Justin Tuck chuckled when he was asked if the Philadelphia Eagles are this year's version of the New York Giants, a low-seeded wild-card team that can go all the way.

"The Giants from last year are in that locker room over there," New York's Pro Bowl defensive end said, nodding toward the large space 100 yards or so down the hall from the room at Giants Stadium where he was talking.

"The team in Philadelphia," Tuck said, "is the Eagles of this year."

The scene sets a compelling second-round NFL playoff matchup, the third meeting of the season between the defending champions and their NFC East rivals from 90 miles down the New Jersey Turnpike.

As Philadelphia is trying to do this year, New York had to win three road games before upsetting unbeaten New England 17-14 in Arizona in the Super Bowl.

The Eagles and Giants, who will play at 1 p.m. EST on Sunday, split their two games this season with Philadelphia handing New York its only home loss, 20-14 on Dec. 7. It was a game that some of the Eagles think was their best this season, and the Giants consider one of their worst. It came the week after Plaxico Burress, the Giants' main receiving threat, shot himself accidentally in the leg and was suspended by the team for the rest of the season.

What also makes it compelling is the nature of the NFC East, probably the consistently best division in the NFL for the last 25 years. It has had eight teams in the playoffs the last three seasons and, from 1990-1992, had three teams win Super Bowls: the Giants, Washington and Dallas.

Philadelphia is the only division team without a Super Bowl victory - Dallas has five and New York and Washington three each. But for most of this decade, with Donovan McNabb at quarterback, the Eagles have been consistently good - losing to New England by three points in the 2004 title game, reaching four conference championship games and missing the postseason just twice.

The Eagles (10-6-1) enter having won five of six, including last week's 26-14 first-round victory in Minnesota. New York, by contrast, finished 1-3 after an 11-1 start, although its only December victory - over second-seeded Carolina - clinched home-field advantage for the playoffs.

In any case, the familiarity makes this a chess match between Reid and Giants coach Tom Coughlin as well as the tacticians: offensive coordinators Kevin Gilbride of the Giants and Marty Mornhinweg of the Eagles and defensive coordinators Jim Johnson of Philadelphia and Steve Spagnuolo of New York, who honed his skills as the Eagles' linebackers coach for eight years.

But expect something new.

"The guys all know each other and everybody knows each other's jersey number and all that bit," says Reid, whose team lost 36-31 to New York in Philadelphia on Nov. 9. "But every game is different and if you come in saying you know the New York Giants, I think you make a huge mistake. ... Every game there is a little different and Spags will have something different for us and we will have a little something for him and Gilbride and Jim, the whole deal."

"There is always that little extra change you put in."

The other games are rematches, too: Baltimore at Tennessee to start the weekend late Saturday afternoon followed at night by Arizona at Carolina. After the Eagles and Giants square off Sunday, San Diego will be at Pittsburgh.

Baltimore (12-5) at Tennessee (13-3)

Look for a low-scoring game between teams who emphasize defense and running.

The Titans beat the Ravens 13-10 on Oct. 5 with Kerry Collins engineering a late 80-yard drive for Tennessee's only touchdown that was sustained by a dubious blow-to- the-head penalty on Baltimore's Terrell Suggs.

That was the third straight loss for the Ravens, who were 5-11 last season. But Baltimore has won 10 of 12 since as rookie QB Joe Flacco has matured, 260-pound Le'Ron McClain has emerged as a power running back and the defense, led by Ed Reed, has become an offensive force.

Defense? Baltimore had five takeaways last week against a Miami team that tied for the league lead with just 13 giveaways. One of the TDs came on a 64-yard interception return by Reed, who has four scores on defense this season.

"It's just natural at this point," Reed said. "You want to score. We talk about it on defense, we do it in practice."

Collins has been careful with the ball, too, and it's one of the reasons he's starting ahead of Vince Young, the NFL's Rookie of the Year in 2006. He threw just seven interceptions, only three more than he had against the Ravens in the 2001 Super Bowl when he was with the Giants.

It helps that the Titans have run so well. They're sixth in the league in yards rushing behind the tandem of Chris Johnson, the only rookie to make the Pro Bowl, and LenDale White.

"They're both really good," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "Each has a unique strength. Everybody wants to talk about how one guy runs outside and one guy runs inside, but when you watch the tape and you find they're both capable of really carrying the full load of their offense in kind of a similar way."

San Diego (9-8) at Pittsburgh (12-4)

Despite the eight losses, the Chargers are legitimate.

They were 4-8 and all but out of it when they started playing like the team that went to the AFC title game last season and was one of the preseason favorites in the conference.

Four straight wins combined with three straight losses by Denver at the end of the season gave them the AFC West title. And then they beat Indianapolis 23-17 in overtime, their fourth victory in their last five meetings with the Colts.

But they've always had trouble on the East Coast, including an 11-10 defeat in Pittsburgh in November, the only game with that score in the NFL's 89 seasons.

"It's a late game," coach Norv Turner said, a reference to the struggles of West Coast teams in 1 p.m. East Coast starts. "When I went back and looked at the first Pittsburgh game, we were on the East Coast and there were a lot of good things that we did in that game."

San Diego may not have LaDainian Tomlinson, who has a torn tendon in his groin, but it will have Darren Sproles, who had 328 all-purpose yards against the Colts.

The Steelers, on the other hand, will have Ben Roethlisberger, who was carried off with a concussion in the final regular-season game but has been practicing all week. The key may be how well he's protected by an offensive line that has been Pittsburgh's weak link all season.

It hasn't been a good season for Roethlisberger. A year after throwing 32 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, he has had just 17 TDs and 15 INTs. In that wacky win over San Diego, he threw for 308 yards, yet the offense got only three field goals.

"The big thing is we can drive up and down the field, but we have to be able to put the ball in when we get down there," he said.

Arizona (10-7) at Carolina (12-4)

The Cardinals are the only team that wasn't supposed to be here, 4-7 outside the weak NFC West and 0-5 in the Eastern time zone.

But they upset Atlanta last week because Kurt Warner made fewer mistakes and more big plays than Offensive Rookie of the Year Matt Ryan, and their defense was unusually stout.

The turning point was Darnell Dockett's disruption of a handoff early in the second half that popped the ball into the hands of Antrel Rolle, who returned it for a touchdown in a 30-24 win.

"Instead of having guys trying to individually make plays, we had a bunch of guys that were focused on playing team defense," coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "That's what we've talked about."

The Cardinals' offense will have to be at full throttle if Arizona hopes to beat Carolina. Warner, who threw for 381 yards in a 23-17 loss in Charlotte, has the best receiving trio in the NFL: Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston. Boldin, however, is nursing a hamstring he pulled on a 71-yard touchdown catch last week and will possibly have to play on a slippery field. There's a 40 percent chance of showers in Charlotte on Saturday.

Carolina took advantage of its bye week to heal up. Starting defensive tackles Maake Kemoeatu and Damione Lewis should be back and so should rookie Jeff Otah, the starting right tackle on offense.

Blitz-happy coordinators love to bring the heat

PHILADELPHIA - They'll send cornerbacks from one side and safeties up the middle, drop linemen into pass coverage and hope someone gets to the quarterback.

Defensive coordinators Jim Johnson and Steve Spagnuolo are known for their attacking styles and exotic schemes. Their goal is to create constant pressure, get sacks and cause turnovers.

Neither coach lets up.

When the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants meet in an NFC divisional playoff Sunday, Donovan McNabb and Eli Manning should see plenty of guys coming at them from different angles.

Johnson and Spagnuolo, his former understudy, love the blitz. They'll do it anytime, no matter the down or score.

"We expect him to bring the heat," McNabb said of Spagnuolo, who runs the Giants' D. "And we will be prepared and go out and try to make some big plays."

Spagnuolo learned under Johnson during his eight seasons as an assistant in Philadelphia. He took the same aggressive approach to New York last year, added a few of his own wrinkles and helped the Giants win a Super Bowl. In the process, Spags became a hot commodity for head coaching vacancies around the league.

Johnson joined the Eagles when coach Andy Reid arrived in 1999. His defenses have consistently ranked among the best in the NFL, a major reason why Philadelphia has reached the playoffs seven times in the last nine years.

The veteran Johnson is proud to see Spagnuolo and some of his other pupils having success. Defensive coordinators Ron Rivera of the San Diego Chargers and Leslie Frazier of the Minnesota Vikings each served under Johnson in Philadelphia.

"I'm just glad I'm in the playoffs," Johnson joked. "No, I'm happy for those guys. It's kind of fun. It's kind of neat to have all those guys in the playoffs. They're all doing well."

Johnson preaches patience on defense, a trait Spagnuolo certainly inherited from his mentor. He doesn't abandon his game plan if something isn't working early, and sticks with the philosophy that has brought him so much success. He also avoids being predictable. Opponents are always mindful of Philadelphia's blitz, but they have a tough time figuring out who's coming from where.

"You can watch as much tape as you want and study all of that, but they do a good job of a lot of one-time blitzes," Giants center Shaun O'Hara said. "You have to be ready for anything and I'm sure we'll see something that they haven't done in the past few games."

For all their blitzing and pressuring, neither defense got to the QB much in the previous two meetings. McNabb, who was sacked 12 times by the Giants in September 2007, didn't go down once against them this season. Manning only got sacked one time. The teams split the two games, each winning on the road.

"Really, I was surprised at how little they pressured the last time we played them," O'Hara said, referring to Philadelphia's 20-14 win on Dec. 7. "I think we were expecting a little bit more. It's going to be two similar defenses, so we see some of the same blitzes from our defense that they run. It's going to be a battle for both offenses kind of facing similar defenses and it's always going to come down to a couple of big plays. Can we pick up the blitz and hurt them on a big play? Or does their blitz become effective and cost us a big play?"

Despite their problems head-to-head, both defenses did quite well against other teams. The Eagles ranked third overall while the Giants were fifth. Philly finished third with 48 sacks and New York had 42. The Eagles forced 29 turnovers and the Giants 22.

Sixteen different players on Philadelphia recorded a sack, including six by safeties and two by cornerbacks. The Giants got sacks from 13 players, but only one each by a safety and cornerback.

"They have talented players all over," Manning said of the Eagles' defense. "At cornerback, they have guys who can make interceptions and can make plays. Their front four can get to the quarterback without blitzing, just in a regular pass rush. When they do blitz, they have a complex blitz package that they're using to get to the quarterback and making plays; not only getting sacks but causing fumbles."

Spagnuolo had an extra week to prepare for the Eagles (10-6-1) because the Giants (12-4) had a bye. Philadelphia, which sneaked into the playoffs after getting a lot of help the final week, beat Minnesota 26-14 on the road to advance.

Given more time to get ready, Spagnuolo could have a few surprises for McNabb, Brian Westbrook and the rest of the Eagles' offense.

"Any time you have two weeks before you play somebody, they're going to bring something new," Westbrook said. "We expect that from them. Spags does a great job of getting those guys ready.

"Their blitz packages are tough, they have good rushers off the edge, they have solid inside guys as well. Their front seven is going to be tough no matter what," he said. "Spags knows us very well. It's tough dealing with everything they bring to the table, their blitzes, and they also have two very good cornerbacks, too."

-- Rob Maaddi

Super Bowl hero Tyree bides his time

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - David Tyree found out recently that there's a downside to being a Super Bowl hero.

The man whose helmet-top catch was the highlight of the New York Giants' Super Bowl upset over New England last year was being looked at funny by one of the many teenagers he works with as part of his street ministry team.

"Then he says ‘Hey! I know you! You're with the Giants. You're Tyree!"' the wide receiver recalled. "After that, it was harder to get them to treat me like the person I am. You want them to talk with you, not worship you."

