FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-170             1/5/05

“SUPER SEASON” KICKS OFF

The NFL playoffs begin on Saturday and Sunday, January 8-9, with Wild Card Weekend.  On Saturday, the St. Louis Rams play at the Seattle Seahawks and the New York Jets visit the San Diego Chargers.  Wild Card Weekend continues Sunday with the Denver Broncos at the Indianapolis Colts and the Minnesota Vikings at the Green Bay Packers.

The following week, the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC and Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC host the Divisional Playoffs.  The Steelers and Eagles own homefield advantage for the Conference Championship Games (January 23) if they win their Divisional games.  The conference champions advance to Super Bowl XXXIX at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on February 6.

A CONSISTENTLY GOOD PLAYOFF FIELD

Six of the past eight Super Bowl champions have returned to the playoffs this year and are among the 12 clubs vying to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy on February 6.  Those teams are: Denver (twice), Green Bay, New England (twice) and St. Louis.  

Of the 16 Super Bowl berths in the past eight seasons, 10 have gone to teams in the current playoff field, as Atlanta made its first trip to the NFL championship game following a 14-2 season in 1998.

Most of the 2004 playoff teams have had consistently strong cumulative won-loss records in recent years, including six teams that have averaged 10 wins a season for the past five years – Philadelphia (59-21), Pittsburgh (53-26-1), Green Bay (53-27), New England (53-27), St. Louis (51-19) and Indianapolis (50-30).

ALL-TIME PLAYOFFS

The St. Louis Rams this year will participate in the playoffs for the 27th time, passing the New York Giants (26) and tying the Dallas Cowboys (27) for the most playoff seasons in NFL history.

The Rams have taken part in 41 playoff games and will tie the San Francisco 49ers (42) for the third most all-time.  The Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers have each participated in 40 playoff games.  The Dallas Cowboys have played in a record 54 playoff games, followed by the Oakland Raiders’ 43.   

The Green Bay Packers have 24 playoff victories, the most among 2004 playoff participants.  Green Bay needs one win to tie the Raiders (25) and 49ers (25) for the second most all-time.  The Cowboys are the NFL leaders with 32 playoff victories.

The Baltimore Ravens have the best playoff winning percentage all-time at .714 (5-2) followed by the Carolina Panthers at .667 (4-2) and the Packers at .649 (24-13).

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

 

HOME SWEET HOME…MAYBE:  While homefield advantage throughout the playoffs is a coveted prize, it has been no guarantee of a trip to the Super Bowl.  And like so much about the NFL, an unpredictable result is seemingly the only predictable outcome
Since the NFL adopted the 12-team playoff format in 1990, only 14 of 28 (50 percent) No. 1 seeds have advanced to the Super Bowl with eight No. 1s being crowned NFL champions.

This year’s No. 1 seeds, the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers, will look to improve on that record.  For the first time since homefield advantage was instituted in 1975, two teams from the same state earned the honor.   

A look at how the No. 1 seeds have fared since 1990:

OT & PLAYOFFS – WINNING COMBINATION:  Overtime games and the playoffs have gone hand-in-hand for several years, with thrilling football the certain conclusion.

The NFL playoffs have featured at least one overtime game in four postseasons in a row, the longest such consecutive streak in history.  The 2003 playoffs featured three such games, including a pair involving the Green Bay Packers – a 33-27 win over Seattle in the Wild Card round followed by a 20-17 setback in the Divisional Playoffs against Philadelphia.

A look at NFL overtime playoff games since 2000:

Season	Round	Teams	Game-Winning Score
2000	WC	Miami 23, Indianapolis 17	RB Lamar Smith scores on 17-yard TD run.
2001	Div.	New England 16, Oakland 13	K Adam Vinatieri connects on 23-yard FG.
2002	Div.	Tennessee 34, Pittsburgh 31	K Joe Nedney wins it with 26-yard FG.
2003	WC	Green Bay 33, Seattle 27	CB Al Harris returns INT 52 yards for TD.
2003	Div.	Carolina 29, St. Louis 23 (2 OT)	QB Jake Delhomme connects with WR Steve Smith on 69-yard TD.
2003	Div.	Philadelphia 20, Green Bay 17	K David Akers wins game with 31-yard FG.

An overtime history of the 2004 playoff participants:

STREAK-BUILDERS:  The Pittsburgh Steelers completed the regular season with 14 consecutive victories as the team posted a franchise-best 15-1 record and earned homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.  Pittsburgh’s 14-game winning streak ties the longest in NFL history within a regular season, tying the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who were 14-0. 

Longest winning streaks in a single regular season:

TEAM	YEAR	WINS	SEASON RESULT
Miami Dolphins	1972	14	Won Super Bowl VII
Pittsburgh Steelers	2004	14	???
Denver Broncos	1998	13	Won Super Bowl XXXIII
Chicago Bears	1985	12	Won Super Bowl XX
New England Patriots	2003	12	Won Super Bowl XXXVIII
Many tied with 11	---	---	---

TITLETOWN, USA:  The Green Bay Packers are no strangers to playoff success.  With 12 NFL championships, they 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 2004 playoff teams:

RUSHING TO THE PLAYOFFS:  One thing the majority of the playoff field has in common is the ability to run the ball.

Eight of the 12 playoff teams finished 2004 in the top 10 in rushing -- Atlanta (1; 167.0), Pittsburgh (2; 154.0), New York Jets (3; 149.3), Denver (4; 145.8), San Diego (6; 136.6), New England (7; 133.4), Seattle (8; 130.9,) and Green Bay (10; 119.3).

The postseason field also boasts the NFL’s top four rushers – New York’s CURTIS MARTIN (1,697), Seattle’s SHAUN ALEXANDER (1,696), New England’s COREY DILLON (1,635) and Indianapolis’ EDGERRIN JAMES (1,548).

Martin, the oldest rushing champion in NFL history at 31, has given the Jets a 1,000-yard rusher in nine consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in the NFL. 

A look at the top five clubs with the most consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons:

 

THE HEAD COACHES

COWHER POWER:  Pittsburgh’s BILL COWHER has now led the Steelers to eight division titles in his 13 seasons as head coach, making him one of only five head coaches since 1970 to win eight or more division championships. 

The NFL head coaches with the most division titles since 1970:

COACH	SEASONS AS COACH	DIVISION TITLES	DIVISION TITLE PCT.
Don Shula *	26	11	.423
Bud Grant *	15	9	.600
Tom Landry *	19	9	.474
Chuck Noll *	22	9	.409
BILL COWHER	13	8	.615

 

                    *Enshrined in Pro Football Hall of Fame

PLAYOFF TICKETS:  By virtue of his team’s 2004 AFC West Division championship, the San Diego Chargers’ MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER is one of five head coaches in NFL history to lead three or more franchises to postseason play.  This season marks the 12th playoff berth earned by Schottenheimer in his 19 years as an NFL head coach.

The NFL head coaches who have guided three or more teams to the playoffs:

COACH	NO. TEAMS TO PLAYOFFS	TEAMS
Bill Parcells	4	N.Y. Giants, New England, N.Y. Jets, Dallas
Chuck Knox	3	L.A. Rams, Buffalo, Seattle
Dan Reeves	3	Denver, N.Y. Giants, Atlanta
MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER	3	Cleveland, Kansas City, San Diego
Dick Vermeil	3	Philadelphia, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City

SUPER CONNECTION:  With a Super Bowl victory, Indianapolis head coach TONY DUNGY can add his name to a distinguished list of head coaches who won a Super Bowl as both a coach and player, joining MIKE DITKA and TOM FLORES. 

The coaches who won a Super Bowl as both a head coach and player:

	WON AS PLAYER	WON AS COACH
Mike Ditka	Super Bowl VI (Dallas over Miami)	Super Bowl XX (Chicago over New England)
Tom Flores	Super Bowl IV (Kansas City over Minnesota)	Super Bowl XV (Oakland over Philadelphia) Super Bowl XVIII (L.A. Raiders over Washington)
TONY DUNGY	Super Bowl XIII (Pittsburgh over Dallas)	???

