FOR USE AS DESIRED
January 11, 2002

 

NFL PRESS BOX NOTES – WILD CARD WEEKEND

 

NUMBER ONES:  The Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams, the AFC and NFC’s top seeds, respectively, will enjoy first-round byes this weekend and have homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.  Since 1975, when the NFL began awarding homefield advantage to the team with the best record in each conference, there have been 52 number-one seeds.  Of those 52 teams, 18 of have gone on to win the Super Bowl (34.6%) and 30 played in the Super Bowl (57.7%).

BACK TO BACK:  This Saturday, when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets visit the Oakland Raiders, it will mark the 11th and 12th times in NFL history that clubs have met in the playoffs the week after they ended the regular season against each other.  It will also be the second time that this has occurred twice in the same season (1993) and the first time on the same day.  In Week 17, the Eagles defeated the Buccaneers 17-13 in Tampa and the Jets won 24-22 in Oakland.  Only four times has the team that won the last regular-season game won the follow-up playoff game (New York Giants, 1958; Kansas City, 1991; L.A. Raiders, 1993; New England, 1997).  The 10 times that teams went back-to-back in the season’s final week and the first round of the playoffs:

YEAR

TEAMS

WINNER OF FIRST GAME

WINNER OF PLAYOFF GAME

1943

New York Giants & Washington

New York Giants

Washington

1954

Cleveland & Detroit

Detroit

Cleveland

1958

Cleveland & New York Giants

New York Giants

New York Giants

1988

Cleveland & Houston

Cleveland

Houston

1991

Kansas City & L.A. Raiders

Kansas City

Kansas City

1992

Buffalo & Houston 

Houston

Buffalo

1993

Detroit & Green Bay

Detroit

Green Bay

1993

Denver & L.A. Raiders

L.A. Raiders

L.A. Raiders

1997

Miami & New England

New England

New England

2000

New Orleans & St. Louis

St. Louis

New Orleans

2001

New York Jets & Oakland

New York Jets

???

2001

Philadelphia & Tampa Bay

Philadelphia

???

COMBINED WINS IN WILD CARD:  When the 12-4 Green Bay Packers host the 12-4 San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, the teams will bring to the meeting a combined 24 regular-season wins, tying for the most of any Wild Card matchup in history.  The contest also marks the first time that two teams with 12 wins each have met in the Wild Card round.  Following are the most combined regular-season wins of first-round games since Wild Card Weekend began in 1970:

WILD CARD MATCHUPS

YEAR

COMBINED REGULAR-SEASON WINS

Buffalo-Tennessee

1999

24

San Francisco-Green Bay

2001

24

Dallas-Los Angeles Rams

1980

23

Seattle-Los Angeles Raiders

1984

23

Miami-Kansas City

1990

23

New Orleans-Philadelphia

1992

23

Denver-Jacksonville

1997

23

San Francisco-Green Bay

1998

23

Denver-Baltimore

2000

23

TOP TEAMS: This year’s playoffs will feature some of the most successful teams in NFL playoff history.  Four of the top five teams with the highest all-time postseason winning percentage in the AFC will be represented (Baltimore, Miami, Oakland and Pittsburgh), and three of the top five clubs in the NFC (Chicago, Green Bay and San Francisco).  The top five conference teams all-time in playoff winning percentage:

AFC

NFC

 

TEAM

W

L

PCT.

 

TEAM

W

L

PCT.

 

 

Baltimore

4

 

0

 

1.000

 

 

Green Bay

22

10

.688

 

Pittsburgh

21

 

15

 

.583

 

 

San Francisco

24

15

.615

 

Oakland/Los Angeles

22

 

16

 

.579

 

 

Dallas

32

21

.604

 

Denver

16

 

12

 

.571

 

 

Washington

22

15

.595

 

Miami

20

 

18

 

.526

 

 

Chicago

14

14

.500
                           

PLAYOFF TDs:  Oakland Raiders wide receiver JERRY RICE has scored 19 touchdowns in his 23-game playoff career.  With two touchdowns this Saturday against the New York Jets, Rice will tie EMMITT SMITH and THURMAN THOMAS for the most playoff touchdowns with 21.  The top five players all-time in playoff TDs:

PLAYER

POSTSEASON TDs

Emmitt Smith

21*

Thurman Thomas

21

Jerry Rice

19*

Franco Harris

17

Marcus Allen

13

                                                            *Active

FABULOUS FAVRE:  Green Bay Packers quarterback BRETT FAVRE has thrown for 25 playoff touchdowns, fifth-most all-time.  Favre has touchdown passes in 10 consecutive playoff games, tied for the second-best streak in postseason history.  With a TD pass this Sunday against San Francisco, Favre will move into sole possession of second place in the category.  The quarterbacks with the most consecutive playoff games with a TD pass:

 

QUARTERBACK

 

TEAM, YEARS OF STREAK

CONSECUTIVE PLAYOFF

GAMES WITH TD PASS

Dan Marino

Miami, 1983-95

13

Ken Stabler

Oakland, 1973-77

10

Joe Montana

San Francisco-Kansas City, 1988-93

10

Brett Favre

Green Bay, 1995-98 (current)

10

John Elway

Denver, 1984-89

9

TURNOVER MARGIN:  Coaches always stress the importance of preventing turnovers.  This season, teams with more takeaways than giveaways have had success.  The top five teams in turnover margin in 2001 posted a combined 56-24 record (.700) and all qualified for the playoffs:

TEAM

TAKEAWAYS

GIVEAWAYS

NET DIFFERENCE

RECORD

New York Jets

39

21

+18

10-6

 

Tampa Bay

39

22

+17

9-7

 

San Francisco

34

19

+15

12-4

 

Chicago

37

24

+13

13-3

 

