AFC and NFC Championship Weekend Game Capsules - NFLMedia.com

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NFL-POST-3 1/16/07
FINAL STEP TO SOUTH FLORIDA! SAINTS CONFRONT BEARS,
PATRIOTS TAKE ON COLTS IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

“Two wins away from having a ring on my finger for the rest of my life.”
That’s what quarterback REX GROSSMAN exulted after leading the Chicago Bears to victory last Sunday. And that’s
where every player on the four teams competing this weekend in the AFC and NFC Championship Games find themselves –
one win away from Super Bowl XLI in South Florida on February 4 and another victory away from wearing a Super Bowl
championship ring “for the rest of their lives.”
The four teams going for those “two wins”:

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
3:00 PM ET New Orleans Saints (11-6) at Chicago Bears (14-3) (FOX-TV)

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
6:30 PM ET New England Patriots (14-4) at Indianapolis Colts (14-4) (CBS-TV)

The 2006 playoffs through the first two rounds have been the most competitive since the NFL went to the 12-team
format in 1990. The average margin of victory in the eight Wild Card and Divisional games was 7.3 points per game. That is
the lowest point margin since 1990. The previous low was a 9.8-point average in 2003.
The AFC-NFC Championship lineup is an impressive one:

· New England plays in its third championship game in the past four years. Indianapolis plays in its second in that
span.
· The combined winning percentage of the championship teams is .757 (53-17).
· They are a resilient bunch. They come off a Divisional Playoff weekend in which all four games were decided by a
total of 18 points – the fewest since the divisional round began in 1970. Three of the four games were decided by
three points or less – the first time ever in the Divisionals.
· The top two passing offenses of 2006 are featured, led by the two starting Pro Bowl quarterbacks – New Orleans,
No. 1 (DREW BREES) and Indianapolis, No. 2 (PEYTON MANNING).
· The Saints are a resurrected team. In addition to going from “worst to first” in their division, winning it one year after
finishing in last place the year before, they are the first team in history to go to a championship game after losing 13
or more games the year before.

A rundown of the AFC and NFC Championship Games:

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FACTOID

DUNGY & SMITH A FIRST: An NFL milestone will be reached in this Sunday’s championship games.
Two of the four head coaches – TONY DUNGY of Indianapolis and LOVIE SMITH -- are African-Americans. It will mark the
first time in championship game history that African-American head coaches led two of the four teams involved. African-
American head coaches in AFC-NFC Championship Games: Dungy (1999, 2003), DENNIS GREEN (1998, 2000) and ART
SHELL (1990). No African-American head coach has coached in a Super Bowl.


NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (11-6) at CHICAGO BEARS (14-3) (Sunday, 3:00 PM ET, FOX)
STORYLINE: Top two seeds go at it.

And that’s just the way the No. 1 Bears want it. “This is the matchup we wanted,” says Chicago CB NATHAN VASHER.
“It’s great for us, great for TV, everything. We wanted to see the highest-seeded team and beat the best.”
It’s January at Soldier Field, so the running game should play a big part in this one. Both teams come equipped with RB
tandems. The Saints bring in “the big guy,” as Bears LB BRIAN URLACHER calls him – 6-1, 232-pound DEUCE
MC ALLISTER – and fleet rookie REGGIE BUSH. The pile-moving McAllister rumbled for a Saints playoff-record 143 yards
and two TDs in the Divisional. Bush produced some spectacular moves, including a four-yard TD scamper and a 25-yard run
that set up a field goal.

The Bears have their own ground-eating tandem in THOMAS JONES and CEDRIC BENSON, the second-year runner who
has been worked into the rotation more and more recently. The two combined for 1,857 yards this year and 111 yards (with
two Jones TDs) in the Divisionals.

New Orleans – 6-2 on the road this season – arrives with the league’s No. 1 offense, controlled by the ’06 passing yardage
leader DREW BREES (4,418). His key targets have been WRs MARQUES COLSTON and DEVERY HENDERSON, but the
Bears also will have to keep an eye on TE BILLY MILLER, who, after 129 yards this season, led Saints receivers last
Saturday with 64 yards.

And for all the attention Chicago QB REX GROSSMAN has received – “he’s taken us to 14 wins,” says head coach LOVIE
SMITH -- one stat is overlooked. Grossman’s seven games of 100.0 passer ratings tied PEYTON MANNING for second
most this year in the NFL behind St. Louis’ MARC BULGER with eight.

Grossman’s WR targets are as potent as New Orleans’ – BERNARD BERRIAN (105 yards in the Divisional with a 68-yard
TD catch) and MUHSIN MUHAMMAD.

Championship tidbit: Saints RB REGGIE BUSH can become the fourth Heisman Trophy winner to play in a Super Bowl in
his rookie year, following RB MIKE GARRETT, Kansas City, 1966 season; RB TONY DORSETT, Dallas, 1977; and RB RON
DAYNE, NY Giants, 2000. Only Dorsett won a Super Bowl ring.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (14-4) at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (14-4) (Sunday, 6:30 PM ET, CBS)

STORYLINE: Here we go again!

For the third time in the past four years, the former AFC East rivals – with identical records -- will meet in the playoffs. The
game also marks the seventh time since realignment in 2002 that the clubs have met, including for the second time this
season (27-20 Colts win on November 5). Overall leader during that span? The Patriots, 4-2, including both playoff meetings
(2003 AFC Championship and 2004 AFC Divisional).

What does the Colts quarterback who has started all those games (vs. New England’s TOM BRADY) have to say about
Sunday’s opponent? “The Patriots,” says PEYTON MANNING simply, “are as great a team as there is…ever.”
But the Colts have two things going for them right off: they have won the past two meetings, so they know the winners of
three of the past five Super Bowls are not invincible…and they finally have a home playoff game against New England. It will
be the first AFC Championship contested in a dome.

The meeting will be one full of great positional matchups.

There’s Brady vs. Manning – pitting two of the most-recognized NFL quarterbacks, and the most successful since
realignment in 2002. Manning has won 60 regular-season games since 2002, the most in that span, with Brady at No. 2 with
59. But Brady also comes equipped with a 12-1 playoff record and three Super Bowl titles.

Then there’s the combo running backs. New England has basically split time between COREY DILLON and rookie
LAURENCE MARONEY the whole year. Colts RB DOMINIC RHODES started every game, but JOSEPH ADDAI became the
first rookie in history to rush for 1,000 yards without starting a regular-season game.

Next comes the well-known/getting-to-be-well-known wide receivers. Indy’s MARVIN HARRISON and REGGIE WAYNE
turned in their usual 1,000-yard seasons. New Patriots JABAR GAFFNEY and RECHE CALDWELL have really come on in
the playoffs, with 18 (1 TD) and 12 catches (1 TD), respectively.

Finally, there’s the big question: can the reenergized Colts defense, which finished 32nd against the rush this season, yet
has allowed only 44 and 83 rush yards in two playoff games, replicate this performance against Dillon/Maroney?
Championship tidbit: Patriots QB TOM BRADY has six game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in the playoffs
since he became a starter in 2001 – the most of any quarterback in that time.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE 2006 PLAYOFFS

(Home team in CAPS)
WILD CARD WEEKEND

AFC: INDIANAPOLIS 23, Kansas City 8, January 6
NFC: SEATTLE 21, Dallas 20, January 6
AFC: NEW ENGLAND 37, N.Y. Jets 16, January 7
NFC: PHILADELPHIA 23, N.Y. Giants 20, January 7
DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
AFC: Indianapolis 15, BALTIMORE 6, January 13
NFC: NEW ORLEANS 27, Philadelphia 24, January 13
NFC: CHICAGO 27, Seattle 24 (OT), January 14
AFC: New England 24, SAN DIEGO 21, January 14

