The NFL playoffs begin on Saturday and Sunday,
January 4-5, with Wild Card Weekend. On Saturday, the Buffalo Bills play at the
Houston Texans (ESPN/ABC, 4:35 PM ET) and the Tennessee Titans visit the New
England Patriots (CBS, 8:15 PM ET). Wild Card Weekend continues Sunday with the
Minnesota Vikings at the New Orleans Saints (FOX, 1:05 PM ET) and the Seattle
Seahawks traveling to face the Philadelphia Eagles (NBC, 4:40 PM ET).
The following week (January 11-12), the Baltimore
Ravens (Saturday, CBS, 8:15 PM ET) and Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday, CBS, 3:05 PM
ET) in the AFC and the Green Bay Packers (Sunday, FOX, 6:40 PM ET) and San
Francisco 49ers (Saturday, NBC, 4:35 PM ET) in the NFC host the Divisional
Playoffs. The Ravens and 49ers own home-field advantage for the Conference
Championship Games (January 19) if they win their Divisional contests.
The 2020 Pro Bowl (ESPN, with simulcast on ABC,
3:00 PM ET) will be played on Sunday, January 26, at Camping World Stadium in
Orlando, Florida, and Super Bowl LIV will take place on Sunday, February 2
(FOX, 6:30 PM ET), at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
TURNAROUND
TEAMS & CONSISTENT WINNERS HIGHLIGHT PLAYOFF FIELD
Six playoff teams – the BALTIMORE RAVENS (14-2), GREEN
BAY PACKERS (13-3), KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (12-4), NEW
ORLEANS SAINTS (13-3), NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (12-4)
and SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (13-3) – each won at least 12
regular-season games in 2019, tied with 2003 and 2011 for the most such
teams in a single postseason in NFL history.
The combined winning percentage of the 2019 playoff
field is .708 (136-56), the highest combined winning percentage among
postseason teams since 2005 (.719, 138-54).
There are five new playoff teams in 2019: BUFFALO, GREEN
BAY, MINNESOTA, SAN FRANCISCO and TENNESSEE.
Since 1990 – a streak of 30 consecutive
seasons – at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season
that were not in the postseason the year before.
The teams since 1990 to make the
playoffs a season after failing to qualify:
|
SEASON
|
PLAYOFF
TEAMS NOT IN PREVIOUS SEASON’S PLAYOFFS
|
|
1990
|
7
(Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles Raiders, Miami, New Orleans,
Washington)
|
|
1991
|
5
(Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, New York Jets)
|
|
1992
|
6
(Miami, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco)
|
|
1993
|
5
(Denver, Detroit, Green Bay, Los Angeles Raiders, New York Giants)
|
|
1994
|
5
(Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, New England, San Diego)
|
|
1995
|
4
(Atlanta, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Philadelphia)
|
|
1996
|
5
(Carolina, Denver, Jacksonville, Minnesota, New
England)
|
|
1997
|
5
(Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, New York Giants, Tampa Bay)
|
|
1998
|
5
(Arizona, Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas, New York Jets)
|
|
1999
|
7
(Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Washington)
|
|
2000
|
6
(Baltimore, Denver, New Orleans, New York Giants, Oakland, Philadelphia)
|
|
2001
|
6
(Chicago, Green Bay, New England, New York Jets, Pittsburgh, San Francisco)
|
|
2002
|
5
(Atlanta, Cleveland, Indianapolis, New York Giants, Tennessee)
|
|
2003
|
8
(Baltimore, Carolina, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, New England, St. Louis,
Seattle)
|
|
2004
|
5
(Atlanta, Minnesota, New York Jets, Pittsburgh, San Diego)
|
|
2005
|
7
(Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, New York Giants, Tampa Bay,
Washington)
|
|
2006
|
7
(Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, New Orleans, New York Jets, Philadelphia,
San Diego)
|
|
2007
|
6
(Green Bay, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Washington)
|
|
2008
|
7
(Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota, Philadelphia)
|
|
2009
|
6
(Cincinnati, Dallas, Green Bay, New England, New Orleans, New York Jets)
|
|
2010
|
5
(Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Seattle)
|
|
2011
|
6
(Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Houston, New York Giants, San Francisco)
|
|
2012
|
4
(Indianapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington)
|
|
2013
|
5
(Carolina, Kansas City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Diego)
|
|
2014
|
5
(Arizona, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Pittsburgh)
|
|
2015
|
4
(Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Washington)
|
|
2016
|
6
(Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, New York Giants, Oakland)
|
|
2017
|
8
(Buffalo, Carolina, Jacksonville, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota, New Orleans,
Philadelphia, Tennessee)
|
|
2018
|
7
(Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles Chargers,
Seattle)
|
|
2019
|
5
(Buffalo, Green Bay, Minnesota, San Francisco, Tennessee)
|
Two teams won division titles – Green Bay (NFC North) and San Francisco (NFC West) – after missing the playoffs last season. At least two teams have won their divisions the season after missing the playoffs in 16 of the past 17 years.
