Wild Card Weekend Primer

FROM WILD CARD TO SUPER BOWL: Winners in the Wild Card round have won the Super Bowl eight times, including each of the past two seasons. At least one Super Bowl participant in six of the past seven years played a Wild Card game. 

 

The New York Giants won four playoff games last year to win Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Two seasons ago, the Green Bay Packers claimed four playoff victories to become the second No. 6 seed to win the Super Bowl. In 2008, the NFC No. 4 seed Arizona Cardinals won three postseason games for a berth in Super Bowl XLIII. 

 

Five years ago, the NFC No. 5 seed New York Giants won three road playoff games en route to a Super Bowl XLII victory. In 2006, AFC No. 3 seed Indianapolis won Super Bowl XLI. Seven 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
2010	Green Bay	Defeated Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV, 31-25
2011	New York Giants	Defeated New England in Super Bowl XLVI, 21-17

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

ROOKIE-QB RECORD: Three rookie quarterbacks projected to start this weekend – Indianapolis’ ANDREW LUCK (11), Seattle’s RUSSELL WILSON (11) and Washington’s ROBERT GRIFFIN III (nine) – led their team to the playoffs with a combined 31 wins as starters, compiling eight more victories than the league-wide rookie record entering the season (23 in 2011). Starting rookie QBs won 46 games in 2012.

Wild Card Weekend in 2012 will feature the most rookie quarterbacks starting a postseason game since 1966 (two in 2011; two in 2008). All three starters could become the sixth rookie quarterback to win his first playoff game, and at least one is guaranteed to join the ranks.

On Sunday, the AFC No. 5 seed Colts (11-5) visit the No. 4 seed Ravens (10-6), while the NFC No. 4 seed Redskins (10-6) host the No. 5 seed Seahawks (11-5). The Seattle-Washington contest will be the second playoff game in NFL history and in as many seasons with two rookie quarterbacks starting against each. Last year, T.J. YATES led the Texans to a 31-10 victory over ANDY DALTON and the Bengals in the Wild Card round.

With Luck (No. 1 overall) and Griffin (No. 2 overall) qualifying, the 2012 postseason is the first to feature the top-two picks from the most recent draft since 1983 when Pro Football Hall of Famers JOHN ELWAY(with Denver, No. 1 overall by the Baltimore Colts) and ERIC DICKERSON (No. 2 overall by the Los Angeles Rams) reached the playoffs. It will also be only the second time since the advent of the common draft in 1967 that the first two teams to select quarterbacks in that year’s draft reached the postseason (2008: MATT RYAN, No. 3 overall by Atlanta; JOE FLACCO, No. 18 overall by Baltimore). 

The 11 rookie quarterbacks to start a playoff game (since 1966):

QUARTERBACK	SEASON	TEAM	FIRST START RESULT	PLAYOFF RESULT
Dan Marino	1983	Miami	Lost 27-20 vs. Seattle	Advanced to Divisional
Bernie Kosar	1985	Cleveland	Lost 24-21 at Miami	Advanced to Divisional
Jim Everett	1986	L.A. Rams	Lost 19-7 at Washington	Advanced to Wild Card
Todd Marinovich	1991	L.A. Raiders	Lost 10-6 at Kansas City	Advanced to Wild Card
Shaun King	1999	Tampa Bay	Won 14-13 vs. Washington	Advanced to NFC Championship
Ben Roethlisberger	2004	Pittsburgh	Won 20-17 vs. NY Jets (OT)	Advanced to AFC Championship
Joe Flacco	2008	Baltimore	Won 27-9 at Miami	Advanced to AFC Championship
Matt Ryan	2008	Atlanta	Lost 30-24 at Arizona	Advanced to Wild Card
Mark Sanchez	2009	N.Y. Jets	Won 24-14 at Cincinnati	Advanced to AFC Championship
Andy Dalton	2011	Cincinnati	Lost 31-10 at Houston	Advanced to Wild Card
T.J. Yates	2011	Houston	Won 31-10 vs. Cincinnati	Advanced to Divisional
Robert Griffin III	2012	Washington	???	???
Andrew Luck	2012	Indianapolis	???	???
Russell Wilson	2012	Seattle	???	???

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

FIRST-TIMERS:  Five quarterbacks – Washington’s ROBERT GRIFFIN III, Indianapolis’ ANDREW LUCK, Minnesota’s CHRISTIAN PONDER, Houston’s MATT SCHAUB and Seattle’s RUSSELL WILSON – will make their first career postseason starts during Wild Card Weekend.

The players with the most passing yards in their first career postseason start:

PLAYER	TEAM	DATE	ROUND	PASSING YARDS
Kelly Holcomb	Cleveland	1/5/2003	Wild Card	429
Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay	1/10/2010	Wild Card	423
Randall Cunningham	Philadelphia	12/31/1988	Divisional	407
Kurt Warner	St. Louis	1/16/2000	Divisional	391
Neil Lomax	St. Louis	1/8/1983	Wild Card	385

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

NFC NORTHERN EXPOSURE: This Saturday, the GREEN BAY PACKERS (11-5) host the NFC North rival MINNESOTA VIKINGS (10-6) in the third game between the clubs this year. During the regular season, the home team won both contests, with the Vikings kicking a field goal as time expired to earn a 37-34 victory in Week 17 and a Wild Card berth.

