As road wild cards in conference championship games, history is not on the side of the Jets or Packers. Of the 13 NFL teams that have captured two road playoff games to advance to the conference championship game, only three have won -- New England (1985), a 31-14 winner at Miami; Pittsburgh (2005), a 34-17 winner at Denver; and the New York Giants (2007), 23-20 victors at Green Bay.
Much more common, however, are the championship game wild card losers -- many of them by resounding margins. Houston (1978) was trounced at Pittsburgh 34-5. The Los Angeles Rams (1989) were humbled at San Francisco 30-3. And Carolina (2005) fell at Seattle 34-14.
The last team that needs to be reminded of this trend is the Jets. After winning last year at Cincinnati and at San Diego, the Jets were taken down at Indianapolis 30-17. In the strike year of 1982, the Jets entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed out of eight. After winning at the No. 3 Bengals and No. 1 Raiders, the Jets lost at the No. 2 Dolphins 14-0 in the AFC title game.
Other teams that won two road playoff games but lost in the conference finals were Minnesota (1987), a 17-10 loser at Washington; Indianapolis (1995), 20-16 at Pittsburgh; Jacksonville (1996), 20-6 at New England; Baltimore (2008), 23-14 at Pittsburgh; and Philadelphia (2008), 32-25 at Arizona.
The good news for the Jets and Packers? Two of the three teams that have won three road playoff games have gone on to capture the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh (2005) beat Seattle 21-10. The Giants (2007) beat undefeated New England 17-14.