Ravens: Wild Card Playoff Notes

The Colts, who have won nine of their past 11, are only the second team in NFL history (2008 Miami) to win at least 11 games following a season with two or fewer victories.

"Man, this has been a great year, a storybook ending," says Indianapolis wide receiver REGGIE WAYNE. "Let’s keep it going. Hopefully we can continue to write this movie."

In last week’s 28-16 win over Houston, Colts head coach CHUCK PAGANO made his return to the sidelines after a three-month leave for chemotherapy treatments for leukemia.

"Guys really did not want to lose in his first game back and heading into the playoffs," says rookie quarterback ANDREW LUCK, who is the only rookie quarterback to pass for at least 4,000 yards and win 10+ games.

Baltimore enters the postseason as the AFC North champions and had six players selected to the Pro Bowl: KR JACOBY JONES, FB VONTA LEACH, DT HALOTI NGATA, S ED REED, RB RAY RICE and G MARSHAL YANDA.

"This team’s getting healthy and we’re going to hit our stride going forward in the playoffs," says Rice.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS–AFC SOUTH (11-5) AT BALTIMORE RAVENS–AFC NORTH (10-6)

SERIES

	COLTS	RAVENS
LEADER	7-3
STREAKS	6 of past 7
COACHES VS. OPP.	Pagano: 0-0	Harbaugh: 1-3
COACHES PLAYOFF RECORD	0-0	5-4
VS. COMMON OPP.	Ind.: 3-2 (Cle. 1-0; Hou. 1-1; KC 1-0; NE 0-1) Bal.: 4-1 (Cle. 2-0; Hou. 0-1; KC 1-0; NE 1-0)
PLAYOFF RECORD	19-20	10-7
LAST WEEK	W 28-16 vs. Texans	L 23-17 at Bengals
LAST GAME	12/11/11: Colts 10 at Ravens 24. Baltimore QB Joe Flacco has 2 TD passes & RB Ray Rice adds 103 rush yards & TD. Ravens defense limits Indy to 167 total yards.
LAST GAME AT SITE	12/11/11
LAST PLAYOFF	1/16/10: Ravens 3 at Colts 20. Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning passes for 246 yards & 2 TDs in Divisional Playoff. Colts defense forces 4 turnovers (2 INTs, 2 FRs).
BROADCAST	CBS (1:00 PM ET): Jim Nantz, Phil Simms. Dial Global Radio: Ian Eagle, Trent Green, Laura Okmin (Field reporter). SIRIUS: 88 (DGR), 92 (Ind.), 86 (Bal.). XM: 88 (DGR), 225 (Ind.), 226 (Bal.).

STAT LEADERS

PASSING	Luck (R): 339-627-4,374 (3C)-23-18-76.5	Flacco: 317-531-3,817-22-10-87.7
RUSHING	Ballard (R): 211-814-3.9-2	Rice: 257-1,143-4.4-9
RECEIVING	Wayne: 106 (3C)-1,355 (3C)-12.8-5	Boldin: 65-921-14.2-4
OFFENSE	362.4	352.5
TAKE/GIVE	-12	+9 (3C)
DEFENSE	374.3	350.9
SACKS	Mathis: 8	Kruger: 9
INTs	Butler: 4 (T3C)	E. Reed, C. Williams: 4 (T3C)
PR	Hilton (R): 11.5	J. Jones: 9.2
KR	Vaughn: 20.9	J. Jones: 30.7 (1L)
PUNTING	McAfee: 47.9 (3C)	Koch: 47.1
KICKING	Vinatieri: 115 (37/37 PAT; 26/33 FG)	Tucker (R): 132 (42/42 PAT; 30/33 FG)

NOTES

TEAMS MEET for 3rd time in postseason. Colts have won both meetings in playoffs.

