NFL: '15 Star-Driven Fun Facts' to ponder for Wild Card Weekend

FOX Sports South takes a whimsical and diverse look at 15 star-driven factoids for Wild Card Weekend -- a piece that might help shape fantasy decisions (playoff leagues can be quite lucrative) and/or inspire more real-world and barstool debates, among friends and kind strangers:

1. Only the Steelers could be without the services of an elite-level back like Le'Veon Bell (knee) ... and still be reasonable bets to reach the Super Bowl.

At home this season, QB Ben Roethlisberger boasts absurd averages of 347 yards passing/2.9 TDs ... and all-world receiver Antonio Brown (129 catches, 1,698 yards, 15 total TDs) tallied at least one touchdown (receiving/passing) in every Heinz Field contest.

2. The last three Colts quarterbacks to win a home playoff game are Andrew Luck (last year's harrowing wild-card comeback against the Chiefs), Peyton Manning (six home victories from 2003-09) ... and Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, who knocked off the Oakland Raiders in the 1970 AFC Championship, as a prelude to the Baltimore Colts' world title in Super Bowl V (beating Dallas in the infamous Blunder Bowl).

3. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who has notched 45 300-yard games in his distinguished career as a starter (2006-14), has never eclipsed the 250-yard passing mark during the postseason (four career outings).

4. Charting the games where Bengals rookie tailback Jeremy Hill (409 total yards, three TDs for Weeks 15 -17), registers at least 14 touches ... Cincinnati stands at a supreme 8-1 this season.

For the Hill outings of less than 14 touches, the Bengals are a deflating 2-4-1.

5. Check this out: Of their last 44 regular-season games, the Bengals defense has surrendered 300-yard passing days to only five quarterbacks -- Detroit's Matthew Stafford, Baltimore's Joe Flacco, Denver's Peyton Manning, Indy's Andrew Luck (twice) and the aforementioned Ben Roethlisberger (twice).

What's their deeper connection? All five QBs have their respective clubs in the 2014 NFL playoffs.

6. Andrew Luck has attempted at least 40 passes in all three of his career playoff games; but that doesn't tell the whole story with the NFL's most prolific passer in history -- after three seasons:

In the three postseason outings, Luck (1-2 as Indy's postseason starter) holds all-over-the-map averages of 354 yards passing, 2.3 TDs ... and 2.7 interceptions.

7. The red-hot Eddie Lacy has impressively notched 100 total yards and/or one touchdown in 10 consecutive games, with the Packers tailback averaging 119 total yards/1 TD during that span.

In fact, as a rookie last year, Lacy enjoyed a similar finishing kick, notching 100 total yards and/or one TD in 12 of his final 13 outings during the regular season.

8. For what it's worth, Lions QB Matthew Stafford has a 2-0 lifetime record against the Cowboys -- his hometown team (Highland Park, Texas).

In those two games against Dallas, Stafford holds elite-level averages of 364 yards passing and two TDs.

9. The Panthers may be the first NFC South team in history (2002-14) to capture back-to-back division titles. But of the 12 clubs in this year's playoffs, Carolina also stands as the only franchise never to win at least one playoff game in consecutive seasons.

(And yes, that includes the Detroit Lions, which claimed three NFL titles from 1952-57.)

10. In the Andy Dalton era with Cincinnati (0-3 during the postseason), the Bengals have never scored more than 13 points in a playoff game.

On the flip side, for the Roethlisberger era (2004-13), the Steelers have scored 20- plus points in each of their 14 playoff games (10-4 overall record).

To wit, Colts teammate Ahmad Bradshaw (injured reserve -- broken leg) has accumulated 111 rushes during the playoffs ... including the most famous accidental touchdown in Super Bowl history (below).

12. There's a lot of substance to Joe Flacco's tag as clutch under pressure. Of his last five postseason games, the Ravens QB has accounted for multiple touchdown passes every time. And in that five-outing span, Flacco (9-4 overall in the postseason) holds sterling averages of 269 yards passing/2.5 TDs.

13. Conversely, Saturday shall mark Flacco's first playoff game without Ray Rice, which may not be a big deal, given Justin Forsett's out-of-nowhere greatness this season (1,529 total yards, eight TDs).

For what it's worth, Forsett has logged only 13 postseason touches (with the Seahawks in 2010) ... for a grand total of 66 yards.

14. It's a small sample size, granted (two games). But in his four-year career, Panthers QB Cam Newton has notched 300 yards passing against the Cardinals every time -- highlighted by his otherworldly NFL debut of 422 yards passing and two TDs in 2011.

Speaking of the Cardinals, their standing as NFL's 29th-ranked pass defense is a tad misleading. Yes, Arizona surrendered 350-plus yards to the likes of Peyton Manning, Nick Foles and Matt Ryan ... but the Cards also held opposing passers to under-200 yards six different times.

And last but not least ...

15. The following nugget can be interpreted in different ways:

Calvin Johnson, with only one playoff game under his belt, already stands as the Lions' all-time playoff leader in receiving touchdowns (2 -- tied with Jim Doran, Brett Perriman and Herman Moore).

And come this Sunday, the burgeoning Hall of Famer has an outside chance of breaking two of Moore's three postseason records with Detroit -- 27 catches, 474 yards and two TDs (seven games).

Jay Clemons, the 2008 Fantasy Football Writer of the Year (Fantasy Sports Writers Association), can be reached via Twitter, day or night, at @ATL_JayClemons.