Since 1978 when the NFL went to the 16-game schedule, and excluding the abbreviated season of 1982, teams that are victorious on Kickoff Weekend are more than twice as likely to reach the playoffs than losers of an opening game:
Of the 458 teams which won openers:
243 went to the playoffs (142 won division titles)
Of the 458 teams which lost openers:
102 went to the playoffs (60 won division titles)
In 2009, 10 of the 12 playoff teams -- Baltimore, Dallas, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Minnesota, New Orleans, New England, New York Jets, Philadelphia and San Diego -- were victorious on Kickoff Weekend.
NFL KICKOFF WEEKEND RECORDS OF NFL TEAMS
| Longest Streaks | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | W | L | T | Pct. | W | L | Current |
| Source: NFL | |||||||
| Denver | 32 | 17 | 1 | .653 | 4 | 4 | W-3 |
| Jacksonville | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 6 | 3 | L-3 |
| San Diego | 29 | 21 | 0 | .580 | 6 | 6 | W-1 |
| Pittsburgh | 39 | 32 | 4 | .549 | 7 | 3 | W-7 |
| Miami | 23 | 20 | 1 | .535 | 11 | 5 | L-4 |
| Indianapolis | 34 | 31 | 1 | .523 | 8 | 8 | W-1 |
| Kansas City | 26 | 24 | 0 | .520 | 7 | 4 | L-4 |
| New England | 26 | 24 | 0 | .520 | 6 | 3 | W-6 |
| Tennessee | 26 | 24 | 0 | .520 | 4 | 3 | L-1 |
| Oakland | 24 | 26 | 0 | .480 | 5 | 7 | L-7 |
| Cleveland | 27 | 30 | 0 | .474 | 5 | 6 | L-5 |
| Cincinnati | 19 | 23 | 0 | .452 | 4 | 4 | L-2 |
| N.Y. Jets | 22 | 28 | 0 | .440 | 3 | 5 | W-2 |
| Baltimore | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 2 | 4 | W-2 |
| Buffalo | 20 | 30 | 0 | .400 | 6 | 5 | L-1 |
| Houston | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | 2 | 3 | L-2 |
| Longest Streaks | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFC | W | L | T | Pct. | W | L | Current |
| Source: NFL | |||||||
| Dallas | 34 | 15 | 1 | .694 | 17 | 5 | W-3 |
| N.Y. Giants | 48 | 32 | 5 | .600 | 4 | 3 | W-2 |
| Chicago | 50 | 35 | 5 | .588 | 9 | 6 | L-1 |
| Minnesota | 28 | 20 | 1 | .583 | 5 | 3 | W-1 |
| Green Bay | 50 | 36 | 3 | .581 | 5 | 6 | W-3 |
| Atlanta | 24 | 20 | 0 | .545 | 5 | 3 | W-2 |
| Detroit | 42 | 36 | 2 | .538 | 10 | 4 | L-2 |
| St. Louis | 38 | 34 | 0 | .528 | 5 | 6 | L-3 |
| San Francisco | 31 | 28 | 1 | .525 | 5 | 3 | W-1 |
| Washington | 37 | 37 | 4 | .500 | 6 | 5 | L-2 |
| Philadelphia | 31 | 44 | 1 | .413 | 5 | 9 | W-2 |
| Arizona | 35 | 52 | 2 | .402 | 6 | 7 | L-1 |
| Carolina | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 3 | 4 | L-1 |
| Tampa Bay | 13 | 21 | 0 | .382 | 3 | 5 | L-4 |
| Seattle | 12 | 22 | 0 | .353 | 3 | 8 | W-1 |
| New Orleans | 15 | 28 | 0 | .349 | 2 | 6 | W-2 |
NFL KICKOFF WEEKEND RECORDS OF NFL HEAD COACHES
| AFC | Coach | W-L | NFC | Coach | W-L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: NFL | |||||
| Baltimore | John Harbaugh | 2-0 | Arizona | Ken Whisenhunt | 1-2 |
| Buffalo | Chan Gailey | 2-0 | Atlanta | Mike Smith | 2-0 |
| Cincinnati | Marvin Lewis | 2-5 | Carolina | John Fox | 4-4 |
| Cleveland | Eric Mangini | 2-2 | Chicago | Lovie Smith | 2-4 |
| Denver | Josh McDaniels | 1-0 | Dallas | Wade Phillips | 5-3 |
| Houston | Gary Kubiak | 1-3 | Detroit | Jim Schwartz | 0-1 |
| Indianapolis | Jim Caldwell | 1-0 | Green Bay | Mike McCarthy | 3-1 |
| Jacksonville | Jack Del Rio | 3-4 | Minnesota | Brad Childress | 3-1 |
| Kansas City | Todd Haley | 0-1 | New Orleans | Sean Payton | 3-1 |
| Miami | Tony Sparano | 0-2 | N.Y. Giants | Tom Coughlin | 9-5 |
| New England | Bill Belichick | 9-6 | Philadelphia | Andy Reid | 5-6 |
| N.Y. Jets | Rex Ryan | 1-0 | St. Louis | Steve Spagnuolo | 0-1 |
| Oakland | Tom Cable | 0-1 | San Francisco | Mike Singletary | 1-0 |
| Pittsburgh | Mike Tomlin | 3-0 | Seattle | Pete Carroll | 3-1 |
| San Diego | Norv Turner | 5-7 | Tampa Bay | Raheem Morris | 0-1 |
| Tennessee | Jeff Fisher | 9-6 | Washington | Mike Shanahan | 12-4 |
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