In the first of the two semi-final games it will be the number two seeded San Francisco Forty Niners hosting the number three seeded New York Yanks. The two teems advanced through the quarter finals in two very different games to make it into this contest.

San Francisco survived a very difficult quarter-final challenge from Tom Brady and the Cincinnati Bengals, winning by the slimmest of margins 17-16. In that game the Bengals did a lot of things right against the Niners. Cincy got their running game going and that enabled them to gain the edge in time of possession. Although they didn't shut down the San Francisco offense, they did force the 49ers to work hard for what they got. Also San Francisco was forced to do one thing that they absolutely did not want to do, punt the ball eight times with Devin Hester looking to return one for six points at every opportunity. Although it sounds like the Forty Niners were lucky to win, that just goes to show how good they are. With all these factors working against them they still won the game. The Niners defense held Tom Brady and the big Bengals passing game to below 200 yards with less than a 50% completion rate, that was impressive. The special teams also did a good job in coverage. Despite the eight punts Hester didn't get 1 return yard, plus the Forty Niners had a better starting field position in the game.

While San Francisco struggled, New York swept past the Philadelphia Eagles in their quarter-final game with a convincing 27-14 win. The Yanks defense was the big story here as Philadelphia struggled to move the ball on offense. Although the Eagles Maurice Jones-Drew gained 138 yards, it took 20 carries to get that total and his longest run was 17 yards. Alex Smith, who had been so steady for Philadelphia all season, was harassed into a miserable day. Smith completed just 32% of his attempts and he was intercepted three times. On offense it was not a great day passing or running the ball. Yanks quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed less than half his pass attempts and had one touchdown toss to go with one interception. On the ground, Michael Bush was held below 100 yards rushing with a long run of 16 yards.

As the Yanks and Forty Niners did not meet in the regular season, let's look at how they should match-up. In the regular season San Francisco was number one in scoring offense averaging more than 31 points per game. On defense San Francisco was number one in the league, allowing just over 13 1/2 points per game. 49ers Quarterback Drew Brees led the Frozen Tundra in Completion %, Passing Yards and Touchdowns. The San Francisco offense passed for two thousand more yards than they allowed. Halfback Ray Rice ran for 1400 yards and totaled 14 touchdowns. The San Francisco defense was fourth in the league in sacks with 35 and John Abraham accounted for a dozen of those by himself.

Statistically New York can't quite match those S.F. numbers but that doesn't mean that they weren't also stout. The Yanks averaged over 25 points per game, good enough for fourth best in the league. New York out gained the opposition by nearly 1,2oo yards via the pass. The New York defense allowed just over 18 points per contest which ranked them as the seventh best team in points allowed.

The time of possession was remarkably even between the two teams with New York holding the ball for 1 minute longer on the season. In the important takeaway/giveaway statistic, San Francisco was +4 while New York was a comparable +2. San Francisco picked off 17 passes while the New York defense picked off 18. Both teams had three wide receivers with over 60 receptions and each had one 1000 receiver. Finally, both teams totaled over 1400 yards rushing. Let's get the keys to the game:

1. What San Francisco would wish for is to have Drew Brees play like the he did for most of the regular season. Have a big passing game and let's move on to the Championship.
2. What New York would love to do is to keep the 49ers defense off balance. Make a guessing game as to which receiver Rodgers is going to and also to mix in some effective running from Michael Bush.
3. When Brees struggles you still have Ray Rice. That's a very nice safety valve to have a runner like that who can help win a defensive slug-fest.
4. Minimize the negatives and maximize the positives. Brees has thrown 22 interceptions while Rodgers has thrown 23. Brees has been sacked 31 times while New York only managed 10 sacks on the season. San Francisco had 35 sacks but Rodgers is elusive and a scramble can mean that all bets are off and a big play can occur. Also, don't ignore Rodgers 250 yards rushing on the year. Which side of the ball is going to pull off the big plays for these teams?

