Championship Weekend Top Performers

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Posted: Thursday January 21, 1999 07:19 PM

Chandler has proven that to defend the Falcons, you have to stop more than the run AP

Sure, there were only two games on Sunday, but that's enough to dole out our weekly honors to the NFL's postseason best. Be sure to check out Terrell Davis entered Sunday's game with the best postseason rushing average in NFL history -- 145 yards per game -- and still managed to improve on that. Davis rushed for 167 yards and a key 31-yard touchdown that helped the Broncos put the Jets away. Davis now has 1,038 rushing yards in just seven playoff games -- the NFL record is 1,556 (about three games at Davis' pace), held by Steelers great Franco Harris. It took Harris 19 games to reach his total.

Offensive Outburst Award

How important was Chris Chandler's third touchdown pass in Sunday's overtime victory over the Vikings? Forget about it tying the game with just 47 seconds left and setting up the Falcons for their first-ever Super Bowl. Chandler hadn't had three TDs in a game since November 1997 -- on ELEVEN occasions in 1998, he had two touchdown passes, but never three. Not until he found Terance Mathis to silence the Metrodome crowd and send the NFC Championship into overtime. Chandler finished with 340 yards -- five yards short of another season-high -- and showed that defenses can't just focus on tailback Jamal Anderson.

Losing Effort Award

This usually goes to a player who's played a great game and walked away empty-handed, but this week, it's pure sympathy. Vikings kicker Gary Anderson went 17 games this season without missing a single kick -- no extra points, no field goals, nothing. So it came with cruel irony when Anderson missed a 38-yarder in the fourth quarter of the Vikings' overtime loss to the Falcons. He scored more points this season than any player in NFL history, but the lingering memory he'll leave with Vikings fans is the one that got away.

Top Rushing Performances

Top Passing Performances

Top Receiving Performances

 

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