It's been a strange 12 months for Tyree, especially now as his team is back in the playoffs. He's stuck watching after being sidelined all season by knee and hamstring injuries, still working at Giants Stadium a couple of days a week but not playing football.

A valued but obscure member of the Giants for five seasons, Tyree suddenly became the symbol of his team's upset victory over previously unbeaten New England with his 32-yard third-down catch that kept alive New York's winning drive late in the fourth quarter. It was a leaping grab of Eli Manning's desperation heave, pinning the ball to his helmet as he fell to the ground with the Patriots' Rodney Harrison trying to pry it away.

An instant classic was born by a classically obscure player who acknowledges, "I have no vertical."

Tyree was drafted out of Syracuse strictly as a special teamer in the sixth round of the 2003 draft, made the Pro Bowl in that role in 2005 and also worked his way into be the third, fourth or "sometimes fifth" spot at wide receiver.

With one huge catch on his sport's biggest stage, he became a celebrity - a talk-show star, an author and a temporary A-list interviewee. He was back in demand at the end of 2008 because his catch was so often celebrated by various media outlets as the "play of the year." Just to make his life a little busier, his wife, Leilah, gave birth to twins less than three weeks after the Super Bowl. That event was noted by, among other media outlets, People magazine, one of many celebrity magnets that would have likely otherwise ignored Tyree if he'd made a big play in say, Game 10 in 2007 in Detroit.

"She's trying to take care of the kids and I'm telling her, ‘Sorry, I've got to fly to L.A. for an appearance," laughs Tyree, who also has a 7-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter.

Things settled down some during the spring, and Tyree went to have surgery on a troublesome knee. That changed his life as much as his catch. He wasn't ready for training camp, where as that "sometimes fifth" receiver, he had to re-earn his job on a team notably deep at that position.

So he went on the physically unable to perform list, first for camp, then for the regular season, meaning that he had to sit out six games. Then he had a three-week window to prove he was ready to go and pulled a hamstring in the second week.

That was a dilemma for the Giants, a team that traditionally takes care of its own.

Tyree was certainly that. He grew up a Giants fan in Montclair, N.J., 10 miles or so from the Meadowlands, and he had been a valuable, if obscure, member of the team even before his Super Bowl heroics. So cutting him was out of the question. Instead, he went on injured reserve, putting him out for the season.

"I could have played in another week," he said. "Given what happened, they could use me now."

"What happened" was that Plaxico Burress, New York's No. 1 receiver, accidentally shot himself in the leg in a New York night club. Facing gun possession charges and unable to play anyway, Burress was suspended by the team. Tyree could have been a reliable veteran to provide depth at the position.

Instead, he looks ahead to next season still wondering how he became a celebrity.

"Eli had as much to do with it as me, getting out what looked to me like a sack," he said.

For his part, Manning brushes that off.

"David made a great play," he said. "It doesn't matter who gets credit. It matters who won."

Tyree remains a special-teamer at heart. During his 20-minute chat in the Giants' running backs meeting room this week, he seemed happiest when he was told that Chase Blackburn, his running mate on the punt and kickoff coverage teams the past four years was named a Pro Bowl alternate.

"It'll be great next year when teams have to deal with both Chase and me," he said.

But, will there be a next year?

Tyree, who turned 29 on Jan. 3, thinks so - he signed a five-year contract extension in 2006, before he became a restricted free agent, a sign for any NFL player that his team truly wants him.

And even before his Super Bowl heroics, he proved he could do more than just run down under kicks. In his first game as a receiver as rookie in 2003, he had five catches for 106 yards. In his first start, he had seven catches for 71 yards and his first touchdown.

Still, he had only four receptions in the 2007 regular season and his first TD came early in the fourth quarter of the title game on a 5-yard slant from Manning. His career totals for five regular seasons: 94 catches for 650 yards and four touchdowns.

If there's no football, there's always his street ministry. He's deeply religious, a faith he turned to after he got into trouble with drugs early in his career.

"I'm a Giant for life, no matter how things turn out," he said.

He's also a celebrity for life. As they are now celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first overtime game, 50 years from now the only thing they are likely to remember from the 2008 Super Bowl is Tyree's catch.

"I guess so," he said. "I guess maybe when I'm 40 and they're still showing that play, I'll realize the impact it had. Right now, I just want to get back to playing."

-- Dave Goldberg

Giants have all hands on deck for Eagles

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The New York Giants had everyone on the roster practice on Thursday for this weekend's NFC semifinal against the Philadelphia Eagles, the first time in more than three months no one has been sidelined by an injury.

Defensive end Justin Tuck (lower leg) and backup linebacker-long snapper Zak DeOssie (back) worked on a limited basis for Sunday's third matchup this season against the Eagles.

The last time the Giants had the whole team practice was Oct. 3, two days before a game against the Seattle Seahawks. The only player who was not at practice that day was receiver Plaxico Burress, who was suspended for missing a team meeting after a game against Cincinnati.

This marks the fourth straight year that the Giants (12-4) have reached the playoffs, but this year is special for defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka and halfback Derrick Ward.

Kiwanuka and Ward both broke their left legs in the second half of last season and did not play in the Giants' run to a Super Bowl championship.

Kiwanuka, who was moved back to defensive end from linebacker this season after Osi Umenyiora was lost for the season with a knee injury in training camp, is excited about the chance to experience postseason action again.

"I was definitely very happy and very excited for my teammates and I definitely felt like I was a part of this team, but when it comes down to it you are a football player, you are a man, you have a job, and when you can't do it and you can't contribute, it takes a little bit out of you and it hurts a little bit," he said.

Kiwanuka added he has been waiting anxiously for the playoffs since the day he started his rehabilitation.

"From the day that you get cleared to run, you are running a little bit harder and the day you get cleared to hit you are hitting a little bit harder and that is something that can carry you all the way through," he said.

Ward had a spectacular season as Brandon Jacobs' backup. He gained 1,025 yards rushing as he and Jacobs become only the fourth pair of halfbacks on the same team to rush for 1,000 yards apiece in the same season.

