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NFL Divisional Playoffs: Ice Bowl II?
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas defeated the Detroit Lions 24-20 at home Sunday, and now the Cowboys take their show on the road, where they were undefeated in 2014.
For the first time since the fabled Ice Bowl in 1967, the Cowboys make a postseason trip to Lambeau Field for Sunday’s divisional playoff game against the NFC’s second-seeded Green Bay Packers (12-4), who had a bye during wild card weekend. The Cowboys (13-4) were the NFL’s only team with a perfect 8-0 record on the road in the regular season.
The Packers were undefeated at home (8-0) in 2014.
The NFC’s No. 1 seed Seahawks host the Carolina Panthers (8-9), who are very familiar with the reigning NFL champions but have not played at Seattle under their current regime. The Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-16 to advance to the divisional playoffs.
Carolina plays at Seattle on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET after losing three games in three seasons, including 13-9 earlier this season, in Charlotte. The Seahawks won 12-7 in 2013 and 16-12 in 2012.
The Seahawks (12-4) ranked first in the NFL in total defense and have won nine of their past 10 games and used home-field advantage in the postseason to advance to the Super Bowl last season. Seattle was 7-1 on the road this season and went 9-1 at home in 2013, including playoffs.
The Ice Bowl was the 1967 NFL Championship Game, played Dec. 31, 1967. The Packers won the game 21-17 with coach Vince Lombardi beating Tom Landry’s Cowboys with a reported wind-chill factor of 48 degrees below zero.
Accuweather.com calls for highs near 21 degrees in Green Bay on Sunday.
The past three conference champions and the Indianapolis Colts are the four teams still standing in the American Football Conference.
Indianapolis advanced to the divisional playoffs for a rematch with the Denver Broncos with a 26-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. That game will be the final game played next weekend, Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET, and is the third matchup between Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. Manning threw three touchdown passes and the Broncos built a 31-10 lead before hanging on to beat the Colts 31-24 in Week 1 of the 2014 regular season.
“We know they’re a tough team,” Luck said Sunday. “We know they’re a great team. It’ll take perfection in all three phases.”
Denver, the reigning AFC champion, knows the Colts can go as far as their quarterback takes them.
“He’s one of those guys that you have to play a 60-minute game against. He has really good pocket awareness. He’s always one of those guys, just like Peyton (Manning), where he hits the open guy the majority of the time,” Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware said. “He plays a fundamentally sound game. He’s one of those quarterbacks you don’t want to go against, but you have to make sure you get pressure on him and make him one-dimensional.”
Luck passed for 376 yards against the Bengals, his third consecutive 300-yard passing game in the postseason.
No. 1 seed New England, like Denver on bye this week, will host wild-card winner Baltimore. The Ravens, seeded sixth in the AFC, won at Pittsburgh in Saturday’s wild-card grudge match. The Ravens and Patriots play Saturday at 4:35 p.m. ET (NBC) at Gillette Stadium.
Baltimore beat the Steelers in the playoffs for the first time, but the Ravens have no fear about going on the road to play the Patriots. The Ravens are 2-1 against the Patriots in road playoff meetings, including a 28-13 victory in 2013 that sent the team to New Orleans before Baltimore beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge, and we know that,” said Ravens All-Pro defensive end Elvis Dumervil. “But we’re looking forward to that challenge.”
Saturday’s game will be the fourth trip to Foxborough, Mass., for the Ravens in the past six years.
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