After their respective wins this past weekend in the divisional round, the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens have a rematch in the AFC Championship. It is the third time in the last two seasons that the squads will face each other and the second in this round of the NFL post-season. This is the third part in a series leading up to the battle for the AFC's Super Bowl berth. You can read part one and part two of our AFC Championship Preview. The game is scheduled for 6:30pm EST on Sunday, January 20 on CBS.
Additional Fun Facts
All four teams in the AFC Divisional Round faced each other and one of the other two teams from the AFC playoffs during the regular season.
-New England didn't play Cincinnati, but was 3-1 against everyone else. Including the most recent win against the Texans, the Pats are now 4-1, with the only Patriots loss coming against Baltimore way back when.
-Baltimore didn't play Indianapolis, but was 2-3 versus the other teams. Between its first round win against Indy and slaying of the Broncos, the Ravens are now 4-3 against AFC playoff opponents.
-Houston didn't play the Bengals, but went 3-2 in its contests against the other teams. The Texans end their campaign 4-3 against AFC playoff opponents from the first round win versus Cinci and second round defeat at the hands of the Pats.
-Denver played .500 ball in four games against everyone but the Colts, then lost the heartbreaker to Baltimore in the Ravens' revenge game, giving the Broncos a 2-3 record against AFC playoff teams with its season now over.
Each team last faced the same opponent in its respective Super Bowl: the Giants. The Patriots lost last year's big game 21-17. The Ravens won the only previous February football experience in franchise history, 34-7 over the G-Men in 2001.
No AFC team that made it to the divisional round team beat an NFC Playoff team in the regular season. The only possible rematch would be between the Pats and 49ers.
-The Patriots lost to Seattle (Week 6) and San Francisco (Week 15).
-The Ravens lost to Washington in overtime (Week 14).
-The Texans lost to Green Bay (Week 6) and Minnesota (Week 16).
-The Broncos lost to Atlanta (Week 2).
Ironically enough, both AFC Wildcard teams topped at least one NFC contender.
-The Colts beat both Minnesota (Week 2) and Green Bay (Week 5).
-The Bengals beat Washington (Week 3).
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