FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-188              1/2/03

“SUPER SEASON” KICKS OFF

The NFL playoffs begin on Saturday and Sunday, January 4-5, with Wild Card Weekend.  On Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts play at the New York Jets and the Atlanta Falcons visit the Green Bay Packers.  On Sunday, Wild Card Weekend continues with the Cleveland Browns at the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants at the San Francisco 49ers.

The following week, the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans in the AFC and Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC host the Divisional Playoff games.  The Raiders and Eagles own home field advantage for the Conference Championship Games if they win their Divisional games.  The conference champions advance to Super Bowl XXXVII at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California on January 26.

ALL-TIME PLAYOFFS

The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders will pass the Minnesota Vikings (40) for the second-most playoff games played by one franchise (41) this postseason.  Dallas holds the record with 53 playoff games played.

The 49ers already rank second in most victories in playoff history with 24.  Green Bay and Oakland are tied for third place with 23 victories apiece.

The Giants are participating in their 26th NFL playoffs, which ties them with Dallas for the all-time record.  The Cleveland Browns are taking part in their 24th  NFL postseason, fourth-most in history.

The Baltimore Ravens have the best playoff winning percentage in NFL history at .833.  The Packers are second at .676.

Following is a list of this year’s 12 playoff teams and their postseason records:

HOME SWEET HOME: The Atlanta Falcons have a daunting task ahead of them when they travel to Lambeau Field to face the Packers on Saturday.

Green Bay has never lost a home playoff game…ever!  The Pack is 13-0 at home all-time in the postseason and 11-0 at Lambeau Field.  Following is a chart of their home playoff games:

*Renamed Lambeau Field in 1965

The Packers are also the only NFL club to finish the 2002 season with a perfect 8-0 record at home.  Following are the teams (since 1995) to finish with 8-0 records at home and their final season result:

WORKING OVERTIME:  The 2002 season saw NFL clubs working overtime like never before, as a record 25 games went to overtime, surpassing the previous high of 21 in 1995.  The record for most playoff overtime games in a season is two (1986) and the Cleveland Browns played in both games – both at home.  After a thrilling come-from-behind double-overtime 23-20 AFC Divisional Playoff victory over the New York Jets, Cleveland fell to the Denver Broncos 23-20 (OT) in the AFC Championship Game one week later.

The Atlanta Falcons lead all playoff clubs and tied for the NFL high with San Diego with four overtime games this season.  A look at the 2002 playoff field’s overtime fortunes this season:

TITLETOWN, USA:  The Green Bay Packers are no strangers to playoff success, and with 12 NFL championships, are the top team when it comes to league titles – hence Green Bay’s moniker “Titletown.”

Following is a list of the NFL championships won by each of the 2002 playoff teams:

HEAD COACHES

FRESHMAN GLORY:  Rookie head coach BILL CALLAHAN of the Oakland Raiders will attempt to join DON

MC CAFFERTY (Super Bowl V) and GEORGE SEIFERT (XXIV) as the only rookie head coaches to take their teams to Super Bowl titles.  He is the 11th coach since 1990 to lead his team to the playoffs in his inaugural coaching year.  Atlanta’s DAN REEVES leads the current crops of playoff coaches with 10 victories. 

A look at the 2002 playoff head coaches and their winning percentages:

PLAYERS

Following are players who hold or are pursuing playoff records and milestones this year:

• New York Giants quarterback KERRY COLLINS passed for five touchdowns in the Giants 41-0 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the 2000 NFC Championship game, one shy of the NFL record shared by Oakland’s DARYLE LAMONICA and San Francisco’s STEVE YOUNG.  Collins’ feat has been equaled by only four other players in NFL history.
   
• Tennessee quarterback STEVE MC NAIR owns the NFL’s second lowest career interception percentage in the playoffs with a 1.96 mark, throwing only three interceptions out of 153 attempts in his five career playoff games (minimum: 150 attempts).
   
• Green Bay Packers quarterback BRETT FAVRE has passed for a touchdown in 12 consecutive playoff games, and with one TD pass against Atlanta will tie DAN MARINO’s NFL record of 13.  Favre has 29 career postseason touchdown passes and needs two to pass TERRY BRADSHAW (30) and four to pass Marino (32) in second all-time (JOE MONTANA, 45).  Favre has 3,940 career playoff passing yards and needs 60 to become the fourth player in NFL postseason history with 4,000.
   
• Oakland wide receiver JERRY RICE is the all-time career playoff leader with 137 receptions; 2,042 receiving yards; and 20 receiving TDs.  He is the all-time leader with a catch in 25 consecutive playoff games (active) and owns the playoff record for most 100-yard receiving games (8).  Rice is tied with TOM FEARS and RANDY MOSS for the most consecutive 100-yard playoff games with three (not active).  He has the most three-TD playoff games in history with three.  His 215 receiving yards vs. Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXIII are the third most in playoff history.  Rice’s 120 career playoff points are the third most in NFL history.  He has two 11-catch games which tie for third-most in playoff history.  His four consecutive games with a TD reception ties for third-most in history (not active).  He needs one touchdown to tie THURMAN THOMAS and EMMITT SMITH for the most career postseason TDs with 21.
   
• Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver ANTONIO FREEMAN has 10 career playoff touchdown receptions and needs one to pass FRED BILETNIKOFF in third-place all-time.  Oakland’s JERRY RICE is first in NFL playoff history with 20.  Freeman has also caught a touchdown pass in five consecutive playoff games and needs one in his next game to pass JAMES LOFTON and RANDY MOSS in second all-time in the category, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer JOHN STALLWORTH with eight.
   
• Philadelphia return specialist BRIAN MITCHELL has the longest kick return in playoff history, 100 yards for a touchdown against Tampa Bay in the 1999 Divisional Playoff game as a member of the Washington Redskins.  Mitchell ranks second all-time with 28 career punt returns and needs five to pass DAVID MEGGETT (34) in first.  He also ranks second all-time with 301 punt-return yards and needs 12 to pass Meggett (312) for first place.  With one kickoff return, Mitchell will pass KEVIN WILLIAMS (31) in first-place all-time.  He is already tops in playoff history with 741 kick return yards.
   
• Tampa Bay defensive tackle WARREN SAPP is tied with 16 other players for the second-most sacks in a playoff game with 3.0. The record is 3.5 by RICH MILOT (1984) and RICHARD DENT (1985).
   
• New York Jets running back CURTIS MARTIN has the fourth longest run from scrimmage in playoff history -- 78 yards against Pittsburgh in the 1996 Divisional Playoff game as a member of the New England Patriots. His three rushing TDs in that game tie for the second most rushing TDs in a game in playoff history.  Martin has scored a rushing TD in five of his past six playoff games.  He has recorded the second-most carries in a single playoff game with 42 vs. Jacksonville in a 1998 Divisional.
   
• Oakland running back ZACK CROCKETT posted the third highest single-game average gain per carry with the Indianapolis Colts with an 11.31 mark, gaining 147 yards on 13 carries in a 1995 Wild Card game against San Diego (minimum: 10 carries).
   
• Oakland cornerback TORY JAMES is tied for the third-most interception-return yards in a single playoff game with 98 against Miami in a 2000 Divisional game.
   
• KEVIN DYSON and DERRICK MASON of Tennessee are two of 17 players in NFL playoff history to return a kickoff for a touchdown: Dyson in a 1999 Divisional vs. Buffalo, and Mason in a 1999 AFC Championship vs. Jacksonville.
   
• Oakland defensive end TRACE ARMSTRONG is tied with 16 players for the second-most sacks recorded in a single playoff game with 3.0.  Armstrong recorded 3.0 sacks with Miami against Seattle in a 1999 Wild Card.

ROOKIE RUSHERS: WILLIAM GREEN of the Cleveland Browns rushed for 887 yards in 2002, second in the NFL among rookies.  Now, Green takes aim at the most prolific postseasons by rookie rushers.  Following are the top rookie rushing playoff performances in a game and an entire postseason:

ROOKIE PASS CATCHERS:  New York Giants tight end JEREMY SHOCKEY led all NFL rookies with 74 receptions for 894 yards.  He will now join receivers ANDRE’ DAVIS of Cleveland, DOUG JOLLEY of Oakland and ANTWAAN RANDLE EL of Pittsburgh in taking aim at some of the most prolific rookie postseasons in NFL history.

Following are the top rookie receiving playoff performances in a game and an entire postseason:

FIRST-GAME JITTERS:  Quarterbacks CHAD PENNINGTON of the New York Jets, KELLY HOLCOMB of Cleveland and TOMMY MADDOX of Pittsburgh have all experienced success in 2002 and hope to extend it deep into the playoffs.  In the NFC, Atlanta’s MICHAEL VICK has been responsible for some of the NFL’s most exciting plays of the season.  All four quarterbacks will make their playoff debuts this year.  Following are the top five passing-yardage totals in a quarterback’s first career playoff game (since 1970):

STRAHAN THE SACKER: New York Giants defensive end MICHAEL STRAHAN finished 2002 with 11.0 sacks, his fourth career 10.0-sack season.  Strahan has also enjoyed playoff success in hampering opposing quarterbacks, recording at least 1.0 sack in his past four postseason games.  With a sack against the 49ers this weekend, Strahan will become the third player in NFL history with sacks in five consecutive playoff games.  A look at the all-time leaders:

BEST NFL PLAYOFF PERFORMANCES

(Single postseason)

SUPER BOWL LIVES UP TO ITS NAME

The New England Patriots’ thrilling 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI will long be remembered as one of the most exciting games in NFL history. 

In five of the past seven Super Bowls, the games have been highly competitive.  Over that span, both teams have been within seven points or less of each other at some point in the second half.

Super Bowl XXX, between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, was the first in a string of super-competitive Super Bowls that have produced some of the championship’s most memorable games and moments.  Following is a rundown of the past seven Super Bowls: