PACKERS AND EAGLES MEET AGAIN IN THE PLAYOFFS
- After opening the season against each other in Philadelphia, a 27-20 Green Bay win, the Packers and Eagles will meet again today at Lincoln Financial Field, this time in an NFC Wild Card contest.
- At 10-6, Green Bay earned its third postseason berth in four seasons and will be the No. 6 seed as one of two NFC Wild Card entrants. It was the Packers' second straight double-digit win season, the first time since 2003-04 that they have accomplished that feat.
- The Packers (2007, 2009, 2010) are one of only two teams in the NFC to advance to the postseason in three of the past four seasons, with the Eagles (2008-10) the other team to do so.
- It is the second straight year the Packers will open the playoffs on the road, the first time in franchise history that Green Bay has done so in back-to-back seasons.
- Today will mark the third postseason meeting in the all-time series, with the previous two coming in Philadelphia. This is the second time the teams have played twice in a season. The Eagles played at Lambeau Field on Nov. 10, 2003, before hosting Green Bay in an NFC Divisional Playoff game on Jan. 11, 2004.
- Today's game is a matchup of two of the most successful teams in the league over the past decade. Since 2000, the Eagles have a regular-season record of 113-62-1 (.645), No. 4 in the NFL and No. 1 in the NFC. The Packers have posted a mark of 105-71-0 (.597) over that span, good for No. 5 in the NFL and No. 2 in the NFC.
- There have been only two seasons (1999, 2005) since 1992 that didn't include either the Packers or the Eagles in the playoffs. Since realignment in 2002, the Eagles lead the NFC with seven playoff berths, while the Packers are tied for No. 2 (with Seattle) with six appearances.
- This season marks the 50th anniversary of the most famous matchup between the teams. On Dec. 26, 1960, Philadelphia beat Green Bay, 17-13, in the NFL Championship Game at Franklin Field. It was Vince Lombardi's lone postseason loss as he went on to lead Green Bay to nine straight playoff wins after the loss in Philadelphia.
- Philadelphia, by virtue of its first NFC East title since 2006, secured the No. 3 seed. The Eagles were the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs each of the past two seasons.
BACK IN THE POSTSEASON
- Green Bay's 26th postseason berth in team history marks the franchise's 13th appearance in the last 18 seasons and the third in the past four seasons under Head Coach Mike McCarthy.
- The Packers' 26 playoff appearances rank tied for No. 4 in NFL history behind only the N.Y. Giants and Dallas (30 each) and Cleveland/L.A./St. Louis Rams (27).
- The Packers own the league's third best postseason winning percentage (.610, 25-16) among NFL teams behind Pittsburgh (.620, 31-19) and Baltimore (.615, 8-5).
- A second-place finish in the NFC North gave Green Bay one of the NFC's two Wild Card berths. Not including the 1982 season, which involved a different playoff system due to a strike-shortened season, the Packers have made their way to the postseason via the Wild Card five previous times before: 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001 and 2009. In three out of five appearances as an NFC Wild Card, Green Bay won its first game.
- Green Bay was 3-3 this season against 2010 playoff teams, with two of the wins coming on the road (Philadelphia, Week 1; N.Y. Jets, Week 8). The Eagles were 2-2 on the year against '10 playoff teams.
- In four of the past five seasons, one of the teams that advanced to the Super Bowl played on Wild Card weekend.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
In Green Bay, Andy Reid was a TE/O-line asst. coach from 1992-96 and QB coach from 1997-98. The following year, when he became the Eagles' head coach in 1999, he was replaced as Green Bay's QB coach by Mike McCarthy...Packers DL coach Mike Trgovac held the same post with the Eagles for four seasons (1995-98)...Three Philadelphia assistant coaches spent time on Green Bay's staff: asst. head coach/off. coord. Marty Mornhinweg (1995-96), senior asst./DB coach Dick Jauron (1986-94) and head strength & cond. coach Barry Rubin (1999-2005)...Eagles offensive quality control coach Doug Pederson is a former Packers QB who backed up Brett Favre from 1996-98 and 2001-04.
PLAYOFF CAPTAINS
As per team tradition, the Packers alternated game captains each week during the regular season. For the postseason, the team elected captains.
Players elected captains were WR Greg Jennings and QB Aaron Rodgers (offense), LB A.J. Hawk and CB Charles Woodson (defense) and CB/S Jarrett Bush and K Mason Crosby (special teams).
WEARING THE STRIPES
Today's officiating crew includes referee Pete Morelli (135), umpire Ruben Fowler (71), head linesman Tony Veteri (36), line judge John Hussey (35), field judge Jon Lucivansky (89), side judge Don Carlsen (39) and back judge Rob Vernatchi (75).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN THE POSTSEASON
GREEN BAY PACKERS
- A win would give the team its 26th in the postseason, third most in NFL history. Green Bay enters with 25, tied at No. 3 with San Francisco and Oakland for the most all-time behind Dallas (33) and Pittsburgh (31).
- Of the 53 players on the Packers' active roster, 34 of them (64.2 percent) have appeared in at least one playoff game in their career.
80 DONALD DRIVER
- Ranks No. 4 in team history with 461 receiving yards in the postseason, 73 yards behind No. 3 Carroll Dale (534).
- Has played in more playoff games (nine) in a Green Bay uniform than anyone else on the team.
12 AARON RODGERS
- Holds the franchise single-game postseason record with 423 yards passing at Arizona (Jan. 10, 2010) in a Wild Card contest. His yardage total was tied for No. 5 in NFL postseason history.
- Needs two TD passes and 170 passing yards to surpass Lynn Dickey (five TDs, 592 yards) for the No. 3 spots in the respective categories in postseason franchise history.
21 CHARLES WOODSON
- With 10 career games played, leads the team in postseason experience. Three of those contests have been with Green Bay while the other seven were with Oakland.
