Nfc Title

SCOUTING REPORTSite: Candlestick Park, San Francisco.Time: 4 p.m.TV/Radio: Chs. 45,5/WBAL (1090 AM).Line: 49ers by 8.Weather forecast: Highs in 50s, partly cloudy, with some showers expected.Last week: The 49ers (14-3) beat the Chicago Bears, 44-15, and the Cowboys (13-4) beat the Green Bay Packers, 35-9, in their divisional playoff games.Last meeting: The 49ers, who lost to the Cowboys in the past two NFC title games, beat the Cowboys, 21-14, on Nov. 13 at Candlestick Park, although Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman was hampered by an sore thumb.

One upset: Ravens Nick Fierro The Morning Call The Patriots will host the Ravens for the AFC championship and the Falcons will host the Bears for the NFC crown next weekend. I say this because the Patriots are, well, the Patriots, and the Ravens know how to win in Pittsburgh, where they've already won this season. That said, the Patriots have exited the playoffs as heavy favorites the last two times they qualified, including in the 08 Super Bowl. In the NFC, it's hard to believe the Seahawks are still alive, but they won't be after this weekend, when the Bears advance to the conference title game against ... the Falcons, who will find a way to win in their dome.

For most of the 1990s, the NFC championship game has been one of the sexy events on the sports calendar, with more than enough star power to hold a viewer's interest.With some variation of the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers involved, the NFC title game has more often than not been more compelling than the over-ballyhooed Super Bowl, played two weeks later.But for the first time in seven seasons and only the second time in the last 11 years, none of those teams, with their proven marquee value, will play for a Super berth.

Quick look : Both of these teams looked like they lost their edge late in the regular season, but both rebounded after having two weeks between the end of the season and the start of the playoffs. Rust no longer is an issue for the Saints or Vikings. The NFC championship game is all about two quarterbacks and their explosive offenses. Brett Favre wants one more shot at a Super Bowl to cement his legacy. Drew Brees wants his first. Both defenses might be a little susceptible in the back end. So whichever team gets better pressure should be in better position to win the game.

The Dallas Cowboys grabbed the torch in San Francisco last January.Now they hope to hit the 49ers over the head with it in Dallas today.When the Cowboys beat the 49ers in the NFC title game in muddy Candlestick Park last January, they like to think it was a passing of the torch from the team of the 1980s to what they think will be the team of the 1990s."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Forget the odds. Forget the matchups. Forget the records.The thing to remember is that the San Francisco 49ers are playing the Washington Redskins in a playoff game today at Candlestick Park. The teams have won seven of the past 11 Super Bowls.Both know what it takes to win a game like this, and both know what it's like to lose.That's why it's tempting to overlook the fact that the Redskins are the biggest underdogs on the board -- nine points -- this weekend and that they lost four of their last seven regular-season games and backed into the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

If you can't beat 'em, raid 'em.That seems to be the philosophy of the Washington Redskins, who have lost their last three games to the Dallas Cowboys by a combined score of 103-17.A year ago, the Redskins signed the Cowboys' offensive coordinator, Norv Turner, to take over as their head coach and signed one of the Cowboys' free-agent offensive lineman, John Gesek, to be their center.They signed another Cowboys free agent yesterday, safety James Washington, to a three-year, $4.5 million deal with a $1.5 million signing bonus and brought in Cowboys free-agent tight end Jay Novacek for a visit.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Don't tell Jimmy Johnson that his Dallas Cowboys don't have much experience."We have experienced guys," the Cowboys coach said after his team beat the San Francisco 49ers, 30-20, in the NFC title game Sunday."

HERNDON, Va. -- Quick now. Can you name three Detroit Lions?Well, there's Barry Sanders and Erik Kramer and . . . and . . . and . . .Even the Washington Redskins, who'll play the Detroit Lions in the NFC title game, aren't all that aware of who the Lions are once you get past Sanders and Kramer.When Washington coach Joe Gibbs was asked yesterday if he knew many of the names of their players, he said: "I know some names, some numbers, but I'm not much of a name guy. I'm a little bit more of a who's-playing-nose-guard guy. I know what their nose guard looks like and I know what their left end looks like and their inside linebacker, [Chris]

