It's easier to do the New York Times crossword puzzle than to figure who will be playing whom in this postseason. But just as basketball had its dream team, football has its dream matchups.
There are some potentially great games -- Philadelphia versus Dallas, Dallas versus Minnesota and Arizona versus New Orleans -- to name a few. But here are the must-see matchups that football fans can only hope come to pass.
1. Green Bay at Minnesota: Please, please, please let Vikings quarterback Brett Favresquare off against Green Bay and quarterbackAaron Rodgers one more time. Who wouldn't want to see a third meeting between the legendary quarterback and legendary franchise that already drew boffo TV ratings the first two times they met this season? Three times would be a charm.
2. New York Jets at New England: These franchises get along about as well as Green Bay and Minnesota. Jets coach Rex Ryan already vowed not to kiss Bill Belichick's ring. But if Belichick could dispatch Ryan and the Jets, he would be one step closer to another ring.
3. Philadelphia versus Dallas: A taste will be provided Sunday, when these teams square off for the NFC East title and the chance to have the NFC's No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. One team is going to be highly disappointed Sunday and another equally excited. Eagles-Cowboys never gets old, and the stakes would be even higher in the playoffs.
4. New England at Indianapolis: It would be only fitting for Belichick to get one more opportunity to go for it in Indianapolis against the defense that stopped the Patriots on fourth-and-2. Interestingly, the coaches who made the season's two most controversial calls were Belichick on fourth-and-2 and Jim Caldwell on resting his regulars. Now one coach could end the other's season.
5. San Diego versus New Orleans: Of all the potential Super Bowl matchups, none would be more appealing than the Chargers versus the Saints and San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers against the quarterback who he once replaced, New Orleans' Drew Brees.
In Week 16, when it ignored and spit at history, Indianapolis deflated this season. But some of these too-good-to-be-true playoff matchups would inflate it back where it belongs.
And now, on to this week's 10 Spot:
Before it is razed, one final football game will be played Sunday at Giants Stadium, the Jets against the Bengals with a wild-card spot on the line. Children whose fathers used to take them to Giants Stadium now are old enough to take their own children there. Each has favorite moments from the stadium, which has hosted visits from Pope John Paul II, Paul McCartney and Peyton Manning. Some will think of the kicks they got from the 1994 World Cup or the 2007 David Beckham debut in front of 65,000 fans. Others will think of the tricks from Dan Marino's fake spike in 1994 or Jumbo Elliott's touchdown catch during the Monday night miracle comeback in 2000. There were scary moments that involved fallen Jets defensive end Dennis Byrd and celebratory moments that involved Giants' NFC Championships in 1987 and 2001.
But what this reporter always will remember is the wind tunnel at one end of the stadium that players and reporters walked down to enter the building. It was a downhill walk on paved cement that led straight to the field -- and it might have been the single coldest spot in the Northeast. For some reason, temperatures always seemed colder there, the wind seemed stronger there, and it always seemed like the last place in the world anyone would want to be -- especially in the heart of the winter -- until the field came into view. Now, before the curtain comes down and the wrecking balls are brought in, the Jets get one more home game to create one more memorable moment.
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Jeff Moffett/Icon SMIA four-game winning streak would bode well for Eric Mangini's future in Cleveland.
Slowly but surely, the Brown cloud seems to be lifting from Cleveland. Over the past month, the Browns actually have played inspired football, winning three straight games. Now they are on the verge of doing something the franchise has not done since the early part of the 1994 season or since it returned to Cleveland 11 seasons ago. The Browns are trying for their first four-game winning streak in 15 years, which they can accomplish with a win Sunday over struggling Jacksonville. Since the franchise returned to Cleveland in 1999, the Browns have won back-to-back games nine times and have won three games in a row three times, but they have failed to win four games in a row.
What makes this streak so intriguing is the way it impacts the future of Browns coach Eric Mangini. Had the Browns not reeled off this streak, Mangini certainly would have been sent packing. But his team's spirited play has forced new Browns president Mike Holmgren at least to ponder whether he has a head coach worth keeping. If the Browns come up with their first four-game winning streak since 1994, it will make Holmgren's decision even more difficult.
As the calendar turned from October to November, Denver looked like a postseason lock. The Broncos had confidence, momentum and a 6-0 record. Now, Nov. 1 feels like a long time ago. The Broncos are in danger of blowing a seemingly sure playoff spot for the third time in four seasons. Three seasons ago, Denver needed only to beat a 6-9 49ers team at home in the regular-season finale to clinch a playoff spot; it lost 26-23. Last year, Denver carried an 8-5 record into December and needed one win in its final three games to clinch the AFC West title; the Broncos lost their final three games. This season, the Broncos are 2-7 since Nov. 1 and are threatening to become only the third team since the merger in 1970 to start 6-0 and not make the postseason.
The first team that did it was the 1978 Washington Redskins, who started 6-0 and lost five straight games at the end of the season to finish 8-8. The next team to start 6-0 and fail to make the postseason was the 2003 Minnesota Vikings, who were beaten on the season's final day when Randy Moss' former college teammate, Nate Poole, reeled in a 28-yard touchdown pass from Josh McCown that enabled the Cardinals to wipe out a 17-6 fourth-quarter deficit and the Vikings to finish 9-7. Now the Broncos need a loss from the Ravens, Jets, Steelers or Texans to go along with a victory of their own to avoid becoming one of the league's big surprise stories at the start of the season and the end of it -- for different reasons.
Records are on the line Sunday. With a 70.62 completion percentage, Saints quarterback Drew Brees has the chance to break Ken Anderson's season completion percentage record of 70.55. But the air record is secondary to the one that can be achieved on the ground. Titans RB Chris Johnson needs 128 yards to become the sixth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. He also needs 233 to tie Eric Dickerson's single-season record, the most worthwhile pursuit remaining in a disappointing Titans season.
If you don't like what I just said of whet is the utmost my opinion ....well...so be it!! ESPN.com and AP was used in this report.
