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Wild Card WEEKEND

Sunday, Jan. 04, 2004

Saturday, Jan. 03, 2004

         Divisional Playoffs Game-by-Game Analysis

Panthers at Rams

, 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX

These onetime NFC West rivals have tangled 14 times, with the series tied at seven games apiece. No meeting, however, has had as much on the line as this one. The Panthers put together a near-perfect effort in beating Dallas in the wild-card round, becoming only the second playoff team to win with no penalties and no turnovers. They'll need an equally strong effort this week to upend the Rams in St. Louis.

Titans at Patriots
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET on CBS

Defense will be the name of the game, as the Titans and Patriots boast two of the league's toughest defenses. Tennessee's offense figures to be hampered even further by injuries as co-league MVP Steve McNair and RB Eddie George are both expected to play but enter the battle banged up. The Patriots were perfect at home this year and have won 12 straight overall.
 

Colts at Chiefs
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Two weeks after falling 31-17 to Denver, Indianapolis got its revenge, exploding out of the gates to rout the Broncos 41-10 in their rematch. It was the Colts' first playoff victory since they beat Kansas City in 1995. Peyton Manning passed for 377 yards and five touchdowns, the third time in 17 games this season he had five or more TD tosses. The Chiefs have lost four in a row at home to the Colts and six straight overall in the series.
 

Packers at Eagles
Sunday, 4:45 p.m. ET on FOX

Home has been the place to be in this series as the last five meetings have been won in front of the hometown crowd. That bodes well for the Eagles, who are looking for their third straight berth in the NFC Championship Game. For Philadelphia, however, the going will be tough as its struggling run defense will have its hands full with Packers RB Ahman Green. The Eagles will miss RB Brian Westbrook, who was injured in the season finale.