Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens combined for three touchdowns on Sunday. Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss hooked up for two. They're all going to be on the same field on Monday night when the Minnesota Vikings play the Philadelphia Eagles in what many pundits predict will be a preview to the NFC championship game.
In a game that includes the best two quarterback-receiver duos in the league, the difference-maker is going to be what seems to be a forgotten concept in the wake of week one giddiness: Defense.
Defense used to be Philly's forte, but two facts about last week's game against the woeful New York Giants must have Andy Reid fuming. The first is that Ron Dayne ran the ball for more than negative four yards, and the second is that their three leading tacklers were defensive backs.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are supposed to be much improved on defense, but they didn't exactly channel the days of the Purple People Eaters against the Dallas Cowboys last week. Vinny Testaverde managed to hobble out of his wheelchair to throw for 355 yards against the Vikes, not a great sign considering that Dallas
doesn't have a running game.
In the end, Philly should have an edge because they scheme against opposing offenses so well and because Reid will use running back Brian Westbrook and the Eagles' short passing game to keep the Vikes' high powered offense off the field as much as possible. No matter who wins, neither team will go deep in the playoffs if they can't get their acts together on defense.
The Seattle Seahawks are another trendy pick to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, and their defense did live up to its improved billing last week against the New Orleans Saints. Seattle should have no problem with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even if Shaun Alexander doesn't play. Maurice Morris is the best backup running back in the NFL, and the holes will still be there.
The Green Bay Packers have another good backup running back in Najeh Davenport, but it really doesn't matter considering how good starter Ahman Green is. Green looked unstoppable last week, scoring three touchdowns while leading the Pack to a dominating win against the Carolina Panthers.
Green Bay will only be better this week against the Chicago Bears when cornerback Mike McKenzie returns from a contract holdout. The Panthers, on the other hand, will have to fight to keep from starting 0-2. They lost their leading receiver and best offensive talent, Steve Smith, to a broken leg, and they're going up against another absurdly good running attack when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
I'd love to say that defense will be the difference-maker in this marquis match-up as well, but the Chiefs are too good offensively to be held down for long, and Carolina won't be able to put many points on the board without Smith or a good running game, even against K.C.'s cardboard defense.
Besides Carolina, the Indianapolis Colts may be another 2003 playoff team to start the season 0-2 when they take on the Titans in Tennessee. I might as well hop on the Chris Brown bandwagon along with the rest of the football world. Tennessee's running back is the real deal; he looks like Eddie George did five years ago, but faster, which is pretty terrifying for the Colts defense. Assuming he's healthy enough to play, look for Brown to pile up the yardage in what's becoming a great AFC South rivalry.
It seems as if you could throw Larry Bacow in the Denver Broncos running back spot and they'd still gain 200 yards per game on the ground. Their offensive line is that good, which is why Denver should be able to fend off the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Revival will be the theme of the two New York games this weekend. The Washington Redskins have been rejuvenated by Joe Gibbs and Clinton Portis and will walk all over the Giants. The New York Jets' Curtis Martin is going through his own revitalization and will end the San Diego Chargers' longest winning streak in a while at a whopping one.
For some laughs, watch the best team in the NFL take on the worst as the New England Patriots extend their winning streak to 17 against the Arizona Cardinals.
Games between the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills, and Houston Texans and Detroit Lions feature a motley crew of quarterbacks: some are too old, some too young, some too bad, and none nearly exciting enough to even play on the same day as guys like McNabb and Culpepper.
Luckily they don't. So use those Sunday games as a warm up for the main event. And when you watch on Monday night, make sure you time your wings order for halftime. If you have to get up for just two minutes, you could miss a whole bunch of touchdowns.
