NFL's Final Four a Fascinating Mix

AFC Title Game a Familiar Matchup


Back in August, before the season started, I figured this had to be the year of Peyton Manning---or else. Or else his team may have begun to fully lose confidence in his ability to perform in the clutch. Or else his massive fan base could would have been forced to work the words "choke" and "artist" into a cheer. Or else, more importantly, Peyton Manning himself would likely have started to believe in his own cursed postseason fate.

Fortunately for Peyton and the Colts, it looks like the "or else" clause will never become part of the equation.

With a grind-it-out, defensively-sturdy performance, Indianapolis is back in the AFC Championship game, thanks to a 15-6 road victory against Brian Billick's Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, in a game that featured a grand total of zero touchdowns. (Kicker Adam Vinatieri continues to shine through as the best free agent signing of the past off-season.) The reward: a rematch with the New England Patriots, the team that has long stood in Mr. Manning's Super Bowl way.

Surely, it will be must-watch TV when the Colts and Pats get together for a 6:30 (EST) AFC title tilt early Sunday evening. Indianapolis has finally employed the tactics head coach (and long ago defensive whiz) Tony Dungy has wanted to use for years: stingy run defense, lockdown pass coverage and an offense that eats the clock and does just enough to win. Indeed, the Indy defense has put it all together in a hurry here in the postseason, giving up just eight points to the Chiefs and six points to the Ravens. It's all the more amazing when you think about the fact that the Colts gave up almost four hundred rushing yards late in the regular season to the Jaguars, a team that didn't even qualify for January. But here they are, playing strong up front and generating pressure on opposing lines behind Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis and Anthony McFarland. With linebackers Cato June and Rob Morris tackling well and secondary playmakers Bob Sanders and Nick Harper making plays again, Indianapolis no longer has to rely on Peyton's shoulders to carry them through. In fact, you can make the argument that Indianapolis has been winning in spite of Peyton, with Archie's son throwing five interceptions through just two playoff games this year.

But I'll elect not to go there, not after acknowledging the fact that Peyton had to hoist the load for all those other Colts' playoff appearances in the past decade. And let's not forget that Manning was the one responsible for several key run audibles on clock-eating, point-gaining drives at the end of the first and second halves that ultimately led to Indy's winning of the game on Saturday.

No, this is a time for Peyton's supporters to be out and in full effect. New England presents a tremendous challenge for Manning's crew on Sunday. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are now a combined 12-1 in their postseason careers together at New England, truly an astounding mark given the current landscape of parity in the NFL. With Jabar Gaffney's emergence as a go-to receiver, rookie RB Laurence Maroney's success on the ground, and a defense that continues to make the important plays when they have to be made, New England will be no pushover at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

Sure, the Pats lost to the Colts earlier this year, 27-20 in a game played at Foxboro. And yes, Manning far outplayed Brady on that day, throwing for 325 yards against his counterpart's four interceptions. But the playoffs are a whole different world entirely, and you can throw everything out but the kitchen sink when trying to analyze this Sunday's game.

Watching New England's 24-21 win over San Diego was like sitting down for a movie you've already seen a dozen times before. Even with all the odds tilted in his favor, Chargers' coach Marty Schottenheimer still couldn't get through to a Super Bowl, falling to 5-13 all-time in the extra season. Time and again during the game it looked like San Diego was going to close it out, especially after a late Brady interception with the Chargers up by eight, but Belichick's Patriots kept jabbing away, and finally turned the tide on a Stephen Gostkowski field goal with a little over a minute left. No Vinatieri this time around for New England, and apparently no need.

Yup, both Indianapolis and New England earned their ways here. And both have their believers thinking February already.

On the line for the teams on Sunday: a trip to Super Bowl XLI in Miami.

On the line for Peyton: a chance to once and for all exorcise those Patriot (and AFC) playoff demons.


NFC's Championship a Terrific Twosome


Maybe all those "Donovan must go!" chants will finally subside in the City of (supposed) Brotherly Love.

Another supreme coaching job by the continually underrated Andy Reid wasn't enough to lift Philadelphia past New Orleans on Saturday, as the Saints' rags-to-riches story rolled on with a 27-24 victory. It is New Orleans who will travel to top seed Chicago for Sunday's 3:00 (EST) NFC championship game.

Eagles' QB Jeff Garcia was ordinary at best during his 15 for 30 passing performance against the Saints, and his output probably brought an end to all of the ridiculously unappreciative anti-McNabb talk that was bubbling from the red-hot cauldron of Philly sports talk during the past two months. RB Brian Westbrook's 116 yards on the ground were impressive, but his inability to take it in with a second-and-short setup inside the Saints' five yard line early in the fourth quarter was the game-changing series New Orleans' defense desperately needed.

Ultimately, New Orleans relied on its big name weapons to move the football when the game was hanging in the balance, and wow, did they come through: Drew Brees was an efficient 20 for 32 passing the football, Reggie Bush flashed some of his all-world moves in a series of spectacular runs, while Deuce McAlister had 143 yards on the ground in his best performance of the year.

Afterwards, Saints' coach Sean Payton spoke of his team's peformance in glowing terms, once again highlighting the motivation his squad derived from the post-Katrina plight of their home city of New Orleans. For a team that had won just three games a year earlier, it truly was the most remarkable single season turnaround of any team in NFL history.

And the prize for the Saints is a clash with the Bears in the Windy City. Chicago sure did look dead-in-the-sights for Seattle during large portions of the second half of their divisional playoff game yesterday. But the fact of the matter is, Lovie Smith's team did not fold when it very well could have against Mike Holmgren's pesky Seahawks. It certainly took all of Rex Grossman's and Thomas Jones' respective arsenals to squeak the Bears past NFC defending-champion Seattle, but the fact of the matter is the Bears' defense rallied itself to make important stops in all the crucial late game places.

How New Orleans handles a hostile road environment early on in this coming Sunday afternoon's game will go a long way towards determining who represents the NFC in this year's Super Bowl. If Drew Brees outplays Rex Grossman, it's likely the Saints' Cinderella story will continue. But it definitely won't continue in the cheesesteak capital of the world.

The Eagles---the hottest team in football over the past six weeks---were knocked out for the second time this season by a New Orleans' team that didn't even have a home stadium last year.

As Andy Reid can attest, coaching wits only go so far against superior talent.


AFC Championship Pick: Indianapolis 20 - New England 17

NFC Championship Pick: New Orleans 24 - Chicago 20


-JAB