It Seems as if These Teams Have Met Somewhere Before

Rematches will be the order of the day in both NFL conference championship games today.

In the NFC title game, Carolina and Philadelphia will be familiar with each other because on Nov. 30, the Eagles traveled to Charlotte, N.C., and defeated the Panthers, 25-16. That also happened to be the same day New England and Indianapolis faced off in what turned out to be a preview of the AFC championship game. The Patriots survived a late rally by the Colts to win, 38-34, at the RCA Dome.

A breakdown of the regular season “preview” games:

New England 38, Indianapolis 34: The Patriots started with an aggressive approach to jump to an early lead in an important late-season AFC matchup between 9-2 teams. With quarterback Tom Brady completing passes all over the field to nine receivers, the Patriots scored the first four times they had the ball.

The key to New England’s fast start was offensive coordinator Charlie Weis’ play calling on first downs. Although the Patriots have a reputation for being conservative, they’re really not. Only five teams threw more passes than New England in the regular season and Brady came out throwing against the Colts.

Seven of the Patriots’ first 11 first-down snaps were pass plays and they scored 17 points in their first three drives.

After New England built a 31-10 lead in the third quarter, Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy and defensive coordinator Ron Meeks changed their line of attack. Instead of playing a guessing game with Weis, the Colts crowded the line of scrimmage and forced Brady to attempt timing passes or stick with basic running plays on first down.

The next three times the Patriots had the ball, they failed to pick up a first down or score a point. And during this stretch Indianapolis got back into the game behind the passing of quarterback Peyton Manning.

By going to a no-huddle shotgun attack -- including occasional runs with Edgerrin James -- Manning led Indianapolis to three consecutive scoring drives, capped by his fourth touchdown pass to tie the score, 31-31.

With momentum on their side, the Colts kicked off to New England’s Bethel Johnson, who had returned a kick for a touchdown at the close of the first half. This time, Johnson again took advantage of holes in the Colts’ kickoff coverage with a 67-yard return to set up the Patriots’ final touchdown.

Indianapolis kicked a field goal to cut New England’s lead to 38-34, and with 2:57 remaining the Colts began their final drive from New England’s 48-yard line. Manning needed only six plays to move them to the two with 40 seconds left. But on fourth down, New England’s Willie McGinest swept around right end and tackled James in the backfield to preserve the Patriots’ win.

Philadelphia 25, Carolina 16: Although the Eagles won a key game on the road between two 8-3 teams, they didn’t dominate. They didn’t shut down Carolina’s Stephen Davis, who had 115 yards in 23 carries, or Jake Delhomme, who completed 18 of 29 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns.

The story of the game was Panther kicker John Kasay, who missed field goals from 32, 38 and 49 yards, and an extra point. Kasay helped keep momentum on the Eagles’ side with his wide-right kicks and Philadelphia rode the all-around skills of running back Brian Westbrook.

Philadelphia Coach Andy Reid’s game plan against the Panthers’ disruptive defensive front called for quick-hitting plays to Westbrook, Duce Staley and even fullback John Ritchie.

After throwing an interception on the Eagles’ first play, Donovan McNabb operated Reid’s ball-control offense to near perfection. He kept the Panther defense off balance by not forcing deep passes into the middle of the field.

Reid made sure that McNabb did not have to figure out Carolina Coach John Fox’s cohesive zone coverages on the run. On most plays, the Eagle quarterback knew where he was going with the ball before the snap, regardless of what defensive set the Panthers were in.

Once the Eagles took a 22-10 lead early in the fourth quarter, Delhomme demonstrated his toughness by staying in the pocket to complete late-developing passes to Muhsin Muhammad and Steve Smith.

But the Eagle defense asserted itself with blitzes on the next Carolina possession. Then the Eagle offensive line made a statement as Reid called six running plays in a seven-play, 57-yard drive capped by David Akers’ 29-yard field goal with 29 seconds left.