While the division foes meet in the playoffs for only the second time (2004 Wild Card), both have frequented the NFL’s second season as the Packers (46) and Vikings (45) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, for most postseason games all-time.

With a 29-17 record, Green Bay also owns the league’s top postseason winning percentage (.630) and can become the third team in league annals (DALLAS, 33; PITTSBURGH 33) with 30 playoff victories. 

The Packers are led by quarterback AARON RODGERS, who finished the season with the league’s top passer rating (108.0) and possesses the highest passer rating (105.5) in NFL postseason history. Rodgers has passed for more yards (2,840) and touchdowns (24) against Minnesota than any other opponent.

Vikings running back ADRIAN PETERSON, who rushed for 199 yards and two touchdowns last week and tied Pro Football Hall of Famer EARL CAMPBELL (1980) for the most 150-yard games (seven) in a season in league history, registered 2,097 rushing yards in 2012, the second-most in a season in NFL history (Pro Football Hall of Famer ERIC DICKERSON, 2,105 in 1984). In 12 career games against Green Bay, Peterson has 1,442 rushing yards (120.2 per game), his most against any opponent.

The NFL’s all-time top playoff teams by wins, games played and winning percentage:

MOST PLAYOFF WINS			MOST PLAYOFF GAMES			BEST PLAYOFF WINNING PERCENTAGES
Dallas	33		Dallas	58		Green Bay*	29	17	.630
Pittsburgh	33		Pittsburgh	54		Pittsburgh	33	21	.611
Green Bay*	29		NY Giants	48		Carolina	6	4	.600
San Francisco	26		Green Bay*	46		San Francisco	26	18	.591
Oakland	25		Minnesota*	45		New England	23	16	.590
*2012 Wild Card participant			*2012 Wild Card participant			*2012 Wild Card participant

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

WINTER WAYNE: Colts wide receiver REGGIE WAYNE posted 106 receptions in 2012 and his fourth career 100-catch season, tied for the second-most in league history.

With at least six catches at Baltimore, Wayne (83 receptions) can move into second on the all-time postseason receptions list, surpassing ANDRE REED (85), Pro Football Hall of Famer MICHAEL IRVIN (87) andHINES WARD (88). Pro Football Hall of Famer JERRY RICE holds the record with 151 receptions.

The players with the most receptions in the postseason all-time:

PLAYER	TEAM(S)	RECEPTIONS
Jerry Rice	San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle	151
Hines Ward	Pittsburgh	88
Michael Irvin	Dallas	87
Andre Reed	Buffalo	85
Reggie Wayne*	Indianapolis	83
*Active

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

RELIABLE RAVENS: Sunday afternoon, Baltimore quarterback JOE FLACCO will become the first quarterback to start a postseason game in each of his first five seasons during the Super Bowl era. Flacco (5-4) won at least one playoff game in each of his first four years. 

With one interception on Wild Card Weekend, safety ED REED (eight) would tie Pro Football Hall of Famer RONNIE LOTT (nine), BILL SIMPSON (nine) and CHARLIE WATERS (nine) for the most postseason interceptions in league annals.   

The players with the most interceptions in the postseason all-time:

PLAYER	TEAM(S)	INTs
Ronnie Lott	San Francisco, L.A. Raiders	9
Bill Simpson	L.A. Rams, Buffalo	9
Charlie Waters	Dallas	9
Lester Hayes	Oakland/L.A. Raiders	8
Ed Reed*	Baltimore	8
*Active

 (From NFL Media)

This And That

Its been a while. Where do I start? Lets go with the news of the day and Craig Dickenson leaving the Saskatchewan Roughriders. From what I am hearing, Corey Chamblin wanted Dickenson to be back at a certain time and Dickenson said he couldn't do that because of his off-season job in Montana. If Chamblin wants his coaching staff here to get a head start into 2013, I have no problem with that. Dickenson was unwilling to change his schedule and I'm OK with that too. I'm surprised the two couldn't come to some kind of amicable decision seeing it was only a month. If Dickenson called Chamblin's bluff, so be it. At the end of the day, coaches come and coaches go. Its a loss to lose Dickenson, but I'm sure Chamblin will find someone of Dickenson's quality or higher to replace him. Those thinking there is something more to this are just trying to stir the pot.

A lot of people are wondering why the Riders haven't made any headlines regarding player signings when other teams have made some already. Relax! From what I have heard, the team has come to new agreements with a couple of pending free agents but have just chosen not to release it yet. We are still over a month until free agency. I know some of you wait on pins and needles for some little nugget of information. It will come!