FRESHMAN GLORY:  Head coach JIM MORA of the Atlanta Falcons will attempt to join DON MC CAFFERTY (Super Bowl V) and GEORGE SEIFERT (XXIV) as the only rookie head coaches to lead their teams to a Super Bowl title.  Mora is the 12th coach since 1990 to take his team to the playoffs in his inaugural head-coaching year.  Seattle’s MIKE HOLMGREN leads the current crop of playoff coaches with nine postseason victories. 

The 2004 playoff head coaches and their winning percentages:

 

THE PLAYERS

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

·        Seattle Seahawks wide receiver JERRY RICE will extend his NFL record for most career playoff games when he participates in his first as a member of the Seattle Seahawks.  Rice has played in 28 games with the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders, one more than Dallas linebacker D.D. LEWIS (27).

·        Rice is the NFL’s all-time leader with 22 playoff touchdowns, one more than running backs THURMAN THOMAS and EMMITT SMITH.  With 132 career points, Rice seeks to gain on kicker GARY ANDERSON, whose 153 points are the most in NFL postseason history.

·        Rice has 151 career playoff receptions for 2,245 yards – the most in NFL history – and 64 and 930 more than MICHAEL IRVIN, who holds second place in both categories with 87 catches and 1,315 yards.

·        Green Bay quarterback BRETT FAVRE has 33 career playoff touchdown passes, second most all-time.  With two more, he will join career leader JOE MONTANA (45) as the only players in NFL history with 35 career postseason touchdown passes.  Favre has thrown a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive playoff games, the longest streak all-time.  DAN MARINO ranks second with 13.

·        Favre has passed for 4,686 yards and needs 279 to surpass JOHN ELWAY (4,964) for second most in NFL history and 314 to join Montana (5,772) as the only players with 5,000 career playoff passing yards. 

·        Favre has completed 379 playoff passes and needs seven to pass DAN MARINO (385) for second most all-time, and 21 to join JOE MONTANA (460) as the only players in NFL history with 400 playoff completions.

·        Seattle running back SHAUN ALEXANDER scored three touchdowns in his last playoff game, a 33-27 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers in a 2003 Wild Card game.  Alexander aims to become the first player in NFL history with consecutive three-touchdown playoff games.

·        St. Louis wide receiver ISAAC BRUCE has 100-yard receiving games in four of his eight career playoff contests.  With 100 yards on Saturday against Seattle, Bruce will become the fifth player in NFL history with five playoff 100-yard games, joining Rice (8), Irvin (6), JOHN STALLWORTH (5) and ANDRE REED (5).

·        St. Louis running back MARSHALL FAULK has been proficient not only as a rusher, but a receiver in his playoff career, posting 46 receptions for 476 yards.  With four catches and 24 yards, Faulk will become the sixth running back in NFL postseason history with 50 receptions and 500 yards.  THURMAN THOMAS is the all-time running back leader in both categories with 76 catches and 672 yards.

·        Seattle linebacker CHAD BROWN is tied with 17 other players for the third most sacks in a playoff game with 3.0. The record is 3.5 by RICH MILOT (1984) and RICHARD DENT (1985).  Brown had 3.0 sacks for the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 1996 Wild Card game against the Indianapolis Colts.

·        Kickers MORTEN ANDERSEN of Minnesota and ADAM VINATIERI of New England have a field goal in nine consecutive playoff games.  With one more, they will move into second place all-time, breaking their tie with KEVIN BUTLER, SCOTT NORWOOD and AL DEL GRECO (all with 9).  TONI FRITSCH had at least one field goal in 13 consecutive playoff games with Dallas and Houston from 1972-79.  Philadelphia’s DAVID AKERS has a field goal in eight consecutive playoff games.

·        New England quarterback TOM BRADY is the only player in NFL postseason history to complete at least 32 passes in two career playoff games.  Brady completed 32 passes in both New England’s 2001 Divisional Playoff against Oakland and last season in Super Bowl XXXVIII against Carolina.  Thirty-two completions ties for the third greatest completion total in NFL postseason history.

·        In last season’s Wild Card game against Denver, Indianapolis quarterback PEYTON MANNING posted the third highest completion percentage in postseason history among all players with at least 15 attempts.  Manning completed 22 of 26 passes for an 84.6 completion percentage.

