Jets' hit show plays well on the road

Home-field advantage: It just isn't what it used to be in the NFL playoffs.

It's never been more apparent than this season, when the Jets and Packers will try to duplicate what the 2005 Steelers and the 2007 Giants did in winning three straight road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl.

But the trend during the last six seasons is away from dominating top seeds and toward the teams that barely make the playoffs and hit the ground running.

"It's really become more about who's hot in December, not who was hot in October and November," said former Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, now an ESPN analyst. "It's almost like going from the preseason to the regular season: You throw the stats out and just look at who's healthy, who's in the best shape mentally. You approach the playoffs like everything's equal and you can have success no matter where you are."

Pierce was the emotional leader of the Giants' defense in their Super Bowl run three years ago. He helped foster an "us against the world" mentality that was fueled by the nationwide perception that the Giants had little chance to win playoff games in Dallas and Green Bay.

The Jets are in a similar mode mentally, and Pierce said it's easier to believe in that when you're on the road, outside your comfort zone.

"You go into a hostile environment, the fans are yelling, maybe egging the bus like in Philly," Pierce said. "It's easy to say you're on your own."

The Jets have carried that mentality all season long, a holdover from last season's road playoff run. They seem to revel in disrupting opponents on their own turf.

"It's fun, for sure," Shaun Ellis said. "Going in there, beating teams at their own place, silencing the crowd, celebrating."

There's another side to the equation, of course: why teams with top seeds can't seem to close the deal of late. Since 2004, road teams are 30-38 in the postseason and No. 1 seeds have lost their opening game seven of 14 times in that span.

"In '08, we had the 11-1 start, top seed in the NFC," Pierce said. "I know we had the Plaxico [Burress] situation, but we didn't have everyone together mentally going in. And we got bounced in the first game. Looking back, it's easy to see why. We were coming off the Super Bowl run and we just didn't have the attention to detail we needed, something we might have had if we'd been viewed as the underdog."

The Steelers in 2005 had a second-year quarterback, as the Jets do now, but a very experienced team around Ben Roethlisberger. Like that Steelers team, the Jets' style of play - run-heavy offense, physical, grinding defense - can take crowds out of games.

"If you have a veteran team, like we had in '05, you rely on those guys to carry you through when you're in a tough place to play," Roethlisberger said. "I know the Jets have that too. It helps you stay in control in any environment."

It's possible neither the Jets nor the Packers will make history Sunday - only those 2005 Steelers have reached the Super Bowl as a No. 6 seed - but soon enough, it won't be considered historic to go through three road wins to a Super Bowl. Just part of the process it takes to win a championship.