This will be Ward's first playoff game. He suffered a foot injury against Philadelphia late in the 2006 season. He had a groin injury late in the 2005 season that also landed him on injured reserve.

"The last three years injuries have set me back from not playing in the playoffs, but you know things happen," Ward said. "I was healthy all year this year and able to contribute, so it will just be a great time for me out there."

Ward spent the Super Bowl last year at home rooting for his teammates.

"When you are a kid you always dream about playing in the Super Bowl and contributing and doing all the things you need to do to get there, and unfortunately I wasn't able to do that last year, but that was last year and this is this year," he said. "We are pretty much healthy, we have the Eagles, and it will just be a great game to play in and to watch. I will be out there giving it my best."

Notes: Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride refused to say whether he approached the Raiders about their vacant coaching job or they asked the Giants for an interview.

The Raiders said Gilbride approached them about the job. He spoke with owner Al Davis by telephone last Saturday.

"I had a very enjoyable conversation with Mr. Davis and I'm very flattered he took the time to speak from what I believe was the hospital but to be honest I know I got the interview because of the success we had as a football team and particularly the players and coaches on the offensive side and I'd think it would be disrespectful for me to go into anything besides what matters so much to these players and coaches in this particular game," Gilbride said Thursday.

-- Tom Canavan

Ex-NFL Europe teammates Warner, Delhomme face off

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kurt Warner was sure he was down to his last chance to make it as an NFL quarterback in 1998 when he reported to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe.

Then he showed up for practice and saw Jake Delhomme, a young, energetic, unknown guy eager to steal the starting job.

"Jake had the stronger arm, he moved better, could make the big throws and big plays a lot better than I could," Warner said. "All I was hoping, no offense to Jake, was that he would make a few more mistakes than me so that the coaches would give me a chance."

Warner won the starting job, and a year later was living a dream as the NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion with the St. Louis Rams.

Delhomme eventually made something of himself, too, leading the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season in his first year as an NFL starter.

On Saturday night, the competitors-turned-friends with those modest backgrounds face off in the postseason for the first time when Warner's Arizona Cardinals (10-7) play Delhomme and the Panthers (12-4) in the NFC divisional round.

"Only in America can that happen," said Al Luginbill, the former Amsterdam coach.

Warner and Delhomme eagerly told stories of their spring in Holland this week as they prepared for the rematch of the regular-season game that saw Warner throw for 381 yards, only to have Delhomme engineer a comeback from a two-touchdown deficit to give Carolina a 27-23 win.

"I had not heard of him," Delhomme recalled. "I knew he was an Arena League quarterback. That's all I knew. But you could tell from the first practice that he was very accurate, a very heady quarterback."

Still, Delhomme thought he should have been the starter.

"Kurt had the upper hand going into camp," Delhomme said. "I kind of found that out after the fact."

Luginbill, who coached at Arizona State and San Diego State, had worked to get the Rams and New Orleans Saints to allocate Warner and Delhomme to Amsterdam.

Warner had gone from bagging groceries to playing three seasons in the AFL. Delhomme went from being undrafted out of Louisiana-Lafayette a year earlier and spending his first season as a pro on the Saints' practice squad.

"At that time, Kurt had played professionally, regardless of what you may think of the Arena League," Luginbill said. "He had been very, very successful. At that particular time, he was ahead of Jake. Jake doesn't like to hear that, but it was true."

But Luginbill didn't name a starter until a couple of hours before the first game against the Rhein Fire.

"He said, ‘Kurt's going to start. You're going to play,"' Delhomme said. "I didn't."

Warner went on to throw for a league-high 2,101 yards, paving the way for his storybook 1999 season with the Rams. Delhomme started just one game when Warner was injured and struggled. But Delhomme flourished a year later with the Frankfurt Galaxy to get his own shot in the NFL.

"He was a young kid and he was going to get another opportunity, but I was never going to get that opportunity," Warner said. "I just hoped that there was something there that they could grab hold of and give me the opportunity so I could hopefully get a chance at the NFL. But there is no question that he was a lot more talented than I was."

Delhomme said he didn't sulk as he rode the bench in Amsterdam and quickly became friends with Warner despite their competition.

"It was only 10 games we played together, but just watching his demeanor, not too many things fazed him," Delhomme said. "That's one thing I've always taken from him. He threw an interception one time. It wasn't his fault, but quarterbacks get gun shy. They won't try again. The next time we dialed it up, he did the same thing, threw it and completed it."

Sounds a lot like Delhomme's style today, unafraid to sling the ball to star receiver Steve Smith in double coverage, and the author of 12 game-winning scoring drives in the final 2 minutes or overtime.

And while Delhomme has recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery, Warner resurrected his career after being let go by St. Louis by zipping the ball around with that signature quick release. Warner helped the Cardinals beat Atlanta 30-24 last week in the franchise's first home playoff win since 1947.

It's clear both players are proud of how each has flourished after their early struggles. Delhomme remembers how as Warner was in the middle of the first of his two MVP seasons, he made his first NFL start with the Saints.

"The first message on my machine in my apartment was from Kurt Warner after the game. That's him. That's the kind of guy he is," Delhomme said.

"I called him after he made the Pro Bowl this year. Same thing, left a message. I texted him Saturday night after the game. I'm proud of him. I'm happy for him. He deserves it."

Now the two QBs once unwanted in the NFL and teammates in a now-defunct league meet in January, where both have shined. Delhomme, who turns 34 Saturday, is 5-2 in the playoffs, while the 37-year-old Warner's four games of at least 365 yards passing is an NFL playoff record.

One guy sure to be tuning in from his home in Chandler, Ariz., is Luginbill, who now does pro player scouting for the Denver Broncos.

"You don't always get that opportunity to work with young men like those two guys," Luginbill said. "I'm not surprised what either one of them have done given the opportunity."