·        New York Jets running back CURTIS MARTIN scored three touchdowns in a 1996 AFC Divisional Playoff for New England in a 28-3 victory over Pittsburgh.  Martin aims to become the second player in league history to score three or more touchdowns in each of two playoff games.  Wide receiver Jerry Rice has scored three touchdowns in three playoff games (1988, 1989 & 1994).

·        Martin also owns the fourth longest run from scrimmage in NFL playoff history, a 78-yard run for a touchdown in New England’s 1996 AFC Divisional game against Pittsburgh.

·        In an AFC Wild Card victory over Cleveland in 2002, Pittsburgh wide receiver HINES WARD caught 11 passes to tie for the third-most receptions in playoff history.  With another 11-catch performance, the Steelers’ four-time Pro Bowl selection would join Seattle’s Rice as the only players with 11 receptions in multiple playoff games 

·        New England linebacker WILLIE MC GINEST (11.5) needs 3.5 sacks to surpass BRUCE SMITH (14.5) for the most career playoff sacks in NFL history.  McGinest will surpass REGGIE WHITE (12.0) for second place all-time with 1.0 sack.

·        With a three-interception game this postseason, New England cornerback TY LAW would become the first player to own a pair of three-interception playoff performances in NFL history.  Law recorded three interceptions in last season’s AFC Championship Game victory over Indianapolis.

·        San Diego wide receiver-kick returner TIM DWIGHT owns the NFL’s highest playoff kick-return average (34.3) for a career (minimum 10 returns).  Dwight makes his playoff debut in a Chargers uniform this postseason.  Dwight is one of 18 players in playoff history to return a kickoff for a touchdown (Atlanta, Super Bowl XXXIII).

·        Wide receiver-punt returners ANTWAAN RANDLE EL of Pittsburgh and New England’s TROY BROWN are two of 15 players in playoff history to return a punt for a touchdown.  No player in postseason history has returned two punts for a touchdown in a career.

LOW RISK, HIGH REWARD:  Philadelphia Eagles quarterback DONOVAN MC NABB posted a career-high 31 touchdown passes this season – the second highest single-season total in club history – trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer SONNY JURGENSEN, who tossed 32 in 1961.

Of the quarterbacks in NFL annals with 30-or-more TD passes in a season, none have thrown fewer interceptions than McNabb’s eight.  Indianapolis quarterback PEYTON MANNING set the NFL record with 49 touchdown passes this season and tossed just 10 interceptions.

The top five quarterbacks to throw 30 TDs in a season with the fewest interceptions:

FIRST-GAME JITTERS:  Rookie quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER of Pittsburgh has experienced success in 2004 by winning an NFL-record 13 starts to begin a career and has posted the highest completion percentage by a rookie in  history (66.4, minimum 150 attempts).  The top five yardage totals in a quarterback’s first career playoff game (since 1970):

ROOKIE DEFENDERS:  Several rookie defensive players have made significant contributions this season, helping their teams advance to the playoffs.  In the NFC, Seattle safety MICHAEL BOULWARE (second round, Florida State) tied for third among rookies with five interceptions, while Minnesota defensive end KENECHI UDEZE (first round, Southern California) posted 5.0 sacks, also tied for third among rookies.  On the AFC side, Broncos linebacker D.J. WILLIAMS (first round, Miami) posted 114 tackles to become the first rookie to lead or share in the team lead since 1972.  New York Jets linebacker JONATHAN VILMA (first round, Miami) finished second on the club with 116 tackles.  

These four players and all rookies in the playoffs will aspire to add their names to the lists below documenting some of the most prolific rookie postseasons in NFL history.

 

 

 

 

 

BEST NFL PLAYOFF PERFORMANCES
(Single postseason)

 

 

 

 

FOR 2004 PLAYOFF FIELD, SUPER BOWL LIVES UP TO ITS NAME

Six of the past eight Super Bowl winners return to the playoffs this season, vying to add another championship to their collections.  And do they have a knack for the thrilling conclusion!

Of those six champions, five have earned the title in highly competitive games, winning contests that saw both teams within seven points or less of each other at some point in the second half.

A closer look at the past six Super Bowls won by the 2004 playoff field: