FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-POST-2       1/3/01

They definitely showed "something"!

The Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles all answered the challenge on Wild Card Weekend to "Show Me Something!" -- the theme of the 2000 NFL playoffs. They now move one step closer to Super Bowl XXXV in this weekend’s Divisional Playoffs.

Waiting for them will be the teams that enjoyed a first-round bye – the Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans.

"The loser goes home," says Giants defensive end MICHAEL STRAHAN. "There’s no saying, ‘Well, we’ll get them the second time we play them.’"

The Divisional Playoffs feature the top four seeds in each conference:

In the opening Divisional Playoff on Saturday (FOX-TV, 12:30 PM ET), the NFC’s third- and fourth-ranked offenses meet, led by two quarterbacks from the Class of ’99 who excelled in 2000.

It’s the NFC West-New Orleans Saints (11-6) at the NFC Central-Minnesota Vikings (11-5) in a battle of division champions. The Saints are in their first playoffs since 1992. The Vikings have the NFL’s longest active playoff streak, five in a row.

Minnesota lost its final three regular-season games, and they are treating that streak as a motivating factor.

"An old veteran once told me, ’A man has not been introduced to himself until he has been introduced to adversity,’" says the Vikings’ Pro Bowl, Harvard-educated center MATT BIRK. "I think that kind of fits here." The Vikings would be the first team to win a Super Bowl after losing its last three regular-season games.

New Orleans arrives off the first playoff victory in its 34-year history last Saturday ("The Curse Is Lifted," headlined the New Orleans Times-Picayune) -- a 31-28 thriller in which it eliminated the Super Bowl XXXIV-champion St. Louis Rams.

And they did it in typical Saints fashion. Have a starter incur an injury? Just plug in one of his unheralded subs! When wide receiver JOE HORN went down with a high ankle sprain, seven-year pro WILLIE JACKSON – one of the Saints’ many 2000 offseason acquisitions -- took over to the tune of six catches for 142 yards and three TDs.

Doing the tossing to Jackson was another sub who became a regular during the season -- quarterback AARON BROOKS, a second-year pro and another new 2000 Saint, making only his sixth career start (4-2).

Leading Minnesota and its No. 3 NFC offense (sparked by wide receivers CRIS CARTER and RANDY MOSS) will be quarterback DAUNTE CULPEPPER. The team’s first-round selection from Central Florida -- he turns 24 on Super Bowl XXXV Sunday on January 28 – Culpepper led the Vikings to a 7-0 start (only the third time in history a QB has done that), and threw for 33 touchdowns, tying Indianapolis’ PEYTON MANNING for the NFL lead in the category.

Saturday’s late game (CBS-TV, 4:00 PM ET) will feature another meeting of division titlists -- the AFC East-Miami Dolphins (12-5) at the AFC West-Oakland Raiders (12-4). It’s a clash between the Raiders’ No. 3 AFC offense and the Dolphins’ No. 4 conference defense. It’s also a meeting of "second-chance" quarterbacks who came into their own this season.

Oakland QB RICH GANNON is a 35-year-old, 13-year NFL veteran who had been with three teams before coming to the Raiders last season. This year, he led them to their most wins since 1990, tied Kansas City’s ELVIS GRBAC for the

second-most AFC TDs (28) behind Manning, and even finished as the conference’s 16th-leading rusher with 529 yards.

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NFL PLAYOFF FACTOID

SEASON TURNAROUNDS: Proving once again that, in the NFL, every club starts a season with the chance to improve upon its record of the season before, the eight teams that will compete in this weekend’s Divisional Playoffs improved their collective record from 63-65 in 1999 to 92-36 this year.

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"Here’s a guy that needed an opportunity to become a starter," says Raiders head coach JON GRUDEN, only two years older than Gannon. "He brings our team a lot of intangibles that I can’t even begin to get into."

Gannon’s counterpart with the Dolphins, JAY FIEDLER, has a similar "finally-made-it" story. A five-year veteran who spent time with Philadelphia, Minnesota and Jacksonville, the 29-year-old was actually out of football for a year (1997), and this season was given the assignment of replacing future Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO.

What did he do? In a quiet, efficient manner, he took the Dolphins to their most wins since 1992, then added last Saturday’s Wild Card victory over Indianapolis in which he directed Miami to a 14-point second-half comeback to tie the game, and then a 61-yard, 11-play drive to win it in overtime (23-17).

The Raiders’ fourth-ranked rush defense will confront yet another long-time-to-success story -- Dolphins seven-year NFL running back LAMAR SMITH. Cut by Seattle and New Orleans, Smith came to Miami this year to become the club’s first 1,000-yard rusher (1,139) since KARIM ABDUL-JABBAR in 1996, tie Tennessee’s EDDIE GEORGE for the third-most rushing TDs (14) in the league, and spark the Dolphins’ playoff push with 11 TD runs in his last nine games.

Smith then set two NFL playoff records in the Wild Card game and produced the game-winning score. He rushed 40 times for 209 yards, second in single-game playoff yardage to ERIC DICKERSON’s 248 in 1985. On second-and-four 11 minutes into overtime, he started inside, bounced outside, cut back, and ran through the Colts for the game-winning 17-yard TD.

The Dolphins played in Oakland every year from 1996-99, so they are familiar with the stadium and its rabid fans. "We know the routine," says Miami head coach DAVE WANNSTEDT. "We won six games on the road this year. As always, though, it will come down to blocking and tackling."

In Sunday’s early game (CBS-TV, 12:30 PM ET), it’s a rematch of a rivalry that has become fierce only this year as the AFC Central Baltimore Ravens (13-4) visit the division-champion Tennessee Titans (13-3).

To say the game might be a defensive battle is an understatement.

The Ravens set the NFL record this year for fewest points allowed in a 16-game season, 165. Right behind them were the Titans with the second-fewest points surrendered (191). Tennessee finished as the league’s top-ranked overall defense (238.4) and pass defense (151.5). Baltimore set a second NFL defensive record for fewest rushing yards (970) and had the NFL’s No. 1 rushing defense (60.6). On top of all that, the Ravens produced four shutouts this year, the Titans two (in their final two games).

"Our guys are relentless," says Ravens VP/Player Personnel OZZIE NEWSOME, a Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end. "When the ball gets out to the numbers, we’ll have seven or eight guys there and two guys coming in."

So…do the offenses have any chance of scoring? Well, yes, thanks to two of the top rushers in the NFL – EDDIE GEORGE of Tennessee and JAMAL LEWIS of Baltimore.

George, selected to his fourth Pro Bowl, was the league’s workhorse, with more carries than anybody (403). Finishing third in the NFL in rushing with 1,509 yards, he enters the Divisional with 11 TDs in his past six games.

Lewis just finished an outstanding rookie season. The Ravens’ first-round selection from Tennessee, he finished second in the league to the Broncos’ MIKE ANDERSON (1,500) in rookie rushing with 1,364 yards, sixth-highest in the AFC. Last Sunday in the Wild Card, Lewis raced for 110 yards and two TDs on 30 carries.

The teams split this season, with the Ravens handing the Titans their first – and only -- loss ever (24-23) at Adelphia Coliseum. A two-yard pass from TRENT DILFER to PATRICK JOHNSON with 25 seconds left broke Tennessee’s 12-game home winning streak.

Titans head coach JEFF FISHER is pleased to have homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, but knows it provides no free ticket. "With homefield, you only have to win two rather than three to get to the big game," says Fisher. "But playing at home doesn’t guarantee you a win. It guarantees you a chance to win."

In the final game of the Divisional Playoffs (FOX-TV, 4:15 PM ET), its the "Turnpike Tussle" as the Philadelphia Eagles (12-5) will attempt to solve a puzzle they could not master this season, the New York Giants (12-4).

The Giants handed the Eagles their two worst defeats of the season, by 15 (33-18 on September 10) and 17 (24-7 on October 29) points to run their winning streak against Philadelphia to eight straight. The Giants have not lost to the Eagles in four seasons under head coach JIM FASSEL.

It will be the 24th time since the NFL playoff system began in 1933 that one team played another in the playoffs after sweeping them in the season. Fourteen of those teams made it 3-0.

"I’m glad they’ve dominated us so far," says Eagles running back-kick returner BRIAN MITCHELL. "They’re going to think it’s going to be easy. But this is a much better team than the last two times we played them."

A large reason for that is the Eagles’ all-purpose weapon that only got tougher for teams to contain as the season wore on -- quarterback DONOVAN MC NABB. Yet another graduate of the NFL QB Class of ’99, McNabb became the Eagles’ leader this year, accounting for 75 percent of their offense while leading all quarterbacks in rushing (629 yards).

"Donovan McNabb is a one-man wrecking crew," says Giants defensive tackle KEITH HAMILTON. "He is good enough to start at fullback for a lot of teams. And he has as good an arm as anyone in the NFL."

New York, with an offense led by quarterback KERRY COLLINS (third-most TD passes in the NFC, 22), has a solid running threat itself -- TIKI BARBER, who rushed for 1,006 yards and eight TDs, plus one receiving.

To win, says Eagles head coach ANDY REID, "You have to shut off their running game."

                *Clinched division title
                #Clinched playoff berth