NEW ORLEANS (14-3) At SAN FRANCISCO (13-3)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Fox
OPENING LINE - Saints by 3
RECORD VS. SPREAD - New Orleans 13-4; San Francisco 11-4-1
SERIES RECORD - 49ers lead 45-24-2
SAINTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (1), RUSH (6), PASS (1)
SAINTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (24), RUSH (12), PASS (30)
49ERS OFFENSE - OVERALL (26), RUSH (8), PASS (29)
49ERS DEFENSE - OVERALL (4), RUSH (1), PASS (16)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Saints have won six straight against 49ers since losing 2001 season finale in final game before leaving NFC West. ... Saints set NFL record by converting league-best 56.7 percent of third-down conversions, including 41.3 percent when needing at least 10 yards. Niners second to last, converting 29.4 percent of third downs. ... New Orleans has topped 600 yards past two weeks, including playoff-record 626 against Detroit. New England is only other team to gain 600 yards in game this season. ... Saints 9-0 at home this season, averaging 41.6 points and 507.4 yards per game, compared to 5-3 on road with 27.3 points and 441.6 yards per game. ... New Orleans has lost all four road playoff games in franchise history. ... Saints QB Drew Brees has thrown for 5,942 yards, including his one postseason game, second to Dan Marino's 6,085 in the 1984 regular and postseason. ... San Francisco playing first playoff game since after 2002 season. Only long snapper Brian Jennings remains from that team. ... 49ers had plus-28 turnover margin, leading league in both takeaways with 28 and fewest giveaways with 10. ... San Francisco had best average starting spot for drives on offense and defense this season, starting own drives on average at the 33.5 and opponents at the 24.3. ... 49ers allowed three rushing TDs - all in final two games - the fewest ever in 16-game season. ... San Francisco QB Alex Smith completed just 40 percent of his passes in red zone, the lowest figure among 24 QBs with at least 40 throws inside opponent's 20. ... 49ers had 22 TDs in 54 red-zone trips this season, third lowest rate in NFL. ... San Francisco K David Akers set NFL record with 44 field goals this season, including seven from at least 50 yards.
DENVER (9-8) At NEW ENGLAND (13-3)
Saturday, 8 p.m., CBS
OPENING LINE - Patriots by 13 1/2
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Denver 8-9; New England 9-7
SERIES RECORD - Broncos lead 27-17
BRONCOS OFFENSE - OVERALL (23), RUSH (1), PASS (31)
BRONCOS DEFENSE - OVERALL (20), RUSH (22), PASS (18)
PATRIOTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (2), RUSH (20), PASS (2)
PATRIOTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (31), RUSH (17), PASS (31)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - In first meeting this season, Broncos rushed for 167 yards in first quarter but committed three turnovers in second that enabled Patriots to recover from 16-7 deficit. ... Coaches Bill Belichick of Patriots and John Fox of Broncos faced each other in Super Bowl of 2003 season when Fox was coaching Carolina Panthers. Patriots won 32-29. ... Broncos 2-0 against Patriots in playoff games. In last one Jan. 14, 2006, Denver forced five turnovers - including Champ Bailey's 100-yard interception return on which he was tackled at New England 1 - won 27-13 and advanced to AFC championship game. ... Tim Tebow 8-4 as starter this season after posting franchise playoff high 125.6 passer rating last Sunday. ... Broncos led NFL with 2,632 yards rushing (164.5 per game), led by Willis McGahee's 1,199. ... Demaryius Thomas' 80-yard touchdown on Tebow's pass on first play of overtime last Sunday was longest OT TD in NFL postseason history. ... Against Steelers, rookie LB Von Miller got only second sack in five games he's played with cast to protect torn ligament on right thumb. He had 11 1/2 in regular season. ... Broncos 4-0 in overtime this season. ... Loss to Patriots began regular-season ending three-game losing streak for Broncos. ...Tom Brady's 14-5 postseason record tied with Terry Bradshaw for best by NFL quarterback with at least 15 starts. Brady threw for 5,235 yards, second in league history to Drew Brees' total of 5,476 this season. ... Belichick needs one win to tie Chuck Noll's postseason total of 16, fourth most by a coach in league history. ... WR Wes Welker led NFL with 122 catches and 1,569 yards receiving. TE Rob Gronkowski was second with 1,327, a single-season record for tight ends. His 17 touchdown catches also were most by tight end in NFL history. ... Patriots allowed second most yards of any team this season, 411.1 per game, but only 18th most points, 21.4. They also led AFC in scoring with an average of 32.1 points ...Their turnover differential of plus-17 was tops in AF C, while Broncos were tied for next to last at minus-12. ... Mark Anderson and Andre Carter led Patriots with 10 sacks each. Carter out for season with left quadriceps injury sustained against Broncos.
