January 08, 2018
When the betting lines opened up after it was known that the Philadelphia Eagles would face the Atlanta Falcons in their first playoff matchup, the Eagles became a very rare divisional round home underdog, with the Falcons opening as 2.5-point favorites.
We took a look back at all the home underdogs in the playoffs since 2000, and here's what we found (home dog winners in green, road favorite winners in red):
| Year | Game | Round | Result |
| 2000 | Colts (-1.5) at Dolphins | Wildcard | Colts 17, Dolphins 23 |
| 2000 | Rams (-7) at Saints | Wildcard | Rams 28, Saints 31 |
| 2000 | Buccaneers (-3) at Eagles | Wildcard | Buccaneers 3, Eagles 21 |
| 2000 | Vikings (-3) at Giants | Conference | Vikings 0, Giants 41 |
| 2003 | Titans (-1) at Ravens | Wildcard | Titans 20, Ravens 17 |
| 2004 | Patriots (-3) at Steelers | Conference | Patriots 41, Steelers 27 |
| 2005 | Steelers (-3) at Bengals | Wildcard | Steelers 31, Bengals 17 |
| 2007 | Jaguars (-2.5) at Steelers | Wildcard | Jaguars 31, Steelers 29 |
| 2008 | Falcons (-1) at Cardinals | Wildcard | Falcons 24, Cardinals 30 |
| 2008 | Ravens (-3.5) at Dolphins | Wildcard | Ravens 27, Dolphins 9 |
| 2008 | Eagles (-3) at Vikings | Wildcard | Eagles 26, Vikings 14 |
| 2008 | Eagles (-4) at Cardinals | Conference | Eagles 25, Cardinals 32 |
| 2010 | Packers (-1) at Cardinals | Wildcard | Packers 45, Cardinals 51 |
| 2010 | Saints (-10) at Seahawks | Wildcard | Saints 36, Seahawks 41 |
| 2010 | Ravens (-3) at Chiefs | Wildcard | Ravens 30, Chiefs 7 |
| 2010 | Packers (-3.5) at Bears | Conference | Packers 21, Bears 14 |
| 2011 | Steelers (-8.5) at Broncos | Wildcard | Steelers 23, Broncos 29 |
| 2011 | Saints (-3.5) at 49ers | Divisional | Saints 32, 49ers 36 |
| 2012 | Seahawks (-3) at Redskins | Wildcard | Seahawks 24, Redskins 14 |
| 2012 | 49ers (-4) at Falcons | Conference | 49ers 28, Falcons 24 |
| 2013 | 49ers (-2.5) at Packers | Wildcard | 49ers 23, Packers 20 |
| 2015 | Chiefs (-3.5) at Texans | Wildcard | Chiefs 30, Texans 0 |
| 2015 | Steelers (-3) at Bengals | Wildcard | Steelers 18, Bengals 16 |
| 2015 | Seahawks (-5) at Vikings | Wildcard | Seahawks 10, Vikings 9 |
| 2015 | Packers (-1) at Redskins | Wildcard | Packers 35, Redskins 18 |
| 2015 | Patriots (-3) at Broncos | Conference | Patriots 18, Broncos 20 |
Notes:
• Since 2000, home dogs are 11-15 straight up in the playoffs. Since 2003, they're 7-15. They're 1-7 since 2012.
• There has only been one other divisional round home dog since 2000, which makes sense, seeing as both home teams on divisional round weekend are either No. 1 or No. 2 seeds, and thus very good. That home dog was the 2011 49ers, who were the No. 2 seed that year. They beat the favored No. 3 seed Saints.
• The Eagles themselves were involved in three of the games noted above.
• The biggest point spread above was when the Saints were 10-point favorites over the 7-9 Seahawks. The Saints lost. The next biggest point spread was when the Steelers were favored by 8.5 points over Tim Tebow's Denver Broncos. Again, the heavy road favorite lost in that one.
Overall, Vegas generally gets it right. The Eagles can certainly beat the Falcons on Saturday, but there's little question that Atlanta has an enormous advantage at quarterback, and recent home dog success (or lack thereof) does not bode well for Philly.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski.
Like Jimmy on Facebook.
Like the new PhillyVoice Sports page on Facebook.
