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Super Bowl XLV preview in numbers

February 5, 2011 1 Comment

The Super Bowl in general

9 – Between them, the Pittsburgh Steelers (six) and Green Bay Packers (three) have won nine of the previous 44 Super Bowls. Pittsburgh have won more than any other team.

2 – Combined number of Super Bowl losses for the Steelers and Packers – one each.

4 – Super Bowl XLV marks only the fourth time that the top two teams in terms of fewest points allowed have met in the championship game, and the first time this has occurred for 28 years (also Super Bowls IV, VIII and XVII). Pittsburgh allowed a league-low 232 points; Green Bay 240.

0 – Number of times the Super Bowl has required an overtime period.

83,000 – Every member of the winning team will receive an individual prize of $83,000 per player. (Each player on the losing squad will receive $42,000.)

23 – The Super Bowl MVP award is most likely to be won by a quarterback, having been awarded to the passer on the winning team 23 times.

14 – The fastest touchdown in Super Bowl history was scored by the Chicago Bears‘ Devin Hester, who returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI for a touchdown after just 14 seconds.

10 – Something to watch out for: the winner of all ten games so far this postseason has had more rushing attempts and more rushing yards than its opponent.

90 – Something else to watch out for: turnovers win Super Bowls. The combined turnover differential for the previous 44 Super Bowl-winning teams is +90 (141-51).

Green Bay and the Super Bowl

3-1 – Green Bay’s record in Super Bowls.

2 – The Packers won the first two Super Bowls, after which the trophy awarded to the winning team was named after their head coach, Vince Lombardi.

0.900 – Bart Starr, the Packers’ starting quarterback in Super Bowls I and II, has the highest winning percentage of any quarterback in NFL history, with a record of 9-1 (0.900).

31 – The Packers’ last NFL championship came in Super Bowl XXXI, when they defeated the New England Patriots 35-21. (They lost the following year’s Super Bowl to the Denver Broncos.)

98.4 – Quarterback Aaron Rodgers‘ career passer rating – the highest in NFL history. (Steelers counterpart Ben Roethlisberger ranks eighth all-time.)

10 – The Packers are the tenth different team to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl in the last ten seasons.

Pittsburgh Steelers and the Super Bowl

6-1 – Pittsburgh’s record in Super Bowls.

0.833 – Wuarterback Ben Roethlisberger has a career postseason record of 10-2 (0.833) as a starter, trailing only Bart Starr in terms of playoff win-loss percentage.

43 – The Steelers’ last NFL championship came in Super Bowl XLIII two years ago, when they defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23.

36 – Age of head coach Mike Tomlin when he led Pittsburgh to victory in Super Bowl XLIII, making him the youngest Super Bowl-winning coach in NFL history. If the Steelers win tomorrow, Tomlin will also (at 38) become the youngest ever double Super Bowl-winning coach.

3 – The Steelers have a perfect 3-0 record when wearing their change uniform of white in Super Bowls.

For every winner there is a loser

14 – 14 of the NFL’s 32 teams have never won a Super Bowl.

4 – And four teams have never even played in a Super Bowl (Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars).

4 – The Buffalo Bills are the only team to have reached four consecutive Super Bowls (XXV, XXVI, XXVII and XXVIII). They lost all four.

4 – The Minnesota Vikings have played in four Super Bowls (IV, VIII, IX and XI). Not only did they lose all four games, but they never held the lead at any point of any of those games.

The Super Bowl on TV

232 - This year’s Super Bowl will be broadcast in 232 countries and territories, in 34 different languages.

14 – Super Bowls account for 14 of the top 20 most watched television broadcasts of all time in the USA (in terms of number of households). Last year, 53.6 million US households watched the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts.

106.5 – In millions, the number of people who watched last year’s Super Bowl in the US alone, beating the previous record of 106 million who watched the final episode of M*A*S*H in 1983.

