[Bette]

Not only is the best record in the NFC at stake Thursday when the Cowboys play the Packers, but so could the right to be crushed and embarrassed in the Super Bowl by the New England Patriots. Or the Colts. Or the Steelers.At least that's the popular perception floating around the NFL these days. The NFC is NFL Lite, and the league is simply going through the motions to satisfy advertisers as it plays the rest of the regular season, the playoffs and the Super Bowl.
The Cowboys-Packers contest will give the winner the best record in the NFC and the lead in the race for home-field advantage in the playoffs. It's the NFL's biggest regular-season game... since the Colts hosted the Patriots.
But unlike that game in Week 9, the Cowboys and Packers are not only competing against one another but also against the perception that the NFC's superpowers are super pushovers compared to the AFC's.
"Now the [Colts'] record is 9-2 -- 10 bad minutes and a missed field goal short of being undefeated -- and there's every reason to believe they are still the biggest threat to the Patriots," Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz wrote Friday. "(And spare me the talk of Green Bay and Dallas. They looked great Thursday, overwhelming at times, but the NFC is still the junior varsity, until further notice.)"
This is how a lot of the country sees the NFC. The AFC has the poster-boy quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and has won eight of the past 10 Super Bowls. Plus, this season's Patriots are making a legitimate run at the NFL's second undefeated regular season.
"I understand why people say that with the way New England is playing," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "Remember, we played the world champions [the Colts] last year and beat them. We were ahead of New England in the third quarter.... It's a head-to-head situation, not AFC versus the NFC."
Head to head, the NFC actually leads the AFC this season with a 24-22 record.
And any talk of a Super Bowl appearance, even if it is assumed it's going to be a sacrificial-lamb role, is premature both in Green Bay and Dallas. But the implications of Thursday's game are not.
No one on the Cowboys wants to know what it's like to play in another Ice Bowl, which took place 40 years ago this year. In short: Green Bay's Lambeau Field is viciously cold in January, with an average temperature of 13.9 degrees. At the same time in Irving, it's 43.4 degrees.
"Lambeau Field? Oh, my God," Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. "It's snowing up there and we don't like that."
Since the NFL instituted a postseason in 1933, the Packers have lost two home playoff games. On the flip side, Packers quarterback Brett Favre has never won at Texas Stadium.
"You have two powerhouses," Cowboys defensive tackle Tank Johnson said. "The AFC has their powerhouses, and the NFC has theirs."
And as for the Super Bowl? The Cowboys will take their chances, even if they are from the "inferior" conference. So would the rest of the NFC.
"I don't pay any attention to that," Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said. "We know anybody can be beat on any day by anybody else -- plain and simple. If this was boxing, Mike Tyson would still be the champ wouldn't he?"



Star-Telegram.com: | 11/24/2007 | Is battle for NFC a lightweight fight?

[Bette]

Top teams and players have always seemed to come from the AFC it seems.
Lightweight in comparison to the AFC maybe?????????

[simple simon]

not lightweight ........ middleweight at least .... (no sarcasm intended) .... but i agree, the Pats are heavyweights .. and no one else is

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by simple simon

not lightweight ........ middleweight at least .... (no sarcasm intended) .... but i agree, the Pats are heavyweights .. and no one else is

Oh please..."and no one else is?"...dude right now you don't even know how the team will fight through adversity...I am not so sure that come playoff time they will be hanging 40 points on every opponent.

[Quality88]

Simon, not to down you to much here, but, you shouldn't build things up so much at this point... your just settin yourself up for a big disappointment.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Quality88

Simon, not to down you to much here, but, you shouldn't build things up so much at this point... your just settin yourself up for a big disappointment.

He does love getting out on that far out limb...a few more inches and the branch will snap.

[Phils20]

Simon, what in the world is the new avatar!?!?!?!? Did you lose some bet we don't know about!

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by Phils20

Simon, what in the world is the new avatar!?!?!?!? Did you lose some bet we don't know about!

im just expressing the picture you all have painted of me in your minds ....... figured it was fairly accurate

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Phils20

Simon, what in the world is the new avatar!?!?!?!? Did you lose some bet we don't know about!

Ha ha just noticed it. He's probably not going to tell us is it was a bet. Doubt it was that though.

[Bette]

OK, either everyone else knows what you are talking about or they dont want to admit they are as dumb as I am. I will bite.
Please explain.

[Phils20]

Originally Posted by simple simon

im just expressing the picture you all have painted of me in your minds ....... figured it was fairly accurate

We think you are a clown?? I think not! Put that old Patriot back on there, I like it better than the "new" symbol!

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by Bette

OK, either everyone else knows what you are talking about or they dont want to admit they are as dumb as I am. I will bite.
Please explain.

Originally Posted by Phils20

We think you are a clown??

yes i am seen as a clown

[Bette]

Originally Posted by simple simon

yes i am seen as a clown

Looks like a girl clown at that.

[Phils20]

Originally Posted by simple simon

yes i am seen as a clown

Are we sensitive today?? This should be a great day, your boys are getting set to put up 70+ points tonight!

This is supposed to be fun, ya know!

[Seahawker 562]

The cowboys already had their chance at beating the pats, they failed. I dont wanna see a repeat of that at the SB. Packers vs Pats is what im guessing (or Hawks vs Pats )