Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 49

C14 SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 2008 THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC 1 NFC CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES med own to focus It may co Battle up front will be i i MICHAEL P. KINGAAPPLETON, WIS.) POST-CRESCENT Giants quarterback Eli Manning and teammates arrive at an Ap-pleton, hotel Saturday for today's game against the Packers. NFC Continued from CI fleece and down tonight to see if their Packers can advance to warmer climes by defeating the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game. The temperature at kickoff, 4:42 p.m. Arizona time, is expected to be below zero.

It could be the second-coldest game in the history of Green Bay and Lambeau Field, behind the Ice Bowl of 1967, when it was 13 below. Lambeau Field. Bitter cold temperatures. Possibly the last game of Packers quarterback Brett Favre's career. For avid football fans, today's conference-title game could become frozen in their memories.

"This is one of those games that you do watch on TV when you're home, and you think, 'Man, I wish I was out there. I know it's cold, but I wish I were out Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said. "Now we have the opportunity to be out there." The weather might make today's game more about toughness than skill, especially if the wind starts to blow as predicted. "To a certain degree I would agree with that," Favre said. "But I think thaf part of this game, elements.

Physically, you look across this league, all the guys can run. They're all have been written, like this is Bretfs last swan song or his chance to go to the Super Bowl and all that stuff," Strahan said this week. "I look at it as the same for me. Maybe it is the same for Toomer; maybe it is1 the same way for Feagles. "We all feel the same wa about ourselves.

He (Favre has a ring. He can hang it up! and say, 'I was a Super champion at some but all of us don't have that, and some of us are still pressing td; get it." I The deep freeze The Packers practiced in-1 doors all week, but McCarthy took other steps to get his team accustomed to playing in freezing temperatures. The club practiced all week with frozen footballs. The eas- iest way to chill the balls would have been just to leave outdoors, but the Packers put them in a freezer and took' them out for practice. "Is that what was going cornerback Al Harris said Fn-" day when asked about the cold balls.

"Thafs pretty whoever came up with that" It was McCarthy's idea tcr tweak an old trick to suit the' weather. McCarthy, like a lot of other coaches, has dunked balls in a bucket of water to prepare his team to play in the rain. So why not put them in the freezer to simulate what the ball will feel like today? Because they live in cold weather, it would seem as if the Packers would be well pre--' pared for the freezing conditions expected in today's NFC Championship Game. But their worst game of the season came in blustery, snowy conditions in Chicago in December. The Packers lost 35-7 "The failed test in Chicago really starts with me," McCar-' thy said.

"That football tearn my football team, was not as focused as it needed to be. Thaf responsibility starts with self." By Kent Somers The Arizona Republic GREEN BAY, Wis. The Giants led the NFL in sacks in the regular season with 53. The Packers' starting offensive tackles don't need much help with shutting down pass rushers. That matchup today will help determine which team advances to Super Bowl XLII in Glendale.

Last week, Packers right tackle Mark Tauscher held Seattle defensive end Patrick Kerney without a sack. Today he'll be matched against future Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, who had nine sacks in the regular season. Left tackle Chad Clifton will face Osi Umenyiora, who had 13. Reserve defensive end Justin Tuck has 10. The Giants also will try to generate pressure through blitzes, so Tauscher and Clifton won't get much help from running backs or tight ends.

"If you ever had to play without a left tackle that is not very good at pass protection, you appreciate Chad Clifton," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Chad Clifton makes my job as a play caller very easy." Clifton rarely talks to the media but held a mini news conference this week. He teased Tauscher about getting so much publicity for his matchup against Kerney. "I will say this: I've never seen that much hype for one individual matchup," Clifton said, "especially since he's faced him before and played well against him before." The last game? Packers quarterback Brett Favre isn't the only veteran who might be playing his last game today. Strahan, in his 15th season, also is in a year-to-year mode.

Giants punter Jeff Feagles is in his 20th season and receiver Amani Toomer his 12th. "I look at all the stories that Chargers eye upset, revenge lin, whose job was on the line, and a quarterback, Eli Manning, who looked as if he would rather be anywhere else but in the spotlight. But the Packers went 13-3 behind Favre, who was renewed and invigorated by coach Mike McCarthy and an ensemble of young playmakers. Coughlin eased up a bit this year on his players, who responded by going 10-6 in the regular season and winning nine in a row on the road, including two playoff games. Though not spectacular, Manning has been close to flawless in recent weeks.

In two playoff games, the Giants have committed just eight pe STEPHAN SAVOIA ASSOCIATED PRESS (left) and Mike Vrabel stretch Foxborough, Mass. "It's not the weather, and it's not the referees, and it's not the crowd; ifs San Diego," said Brady, who at age 30 already possesses three Super Bowl rings. "The only thing we can control is our preparation." The Chargers, who got here after a surprising off-season coaching switch from Marty Schottenheimer to Norv Turner and a near-disastrous 1-3 start this season, have their own motivation. The Chargers' 14-2 2006 season, in which they earned the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed, was ruined by a divisional playoff loss to the Patriots.

