2012 NFL Playoffs: 14 Glaring Stats That Will Shape Sunday's Games

Statistics often shape the way we look at a game, no matter the sport. They help fans make predictions and Las Vegas develop odds. 

Although past games and performances are not indicative of anything that happens in the future, stats from previous games can show telling trends that will often be a good indicator of how teams will perform. 

After digging and researching through the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers games this season, I compiled 15 glaring stats and numbers that exemplify strengths and weaknesses in the final four teams.

Zero

That's the number of times the Baltimore Ravens sacked T.J. Yates.

As great as their defense is, if they couldn't get to Yates, how do they expect to stifle Tom Brady? They need to put pressure on him to get him uncomfortable. Not sacking Brady on his own home turf is not a recipe for success for the Ravens.

Although the fact that the Ravens didn't sack Yates could be a testament to the Houston Texans offensive line, the New England Patriots possess a strong offensive line, too, with guys like Matt Light, Logan Mankins and Dan Connolly. 

Five

That's the number of interceptions Alex Smith has thrown all season. Criticize him for not being as efficient as Eli Manning or Tom Brady when it comes to passing the ball, but the San Francisco quarterback just doesn't turn the ball over.

As long as Smith continues to not throw any interceptions, the 49ers are going to have a chance to go to the Super Bowl and possibly even win it. 

One of his five interceptions did come against the New York Giants, though.

7-1

That's the record for home teams in this year's playoffs.

Last season at this point, home teams were 3-5 in the playoffs. Even the year before that, when two No. 1 seeds met in the Super Bowl, home teams were 5-3, which is good but not as superb as 7-1.

Now obviously Houston defeating Cincinnati at home in the first round has no effect on these two games, but the New England Patriots, who have not lost yet at Gillette Stadium, and the San Francisco 49ers, who had an emotional home victory last week, have had their own home successes throughout the season.

However, the only road team to have won thus far are the New York Football Giants. They didn't win in a friendly environment either. Lambeau Field is a hostile environment, possibly more frantic than San Francisco so the Giants won't be fazed by the home crowd.

8-0

That's the record for teams when their quarterback has a better rating than their opponent. 

In other words, when my quarterback outduels yours, I'm going to win. 

That's the story of the NFL these days. It's a passer's league. If a team's quarterback performs well, there's a strong chance that his team is going to win.

This obviously favors Tom Brady and Eli Manning. They're the better quarterbacks in their respective games and there's a good chance they will outperform their respective counterparts. 

10-0

That's the record for the Baltimore Ravens when they score first. When they fail to score first, they were 2-4 in the regular season. (They did win last week against Houston despite not scoring first.)

If the Ravens want to beat the Patriots, they need to get up on them early. If they win the coin toss, they need to receive the ball and punch it home. 

After that, they can rely on Ray Rice to eat the clock and their defense to make stops. That's Ravens football.

Fortunately for the Ravens, the Patriots only scored first seven times in the regular season. So despite their great offense, they were pretty much late bloomers in games throughout the year. 

If the Ravens can get up on them early, even if it's a field goal, it's going to help them a lot. If the Patriots score first, it's going to force Joe Flacco to throw the ball more and take the Ravens away from their game.

Five

That's the number of rushing attempts Aaron Hernandez had last week against the Denver Broncos. He had eight throughout the entire regular season and he actually had some success.

He's questionable to play on Sunday because of a concussion, but in those five attempts, Hernandez ran for 61 yards. In the regular season on those eight carries, he averaged nine yards per carry. 

This isn't to say that the New England Patriots should turn Aaron Hernandez into their starting running back, but it does provide a different flavor for Bill Belichick's offense especially in third-down situations.

The Pats can line up in a shotgun formation and the Baltimore Ravens will be thinking Tom Brady is going to be heaving one, but right at the last second he'll hand it off to Hernandez who can fool the Ravens and take it for a first down. 

After doing this several times, the Ravens will have to be focused on yet another threat in the Patriots offense and it will open up the pass for Brady, forcing the Ravens to be discombobulated throughout the game. 

230.9

That's the number of passing yards the San Francisco 49ers allowed per game this season. They also allowed 32 points and 462 yards against the New Orleans Saints last week. 

It's easy to look at the 49ers No. 4 defense and call them great. But they were ranked No. 16 in passing defense and last week they looked like a mess against Drew Brees. 