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Drew Brees - S.F.	581	363	37	23	92.6
Aaron Rodgers - N.Y.	629	375	24	22	79.1
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Ray Rice - S.F.	336	1438	4.3	47	12
Michael Bush - N.Y.	240	1049	4.4	30	15
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Antonio Gates - S.F.	75	952	12.7	57	7
Aaron Hernandez - N.Y.	105	940	9.0	20	0

In the other Semi-Final game it is a rematch of the week 11 contest between the #1 seeded Oklahoma Outlaws and the #4 seeded Seattle Seahawks. Back in that week 11 game the Outlaws easily handled the Seahawks winning by a score of 2701. Let's take a quick look inside that game. For Oklahoma, Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was effective in the victory. His peripheral statistics for the game didn't stand out but his bottom line of two touchdowns and no interceptions speak well for his game generalship. What makes the performance even more impressive was that the Outlaws' running game was shackled by the Seahawks, managing just 65 yards on the ground. For Seattle, Quarterback Peyton Manning had a miserable day. Manning's one touchdown was more than offset by throwing for three interceptions. In addition, the Seahawks lost a fumble so the true story of the loss was Seattle's -4 in turnovers in the game.

The two teams advanced to this game with convincing quarter final victories. Oklahoma shut out Tampa Bay 17 -0 and Seattle got by San Diego 27-17. In the Outlaws' win over Tampa Bay, the Bucs offense was throttled by the Oklahoma defense. On the ground Tampa Bay only managed 69 yards of offense. Turning to the passing attack Matt Schaub and the Buccaneers were harassed throughout the game by a staunch Oklahoma defense. Schaub managed just 165 yards as he was sacked five times and picked off twice. The Oklahoma offense didn't get rolling until the second half but when they did they were again led by Roethlisberger. Ben threw for 242 yards, two touchdowns and his customary zero turnovers.

Seattle also won their game by pulling away in the second half. The Seahawks' contest with San Diego featured a wild second quarter where the two teams combined for 31 points to go into halftime tied 17-17. Seattle's defense closed the door from that point, blanking the Chargers in the second half. Seattle Quarterback Peyton Manning was effective in leading the offense. Manning completed 69% of his throws, totaling over 300 yards and one touchdown. The Seahawks ground attack couldn't do much against the Chargers so the game really was in the hands of Manning and the defense. Peyton's brother Eli Manning struggled with the pass versus the Seahawks never able to connect for a scoring toss. Chargers running back Arian Foster had some success but when the game was on the line the Seattle defense came up big.

Oklahoma's season story was they lost the first two games on their schedule. Since that stumbling start they haven't lost a game since week two. The Outlaws averaged over 28 points per game while allowing less than 14. Their points scored/points allowed differential of +13.81 was second best in the league behind San Francisco. The Oklahoma offense is led by Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who had the highest QB Rating in the Frozen Tundra at 97% with 33 touchdowns and only 9 picks. The offense totaled the second most points in the F.T. Veteran running back Frank Gore led the rushing attack with over 1100 yards but the offense truly ran through Roethlisberger. Wide Receiver Nate Washington was the prime target in the passing game. Washington averaged over 18 yards per catch and had 17 touchdown receptions. The Oklahoma defense was just as daunting, finishing second in the league in fewest points allowed. The team was also second in the league in sacks with 48 and second in the league in interceptions with 25. As you would expect Oklahoma had a whopping advantage in takeaway/giveaways with a +18. Defensive stalwarts for the Outlaws were lineman Trent Cole who had 13 sacks and in the secondary Dashon Goldson led the team with 6 interceptions.

Seattle is also on somewhat of a long roll, having lost just one game since week 4 on the schedule. Veteran signal caller Peyton Manning does the heavy lifting but the piecemeal Seattle running attack accounted for over 2000 yards of rushing offense. Seattle had the #8 ranked scoring offense to go along with their #4 ranked scoring defense. The one area where Seattle shone brightest was in creating sacks. The Seahawks were number one in that category, they totaled 54 sacks on the season. Linebacker Clay Matthews was the league sack king with 16 and was aided by lineman Tamba Hali and his 13 sacks. Antonio Garay's 8 was third on this team but would have placed him on top of many team's leader board. Back on the offensive side of the ball,k Manning has three big targets in Vernon Davis, Marques Colston and Hakeem Nicks. Brad Smith and Brandon Jacobs head the effective running attack and Smith doubles as the Kickoff Return man (2 T.D. returns). On to the keys to the game:

1. For Oklahoma, go back to week 11. Put pressure on Manning and control the ball on offense. An almost seven minute advantage in time of possession and a +4 in turnovers should equal a win.
2. For Seattle, forget about week 11. If the Seahawks can execute better they should be right in the contest. Turnovers are killers and Seattle has tempted fate many times this year as they are -9 for the season.
3. Pressure, they say it can either crush a rock or make a diamond. Manning wasn't sacked too often but Oklahoma got to him twice in week 11. Roethlisberger was sacked one more time than Manning on the year but he's a dangerous man outside the pocket. Big Ben had over 150 yards running the ball with six rushing touchdowns. Both teams like to bring heat but which side will be more effective in harassing the passer?
4. In a game of two great passers don't ignore the run. Frank Gore has been a Pro-Bowl rusher and he still can do the job when the passing game struggles. However, it's Seattle's running game that can sneak up on you. They ran for more than 2100 yards and teams have had some success moving on the ground against Oklahoma.