COLTS: Head coach CHUCK PAGANO spent 4 seasons as Ravens asst. coach (2008-11)…Club has reached postseason in 10 of past 11 seasons…Colts have won 9 of past 11 games…2nd team in NFL history to win 11 or more games following season with 2 or fewer victories…QB ANDREW LUCKis 1st QB selected No. 1 overall to start postseason game as rookie. Luck (4,374) passed for most yards by rookie QB in NFL history. Registered 7 game-winning drives in 4th quarter or OT, tied for most in single season by any QB since 1970. Luck’s 11 wins are most by rookie QB who was drafted No. 1 overall in SB era (since 1966). In past 3 games, Luck has 5 TDs vs. 0 INTs & 88.3 passer rating…RB VICK BALLARD ranked 2nd among AFC rookies with 814 rush yards. Posted 2nd rush TD of season last week…WR REGGIE WAYNE ranks 5th in NFL history with 83 postseason receptions. Wayne’s 1,128 postseason receiving yards are 7th-most in NFL history. Reached 100 rec. for 4th time in career, tied for 2nd-most such seasons in NFL history. In 10 career games vs. Ravens (incl. 2 career postseason), Wayne has 53 receptions for 597 yards with 3 TD receptions. WR T.Y. HILTONtotaled 861 receiving yards, 2nd-most among NFL rookies. Led NFL rookies in 100-yard receiving games (5) & TD catches (7). Had career-long 70-yard TD reception last week. WR DONNIE AVERY had career-best in receptions (60) & receiving yards (781) in ’12…Rookie TE COBY FLEENER posted 2nd TD reception of season last week…LB ROBERT MATHIS has 8 sacks in 12 games in ’12. Mathis has recorded 5 sacks in 8 career games vs. Bal. (incl. postseason). Has 3.5 career postseason sacks. LB DWIGHT FREENEY has 9 career postseason sacks. Posted 2 sacks in last regular-season game vs. Bal. LB JERRELL FREEMAN led team with 145 tackles…DE CORY REDDING spent 2 seasons with Ravens (2010-11)…CB DARIUS BUTLER had career-high 4 INTs in ’12, incl. 2 INT-return TDs. CB VONTAE DAVIS tied career-best with 2 INTs last week. Has 3 INTs in past 2 games…S ANTOINE BETHEA has 4 career postseason INTs…KR DEJI KARIM had 101-yard KR-TD last week, longest since COTTON SPEYRER’s 101-yard return in 1973.…Club had 2 players selected to 2013 Pro Bowl (LB Mathis, WR Wayne).

RAVENS: Have reached playoffs for 5th consecutive season. Captured AFC North title for 2nd straight year…Ravens are 2-2 at home in postseason…QB JOE FLACCO is 1st QB to start postseason game in each of his 1st 5 seasons in Super Bowl era. Has 5-4 postseason record, incl. 2 AFC Championship appearances. Flacco is 34-7 (.829) at home (incl. playoffs). Had career-best 3,817 passing yards in ’12, 2nd-most in season by Raven. Incl. postseason, Bal. is 12-2 (.857) when Flacco passes for 300+ yards. In last regular-season meeting vs. Colts (12/11/11), Flacco completed 23 of 31 passes (74.2 pct.) for 227 yards with 2 TDs vs. 1 INT & 102.5 passer rating…RB RAY RICE (1,621) reached 1,600 scrimmage yards for 4th season in row. Led AFC RBs with 61 catches in 2012. Rice totaled 127 scrimmage yards in only postseason meeting vs. Colts (67 rush, 60 receiving). Rice rushed for 103 yards with TD in last regular-season meeting vs. Ind. Rookie RB BERNARD PIERCE is averaging 106 rush yards per game in past 2 (212)…WR TORREY SMITH averages 22.8 yards per catch in 2 career postseason games (4 receptions, 91 yards). Smith had career-best in receiving yards (855) & TDs (8) in ’12. For career in postseason, WR ANQUAN BOLDIN has 30 receptions for 426 yards (14.2 avg.) with 3 TDs…TE DENNIS PITTA (7) tied TODD HEAP (7 in ’05) for most TD receptions by TE in franchise history this season…LB RAY LEWIS has played in 17 career postseason games (10-7). S ED REED has 8 career postseason INTs, tied for 4th-most in NFL history. Has 3 career postseason INTs vs. Colts. S BERNARD POLLARD had team-high 98 tackles in ’12…LB TERRELL SUGGS has 10 career postseason sacks, tied for 7th-most all-time. Posted 3 sacks in last regular season meeting against Colts…DT HALOTI NGATA registered at least 5 sacks for 3rd season in row…CB JIMMY SMITH has INT & FR in 2 career playoff games…KR-WR JACOBY JONES ranked 1st in NFL with 30.7 KR avg. in ’12. Tied league-high with 3 KR-TDs (2 KR, 1 PR) this season. Jones had 79-yard PR TD against Colts on 9/11/11 (w/ Texans)…Club had 6 players selected to 2013 Pro Bowl (KR Jones, FB VONTA LEACH, DT Ngata, S Reed, RB Rice, G MARSHAL YANDA).

RELIABLE RAVENS: Sunday afternoon, Baltimore quarterback JOE FLACCO will become the first quarterback to start a postseason game in each of his first five seasons during the Super Bowl era. Flacco (5-4) won at least one playoff game in each of his first four years.

With one interception on Wild Card Weekend, safety ED REED (eight) would tie Pro Football Hall of Famer RONNIE LOTT (nine), BILL SIMPSON (nine) and CHARLIE WATERS (nine) for the most postseason interceptions in league annals.

The players with the most interceptions in the postseason all-time: