FROM WILD CARD TO SUPER BOWL: Winners in the Wild Card round have won the Super Bowl six times, and at least one Super Bowl participant in each of the past four years played a Wild Card game.
Last year, the NFC No. 4 seed Arizona Cardinals won three games en route to a berth in Super Bowl XLIII. Two years ago, the NFC No. 5 seed New York Giants won three road games and en route to a Super Bowl XLII victory. Three years ago, AFC No. 3 seed Indianapolis won Super Bowl XLI. And four years ago, Pittsburgh became the first No. 6 seed to win a Super Bowl, defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
The Wild Card participants to win the Super Bowl:
SEASON
TEAM
SUPER BOWL RESULT
1980
Oakland
Defeated Philadelphia in Super Bowl XV, 27-10
1997
Denver
Defeated Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXII, 31-24
2000
Baltimore
Defeated New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, 34-7
2005
Pittsburgh
Defeated Seattle in Super Bowl XL, 21-10
2006
Indianapolis
Defeated Chicago in Super Bowl XLI, 29-17
2007
New York Giants
Defeated New England in Super Bowl XLII, 17-14
-- NFL --
SEE YOU SOON: Three of the four Wild Card matchups will be rematches of Week 17 games.
Since 1990, when the current playoff format was adopted, there have been nine instances when two teams have played in the final week of the regular season and again the next week to start the postseason.
The losing team in Week 17 has won five of the nine playoff games.
YEAR
TEAM
TEAM
WEEK 17 WINNER
PLAYOFF WINNER
1991
Kansas City
Los Angeles Raiders
Kansas City
Kansas City
1992
Buffalo
Houston
Houston
Buffalo
1993
Denver
Los Angeles Raiders
Los Angeles Raiders
Los Angeles Raiders
1993
Detroit
Green Bay
Detroit
Green Bay
1997
Miami
New England
New England
New England
2000
New Orleans
St. Louis
St. Louis
New Orleans
2001
New York Jets
Oakland
New York Jets
Oakland
2001
Philadelphia
Tampa Bay
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
2004
Denver
Indianapolis
Denver
Indianapolis
2009
Arizona
Green Bay
Green Bay
???
2009
Cincinnati
New York Jets
New York Jets
???
2009
Dallas
Philadelphia
Dallas
???
-- NFL --
THIRD TIME’S A CHARM: The Dallas Cowboys will host the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night after sweeping them in the regular season. Since 1970, 19 teams have gone 2-0 against an opponent in the regular season and then faced that club in the playoffs. The sweeping team has won the postseason meeting 12 times (63.2 percent). Most recently, Pittsburgh beat Baltimore for a third time in last year’s AFC Championship Game. The last time a team swept an opponent and then lost to them in the playoffs was 2007, when the New York Giants defeated the Cowboys in the Divisional round after Dallas had defeated them twice in the regular season.
The 12 teams that have swept an opponent in the regular-season and defeated them in the playoffs:
YEAR
WINNING TEAM
OPPONENT
YEAR
WINNING TEAM
OPPONENT
1982
Miami
New York Jets
1997
Green Bay
Tampa Bay
1986
New York Giants
Washington
1999
Tennessee
Jacksonville
1991
Kansas City
Los Angeles Raiders
2000
New York Giants
Philadelphia
1993
Los Angeles Raiders
Denver
2002
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
1994
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
2004
St. Louis
Seattle
1997
New England
Miami
2008
Pittsburgh
Baltimore
A POSTSEASON PRO: New England quarterback TOM BRADY will line up under center for the 18th time in the playoffs when the Patriots face the Ravens on Sunday. With 46 passing yards, Brady will reach 4,000 in the postseason, a feat accomplished by only five quarterbacks in history.
With 255 yards, Brady will move into fifth place all-time in postseason passing yards, passing PEYTON MANNING (who is idle on Wild Card Weekend) and his 4,208 yards. In addition, with one touchdown pass, Brady will extend his streak of consecutive postseason games with a touchdown pass to 16, second all-time (BRETT FAVRE, 18).
The top five passing yards leaders in playoff history:
PLAYER
PLAYOFF GAMES
PASSING YARDS
Joe Montana
23
5,772
Brett Favre*
22
5,311
John Elway
22
4,964
Dan Marino
18
4,510
Peyton Manning*
15
4,208
Tom Brady*
17
3,954
* Active
The most consecutive games with a touchdown pass in playoff history:
PLAYER
PLAYOFF GAMES
YEARS
Brett Favre
18
1995-present
Tom Brady
15
2001-present
Dan Marino
13
1983-95
Brady has won each of his first eight home playoff games and can pass Pro Football Hall of Famer JIM KELLY (eight) to become the first player to win his first nine home playoff games.
