JT the Brick

Let me be the first to remind you that if either the San Diego Chargers or the New York Giants advance to play in Super Bowl XLII, it will be an absolute disaster for the majority of NFL fans in America. It is that simple and you cannot spin it any other way. There is a distinct possibility that Tom Brady and Brett Favre have a date with destiny on February 3, in Glendale, Arizona, and if one or both of them don’t make it to the Big Game, make plans to go to a movie or clean out your garage.

San Diego fans are now dreaming of a short car ride to Arizona in the hopes of seeing their franchise win their first ever championship while thousands of New Yorkers are looking online to book air travel and hotel rooms just in case Eli Manning can orchestrate his teams 10^th straight road victory. It could happen, but it shouldn’t.

The New England Patriots are on course to win the fourth World Championship and go down in history as the greatest team of all time. They are that good and a banged up team from San Diego shouldn’t stand in their way under any circumstance. Brett Favre is still living his dream of finishing this milestone season with another Super Bowl ring, and who could blame any Packers fan for looking ahead to a match up against the Patriots. Television executives and corporate sponsors can clearly see the opportunity to be a part of NFL history and cash in on this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Can you imagine what the rating would be for a Super Bowl with the potential of a team going undefeated against, arguably, the most storied franchise in the history of the league? Throw in the Chargers or the Giants and even the most die hard fans will be channel surfing before Tom Petty begins his half time set in Glendale. 

AFC championship game Patriots 21, Chargers 12 Pats hold off Chargers in frigid AFC title game Celizic: Super Bowl no gimme for Patriots Defense bends, doesn't break for Pats Rivers' right ACL was 'totally gone' L.T. fires back at Neon Deion's criticisms Expert: Brady demands perfection, gets it SN: Secret Service would love Pats' O-line   Slide show: Quarterbacks and their women Team pages:  Chargers  |  Patriots

There are some great story lines heading into Championship Sunday, but don’t let these emotional plot lines keep your eyes away from the ultimate goal of seeing Green Bay battle New England.

San Diego
Norv Turner has officially arrived as a head coach. He took over a talented team after Marty Schottenheimer was let go for not being able to win a home playoff game. I supported the firing of Marty and didn’t agree with the hiring of Norv. Fortunately for the Spanos family and general manager A.J. Smith, Turner has been able to get the most out of his roster over the past two months after they started off losing three of their first four regular season games.

LaDanien Tomlinson was obviously frustrated with the play of quarterback Phillip Rivers for most of the season, but they finally got on the same page for their playoff run. Too bad that Rivers and L.T are not going to be at or close to 100% heading into this Sunday's game at New England.

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The Chargers have three defensive stars that are playing as good as anyone left in the post season.  Shawn Merriman, Shaun Phillips and Antonio Cromartie have the talent to make several big plays against Tom Brady and keep the Chargers in the game heading into halftime. If they don’t, New England should cruise to an easy victory.

The Chargers defense just eliminated Peyton Manning from the playoffs and that should give them enough confidence to keep their motor running at a high pace in another hostile environment.

The Chargers played good enough in last year’s divisional playoff game against New England, but found a way to lose 24-21. Every Charger fan has come to realize that this is much better Patriots team that stomped on the Lighting Bolt logo a year ago and it will take almost a football miracle for them to win let alone keep the game close.

If San Diego beats New England to end their undefeated season it will rank as one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Right up there with Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson or Team USA upsetting the Russians in the 1980 Olympics. It would be that significant.

I respect the Chargers for the way they battled the Colts last Sunday, but it is time for them to step aside and become a witness to history.