At 6:40 p.m. ET on Sunday, you can throw all numbers out the window. But since the AFC Championship Game is still three days away, we might as well highlight its significance.
The New England Patriots will enter Arrowhead Stadium as rare underdogs against the Kansas City Chiefs. That makes sense, considering they had a worse regular-season record (11-5) than the Chiefs (12-4) and are playing on the road, where they won just three of eight games this season.
About that road record ... Check out this stat ESPN's Trey Wingo shared Friday:
If the Patriots win Sunday, they'll become just the third team ever to reach the Super Bowl despite having a losing road record in the regular season.
The 2008 Arizona Cardinals hosted the NFC Championship Game that season, though, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. So, the 2010 Green Bay Packers are the only team with a losing road record to win their conference championship game on the road en route to the Super Bowl.
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That's not great news for the Patriots, who have historically struggled in road AFC title games (3-5 under Belichick) and have won just one game at Arrowhead Stadium since it opened in 1972.
We'll end the negativity there, however. The 2010 Packers went on to win Super Bowl XLV over the Steelers, so the blueprint is there for New England, and we're wise enough not to bet against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in any situation.
Speaking of betting: The Patriots' underdog status Sunday could bode well based on recent results.
We'll find out soon enough which of these stats you can throw out the window.
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