NFL PRESS BOX NOTES – WILD CARD WEEKEND

FAMILIAR FACES:  The NFC Wild Card matchups will feature two sets of division rivals facing off for the third time this season.  The Seattle Seahawks will host the St. Louis Rams in an NFC West meeting on Saturday, while NFC North foes will face off at Lambeau Field on Sunday when the Minnesota Vikings visit the Green Bay Packers.

These games will mark the 16th and 17th times since 1970 that a team (St. Louis and Green Bay) which has twice defeated a club in the regular season will face that opponent (Seattle and Minnesota) a third time in the playoffs.  In the previous 15 meetings, the sweeping team has won the third contest 10 times.

The last time a team was swept in the regular season and rebounded to defeat the same opponent in the playoffs came in 1998 when the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Dallas Cowboys in an NFC Wild Card Game: 

BACK-TO-BACK:  When the Indianapolis Colts host the Denver Broncos in an AFC Wild Card Game this Sunday, it will mark the 13th time in NFL history that clubs have met in the playoffs the week after they ended the regular season against each other.  In Week 17, the Broncos defeated the Colts 33-14 in Denver to earn the AFC’s final playoff berth.  Only five times has the team that won the last regular-season game won the follow-up playoff game (New York Giants, 1958; Kansas City, 1991; Los Angeles Raiders, 1993; New England, 1997; Philadelphia, 2001).  The 12 times that teams went back-to-back in the season’s final week and in the first round of the playoffs:

RUSHING INTO THE PLAYOFFS:  The 2004 playoffs will feature four running backs – the New York Jets’ CURTIS MARTIN (1,697), Seattle’s SHAUN ALEXANDER (1,696), New England’s COREY DILLON (1,635) and Indianapolis’ EDGERRIN JAMES (1,548) – who rushed for at least 1,500 yards this year.  Three of the four (Martin, Alexander, James) will take the field on Wild Card Weekend.  The four 1,500-yard running backs in one postseason are the most in NFL history, surpassing the previous mark (three) set five times before.  Following are the postseasons with the most 1,500-yard running backs:

CURTIS CARRIES ON:  New York Jets running back CURTIS MARTIN led the league with 1,697 rushing yards this year, becoming the oldest rushing champion in NFL history and joining Pro Football Hall of Famer MARION MOTLEY (Cleveland, 1950) as the only players to lead the league in rushing at the age of 30 or older.  Martin (31 years, 246 days) also became the oldest player to rush for 1,500 yards in a season, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Fame running back WALTER PAYTON (31 years, 150 days).  Following are the oldest NFL rushing champions and the oldest players to rush for 1,500 yards in a season (age as of last day of season):

OLDEST RUSHING CHAMPIONS

OLDEST TO RUSH FOR 1,500 YARDS

ROAD WARRIORS:  Since 1990, when the current playoff format was instituted, at least one road team has won a Wild Card game in 12 of those 14 postseasons (85.7 percent).

PASSING FANCY:  This season, NFL passers completed 9,772 of 16,354 attempts (59.8 percent) for 115,337 yards with 732 touchdowns versus 524 interceptions for an 82.8 passer rating.  The league’s 59.8 completion percentage is the highest in NFL history and the league passer rating also is a single-season record.

The seasons with the best passer rating and highest completion percentage:

THREE’S COMPANY:  San Diego Chargers head coach MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER has won a playoff game with two different teams (Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs), one shy of the NFL record (3) shared by three coaches.  With a win in Saturday night’s AFC Wild Card Game against the New York Jets, Schottenheimer can join CHUCK KNOX, BILL PARCELLS and DAN REEVES as the only coaches to notch a postseason win with three different teams. 

STRONG CONFERENCE:  The six AFC playoff teams this year – the Pittsburgh Steelers (15-1), New England Patriots (14-2), Indianapolis Colts (12-4), San Diego Chargers (12-4), New York Jets (10-6) and Denver Broncos (10-6) – have combined for 73 wins, the highest total for one conference’s postseason qualifiers since the current playoff format was adopted in 1990.  Following are the conferences with the most total wins among postseason qualifiers:

BRETT-TAKING:  Green Bay Packers quarterback BRETT FAVRE will make his 20th career postseason start this Sunday at home against the Minnesota Vikings.  Favre enters the playoffs ranked second in career postseason touchdown passes (33), third in career postseason passing yards (4,686), and seeks to extend his NFL-record streak of consecutive playoff games with a touchdown pass (15). 

The most career playoff touchdown passes:

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The most career playoff passing yards:

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The most consecutive playoff games with a touchdown pass 

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FROM WILD CARD TO SUPER BOWL:  Wild Card teams/non-division winners have advanced to the Super Bowl eight times – including the Baltimore Ravens in 2000 when they became the fourth Wild Card team/non-division winner to win a Super Bowl. 

The Kansas City Chiefs performed the Super Bowl feat in 1969, the Oakland Raiders in 1980 and the Denver Broncos in 1997.  The eight Wild Card/non-division winners to play in Super Bowls:

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