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Home , Adam Vinatieri, American Football League, Bill Belichick, Marv Levy, NFC Championship Game

FOR USE AS DESIRED January 20, 2016 http://twitter.com/NFLFootballInfo

WHAT TO LOOK FOR – WEEKEND

CLOSE GAMES: The NFC Championship Game has featured close games in each of the past eight seasons, including four games. There have been eight consecutive NFC Championship Games decided by seven points or fewer, the longest streak in conference championship game history.

The NFC’s No. 2 seed ARIZONA (14-3) will travel this Sunday to play No. 1 seed CAROLINA (16-1). The Panthers had seven games this season that finished within seven points or fewer, while the Cardinals had five such games.

The past eight NFC Championship Games decided by seven points or fewer:

SEASON TEAMS WINNER FINAL SCORE 2007 N.Y. Giants at Green Bay N.Y. Giants 23-20* 2008 at Arizona Arizona 32-25 2009 Minnesota at New Orleans 31-28* 2010 Green Bay at Green Bay 21-14 2011 N.Y. Giants at N.Y. Giants 20-17* 2012 San Francisco at San Francisco 28-24 2013 San Francisco at Seattle 23-17 2014 Green Bay at Seattle Seattle 28-22*

2015 Arizona at Carolina ??? ??? *Overtime

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SUPER FOLLOW-UPS: The defending -champion PATRIOTS (13-4) defeated Kansas City 27-20 last week in the Divisional Round. With a win Sunday against , the Patriots can become the 13th team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl after winning it the previous season.

Eight Super Bowl winners won the title game the next year and four lost it.

The teams to reach the Super Bowl after winning it the previous season:

SEASON SUPER BOWL WINNER NEXT SEASON 1966 I Green Bay Won Super Bowl 1972 VII Won Super Bowl 1974 IX Pittsburgh Won Super Bowl 1977 XII Lost Super Bowl 1978 XIII Pittsburgh Won Super Bowl 1982 XVII Washington Lost Super Bowl 1988 XXIII San Francisco Won Super Bowl 1992 XXVII Dallas Won Super Bowl 1996 XXXI Green Bay Lost Super Bowl 1997 XXXII Denver Won Super Bowl 2003 XXXVIII New England Won Super Bowl 2013 XLVIII Seattle Lost Super Bowl

2015 XLIX New England ???

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SUPER CHAMPIONSHIP: In 2015, NEW ENGLAND won the AFC East title for the 17th time and has advanced to the AFC Championship Game for the 12th time and fifth straight. The Patriots are 8-3 (.727) in AFC Championship Games all- time.

With a win against Denver on Sunday, New England (eight) can surpass Dallas (eight) and Pittsburgh (eight) for the most Super Bowl berths in NFL history.

Denver (seven) can tie New England, Dallas and Denver for the most Super Bowl berths with a win on Sunday.

The teams with the most Super Bowl appearances:

TEAM SUPER BOWL APPEARANCES Dallas 8 Pittsburgh 8 New England* 8 Denver* 7 San Francisco 6 *Active Sunday

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CAROLINA CRUISING: The , who went 15-1 en route to the NFC South division title and the conference’s top seed, host Arizona on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game.

With a win on Sunday, the Panthers will become the ninth team in NFL history to lose one or fewer regular season games and advance to the Super Bowl.

The teams with one or fewer regular season losses to reach the Super Bowl:

TEAM SEASON SUPER BOWL REACHED REGULAR SEASON RECORD Oakland Raiders 1967 II 13-1 Colts 1968 III 13-1 1972 VII 14-0 Oakland Raiders 1976 XI 13-1 Washington Redskins 1982 XVII 8-1* 1984 XIX 15-1 1985 XX 15-1 2007 XLII 16-0

Carolina Panthers 2015 50** 15-1 *Nine-game regular season **Play Sunday in NFC Championship Game

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SUPER COMBINATION: New England and have made six Super Bowl appearances together, the most appearances by any head coach-quarterback combination in NFL history.

With a win Sunday against the Broncos, the Patriots can extend their NFL record for the most such Super Bowl appearances.

The head coach-quarterback combinations with the most Super Bowl appearances in NFL history:

QUARTERBACK HEAD COACH TEAM SUPER BOWL APPEARANCES Tom Brady Bill Belichick New England Patriots* 6 4 Marv Levy 4 4 *Active

With a win, Belichick (six) would surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer (six) as the only head coach to lead their team(s) to seven Super Bowls.

The head coaches to reach the most Super Bowls:

HEAD COACH SUPER BOWL BERTHS Bill Belichick* 6 Don Shula 6 Tom Landry 5 Five tied 4 *Active Sunday

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TERRIFIC TOM: New England quarterback TOM BRADY has played in 30 career postseason games in his 16-year career. On Sunday at Denver, Brady can surpass (30) for the most postseason games played in NFL history.

The players with the most postseason games played in NFL history:

PLAYER TEAM(S) POSTSEASON GAMES PLAYED Tom Brady* New England 30 Adam Vinatieri Indianapolis, New England 30 San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle 29 D.D. Lewis Dallas 27 *Plays Sunday in AFC Championship Game

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HEISMAN HYPE: Arizona quarterback will face off against Carolina quarterback CAM NEWTON on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game.

Palmer, who won the in 2002 at the University of Southern , and Newton, who won the award in 2010 at Auburn, will become the first pair of Heisman Trophy winning in NFL history to start against each other in the .

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AFC TROPHY PRESENTATION: The TROPHY will be presented to the winner of the AFC Championship Game.

The late Hunt, founder of the and League, helped professional football attain its stature as America’s No. 1 sport. In the 10-year history of the AFL, his team posted the most wins (87) and earned berths in two of the first four Super Bowls, including a victory in Super Bowl IV.

In 1972, Hunt became the first person from the AFL to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

NFC TROPHY PRESENTATION: The winner of the NFC Championship Game will be presented with the TROPHY.

Halas, the late owner of the Chicago Bears and a founder of the NFL, is the second-winningest coach in history (324-151- 31) behind DON SHULA (347-173-6). He won six NFL with the Bears and is a charter enshrinee of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1963).

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