NFL Title Game Weekend!

Thursday, January 21, 2010
By Roz Juarbe

by Roz Juarbe

So who do you like: The 40-year-old QB, or a 23-year old rookie? The NFL is a quarterback league, the single most important player on the football field. That's why the Vikings went so hard after Brett Favre in the offseason, figuring that Tavaris Jackson needed several years to improve. They couldn't wait, as they were ready to win now. That's what makes this conference championship weekend so interesting: 3 ace QBs and one rookie.

You have the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning, Minnesota's Brett Favre and New Orleans' Drew Brees. Three top-drawer quarterbacks who know a thing or two about directing offenses, piling up yards and winning. Manning is the first QB to win four MVPs. And then there's Mark Sanchez, the rookie of the Jets, a quy with 29 turnovers and a terrible TD to INT ratio. It will be Manning's 17th playoff game, but just the third for Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez.

Eight of the top-10 rated passers from the regular season took their teams into the postseason, including the top four. Five of the top 10 rushers failed to reach the playoffs, including the top two (Tennessee's Chris Johnson and St. Louis' Steven Jackson). Consider the combined numbers gleaned from the Manning/Brees/Favre resumes: 380 wins, 1,077 touchdowns, seven MVPs, 25 Pro Bowls.

In last week's divisional round, Manning passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-3 win over Baltimore. Favre riddled Dallas with 234 yards and four TDs in a 34-3 victory. Brees had 247 yards and three TDs in the Saints' 45-14 blowout of Arizona. The Colts have reached the AFC title game for the third time in seven seasons on Manning's arm.

And then there's the 23-year old Sanchez. During one ugly seven-game stretch, Sanchez threw 14 of his 20 interceptions. The Jets won only one of those games. In his past seven starts, counting two playoff games, Sanchez has thrown just seven interceptions. And the Jets are on a 7-1 SU/ATS run.

The Jets haven't asked Sanchez to lead the offense, as the Jets rushed for 172.3 yards a game during the regular season and have hardly lost a step during the postseason. They ran for 340 yards and three touchdowns while eliminating the Bengals and Chargers.

The Vikings are one step away from their first Super Bowl berth in 33 years and head to New Orleans Sunday for the NFC Championship Game. Favre will be making his fifth appearance in an NFC title game in his 19-year career. He has posted a 2-2 record in those games, beating Carolina and San Francisco during the 1996 and '97 seasons and losing to Dallas and the Giants after the 1995 and 2007 seasons. Favre has passed for 1,057 yards and thrown eight touchdowns and five interceptions in the four games.

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak today placed a friendly wager over the outcome of Sunday's NFC championship game. Mayor Nagin's wager also includes three CDs of New Orleans music. In addition, his wager includes beignet mix and chicory coffee, pralines from Loretta's Pralines, king cake from Adrian's Bakery, Zatarain's products, and paraphernalia from the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club and the New Orleans Hornets. The Vikings are just 4-4 SU/ATS on the road and need to get pressure on Drew Brees. New Orleans is on a 7-3 run under the total and is 7-2 SU, 5-4 ATS at home in the dome. Let the big games begin!