The divisions with new champions in
2019:
|
|
NFC
EAST
|
NFC
NORTH
|
NFC
WEST
|
|
2019
|
Philadelphia
|
Green
Bay
|
San
Francisco
|
|
2018
|
Dallas
|
Chicago
|
L.A.
Rams
|
In the 18 seasons since realignment in 2002, 29 of the 32 NFL teams have won a division title at least once. New England has won 11 consecutive AFC East division titles, the longest streak of division championships in league annals.
How the 2019 playoff teams have fared
in the 18 seasons since realignment in 2002 (2019 division winners in
bold/italics):
|
TEAM
|
DIVISION TITLES
|
PLAYOFF BERTHS
|
|
New
England
|
16
|
16
|
|
Green
Bay
|
10
|
13
|
|
Philadelphia
|
8
|
11
|
|
Seattle
|
8
|
13
|
|
Baltimore
|
6
|
10
|
|
Houston
|
6
|
6
|
|
Kansas
City
|
6
|
9
|
|
New
Orleans
|
6
|
8
|
|
Minnesota
|
4
|
7
|
|
San
Francisco
|
4
|
5
|
|
Tennessee
|
2
|
6
|
|
Buffalo
|
0
|
2
|
Six of this season’s 12 playoff teams have won at least one Super Bowl since 1999, capturing 12 of the past 20 Vince Lombardi Trophies. Those teams are the Patriots (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI, LIII), Ravens (XXXV, XLVII), Eagles (LII), Packers (XLV), Saints (XLIV) and Seahawks (XLVIII).
|
SUPER
BOWL
|
SEASON
|
WINNER
|
|
XXXIV
|
1999
|
St.
Louis Rams
|
|
XXXV
|
2000
|
Baltimore
Ravens*
|
|
XXXVI
|
2001
|
New
England Patriots*
|
|
XXXVII
|
2002
|
Tampa
Bay Buccaneers
|
|
XXXVIII
|
2003
|
New
England Patriots*
|
|
XXXIX
|
2004
|
New
England Patriots*
|
|
XL
|
2005
|
Pittsburgh
Steelers
|
|
XLI
|
2006
|
Indianapolis
Colts
|
|
XLII
|
2007
|
New
York Giants
|
|
XLIII
|
2008
|
Pittsburgh
Steelers
|
|
XLIV
|
2009
|
New
Orleans Saints*
|
|
XLV
|
2010
|
Green
Bay Packers*
|
|
XLVI
|
2011
|
New
York Giants
|
|
XLVII
|
2012
|
Baltimore
Ravens*
|
|
XLVIII
|
2013
|
Seattle
Seahawks*
|
|
XLIX
|
2014
|
New
England Patriots*
|
|
50
|
2015
|
Denver
Broncos
|
|
LI
|
2016
|
New
England Patriots*
|
|
LII
|
2017
|
Philadelphia
Eagles*
|
|
LIII
|
2018
|
New
England Patriots*
|
|
*In
2019 postseason
|
||
The New England Patriots (.649), Baltimore Ravens
(.625), Green Bay Packers (.607) and San Francisco 49ers (.600) have the four
highest postseason winning percentages in NFL history.
