The most incongruous day of the NFL playoffs had Terrell Owens in tears at a podium in Dallas, Eli Manning bundling for a trip to Green Bay and the San Diego Chargers bouncing the defending Super Bowl champions with a cast of backups.
Gone are Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys, and the much-anticipated rematches they were expected to play in on Sunday.
Championship week is up next, and look who made reservations:
The New York Giants, a battered fifth seed, exiled the Cowboys with a relentless pass rush and a solid, mistake-free game from quarterback Eli Manning. With the 21-17 loss, the Cowboys became the NFC's first No. 1 seed to lose in the divisional round since the NFL went to its 12-team playoff format in 1990.
It was enough to reduce Owens to tears in defense of Romo, who had been criticized for a bye-week trip to Mexico with girlfriend Jessica Simpson and played inconsistently yesterday.
The Chargers lost LaDainian Tomlinson in the second quarter and quarterback Philip Rivers on the final play of the third - both to knee injuries - but still shocked the second-seeded Colts with a 28-24 triumph at Indianapolis.
San Diego got a game-winning, 78-yard touchdown drive from backup quarterback Billy Volek, 71 rushing yards from Michael Turner and a 56-yard catch-and-touchdown run by 5-foot-6 running back Darren Sproles.
Those upsets set up a pair of championship game matchups no one anticipated.
The Chargers, who have won eight in a row, face the New England Patriots, unbeaten through 17 games, on Sunday in Foxborough in an AFC rematch of last year's divisional playoff game. The Patriots stared down the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, 31-20, in a game that again exposed New England's vulnerability in the secondary.
The Giants, who have won nine straight road games, advance to the NFC title game in Green Bay against the 14-3 Packers, who dusted the Seattle Seahawks, 42-20, in a snowstorm on Saturday.
Winners will rendezvous in Arizona for the Feb. 3 Super Bowl.
Next week figures to be a tough turnaround for the Chargers and Giants, however.
The Packers and Patriots not only got through their games relatively unscathed, but they also get an extra day's rest in addition to a home game.
Green Bay, the No. 2 seed in the NFC, is in the conference championship game for the first time since 1997. The Patriots are in the AFC championship game for the second straight year, the fourth time in five years and the fifth time in seven years.