-- Mike Cranston

Playoff game brings new chapter to Ravens-Titans 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - As far as Jeff Fisher's concerned, it's time for a whole new chapter in his Tennessee Titans' rivalry with the Baltimore Ravens.

Brian Billick's no longer coaching the Ravens and the teams haven't been division rivals since 2001. The rosters have changed so much that Baltimore has three players on its roster who were on the Titans the last time these teams played an AFC divisional playoff game - the Ravens snatched a win here on their way to the 2001 Super Bowl.

"There's been some great matchups, it's a great rivalry," Fisher said. "But those things that took place in the past really aren't going to have any impact on what's going to happen. Really, there were some great games and I guess I'm very fortunate to be able to stand up here and answer questions about those games because some of them were years ago."

With John Harbaugh now coaching the Ravens, it's been a quiet week full of compliments heading into Saturday's AFC divisional playoff game with none of the trash-talking that preceded previous games.

"It was a tense, division rivalry," said Harbaugh, who has heard tidbits of history from linebacker Ray Lewis, and defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. "I always respected it. Two very physical teams and all that stuff, I always respected the rivalry."

Does Fisher miss Billick, even a little bit?

"We were pretty quiet. We didn't have much to say back in that day. Most of the stuff came out of their locker room. We just tried to stay focused and play," Fisher said.

That's understating things just a bit in a series tied 9-all, a rivalry so tight that each team has won on each other's home field in the playoffs.

Billick waved a magazine calling the Titans the NFL's best and said, "Not today they weren't" after his Ravens became the first team to win on the Titans' new home field in 2000. The Titans then played the comments on their videoboards later that season when the teams met in the divisional playoff, which Billick called classless.

A few months later, Fisher told his Titans to play like they had 2-by-4s going into Baltimore. The Ravens won 26-7, and Billick said they needed a bigger stick.

"I don't know what Jeff and Billick's relationship personally was," Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "I think they always made for a great week leading up to the game. Jeff might say something, then Brian might respond. It always made it fun."

On the field, it was just as intense.

Lewis ripped a ball away from Tennessee running back Eddie George in that 24-10 playoff win on Jan. 7, 2001, also stealing the Titans' chances at a second straight Super Bowl appearance.

"It hurt more than losing the Super Bowl the year before that, just because we knew whoever won that game would probably win the Super Bowl," said Baltimore cornerback Samari Rolle, one of three Ravens who played for the Titans in that game.

George got his measure of revenge in a 20-17 wild-card win Jan. 3, 2004, as he ran over Lewis after separating a shoulder.

Ten of these games have been decided by four points or less, not counting the wacky finish on Monday night in November 2001 when the Titans lost a touchdown, and the game despite a do-over, because Ravens linebacker Peter Boulware was offsides.

Baltimore kicker Matt Stover has been around the series since 1997 and will be one of only two Ravens left from that divisional playoff win.

"The history is definitely there," he said.

But Harbaugh is much more like Fisher, so no pointed comments this week leading up to Saturday's game.

Just like that 2000 season, the Titans are 13-3 with the NFL's best record and hold the AFC's No. 1 seed. Fisher chose to rest his Titans through a 23-0 regular-season finale loss to Indianapolis that was their first shutout loss since Nov. 7, 1999. The Ravens (12-5) have won 10 of 12 including their 27-9 wild-card win in Miami.

The Titans did find a little bulletin-board material from that game.

"One of their players said, ‘We're coming Tennessee. We're packing our bags. We're coming,"' Tennessee defensive end Jevon Kearse said. "I'm like, ‘You need to enjoy this win first,' and we'll get to that when it happens."

On the other hand, Rolle sees it as only appropriate the Ravens must go through the Titans once again to reach only their second AFC championship game.

"Destiny, I believe," Rolle said.

-- Theresa M. Walker

Playoff-tested Flacco eager to face next challenge

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Put a rookie quarterback in the NFL playoffs, and it would be reasonable to suggest he might be nervous, tentative and prone to making mistakes.

Then there's Joe Flacco, who treated last Sunday's wild-card game in Miami no differently than the first matchup between the teams in October.

"We were just playing the Miami Dolphins all over again. It's not like their guys grew a foot taller and got a half-second faster. It's still a football game," Flacco said this week. "What would we be saying about ourselves if we didn't go out there and play all 16 regular-season games as hard as we could? We'd be putting ourselves down pretty badly. So, we went out and played this game just like any other game, and we played it pretty good."

Flacco went 9-for-23 for 135 yards in a 27-9 victory. His statistics weren't pretty, but he didn't throw an interception. Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington was picked off four times, and that's why Baltimore advanced to the second round against the Tennessee Titans.

Flacco isn't being asked to beat the Titans by himself Saturday. He's merely required to operate within the system, and that explains to a degree why the former University of Delaware star isn't overwhelmed over the prospect of being two wins away from a trip to the Super Bowl.

"It's not about me as much as it's about our team. It's about how confident we're playing as a team right now," he said. "As long as we go out there and we do what we're supposed to do, then we feel like we have a good enough team to win the games. That's all we've got to think about."

Flacco was ranked 22nd in the NFL among quarterbacks, but threw only five interceptions over the final 11 games and had another turnover-free performance in his initial foray into the playoffs. In those 12 games, Baltimore is 10-2.

Thrust into the starting job by default, he's been Unflappable Flacco from the outset.

"He lost the rookie tag a long time ago," Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said.

Under different circumstances, the Titans would be delighted to be playing at home in the playoffs against a rookie quarterback. But because Flacco has proven he's no ordinary rookie, the advantage is not nearly as profound.

"It's an ideal scenario, but their quarterback has shown that he can play in big games and manage the game and do the things he needs to do to give them a shot to win," Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said.

Sort of like Tennessee quarterback Kerry Collins.

"For a rookie, he's played well beyond his years," Collins said. "He kind of reminds me of me a little bit when I was young. He's kind of a big, tall guy who can throw it hard and throw it far."

