FOR USE AS DESIRED 1/5/21 SUPER WILD CARD WEEKEND KICKS OFF SATURDAY The NFL’s playoff table is ready. Get ready for a six-course meal. The addition of a third Wild Card team in each conference this season and the subsequent expansion of the playoffs has resulted in a Super Wild Card Weekend of NFL action. For the first time ever, there will be three games on Saturday, January 9, and three games on Sunday, January 10, to be played at 1:05 p.m., 4:40 p.m., and 8:15 p.m. ET on each day. The postseason kicks off Saturday on the heels of the highest-scoring regular season in NFL history, packed with more points (12,692) and touchdowns (1,473) than any of the league’s previous 100 years. All told, 179 of 256 games – 70 percent – were within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter, more games than all but one season in league annals (184 in 2016). And no lead was safe, as winning teams combined to erase deficits of 10-or-more points in 43 games, tying a single-season league record. Steady, dangerous teams led by consistent veterans, young and on-the-rise clubs guided by sensational newcomers, they all have seats at the table. The NFL Super Wild Card Weekend schedule: Saturday, January 9 AFC Indianapolis at Buffalo 1:05 PM ET CBS, CBS All Access NFC Los Angeles Rams at Seattle 4:40 PM ET FOX, FOX Deportes NFC Tampa Bay at Washington 8:15 PM ET NBC, Universo Sunday, January 10 AFC Baltimore at Tennessee 1:05 PM ET ESPN/ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, Freeform NFC Chicago at New Orleans 4:40 PM ET CBS, Nickelodeon, Amazon Prime Video, CBS All Access AFC Cleveland at Pittsburgh 8:15 PM ET NBC, Telemundo, Peacock The 14 teams in contention for the Vince Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay: AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE 1. Kansas City Chiefs (14-2), AFC West champion* 1. Green Bay Packers (13-3), NFC North champion* 2. Buffalo Bills (13-3), AFC East champion 2. New Orleans Saints (12-4) NFC South champion 3. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4), AFC North champion 3. Seattle Seahawks (12-4), NFC West champion 4. Tennessee Titans (11-5), AFC South champion 4. Washington (7-9), NFC East champion 5. Baltimore Ravens (11-5) 5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5) 6. Cleveland Browns (11-5) 6. Los Angeles Rams (10-6) 7. Indianapolis Colts (11-5) 7. Chicago Bears (8-8) *Earned conference’s only first-round bye AFC FIELD STACKED WITH HIGH-WIN CLUBS: For just the second time since the 1970 league merger, every playoff team in one conference has at least 11 regular-season wins. It also happened in 1980, in the AFC, when the NFL expanded its playoff field with an additional Wild Card qualifier in each conference. One of those 1980 AFC teams, the 11- 5 OAKLAND RAIDERS, went on to become the first Wild Card team to win a Super Bowl. WATCH OUT FOR ROAD TEAMS: The road club has won six of the last eight NFL Wild Card games over the past two seasons. Since the 2017 playoffs, road teams are 8-4. And, in seven of the past eight seasons, at least one road team has won a Wild Card game. HISTORY ON WASHINGTON’S SIDE: Since divisional play began, 438 teams have earned division championships. The WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM (7-9) is the third club in league history to win its division with a record below .500. However, each of those two previous teams – the 2010 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS and the 2014 CAROLINA PANTHERS – were victorious in their first-round playoff games. WOMEN ASSISTANT COACHES WELL-REPRESENTED: There were eight women serving in assistant-coach roles this season, and six of them will be coaching during Super Wild Card Weekend. The eight women assistant coaches in the NFL this season: NAME TEAM Callie Brownson Cleveland Browns Emily Zaler Denver Broncos Chelsea Romero Los Angeles Rams Katie Sowers San Francisco 49ers Lori Locust Tampa Bay Buccaneers Maral Javadifar Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cristi Bartlett Tennessee Titans Jennifer King Washington Football Team A look at the six games on Super Wild Card Weekend: INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (11-5) at BUFFALO BILLS (13-3) Saturday, CBS/CBS All Access, 1:05 PM ET Buffalo secured its third playoff berth in the past four seasons, since SEAN McDERMOTT became head coach. The Bills won their division for the first time since 1995 and earned their first home playoff game since the 1996 season. Indianapolis clinched its second playoff berth in the past three seasons, since FRANK REICH became head coach. Offensively, the Bills ranked second in the league in points per game (31.3) and tied for second in total offense (396.4 yards/game) this season. Buffalo quarterback JOSH ALLEN, who had 4,544 passing yards with 37 touchdown passes and eight rushing touchdowns in 2020, is the first player with at least 4,500 passing yards, 35 touchdown passes and five rushing touchdowns in a single season in NFL history. Allen (37 touchdown passes, age 24) along with Kansas City’s PATRICK MAHOMES (38 touchdown passes, age 25), Houston’s DESHAUN WATSON (33 touchdown passes, age 25) and the Chargers’ JUSTIN HERBERT (31 touchdown passes, age 22) helped make 2020 the first season in league history in which four quarterbacks under the age of 26 each threw at least 30 touchdown passes. Bills wide receiver STEFON DIGGS this season led the NFL with 127 receptions, the sixth-most receptions in a single season in league annals. Only MICHAEL THOMAS (149 receptions in 2019), Pro Football Hall of Famer MARVIN HARRISON (143 in 2002), JULIO JONES (136 in 2015) and ANTONIO BROWN (136 in 2015 and 129 in 2014) had more. Colts quarterback PHILIP RIVERS passed for 4,169 yards, his 12th-career 4,000-yard season, tied for the second most in NFL history. Indianapolis rookie running back JONATHAN TAYLOR rushed for 253 yards and two touchdowns in the Colts’ Week 17 win. Taylor’s 253 rushing yards were tied with DEMARCO MURRAY (253 rushing yards on Oct. 23, 2011) for the second-most rushing yards by a rookie in a single game in NFL history. Only ADRIAN PETERSON (296 rushing yards on Nov. 4, 2007) had more. LOS ANGELES RAMS (10-6) at SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (12-4) Saturday, FOX/FOX Deportes, 4:40 PM ET Seattle is in the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 seasons under head coach PETE CARROLL. The Rams have clinched a playoff berth in three of the past four seasons, since SEAN MCVAY became head coach. The clubs split their regular-season series this season, with each club winning its home game. The Rams beat Seattle, 23-16, in Week 10 while the Seahawks defeated Los Angeles, 20-9, in Week 16. Since selecting quarterback RUSSELL WILSON in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, Seattle has earned eight postseason berths in nine years. Wilson threw a career-high 40 touchdown passes and, with 4,212 passing yards, registered his fourth career 4,000-yard season in 2020. He also became the third player ever with 30-or-more touchdown passes in four consecutive seasons. Seattle wide receiver DK METCALF had a career-high and franchise-record 1,303 receiving yards in 2020. Seahawks wide receiver TYLER LOCKETT registered a career-high and franchise-record 100 receptions, and with 1,054 receiving yards, posted his second straight 1,000-yard season in 2020. Defensively, Los Angeles allowed the fewest points per game (18.5) and fewest yards per game (281.9), and recorded the second-most sacks (53) in the NFL this season. Rams defensive lineman AARON DONALD tied for second in the NFL with 13.5 sacks. Since entering the NFL in 2014, he leads the league with 85.5 sacks, having surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer DERRICK THOMAS (85) for the third-most sacks by a player in his first seven seasons since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic. Los Angeles wide receiver ROBERT WOODS tied his career highs in receptions (90) and receiving touchdowns (six) in 2020. In four career playoff games, he has 26 receptions for 314 yards (78.5 per game). In five of the previous eight seasons (2012-19), an NFC West team has represented the conference in the Super Bowl, including the Rams in 2018 and the Seahawks in 2013 and 2014. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (11-5) at WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM (7-9) Saturday, NBC/Universo, 8:15 PM ET The Buccaneers, in their second season under head coach BRUCE ARIANS, clinched their first playoff berth since 2007. At the reins of the Cardinals in 2015, Arians guided Arizona to the NFC Championship game. Washington, in the team’s first season under head coach RON RIVERA, secured its first division title and playoff berth since 2015. Rivera led the Panthers to Super Bowl 50 five years ago. Tampa Bay quarterback TOM BRADY passed for 399 yards and four touchdowns with one interception for a 117.8 rating while wide receiver ANTONIO BROWN had 11 receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns in the Buccaneers’ Week 17 win. Brady made the 299th regular-season start of his career and surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer BRETT FAVRE (298 starts) for the most regular-season starts by a quarterback in NFL history. Brady, who had 50 touchdown passes in 2007, recorded 40 touchdown passes in 2020 and became the fifth quarterback with at least 40 touchdown passes in multiple seasons in NFL history, joining AARON RODGERS (three seasons), DREW BREES (two), PEYTON MANNING (two) and Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO (two).