CINCINNATI (9-7) At HOUSTON (10-6)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m., NBC
OPENING LINE - Texans by 3
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Cincinnati 8-6-2; Houston 11-5
SERIES RECORD - Series tied 3-3
BENGALS OFFENSE - OVERALL (20), RUSH (19), PASS (20)
BENGALS DEFENSE - OVERALL (7), RUSH (10), PASS (9)
TEXANS OFFENSE - OVERALL (13), RUSH (2), PASS (18)
TEXANS DEFENSE - OVERALL (2), RUSH (4), PASS (3)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Houston has won last three over Cincinnati. Texans clinched first AFC South title and playoff spot in franchise history by beating Bengals 20-19 at Paul Brown Stadium on Dec. 11. ... Bengals haven't won playoff game since the end of 1990 season, when they beat Houston Oilers 41-14. They lost playoff games at Paul Brown in 2005 to Steelers and 2009 to Jets. This is only their third playoff appearance in last 21 years. ... Took Texans 10 years to reach playoffs for first time, longest streak of any expansion team. ... It's first playoff game since AFL-NFL merger in 1970 featuring two rookie quarterbacks. Bengals took Andy Dalton in second round. Texans got T.J. Yates in fifth round. ... Dalton grew up in Houston suburb of Katy and is 3-0 at Reliant Stadium after winning two high school playoff games there and getting a win in Texas Bowl while at TCU. ... Dalton started all 16 games. Yates got in for last five after Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart got hurt. ... Dalton missed practice Wednesday because of bad case of flu, but returned a day later. ... Over last six games, Dalton threw five touchdowns and only one interception in 184 attempts. ... During loss to Houston last month, Dalton and Bengals offense had miserable second half, blowing 6-3 lead. They managed 81 yards in second half, including only 9 yards on 14 rushes. Dalton fumbled on second play of half to start Houston's comeback and was 7 of 11 for 77 yards after halftime. ... Yates had biggest game of season at Cincinnati, completing 26 of 44 for 300 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He led Texans 80 yards in closing minutes, throwing 6-yard TD pass to Kevin Walter with 2 seconds left to win it. ... Bengals worked out in bitter conditions early in week - wind chills in teens - at Paul Brown Stadium. They don't have covered practice field. Reliant Stadium has retractable roof. ... It's first playoff game in Houston since Jan. 16, 1994 - a span of 6,565 days - when Kansas City Chiefs beat Houston Oilers 28-20. ... Houston RBs Arian Foster (1,224) and Ben Tate (942) were only teammates in NFL to run for at least 900 yards apiece this season. ... Bengals had season-high five sacks in last game against Houston. ... Houston WR Andre Johnson has 19 catches for 278 yards in last two games against Bengals. He sat out win in Cincinnati with pulled hamstring. ... Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green's 1,057 yards receiving are most by rookie in franchise history. He'll be covered by CB Johnathan Joseph, who left Bengals as free agent after last season. Joseph was first-round draft pick by Bengals in 2006 and spent five seasons in Cincinnati. Green had five catches for 59 yards in their matchup last month.
