You may be surprised to learn how little top playoff seeds matter

With two weeks left to go in the regular season, six playoff spots have been clinched and another six remain to be earned.

With an eye toward the postseason, here's a look at a few trends to keep in mind as the regular season winds down and teams earn those coveted playoff spots.

Do playoff seeds really matter?

The ultimate goal of any team, of course, is to get to the Super Bowl and come out of it victorious. Does a No. 1 seed mean playoff success and a Super Bowl berth? The numbers don't exactly suggest that.

Since the 2000 season there have been nine Super Bowls played, which means 18 teams advanced to the penultimate game. Teams have advanced to Super Sunday from all six playoff seeds. Here's a breakdown of which seeds advanced, and then won, the Super Bowl:

In taking a closer look at the seed slots, the No. 2 seed has produced the most Super Bowl champions. When grouped together, the top two seeds -- who would own first-round byes -- have a 66.6 percent change of making it to the Super Bowl and a 27.8 percent chance of taking home the Lombardi Trophy. Keep in mind that there has not been a No. 1 seed vs. No. 1 seed Super Bowl matchup in this nine-year span. A No. 1 seed has faced a No. 2 seed three times, and the No. 2 seed has won the Super Bowl all three times. It happened in 2001, when the New England Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. It happened the following year, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. And, it happened again in 2004, when the Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.

The chances of winning a Super Bowl from the No. 3, 4, 5 or 6 seeds are the same. The best "wild-card" stories involved the No. 6-seeded 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the No. 1-seeded Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. The No. 5-seeded New York Giants defeated the No. 1-seeded -- and previously unbeaten -- Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. The only No. 1 seed to hoist the Lombardi Trophy were the 2003 Patriots, who defeated the No. 3-seeded Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

The 14-0 Colts have already clinched the AFC's top seed this year. The Saints can clinch the NFC's No. 1 seed with a win on Sunday at home against the 2-12 Buccaneers. There will be a lot of talk about how great a Colts-Saints Super Bowl matchup would be if the two could meet in South Florida in early February. However, keep in mind the trends of the past nine years. The No. 1 seeds have just a five percent chance of winning the Super Bowl. Two No. 1 seeds have yet to meet in the Super Bowl this decade, and haven't done so since the 1993 season when the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills met in Super Bowl XXVIII.

The Colts and Saints have looked like great teams all season, but the biggest mountain has yet to be climbed. It would be wise to pay closer attention to the teams that finish in the No. 2 seed, which at this point appears to be the San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings.

Scoring personality of teams in playoff picture

Every team likes to start games fast and score in the first quarter. However, not all the good teams pile on points in the first quarter. Some teams have to get warmed up and pick up the pace later in the game. Still, other teams make excellent halftime adjustments and score more frequently in the third quarter. Finally, any team with aspirations to get to the Super Bowl better be able to close out a game, and fourth-quarter scoring is critical.

You'll notice that the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings are fast starters among the other playoff contenders, but they do kick it in gear when the teams switch ends of the field. Pay attention to the increased rate of scoring in the second quarter.

This season, the Saints scored 99 more points in the second quarter than in the first quarter. The Giants actually did the best among playoff contenders with 102 more points when comparing the first quarter to the second. Once Drew Brees and Eli Manning get a chance to see what they are dealing with, they tend to get to work. The Giants' win over the Redskins on Monday night was a good example. The Giants put 17 second-quarter points up on the Redskins. Note how many of the game's great quarterbacks really crank it up once they get a good look at the defensive looks.

The Baltimore Ravens have a young quarterback in Joe Flacco, and the halftime gives him and his teammates a chance to regroup.

Once they got hot in the second quarter, the Saints kept it rolling in the third quarter. New Orleans has scored 270 points in the second and third quarters, meaning that offense gets in rhythm and becomes very hard to stop. The fun doesn't end after 45 minutes of play; wait to see what the Saints do in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings are also able to keep it rolling from the second quarter into the third, with an impressive 217 points in the middle quarters.

The all-important fourth quarter is when the elite teams put the peddle down. The Chargers and Saints showed up in three of the four quarters as a top-five performer, which is impressive. All five of these closers have the receivers to make a play and the quarterback to get the ball into those talented receivers' hands.