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Ben Roethlisberger - OKL.	473	269	33	9	97.0
Peyton Manning - SEA.	552	316	29	18	84.1
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Frank Gore - OKL.	229	1156	5.0	25	4
Brad Smith - SEA.	161	920	5.7	30	4
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Nate Washington - OKL.	59	1092	18.5	75	17
Vernon Davis - SEA.	81	1153	14.2	58	7

The Frozen Tundra Wild Card playoff games are in the books. The playoffs now advance to the Quarter Final games. Below are the match-ups and previews.

San Diego and Seattle will meet for this first time this season in a quarterfinal match between the #4 and #5 seeds.

These are two imposing defensive teams which finished ranked third and fourth in the league in points allowed. San Diego gave up 247 points during the regular season. Seattle allowed 267 points on the year. San Diego's offense scored 406 points. The Seattle offense accumulated 393 points. Two pretty even teams according to these bottom line statistics but how they got here was quite different.

Seattle had a huge offensive production, led by the veteran Peyton Manning. Peyton threw for over 4000 yards and had a big season connecting with targets, Tight End Vernon Davis and Wide Receivers Hakeem Nicks and Marques Colston. The rushing attack was a three-headed troika of Brad Smith, Brandon Jacobs and Michael Robinson who combined for over 2000 yards of rushing offense.

San Diego was quarterbacked by the younger Manning brother Eli. The Chargers air attack was more conservative but still moved the ball with success in the air. Tight End Chris Cooley was the production receiver but when the Chargers wanted to go deep they were ably equipped to do so with Lee Evans and Dez Bryant stretching the field. The San Diego running game relied heavily on Arian Foster to do the work. Foster responed with a 2000 yard season and a league leading 17 rushing touchdowns.

The two defenses were very similar against the run, separated by just 20 total yards. Seattle's pass defense was a little tougher to penetrate allowing 300 less yards through the air than the San Diego defense. The Chargers defense was more opportunistic as they enjoyed a +19 advantage in Takeway/Giveaway's.

This is a game where it could come down to special teams. Seattle has the reliable veteran Adam Vinatieri handling the kicking chores. Returning kickoffs will be Brad Smith who had two returns for touchdowns during the regular season. San Diego has the league second most accurate placekicker Matt Bryant who hit on 91% of his tries this year. Returning punts the Chargers have the electrifying Dez Bryant who tied for the league lead with 4 touchdown returns. Now for the keys to the game:

1. Turnovers. An especially crucial factor when two teams are this evenly matched. As mentioned earlier San Diego was +19, I didn't mention Seattle's -9. How good must Seattle have been this year to win 12 games and still turn the ball over that much? Not a good idea to try that in the playoffs.
2. Keep Peyton from getting in a rhythm/keep Arian Foster on the sidelines. Whichever team has more success implementing their plan on defense stands a good chance of winning the contest.
3. When everything else is even, what about the special teams? Both teams are well equipped to break the game with their special teams. Again, if one team can establish a clear advantage in this aspect then they can earn a victory.

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Eli Manning - S.D.	487	253	16	12	69.9
Peyton Manning - SEA.	552	316	29	18	84.1
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Arian Foster - S.D.	392	2065	5.3	74	17
Brad Smith - SEA.	161	920	5.7	30	4
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Chris Cooley - S.D.	67	650	9.7	35	5
Vernon Davis - SEA.	81	1153	14.2	58	7

Half a season ago the New York football Yanks had a week 9 date with the Philadelphia Eagles. After a closely played first half the Yanks just took control and won going away by a final score of 29-17.

Whenever you talk about the expansion team from New York the initial focus is on Quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He is the driving force for the team's 13-3 record as New York out gained their opponents through the air by more than 1200 yards. The Yanks running attack was headed by Michael Bush who did manage a solid 1000 yard season. New York's defense isn't the big play variety but they are tough. Trying to sustain a long attack against this unit often results in futility.

Philadelphia used more of a grind it out style of attack. This was a team during the regular season that would methodically win games, often inviting the opposition to beat themselves. Quarterback Alex Smith's play reflected that of the team itself. Take what the other team gives you, don't force the action and once the other team starts to over commit, then you hit them with a big play. The Eagles offensive line is stout, having allowed only 7 sacks the entire season.