DETROIT (10-6) At NEW ORLEANS (13-3)
Saturday, 8 p.m., NBC
OPENING LINE - Saints by 10
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Detroit 7-7-2; New Orleans 12-4
SERIES RECORD - Saints lead 11-9-1
LIONS OFFENSE - OVERALL (5), RUSH (29), PASS (4)
LIONS DEFENSE - OVERALL (23), RUSH (23), PASS (22)
SAINTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (1), RUSH (6), PASS (1)
SAINTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (27), RUSH (12), PASS (30)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Detroit making first playoff appearance since 1999. ... Lions set NFL single-season mark by coming back to win three games after trailing by 17 or more points. ... For first time since 1952, Detroit scored 45 or more points in three games. ... Lions scored club record 474 points in 2011; also set club record with 6,337 offensive yards. ... Lions QB Matthew Stafford set team passing records with 5,038 yards and 41 TDs, becoming fourth NFL QB with 5,000 yards passing in season, joining Hall of Famer Dan Marino, Saints' Drew Brees and New England's Tom Brady. ... Lions WR Calvin Johnson led NFL with 1,681 yards receiving and led NFC with 16 TDs receiving, which also broke former club record of 15 set by Cloyce Box in 1952. ... Johnson only Lion with 1,500-plus yards receiving and 15-plus TDs receiving in a season. ... DE Cliff Avril led Lions with 11 sacks and led NFC with six forced fumbles. ... Ndamukong Suh has 14 sacks over two seasons, second most by DT in NFL during that span. ... New Orleans has won eight in row and tied club record with 13 wins, equaling win total set by 2009 Super Bowl champion Saints. ... New Orleans had 8-0 home record for first time in club's 45-year history. ... New Orleans set NFL record with 7,474 offensive yards and 5,347 yards passing. ... Saints have qualified for postseason in four of six seasons under coach Sean Payton. ... New Orleans 4-2 in playoffs under Payton. ... Brees set NFL single-season record with 5,476 yards passing. Brees had 13 300-yard passing games, most in a season, including seven straight, longest streak in NFL history. ... Brees set single-season records for completions (468) and completion percentage (71.2). ... Brees completed 26 of 36 passes (72.2 percent) for 342 yards, three TDs in last meeting. ... RB-PR-KR Darren Sproles set NFL record with 2,696 all-purpose yards. ... He is first NFL player with 1,300-plus yards from scrimmage (1,313) and 1,300-plus yards on kickoff and punt returns (1,383). ... Jimmy Graham led NFL TEs with 99 receptions and was second with 1,310 yards receiving, also second most all-time by a TE behind New England's Rob Gronkowski. ... Graham is first NFL TE with at least 95 catches, 1,200 yards and 10 TDs in a season. ... Graham (99 receptions) and Sproles (86) are first TE-RB duo in NFL history with 80-plus catches each. ... WR Marques Colston, in sixth season, had 1,143 yards receiving in 2011, his team-record fifth 1,000-yard season. ... S Roman Harper led Saints with 7 1/2 sacks, second most all-time by DB in a season.
ATLANTA (10-6) At NEW YORK GIANTS (9-7)
Sunday, 1 p.m., Fox
OPENING LINE - Giants by 3 1/2
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Atlanta 8-7-1; New York 8-8
SERIES RECORD - Series tied 10-10
LAST WEEK - Falcons beat Buccaneers 45-24; Giants beat Cowboys 31-14
FALCONS OFFENSE - OVERALL (10), RUSH (17), PASS (8)
FALCONS DEFENSE - OVERALL (12), RUSH (6), PASS (20)
GIANTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (8), RUSH (32), PASS (5)
GIANTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (27), RUSH (19), PASS (29)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - First playoff game between the teams. ... Giants have won last three games, but Falcons have won five of last six in New Jersey. ... First time Atlanta qualifies for playoffs in consecutive seasons. ... Falcons have made playoffs three of last four seasons under Mike Smith, and posted four consecutive winning seasons for first time. ... Atlanta had franchise-record 6,026 yards in total offense. ...QB Matt Ryan had team-record 4,177 yards passing. ... RB Michael Turner rushed for 1,340 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has run for 50 TDs since 2008, second most in league. ... WR Roddy White led NFC with 100 catches, his second consecutive 100-catch season. His 471 catches since 2007 are most in NFC. ... TE Tony Gonzalez had 80 catches in posting 13th consecutive season with 60-plus catches. WR Julio Jones led NFL rookies with eight TD catches. ... DE John Abraham had 9 1/2 sacks, his eighth season with at least 9 1/2 sacks. ...LB Curtis Lofton had 167 tackles to lead team for third straight year. ... S Thomas De Coud led team with career-high four interceptions. ... Giants making NFL-leading 31st postseason appearance, first since 2008. ... Coach Tom Coughlin has led team to five postseason appearances, tying Bill Parcells for most in team history. ... QB Eli Manning had franchise-record 4,933 yards passing and eight 300-yard games. His 22 career 300-yard games are most in team history, one more than Phil Simms. Manning has had seven consecutive seasons with 3,000-plus yards passing and 20-plus touchdown passes. He also set NFL-record with 15 fourth-quarter TD passes, passing Johnny Unitas and older brother Peyton Manning. ... Giants running game is last in league. ... WR Victor Cruz had team-record 1,536 yards receiving and nine touchdowns, including five of 65 yards or more, second most in league history, one less than Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch in 1951. ... WR Hakeem Nicks ranks second with 76 catches for 1,192 yards and seven touchdowns. ... DE Jason Pierre-Paul's 16 1/2 sacks were fourth in league. ...In last 22 games, DE Osi Umenyiora has 19 1/2 sacks and 11 forced fumbles. ... LB Michael Boley spent first four seasons (2005-08) with Atlanta. ... New York had 20 interceptions, its highest total since 2000. CB Corey Webster led team with career-high six.