The Chargers come to New England seeking revenge and AFC CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES nalties and zero turnovers. All the recent accolades mean' little to him, Manning said. "I've learned that it's all, "What have you done for me he said. "What about this next week? Thaf going to be the most important thing. What's happened the last two weeks or three weeks or last year, it's important for me and I take it all in.

But what's being said about me, how I made a dramatic change or anything that's happened in the last three weeks, it doesn't affect me, doesn't concern me. My focus is on Green Bay." Story lines abound in today's game. The possible end to great careers for players such as Favre and Strahan. Green Bay's potent passing attack vs. one of the NFL's better pass-rushing defenses.

The Giants' pounding rushing attack. The ascent of Packers running back Ryan Grant, a former Giants player. The weather might trump them all. The 70,000 in attendance today will have a ready answer when people ask where they were for Ice Bowl II. "If easy to lose focus in bad conditions," Favre said.

"It's easy to think about, 'Man, I just want to get this game over. I want to get this play The individuals and the teams that can focus for those three hours are going to be better off." respect and perhaps a minor miracle. In addition to battling injuries and sickness to some key starters in the wake of their divisional upset victory last week against the Colts, the Chargers are fully aware that they are facing a team that might be the best in NFL history. "During the week of playing the Colts, we weren't just the underdogs; we were the under, underdogs," said Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, who is recovering from the flu. "Now we're like even below underdogs.

They need to come up with a new word for us this week." Though the Patriots' offense is almost machinelike in its precision, with Brady owning an arsenal of weapons from Randy Moss to Wes Welker and Jabar Gaffney, the Chargers appear to have the better defense. Their aggressive 3-4 scheme, which unleashes an unpredictable pass rush, has Belichick concerned. So does the speedy Chargers secondary. "They're a great turnover team," Belichick said, mentioning the Chargers' league-leading plus-24 turnover ratio and 30 interceptions. "Taking care of the ball is the No.

1 priority for us, and that's certainly been a big emphasis point for us this week." second quarter in the first shutout of the Giants since 1953. "We had worked very, very hard that year, because of the loss to the Eagles, to get back to the championship-level game," Packers quarterback Bart Starr said. "It was a unique thrill to be in there, and everyone was just at their best. It was a superb performance by everybody." After both teams made it back to the title game in '62, Giants defensive back Dick Lynch said they were prepared for a physical game. "We knew it was going to be a hard-hitting game, and that's what football was.

It was a great game just as far as making tackles and just whacking guys," Lynch said. "I'm sorry we lost. It was horrible." The elements came back into play with swirling, icy winds up to 40 mph as the temperature reached only 13 degrees. The Giants offense was shut out again, with their lone touchdown coming on a blocked punt. QB Rivers plans on starting strong, fast, quick whatever.

But mentally, this measures toughness and discipline I think more so than it would in 70 degrees." The goal, however, is to get the chance to play one more game in ideal conditions: Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Feb. 3. When the 2007 season started, few people expected the Packers and Giants to reach this point. The Packers had questions at receiver and running back and, yes, at quarterback. In 2005 and 2006, Favre had more interceptions (47) than touchdowns (38).

The Giants had an old-school coach, Tom Cough- Patriots linebackers Tedy Bruschi before Friday afternoon's practice best, and that's what our target Other than that, (the season date) wasn't too much to think about." Game conditions are not expected to be as cold as they should be in Green Bay for the NFC Championship Game between the Packers and New York Giants. But weather could a factor here, with temperatures expected to be in the low 20s and winds gusting up to 25 mph. That might disrupt the passing games to some extent. But neither the Patriots' Tom Brady, nor the Chargers' Philip Rivers, who vows to start today's game despite a right-knee injury, plans to use Mother Nature as an excuse. is old hat in title, but lost in 1958, 1959 and 1961 in an embarrassing 37-0 shutout to the Packers.

The 1962 game was supposed to be their redemption, but the Giants went on to lose the title again in 1963 before an 18-year postseason drought. "We were a strong offensive team, and I don't want to blame weather but it did seem that those championship games were played in unbelievably bad weather," Giants quarterback Y.A Tittle said. "Holding the ball was impossible. The ball was frozen, like a block of ice. We wore tennis shoes to play in.

We just seemed to be snakebit with bad weather." Baltimore's sudden-death victory over the Giants in the 1958 championship game at Yankee Stadium often is tabbed the greatest game of all time and credited with the rise of football's popularity after being one of the first nationally televised. But the 1961 and 1962 championship games helped speed the NFL's ascent by matching a classic story line in a AFC Continued from CI 16-0 regular season. Last week's divisional playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars is a distant memory. And so is last year's AFC title-game loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Forget about the future, too.