Green Bay

39

27

+12

12-4

 

 

 

 

 

       56-24 (.700)

PLAYOFF TIGHT ENDS:  Baltimore Ravens tight end SHANNON SHARPE, the NFL’s career leader in receptions (692) and receiving yards (8,604) by a tight end, has 48 catches for 704 yards in 15 playoff contests.  Sharpe ranks fourth all-time in playoff receptions by tight ends and third in receiving yards.  This Sunday against Miami, Sharpe needs four catches to move into third all-time among tight ends and 37 yards for second place.  The top tight ends all-time in playoff receptions and receiving yards:

TIGHT END

PLAYOFF RECEPTIONS

 

TIGHT END

PLAYOFF RECEIVING YARDS

Jay Novacek

62

 

Keith Jackson

834

Brent Jones

60

 

Brent Jones

740

Keith Jackson

51

 

Shannon Sharpe

704*

Shannon Sharpe

48*

 

Jay Novacek

645

Billy Joe DuPree

39

 

Russ Francis

474

*Active                                                                                    *Active

HOME SWEET HOME:  The Green Bay Packers host the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday at Lambeau Field and seek to keep their perfect home playoff record intact.  The Packers are 10-0 at Lambeau in the postseason, and 12-0 all-time in home playoff games -- the best such mark in NFL history.  Following are the top five postseason home records (minimum five games):

TEAM

W

L

PCT.

Green Bay

12

 

0

1.000

 

Denver

11

 

2

.846

 

Cincinnati

5

 

1

.833

 

Detroit

5

 

1

.833

 

Washington

13

 

3

.813

 

MARVELOUS MARTIN:  New York Jets running back CURTIS MARTIN has rushed for a touchdown in five consecutive playoff games, tying for the fifth-best such streak ever.  With a TD run on Saturday against Oakland, Martin will move into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list.  Following are the top five such streaks in NFL playoff history:

RUNNING BACK

TEAM, YEARS OF STREAK

CONSECUTIVE PLAYOFFGAMES WITH TD RUN

Emmitt Smith

Dallas, 1993-96

8

Thurman Thomas

Buffalo, 1992-98

8

John Riggins

Washington, 1982-84

7

Terrell Davis

Denver, 1996-98

7

Franco Harris

Pittsburgh, 1974-75

5

Franco Harris

Pittsburgh, 1977-79

5

Curtis Martin

New England-NY Jets, 1996-98 (current)

5

FOURTH-QUARTER SCORING:  Playing well in the fourth quarter can be a key to success.  In 2001, outscoring opponents in the final quarter usually led to victory.  The top five teams this year in fourth-quarter scoring differential all qualified for the playoffs, with a combined 57-23 record (.713).  The top five teams in the category and their records:

TEAM

FOURTH-QUARTERPOINTS SCORED

FOURTH-QUARTERPOINTS ALLOWED

NET DIFFERENCE

RECORD

Miami

142

55

+87

11-5

Chicago

121

53

+68

13-3

San Francisco

124

59

+65

12-4

Baltimore

119

61

+58

10-6

Philadelphia

101

53

+48

11-5

 

 

 

 

           57-23 (.713)

CONSECUTIVE WINS:  Baltimore Ravens tight end SHANNON SHARPE and Miami Dolphins tackle HARRY SWAYNE have been with teams that have won 11 consecutive playoff games, tying for the longest such streak in NFL history with HERB ADDERLEY.  Sharpe and Swayne were teammates with Denver from 1997-99 and in Baltimore in 2000.  This Sunday when the Dolphins host the Ravens, the player whose team wins will move into sole possession of first place with 12 consecutive playoff wins.  Following are the longest player postseason winning streaks in NFL history:

PLAYER

TEAM, YEARS

CONSECUTIVEPLAYOFF WINS

Herb Adderley

Green Bay, 1961-69; Dallas, 1970

11

  

Shannon Sharpe

Denver 1997-99, Baltimore 2000

11*

  

Harry Swayne

Denver 1997-99, Baltimore 2000

11*

  

Erik Williams

Dallas, 1992-96

10

  

Many tied

 

9

  

*Active

TWICE IS NICE:  St. Louis Rams quarterback KURT WARNER was named the 2001 Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player last Wednesday, becoming the sixth player in history to win the award more than once (Green Bay quarterback BRETT FAVRE has been named MVP an NFL-record three times).  The Rams also became the second team to win the award three years in a row (Green Bay, 1995-97), as Warner won his first MVP award in 1999 and running back MARSHALL FAULK earned the honor last season.  The six players to win multiple MVP awards:

PLAYER

POSITION

MVPs

TEAM: SEASONS

Brett Favre

Quarterback

  3*

Green Bay: 1995-97

Jim Brown

Running back

2

Cleveland Browns: 1957, 1965

Joe Montana

Quarterback

2

San Francisco: 1989-90

Johnny Unitas

Quarterback

2

Baltimore: 1964, 1967

Steve Young

Quarterback

2

San Francisco: 1992, 1994

Kurt Warner

Quarterback

2*

St. Louis: 1999, 2001

*Active

 

AFC & NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME CREDENTIAL DEADLINE IS TUESDAY:  The credential deadline for the AFC and NFC Championship Games is this Tuesday, January 15.  Media of the teams that are participating in the Championship Games may still apply for credentials following the Divisional Playoffs by submitting a request to their team’s public relations director.

To apply before Tuesday, click the championship-game link at www.nflmedia.com to link to the online registration form.  A maximum of one registration form per organization should be filled out for each game.  If you have any questions on the process, please call Dan Masonson (212/450-2081) for the AFC game or Chris McCloskey (212/450-2080) for the NFC game.  Both championship games will be played on Sunday, January 27.