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FOR USE AS DESIRED 1/3/18 http://twitter.com/NFL345

WHAT TO LOOK FOR – WILD CARD WEEKEND

FROM WILD CARD ROUND TO : Winners in the Wild Card round have won the Super Bowl nine times. At least one Super Bowl participant in six of the past 12 years played a Wild Card game.

The Wild Card round participants to win the Super Bowl:

SEASON TEAM SUPER BOWL RESULT 1980 Oakland Defeated Philadelphia in Super Bowl XV, 27-10 1997 Denver Defeated Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXII, 31-24 2000 Baltimore Defeated in Super Bowl XXXV, 34-7 2005 Pittsburgh Defeated Seattle in Super Bowl XL, 21-10 2006 Indianapolis Defeated Chicago in Super Bowl XLI, 29-17 2007 New York Giants Defeated New England in Super Bowl XLII, 17-14 2010 Green Bay Defeated Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV, 31-25 2011 New York Giants Defeated New England in Super Bowl XLVI, 21-17 2012 Baltimore Defeated San Francisco in Super Bowl XLVII, 34-31

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND –

NEW YEAR, NEW TEAMS: The (13-3, NFC East) and Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6, AFC South) both completed “worst-to-first” turnarounds and at least one team has won its division the season after finishing in or tied for last place in 14 of the past 15 seasons. Five of the eight division winners – Eagles, Vikings, Rams, Saints and Jaguars – finished in either third or fourth place in their divisions last year.

There are eight new teams in this year’s playoff field – Eagles, Vikings, Rams, Saints and Panthers in the NFC and Jaguars, Titans and Bills in the AFC – which is tied for the most in a season (2003) since the 12-team playoff format was adopted in 1990. Since 1990, at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season that were not in the postseason the year before.

Six of the eight new teams in the playoffs this year will play on Wild Card Weekend: Buffalo, Carolina, Jacksonville, , , and Tennessee.

The teams since 1990 to make the playoffs a season after failing to qualify:

SEASON PLAYOFF TEAMS NOT IN PREVIOUS SEASON’S PLAYOFFS 1990 7 (Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles Raiders, Miami, New Orleans, Washington) 1991 5 (Atlanta, , Denver, Detroit, New York Jets) 1992 6 (Miami, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, , San Francisco) 1993 5 (Denver, Detroit, Green Bay, Los Angeles Raiders, New York Giants) 1994 5 (Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, New England, San Diego) 1995 4 (Atlanta, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Philadelphia) 1996 5 (Carolina, Denver, Jacksonville, Minnesota, New England) 1997 5 (Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, New York Giants, Tampa Bay) 1998 5 (Arizona, Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas, New York Jets) 1999 7 (Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Washington) 2000 6 (Baltimore, Denver, New Orleans, New York Giants, Oakland, Philadelphia) 2001 6 (Chicago, Green Bay, New England, New York Jets, Pittsburgh, San Francisco) 2002 5 (Atlanta, Cleveland, Indianapolis, New York Giants, Tennessee) 2003 8 (Baltimore, Carolina, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, New England, St. Louis, Seattle) 2004 5 (Atlanta, Minnesota, New York Jets, Pittsburgh, San Diego) 2005 7 (Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, New York Giants, Tampa Bay, Washington) 2006 7 (Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, New Orleans, New York Jets, Philadelphia, San Diego) 2007 6 (Green Bay, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Washington) 2008 7 (Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota, Philadelphia) 2009 6 (Cincinnati, Dallas, Green Bay, New England, New Orleans, New York Jets) 2010 5 (Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Seattle) 2011 6 (Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Houston, New York Giants, San Francisco) 2012 4 (Indianapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington) 2013 5 (Carolina, Kansas City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Diego) 2014 5 (Arizona, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Pittsburgh) 2015 4 (Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Washington) 2016 6 (Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, New York Giants, Oakland) 2017 8 (Buffalo, Carolina, Jacksonville, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Tennessee)

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

POSTSEASON : Quarterbacks of New Orleans and MATT RYAN of Atlanta have enjoyed postseason success in their careers. They both rank among the leaders in many postseason passing categories, including , completion percentage and 300-yard games.

Ryan (102.4) and Brees (100.7) are two of only four quarterbacks in NFL history to have a passer rating of at least 100 in the postseason (minimum 150 attempts). The other two – (104.8) and (102.8) – are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The quarterbacks with the highest career postseason passer rating (min. 150 attempts):

QUARTERBACK COMP. ATT. YARDS TDS INTS RATING Bart Starr^ 130 213 1,753 15 3 104.8 Kurt Warner^ 307 462 3,952 31 14 102.8 Matt Ryan* 194 285 2,244 18 7 102.4 Drew Brees* 306 464 3,539 24 6 100.7 378 595 4,458 36 10 99.4 *Active in 2017 playoffs ^Pro Football Hall of Famer

Ryan (68.1 percent) has the highest postseason completion percentage in NFL history (minimum 150 attempts) and Brees (65.9 percent) ranks fourth.