Eli Manning is an elite quarterback who will be able to have his way moving the ball up and down the field and scoring against the 49ers. It may be true that the 49ers are great for forcing turnovers, but Eli is so hot right now he may not make any mistakes. 

Finally, the reason why the 49ers defense is ranked so highly is because they're No. 1 in the rushing defense. Well, guess what? The Giants don't run the ball anyway. They were last in the league in rushing yards per game. One thing is for sure, they're not relying on running the ball to win games in the first place, making the 49ers great rush defense close to irrelevant. 

18.7

That's the number of points the New England Patriots have allowed on average in the last nine games. Their defense was ranked 31st this season, but they certainly haven't been playing like the league's second-worst defense as of late.

The Patriots play great defense situationally. They may allow plenty of yards, but they don't give up many points. 

And who gives a rip if the teams they defeated in the last nine weeks weren't powerhouses? The offense they're going up against this week is the farthest thing from elite. The Patriots should be fine. 

Seventeen

That's how many sacks the New York Giants have in the last four weeks. These sacks haven't come against cupcake teams either.

They compiled this number against Mark Sanchez, Tony Romo, Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. Three of those four are easily top 10 quarterbacks. 

The Giants pass rush is unbelievably stellar. They literally don't have to blitz. They have guys like Jason Pierre-Paul who will be putting an insurmountable amount of pressure on Alex Smith, making life a living hell for him. 

Oh and by the way, Alex Smith has been sacked 44 times this season, the highest total in the league. Whether it's because he holds the ball too long or it's because the Niners offensive line is not potent, Smith has gotten sacked way too many times and this makes the Giants defense lick their chops.

If the Giants get an early lead on the Niners, it's going to be awfully tough for them to win the game by throwing the ball against the G-men. Their pressure is going to be too much and it may even help them force some turnovers. 

8-4

This is the New York Giants record against teams with eight wins or more this season, including the playoffs.

From their 18 games this year, 12 of them have come against teams that had a .500 record or better. They had a brutal schedule this year and that pretty much explains why they made the playoffs with just nine wins. 

But these games have made them stronger as a team. They've seen everything. They've seen great defenses, explosive offenses and everything in between. Playing at San Francisco is going to be just another day at work for these Giants. 

Zero

That's the number of rushing yards Frank Gore had in the regular season matchup against the New York Giants.

Now let's be fair. He only had six attempts and he got hurt in the game. However, in those six attempts he didn't do squat. While it's a small sample size, Gore's inability to move the ball in that game at all once again exemplifies the Giants tough-as-nails defense.

He'll obviously have more than zero yards on Sunday, but it's hard to imagine him pulling past the century mark against the Giants defense. 

1-4

There were five rematches in the first two rounds. Teams that lost the first game had a record of 1-4 against the team that beat them in the rematch.

The only team to win?

The New York Giants against the Green Bay Packers.

The only rematch this week is the Giants playing the San Francisco 49ers. While the stat might not mean much, one major aspect it shows about the Giants is their ability to learn from their mistakes and adjust against an opponent in order to win.

This exemplifies Tom Coughlin's prestige as a head coach. He's won a ring for a reason. The year he led the Giants to a Super Bowl, the team won several rematches.

First, they defeated the Dallas Cowboys after they had lost to them twice in the Super Bowl. Then, everyone remembers how they beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl after they had lost to them in Week 17.

5-2

That's Tom Brady's record at home in the playoffs since their last Super Bowl win. Sure he hasn't won any rings since then, but he's won at home. 

One of those two losses came against the Baltimore Ravens and it's easy to point to that game and say that there is precedence of the Ravens defeating the Patriots in the playoffs.

But these are the moments Brady relishes. When he's doubted, Tom Brady becomes a ferocious quarterback ready to prove his naysayers wrong. 

Just look what happened last week. All the talk was regarding Tim Tebow. But Brady quietly said, "Uhh...hey guys, I'm still here" and ripped apart the Broncos with six touchdowns. 

One

That's how many home games Joe Flacco has hosted in his playoff career and it happened last week.

Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens hit the road again and although they've won a few games on the road in the playoffs, this may not bode well for him. 

Flacco has thrown just four touchdowns and has almost twice as many interceptions with seven on the road. Not the best formula for winning.

It can easily be argued because of this that the Ravens defense has bailed him out on numerous occasions and that the team has won despite him.