By Zack Cimini

Unlike the college championship the NFL will have a deciding champion. Both quarterbacks in Manning and McNabb can?t win even though they deserve it. If you look at their careers so far they have very similar characteristics. One thing stands in their way and that is this weekend?s conference championships.

With Peyton manning you have a quarterback that has played extremely well since his rookie season. He endured ridicule for his inability to lead his team to a playoff victory, but that is an after thought nowadays. He has also put to rest his tendency to throw costly interceptions. The way he was playing was too erratic sort of the way Brett Favre plays every game.

Part of the reason why he was forcing throws was because of the lack of defensive support. The defense was always giving up big plays and Manning had to try to keep up on the field. Then Tony Dungy was brought in and a whole transformation occurred in Peyton Manning?s style. No longer does he try to score on every drive or force the football. He lets the game come to him and the Colts have thrived off of big plays from both their defense and offense. In this weekends game against the Patriots it won?t be easy, but the Colts have extra motivation. They are trying to knock a team off that defeated them at home this year and show the country that they have knocked the monkey off their backs completely. There is nothing like accomplishing what they?ve done and then falling short.

For Donovan McNabb he can only sit back and laugh on this season. Just a few weeks into it all the fans that had supported him throughout his career were calling him to be benched. Sure he struggled early on, but a season is 16 games not two. All it took was a few comments by Rush Limbaugh, a healthy McNabb, and wa-la the Eagles won nine out of ten games. All he has done is earned another Pro Bowl, set a playoff record for rushing yards by a quarterback, and taken a team to the NFC championship for the third time in his short career.

The NFL is all about timing and both of these quarterbacks have clocked in. Through out it all though a loss this weekend by either team could send each home for a long off-season. But if they should match up in the Super Bowl it should be one of the best in NFL history. Neither quarterback likes too lose and they have shown that this season. All you have to do is ask any Tampa Bay player (Manning) or any Packer player (McNabb) to figure that out.