NFL Divisional Playoffs: What to Watch

VIEW FROM THE TOP: Since the NFL moved to a 12-team playoff format in 1990, No. 1 seeds in the NFC are 18-4 (.818) in the Divisional Playoffs. In the AFC, the No. 1 seed has compiled a 13-9 (.591) record.

Both No. 1 seeds are in action this weekend when the top-seeded Atlanta Falcons host the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC and the No. 1-seed Denver Broncos face the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC.

The No. 1 seeds in Divisional-round play since 1990:

YEAR	AFC NO. 1 SEED	DIVISIONAL RESULT	NFC NO. 1 SEED	DIVISIONAL RESULT
1990	Buffalo	Defeated Miami 44-34	San Francisco	Defeated Washington 28-10
1991	Buffalo	Defeated Kansas City 37-14	Washington	Defeated Atlanta 24-7
1992	Pittsburgh	Lost to Buffalo 24-3	San Francisco	Defeated Washington 20-13
1993	Buffalo	Defeated L.A. Raiders 29-23	Dallas	Defeated Green Bay 27-17
1994	Pittsburgh	Defeated Cleveland 29-9	San Francisco	Defeated Chicago 44-15
1995	Kansas City	Lost to Indianapolis 10-7	Dallas	Defeated Philadelphia 30-11
1996	Denver	Lost to Jacksonville 30-27	Green Bay	Defeated San Francisco 35-14
1997	Kansas City	Lost to Denver 14-10	San Francisco	Defeated Minnesota 38-22
1998	Denver	Defeated Miami 38-3	Minnesota	Defeated Arizona 41-21
1999	Jacksonville	Defeated Miami 62-7	St. Louis	Defeated Minnesota 49-37
2000	Tennessee	Lost to Baltimore 24-10	N.Y. Giants	Defeated Philadelphia 20-10
2001	Pittsburgh	Defeated Baltimore 27-10	St. Louis	Defeated Green Bay 45-17
2002	Oakland	Defeated N.Y. Jets 30-10	Philadelphia	Defeated Atlanta 20-6
2003	New England	Defeated Tennessee 17-14	Philadelphia	Defeated Green Bay 20-17 (OT)
2004	Pittsburgh	Defeated N.Y. Jets 20-17 (OT)	Philadelphia	Defeated Minnesota 27-14
2005	Indianapolis	Lost to Pittsburgh 21-18	Seattle	Defeated Washington 20-10
2006	San Diego	Lost to New England 24-21	Chicago	Defeated Seattle 27-24 (OT)
2007	New England	Defeated Jacksonville 31-20	Dallas	Lost to N.Y. Giants 21-17
2008	Tennessee	Lost to Baltimore 13-10	N.Y. Giants	Lost to Philadelphia 23-11
2009	Indianapolis	Defeated Baltimore 20-3	New Orleans	Defeated Arizona 45-14
2010	New England	Lost to N.Y. Jets 28-21	Atlanta	Lost to Green Bay 48-21
2011	New England	Defeated Denver 45-10	Green Bay	Lost to N.Y. Giants 37-20
2012	Denver	???	Atlanta	???

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FIRST-ROUND BYES: The top seeds - ATLANTA (13-3, NFC No. 1 seed), DENVER (13-3, AFC No. 1 seed), NEW ENGLAND (12-4, AFC No. 2 seed) and SAN FRANCISCO (11-4-1, NFC No. 2 seed) - earned first-round byes and will be featured in this weekend's Divisional Playoffs.

Three of the four top seeds rank among the teams with the most first-round byes since the 12-team playoff format was adopted in 1990. New England (eight) and San Francisco (eight) are tied withPITTSBURGH (eight) for the most such byes, while Denver (five) is tied with DALLAS (five) for the fourth-most since 1990.

The teams with the most first-round byes since 1990:

TEAM	NUMBER OF FIRST-ROUND BYES SINCE 1990
New England Patriots	8*
Pittsburgh Steelers	8
San Francisco 49ers	8*
Dallas Cowboys	5
Denver Broncos	5*
*Includes 2012

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HOME SWEET HOME: The AFC's top two seeds - DENVER (13-3, AFC No. 1 seed) and NEW ENGLAND (12-4, AFC No. 2 seed) - will host Baltimore and Houston, respectively, in this weekend's Divisional Playoffs.

Denver and New England each have a 13-3 (.813) all-time record at home during the playoffs, tied for the highest winning percentage in postseason history (minimum 10 games).

The teams with the highest home winning percentage all-time in the postseason (minimum 10 games):

TEAM	RECORD	HOME WINNING PERCENTAGE, POSTSEASON
Denver*	13-3	.813
New England*	13-3	.813
Green Bay	16-4	.800
Oakland	19-5	.792
Buffalo	10-3	.769
*Play this weekend at home

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ROAD WARRIORS: AFC North champion BALTIMORE (No. 4 seed) will travel to Denver on Saturday to face the AFC's No. 1 seeded Broncos following a 24-9 victory over Indianapolis on Wild Card Weekend.

Baltimore owns a 7-5 (.583) all-time road record in the postseason, the highest winning percentage in postseason history (minimum 10 games). GREEN BAY, which travels to San Francisco on Saturday, owns the second-highest road winning percentage in the postseason (.455, 10-12).

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CHAMPIONSHIP GOAL: This Saturday, SAN FRANCISCO (11-4-1, NFC No. 2 seed) will host Green Bay (12-5, No. 3 seed) in a rematch of their Kickoff Weekend matchup when the 49ers defeated the Packers 30-22 at Lambeau Field.

With a victory against Green Bay, San Francisco would advance to its 14th NFC Championship Game, which would tie DALLAS (14) for the second-most appearances in a Conference Championship Game since 1970.

The teams with the most appearances in a Conference Championship Game since 1970:

TEAM	MOST APPEARANCES IN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
Pittsburgh Steelers	15
Dallas Cowboys	14
San Francisco 49ers*	13
L.A./Oakland Raiders	11
L.A./St. Louis Rams	9

*Host Green Bay Saturday

-- NFL --

WHEN IT COUNTS: New England quarterback TOM BRADY owns a 16-6 (.727) career postseason record as a starter. His 16 wins are tied for the most by any starting quarterback in NFL postseason history with Pro Football Hall of Famer JOE MONTANA (16).

With a win against Houston on Sunday, Brady would surpass Montana for the most playoff wins all-time.

The starting quarterbacks with the most playoff wins in NFL history:

QUARTERBACK	TEAM(S)	PLAYOFF WINS
Tom Brady	New England Patriots	16
Joe Montana	San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs	16
Terry Bradshaw	Pittsburgh Steelers	14
John Elway	Denver Broncos	14
Brett Favre	Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings	13

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MANNING THE END ZONE: Denver quarterback PEYTON MANNING led the AFC and ranked third in the NFL this season with 37 touchdown passes. Manning has thrown for 29 touchdowns in his postseason career, which ranks seventh all-time.

With four touchdown passes this weekend against Baltimore, Manning (29) would surpass Pro Football Hall of Famers DAN MARINO (32) and TERRY BRADSHAW (30) and KURT WARNER (31) for the fourth-most postseason TD passes in NFL history.

New England quarterback TOM BRADY (38) ranks third on the all-time list, trailing Pro Football Hall of Famer JOE MONTANA (45) and BRETT FAVRE (44).

The quarterbacks with the most career postseason touchdown passes in NFL history:

PLAYER	CAREER		POSTSEASON TD PASSES
Joe Montana	1979-1994		45
Brett Favre	1991-2010		44
Tom Brady*	2000-present		38
Dan Marino	1983-1999		32
Kurt Warner	1998-2009		31
Terry Bradshaw	1970-1983		30
Peyton Manning*	1998-present		29
*Active this weekend

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FOSTER FOLLOW-UP: Houston running back ARIAN FOSTER rushed for 140 yards in the Texans' 19-13 Wild Card victory over Cincinnati, becoming the first player in NFL history to rush for at least 100 yards in each of his first three playoff games.

With 100 or more yards this Sunday against New England, Foster would join TERRELL DAVIS (seven) and Pro Football Hall of Famers JOHN RIGGINS (six) and THURMAN THOMAS (four) as the only players in NFL history to rush for 100+ yards in at least four consecutive playoff games.

Foster (425) could also challenge for the most rushing yards in a player's first four postseason games in NFL history. With 91 rushing yards, he would surpass Davis (515) for the most rushing yards in a player's first four postseason games.

The players with the most consecutive 100-yard rushing games in NFL postseason history:

PLAYER	TEAM	YEARS	CONSEC. 100-YARD RUSHING GAMES, POSTSEASON
Terrell Davis	Denver	1997-1998	7
John Riggins	Washington	1982-1983	6
Thurman Thomas	Buffalo	1990-1991	4
Arian Foster	Houston	2011-2012	3*
*Active streak

The players with the most rushing yards in their first four postseason games in NFL history:

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR(S)			MOST RUSH YARDS IN FIRST FOUR POSTSEASON GAMES
Terrell Davis	Denver	1997-1998			515
Fred Taylor	Jacksonville	1999-2000			493
John Riggins	Washington	1976, 1983			474
Eric Dickerson	L.A. Rams	1983-1984, 1986			470
Eddie George	Tennessee	2000			449
Arian Foster	Houston	2011-2012			425*
*Through three postseason games

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PLAYOFF MOSS: San Francisco wide receiver RANDY MOSS has 10 postseason touchdown catches, tied for the third-most in NFL playoff history.

With a touchdown catch against Green Bay on Saturday, Moss (10) would surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer FRED BILETNIKOFF (10), ANTONIO FREEMAN (10) and HINES WARD (10) for the third-most postseason touchdown catches all-time. He currently trails Pro Football Hall of Famers JERRY RICE (22) and JOHN STALLWORTH (12).

In his only playoff game against Green Bay (with Minnesota, Wild Card, 1/9/05), Moss had two touchdown catches.

The players with the most postseason touchdown receptions in NFL history:

HEAD COACH	TEAM(S)	TOUCHDOWN RECEPTIONS
Jerry Rice	San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle	22
John Stallworth	Pittsburgh	12
Randy Moss	Minnesota, New England	10
Fred Biletnikoff	Oakland	10
Antonio Freeman	Green Bay, Philadelphia	10
Hines Ward	Pittsburgh	10

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HEAD OF THE CLASS: New England Patriots head coach BILL BELICHICK has compiled a 17-7 (.708) record in his postseason career. Belichick (17) is tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer JOE GIBBS (17) for the third-most playoff wins in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famers TOM LANDRY (20) and DON SHULA (19).

With a win against Houston on Sunday, Belichick would surpass Gibbs (17) for sole possession of third place all-time.

The head coaches with the most playoff wins in NFL history:

HEAD COACH	TEAM(S)	PLAYOFF WINS
Tom Landry	Dallas Cowboys	20
Don Shula	Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins	19
Bill Belichick	Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots	17*
Joe Gibbs	Washington Redskins	17
Chuck Noll	Pittsburgh Steelers	16

*Active