The Yanks can get their offense rolling with big Tight End's Aaron Hernandez and Anthony Fasano doing the damage on short receptions. When Rodgers wants to go long he has his favorite target Mike A. Williams but focus on him and Steve L. Smith and Malcolm Floyd can expose a defense.

Philadelphia's Maurice Jones-Drew enables the Eagles to do what they like best. Pound on the defense and accumulate first downs. For the regular season Philly had 41 more first downs than their opponents. Jones-Drew had over 2000 yards rushing which placed him second among all Frozen Tundra rushers. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a 3 yards and a cloud of dust type offense. The Eagles counter with a strong Tight End tandem of their own, Jason Witten and Dallas Clark. On the outside Greg Jennings is a big threat along with dependable veteran Reggie Wayne.

Time to focus on the keys to the game:

1. Aaron Rodgers. In the week nine game Rodgers was on fire, blowing up the Eagles with 4 touchdown passes and over 300 yards. A repeat of this type of performance gives the Yanks the best chance to advance to the semi-finals.
2. Aaron Rodgers. Not a typo! Rodgers threw just two more touchdowns than interceptions on the season. If he can't get on a hot streak with his receivers then it becomes a ground game and the Eagles get the edge there.
3. Three large focus points for Philadelphia: turnovers, defend the pass and run the ball. For the season the Eagles owned a +15 advantage in turnovers. When they played New York in week 9 they generated zero turnovers. Jones-Drew had success running in week 9 but the Yanks had the ball for 7 more minutes. Which player, Rodgers or Jones-Drew will impose his will more?

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Alex Smith - PHI.	530	285	24	13	76.3
Aaron Rodgers - N.Y.	629	375	24	22	79.1
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Maurice Jones-Drew - PHI.	377	2138	5.7	37	10
Michael Bush - N.Y.	240	1049	4.4	30	15
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Maurice Jones-Drew - PHI.	74	640	8.6	45	1
Aaron Hernandez - N.Y.	105	940	9.0	20	0

This shapes up as an interesting game between two teams that did not meet during the 2011 regular season. It reminds you of a sandlot game where if you were picking sides the first two picks might be "I've got Brady...ok then I'll take Brees". If you start with either of those men under center you're probably going to have a good chance to win.

The challenge for Brady and the Bengals is to overcome the might Forty Niners defense. The defense was number one in allowing the fewest points and only allowed six rushing touchdowns all season. The unfortunate truth is that you won't be able to totally shut down the San Francisco offense so you are forced to find a way to move the ball and score.

The 49ers dominated opponents accumulating 2100 more yards than they allowed. One Achilles heal to their offense is the turnover. Despite their overall dominance in many areas, turnovers were a bit of a problem. San Francisco did give up the ball 27 times led by Brees' 23 interception tosses.

The Bengals didn't exactly stumble into the playoffs by blind luck. Behind the passing of Brady and the receiving tandem of Tight End Jermichael Finley and Wide Receiver Miles Austin, Cincinnati is quite capable of striking quickly and striking often. The running committee of Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis, John Conner and Ahmad Bradshaw proved dependable if not dynamic. Also you can never forget the special teams play of one Mr. Devin Hester.

For San Francisco Ray Rice did the majority of the ball carrying. Rice had what he might consider a below par year but in a one game setting it would be a huge mistake to ignore him. Drew Brees was blessed with a plethora of targets to choose from. He had big Tight Ends Antonio Gates and Joel Dreessen. Throwing long he could look for Brandon Lloyd, Mike Wallace, Brandon Marshall or Justin Gage thoroughly stretching defenses. Keys to the game:

1. If you are Cincinnati, keep it close enough that Brees becomes too aggressive and turns it over. Also keep it close and let Devin Hester either break a return for six or give your offense great field position.
2. For San Francisco, avoid the turnover and follow the old Hank Stram adage "Keep matriculating the ball down the field".
3. If the Forty Niners defense gets a head of steam they can win a game by themselves. John Abraham and friends had 35 sacks. If the Bengals Offensive Line doesn't hold them out and give Brady time to throw then Cincinnati may see the grains of sand for the season draining out of the hourglass.

