Divisional Week by Numbers

New England having long won the AFC East 12-4 (8-0 home) secured the No 2 seed and a bye by beating the Buffalo Bills in week 17. Indianapolis (5-3 road) go to Gillette Stadium buoyant on the back of their comeback victory over the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend.

The Patriots lead the Colts 47-29 in their head-to-head record with a 2-1 advantage in playoff games. Tom Brady is 10-4 against Indianapolis. Andrew Luck has only faced New England once before in a 24-59 loss in 2012. These two teams first meet in 1970 under the guises of the Boston Patriots and Baltimore Colts and were divisional rivals until 2002. Bill Belichick’s men have won the last three encounters.

Denver went 13-3 (home 7-1) through the regular season to win the AFC West and claim the No 1 seed. The Broncos set the record for the most points scored in a single season with 606 while Peyton Manning set the record for most passing touchdowns. Despite their success they did lose three games to the remaining AFC playoff teams the Colts, Patriots and Chargers. San Diego advanced to the divisional round with a shock win in Cincinnati.

These two teams have been divisional rivals since the start of the AFL in 1960. The Broncos lead 58-49-1 in head-to-heads. This will be their first meeting in the playoffs. Peyton Manning is 7-6 against the Chargers including two playoff defeats. Phillip Rivers is 10-7 (10-6 as a starter) when facing the Broncos.

Carolina beat the Saints and Falcons over the final two weeks of the regular season to win the NFC South with a 12-4 (7-1 home) record and secure the No 2 seed. San Francisco overcame Green Bay and the big freeze to win 23-20 at Lambeau Field and progress to the divisional round.

These former divisional rivals have meet on 18 occasions with the Panthers leading 11-7. Carolina have won the last four encounters including a 10-9 victory back in November. This will be the first time they have met in the playoffs.

Seattle finished the regular season with the best record in the NFC 13-3 (7-1 home) and the No 1 seed. New Orleans (3-5 road) overcame their travel woes to win their wildcard game in Philadelphia last weekend 26-24.

In head-to-head games the Seahawks lead 7-6 including their decisive 34-7 victory at CenturyLink Field last month. The two sides have one previous playoff meeting in 2011 when Seattle came out on top. The Seahawks have won only two of their eight divisional round games beating the Dolphins in 1983 and the Redskins in 2005.