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sunday, January 21:
NFC: New Orleans Saints (11-6) at Chicago Bears (14-3), 3:00 PM ET (FOX)
AFC: New England Patriots (14-4) at Indianapolis Colts (14-4), 6:30 PM ET (CBS)
SUPER BOWL XLI: Sunday, February 4 at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida, 6:30 PM ET (CBS)
PRO BOWL: Saturday, February 10 at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii, 6:00 PM ET (CBS)

TEAMS MEET in AFC Championship Game for 2nd time in past 4 years & for 3rd time in postseason play. New England is
2-0 against Colts in postseason. This marks 1st time in AFC history that neither top seed has advanced to conference title
game as Indianapolis is 3rd seed & New England is 4th. Since 1970, home teams are 47-25 (.653) in conference
championship games.
PATRIOTS: Team is 5-0 all-time in Conference Championship games since 1970…Among NFL teams w/ at least 10 playoff
games played, NE has 2nd-highest win pct. of .633 (19-11)…Head coach BILL BELICHICK is 13-2 (.867) in career playoff
games, 2nd-best win pct. all-time behind HOFer VINCE LOMBARDI (9-1, .900)…QB TOM BRADY is 12-1 (.923) in career
playoff starts, including 3-0 in Super Bowl. Brady is 1st QB in NFL history to win 12 of his 1st 13 playoff games. Brady has
100+ passer rating in 4 of last 6 playoff games – all 4 were wins. Brady has TD pass in 11 consec. playoff games, 3rdlongest
such streak in NFL history (BRETT FAVRE, 16; HOFer DAN MARINO 13). Brady has started 13 postseason
games & has thrown 0 INTs in 8 of those contests. Only HOFer JOE MONTANA has more postseason starts w/ 0 INTs (9
of 23 career playoff starts). Brady threw 51 times last week vs . SD, becoming 1st player to pass 50+ times in non-OT
postseason game & win (26 previous times resulted in a loss). In two career postseason games indoors, Brady is 2-0 w/ 48
of 75 passing for 499 yards & 4 TDs vs. 1 INT (95.4 passer rating)…RB COREY DILLON has 3 career postseason rushing
TDs for NE, 2 shy of franchise record held by CURTIS MARTIN (5). NE is 36-8 (.818) in games he’s played & 1-4 (.200) in
games he has missed since he joined team in 2004. RB KEVIN FAULK has played in 13 career playoff games, most by RB
in team history…WR JABAR GAFFNEY has 18 catches for 207 yards in two playoff games this season, including 1st two
career 100-yard playoff receiving games, after finishing ’06 regular season w/ 11 receptions for 142 yards. WR RECHE
CALDWELL led team with career-high 65 receptions in regular season…CB ASANTE SMAUEL (10) tied for NFL lead in INTs
in regular season & has INT in 3 of last 4 playoff games, 2 resulting in TDs. Samuel is 1st player in NFL history to score
postseason TDs on interceptions in consecutive seasons. S RODNEY HARRISON is only player in history w/ 25+ sacks
(28.5) & 30+ INTs…Rookie K STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI is 6 of 6 in FG tries in 2 career playoff games. Gostkowski
became 1st rookie to kick a 4th-quarter game-winning FG in postseason since former Baltimore Colts K JIM O’BRIEN
defeated the Dallas Cowboys on last-second FG in Super Bowl V.

