Saints vs. Bears Sunday, January 21, 2007 - 3:00 PM - Fox FINAL SCORE: Bears 39 - Saints 14      The NFC worked out just how the seeding predicted: the top team playing at home against the second best team.  The Saints have been on a storybook ride all season long - a city that has suffered so much since the hurricane came through and nearly destroyed New Orleans; thousands dead or homeless and relocated all across the country.  Many have not had the opportunity or the will to return.  The New Orleans Saints were considering relocating themselves.  San Antonio and southern California were both places that were under consideration.  Now they are on the verge of their first ever Super Bowl appearance and looking for all the world like a team that won't be denied.  The only trouble is, Chicago might have a word or two to say about that before it's all said and done.  Speaking as a former resident of the Windy Sity who longs for a return to that status, Chicago doesn't want to hear about New Orleans "deserving" a Super Bowl Championship because their city was almost destroyed.  When it comes to citywide disasters, the folks in Chitown are pretty familiar with it.  I'm not entirely uncertain that there isn't a law that to this day outlaws cows (except as goofy pieces of art on Michigan Avenue) or anyone named O'Leary in the city limits.  What happened to the folks in New Orleans was indeed tragic.  But that was a year and a half ago and this is FOOTBALL!      The Saints come in averaging 25.8 points per game which is 5th best in the league.  They have a lot of weapons on offense to be dealt with.  The hype all season long has been what an impact Reggie Bush has had on this offense, but once again, I have to strongly disagree.  He's been solid, but Drew Brees behind a much better offensive line is the reason this team has had success this year.  Brees has been very good at finding the open man.  The Saints in general will need to take good care of the ball in this one as Da Bears are incredibly good at getting the ball away from opposing offenses.       With the Chicago defense missing Tommie Harris up front, Deuce McAllister also becomes much tougher to stop.  Of course DA Bears might disagree with you on this.  Defensive end Alex Brown spoke up about this saying, "Okay, the thing with Tommie, I'm sorry, I don't know if you know, but he's not coming back.  Alright?  He's not coming back.  We would love to have Tommie, but he's not coming back.  We've got to play with the guys we have."  And though they did struggle late in the season, they looked very solid last week in their win over Seattle.  They will need every ounce of that defense this weekend if they want a berth in the Super Bowl.      Rex Grossman may have shaken off a lot of critics and the cobwebs that seemed to have formed around him last week when he completed the 30 yard pass in overtime to put the Bears in position for what would ultimately be the game winning field goal.  This week, he will need to be patient once again and not try to hit a home run on every play.  Working the ball underneath and forcing the Saints to lock up receivers down low early will open up the game for the deep passes to Berrian and Muhammad as it did for the Eagles and Donte Stallworth last week.  The O-line will need to be on top of their game to give Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson room to run. Keys to victory for the Saints - Offense: Establish the running game with McAllister and exploit the Chicago front four minus Tommie Harris.  Force the Bears to put eight in the box to stop the run and leave the corners on an island. Defense: Get pressure on Grossman and take away the short routes early.   Keys to vicotry for DAAA Bearsss - Offense: Look for more passing underneath on short patterns and get the ball to Benson and Jones out in the flats.  Be patient, patient, patient - the long pass will come open. Defense: The front four have to stop the run bring the blitz on every other down or more often force lots of 3rd and long situations.        Statistical Leaders (NFC Champ game) Saints Passing Bears Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT C/ATT YDS TD INT Brees 27/49 354 2 1 Grossman 11/26 144 1 0 Saints Rushing Bears Rushing CAR YDS TD LG CAR YDS TD LG Bush 4 19 0 12 Jones 19 123 2 33 McAllister 6 18 0 6 Benson 24 60 1 12 Saints Receiving Bears Receiving REC YDS TD LG REC YDS TD LG Bush 7 132 1 88 Berrian 5 85 1 33 Colston 5 63 1 29 Clark 1 30 0 30 Henderson 2 57 0 40 Muhammad 1 20 0 20