-- NFL --
KURT’S PLAYGROUND: Arizona Cardinals quarterback KURT WARNER has taken his game to the next level in the postseason, setting numerous records in taking two different teams to the Super Bowl. Warner’s 98.9 postseason passer rating is the second highest in NFL history (BART STARR, 104.8) and he averages 306.2 yards per playoff game, the best mark in league annals (min. five games). Warner passed for 1,147 yards in last year’s playoffs, the most ever in a single postseason, giving him the top two marks in history (1,063 in 1999 with St. Louis). Warner’s 64.8 playoff completion percentage is tops among quarterbacks with at least 250 attempts.
On Sunday against Green Bay, Warner can reach the top of another postseason list – the most career 300-yard games. Warner has five career 300-yard games, with all of them over 365 yards, the most all-time.
The most 300-yard passing games in NFL postseason history:
PLAYER
300-YARD PASSING GAMES
Peyton Manning*
6
Joe Montana
6
Dan Fouts
5
Kurt Warner*
5
Many tied
4
* Active
In addition, Warner is tied with Tom Brady with 26 postseason touchdown passes, one shy of fifth-place on the all-time list (27, JOHN ELWAY). Both aim to climb the charts on Wild Card Weekend.
The most touchdown passes in NFL playoff history:
PLAYER
TOUCHDOWN PASSES
Joe Montana
45
Brett Favre*
39
Dan Marino
32
Terry Bradshaw
30
John Elway
27
Tom Brady*
26
Kurt Warner*
26
* Active
-- NFL --
ROOKIE QB IN AGAIN: On Saturday, the New York Jets’ MARK SANCHEZ will become just the ninth rookie quarterback to start a playoff game in the Super Bowl era. It will be the first time since 1985-86 (BERNIE KOSAR, 1985 and JIM EVERETT, 1986) that a rookie quarterback has started a playoff game in consecutive postseasons.
Last year, Atlanta’s MATT RYAN and Baltimore’s JOE FLACCO took the field marking the first time in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) that two rookie quarterbacks started a playoff game in the same year. Three of the past four rookies to start in the playoffs led their teams to the Conference Championship Game.
The eight rookie quarterbacks to start a playoff game (since 1966):
QUARTERBACK
SEASON
TEAM
PLAYOFF RESULT
Dan Marino
1983
Miami Dolphins
Advanced to Divisional
Bernie Kosar
1985
Cleveland Browns
Advanced to Divisional
Jim Everett
1986
L.A. Rams
Advanced to Wild Card
Todd Marinovich
1991
L.A. Raiders
Advanced to Wild Card
Shaun King
1999
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Advanced to NFC Championship
Ben Roethlisberger
2004
Pittsburgh Steelers
Advanced to AFC Championship
Joe Flacco
2008
Baltimore Ravens
Advanced to AFC Championship
Matt Ryan
2008
Atlanta Falcons
Advanced to Wild Card
Mark Sanchez
2009
New York Jets
???
Flacco is the first quarterback in NFL history to start 16 games in each of his first two seasons and lead his team to the playoffs in both years.
VERSATILE JETS: The New York Jets led the NFL with 172.3 rushing yards per game on offense and allowed an NFL-low 252.3 total yards per game on defense. The Jets became the eighth team since 1970 to lead the NFL in both rushing offense and total defense.
The teams that led the NFL in rushing offense and total defense in a season since 1970:
YEAR
TEAM
PLAYOFF RESULT
2009
New York Jets
???
2001
Pittsburgh Steelers
Advanced to AFC Championship
1987
San Francisco 49ers
Advanced to Divisional
1986
Chicago Bears
Advanced to Divisional
1985
Chicago Bears
Won Super Bowl XX
1984
Chicago Bears
Advanced to NFC Championship
1976
Pittsburgh Steelers
Advanced to AFC Championship
1972
Miami Dolphins
Won Super Bowl VII
-- NFL –
FIRST-TIMERS: Green Bay quarterback AARON RODGERS and the Jets’ Sanchez will make their first career postseason start on Wild Card Weekend. Rodgers threw for 4,434 yards, second in a single-season in Packers history (4,458, LYNN DICKEY) and Sanchez threw for 2,444 yards, a Jets rookie-record (topping JOE NAMATH, 2,220 in 1965).
The players with the most passing yards in their first career postseason start:
PLAYER
PASSING YARDS
Kelly Holcomb
429
Randall Cunningham
407
Kurt Warner
391
Neil Lomax
385
Richard Todd
377
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