3,000,000 – Cost in dollars of a prime 30-second advertising spot during the Super Bowl. This compares with a typical cost of up to $500,000 on any other night of the year

200,000 – Adjusted to today’s prices, the estimated cost of a similar 30-second ad spot during Super Bowl I.

104 – Last year’s Super Bowl featured 104 adverts combining for a total of 47 minutes and 50 seconds.

And finally …

10.1 – Estimated spending (in billions of dollars) in the US on Super Bowl-related merchandise, apparel and snacks – an average of $59.33 per consumer, according to a survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association.

2 – Americans consume more food on Super Bowl Sunday than on any day of the year other than Thanksgiving.

8,000,000 – Weight (in pounds) of popcorn consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.

28,000,000 - Weight (in pounds) of potato chips consumed.

10,000,000 - Number of man-hours spent preparing food for Super Bowl parties.

10,000,000 - Number of man-hours spent producing the movie Avatar.

7,000,000 – Estimated number of Americans who will fail to show up for work the day after the Super Bowl.

(Some statistics courtesy of nfl.com and backroomsports.com.)

Previous 2010 NFL playoff articles

NFL wild-card playoffs: Manning shows why he isn’t the greatest ever

NFL divisional playoffs: Quarterbacks and defenses key to Conference finalists

NFC Championship: ‘Freezer’ puts Bears on ice, Packers head for Super Bowl

AFC Championship: Steelers’ goalline stand denies Jets’ fightback

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AFC Championship: Steelers’ goalline stand denies Jets’ fightback

January 24, 2011 8 Comments

Pittsburgh Steelers 24 New York Jets 19

A pair of touchdowns 52 seconds apart and a dramatic fourth quarter goalline stand propelled the Pittsburgh Steelers to an NFL record-tying eighth Super Bowl, as the New York Jets finally ran out of gas on their long road trip around the north-eastern United States. The Steelers will now take on the Green Bay Packers in a clash of two of the NFL’s most storied and successful franchises, boasting a combined Super Bowl record of 9-2.

The Jets had already won this season at the Steelers’ Heinz Field home, emerging as 22-17 victors in week 15 after Ben Roethlisberger twice failed to find a winning pass from their 10-yard line as time expired. Their return trip to the same venue took in stop-overs at Indianapolis (17-16) and New England (28-21), as they arrived at the AFC Championship game via two road victories for the second season in succession. Pittsburgh’s route had been more straightforward, although they had had to overturn a 21-7 halftime deficit against the Baltimore Ravens the previous weekend.

Jets grounded in first half

Mendenhall carried the Steelers offense in the first half, scoring the opening TD (image courtesy of steelers.com)

The Steelers took the opening kickoff and immediately produced the longest touchdown drive (15 plays) in a Championship game since 1998. Rashard Mendenhall carried the ball eight times, while Roethlisberger completed short passes to wide receivers Hines Ward and Mike Wallace, and scampered for 13 yards on third-and-12 to keep the drive alive. The series was capped after over nine minutes when Mendenhall’s second effort took him across the goalline from a yard out.

By contrast, the Jets and their quarterback Mark Sanchez were unable to gain any kind of traction offensively in the first half. The Jets’ aggressive defense struggled to compensate for their offense’s impotence. Pittsburgh’s second possession came up short on the edge of field goal range when Mike Tomlin elected to go for it on fourth-and-one from the 32 and Roethlisberger’s pass bounced off Mendenhall’s hands and was picked off by veteran linebacker Bryan Thomas. The interception was Roethlisberger’s first in his last 198 passes, the longest streak of his career.

Nonetheless, Pittsburgh were moving the ball with ominous efficiency. Although the Steelers repeatedly tried – and failed – to beat the Jets’ secondary deep, Mendenhall continued to grind out the hard yards to keep the chains moving.

