Andy Richardson
Posted Jan. 18 at 04:11 AM
A few last-second factoids on today's championship games:
- It will be a surprise if both home teams win. Since 1997, the home team has won in the AFC only after the 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007 seasons (5-7 in that span). The NFC home team has won after the 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons (6-6 in that span). Only once, then, did both home teams emerge victorious in the last 12 years. Along those same lines, it would also be a surprise if both home teams lost -- that last happened in 1997.
- You probably knew that no defense allowed more touchdown passes than Arizona (36), but you may not be aware that they allowed a running back to catch a touchdown six games in a row -- and that no running back caught more touchdowns this season than Brian Westbrook (5). Included in Arizona's sorry streak was a pair of TD receptions by Westbrook in the game between the teams on Thanksgiving night.
- Pittsburgh's 14th appearance in a conference championship game ties Dallas for the league's most since the merger. With a win, they'd be alone in 2nd place with 7 wins in that game (Dallas has 8).
- As we noted earlier in the week, this is Donovan McNabb's fifth championship game. McNabb's ability to protect the football, or lack thereof, seems almost certain to determine the game's outcome. In McNabb's lone win, after the 2004 season, he didn't turn the ball over. In his three losses, and also his Super Bowl loss after his lone win, he turned it over 3, 3, 2, and 3 times.
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