In the first game between the teams, Flacco went 18-for-27 for 153 yards. But he threw two interceptions, and Baltimore lost in his fourth professional game, 13-10.

Flacco still hasn't shaken the memory of those errant tosses, one of which set up a Tennessee field goal.

"I don't even know what I was thinking. Kind of just bonehead throws," he said. "I kind of gave them one real easy, but you definitely learn from it. There are times where you've just got to throw the ball out of bounds and live for the next down. That's what I took out of those."

The Titans intend to put Flacco in a similar situation, just to see if the lesson stuck in his head.

"I know he's the kind of guy who likes to keep the plays going and he likes to create," Bullock said. "As a young guy, you want to force him to make mistakes. We're going to see if we can make him make some of the mistakes he made last time."

-- David Ginsburg

Steelers' home field maybe not so fearsome for SD

PITTSBURGH - John Madden remembers the ice, Dan Pastorini the insufferable rain. Fred Taylor almost called a lawyer over it. Doug Brien lost a job because of it.

No team embraces home-field advantage like the Pittsburgh Steelers do, for better or worse - and, for decades, they've been known for having one of the NFL's worst fields.

No matter whether it was Three Rivers Stadium's hard-as-concrete artificial surface or Heinz Field's invisible grass, this is a turf on which many fear to tread, especially in the brutal cold and whipping winds of what Steelers coach Mike Tomlin calls January football.

There are Terrible Towels in the stands, but many a playoff fumble or interception has been blamed on Pittsburgh's terrible turf. A year ago, Jaguars running back Taylor called the chewed-up, mushy and pockmarked field "a lawsuit waiting to happen." NFL players voted it the league's worst, perhaps because the Steelers own the NFL's best home-field record since 1970.

That's why the San Diego Chargers may be in for a pleasant surprise during Sunday's AFC divisional playoff game, because this won't be the same field on which they played their 11-10 loss to the Steelers on Nov. 16.

Soon after that, the Steelers put down a brand-new grass field. Only three games have been played on it in seven weeks, and the grass was thick and unmarked for the Steelers' 31-0 win over Cleveland on Dec. 28.

Good thing for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, too, since he sustained a concussion while being driven into the turf by two Browns defenders late in the first half.

"The soft Heinz Field might've helped a little bit," Roethlisberger said.

What the Steelers don't know is if their bad field turned good is any advantage against a team with the speed the Chargers possess.

"We were rather surprised to see it in the Cleveland game, as good as it was," Steelers left tackle Max Starks said. "That's a good sign."

Starks paused for a moment, then realized that might not necessarily be so.

"And if it is a little muddy, oh, well," he said. "Being in lovely Pittsburgh, Pa., you never know what the weather's going to do. But this is football, it's not a pretty game, it's not a finesse game and we're in an outdoor stadium. If there's mud, sleet, ice, freezing rain, whatever it is, we're going to play in it."

Darren Sproles, the 5-foot-6 Chargers running back who totaled 328 yards against Indianapolis last week, no doubt wants a fast track. So does quarterback Philip Rivers, who led only one touchdown drive amid snow showers and 30 degree temperatures in the earlier Pittsburgh game.

"It's not like everybody on that team grew up in Pittsburgh," Rivers said. "We go out and play. We've all played in cold games before."

Sunday's forecast: mostly cloudy with snow showers and temperatures in the 20s. Brrr.

"The weather is going to be a factor for those guys," Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes said.

To Madden, that prediction probably sounds tropical compared to the miserable weather for his Oakland Raiders' 16-10 loss in the AFC championship game in January 1976.

The temperature was 11 with wind gusts in the 30 mph range, and the artificial turf became a sheet of ice after a protective tarp blew off the night before. The Raiders still believe the Steelers intentionally iced the field to slow their fast receivers.

Of course, this came only three years after the Immaculate Reception, so the Raiders weren't exactly thrilled to be playing again in Pittsburgh. Neither was Pastorini, who threw five interceptions and was sacked four times on a water-soaked field as the Steelers beat Houston 34-5 in the January 1979 AFC championship game.

The Steelers abandoned artificial turf upon moving into Heinz, but their bad-as-it-gets field reputation persisted.

Four years ago, Brien became the only kicker in NFL playoff history to miss two potential game-winning field goals so late in a game when he couldn't convert from 47 and 43 yards in the final 2:02 of Pittsburgh's 20-17 divisional-round overtime victory.

The Jets didn't bring back Brien, who failed not so much because he couldn't stand up to the pressure, but because he couldn't stand up, period.

Taylor's get-me-a-lawyer comments before Jacksonville's 31-29 playoff win last year came a few weeks after an unheard-of late-November monsoon and newly installed grass combined to make for a nearly unplayable field during Pittsburgh's 3-0 regular-season win over Miami.

Such are the miseries of playing football where not one, two but three nearby rivers offer up numbing and confidence-eroding winds. Even when the grass is green like it is now, not the usual brown.

"Teams like San Diego come here, you can't simulate the weather conditions, you can't simulate the field conditions," Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said. "That's the home-field advantage we have."

-- Alan Robinson

Mangini back with Browns

BEREA, Ohio - Introduced for the first time as Cleveland's coach, Eric Mangini stepped to the podium and his football life flashed before him.

This is where it all began.

"I feel like I should be getting some coffee or picking up some towels or something," he joked.

The ballboy returned as the boss.

Mangini, fired by the New York Jets after their season finished with a December nosedive, took over the rebuilding Browns on Thursday, completing a personal and professional career circle that started with him running errands in the early 1990s as an eager underling for then-Cleveland coach Bill Belichick.

The 37-year-old Mangini now has his dream job, the one he had a tough time convincing his mom was remotely possible when he came to Cleveland 14 years ago.

"I was a 23-year-old ballboy and I had to explain that to my mother," said Mangini, who signed a four-year contract. "I had student loans and it was a hard sell. I kept telling her, ‘Mom, this is the Cleveland Browns. Do you understand? THE Cleveland Browns."'