Last seasonThe San Francisco 49ers made it to the NFC title game before losing at home to the Dallas Cowboys. That's twice in the last three years the 49ers have lost at home in the NFC title game. By San Francisco standards, that's disappointing. The New Orleans Saints made the playoffs, but couldn't win a playoff game. That's their history.New coachesThis is the only NFC division that doesn't have a new coach. Chuck Knox is his second year, is the newcomer in the group. There hasn't been much turnover in this division because George Seifert of the 49ers and Jim Mora of the Saints are two of the more successful coaches in the game, although Mora's success has been limited to the regular season.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Not only are the New England Patriots probably laughing right now, they're laughing and warm. The only obstacle left to their football immortality is the winner of the most imperfect frigid-weather overtime classic in NFL history. No one who watched it in the comfort of home or shivered through it in person in a wind chill of minus 24 degrees will ever forget how the New York Giants made it to Super Bowl XLII. No matter how hard you might try. The Giants beat the Green Bay Packers, 23-20, on their storied home field and against their equally storied quarterback because the Packers screwed up last.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- By the time the Green Bay Packers players and coaches met the media yesterday afternoon, the temperature in town had rocketed to 13 degrees, with a wind chill of just minus 3. Soak it up now, Titletown residents and NFC championship game combatants, because tomorrow night, it's supposed to get cold again. File this under "O" for "obvious," but weather will be a factor when the New York Giants and Packers meet. Then again, don't file it so fast. The mythology surrounding the Packers - because of their history and because of who has played quarterback for them the past decade and a half - is that Lambeau Field in January is their ace in the hole.

CHICAGO -- The tradition has been dormant for more than two decades. No one will ever mistake Rex Grossman and Lovie Smith for Jim McMahon and Mike Ditka. But on the shores of Lake Michigan, with the snow falling, the Chicago Bears revived that "Monsters of the Midway" mystique. They ran on the New Orleans Saints early, used their stifling defense to force three turnovers and ended up with a dominating, 39-14 win in the NFC championship game yesterday. The Bears will play in the Super Bowl in Miami on Feb. 4, the storied franchise's first appearance in the title game since the days of McMahon, Ditka and a rout in the Super Bowl after the 1985 season.

The Sun's Bill Ordine ranks the NFL's 32 teams [2005 RECORD IN PARENTHESES] 1. INDIANAPOLIS (14-2) / / With unquestionable talent but dubious heart, the Peyton Manning-era Colts may be the best NFL team to never make it to the Super Bowl. But oddsmakers think otherwise, and kicker Adam Vinatieri might prove to be the difference. 2. CAROLINA (11-5) / / Coach John Fox ran out of running backs last year in the NFC title game, but he boosted the offense in the offseason with receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

PHILADELPHIA - They addressed nagging issues about offensive rhythm and accumulated rust with aplomb. Now comes the hard part for the Philadelphia Eagles - answering the three-year brain drain about why they can't win the NFC championship game. The Eagles were back in familiar territory after whipping the mistake-prone Minnesota Vikings, 27-14, yesterday in an NFC semifinal before 67,722 at Lincoln Financial Field. They are in the NFC championship game for the fourth straight year, at home for the third year in a row, and will assume the favorite's role over the Atlanta Falcons, who arrive next week via a 47-17 rout of the St. Louis Rams on Saturday.

I FEARED IT might come to this. The Philadelphia Eagles are going to host another NFC title game on Sunday at The Linc, and you all know what that means. The Eagles should have to wear little yellow safety tags that say, May Present Choking Hazard. Napoleon had Waterloo. Robert E. Lee had Gettysburg. The Eagles have the NFC championship game. They have been there over and over, and the same thing keeps happening. Of course, if you're an Eagles fan (and, if you are, I'm guessing you stopped reading this column a couple of months ago)

The Sun's Bill Ordine ranks the NFL's 32 teams [2005 RECORD IN PARENTHESES] 1. INDIANAPOLIS (14-2) / / With unquestionable talent but dubious heart, the Peyton Manning-era Colts may be the best NFL team to never make it to the Super Bowl. But oddsmakers think otherwise, and kicker Adam Vinatieri might prove to be the difference. 2. CAROLINA (11-5) / / Coach John Fox ran out of running backs last year in the NFC title game, but he boosted the offense in the offseason with receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

WASHINGTON -- In reel life, this season's NFC title game would be titled "Thumbs Up."Every Hollywood screenwriter would love to write it: the emotional story of how an underdog band of Detroit Lions won a Super Bowl trip for their fallen teammate, Mike Utley, who gave them a thumbs-up sign when he left the field paralyzed in November.In real life, though, the Washington Redskins figure to turn thumbs down on the Lions at RFK Stadium today and win a trip to Super Bowl XXVI.Not that Utley isn't rooting for the Lions.

PHILADELPHIA - After his three-interception performance in Carolina's 14-3 win over the Philadelphia Eagles last night, people wanted answers from Panthers rookie cornerback Ricky Manning. Had he seen something on film that allowed him to recognize what route was coming? Did the receiver's stance tip off where he was trying to go? Or was Manning just taking calculated guesses based on down, distance and formations? Manning, whose plays were a big reason Carolina will face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII, credited none of the above, and instead said it had everything to do with where he lined up before the snap.

PHILADELPHIA - From the first punishing sack of Donovan McNabb to DeShaun Foster's determined 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, the Carolina Panthers roughed up the Philadelphia Eagles on both sides of the ball last night. Getting four turnovers from their defense and 155 yards from their running game, the Panthers squeezed out a 14-3 victory in the NFC championship game. Carolina will meet the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII at Houston's Reliant Stadium on Feb. 1. When the pounding finally ended, the heartbreak began for Philadelphia.