Sanchez went three-and-out on the Jets’ next two offensive series, and each time the Steelers punished them with points. First they marched 60 yards – all on the ground – to Shaun Suisham‘s 20-yard field goal. Then, on the back of 24, 20 and 14-yard pass completions, Roethlisberger rolled out to his right and took it into the endzone himself from the two.

Gay's fumble return TD looked to have sealed the game for Pittsburgh (image courtesy of steelers.com)

17-0 down against the NFL’s meanest defence (in terms of points allowed) was bad enough. But 52 seconds and two sacks later, it was 24-0. Sanchez was hit by Ike Taylor on a corner blitz as he set up to throw – the officials ruled it a fumble rather than an incomplete pass – and William Gay scooped up the loose ball and scooted into the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown return.

Having gone punt, punt, punt, fumble and amassed a pathetic 11 yards on their first four possessions, the Jets’ offense finally sprang into life. With Pittsburgh easing into prevent mode in the final minute of the half, Sanchez finally established a semblance of rhythm, completing four passes – and almost having a couple intercepted – to set up Nick Folk for a 42-yard field goal which barely crept inside the left-hand upright.

It was a small victory, but a significant confidence boost nonetheless at the end of a half which had seen Pittsburgh dominate in just about every way possible, holding on to possession for over 21 minutes, outgaining the Jets 135-1 on the ground (and 231-50 overall) and earning 16 first downs compared to just five.

Jets take off after half-time

Much as in the earlier NFC Championship game, however, the second half took on a completely different complexion, with the Jets turning the tables in terms of yardage, 239-56, as they opened up their normally conservative offense to chase the game.

Holmes' TD gave the Jets hope (image courtesy of newyorkjets.com)

The half did not start promisingly. Brad Smith mishandled the opening kickoff as it bounced in front of him, pinning the Jets back on their 10. But running back Shonn Greene, who had rushed for just four yards in the first half, ripped off a 23-yard gain up the left sideline, and then Sanchez hit former Steeler Santonio Holmes (the Super Bowl XLII MVP), who had not caught a single pass to that point, first for 16 yards and then 45 and a touchdown after sucking in the Steelers with a play-action fake.

The Jets’ defense also stepped up their game, plugging the lanes which Mendenhall had found with regularity in the first half, and continuing to prevent Roethlisberger from hooking up with his wide receivers. (After their opening drive of the game Ward caught just one more pass, Wallace none.)

Their increased aggression started to force errors from the Pittsburgh offense. First Roethlisberger fumbled the snap from backup center Doug Legursky (starter Maurkice Pouncey having left the game injured in the first quarter). On the next play, his deep throw for Emmanuel Sanders presented safety Brodney Pool with an easy interception.

After forcing the Jets to punt, the errors continued. Antwaan Randle El muffed his catch out of bounds, and two sacks in the space of three plays stalled the subsequent drive.

Tomlinson's failure to score on fourth-and-goal cost the Jets dear (image courtesy of newyorkjets.com)

The Jets then embarked on a 17-play, eight-minute drive which would provide the game’s pivotal moment. Sanchez completed four short-to-medium passes to set the ball rolling, then Greene converted on fourth-and-one at the Pittsburgh 18. A third down conversion gave them first-and-goal at the two, but after three plays netted just one yard, LaDainian Tomlinson was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on fourth down.

This was not the spring-heeled Tomlinson of 2006 who rushed for 28 touchdowns in a single season, rather the ten-year veteran who now lacks the burst of acceleration and second effort which in the past would have seen him power his way into the endzone.

Even though Roethlisberger fumbled again on the next play and conceded a safety, the damage had already been done. Instead of reducing their deficit to seven points with nearly eight minutes left, the gap remained at 12.

Despite having a poor game, Roethlisberger produced when it really mattered at the end (image courtesy of steelers.com)

The offense did their best to rectify their error, taking the restart kick and converting another fourth down on their way to Jerricho Cotchery‘s four-yard scoring catch. That made the score 24-19, but the clock was now working against them.

