Playoffs of the 2000s: NFC Championship

The AFC side of the bracket in our Playoffs of the 2000s has already been decided, and New England has come out the victor. In this article, we'll figure out which NFC team should join them in our Super Bowl. The Eagles are fresh off an easy second-round win over the Seahawks and ready continue their solid playoff performance at home. The Saints are trying to fulfill the "Team of Destiny" moniker they've held for the last couple years, and they enter this game after upsetting the Packers in Green Bay in the last round.

Has New Orleans done enough in this season's playoffs to keep the dream alive for one more round?

Philadelphia Eagles

Click here to review the Eagles' candidacy for the title of NFC's top team. The Eagles are 1-4 in NFC Championship play in this decade, winning in 2005 before falling to the Patriots in Super Bowl 39. At home in the 2000s, the Eagles have a 6-2 playoff record.

New Orleans Saints

Click here and here to check out the Saints playoff history. New Orleans is now 1-1 in NFC Championship play after this year's win over Minnesota. The Saints are undefeated at home in the playoffs over the last 10 years, but winless on the road.

The Game

Despite only making the playoffs three times this decade, the Saints have spanned the entire decade of postseason play, winning their division in 2000, 2006 and 2009. In that second playoff trip, the Eagles came to town for a second-round battle. Let's see how that turned out:

The Eagles entered the divisional round by the skin of their teeth, as a David Akers field goal as the clock hit zero gave them a three-point win over the Giants in the wild-card round. This was the playoff run they were forced to make without Donovan McNabb, but Jeff Garcia proved to be a more than adequate replacement.

In the Saints-Eagles game in 2007, held in the city of New Orleans, the Philadelphia method of attack was to strike from its own territory. A 75-yard pass from Jeff Garcia to Donte Stallworth gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead in the second quarter. Reggie Bush and Brian Westbrook would trade short touchdown runs before halftime, and the Eagles staked themselves to a one-point lead.

On the first drive after halftime ended, Brian Westbrook broke a 62-yard run to give the Eagles a quick eight-point lead. The Saints were far from finished, and Deuce McAllister came through with two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) later in the third quarter. The Eagles would add a field goal early in the fourth quarter to shrink the lead to three, but they couldn't get the ball back into field-goal range, and the Saints secured a 27-24 victory. The Saints would put up an unbelievable 208 rushing yards in the game, and this is a Saints team that had Drew Brees at the helm.

What would be different in this game? For starters, we'd have to give the Eagles Donovan McNabb back, and while he's seen his share of ups and downs in the postseason, you won't find a quarterback with more playoff experience in the NFC, except for Brett Favre. You have to believe McNabb would have great success working to his tight end all over the field.

Another thing on which the Eagles hang their hat has been depth at cornerback, and having guys like Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel stuck on receivers has given Jim Johnson and now Sean McDermott all the blitzing ammunition needed.

For the Saints, they haven't really peaked until this year, and while this particular Saints team could probably run through those failed Eagles teams of the past, Philadelphia has a much more impressive body of work. With the game in Philadelphia, since the Eagles are the No. 1 seed, they'll beat the winless-on-the-road Saints of this decade nine times out of ten. Philly advances to the Super Bowl with a 34-27 victory as the Saints go marching home.

Bonus question time: How many playoff games have Peyton Manning and the Colts played in over the last 10 years (including this year's Super Bowl)? Would you believe 17? Yet, it's only good enough for third place, as our two Super Bowl competitors (New England and Philadelphia) have 18 games of playoff experience each over the last decade.

With only one article left in the series, we'll have a Super Bowl-style bonus question today: in the Patriots thre Super Bowl wins, Tom Brady was named the Super Bowl MVP two times. The only time a different Patriot earned the honor was in Super Bowl 39 against the Eagles. Who was that player?