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Tom Brady - CIN.	471	264	35	15	88.3
Drew Brees - S.F.	581	363	37	23	92.6
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis - CIN.	234	1067	4.6	31	9
Ray Rice - S.F.	336	1438	4.3	47	12
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Jermichael Finley - CIN.	77	908	11.8	34	13
Antonio Gates - S.F.	75	952	12.7	57	7

Tampa Bay and Oklahoma will meet for the first time in this quarter final game. The bottom line for Oklahoma, they are the number one seed and ride a 14 game win streak into the playoffs. Tampa Bay is the number nine seed and they are coming off a Wild Card win over the St. Louis Rams.

The Buccaneers don't have the flashy offense of some other playoff teams. The Bucs average of just over 20 points per game in the regular season ranked them 15th in the Frozen Tundra. To their credit they are capable of controlling opposing offenses as indicated by their number five ranking in points allowed. In Tampa Bay's Wild Card win they stymied the St. Louis offense holding Matt Ryan, Chris Johnson and company to just over 200 total yards of offense.

Oklahoma is a whole other problem to contend with. The Outlaws' winning differential of over 17 points attests to their potency on both sides of the ball. Even more scary, over their first four games they had been outscored by four points that's how dominant they have been over their last dozen games.

The good thing for the Bucs, they aren't afraid to play a tight sixty minute game and often that's the kind of game they are involved in. The defense is solid and opportunistic while the Tampa Bay offense has the capacity to generate points. Offensive consistency isn't necessarily their calling card but fall asleep and they can throw some points on the scoreboard.

Oklahoma is led by the Quarterback with the highest passer rating in the Frozen Tundra, Ben Roethlisberger. Oklahoma passed for 500 more yards than the Bucs on the season. The Outlaws have the dependable rushing of Halfback Frank Gore. Gore had another solid season but in total yardage both Tampa Bay and Oklahoma were relatively even. Wide Receiver Nate Washington and Roethlisberger exhibited some sore of magical chemistry this season as Big Ben and Washington combined for a league leading 17 touchdown passes. Now the keys to the game:

1. For Tampa Bay to have a chance they have to execute plan A and plan B. Plan A, time of possession. They did this quite well in their Wild Card win and they need to do it again. Too many chances for Ben and company and you're begging for trouble. Plan B, avoid the turnover. This correlates with giving Oklahoma opportunities and you don't want that.
2. Ben and Nate - maybe better than Ben & Jerry? If they help themselves to two scoops of Touchdown Sundae it will certainly leave a bitter taste in the mouths of the Buccaneers.
3. Both defenses were quite comparable in yardage allowed but Oklahoma was a whopping +18 in Giveaway/Takeaways. If Tampa Bay fails to slow down the Oklahoma offense early and it becomes a run and gun type of a game, the chances of an Oklahoma victory grow exponentially.

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Matt Schaub - T.B.	549	292	13	14	67.6
Ben Roethlisberger - OKL.	473	269	33	9	97.0
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Joe McKnight - T.B.	146	755	5.2	18	7
Frank Gore - OKL.	229	1156	5.0	25	4
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Jeremy Maclin - T.B.	70	819	11.7	36	6
Nate Washington - OKL.	59	1092	18.5	75	17

These two teams played each other in week 14 and the result was a last second, three point victory for the Texans. What worked in that game? Houston's Josh Freeman had a great game completing 22 passes and tossing for three touchdowns. Also for Houston, Jamaal Charles added 152 yards rushing including a 50 yard burst. The Texans defense picked off Brady twice and Houston also blocked a punt. How was this a close game? Despite a rare off game Cincinnati's Brady still managed to hit on two scoring throws to Jermichael Finley. Also, the always dangerous return man Devin Hester set the Bengals up for a short scoring drive with a 71 yard punt return.

That was one game, how did the teams play over the course of the season? For Houston Jamaal Charles was the main man on offense. When you have a running back who gains over 2000 yards that allows you to do two things. First, you can control the ball and second you keep the defense from keying on the pass. This allowed Freeman to take some shots even if some of those shots were off target. Freeman had three big targets: Calvin Johnson, Terrell Owens and Brent Celek. When the defense geared up to stop Charles' running that's when Freeman would expose them and drop a deep ball to one of his receivers.

Cincinnati's offense went about things the opposite way. Tom Brady led the offense by passing the ball. Jermichael Finley and Miles Austin were hard targets to cover as they were constant threats to take even a short pass and break it for a big gain. The running game was headed by Benjarvus Green-Ellis who ground out a workmanlike 1000 yard season. John Conner also chipped in with 500 more rushing yards but the Bengals mainly rode Brady's arm to the playoffs.

