NFL 2008 Playoffs Wild Card Weekend

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Everybody Starts on Equal Ground. 8 Teams Start the First Round of NFL Playoffs

How each of the NFL Playoff teams got here doesn't matter. Nor does it matter who got in first or who got in last.

All that matters is that they're here and ready to go.

In one of the most unpredictable and story-filled NFL regular seasons in memory, the road to Tampa Bay, Florida and Super Bowl XLIII begins this Saturday and Sunday with the NFL 2008 Playoffs and Wild Card Weekend.

"We're all 0-0 now," proclaims quarterback Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers (8-8).

The Chargers were the last entrant into this season's playoffs punching their ticket on Sunday night in the last game of the regular season with their 52-21 victory over the Broncos for the AFC West division championship.

NFL 2008 Wild Card Weekend is packed with accomplishments and teams that simply did not give up this season.

As far as accomplishments, three Wild Card Weekend teams are led by rookie head coaches -- Atlanta Falcons (Mike Smith), Baltimore Ravens (John Harbaugh) and Miami Dolphins (Tony Sparano).

It is only the second time in NFL history that three rookie coaches took their teams to the playoffs in the same season (1992: Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh Steelers; Dennis Green, Minnesota Vikings; and Bobby Ross, San Diego Chargers).

The first two quarterbacks selected in the NFL draft will start on Wild Card weekend for their respective team -- Atlanta's Matt Ryan (Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year) and Baltimore's Joe Flacco.

Never in the same season have two rookie QBs started all 16 of their team's games and taken those teams to the playoffs.

Ryan and Flacco also took their teams to the biggest turnaround in history by rookie QBs who started every game. Ryan led the 11-5 Falcons to a seven-win improvement over 2007, and Flacco to a six-win jump for the 11-5 Ravens. They will become the first rookie QBs to start in the same postseason.

In addition to the Falcons and Ravens, there are

    - The 11-5 Dolphins, who matched 1999 Indianapolis as the only teams in history to make 10-game improvements from one season to the next.

    - The Chargers became the first team in NFL history to start 4-8 and make the playoffs.

    - The Colts began their season at 3-4, then won their last nine.

    - The Vikings started 1-3 and won five of their last six.

    - The Eagles were 5-5-1 in late November and won four of their last five.

"Everybody turned their backs on us," says Philadelphia safety Brian Dawkins, in essence speaking for all these teams. "But we believed in one another."

Chances are one of the 8 teams this weekend could wind up Super Bowl XLIII Champion.

Being the number one seed is no guarantee to Super Bowl entry. Fourteen seasons have passed since the last time two No. 1 seeds faced each other in Super Bowl ( 1993 season, Buffalo vs. Dallas in Super Bowl XXVIII).

This wouldn't surprise NBC Analyst John Madden:

Count on unpredictability spilling over into the playoffs and Wild Card Weekend.

Comments from NBC Analyst Chris Collinsworth resonate these sentiments:

    "On a neutral site, these are easy games to pick. I would take all four road teams, but you're not talking about a neutral site. You're talking about the playoffs and you're talking about fans that are going to be a little fired up for the playoffs and you're talking about some pretty good quarterbacks in there that have been down this road before with Chad Pennington and Kurt Warner and Philip Rivers playing so tough in the championship game a season ago. This is about as interesting as I can remember the Wild Card round being."

You can count on that as the only thing predictable in the NFL this season is the unpredictable turn it has taken.

"Sometimes the team that's in the tougher division can be a wild card team and be the better team than a team that is in a weaker division and wins the division. I think that's what we're seeing here, that some of the wild card teams from some of the divisions are really stronger than the division winners in the weak division. All four road teams can be favorites in these games."
-- John Madden

The wild-card round of the NFL playoffs this weekend has all four road teams as favorites. That's about the same number of road favorites there have been in playoff games this decade. The odds reflect what a strange season it's been. There are wild-card teams clearly better than the winners of weak divisions.

So let the 2008 NFL playoffs begin with Wild Card Weekend.

Atlanta Falcons (11-5) at Arizona Cardinals (9-7)

Falcons Visit Cardinals in Wild Card Weekend's 1st Matchup

The Arizona Cardinals, which scored a franchise record 424 points, boasts a high-flying attack led by QB Kurt Warner and wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston. The Atlanta Falcons are in the postseason for the first time since 2004.

The Falcons are led by rookie QB Matt Ryan and RB Michael Turner. The Falcons ended the season winning five of their last six, and eight of their last 10.

Indianapolis Colts (12-4) at San Diego Chargers (8-8)

Don't Be Misled by Colts & Bolts Regular Season Records

Returning to San Diego for the second time in seven weeks to face a familiar playoff foe, the Indianapolis Colts, 12-4, meet the San Diego Chargers, 8-8, on Saturday, January 3.

The Colts and Chargers met on November 23 this season. Indianapolis earned a 23-20 last-play victory over San Diego.

Baltimore Ravens (11-5) at Miami Dolphins (11-5)

Ravens Seek to Defeat Dolphins Again in Miami

The game is a rematch of a regular season game between these teams this year, when Baltimore registered a 27-13 win on October 19 at Dolphin Stadium.

The Ravens head to Miami hoping to return with the same result.

Philadelphia Eagles (9-6-1) at Minnesota Vikings (10-6)

Eagles and Vikings on a Mission

After weak starts this season, both teams finished strong to propel themselves into the NFL 2008 playoffs. They both started the season slowly. The Eagles were 2-3; the Vikings 1-3.

But both finished the season with strong winning streaks as the Eagles won 4 of their last 5, while the Vikings won 5 of their last 6.

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Wild Card Weekend Playoffs Preview - NFL 2008