NFL Playoff Scenarios: Packers Will Lambeau Leap to Super Bowl XLVI

To understand why the Green Bay Packers will win the next two games and return to the Super Bowl for a second-straight season, you need look no further than the team's signature celebration.

The Lambeau Leap.

The celebration is significant for two reasons: It means the Packers have scored, and more importantly, it means they scored at home.

They're very good at doing the former. And they're very hard to beat when they're playing at the latter.

Here's where I remind you that the Packers led the NFL in scoring this year, averaging a cool 35.0 points per game.

And don't forget that Aaron Rodgers threw for 45 touchdowns and only six interceptions this season, or that he has a small army of receiving weapons in Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Jermichael Finley, James Jones and Donald Driver.

Remember, they already played their opponent this weekend, the New York Giants, outscoring them 38-35 in Week 13.

They also played one of their potential NFC Conference Champion foes, the New Orleans Saints, outscoring them 42-34 in Week 1.

But crazy things can happen in the NFL, balls can bounce the wrong way, and teams like the Green Bay Packers can be stopped, or even—gasp!—outscored.

Just ask the Kansas City Chiefs.

But here's the thing: That doesn't happen all that often when the Packers play at home, which makes their home-field advantage throughout the playoffs all the more frightening for opponents.

Since Aaron Rodgers took over as the team's quarterback in 2008, the Packers are 25-7 at home. This season, they're 8-0 at Lambeau and are averaging an incredible 40.1 points per game.

Let me repeat that—40.1 points per game!

And as Mike Tanier of NBC reminds us (and our very own King Kaufman directed us to), "Since 2001, teams with a first-round bye are 25-15 (.625) in the second round of the playoffs."

In the conference championships, the home team has gone 13-7 (.538) since 2001.

And both the Saints (5-3 in away games) and 49ers (6-2 in away games) were better at home. Surprisingly, the Giants were actually better on the road this year.

These numbers don't suggest that Green Bay and their offense can't be stopped at home, or that history suggests the Packers are a lock to advance to the Super Bowl.

But they sure do make the odds of Green Bay repeating as Super Bowl participants look pretty good, don't they?

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