The 12 playoff teams and their
postseason records:
|
TEAM
|
WINS
|
LOSSES
|
PCT.
|
|
New
England Patriots
|
37
|
20
|
.649
|
|
Baltimore
Ravens
|
15
|
9
|
.625
|
|
Green
Bay Packers
|
34
|
22
|
.607
|
|
San
Francisco 49ers
|
30
|
20
|
.600
|
|
Philadelphia
Eagles
|
23
|
22
|
.511
|
|
Seattle
Seahawks
|
16
|
16
|
.500
|
|
Buffalo
Bills
|
14
|
16
|
.467
|
|
New
Orleans Saints
|
9
|
11
|
.450
|
|
Tennessee
Titans
|
15
|
20
|
.429
|
|
Minnesota
Vikings
|
20
|
29
|
.408
|
|
Houston
Texans
|
3
|
5
|
.375
|
|
Kansas
City Chiefs
|
10
|
19
|
.345
|
YOUTH & CONSISTENCY HIGHLIGHT THE PLAYOFF QUARTERBACKS
The 2019 postseason is filled with young stars on
the rise and veterans at the top of their game at the quarterback position.
Three quarterbacks – Buffalo’s JOSH ALLEN,
Philadelphia’s CARSON WENTZ and Tennessee’s RYAN
TANNEHILL – are expected to make their first career postseason starts
on Wild Card Weekend while San Francisco’s JIMMY GAROPPOLO, who has
a career 21-5 record as a starting quarterback, will make his
postseason debut in the NFC Divisional round.
New England quarterback TOM BRADY, who
has led the Patriots to 11 consecutive division titles and six Super Bowl
championships, is the postseason’s all-time leader in games played (40),
passing yards (11,179) and touchdown passes (73). Brady led New England to the
Super Bowl LIII title last season and will face off against Tannehill in the
AFC Wild Card round, who led the NFL with a 117.5 passer rating this season,
the fourth-highest single-season rating in NFL history.
New Orleans quarterback DREW BREES, a
veteran of 19 NFL seasons, will make his 16th postseason start in the NFC Wild
Card round after leading the league with a 74.3 completion percentage and
ranking second with a career-high 116.3 passer rating in 2019. Brees led the
Saints to the Super Bowl XLIV championship in 2009.
Minnesota quarterback KIRK COUSINS will
make his second career postseason start, and first with the Vikings, in the
Wild Card round. Cousins ranked fourth in the league with a 107.4 passer rating
in 2019 and is the only quarterback with at least 25 touchdown passes in each
of the past five seasons.
Baltimore quarterback LAMAR JACKSON,
who has led Baltimore to consecutive AFC North division titles, will make his
second career postseason start in the AFC Divisional playoffs. Jackson led the
league with 36 touchdown passes, ranked third with a 113.3 passer rating and
set the NFL’s single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,206)
in 2019.
Kansas City quarterback PATRICK MAHOMES will
make his third career postseason start in the AFC Divisional round. Since
becoming the Chiefs’ starting quarterback at the beginning of the 2018 season,
Mahomes leads the NFL with 76 touchdown passes and ranks third in both passing
yards (9,128) and passer rating (110).
Green Bay quarterback AARON RODGERS, in
his 15th season, will make his 17th career postseason start in the NFC
Divisional round. He has 36 career postseason touchdown passes and can become
the fifth quarterback in NFL history with at least 40 career postseason
touchdown passes. Rodgers led the Packers to the Super Bowl XLV title in
2010.
Houston quarterback DESHAUN WATSON will
make his second career postseason start after leading the Texans to
back-to-back AFC South division titles. Watson became the first quarterback to
have at least 25 touchdown passes and five rushing touchdowns in consecutive
seasons in NFL history. Watson will face Allen, who became the second-fastest
quarterback to reach 15 career rushing touchdowns (22 games) in league annals.
Seattle quarterback RUSSELL WILSON, who
has led Seattle to the playoffs in seven of his eight seasons, will be making
his 14th career postseason start on Wild Card Weekend. Wilson led Seattle to a
Super Bowl XLVIII championship in 2013 and a Super Bowl XLIX appearance in
2014. Wilson will square off against Wentz, who had a single-season
franchise-record 4,039 passing yards in 2019.
