The Denver Broncos head to Foxborough, MA to take on the New England Patriots in the divisional round of the 2012 NFL Playoffs. Most would see heading to New England in the playoffs as an exceedingly difficult task, but in recent memory it hasn't been. The Patriots haven't won at home in the playoffs since the last time the squad made the Super Bowl, in the 2007 NFL season. In fact, the Patriots haven't won at all in the playoffs since that run. Including the Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants, they Patriots have lost their last three games in the playoffs.
SI.com's Don Banks wonders if the "playoff well" in New England has run dry.
Back in the day, New England in the playoffs meant you had better have your parade route at least sketched out for the Tuesday after the Super Bowl. But the dynasty has hit a drought of sorts, losing three consecutive postseason games since winning the 2007 AFC Championship at home against San Diego. That's more playoff losses than the Patriots incurred in the first 16 postseason games of the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era, when New England went 14-2 from 2001 through that 2007 AFC title-game victory over the Chargers.
To put it another way, by the time the Patriots and Broncos hit the field at Gillette Stadium Saturday night, there will have been 40 playoff games played in the NFL since New England last won in the postseason, and that three-year-plus gap ties for the longest barren stretch of the Kraft era in terms of postseason success.
For more on the two teams, check out Denver Broncos blog Mile High Report and New England Patriots blog Pats Pulpit. For more coverage of the NFL Playoffs, head over to SB Nation's NFL news hub.
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