NFL Playoffs Begin With Wild Card Weekend
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The NFL playoffs begin today and tomorrow with Wild Card Weekend. This afternoon, the Washington Redskins play at the Seattle Seahawks (NBC, 4:30 PM ET) and this evening, the Jacksonville Jaguars visit the Pittsburgh Steelers (NBC, 8:00 PM ET). Wild Card Weekend continues tomorrow with the New York Giants at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (FOX, 1:00 PM ET) and the Tennessee Titans traveling to face the San Diego Chargers (CBS, 4:30 PM ET).
Today’s game between the Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks will feature two of the most successful coaches in NFL history in Joe Gibbs of Washington and Mike Holmgren of Seattle. They’ve appeared in a combined seven Super Bowls, winning four. Coach Gibbs ranks third all-time in playoff wins with 17, and by coaching the Redskins on Saturday, he will tie Chuck Noll (24) for the third-most playoff games coached in history. There was a time this season when many felt Coach Gibbs was too old to be coaching, that he couldn’t keep up the pace. But he’s proven them (and me) wrong as the ‘Skins won four straight to get into the postseason.
One of the main reasons that Jacksonville is in the playoffs is the rushing production of 10-year veteran Fred Taylor. Fred finished the year ranked ninth in the league in rushing with 1,202 yards, averaged 5.4 yards per carry, and closed the regular season with five consecutive 100-yard rushing performances. One of those games came against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15 at Heinz Field, where the Jags will play tonight. Fred ran for 147 yards in that game, the most that Pittsburgh’s top-ranked defense gave up on the ground all season. Amazingly, Fred was again snubbed for the Pro Bowl.
Playing away from home has not been a problem for the New York Giants this season. The G-men come into their game against the Bucs with a franchise-record seven-game road winning streak. Including this year’s 16-0 New England club, only nine teams in history have entered the playoffs with seven or more consecutive road wins.
The San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans finished the season with the most interceptions in 2007. The Chargers ranked first with 29 pickoffs and tied an NFL record set by Dallas in 1985 for the most interceptions at home with 22. The Titans tied Indianapolis for the second most in the league with 22. Chargers Pro Bowl cornerback Antonio Cromartie led the NFL with 10 interceptions, breaking a 46-year-old franchise record (Charlie McNeil had nine in 1961) in the process. LB Keith Bulluck led Tennessee with five INTs. When the teams meet tomorrow, it will mark only the fourth playoff game since 1970 between clubs with the top interception totals.
Tags: antonio-cromartie, charlie-mcneil, Fred-Taylor, Jacksonville Jaguars, Joe-Gibbs, keith-bullock, mike-holmgren, N.Y. Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, tampa-bay-bucs, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins, wild-card-weekendRelated Stories
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