the Region closes with its second SB Champion, the '76 Raiders. They'll host a Titans squad that was 5th in offense in '03.
3. 1993 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS v. 14. 2001 PITTSBURGH STEELERS
3. 1993 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Pythag: 12-4
Off: 1st
Def: 16th
d. Giants Div Rnd 44-3
lost NFC Title Cowboys 38-21
HC George Seifert OC Mike Shanahan DC Bill McPherson
1st TM AP QB S.Young (32) WR J.Rice (31)
14. 2001 PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Pythag: 12-4
Off: 7th
Def: 3rd
d. Ravens Div Round 27-10
Lost AFC Title Patriots 24-17
HC Bill Cowher OC Mike Mularkey DC Tim Lewis
1st TM AP LOLB J.Gildon (29)
Couple of teams who lost conference championships to the eventual SB winner meet here; the Steelers were third in defense in '01; they go to San Francisco and meet the '93 Niners with the best offense in football.
6. 1958 BALTIMORE COLTS v. 11. 2020 BALTIMORE RAVENS
6. 1958 NFL CHAMPION BALTIMORE COLTS
Pythag: 10-2
Off: 1st
Def: 2nd
d. Giants NFL Title 23-17
HC Weeb Ewbank
1st TM AP QB J.Unitas (25) RB L.Moore (25) LE R.Berry (25) LDE G.Marchetti (31)
11. 2020 BALTIMORE RAVENS
Pythag: 12-4
Off: 7th
Def: 2nd
d. Titans WC 20-13
lost Bills Div Rnd 17-3
HC John Harbaugh OC Greg Roman DC Wink Martindale
We lost another team below the Top5/Title game floor, the '76 Bengals; after some needed maneuvering to avoid a Colts/Colts alternate matchup, we're left with Baltimore v. Baltimore; the 1958 NFL Champion Colts will be the home team against the second best defense of 2020, belonging to the Ravens. I've decided not to bring back those teams who got bounced by the Top 5/Title game minimum requirement, I've got one team left in the alternate pool and if needed beyond that, I'll be headed to SB teams who didn't make the field.
7. 1998 NEW YORK JETS v. 10. 1951 LOS ANGELES RAMS
7. 1998 NEW YORK JETS
Pythag: 12-4
Off: 5th
Def: 2nd
d. Jags Div Rnd 34-24
Lost Broncos AFC Title 23-10
HC Bill Parcells OC Charlie Weis DC Bill Belichick
1st TM AP: LLB M.Lewis (29)
10. 1951 NFL CHAMPION LOS ANGELES RAMS
Pythag: 9-3
Off: 1st
Def: 6th
d. Browns NFL Title 24-17
HC Joe Stydahar
1st TM AP LLB T.Younger (23) RE CL Hirsch (28) LDE L.Brink (28)
2. 1969 MINNESOTA VIKINGS d. 15. 2007 GREEN BAY PACKERS
2. 1969 NFL CHAMPION MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Pythag: 13-1
Off: 1st
Def: 1st
d. Rams Div Rnd 23-20
d. Browns NFL Title 27-7
Lost Super Bowl Chiefs 23-7
HC Bud Grant OC Jerry Burns DC Bob Hollway
1st TM AP LDE C.Eller (27)
15. 2007 GREEN BAY PACKERS
Pythag: 12-4
Off: 4th
Def: 6th
d. Seahawks Div Rnd 42-20
Lost Giants NFC Title 23-20
HC Mike McCarthy OC Joe Philbin DC Bob Sanders
1st TM None
Region 9 wraps up with the second seeded '69 Vikes and their 13-1 Pythagorean record, first in both offense and defense; they'll face their rivals from Green Bay, 4th best offense of 2007.
