Behind the Grunts: NFC Championship

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP

This one has the all the ingredients to become a classic. You will hear a lot about how this is the NFL's oldest rivalry, about how this is the most important game in which they could possibly face each other, about all the classic games these two teams have played. All this is true, except that this is not really the culmination of that rivalry. There are in fact more heated grudges in recent history: Colts vs. Patriots; Jets vs. Patriots; Chargers vs. Patriots... there might be a pattern there. Anyways, the reason why this hasn't been a great rivalry in the past years in because, although both teams have been great at different times, they have not been dominant during the same seasons. This is a very rare chance to experience the two franchises playing for such high stakes and if Aaron Rodgers & Jay Cutler careers' live up to their potential, this might in fact be one of the biggest NFL games in recent history.

Players to watch: two quarterbacks with outstanding potential and something to prove go against two very strong defenses.

Jay Cutler, Chicago's best QB since the 1940s needs to prove that he deserves to lead a franchise with a long tradition of winning with defense and strong running backs. In his second year with Chicago, he is beginning to flourish under Mike Martz' coaching. Having not had a winning season since his high school years and coming out of a messy divorce with the Denver Broncos there is a lot of pressure for him to win. While the coach who traded him away was recently fired, he still needs to beat a winning team in the playoffs.

Aaron Rodgers, the Packers' QB is not without pressure. Although he has proved that he can beat  two different winning teams in the last two weeks, he will forever be under Brett Favre's shadow until he wins a championship. Luckily for Rodgers, Favre's had very bizarre meltdown during the past 4 years.

Fun factoid: Jay Cutler has Diabetes type 1. This played a hilarious part in a prank when Peyton Manning and other players threw Cutler into a pool, destroying his blood-sugar monitor. Pranks!!

You got Peyton'd.

Here are some videos featuring the two teams' most memorable seasons.

 

Update: Carl weighs in on the NFC Championship