The Steelers came back on to the field with 2:56 remaining needing to spark back into life to run out the clock and Roethlisberger, despite having had a poor game overall, came up trumps as he has so often in the past, completing a pair of 14-yard passes to Heath Miller and Antonio Brown to give Pittsburgh the two first downs they needed to prevent the Jets from ever taking possession again.

In victory, Roethlisberger finished a modest 10-of-19 for 133 yards and two interceptions, while Mendenhall had 121 yards on the ground and two catches for 32 more. For the Jets, Sanchez finished 20-of-33 for 233 yards and had two second half touchdown passes, but it proved to be too little too late after a first half in which he had thrown for just 63 yards.

Super Bowl pointers

The running game – on both sides of the ball – will be key to Green Bay‘s chances in Super Bowl XLV. On offense, they need to at least keep the Steelers’ top-ranked run defense honest, or else Aaron Rodgers will have a tough day against their pass rush.

On defense, they do not possess a pair of elite cornerbacks like the Jets’ Antonio Cromartie and Darrelle Revis – who between them restricted Ward and Wallace to just 20 yards’ receiving – so they will look to slow Mendenhall down with their front four and then look to blanket cover Ward, Wallace and tight end Miller, all of whom Roethlisberger will look for early and deep.

One final point of note. All four starting quarterbacks in the two Championship games are aged 28 or under. With the 41-year old Brett Favre now seemingly retired, Matt Hasselbeck‘s (35) situation in Seattle uncertain, and Peyton Manning (34) and Tom Brady (33) victims of the Sanchez-led Jets in this season’s playoffs, it signifies something of a changing of the guard in the NFL. In the most vital position in football, the next generation is ready to take over from the established superstars of the game, with Roethlisberger (28) and Rodgers (27) at their forefront.

Next stop: Cowboys Stadium, for Super Bowl XLV. Bring it on.

Previous 2010 NFL playoff articles

NFL wild-card playoffs: Manning shows why he isn’t the greatest ever

NFL divisional playoffs: Quarterbacks and defenses key to Conference finalists

NFC Championship: ‘Freezer’ puts Bears on ice, Packers head for Super Bowl

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The week in numbers: w/e 23/1/11

January 24, 2011 3 Comments

Southee's five-wicket haul steered NZ to victory over Pakistan

11 – New Zealand ended their 11-match losing run in one-day internationals as they crushed Pakistan by nine wickets in Wellington. Seamer Tim Southee took 5/33, the best ever bowling figures by a Kiwi bowler in ODIs against Pakistan.

14 - Barcelona equalled their club record of 14 straight La Liga wins with a 3-0 defeat of Racing Santander on Saturday evening.

5 – Including Wednesday’s 3-1 win at Elland Road, the last five times Arsenal and Leeds have been drawn together in the FA Cup, the eventual winner of the tie has triumphed on their opponent’s turf.

2 – Winning margin in seconds for Cameron Meyer in cycling’s Tour Down Under after nearly 18 hours of racing.

23 – Age of HTC-Highroad cyclist Carla Swart, who was killed in a collision with a lorry while on a training ride in South Africa.

Safina failed to win a single game against Clijsters (image courtesy of dinarasafina.com)

1 – Dinara Safina became the first former world number one in Open era history to suffer a double bagel (6-0 6-0) defeat at a Grand Slam, losing to Kim Clijsters in the first round at the Australian Open.

8 – Rafael Nadal beat Bernard Tomic in straight sets, ensuring that all of the top eight seeds qualified for the last 16. This has only happened at the tournament twice before in the Open area (1985 and 2009).

284 - Francesca Schiavone beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 1-6 16-14 in their last-16 match. At 284 minutes, it was the longest women’ singles match at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era.

1 – Northampton were the only team to finish the Heineken Cup group phase with a perfect record of six wins from six games. Toulouse were denied a 100% record when David Lemi‘s last-minute try gave London Wasps a 21-16 win.

