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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE NFL PRESS BOX NOTES – WILD CARD WEEKEND LESS MEANS MORE: The 2002 Indianapolis Colts allowed 313 points this season (seventh fewest in the NFL), compared to an NFL-high 486 in 2001. That 173-point swing accounts for the best points-allowed improvement over 2001 in the league, and the second-best such improvement since the NFL adopted the 16-game schedule in 1978 (St. Louis Rams, 198-point improvement from 2000-2001). The top five differentials in points-allowed from the previous season (since 1978):
IN THE “THROWS” OF SUCCESS: New York Jets quarterback CHAD PENNINGTON was exceptional in the red zone this season, throwing an NFL-best 18 touchdown passes inside the opponents’ 20-yard line without an interception. Three of the clubs with quarterbacks who threw the most red-zone TD passes without interceptions are in the playoffs. The most touchdown passes in the red zone without an interception in 2002:
ALWAYS A FACTOR, THIS PLAYOFF PACKER: Green Bay Packers quarterback BRETT FAVRE needs one touchdown pass against Atlanta in Saturday’s NFC Wild Card Game to tie DAN MARINO for the longest consecutive playoff-game streak with a scoring pass (13). Favre can also pass Pro Football Hall of Famer TERRY BRADSHAW for the third-most playoff touchdown passes in a career with two TDs. The most consecutive playoff games with a touchdown pass:
The most career playoff touchdown passes:
THIRD TIME NOT ALWAYS A CHARM: When AFC North rivals Cleveland and Pittsburgh play in Sunday’s AFC Wild Card Game, it will mark the 15th time since 1970 that a club (Pittsburgh) which has twice defeated a team in the regular season will face that opponent a third time in the playoffs. In the previous 14 meetings, the sweeping team has won nine of those third contests. The last time a team was swept in the regular season and rebounded to defeat that same opponent in the playoffs was in 1998 when the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Dallas Cowboys in an NFC Wild Card Game. The third-meeting playoff results of sweeping teams:
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Won Super Bowl WILD CARD SUPER BOWL TEAMS: Wild Card teams have advanced to the Super Bowl eight times – including the Baltimore Ravens two years ago when they became the fourth Wild Card team to win a Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs performed the Super
Bowl feat in 1969, the Oakland Raiders in 1980 and Denver Broncos in 1997.
The eight Wild Card/non-division winners to play in Super Bowls:
|
|
Season |
Team |
Super Bowl Result |
|
1969 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
Defeated Minnesota in Super Bowl IV, 23-7 |
|
1975 |
Dallas Cowboys |
Lost to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl X, 21-17 |
|
1980 |
Oakland Raiders |
Defeated Philadelphia in Super Bowl XV, 27-10 |
|
1985 |
New England Patriots |
Lost to Chicago in Super Bowl XX, 46-10 |
|
1992 |
Buffalo Bills |
Lost to Dallas in Super Bowl XXVII, 52-17 |
|
1997 |
Denver Broncos |
Defeated Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXII, 31-24 |
|
1999 |
Tennessee Titans |
Lost to St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXIV, 23-16 |
|
2000 |
Baltimore Ravens |
Defeated NY Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, 34-7 |
-- NFL --
|
Wild Card (Division Winner) |
$17,000 |
|
|
$12,500 |
|
Division Playoff |
$17,000 |
|
Conference Championship |
$35,000 |
|
Super Bowl XXXVII (Winning Team) |
$63,000 |
|
(Losing Team) |
$35,000 |