COLTS: Team advances to AFC Championship Game for 3rd time in past 12 years. Colts are 2nd AFC team & 6th team
overall since 1970 to advance to conference title game with 4,000-yard passer (QB PEYTON MANNING, 4,397), 1,000-yard
rusher (rookie RB JOSEPH ADDAI, 1,081) & 2 1,000-yard receivers (WR MARVIN HARRISON, 1,366; WR REGGIE
WAYNE, 1,310). Team is 1st No. 3 seed to host conference title game since 3rd-seeded Washington Redskins hosted 5thseeded Minnesota Vikings in 1987. Over past 35 years, Redskins were only other team to hosted postseason game after
road playoff game in previous week. Colts (12-4, 2006; 14-2, 2005; 12-4, 2004; 12-4, 2003) join Dallas (1992-95) as only NFL teams to win 12+ games in 4 consecutive seasons. Defense has allowed just 14 points total in 1st 2 playoff games…

Head coach TONY DUNGY aims to join HOFer MIKE DITKA & TOM FLORES as 3rd person to win Super Bowl as player & head
coach. Dungy has led his teams to playoffs in 8 consecutive seasons…In 2 career playoff games vs. NE, Manning has
thrown 42+ passes in each contest, including a career-postseason high 47 times in 2003 AFC Championship. Manning
owns 5-6 (.455) career record in postseason & looks to advance to his 1st Super Bowl. Manning has posted passer rating of
90.0+ in 3 of last 4 vs. NE. In 5 career games at home vs. NE, has passed for 1,345 yards with 12 TDs & 3 INTs for 99.8
passer rating…Addai is 7th rookie running back in AFC history to rush for over 1,000 yards & lead his team to conference
title game & 1st since JAMAL LEWIS in 2000. He led all rookies w/ 1,081 rush yds, averaging 4.8 yds per carry w/ 7 rush
TDs. Addai finished with 48 rushing yds & 1 TD in regular-season game vs . NE in 2006 mtg…Harrison has 10+ TD catches
in NFL-record 8 consecutive seasons. Manning & Harrison have connected for 106 TD receptions – most in NFL history by
any tandem. Harrison has nine 10+ reception games in 18 career matchups vs . NE & has 7 100-yard receiving games,
including past 2. He finished with 145 yds receiving & 2 TDs in Week 9 victory at NE. Wayne has 15 receptions for 214 rec.
yds in last 2 regular-season games vs . NE…DE DWIGHT FREENEY has 4.0 sacks in his last 4 postseason games. S
ANTOINE BETHEA has 2 INTs in his 1st 2 playoff games…K ADAM VINATIERI has made 34 playoff FGs, most in NFL
postseason history. He has scored in 19 consecutive postseason games, tied for 1st on NFL’s all-time list with HOFer
GEORGE BLANDA. Vinatieri booted 5 FGs last week at Bal., becoming 1st player to kick 5 FGs in 2 postseason games in
a career (2003 AFC Championship Game vs. Ind.).
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GAME FEATURES NFC’s top 2 seeds. Bears (No. 1) won NFC North & Saints (No. 2) won NFC South…Teams meet in
playoffs for 2nd time – Bears defeated Saints 16-6 at Soldier Field on 1/6/91.
SAINTS: Play in 1st Championship Game in team history. Head coach SEAN PAYTON was named AP Coach of Year.
Club has 10-3 (.769) mark in conference, including last week’s win over Eagles. Saints are 1st team in NFL history to reach
Championship Game year after finishing with 13 or more losses…All-Star QB DREW BREES set team records with 4,418
yards & 96.2 passer rating. Had 8 300-yard games, including 510-yard performance. In 2 career playoff games, Brees has
99.0 passer rating with 3 TDs vs. 1 INT, 562 yards & 68.9 comp. pct. (51 of 74). Offense led NFL with 65 plays of 20+ yards.
Team tied for 1st with 16 pass TDs of 20+ yards & 18 total offensive TDs of 20+ yards…RB DEUCE MC ALLISTER led club
with 1,057 rushing yards, his 4th 1,000-yard season in past 5 years. Last week, McAllister rushed for team-postseason
record 143 yards & scored 2 TDs (1 rush, 1 rec.). McAllister is 3rd player in NFL history to rush for 140+ yards & score rush
& rec. TD in playoff game. Last player to accomplish feat was TONY DORSETT (12/28/80). McAllister rushed for 116 yards
in last meeting (10/12/03). Rookie RB REGGIE BUSH had team-best 88 receptions, most in NFL history for rookie RB.
Former Saint CHAD MORTON holds NFL record for most catches in postseason by rookie RB with 15. Bush recorded 2
100-yard receiving games & 100-yard rushing game in season’s final month. Scored on 4-yard rush TD in 1st playoff game.
T JAMMAL BROWN was selected to start in his 1st Pro Bowl… WR MARQUES COLSTON led team with 1,038 yards & is
1st player drafted in 7th round or later to record 1,000 yards in rookie season & had team-best 8 TDs. WR DEVERY
HENDERSON led NFL with 23.3 yards-per-catch avg. (32-745). WR JOE HORN has 4 TD catches in past 4 games vs.
Bears…Pro Bowl DE WILL SMITH led team with career-best 10.5 sacks. DE CHARLES GRANT has recorded sack in 6
games this year & Saints have posted 6-0 mark. Has 2.0 sacks & 2 FFs in past 2 vs. Chi. LB SCOTT FUJITA had 1 INT in
only game vs. Bears (12/28/03 w/ KC). CB FRED THOMAS had INT in last meeting…