The Premier League week in numbers

Van Persie scored his first hat-trick in English football (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

1 – Robin van Persie scored his first Premier League hat-trick as Arsenal beat Wigan 3-0. He has previously scored twice in a Premier League game on nine occasions.

3 - Dimitar Berbatov‘s hat-trick in Manchester United‘s 5-0 demolition of Birmingham made him only the third man to register three Premier League hat-tricks in the same season. Ruud van Nistelrooy achieved this feat in the 2002/03 season, while Alan Shearer managed it twice, including one season where he scored an incredible five hat-tricks.

10 – Manchester United have now won their last ten home games against Birmingham, having kept ten clean sheets in the process.

11 – Tottenham‘s 1-1 draw at Newcastle means they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their 11 league away games this season.

Bent scored on his debut

3 – Darren Bent scored the only goal as Aston Villa defeated Manchester City 1-0. He has now scored on his Premier League debut for Aston Villa, Sunderland and Charlton.

22 – Players from 22 different nationalities (including substitutes) took part in Blackburn‘s 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, a new Premier League record.

21 – West Brom have now gone 21 consecutive league games without keeping a clean sheet.

The NFL conference championships in numbers

10 – The Green Bay Packers became the tenth different NFC champion in the last ten seasons, as they held off the Chicago Bears 21-14.

2 – The Packers became the second number six (bottom) seed in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl, joining the 2005 Steelers. (If the Jets had won the AFC Championship game, they would have been the third.)

Raji rumbled 18 yards for a key defensive touchdown (image courtesy of packers.com)

3 – B.J. Raji’s 18-yard interception return touchdown was only the third by a defensive tackle in NFL playoff history.

3 – The Bears are the only team since 1970 to have three quarterbacks – starter Jay Cutler, Todd Collins and Caleb Hanie - attempt a pass in a conference championship game.

14 – Number of passes attempted by Hanie in his three-year NFL career prior to last night, when he threw 20 times.

8 – The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ 24-19 win over the New York Jets means they will play in their eighth Super Bowl, tied with Dallas for the most all-time. It will be their third Super Bowl appearance in six years.

0.833 – Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger improved his record as a playoff starter to 10-2. His .833 winning percentage is the second-highest in NFL playoff history (for quarterbacks with 10-plus starts). He trails only Bart Starr (.900).

121 – Rashard Mendenhall‘s 121 rushing yards was the most allowed by the Jets all season.

7 – Conference championship games are generally close affairs. This was the fifth consecutive year both AFC and NFC Championship games were within seven points in the fourth quarter.

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times, @InfostradaLive, @StatManJon and NFL.com.)

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NFL divisional playoffs: Quarterbacks and defenses key to Conference finalists

January 17, 2011 8 Comments

Having talked last week about how Peyton Manning falls short when it comes to talking about the greatest quarterbacks of all time because of his lacklustre postseason record, this weekend’s games again demonstrated the importance of having a passer who can make big plays when needed while remaining error-free, with the four winning quarterbacks combining for 10 touchdowns without interception.

But it also reminded us of one of the NFL‘s greatest truisms – that offense wins games but defense wins championships – with each of the four Conference finalists ranking in the top six overall in terms of points conceded during the regular season.

Pittsburgh Steelers 31 Baltimore Ravens 24

In a hard-hitting defensive battle, the Steelers restricted the Ravens to a miserly 126 yards on offense as they overturned a 21-7 half-time deficit. They forced turnovers on three of Baltimore’s first four possessions of the second half to set up 17 unanswered points. Then Ben Roethlisberger threw a 58-yard bomb to rookie receiver Antonio Brown to set up the go-ahead touchdown inside the two-minute warning.

Rashard Mendenhall ran for two touchdowns, while Roethlisberger passed for two more as the quarterback improved his postseason record to 9-2, giving him the second-best win percentage in NFL playoff history – and as many wins in 11 outings as Manning has achieved in 19 attempts.

Atlanta Falcons 21 Green Bay Packers 48

The visiting Packers broke open an even contest with two touchdowns in the final 42 seconds of the first half, as Tramon Williams returned an interception 70 yards for a score. The defense restricted the Falcons to 194 yards and forced four turnovers, while Aaron Rodgers led touchdown drives on five straight possessions as Green Bay racked up 35 unanswered points and did not have to punt in the entire game.

In a masterclass of the art of quarterback play, Rodgers completed 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns, rendering Eric Weems‘ NFL postseason record 102-yard kick return no more than a statistical footnote as the NFC’s top-seeded team were ultimately overrun.

Chicago Bears 35 Seattle Seahawks 24

The Bears eased to victory at a snowy Soldier Field, jumping out to a 21-0 half-time lead courtesy of a 58-yard pass from Jay Culter to Greg Olsen, and keeping the Seahawks out of the endzone until the fourth quarter. The Bears outgained Seattle 238-96 in the first half, then stifled any hope of a Seahawks comeback by retaining possession for 20:11 of the second half with a ball-control offense which racked up 176 yards on the ground.

In his first career postseason start, the often maligned Cutler passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more – becoming only the second quarterback ever to achieve this feat in a playoff game – in an efficient performance.

New England Patriots 21 New York Jets 28

The Jets shocked the team with the NFL’s best regular season record on their own turf, reversing their 45-3 Gillette Stadium battering in week 13, to advance to their second consecutive AFC Championship Game. The defense frustrated Tom Brady and the Patriots‘ offense for much of the game, as Brady threw his first interception in 340 pass attempts and was sacked five times.

Mark Sanchez threw touchdowns to LaDainian Tomlinson, Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes to win his fourth career postseason road game, and the defense held firm on a key fourth quarter, fourth down stand to stall the Patriots’ comeback.

Quarterbacks (and offenses) win games?

No matter how conservative a team’s offensive scheme, a playoff-winning team almost always requires its quarterback to have a strong game, or at the very least possess the ability to come up with big plays at critical moments. All four winning quarterbacks delivered on both fronts this weekend.

Roethlisberger improved his playoff record to 9-2. His postseason win percentage of 81.8% is the second highest of all time (image courtesy of steelers.com)

Roethlisberger, one of the quarterbacking fraternity’s genuine tough guys, overcame six sacks – including a fumble returned for a first quarter touchdown – to make one big play after another. Four times he converted on third-and-10-plus to keep alive drives which resulted in 14 points, the last the crucial long completion to Brown which set the Steelers up to win the game.

Rodgers completed an astonishing 86% of his passes in a flawless display in which he showcased both the accuracy of his arm and his ability to escape a pass rush and make plays on the run. He is the only quarterback in NFL history to have registered a passer rating of 120 – 100 is considered a benchmark achievement – in his first three career playoff games, and currently leads all quarterbacks (both past and present) in career passer rating.

Sanchez's four playoff wins have all come on the road (image courtesy of newyorkjets.com)

Cutler, making his first playoff start in the inhospitable environment of a typical January afternoon in Chicago, set the tone with a perfectly thrown deep ball to Olsen, scored twice himself and managed the game well. His only mistake of note, a short pass on the Seattle goalline which should have been intercepted by safety Jordan Babineaux with an open field in front of him, also underlined the one characteristic which all successful quarterbacks need from time to time: luck.

A week after leading a drive in the final minute to the game-winning field goal against Manning’s Indianapolis Colts, Sanchez required fewer heroics this time as he executed the Jets’ balanced offense to perfection. His three touchdown passes tied the team playoff record, and he also registered his fourth postseason win in only his second season, all of which have come the hardest way possible – on the road.

Defenses win championships?

Of course, while quarterbacks frequently play a pivotal role, they are not the only key ingredient for playoff success.

It used to be that most playoff teams possessed a good running game, although in the modern-day, pass-dominated NFL that is no longer the case. Of the eight teams who qualified for this weekend’s divisional round only one – the Jets – had a top quartile running game, with three sides being below average.

Indeed, there is little correlation between the eight teams and strong offensive performance in general, with the ‘average’ ranking in all major offensive categories being somewhere in the middle of the pack. The Bears and Seahawks were both bottom quartile in two of the three key yardage categories, and outside the top 20 in terms of scoring.

A good offense is useful, but it is by no means essential.

Analysis © Tim Liew. Data from nfl.com. Any errors are my own

One thing which remains constant, however, is that a strong defense is far more important to postseason qualification and success. Only a tiny handful of Super Bowl winners have lifted the Vince Lombardi trophy without at least an above-average defensive unit. If you look at the dominant teams in each decade during the Super Bowl era – the 1960s’ Packers, 1970s’ Steelers, 1980s’ San Francisco 49ers, 1990s’ Dallas Cowboys and 2000s’ Patriots – all of them, even the pass happy Niners, had tough, swarming defenses capable of squeezing the life out of opponents.

Despite the ongoing tweaking of the rules which generally favour offenses, that defensive trend has continued this season. Of the final eight, all but the 7-9 Seahawks featured in the top eight in terms of points allowed – an eye-poppingly high correlation – and most also ranked highly in terms of run defense. (Passing and total yardage rankings are typically poorer, but this is to be expected given how often opponents were required to chase games.)

Analysis © Tim Liew. Data from nfl.com. Any errors are my own

The best defenses are adept at applying pressure and forcing opposing offenses into errors – the four winning sides this weekend had 17 sacks and eight turnovers between them – with the Steelers, Packers and Jets all producing big momentum-changing plays from their defensive units.

In terms of yardage, both Pittsburgh and Green Bay restricted their opponents to less than half their own offensive output,  Chicago outgained Seattle 437-276 (the Seahawks managed just 106 in the first three quarters), and although the Jets were outgained 372-314 by New England, they allowed just 127 yards during a first half in which they established an ultimately decisive 11-point lead.

It is no coincidence that the four teams who will contest next weekend’s Conference Championship games all featured in the top six in terms of points allowed. And three of the four (Steelers, Packers, Jets) will do so with quarterbacks who are proven performers in the playoffs as well as the regular season.

Offensive yardage and points are just for show. Just ask the Patriots – who shattered virtually every meaningful record en route to losing Super Bowl XLII, and whose number one-scoring offense this season will be watching Super Bowl XLV at home.

Offense? Who needs an offense?

Previous 2010 NFL playoff articles

NFL wild-card playoffs: Manning shows why he isn’t the greatest ever

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The week in numbers: w/e 16/1/11

January 17, 2011 2 Comments

3 - Barcelona players occupied the top three positions in the voting for the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best player in world football. Lionel Messi won ahead of his Spanish teammates Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández.

8 – England defeated Australia in Wednesday’s first Twenty20 international to set a new world record of eight consecutive wins in the format. The streak ended when Australia won the second match in the series on Friday.

Watson hit a career-best ODI score of 161 not out

161 - Shane Watson hit an unbeaten 161 from 150 balls – his highest ever one-day international score - as Australia won the first of seven ODIs against England by six wickets yesterday.

0 – Ipswich Town have never reached the final of the League Cup before, but they will take a 1-0 advantage to the Emirates Stadium after beating Arsenal in the first leg of their semi-final.

5 - Marco Fu won five frames in a row to recover from 4-1 down to beat Mark Allen 6-4 in their Masters snooker semi-final. However, he was beaten 10-4 in yesterday’s final by Ding Junhui.

2 – With one round of rugby union’s Heineken Cup pool stage remaining, only two teams – Northampton and Toulouse - remain unbeaten.

5 – Number of games lost by defending Australian Open champion Roger Federer, who won his first round match against Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-1 6-1 6-3.

29 – Age of midfielder Richard Butcher of League Two side Macclesfield Town, who died in his sleep last week.

