When was the last time that the NFC was the more exciting conference than the AFC? The Rams ‘greatest-show-on-turf’ days? The Cowboys/Forty-Niners rivalry? Whatever team you choose the real answer is ‘it has been a long time’.
Yet, thanks to two high powered offenses in the NFC and one defense-run oriented major underdog in the AFC, the NFC title game looks to be much more entertaining and fun this weekend.
After a decade of AFC superiority anchored by the quasi-dynasties of the Patriots, Colts and Steelers could the pendulum be swinging back to the NFC? While the Vikings (thanks to putting all their eggs in an old, back-stabbing, egotistical basket) may only be real challengers for just a year or two, the Saints, Cowboys, and even the Giants or Eagles (if they don’t get too fancy and let McNabb go) could be challengers for years. On the other side, the Patriots are showing their age, the Chargers can’t get over the hump (and lost the LT-dominating running game) and the Colts are 100% reliant on a 33 year old quarterback.
So, is this the turning point? Are we looking at a sustained NFC run like their 14 straight Super Bowls from the mid-80’s to the late 90’s (How ‘bout them Broncos)?
Hardly. Look at the AFC dominated ‘aughts’. Those years still saw the Bucs win a Super Bowl, the Giants win a Super Bowl and the refs decide that the Steelers deserved a Super Bowl more than the Seahawks.
Every year we see a team or two rise up and join the elite teams (at least temporarily). I just don’t think we are going to see a team or a conference completely dominate like the 80’s Forty-Niners, 90’s Cowboys,70’s Steelers or even to a lesser extent the 00’s Patriots.
Global warming doesn’t become a myth because the country has a cold snap, if we have a year every now and then when there is a small group of very dominant teams that doesn’t mean that there is no more parity among the teams.
Didn’t you see The Day After Tomorrow? Paradoxically, global warming could actually lead to the climates of the globe shifting further south and dropping the U.S. into a deep freeze.
This is the equivalent of abysmal, perennial loser franchises like the Lions, Rams, Redskins and Chiefs proving parity.
Don’t question me, it is just science. You can look it up.
Speaking of movies (Segue warning!), we are making this the second annual Golden Globe-Championship weekend THH in which we use movies from (filmed in or based in) each home town to determine who to cheer on.
Unfortunately Turner, isn’t really able to provide much commentary this week, so I am just including his picks with little context. Apparently his boss doesn’t realize how important this THH is. Priorities, priorities.
Shadow: At the beginning of the NFL Season, there were a couple of things I knew for sure: the Broncos were not going to make the playoffs, Cutler would not suddenly turn into John Elway, and the Brett Favre experiment in Minnesota would end badly. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. If we end up with a Saints/Colts Super Bowl who will Archie Manning cheer for? In spending my fictional winnings from last weekend’s betting, I will now parlay my winnings into laying it back down on the Vikings and Jets and taking the points. Now on to the annual Siskel and Ebert NFL Championship Game Weekend THH.
AFC Championship – Jets @ Colts
SD: When I started looking for movies to signify this game, of the 567,743 movies filmed in or about New York I quickly decided on The Thomas Crown Affair, which felt appropriate since I just watched it and once used quotes from it to frame an argument here on the site. For Indiana I decided on Eight Men Out. This was fitting to me because when combined with TTCA it actually provides a nice parallel to this game. One of these shouldn’t be here because I don’t know anything about it. The other is an old reliable. A staple. I have never actually seen all of Eight Men Out so it doesn’t make sense to include them here, and have seen TTCA more times than I can count. Sort of like the Jets and Colts – the Jets have no business here after appearing to be mediocre all season, while the Colts are practically always here. So even though TTCA represents New York, it is actually more like Indianapolis. This is making my head hurt even though I swear it made sense at one point. There is a quote in TTCA: “I hope it’s not because you find my company monotonous.” Which would actually be pretty fitting for Peyton Manning to say to AFC fans. Because of that and how much I enjoy TTCA I say, J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.
Turner: Hoosiers vs. Sleepless in Seattle. Ollie and Jimmy will win this every time
Shadow: So many quality movies to choose from. New York may be considered by some to be the Media Capital of the world, and to be sure there have been many excellent movies filmed there, alas, for the Jets, although they say ‘New York’, they play in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Sadly, that town can’t even offer up a sports movie into the equation…the best it can do is Highlander (if you are a girl, or Turner, substitute When Harry Met Sally). As someone once said, ‘There can be only one’, and in this battle Indy clearly wins with Hoosiers and Eight Men Out.
NFC Championship – Vikings @ Saints
SD: I looked through a list of Minnesota based movies and one jumped off the page at me – Mystery Science Theater 3000. I stand by an earlier assertion that MST3k does not get the credit it should for its impact on pop culture. Do we have Beavis and Butthead, Pop-Up Video or that bad ESPN Classic show with the Sklar brothers without MST3k? We would be a lesser society without 2 of those. For New Orleans, there was only one choice. Similar to the previous match-up, if I used a quote from a movie as a title to a post, it has to be the representative here. That is really the only fair way to do it. Therefore I am going with The Pelican Brief. It may not have had the cultural importance of MST3k (at least in my mind) but it was pretty entertaining and may go down as the best of the Grisham movies – though that is like saying that it is the best of the Alvin and Chipmunk franchise. Well, on a historically important weekend, we have to go with the historically important movie. Sure, it isn’t as good as the TV show but most likely these games will disappoint as well, so that can’t be held against it. Viking power! This is the paradox of the Theme THH – I don’t want to cheer for the Vikings but by the rules I must.
Damn you, Brett you win again.
Turner: Options for Minnesota (w/o research): The Mighty Ducks, Fargo, and Grumpy Old Men vs. Pelican Brief, A Street Car Named Desire, Double Jeopardy (OOOOO ASHLEY JUDD), Possibly every vampire movie ever made. Ashley has to push this one over for me while Fargo almost pushed Favre to the top; too bad Emilio neutralized that….
Shadow: The Vikings bring it strong with Mallrats, High Fidelity, With Honors, and Backdraft. The Saints counter with Glory Road, Blown Away, and Live and Let Die. With all due respect to Don Haskins and Bond, James Bond, it would take a lot more to take it over Jason Lee’s Brodie and this memorable exchange (or at least memorable to those of us who have ever been pestered by a mom or girlfriend or wife over a video game, especially one that we have paused and resumed hours later):
[Brodie picks up a controller and continues a paused video game]
Rene: What are you doing? You promised me breakfast.
Brodie: Breakfast, shmreakfast. Look at the score, for Christ’s sake. It’s only the second period and I’m up 12 to 2. Breakfasts come and go, Rene, but Hartford, “the Whale,” they only beat Vancouver once, maybe twice in a lifetime.
Go Favrians!
