NFL teams beating the same team 3 times in a season

Question

As of the end of week 15 of 2016 season, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants have a chance of facing off in the playoffs. The Giants have dealt the Cowboys their only 2 losses of the season so far.
Teams that are in the same division play each other 2 times during the regular season. So to beat a team 3 times, they must also meet in the playoffs. I'm wondering how many times has a team beaten a division rival 3 times in the same season in the NFL?

Ben Miller - Remember Monica · Accepted Answer

They always say that it is hard to beat the same team three times in one season.  However, it happens periodically.  Since 1950, it has happened 17 times:

2009 Dallas Cowboys over Philadelphia Eagles
2008 Pittsburgh Steelers over Baltimore Ravens
2004 St. Louis Rams over Seattle Seahawks
2002 Pittsburgh Steelers over Cleveland Browns
2000 New York Giants over Philadelphia Eagles
1999 Tennessee Titans over Jacksonville Jaguars
1997 Green Bay Packers over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1997 New England Patriots over Miami Dolphins
1994 Pittsburgh Steelers over Cleveland Browns
1993 Los Angeles Raiders over Denver Broncos
1991 Kansas City Chiefs over Los Angeles Raiders
1986 New York Giants over Washington Redskins
1982 Miami Dolphins over New York Jets (in a shortened season)
1965 Green Bay Packers over Baltimore Colts
1964 Buffalo Bills over San Diego Chargers
1958 New York Giants over Cleveland Browns
1952 Detroit Lions over Los Angeles Rams

pacoverflow · Answer

I wanted to supplement Ben Miller's answer with some information on how difficult it actually is to defeat a team 3 times in one season. It is often said that it is very difficult for an NFL team to beat another team 3 times in one season, but it turns out that is not true.
According to an ESPN article, from 1970 through 2019, teams that swept an opponent during the regular season and then faced them again in the playoffs won the playoff game 67% of the time:

I don't buy the old adage that "it's tough to beat a team three times," because since 1970 teams that beat a team twice in the regular season and saw them again in the playoffs are 14-7 in the rematch.

NFL teams beating the same team 3 times in a season

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