NFL 2012 Season Playoffs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks (#5 seed) beat the Washington Redskins (#4 seed) by 24 to 14. The wrong answers, Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, and Cincinnati Bengals, were the other wild card teams. They were eliminated by their opponents, the Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans, respectively.

Wild card teams are the teams whose performance for the season was not good enough to qualify, but are the best of the remaining, unselected teams. The teams for the playoffs are chosen by performance during the season. Each conference, the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC), consist of 16 teams each. The teams are further divided within the conference into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. By the end of the season, the best team of each division is selected for the playoffs, and, once more based on relative performance, ranked as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th seed within their respective conference. Thus, 8 teams total are competing in the playoffs. Then, 4 wild card teams, the 2 with the highest performance of the remaining teams from the AFC and the 2 with the highest performance of the remaining teams from the NFC, are selected for the playoffs and ranked as 5th or 6th seed within the conference. Teams ranked 3rd and 4th are pitted against the teams of the same conference. The 2 winning teams from each conference then advance to the divisional playoffs along with the 1st and 2nd seeds, who do not play during the wild card playoffs.

Answer: 3 points

In the first quarter, the Ravens and Broncos scored 14 points each. For the next 3 quarters, they continually scored 7 points per quarter. When the game went into overtime, neither team scored anything until double overtime, when the Ravens won by one field goal to nothing in double overtime.

The final score was 38-35. The Ravens went on to beat the New England Patriots for the AFC championship 28-13 on the road.

Answer: No

The Falcons amassed 20 points in the first half of the game, 10 points per quarter, while the opposing team, the Seattle Seahawks, did not get a single point. However, the Seahawks rallied for a tremendous burst in the second half, even as the Falcons slowed down. In the 3rd quarter, the two teams both ended with 7 points. The Seahawks then charged through the last quarter for 21 points, while the Falcons only gained 3 points. With time almost out, the Seahawks tried a pass that would have won the game, but the Falcons intercepted the ball, winning with a final score of 30-28.

After passing through the wild card playoffs as a wild card team, the Seahawks' bid for the conference championship ended with this game. The Falcons continued on to face the winners of the other NFC divisional playoff, for the championship.

Answer: Houston Texans

The Houston Texans eliminated the Cincinnati Bengals with a score of 19-13 in the wild card playoffs. However, the Patriots beat them in the AFC divisional playoffs more than ten points ahead of the Texans' score of 28. In the quarters, from 1st to 4th, the scores were, with the Texans' score listed first, and the Patriots' second, 3-7 : 10-10 : 0-14 : 15-0. Finally, the Patriots won with a score of 41-28.

Having won the game with the second highest score in all the playoffs of the 2012 season, the New England Patriots proceeded to the AFC championship game to play the Baltimore Ravens.

Answer: True

In the NFC divisional playoffs against the Green Bay Packers, the San Francisco 49ers won with a score of 45-31 .. the 45 pts was the highest score ever achieved in one game of the 2012 postseason playoffs, the second highest of 41 being set by the New England Patriots in the other NFC divisional playoff. The record was set by the 49ers' quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. He set the NFL record for most yards of rushes (181 yards) by a quarterback, and he set the team's postseason record for most rushes by a single player.

For the scores of each quarter, with the 49ers' scores listed first, they were: 7-14 : 17-7 : 7-3 : 14-7. Having won the game, the 49ers would face-off with the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC title.

Answer: True

The Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots 28-13 for their second AFC title. As winners of the championship, they progressed to Super Bowl XLVII, only the second time they appeared at a Super Bowl -- the first time being Super Bowl XXXV in 2001 (Baltimore Ravens beatNY Giants 34-7).

The scores for this AFC championship game were, with the Ravens' scores being first: 0-3 : 7-10 : 7-0 : 14-0.

Answer: San Francisco 49ers

Held in Atlanta, Georgia, the NFC championship was a duel between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons, culminating with a 49ers victory of 28 - 24. Winning the championship meant that the 49ers would enter the arena of their 6th Super Bowl to contest with the Baltimore Ravens for the title.

Coincidentally, the AFC and NFC championship winners (Ravens and 49ers) had the same score in the two championship games: 28 pts. They even had identical scores for the quarters, although not the same quarter. In order from 1st quarter to 4th, the Ravens scored 0, 7, 7, 14; the 49ers' points were 0, 14, 7, 7.

Answer: Blackout

Soon after the end of Beyonce Knowles' halftime show, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana was unexpectedly bathed in semi-darkness as most of the lights turned off for approximately 30 minutes. Later, the cause was discovered to be a malfunctioning relay, a device designed to prevent cable failure, which would cause exactly what happened: a blackout.

It was a great embarrassment to the electric company and the stadium owners; the stadium had hosted many NFL games in the past without incident, and this Super Bowl was the tenth Super Bowl held there.

All kinds of theories were proposed as to the cause, before the truth was revealed, including a terrorist attack, an artifice of Jim Harbaugh, coach of the 49ers, or Beyonce having a voice that caused power failures instead of shattering glass...

Answer: Ravens 34-31

During the first half of the battle between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens, both teams suffered setbacks from penalties, but the Ravens surged ahead to end the second quarter with a cumulative score of 21-6. Following the halftime show and the blackout, however, the 49ers turned the tide and struck back. Several daring passes and touchdowns later, though, time ran out and the Ravens won by 3 points.

This bumped the Ravens up to a Super Bowl win-loss ratio of 2-0, breaking the tie with the 49ers for a 100% Super Bowl win record. Previously, neither team had suffered a Super Bowl defeat, when the 49ers held a record of 5-0 wins and losses.

Answer: Joe Flacco

Joe Flacco, quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, got a hold of the MVP award after his leadership and 22 completed passes and 3 touchdowns won the coveted trophy for his team. His five-year contract ended with that Super Bowl, five years in which he stepped into the professional world of football and met or set a string of records, including in the 2012 postseason tying with Joe Montana's previously unchallenged single season record of 11 touchdowns without one interception.

Incidentally, Flacco was not the only VIP on the Ravens' team at the Super Bowl. Ray Lewis, the MVP from the Ravens' first, and prior to this game, only, Super Bowl win, played in the game as his final, pre-retirement, professional football game. Michael Oher, whose life was the inspiration for the book "The Blind Side", and later the film of the same name, was also present as a Raven. Jacoby Jones, another well known Ravens player, also set or tied various records during the Super Bowl.