85 – Age of Nat Lofthouse, the former Bolton and England striker, who died in his sleep at the weekend. He scored 30 goals in just 33 international appearances, and scored both goals in Bolton’s 1958 FA Cup final win over a post-Munich Manchester United.

The Premier League week in numbers

6 – Number of points Blackpool have gained against Liverpool this season. They completed the double over Kenny Dalglish‘s side with a 2-1 comeback win on Wednesday night. It is the first time they have achieved this feat since the 1946/47 season.

Van Persie was Arsenal's fifth penalty taker this season (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

5 – All five penalties Arsenal have been awarded this season in the Premier League have been taken by different players. Robin van Persie took (and scored) the latest in the 3-0 win at West Ham.

3 – Arsenal’s win marked the first time they have kept clean sheets in three consecutive league matches since February 2009.

5 – Bolton’s 2-0 defeat at Stoke means they have now lost their last five away league matches.

12 – In Chelsea’s 2-0 win, Nicolas Anelka scored his 12th goal in 16 career league appearances against Blackburn.

250 - Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel played in his 250th consecutive Premier League match in the 1-1 draw at Birmingham – the first player to reach this milestone.

Gyan's late goal earned Sunderland a point

3 – Asamoah Gyan‘s 94th-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle was the third time this season Sunderland have grabbed a result in the 90th minute or later (1-0 versus Manchester City, 1-1 versus Arsenal).

22 - Number of matches since Sunderland last kept a clean sheet against Newcastle.

25 – After their 0-0 draw at Tottenham, Manchester United are now unbeaten in their last 25 league matches.

The NFL divisional playoffs in numbers

15 – In beating Baltimore 31-24, the Pittsburgh Steelers advanced to their 15th AFC Championship Game, passing Dallas (14) for the most trips to a Conference final since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

Harrison had three sacks against the Ravens (image courtesy of steelers.com)

11 – There were 11 sacks in the Pittsburgh-Baltimore game as defenses dominated. Pittsburgh’s James Harrison and Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs had three apiece.

9 – This was Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger‘s ninth postseason victory. He is 9-2 in the playoffs and ranks second all-time among quarterbacks in postseason winning percentage. (Green Bay‘s Bart Starr was 9-1.)

6 – Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco is 0-6 against the Steelers when Roethlisberger has started.

102 – Atlanta‘s Eric Weems scored on a 102-yard kickoff return in the Falcons’ 48-21 defeat to Green Bay. It was the longest kick return touchdown in NFL postseason history.

1 – Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers had 366 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. This was the seventh time in NFL playoff history that a player has had 300-plus passing yards, at least three touchdown passes and at least one rushing touchdown – but Rodgers is the only person to do it twice.

0 - The Packers did not punt at all during the game, becoming only the sixth team in NFL playoff history to do so.

2 – Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler became only the second quarterback in NFL playoff history to have two or more TDs both rushing and passing in the Bears’ 35-24 win over Seattle. (Otto Graham did it twice.)

22 – Cutler completed 15 of 28 passes for 274 yards and two TDs for a 111.3 passer rating. He is 22-0 during his career when he has a 100-plus passer rating.

Sanchez has already won four road playoff games (image courtesy of newyorkjets.com)

8 – The Seahawks have now lost eight straight road playoff games and are 1-8 all-time on the road in the postseason.

5 – The New York Jets‘ Rex Ryan became only the fifth head coach in the Super Bowl era to reach a Conference Championship in each of first two seasons, as the Jets upset the New England Patriots 28-21.

2 - The Jets’ Mark Sanchez joined Ben Roethlisberger as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to reach a Conference Championship in each of their first two seasons.

4 – Sanchez improved his postseason record to 4-1. All four wins have come on the road.

3 – The Patriots have now lost three straight playoff games, dating back to their Super Bowl XLII defeat.

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times, @InfostradaLive, @StatManJon and NFL.com.)

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