Although he left to work in other NFL hot spots like Baltimore, New England and New York, those Cleveland memories never left Mangini. So when Browns owner Randy Lerner called him last week for an interview - one day after the Jets dumped him after three seasons - Mangini knew it was time to return to his roots.

"It was the same feeling, that same level of pride," he said. "It was the Dawg Pound. It was Jim Brown. It was all those special things with arguably the most storied franchise in NFL history. I remember thinking about the fans and I thought, all fans love football and love their team. And the difference is that Cleveland fans, they live football."

Truth is, Browns fans haven't seen much good football in years.

Mangini, who agreed to a four-year deal, is inheriting a team with talent, but one that went 4-12 and didn't score an offensive touchdown in its final six games under previous coach Romeo Crennel. Mangini hasn't been on the job long enough to break down Cleveland's roster, but he made it clear what types of players he wants.

"I look for guys that are smart. I look for guys that are tough. I look for guys that are hardworking and I look for guys who are competitive," he said. "And I don't mean just a little competitive. I mean they want to win whether they're playing checkers or in a sack race. And I want guys that are selfless."

Lerner did not speak at Mangini's news conference, but he outlined his reasons for hiring Cleveland's 12th full-time coach in an e-mail response to The Associated Press.

"Some coaching experience was critical as well as a background that included mentors and programs that had won," Lerner wrote. "Further, it was clear that Eric understood the hunger and urgency that we feel in Cleveland especially since he had worked at the Browns at the beginning of his career.

"Finally, there is some reason to believe that young coaches can hit their stride following their initial NFL coaching experience. Based on that, we felt that Eric gave the Browns a strong chance of winning."

Lerner took the unusual step of hiring his coach before finding a general manager to replace Phil Savage, fired last month. Lerner has interviewed Scott Pioli, New England's vice president of player personnel, but indications are Pioli will stay with the Patriots. Lerner also hopes to speak with Philadelphia GM Tom Heckert.

Mangini's choice would be George Kokinis, Baltimore's director of pro personnel, and his longtime friend. Lerner is expected to meet with Kokinis as early as Sunday.

"He's got tremendous substance," Mangini said. "That being said, what ultimately is important is to get the very best people we can get in here to fill each of the roles, whether it's GM, head coach or any in the organization."

Mangini would like to hire Jets quarterbacks coach Brian Daboll as his offensive coordinator and plans to talk to Oakland's Rob Ryan about running his defense. Mangini also would like to keep Crennel, one of his closest friends who was fired as Browns coach after going 24-40 in four years.

"I learned a ton of football from him and I'd love to have him here," Mangini said.

As for his time in New York, Mangini, who was just 34 when he was hired by the Jets, said he enjoyed his experience but sidestepped direct questions about his ouster. He was dubbed "Mangenius" after leading the team to 10 wins in his first season, but what turned out to be his final year was marked by a 1-4 finish and a supposed rift with quarterback Brett Favre.

Mangini didn't point any fingers and said he had no problem with the Jets' summer acquisition of Favre, a trade that pushed out starting QB Chad Pennington.

"Any of those decisions, I was intricately involved in and I really enjoyed my time with Brett," he said. "He's a Hall of Fame quarterback and came into a really challenging situation. I respected how important it was for him to be one of the guys and fit in with the team. I really like the time I spent with him."

Mangini acknowledged mistakes were made in his first head coaching gig, errors he'll try not to repeat. One of Belichick's proteges, Mangini was accused of being too controlling, too aloof, too sullen - too Belichickian. But the father of three boys insists he has always been his own man.

"The most important thing to do is to be yourself and that's who I felt I always was," he said. "I learned so many things over three years. There's no Dummies guide to head coaching. I've had some great mentors, I worked under Bill for a long time. I worked under Bill Parcells. They were my football parents.

"But the important thing is to be the best coach you can be, the best father you can be, and learn from all of those experiences and grow and move forward."

-- Tom Withers

Jackson's job? Childress doesn't commit to ‘09 QB

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The quarterback for the 2009 Minnesota Vikings? It's not exactly Tarvaris Jackson's job to lose.

Coach Brad Childress isn't willing to declare, though, that Jackson has lost the chance to be their starter.

Throughout his hardly revealing remarks four days after Minnesota was beaten by Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs, Childress was noncommittal Thursday about what the team will do to address the biggest weakness during his three years in charge.

"It's really kind of a whole offseason type of study," he said. "I'm not going to pass judgment right at this particular point. ... Turn over all the rocks and see what you have there."

Free agent? Trade? Draft? Stick with the status quo?

"You see who's out there, and, by the same token, Tarvaris is going to be here and we're going to continue to get him better," Childress said, praising Jackson's progress but also pointing out his inconsistency and performance against the Eagles.

The Vikings have gone from 6-10 to 8-8 to 10-6 and division champions under Childress, with offensive production moving in the same positive direction during that time. But the lagging passing attack has hindered further advancement, and the state of the NFL doesn't necessarily allow for another healthy dose of patience with Jackson's development.

Childress didn't at all indicate he's lost faith, however.

He argued Jackson took too much of the blame for the 26-14 defeat last Sunday and declined to place the quarterback position above any other in terms of the internal evaluation and strategizing that will take place later this month. Jackson was benched after two bad games and played much better in December, upon taking over when Gus Frerotte broke bones in his back.

As for the development of the head coach himself, well, Childress sidestepped a question on self-evaluation.

He acknowledged later that in-game communication can improve, when asked about several instances this season where decisions were slow to reach the huddle. Wide receivers Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade each criticized the second-half playcalling against Philadelphia as being too conservative.

"Just being prepared from top to bottom," Wade said Monday, elaborating on his frustration. "I give the Eagles all the credit, because they are a postseason team who knows how to win."

Childress said he believed there was enough aggressiveness in the game plan, and that players could have executed the calls better.

"That comes down to us as a staff and the 11 guys on the field," he said.

