The NFC Title Game is Here

Seriously, who lets this guy write a sports column?

It's a rematch in name only. Two years ago when the Falcons came to Philadelphia for a playoff game, the thinking was, "They beat the Packers. Impressive. Cute. But the Eagles? Ain't happening." Two years ago, the Eagles had not yet fully developed into a playoff folding table. Two years ago, the Eagles were still scary.

The cloak of mystery came off Philadelphia yesterday. It was the first game that mattered to the team in a month. It was the first time the Eagles' offense actually tried to function since Terrell Owens suffered an ankle injury and coach Andy Reid covered every remaining important player in bubble-wrap.

And what we found was this: Philadelphia Eagles - not scary.

Yes, they won. Philadelphia did everybody a favor and eliminated the NFC's other .500 playoff team with a 27-14 win over Minnesota. As a result, the Eagles will go to the conference title game for the fourth straight season, hopeful that things turn out better than the previous three experiences (losses to St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Carolina). But beyond showing that they could move the ball against the NFL's 28th-ranked defense, Philly didn't nearly resemble the wrecking crew that began the season 13-1.

Two years ago, the Falcons came here after their wild-card upset in Green Bay, hung with the Eagles for a while, saw a Michael Vick game-tying touchdown scramble wiped out by a holding penalty, and eventually lost, 20-6. On Sunday, they will come here with the same spotlight at quarterback but with a different backdrop. They will come here fresh off an annihilation of the St. Louis Rams.

They will come here with thoughts of winning a game that isn't nearly as daunting a task as it seemed two years ago.

"I think the Falcons will beat them," said Carolina receiver Muhsin Muhammad, whose Panthers went to the Super Bowl after upsetting the Eagles last year. He was in attendance yesterday, working for the NFL Network. "We played against both teams this season. The Falcons are a lot better defensively than the Vikings, and I don't know what the Eagles are going to do about Vick. They may need to call up the Tampa Bay coach and find out what they did. Or just bring in Derrick Brooks."

Donovan McNabb often had a lunch hour to operate. He threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns. But the Eagles struggled to put away a mediocre team after building a 21-7 lead five minutes into the second quarter, managing only two field goals the rest of the game. One of their touchdowns followed two fortuitous pass-interference penalties and was scored when a Viking knocked the ball free from tight end L.J. Smith into midair, only to have it fall into the hands of Freddie Mitchell. The Eagles also fumbled out of the end zone for a touchback. They mismanaged the clock at the end of the first half, blowing a chip-shot field goal.

Defensively, the Eagles played well but benefited from an opponent that forgot some of the basics. The Vikings once had too many men on the field and another time called a fake field goal, which would have been fine if everybody was in on the fake. When holder/quarterback Gus Frerotte stepped back and looked to the open corner of the end zone where Randy Moss was suppose to be, it looked like MTV had started another reality show: NFL Punk'd.

I'd spend all day dissecting these ramblings, but instead I'll do it in summary fashion. To wit:

1. The Falcons' big whupping of St. Louis was nice. They also beat an 8-8 team with no concept of how to play run defense.

2. On the season, Atlanta outscored its opponents by three points -- overall. Fine, they got beat by 46 points by KC, which skewed the numbers. But the Eagles outscored their opponents by 126 points, which includes a four touchdown loss to Cincy and a 13 point loss to the Rams in meaningless games where Andy Reid rested his regulars. That 46 point drubbing by KC of Atlanta came in a game that actually mattered.

3. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson has done a terrific job containing scrambling quarterbacks in the past. Vick may be a better scrambler than Dante Culpepper, but Culpepper is definitely better at reading a defense -- and Culpepper looked pretty confused on Sunday. Culpepper only threw 11 picks while tossing 39 TDs this season. On Sunday, he threw one meaningless late TD pass while throwing two interceptions. Vick only threw 12 interceptions all season... but he also only threw 14 TD passes. Jim Johnson will have something special ready for him Sunday.

4. Basically, because Freddie Mitchell fumbled while making a terrific effort to score and the team screwed the pooch on clock management at the end of the first half, this guy's claiming they should have had ten more points. So they outplayed Minnestota by even more than is indicated by the score? How does this make the Eagles less scary?

5. Fortuitous pass interference calls may be in vogue next week, too. Last I checked, Atlanta's corners aren't playing in the Pro Bowl. Meanwhile, 3/4 of our secondary is heading to Hawaii the second weekend in February. I know Vick tries to beat people with his legs more than his arm, but he's really going to have trouble if he wants to do it with his arm this week.

6. Wow, Tampa Bay shut down Vick earlier this season. That same Tampa team gave up 44 more points than the Eagles and finished 5-11. Are the Eagles supposed to want to trade for the Bucs defense?

7. The Vikings screwed up a fake field goal. Let's say they converted the field goal and finished the game with 17 points. Am I missing something here? They still lose by ten points in that case.

8. Yeah, I know, three straight NFC Title Games. Are we supposed to be upset that we have experience on our side?

9. You know, there are ways to aggravate me. Sports journalists from Atlanta talking smack about my favorite team is one prime way to get me aggravated. We're talking about a city that has trouble drawing flies for its sports teams and whose biggest claim to football fame is being the place where Ray Lewis was arrested for double murder. Last I checked, the Falcons have never had back-to-back winning seasons in their history.

10. And if we want to discuss good omens, I have a SWEET picture of William Tecumsah Sherman and some of his men strolling out into the Georgia night, giving us the original meaning for "Hot-lanta."

I've been waiting nearly 365 days for this. Let's get it on.