FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-79                      1/5/00

The NFL playoffs begin on Saturday and Sunday with Wild Card Weekend. On Saturday, the Buffalo Bills play at the Tennessee Titans and the Detroit Lions are at the Washington Redskins. On Sunday, Wild Card Weekend continues with the Dallas Cowboys at the Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins at the Seattle Seahawks.

The following week, the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC and St. Louis Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC host the Divisional Playoff games. Jacksonville and St. Louis own home-field advantage for the Conference Championship Games if they win next week. The conference champions advance to Super Bowl XXXIV at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia on January 30.

ALL-TIME POSTSEASON: The Dallas Cowboys (52 playoff games), Minnesota Vikings (36), Washington Redskins (35) and St. Louis Rams (33) are among the NFL’s most playoff-experienced franchises.

Three players participating in this year’s postseason are among a handful who dominate the playoff record books. Miami’s DAN MARINO holds numerous passing records, while Dallas’ EMMITT SMITH and Buffalo’s THURMAN THOMAS can be found near or at the top of most rushing and scoring records.

MORE MILESTONES: Marino, Smith and Thomas are not the only 1999 playoff players chasing records and milestones. Following is a brief list:

OFFENSE

Dallas QB TROY AIKMAN is tied for third all-time with three other players with four 300-yard passing games. He needs one to tie DAN FOUTS for second all-time and two to tie JOE MONTANA for first.

Aikman’s 94-yard completion for a touchdown to WR ALVIN HARPER vs. Green Bay in 1994 is the longest completion in playoff history.

Buffalo WR Andre REED ranks third all-time with 85 career catches and needs three to pass MICHAEL IRVIN for second. In first is JERRY RICE (124).

Reed is tied for third all-time with JOHN STALLWORTH with five 100-yard receiving games and needs one to tie Irvin for second and two to tie JERRY RICE for first.

Seattle RB RICKY WATTERS holds the record for most touchdowns in a game with five (all rushing).

DEFENSE

Dallas S GEORGE TEAGUE ranks third all-time in interception return yards with 160 and needs 28 to pass RONNIE LOTT for second all-time and 37 to pass WILLIE BROWN in first.

Teague’s 101-yard return vs. Detroit on January 8, 1994 is the longest return in playoff history. His 101 yards in that game rank second all-time for most in a game.

Teague’s two career interception-return touchdowns tie for second all-time and he needs one to tie Brown for most in history.

Buffalo DE BRUCE SMITH is tied with REGGIE WHITE for most playoff sacks with 12.

Seattle LB CHAD BROWN (vs. Indianapolis in 1996 when with Pittsburgh) and Tampa Bay DT WARREN SAPP (vs. Green Bay in 1997) tie for third with numerous other players for most sacks in a game with three.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Minnesota K GARY ANDERSON ranks third all-time in points scored with 119 and needs one to tie Emmitt Smith and seven to tie Thurman Thomas. Anderson is the all-time leader with 25 field goals made and is the playoff record holder for most consecutive field goals made with 16 from 1989-95.

Anderson ranks second all-time with 44 PATs to GEORGE BLANDA’s 49. He has never missed in a playoff game. He also ranks second with 32 career field goals attempts to Blanda’s 39.

Buffalo K STEVE CHRISTIE ties for third all-time with 21 field goals made and needs one to break a tie with MATT BAHR and to tie Blanda at 22 for second. He needs four to tie Anderson. Christie’s 87.5 field-goal percentage is third-highest of all-time (minimum 10 field goals).

Christie is also tied with four others for most field goals in a game with five and two others for second-longest field goal in a game (54 yards).

Jacksonville K MIKE HOLLIS’ 93.3 field-goal percentage is highest of all-time (minimum 10 field goals). His current streak of 13 consecutive field goals made is tied with MORTEN ANDERSON for third all-time. He needs to make his next two to tie RAFAEL SEPTIEN for second all-time and three to tie Anderson.

Detroit KR-PR DESMOND HOWARD’s 99-yard kickoff return vs. New England in Super Bowl XXXI is the longest in playoff history. His 117 yards vs. San Francisco in 1996 ranks third all-time for most punt return yards in a game.

TEAMS

Dallas’ 26 postseason appearances are the most ever.

Dallas has played the most postseason games with 52.

Dallas’ 32 games won are the most all-time.

Minnesota is tied for third with the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers with 36 games played.

A DIFFERENT WORLD: Quarterbacks BRAD JOHNSON of the Washington Redskins, JON KITNA of the Seattle Seahawks and KURT WARNER of the St. Louis Rams have come a long way – from the NFL Europe League overseas to NFL division winners. Johnson played for NFL Europe’s London Monarchs in 1995 and was second among league passers with a 59.1 completion percentage, 2,227 yards and 13 touchdowns. Kitna led the Barcelona Dragons to victory in the 1997 World Bowl, and was named MVP of the championship game in which he threw for a record 402 yards and two touchdowns. Warner posted a 7-2 record in nine starts for the 1998 Amsterdam Admirals and led the league with 2,101 passing yards and 15 touchdowns. Other former NFL Europe League quarterbacks who are with NFL playoff teams: TODD BOUMAN (Barcelona) of the Minnesota Vikings, JAY FIEDLER (Amsterdam) of the Jacksonville Jaguars, JASON GARRETT (San Antonio) and MIKE QUINN (Rhein) of the Dallas Cowboys, DAMON HUARD (Frankfurt) of the Miami Dolphins, KELLY HOLCOMB (Barcelona) of the Indianapolis Colts, PAUL JUSTIN (Frankfurt) of the St. Louis Rams, and CASEY WELDON (Barcelona) of the Washington Redskins.

THE SKINNY ON THE HEAVYWEIGHTS: The top seed in each conference, Jacksonville in the AFC and St. Louis in the NFC, rank first and fifth in the NFL in rushing offense, respectively. Jacksonville’s starting offensive line averages 313.2 pounds – fourth-heaviest in the playoffs. St. Louis’ average starting OLman weighs 306.4 pounds – third-lightest among playoff teams. Following are the average weights of projected offensive line starters for the 12 playoff clubs (based on opening-day roster weights):