PITTSBURGH (12-4) At DENVER (8-8)
Sunday, 6:30 p.m., CBS
OPENING LINE - Steelers by 8
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Pittsburgh 7-9; Denver 7-9
SERIES RECORD - Broncos lead 16-10-1
STEELERS OFFENSE - OVERALL (12), RUSH (14), PASS (10)
STEELERS DEFENSE - OVERALL (1), RUSH (8), PASS (1)
BRONCOS OFFENSE - OVERALL (23), RUSH (1), PASS (31)
BRONCOS DEFENSE - OVERALL (20), RUSH (22), PASS (18)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Teams split six playoff games, last one coming in AFC championship Jan. 22, 2006, when Steelers prevailed 34-17. ... Nobody playing in this game had more than two interceptions all season. ... Steelers can break tie with Cowboys for most playoff wins with their 34th Sunday. ... QB Ben Roethlisberger 10-3 lifetime in playoffs. In only playoff appearance against Broncos, he completed 21 of 29 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 124.9 passer rating. ... Steelers without top tailback Rashard Mendenhall but backup Isaac Redman had career-best 92 yards last week against Browns. ... WR Mike Wallace (1,193) topped 1,000 yards receiving for second straight season, and WR Hines Ward became eighth NFL player to catch 1,000 passes. He also has 88 catches in playoffs for 1,181 yards and 10 TDs. ... WR Antonio Brown is first player in league history to top 1,000 yards in both receiving (1,108) and returning (1,062) in same season. ... Steelers defense allowed NFL lows in points per game (14.2), yards per game (271.8) and yards passing per game (171.9). ... Broncos coach John Fox 0-3 against Pittsburgh, where he first broke into NFL as secondary coach in 1989. ... LB Von Miller leads Broncos with 11 1/2 sacks but has just one in last month while playing with cumbersome cast on right hand. ... PR Eddie Royal averaged 16.2 yards but dealing with toe injury that could limit effectiveness. ... Broncos coming off just their third loss in 89 games in which they held opponent to 7 points or fewer. ... Broncos making first playoff appearance since 2005. ... Denver 3-0 in overtime this season. ... QB Tim Tebow is 7-4 as starter but has lost career-high three straight after six-game winning streak that included four straight fourth-quarter comebacks. ... Broncos led league with 164.5 yards rushing a game and set franchise mark with 2,632 yards, including 1,199 by RB Willis McGahee, who joined Ricky Watters as only players in NFL history to top 1,000 yards for three teams. His seve n 100-yard games tied Arian Foster for NFL lead. ... In last five games, WR Demaryius Thomas averaged 89.6 yards per game with three TD catches. ... WR Eric Decker had eight TD catches, and TE Daniel Fells tied career high with three TD grabs. ... DE Elvis Dumervil has 3 1/2 sacks in three games against Steelers.