Both defenses were middle of the road statistically. Houston and Cincinnati each allowed 22 points per game. Houston was even in giveaways/takeaways while Cincinnati was +4. Each team only had 9 sacks on the season. The Texans defense was a little better controlling the opponents passing game but neither secondary was near the top in interceptions. The special teams edge would certainly go to the Bengals by virtue of having Devin Hester. Now for the keys to the game:

1. "Dance with who brung ya" . For Houston that means Jamaal Charles and for Cincinnati that would mean Tom Brady. The Bengals defense will be in for a long day of guessing when the ball will be faked to Charles and Freeman will go with the pass. Still you can't let Charles dictate the game. If Brady has his normal game the Bengals will be in good shape.
2. Can the other guys step up? Hard to call Calvin Johnson one of the other guys but in the Houston offense he isn't the driving force. Losing track of "Megatron", Celek and Terrell Owens can cost you six points in a hurry. Focus on Brady and the the Bengals running game might just sneak past you. Cincy did run for more that 1800 yards on the season.
3. The X-Factors. Devin Hester puts you in a bind. Do you kick away from him and give Brady a short field to work with, or kick to him and risk a quick six? Houston's Wes Welker. Quiet all season but if it becomes a ball control game Welker is the kind of receiver that can act as a running game using flat passes.

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Josh Freeman - HOU.	555	276	17	12	70.1
Tom Brady - CIN.	471	264	35	15	88.3
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Jamaal Charles - HOU.	348	2098	6.0	62	14
Benjarvus Green-Ellis - CIN.	234	1067	4.6	31	9
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Brent Celek - HOU.	66	742	11.2	54	5
Jermichael Finley - CIN.	77	908	11.8	34	13

These two teams met back in week 7 and Tampa Bay slipped past St. Louis in that one by a score of 16 - 15. In that game you can spin it as either both quarterbacks had awful games or the two defenses were masterful. For Tampa Bay Matt Schaub completed 47% of his passes and threw for a touchdown while being intercepted three times. He was the better of the two passers in the game. Matt Ryan hit on just 36% of his throws, with no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Much has changed since that game. Matt Ryan would go on and have a very good season as the fifth highest rated passer and the St. Louis offense would finish seventh in the league in scoring. Despite having Chris Johnson carrying the ball, the Rams rushing game was just 18th best in the league. The St. Louis defense allowed the eleventh most points in the league but the caveat to that was the Rams led the league in interceptions and finished a whopping +19 in turnovers.

Tampa Bay has also had some changes from that week 7 game. Cedric Benson was replaced by Joe McKnight as the starting running back and that has given a boost to the Bucs offense. Still Tampa Bay was only 14th in rushing yards and the passing game has not been consistent from game to game. The Buccaneers defense was fifth in the league in interceptions but due to some carelessness by Schaub in taking care of the ball, Tampa Bay was just +4 in turnovers. Tampa Bay allowed the fifth fewest points in the league and were the number one defense in opponents passing rating.

Each team has some game breaking receivers. St. Louis has Vincent Jackson and Robert Meachem each averaging over 20 yards per catch. Tampa Bay counters with Jeremy Maclin.

Neither team was outstanding versus the run as Tampa Bay allowed 4.8 yards per rushing attempt and St. Louis was tied for 23rd in the league at 5.2 yards per attempt. This brings us to possible keys to the game:

1. When Tampa Bay beat St. Louis in week 7 they had a huge edge in time of possession. Keep the chains moving and keep the ball out of Matt Ryan's hands. This is a must for T.B.
2. Win the battle of the running backs. Chris Johnson of St. Louis is the more explosive running back but he's also susceptible to losing yardage. For Tampa Bay, McKnight can keep the drives going but he won't break the big gainer. Having success in this aspect of the game can go a long way towards winning the game.
3. Turnovers. St. Louis has been superb all season long. For Tampa Bay to have any chance they must protect the ball. The Rams can win if they follow their season long formula of winning the turnover battle.

Teams offensive leaders:

PASSING	ATT.	COMP.	T.D.	INT.	RTG.
Matt Schaub - T.B.	549	292	13	14	67.6
Matt Ryan - St.L.	488	252	29	12	85.0
RUSHING	ATT.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Joe McKnight - T.B.	146	755	5.2	18	7
Chris D. Johnson - St.L.	312	1485	4.8	68	9
RECEIVING	REC.	YDS.	AVG.	LONG	T.D.
Jeremy Maclin - T.B.	70	819	11.7	36	6
Dustin Keller - St.L.	62	616	9.9	41	6