HOUSTON (11-6) At BALTIMORE (12-4)
Sunday, 1 p.m., CBS
OPENING LINE - Ravens by 7 1/2
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Houston 12-5; Baltimore 8-7-1
SERIES RECORD - Ravens lead 5-0
TEXANS OFFENSE - OVERALL (13), RUSH (2), PASS (18)
TEXANS DEFENSE - OVERALL (2), RUSH (4), PASS (3)
RAVENS OFFENSE - OVERALL (15), RUSH (10), PASS (19)
RAVENS DEFENSE - OVERALL (3), RUSH (2), PASS (4)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Baltimore making fourth playoff appearance in four years; Texans in postseason for first time. ... Ravens and Texans only defenses to rank in top 4 in every major category, including points allowed (Baltimore third at 16.6 ppg, Houston fourth at 17.4). ... Ravens FB Vonta Leach and S Bernard Pollard played last season in Houston. ... In October meeting, Ravens scored final 16 points and got five FGs from Billy Cundiff. ... Houston's Arian Foster ran for 153 yards against Cincinnati last week. Record for RB in first two playoff games is 278, set by Duane Thomas of Dallas in 1970. ... Foster has run for at least 100 yards in last three games but had only 49 against Ravens in October. ... Texans WR Andre Johnson had five catches for 90 yards and touchdown last week. He did not face Baltimore in October because of hamstring injury. ... Houston's T.J. Yates became first rookie QB drafted in fifth round or later to win postseason game. ... Ravens 8-0 at home for first time and are 73-23 at home since the start of 2000 season, but haven't won home playoff game since Dec. 31, 2000, beating Denver before going on to win only Super Bowl. ... Baltimore QB Joe Flacco 3-0 vs. Houston in career, going 57 for 89 with four TDs and one INT. ... Ravens seeking to advance to third AFC title game, second under coach John Harbaugh. ... Baltimore 9-6 in postseason. ... Ravens expect to have WR Anquan Boldin back after he missed two games with knee injury. Boldin had eight catches for 132 yards against Houston in October. ... Ravens RB Ray Rice was only NFL player with more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage (1,364 rushing, 704 receiving) and set franchise record with 15 TDs. ... Baltimore LB Ray Lewis, in 16th season, led team with 95 tackles and will be playing 16th playoff game. He is lone remaining member of 2000 Super Bowl champs. ... Ravens S Ed Reed has seven INTs in nine playoff games.
NEW YORK GIANTS (10-7) At GREEN BAY (15-1)
Sunday, 4:30 p.m., Fox
OPENING LINE - Packers by 9
RECORD VS. SPREAD - New York 9-8; Green Bay 11-5
SERIES RECORD - Packers lead 31-23-2
GIANTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (8), RUSH (32), PASS (5)
GIANTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (27), RUSH (19), PASS (29)
PACKERS OFFENSE - OVERALL (3), RUSH (27), PASS (3)
PACKERS DEFENSE - OVERALL (32), RUSH (14), PASS (32)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Giants and Packers meet for seventh time in postseason. First five meetings were for NFL Championship. ... Last playoff meeting between two teams was NFC championship game in January 2008, when Giants K Lawrence Tynes hit game-winning 47-yard FG in overtime. ... Packers beat Giants 38-35 on Dec. 4. ... Giants playing in 31st postseason, most in NFL history. ... Coach Tom Coughlin has led Giants to five postseason appearances, tied with Bill Parcells for most in team history. ... QB Eli Manning has 11 postseason touchdown passes, most in team history. He had franchise-record 4,933 yards passing and eight 300-yard games in regular season. ... Since start of 2005, including playoffs, RB Brandon Jacobs has 59 rushing TDs, tied for fourth-most in NFL. ... RB Ahmad Bradshaw one of seven NFL players with 1,800-plus yards rushing (1,894) and 80-plus receptions (81) since start of 2010 season. ... WR Hakeem Nicks had six catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns in Giants' wild card win last week. ... WR Victor Cruz had team-record 1,536 yards receiving in regular season, 193 more than previous mark (Amani Toomer, 1,343). ... DE Jason Pierre-Paul fourth in NFL during regular season with 16 1/2 sacks. Joined Lawrence Taylor and Michael Strahan as only Giants with 16-plus sacks in a season. ... In past 23 games, including playoffs, DE Osi Umenyiora has 20 1/2 sacks and 11 forced fumbles. ... Packers have won 13 NFL championships, most all-time. ... Packers won franchise-record 15 games, becoming sixth team in NFL history with 15 wins. ... Packers scored 560 points, most in franchise history and second-most all-time. .... Aaron Rodgers had 122.5 quarterback rating, best single-season mark in NFL history. Rodgers had franchise record 4,643 yards passing and 45 touchdowns. He is only quarterback in NFL history to pass for 4,000-plus yards and have six or fewer interceptions. ... In postseason, Rodgers has completed 67.8 percent of passes for 1,517 yards with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions . ... WR Jordy Nelson had career-highs in catches (68), yards (1,263) and touchdowns (15). ... In seven career playoff games, WR Greg Jennings has five TDs and three 100-yard games. ... WR Donald Driver has 46 postseason catches and needs two to pass Antonio Freeman (47) for most in team history. ... Rookie WR Randall Cobb led NFC and was second in NFL with kick return average of 27.7 yards. ... Since joining Packers in 2006, CB Charles Woodson has 37 interceptions and nine interceptions returned for TDs. CB Tramon Williams had three interceptions in last year's playoffs, including 70-yarder for touchdown.