Patriots vs. Colts Sunday, January 21, 2007 - 3:00 PM Eastern - CBS Final Score: Colts 38 - Patriots 34      "Peyton can't win the big games."      "Tony Dungy can't win the big games."       Something both of these guys have been hearing for some time now.  And so far, it has been the case.  Peyton has yet to play in a Super Bowl and Tony Dungy hasn't been able to a even stand on a sideline as head coach in one.  Of course, with Tony, it could be argued that he was only a hair away from going to the big game in Tampa Bay, but was fired prematurely and Chucky got all the glory the following year.  For those who deride Peyton Manning, please refer back to the first fourteen years of John Elway's career.  He suffered from the same sort of disparaging remarks about his lack of a Super Bowl ring . . .until he won one.  Both Mannning and Dungy have the opportunity yet again this season to overcome those deficiencies.  However, there remains their number one obstacle yet again:  The New England Patriots.  Two of the last three seasons, it's been the Patriots who have spoiled the Colts' shot at the SB and gone on to be champs themselves.  Bill Belichick and the Foxboro Boys will look to do it again, though this time they'll have to get it done indoors in Indianapolis and they'll have to do it against their former kicker Adam Vinatieri, who is arguably the best clutch kicker the game has ever seen.     The Colts will need to keep up the defensive play they've had in their two playoff games thus far.  If they revert back to regular season form, this one will likely be over early as the regular season Colts had the worst run D in the league.  Over the past two weeks, they've shut down two of the better running backs in the league, Larry Johnson and Jamal Lewis.  This week, they'll need to do it against the two headed running game of Dillon and Barber.  Of course, the biggest factor on this offense will be the leadership and experience of Tom Brady.  He just keeps finding ways to win and will exploit any mistake opponents make - just ask the Chargers about that.       No doubt, Belichick will be up late every night this week coming up with some scheme to contain the Colt offense as well as trying to find a way to get through the suddenly resurgent Cover 2 Indy defense.  They will need to get tight end Ben Watson involved over the middle to pull the safeties off of helping the cornerbacks with their coverage of the sideline routes.  This shouldn't be a problem since Watson is second highest in amount of receiving yards for the Pats this season.      The Patriots are a bit banged up on defense where Manning and the Colts will have to go and exploit every opportunity.  They will need to get Joseph Addai the ball around the edges and Dominic Rhodes' experience could be key in controlling the ground game.  Without Brandon Stokely in the line-up, the receiving corp is only a dual threat in the deep game with Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison, but tight end Dallas Clark gives nice balance to the passing game to keep any secondary honest. Keys to victory for the Patriots - Offense: Keep the Colt defense off balance with the running and passing game.  Don't let them get too keyed in on one guy. Defense: Get an early lead and take away the running game.  If the Colts become one dimensional they will own them.  Don't let the game come down to Vintieri's foot. Keys to victory for the Colts: - Offense: Attack the New England secondary through the air - Rodney Harrison is questionable for Sunday's game and with him out, the pass defense becomes much more vulnerable.  Get a lead early and then control it with the ground game. Defense: Don't try to get too fancy and confuse Tom Brady - just play the solid defense they've been playing with Dungy's Cover 2.  If the linebackers can limit Watson's receiving yards, they should be able to close down passing game to the wideouts.   Statistical Leaders (AFC Champ game) Patriots Passing Colts Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT C/ATT YDS TD INT Brady 21/34 232 1 1 Manning 27/47 349 1 1 Patriots Rushing Colts Rushing CAR YDS TD LG CAR YDS TD LG Dillon 7 48 1 35 Rhodes 14 69 0 19 Faulk 4 27 0 8 Addai 14 56 1 11 Patriots Receiving Colts Receiving REC YDS TD LG REC YDS TD LG Watson 5 48 0 19 Clark 6 137 0 52 Caldwell 4 46 0 18 Wayne 5 68 0 18 Gaffney 3 37 0 17 Harrison 4 41 0 13