BEARS: Team has won 9 NFL championships, most among 2006 playoff participants. Club makes 24th postseason
appearance, tied for 4th-most in NFL history. Head coach LOVIE SMITH earned 1st career playoff victory last weekend.
Smith has guided team to wins in 24 of past 30 games, including playoffs. Smith is 1st head coach to lead Bears to
consecutive division titles since MIKE DITKA. Club posted 12-1 (.923) conference record this season, including
playoffs...Team placed NFC-best 7 players on Pro Bowl team, most by franchise since club had 7 All-Stars in 1986: ST
BRENDON AYANBADEJO (1st), LB LANCE BRIGGS (2nd), K ROBBIE GOULD (1st), DT TOMMIE HARRIS (2nd), rookie
CB-KR-PR DEVIN HESTER (1st), C OLIN KREUTZ (6th) & LB BRIAN URLACHER (6th)…QB REX GROSSMAN’s 282
yards passing vs. Seahawks was 2nd highest total in franchise playoff history (SID LUCKMAN, 286 vs. Wash., 12/26/43).
Grossman has won 17 of 1st 23 career starts & is 14-3 (.824) in past 17…RB THOMAS JONES became 1st Bears RB to
register 2 rushing TDs (9, 7) in playoff game since HOFer WALTER PAYTON in 1979 Wild Card game vs. Eagles. Led club
with 1,210 yards, his 2nd consecutive 1,200-yard season. Jones is 1st Bear since Payton to post back-to-back 1,200-yard
seasons. In past 15 when Jones has more than 20 attempts, club is 14-1 (.933) …WR BERNARD BERRIAN’s 68 yard TD
reception last weekend was 2nd longest playoff reception in club annals (WILLIE GAULT, 75t, at Wash.,12/30/84). WR
MUHSIN MUHAMMAD has posted career (192, 9/13/98) and 3rd highest (179, 12/5/04) single-game receiving totals vs.
Saints. Has 2 100-yard games in postseason career. LB Urlacher is 1st Bear LB since HOFer MIKE SINGLETARY (10) to
be named to 6 Pro Bowls. DE MARK ANDERSON led rookies with 12.0 sacks & set club rookie record. CB-KR-PR Hester
set NFL record with 6 return TDs in season, including 108-yard return of missed field goal to tie longest play in NFL history.
CB RICKY MANNING JR.’s 5 career postseason interceptions currently stands 3rd among active players (RODNEY
HARRISON & TY LAW, 6)…K Gould’s 49-yard OT game-winner ranks as 2nd longest such FG in NFL Playoff history (GARY
ANDERSON at Hou., 12/31/89). Set team record with 32 FGs, converting 88.9 pct. & leading NFL with 143 points.
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