Not once in the past week did anyone connected to the Patriots mention Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3 in Glendale. That is a forbidden subject at least until sometime this afternoon, assuming New England continues its march toward an undefeated season and reaches the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the past seven years. But even then, we probably wouldn't see the faintest trace of a grin from the stonefaced Belichick. Not until the path to perfection is complete.

"Well, there have certainly been some good moments, but really the season right now hinges on one game," Belichick said when asked if he has had any fun or gotten any enjoyment from this season. "It's a one-game season with the San Diego Chargers, and they are the best team we've played. "We're not looking back and not doing anything other than looking at San Diego. That's where we need to have our peak performance and be our Bad weather By Colin Fly Associated Press GREEN BAY, Wis. Jerry Kramer surveyed the surreal scene as quickly as he could with the Giants waiting for the snap and the sounds of 64,892 fans in Yankee Stadium muffled by the howling winds gusting up to 40 mph.

Kramer, the Packers' right guard, was in his first year taking over the kicking duties, and all he could think about were ghosts of Yankees legends such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. What are you doing in the middle of a baseball field against the New York Giants trying to kick a field Kramer recalled thinking. "It was great pressure for me." Kramer made three field goals, missed two others and the Packers beat the Giants 16-7 in the 1962 NFL Championship Game for Green Bay's second consecutive title over New York. For the Giants, it was more miry. New York won fhel956 is.

to be in Packers-Giants rivalry made an effort all week to praise the Chargers, whom he said were the AFC's best team, during the second half of the season. Though it is true that San Diego has won eight consecutive games, Chargers running, back LaDainian Tomlinson isn't? putting too much stock in Bel-4 ichick's kind words. "Thafs Bill being Bill," Tomlinson said. "I think you can't really say that from my standpoint when, you know, they are the ones who haven't lost i game. "Yes, we played good foot-! ball over the second half, but ifs hard to say that your veteran team that hasn't lost, nobody has had the recipe to beat them.

I just think that's" Bill being modest and saying; we're a good football team." it Brady on Moss Patriots quarterback Tom" Brady said he had no appre-y hension when, New England acquired receiver Randy Moss, in a draft-day trade with Oak-' land. "I had met Randy on a few' occasions and always had a very pleasant experience with him," Brady said. "I try not to prejudge anybody or stereo-' type anybody because of what someone else might think. "I kind of let the relationship develop as it has, and we have a great relationship. We have a lot of things in common even though we're from very differ- ent backgrounds." Extra points Belichick's .824 career post- i season winning percentage he is 14-3 is second only to Vince Lombardi's .900 per-1 centage (9-1).

The Patriots (17-0) and Chargers (13-5) have combined for 30 wins, the second most' between AFC Championship Game foes. The 2004 Patriots (15 wins) i and Steelers (16) combined for 31 victories. By Bob McManaman The Arizona Republic FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -Ready or not, Philip Rivers, who has a sore right knee, plans to start in today's AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots. "To be honest, the way I felt Monday morning, I didn't think I would be at this point right now," said the San Diego Chargers quarterback, who suffered sprained ligaments late in the third quarter of last week's divisional playoff win at Indianapolis.

"Given the magnitude of this game and given the situation, if I'm out there as I plan to be for the first snap and throughout the game, it won't have any effect at all. "The one thing I'm not going to do is play cautiously or play worrying." Rivers is listed as doubtful on the injury report by coach Norv Turner, who wants to make sure Rivers can move well enough to protect himself and make plays if forced out of the pocket. The Patriots likely will try to send an ample pass rush at Rivers early to test his mobility. A new wrinkle Last week, former Colts and Saints head coach Jim Mora said one of the tougher things about facing the Patriots is they always seem to throw something new defensively at opponents. Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel brushed off that notion sort of.

"I hear that a lot," he said. "I think you have to be pretty conscious of just changing the whole defense just to change it. We don't do things just for the sake of doing them here. We try to do things that are really pertinent to what we are trying to stop and take away." The respect game Patriots coach Bill Belichick the rough team from the NFL's smallest outpost led by the Brooklyn-born Vince Lom-bardi against a flashy, high-octane offense from the media capital of the world. "Green Bay was a very powerful team; the Giants, we had our tradition also, and it carried lot of press," Tittle said.

Green Bay's rise under Lom-bardi began in 1960 after the Packers squandered a fourth-quarter lead and lost the title game 17-13 to the Eagles. Lom-bardi vowed in the locker room afterward that they would never lose another title game. When the Giants got to Lambeau Field in 1961 it was all tundra and about 14 inches of snow needed to be removed in blustery weather. Tittle struggled to throw and the Giants squandered two early scoring opportunities. "We depended on the forward pass," Tittle said.

"We didn't get the good weather, and it hurt us a lot." The Packers ran wild from scoring 24 points in the.