On Pro Football

Hector Longo

Somewhere in Indianapolis, Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy and the rest of the Colts have to be punching walls.

The New England Patriots - the Super Bowl-sniffing New England Patriots - are coming to town for the AFC title game (Sunday, 6:30 p.m).

Sure they love home, but you have to figure the Colts were begging to spend next weekend in sunny San Diego.

There's no Bill Belichick or Tom Brady there. No suffocating defensive schemes. No potential miracles waiting to happen.

All week long, San Diego dominated the check marks in this week's divisional battle.

Defensive line. Linebackers. Secondary. Running backs. Receivers. Offensive line. Kicker. Punter.

All went to the Chargers.

So often in the NFL playoffs, those other positions just don't matter.

Quarterback and coach.

The New England Patriots owned the head-to-head matchups in the two places that mattered most: Tom Brady over Philip Rivers and Bill Belichick over Marty Schottenheimer.

Brady and Belichick were just enough to carry this crew into the AFC title game Sunday at Indianapolis, stunning San Diego, 24-21, with one of the great comebacks in Patriots history.

What more can be said about Brady?

"Tom's a great quarterback," said Belichick. "There's no other one I'd rather have."

Now 12-1 in the playoffs, Brady was on his way to one of those rare, average postseason efforts, hitting just 19 of his first 37 attempts for 158 yards, a couple of interceptions and most importantly, only 13 points.

Down eight (21-13) with 8:35 left, Brady turned to his offensive line, asked for a little time and did enough, just enough mind you, but enough to win. He hit 8 of his last 14 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown and an eight-play, 72-yard drive to set up the winning 31-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski with 1:10 remaining.

Like many a Brady miracle, this one came with a twist.

New England's game-tying TD drive was stopped on fourth down by Charger Marlon McCree at the San Diego 35.

Only McCree didn't listen to every coach presumably he's ever had. He intercepted the pass instead of just knocking it down. McCree's greed was greeted with one of the great plays in Patriot history, a strip by Troy Brown right into the hands of Reche Caldwell, making it first down Pats at the 32.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Would Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, Chad Scott or any other Patriots defensive back have picked that pass off?

Not on their lives.

Schottenheimer, in falling to a grotesque 5-13 in the postseason, saw his team hold a lead the entire game and simultaneously watched the production of NFL Offensive MVP LaDainian Tomlinson go downward, something that virtually never happens.

LT had 14 carries for 79 yards in the first half and only nine rushes for 44 yards in the second.

Was he tired? Injured?

Nope, he was simply coached out of the game, partly because of Belichick but mostly because of Marty.

Marty put the ball in the first-year, starting quarterback Philip Rivers' hands and the N.C. State product responded with a 14-of-32 performance and a 55.6 rating.

Even when he had his chance to tie, needing to move the Chargers down the field in the final 70 seconds, Rivers wasted valuable time on short, useless throws, the kind that leave you scratching your head.

"In the end it's making more plays than the other team, that's what happened today," said Belichick.

Brady simply outplayed Rivers. And for three hours, Belichick owned Schottenheimer.

The victories were so lopsided that all the Shawne Merrimans and LTs in the world wouldn't have made a difference.

Not yesterday, and probably never in the playoffs.

Playoff observations

You can have Ray Lewis and his mouth. Or Brian Urlacher and his pile-jumping.

For my money at middle linebacker, or inside backer, I'll take Lofa Tatupu of Seattle.

Mosi's son, a tackling machine at USC, makes all the hits, plays the run and covers. He simply does it all without all the yapping or the hype machine.

His hit on Dallas' Jason Witten got the Seahawks to this weekend. Without it, there would have been no Tony Romo gaffe.

And the best part about Tatupu? He's 24-years-old.

By the way, where was the great Lewis when Indy was pounding it between the tackles and rolling up first downs late to salt away the victory?

Answer, making tackles seven yards down the field.

Misplaced support

The Bears may have beaten Seattle, 27-24 in overtime, but I can't give much credit to embattled quarterback Rex Grossman, despite some decent numbers (21 of 38, 282 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception).

We'll give Troy Aikman credit for at least trying to stand by his man. A fellow QB, the ex-Cowboy turned Fox color analyst went out of his way to relieve Bears QB of any blame for his turnovers and his inability to make a big play when it counted.

He blamed receivers, running backs and the offensive line. And when Grossman misfired, say, throwing it behind Muhsin Muhammad or Bernard Berrian, the pass was, "just a little bit behind, but should have been caught."

Aikman, one of the most precise passers in history, would never have accepted that for his own play. Why stick up for Rex?

Deuce is wild

LaDainian Tomlinson seems to get everybody's vote as the best back in the game, but here's one man's vote for New Orleans' Deuce McAllister.

The Deuce chewed up Philly for 143 yards and a TD, despite sharing the spotlight with gifted first-round pick Reggie Bush.

Mark it, here. Barring a snow emergency, the Saints take it to the Bears at Soldier Field this week.