In one of his legendary "Robservations" columns late last year, the rumpled scribe and my good friend Rob Vanstone proclaimed "Canada will win Gold" at the World Juniors. That should have been the kiss of death. I told Kelly Remple before a "Sportscage" and I may even have mentioned it on the air that I didn't think this Canadian team was as good as people thought and that winning a medal would be tough. Its easy to say I told you so now, but there are some reasons why Canada didn't win.

       1) They played like crap against the Americans. You could see they just didn't have it from the drop of the puck. The 4-1 score flattered them.

       2) It might be a biased statement because I am from the West, but there weren't enough WHL kids on this team. There is no better developmental league in the world than the WHL. I just think that not having guys like Ryan Murray (injured), Derrick Pouliot, Laurent Brossoit and Mat Dumba weakened our lineup somewhat.

       3) I'm not saying he guarantees you victory, but Brent Sutter seemed to get the most out of his lineup when he was behind the bench. Sutter needs to return to the Canadian bench a-s-a-p.

      4) Goaltending--I can't criticize Malcolm Subban for his play, but he didn't steal games or keep his team in games the way John Gibson did for the U-S or the Russian kid did---especially in the Switzerland games. This country hasn't had a decent goaltender since Carey Price patrolled the pipes. I'll say it once and I'll say it again...we produce forwards and defence of all star calibre in this country, but we are weak when it comes to goaltending.  That must change!

     5) This tournament is no longer the cakewalk it used to be. The junior game is just getting better and better and better on the world stage and this tournament has proven that. Canada won't win just for showing up anymore. Is a summit needed? No it isn't, but Hockey Canada and the Canadian populace that gets so drawn into this tournament by TSN must realize that the guarantee of our kids singing O'Canada when its all over is gone.

Speaking of TSN, they have once again done an outstanding job of bringing this event into our living room, but as I said before, I wish we could have seen the pool with the Swedes, Switzerland, Finland and the Czechs instead of being shut out until the medal round. It looked to me as if Switzerland had a pretty good squad again while the defending champs look to be the best team in the event if their effort against Russia was any indication.

After seeing his antics and his play at this event, I remain skeptical about Nail Yakupov and the Oilers. The guy looks like a head-case to me. Edmonton would have been better off taking Ryan Murray or Griffin Reinhart. I hope I'm wrong with that assessment.

Its a shame that all the SJHL could give on the release (firing) of Dwight McMillan was a simple five line statement on their website. The guy is a coaching legend and deserved a lot more than that. A lot more! There were some suggestions that the game had passed him by. I guess those that said that forgot that he got his team to the league final last year before bowing to a very talented Humboldt team and that his team bowed out after their best player was suspended in what was a very questionable and controversial decision.  Humboldt still likely wins that series, but that action cemented it.

The Lingerie Football League has a big announcement scheduled for January 9. It is said to include a logo change and perhaps an equipment change as well as some other things. What will this mean for the Regina Rage and Saskatoon Sirens? I think its safe to say the league won fans over in the two cities.

If you didn't see what South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney did New Years Day against Michigan, check this out. This might be the best ever play I've seen by a defensive player.



Unbelievable!!

There is nothing better on New Years Day than laying on the couch and watching football game after football game after football game.

The NFL playoffs go this weekend. I am taking two road teams and two home teams. The Seahawks will beat the Redskins. They have a better all-around team.  The Bengals will upset a Houston team that is really imploding. Green Bay will have problems with Minnesota, but they will have enough to beat the Vikings and Indianapolis' youth will catch up to them as they will lose to Baltimore.

The Cowboys had a chance to make the playoffs, but Tony Romo became Tony Romo again by throwing three interceptions. The guy just can't get it done when it matters the most. I know there are Romo fans out there and I applaud them for their devotion to the guy, but his performance against the Redskins---especially his last interception just proved again that Romo can't win the big game. I really believe the Cowboys would go a lot farther if they had someone like Flacco, Stafford or Rivers in charge. There are a lot of good young quarterbacks coming up in this year's draft. It would behoove the Cowboys to take one of them and let Tony walk when his contract comes up at the end of 2013.

Why is it everytime you think there is some sense of optimism in the NHL talks, you get a swift kick in the you know where. I just can't see there being NHL hockey this year and if that happens, the sport will never, ever be the same.

Did you have a New Year's resolution? Have you broken it yet or are you still going?

Looking forward to seeing the Pats play Medicine Hat tonight. If this team is healthy, they can play it would seem like with the best of them. That being said, I still think it might serve the organization well if some trades were made to help the defensive corps and perhaps give Morgan Klimchuk and Chandler Stephenson another weapon to work with next year. I'm guessing Chad Lang is having some sleepless nights. Can you blame him?

The old 96er is back after a couple of weeks away so he will make his first appearance in the Sportscage for 2013 tomorrow when he joins me for 'Four Seasons Football Friday". I'm guessing it will be 90 minutes of fun. Talk to ya then!