The quarterbacks with the highest career postseason completion percentage (min. 150 attempts):

QUARTERBACK COMP. ATT. PCT. Matt Ryan* 194 285 68.1 Kurt Warner^ 307 462 66.5 Ken Anderson 110 166 66.3 Drew Brees* 306 464 65.9 ^ 259 403 64.3 *Active in 2017 playoffs ^Pro Football Hall of Famer

Brees has thrown for at least 300 yards in six postseason games in his career. With 300 passing yards against Carolina on Sunday, Brees would join (12) and (nine) as the only quarterbacks to have at least seven 300-yard passing games in NFL postseason history.

The quarterbacks with the most 300-yard passing performances in NFL postseason history:

PLAYER MOST 300-YARD PASSING GAMES IN POSTSEASON Tom Brady* 12 Peyton Manning 9 Drew Brees* 6 ^ 6 Aaron Rodgers 6 Kurt Warner^ 6 *Active in 2017 playoffs ^Pro Football Hall of Famer

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

NEW FACES: Several teams will feature a quarterback making his first career playoff start. Among those slated to start on Wild Card Weekend are Buffalo’s , Jacksonville’s , the Los Angeles Rams’ and Tennessee’s .

The players with the most passing yards in their first career postseason start:

PLAYER TEAM SEASON ROUND PASSING YARDS Cleveland 2002 Wild Card 429 Aaron Rodgers Green Bay 2009 Wild Card 423 Philadelphia 1988 Divisional 407 Kurt Warner^ St. Louis 1999 Divisional 391 St. Louis Cardinals 1982 Wild Card 385 ^Pro Football Hall of Famer

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

SAFE SMITH: Kansas City quarterback passed for a career-high 4,042 yards with five in the regular season, his NFL-record fifth consecutive season with at least 3,000 passing yards and fewer than 10 interceptions.

Smith has made six career postseason starts, completing 132 of 220 passes (60 percent) for 1,481 yards with 12 and two interceptions for a 94.5 passer rating.

Smith’s 0.9 percentage is the lowest by a quarterback in postseason history (minimum 150 attempts). New Orleans’ DREW BREES ranks third all-time with a 1.3 interception percentage in the postseason (464 attempts, six interceptions).

The lowest career interception percentages in postseason history (minimum 150 attempts):

PLAYER TEAM(S) INTERCEPTION PERCENTAGE Alex Smith* San Francisco, Kansas City 0.9 Dallas 1.1 Drew Brees* San Diego, New Orleans 1.3 Bart Starr^ Green Bay 1.4 Aaron Rodgers Green Bay 1.7 *Active in 2017 postseason ^Pro Football Hall of Famer

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

ALL-AROUND ROOKIES: Kansas City’s (1,782 scrimmage yards), New Orleans’ (1,554), Jacksonville’s LEONARD FOURNETTE (1,342) and Carolina’s CHRISTIAN MC CAFFREY (1,086) were the only rookies with 1,000+ scrimmage yards in 2017 and all four will take the field on Wild Card Weekend.

The rookies with the most scrimmage yards in a single postseason in NFL history:

PLAYER TEAM SEASON SCRIMMAGE YARDS Joseph Addai Indianapolis 2006 412 Baltimore 2000 378 Duane Thomas Dallas 1970 358 Washington 1987 351 Green Bay 2010 330

The rookies with the most scrimmage touchdowns in a single postseason in NFL history:

PLAYER TEAM SEASON SCRIMMAGE TDS William Floyd San Francisco 1994 5 Norm Standlee Chicago 1941 4 ^ Dallas 1977 4 Jamal Lewis Baltimore 2000 4 ^Pro Football Hall of Famer

-- WILD CARD WEEKEND --

SCORING CHAMPS TO CONFERENCE CHAMPS: The LOS ANGELES RAMS, who scored the fewest points in the league in 2016 (14 points per game), led the NFL averaging 29.9 points per game and became the second team in NFL history (1964-65 San Francisco) to lead the league in scoring after scoring the fewest points in the previous season.

Three of the past four regular-season scoring champions – ATLANTA (33.8 in 2016), CAROLINA (31.3 in 2015) and DENVER (37.9 in 2013) – advanced to the Super Bowl.

The postseason results of the team with the highest scoring average in the regular season in the past five seasons:

TEAM SEASON REGULAR SEASON POINTS/GAME PLAYOFF RESULT Denver 2013 37.9 Advanced to SB XLVIII Green Bay 2014 30.4 Advanced to NFC CG Carolina 2015 31.3 Advanced to SB 50 Atlanta 2016 33.8 Advanced to SB LI

LA Rams 2017 29.9 ???

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