-- Dave Campbell

Seventh candidate interviews for Broncos vacancy

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Team owner Pat Bowlen wrapped up his first round of interviews for the Denver Broncos' head coaching vacancy Thursday when he met with Miami Dolphins secondary coach Todd Bowles.

Bowlen and his inner circle will now huddle to determine if any of the seven candidates will be offered Mike Shanahan's old head coaching job or whether a second round - or even a second wave - of interviews is needed.

Bowlen fired Shanahan last week after the Broncos completed the biggest collapse in divisional history, blowing a three-game lead with three weeks go to and finishing 8-8.

Bowlen hasn't spoken publicly about the search since he began interviewing head coach candidates, starting with New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels last weekend on the East Coast.

He returned to team headquarters Monday and interviewed defensive coordinators Raheem Morris of Tampa Bay and Leslie Frazier of Minnesota, along with offensive coordinators Jason Garrett of Dallas and Rick Dennison of Denver.

Bowles, 45, joined the Dolphins as assistant head coach in charge of the defensive backfield last season after three years as Dallas' secondary coach and was a part of Miami's historic turnaround from 1-15 to 11-5 and the AFC East title.

He played eight seasons in the NFL with Washington and San Francisco and started at cornerback in the Redskins' 42-10 blowout of the Broncos in the Super Bowl following the 1987 season.

Bowlen stunned the NFL with his firing last week of Shanahan, one of only six coaches in league history to win back-to-back Super Bowls - and the only one to later get fired by the team he led to those titles. Shanahan had three years and $21 million left on his contract.

Denver's is the crown jewel of all the NFL coaching jobs that came open this offseason because of the franchise's tradition, stability, strong regional fan base and an owner that Shanahan called the best boss in sports.

Some of the bigger names out there never came up, however, either because of bad timing or because Bowlen decided to split up Shanahan's duties between a head coach and a general manager. He'll conduct a GM search after he hires a coach.

The Broncos are 24-24 since reaching the 2005 AFC title game, where they lost to Pittsburgh. The primary culprit is a dreadful defense that has gotten worse every year because of Shanahan's poor personnel decisions on draft day and in free agency. Their three-year playoff drought is the team's longest in 26 years.

The Broncos ranked 30th in points allowed this season while managing a measly 13 takeaways and surrendering an NFL-high 448 points under Bob Slowik, the team's third defensive boss in three years.

That negated a lot of good, solid progress on offense, where Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall, members of Shanahan's strong 2006 draft class, earned their first trips to the Pro Bowl.

The Broncos had an injury epidemic last season, and more than anybody they missed star cornerback Champ Bailey, who was sidelined most of the year with a torn groin and dislocated his left elbow on the second play in the season finale, a 52-21 loss at San Diego that at least in part led to Shanahan's firing.

After surgery, Bailey is expected to miss several months of offseason workouts while recovering.

The Broncos' new coach will be asked to keep a half-dozen or so of Shanahan's assistants, most notably quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates and running backs coach Bobby Turner. All members of Shanahan's coaching staff will have their contracts honored through 2009, but they've been given permission to seek employment elsewhere.

Shanahan, 146-91 in 14 seasons in Denver, wants to take a year off before returning to coach another NFL team.

-- Arnie Stapleton

Report: Favre taking month before deciding future

NEW YORK - Brett Favre is going to take his time before deciding whether to return with the New York Jets next season.

The 39-year-old quarterback told ESPN on Thursday that he's following the advice of Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum by not making a hasty decision on his future.

"He said he's not going to bother me for three or four weeks," Favre said. "He told me to do whatever, and he'd give me a call in a month. Maybe I will tell him my answer that day. But he told me to get away and don't even think about football."

Favre said he plans to make a quiet decision without a public news conference if he does retire, unlike the emotional departure last offseason when he announced he was stepping away from the game only to return a few months later.

Favre is disappointed with how his first season ended with the Jets, who lost four of their last five games and missed the playoffs after an 8-3 start. He takes a large part of the blame but said that wouldn't necessarily increase his desire to come back.

"I have the ability to turn it off just like that," he told ESPN. "I don't feel I have anything else to prove. Do I have to redeem myself for the last five games? No. I could be trying to do that until I'm 60 years old. There is nothing left out there for me from that standpoint. I'm disappointed with the last five games, sure, but I know I did everything I could have."

Not everyone agrees. Some teammates were critical of Favre's performance down the stretch and said he was distant from the team.

"I am not going to let one or two guys ruin a career for me or the relationship I had with my teammates," Favre told The Sun Herald (Miss.) for Thursday's editions. "If you poll my past teammates, I bet 90 percent would say they enjoyed playing with me.

"I am not insecure to let the comments bother me."

Running back Thomas Jones was the first to criticize Favre, saying during a radio interview that the quarterback should've been benched after throwing three interceptions in the team's season-ending loss to Miami. Jones later backpedaled, saying he was talking in generalities and not specifically about Favre.

Favre, who tore a biceps tendon in his right arm that won't require surgery, threw two touchdown passes and nine interceptions in New York's last five games. He refused to completely blame his late-season struggles on his arm injury, but said his accuracy suffered as a result.

"I'm not going to make any excuses," he told ESPN. "If I'm going to play, then I have a responsibility to play at a high level, and I just didn't get it done. I tried to be the best leader I could be, do all the right things and, as I look back, I have no regrets.

"I wish we would have gone farther, but I did all I could."

Fired Marinelli interviews with Houston Texans

HOUSTON - Fired Detroit Lions coach Rob Marinelli has interviewed with the Houston Texans.

Marinelli, who was in Houston on Thursday, told KRIV-TV that "it was a great visit."

Marinelli's specialty is defense.

The Texans need a defensive coordinator, a defensive line coach and a secondary coach.

Marinelli, who was reached at Bush Intercontinental Airport before flying home to Detroit, did not indicate when the Texans said they would be in contact with him again.

Texans spokesman Tony Wiley declined comment.

The Lions went 0-16 last season.