OPENING LINE – NEW ORLEANS BY 10
OPENING LINE – New Orleans by 10
RECORD VS. SPREAD – New Orleans 6-9-1; Seattle 7-9
SERIES RECORD – Saints lead 6-5
LAST MEETING – Saints 34, Seahawks 19, Nov. 21, 2010
LAST WEEK – Saints lost to Buccaneers 23-13; Seahawks beat Rams 16-6
SAINTS OFFENSE – OVERALL (6), RUSH (28), PASS (3)
SAINTS DEFENSE – OVERALL (4), RUSH (16), PASS (4)
SEAHAWKS OFFENSE – OVERALL (28), RUSH (31), PASS (19)
SEAHAWKS DEFENSE – OVERALL (27), RUSH (21), PASS (27)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – Winner plays either at Chicago or at Atlanta in next week’s divisional round. … First playoff meeting between teams. … New Orleans beat Seattle 34-19 in Week 11. The 15-point margin was Seattle’s closest loss of season. … Seattle won NFC West after 16-6 win over St. Louis last Sunday night, becoming first sub-.500 division champion in league history. … Last division champ to reach playoffs at .500 (2008 Chargers) won wild-card game. … Saints have never won playoff game away from Superdome (0-3). … QB Drew Brees has 22,918 yards passing since joining Saints, most by QB in any five-year span in NFL history. … Brees’ 66.7 completion percentage in postseason is best in NFL history and his 103.7 passer rating is second highest. … Brees led NFL in completion percentage this season at 68.1 percent. … Brees has led New Orleans to wins in nine of past 10 outdoor games in regular season. … New Orleans placed RBs Chris Ivory (716 yards) and Pierre Thomas (269 yards) on injured reserve. Only healthy RBs from regular season are Reggie Bush and Julius Jones. … Jones played for Seattle until October when he was cut. He finished regular season with 193 yards for Saints. … Saints offensive line, anchored by Pro Bowlers G Jahri Evans and G Carl Nicks, allowed 26 sacks in regular season, fifth best in league. … DT Sedrick Ellis ended season with career high six sacks. … LB Jonathan Vilma led Saints in tackles for third straight season. … CB Tracy Porter has interceptions in his last two playoff games. … Seattle has won last four home playoff games. Last home playoff win was Jan. 5, 2008, 35-14 over Washington. … Coach Pete Carroll says quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will start. Hasselbeck has nine career playoff starts and is 4-1 at home. He has most playoff experience of any QB in NFC. … Backup Charlie Whitehurst started vs. St. Louis while Hasselbeck was sidelined by hip injury. … Hasselbeck’s 366 yards passing against Saints in Week 11 was fourth-highest single- game total of career and most allowed this season by Saints. … Seattle’s run game found some traction in second half last week against St. Louis. The 141 total yards on ground was third-highest this season. … Seahawks finished regular season without RB topping 100 yards in a game. … WR Mike Williams signed three-year contract extension earlier this week. … DE Chris Clemons finished tied for 10th in NFL with career-high 11 sacks. … DE Raheem Brock has played in postseason in each of his nine NFL seasons. Brock spent first eight years with Colts and has experience in 16 postseason games. … Brock had 2 1/2 sacks last Sunday to give him career-high nine for season. … SS Lawyer Milloy to play in 11th career playoff game. … Only 11 players on active roster remain from Seattle’s last playoff team in 2007.
AFC
NEW YORK JETS (11-5) At INDIANAPOLIS (10-6) Saturday, 8 p.m., NBC
OPENING LINE – Indianapolis by 3
RECORD VS. SPREAD – NY Jets 9-7; Indianapolis 8-7-1
SERIES RECORD – Colts lead 41-28
LAST MEETING – Colts beat Jets 30-17, Jan. 24, 2010
LAST WEEK – Jets beat Bills 38-7, Colts beat Titans 23-20
JETS OFFENSE – OVERALL (11), RUSH (4), PASS (22)
JETS DEFENSE – OVERALL (3), RUSH (3), PASS (6)
COLTS OFFENSE – OVERALL (4), RUSH (29), PASS (1)
COLTS DEFENSE – OVERALL (20), RUSH (25), PASS (13)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – Teams meeting for third time since Dec. 2009. … Jets made playoffs despite losing three of last five. … New York was 6-2 in road games this season. … Jets have beaten Indy in two of three postseason matchups, including 16-7 win in 1969 Super Bowl. Jets lost to Colts 30-17 in last season’s AFC title game. … DE Shaun Ellis will break club record for most postseason games played. He’s tied with James Dearth (nine). … Coach Rex Ryan is 1-5 against Peyton Manning as Jets coach and Ravens defensive coordinator. … QB Mark Sanchez completed 41 of 68 for 539 yards with four TDs and two interceptions in playoffs last year. … Jets defense has allowed only one 100-yard runner this season (Bears’ Matt Forte, 113 yards on Dec. 26). … Three of top five active players in sacks will be on field – Jets’ Jason Taylor (131 1/2) and Trevor Pryce (91) and Colts’ Dwight Freeney (94). … New York punter Steve Weatherford played prep ball in Terre Haute, Ind., former home of Colts’ training camp. … Indy making record-tying ninth straight playoff appearance. … Colts have won four straight and three of last four in Jets series. … Manning is 8-5 all-time vs. Jets with 16 TDs and 13 INTs and is 6-3 all-time in home playoff games. … Manning needs 26 completions to pass Joe Montana (460) for second all-time in postseason and two TD passes to crack top five. . … Reggie Wayne (82 receptions) needs six catches to move into second in playoff history, passing Michael Irvin (87) and Andre Reed (85). Wayne also needs 41 yards receiving to pass Fred Biletnikoff (1,167) for fifth all-time. … Wayne (nine) needs two TD receptions to move into third all-time, behind Jerry Rice (22) and John Stallworth (12). … Colts were No. 1 in red zone TD efficiency, scoring 38 TDs in 56 chances (67.9 percent). … Indy also led NFL in third-down conversions in red zone, 56.3 percent, and in points scored in final two minutes of half, with 95. … Colts defense has held last four opponents to average of 79.8 y ards per game rushing, while Colts offense has three straight 100-yard rushing games. … K Adam Vinatieri is 35 of 38 on field goals vs. Jets in career.