A by-the-numbers look at the 12
quarterbacks in the 2019 postseason:
|
2
|
Rookie or 2nd-year
|
Allen, BUF; Jackson, BAL
|
|
7
|
1st-round draft picks
|
Allen, BUF; Jackson, BAL; Mahomes, KC; Rodgers, GB; Tannehill, TEN;
Watson, HOU; Wentz, PHI
|
|
3
|
Drafted No. 75 overall or later, or undrafted
|
Brady, NE; Cousins, MIN; Wilson, SEA
|
|
4
|
Under the age of 25
|
Allen, BUF; Jackson, BAL; Mahomes, KC; Watson, HOU
|
|
6
|
Under the age of 31
|
Allen, BUF; Garoppolo, SF; Jackson, BAL; Mahomes, KC; Watson, HOU;
Wentz, PHI
|
|
3
|
Over the age of 34
|
Brady, NE; Brees, NO; Rodgers, GB
|
BEST NFL PLAYOFF
PERFORMANCES
(Single
postseason)
|
PASSING YARDS
|
||||||
|
PLAYER,
TEAM
|
SEASON
|
COMP.
|
ATT.
|
YARDS
|
TD
|
INT
|
|
Eli
Manning, New York Giants
|
2011
|
106
|
163
|
1,219
|
9
|
1
|
|
Kurt
WarnerHOF, Arizona
|
2008
|
92
|
135
|
1,147
|
11
|
3
|
|
Joe
Flacco, Baltimore
|
2012
|
73
|
126
|
1,140
|
11
|
0
|
|
Tom
Brady, New England
|
2016
|
93
|
142
|
1,137
|
7
|
3
|
|
Tom
Brady, New England
|
2017
|
89
|
139
|
1,132
|
8
|
0
|
|
RUSHING YARDS
|
|||||
|
PLAYER,
TEAM
|
SEASON
|
ATT.
|
YARDS
|
TD
|
|
|
John
RigginsHOF, Washington
|
1982
|
136
|
610
|
4
|
|
|
Terrell
DavisHOF, Denver
|
1997
|
112
|
581
|
8
|
|
|
Terrell
DavisHOF, Denver
|
1998
|
78
|
468
|
3
|
|
|
Marcus
AllenHOF, Los Angeles Raiders
|
1983
|
58
|
466
|
4
|
|
|
Eddie
George, Tennessee
|
1999
|
108
|
449
|
3
|
|
|
RECEIVING YARDS
|
|||||
|
PLAYER,
TEAM
|
SEASON
|
REC.
|
YARDS
|
TD
|
|
|
Larry
Fitzgerald, Arizona
|
2008
|
30
|
546
|
7
|
|
|
Hakeem
Nicks, New York Giants
|
2011
|
28
|
444
|
4
|
|
|
Jerry
RiceHOF, San Francisco
|
1988
|
21
|
409
|
6
|
|
|
Steve
Smith, Sr., Carolina
|
2003
|
18
|
404
|
3
|
|
|
Charlie
Brown, Washington
|
1983
|
14
|
401
|
1
|
|
|
RECEPTIONS
|
|||||
|
PLAYER,
TEAM
|
SEASON
|
REC.
|
YARDS
|
TD
|
|
|
Larry
Fitzgerald, Arizona
|
2008
|
30
|
546
|
7
|
|
|
Hakeem
Nicks, New York Giants
|
2011
|
28
|
444
|
4
|
|
|
Demaryius
Thomas, Denver
|
2013
|
28
|
306
|
3
|
|
|
Steve
Smith, Sr., Carolina
|
2005
|
27
|
335
|
3
|
|
|
Wes
Welker, New England
|
2007
|
27
|
213
|
2
|
|
|
SCRIMMAGE TOUCHDOWNS
|
|||||
|
PLAYER,
TEAM
|
SEASON
|
TOTAL TD
|
RUSH TD
|
REC. TD
|
|
|
Terrell
DavisHOF, Denver
|
1997
|
8
|
8
|
0
|
|
|
Larry
Fitzgerald, Arizona
|
2008
|
7
|
0
|
7
|
|
|
Larry
CsonkaHOF, Miami
|
1973
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
|
|
Franco
HarrisHOF, Pittsburgh
|
1974
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
|
|
Sony
Michel, New England
|
2018
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
|
|
John
RigginsHOF, Washington
|
1983
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
|
|
Jerry
RiceHOF, San Francisco
|
1988
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
|
|
Gerald
Riggs, Washington
|
1991
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
|
|
Ricky
Watters, San Francisco
|
1993
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
|
|
Emmitt
SmithHOF, Dallas
|
1995
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
|
(NFL Communications)
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