American Football Conference

NBC's Dick Enberg was pressed into double duty Sunday when Bob Costas came down with a severe case of the flu. Costas was so sick Sunday morning that he checked himself into a Denver hospital. Enberg, besides calling the game, also had to take Costas' place on the pregame and postgame shows. Then Ralph Wiley, who was scheduled to conduct postgame interviews in the Cleveland locker room, was stricken with the flu during the game.

Steelers Fans Are Singing Different Tune It was the same old song for the Pittsburgh Steelers -- until that same old song didn't make sense anymore. The creator and performer of "Here We Go," the team's unofficial anthem, was faced with updating the following lyric: ... Cowher Power will get the job done, This is the year we'll get that one for the thumb ...

The National Football League rings the bell for round two of its postseason playoffs this weekend. In today's American Football Conference action, the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns meet at 9:30 a.m. on NBC (4)(36)(39). Later today, the National Football Conference game between the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers can be seen on CBS at 1 p.m. (2)(8). Two other games will be televised Sunday. At 9:30 a.m., CBS will cover the Washington Redskins vs. Chicago Bears on (2)(8).

2006 predicted order of finish ... West * 1. Denver: The Broncos came within one victory of reaching the Super Bowl last season, allowing Coach Mike Shanahan to get over his post-Elway hangover. Jake Plummer had a terrific year, avoiding the mistakes that had plagued him throughout his pro career. But can Plummer do it again? It won't be easy, and now he has the psychological burden of knowing rookie Jay Cutler is looking over his shoulder.

Bad news for the AFC: Your conference has lost the last eight Super Bowls to the NFC by an average score of 37-16. Worse news for the AFC: The gap between the two conferences seems to be widening. Worse news still: If September is any kind of indicator, Buffalo is headed back to the Super Bowl. Fay Vincent had the right idea, just the wrong league.

The name is Kubiak. Sometimes, on fan-made grandstand banners, it has been written this way: QBiak. But it is a name rarely written anywhere, because Gary Kubiak rarely does anything worth writing about. He is an understudy nobody pays to see, a stuntman nobody sees on the marquee, a part-time quarterback so seldom put to work, he was practically an eighthback. Until Sunday. Until this, the last football game of his life. Championship game, American Football Conference, winner to the Super Bowl.

Hold that retirement. At 37, the scramble is gone from his legs and the youth is gone from his body. But Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway nevertheless will get another shot at winning a Super Bowl thanks to an arm that is still a rifle, a mind that is still one of the sharpest in the game and a supporting cast that perhaps is better than ever.

Today's AFC championship game is guaranteed to be a moving experience. The Raiders went from Oakland to L.A. and back again, and now they're on the verge of their first Super Bowl as the Oakland Raiders in 20 years. The Baltimore Ravens were the Cleveland Browns until 1996. Now Art Modell, scourge of Cleveland, is on the brink of bringing a Super Bowl team to the city that lost its beloved Colts in 1984.

Fade to black. Hang up the spikes and put the skulls in storage. The Oakland Raiders are not going to the Super Bowl after the Baltimore Raven defense put on a display of toughness in the AFC championship game Sunday that was far more than a weekend costume act. The Ravens knocked Raider quarterback Rich Gannon out of the game with a shoulder injury, then thwarted him when he tried to come back. They took on the NFL's No. 1 rushing offense and held it to only 24 yards.

In each of the past six years, the American Football Conference has resembled an express train moving smoothly through the countryside toward the end of the line, where it spectacularly derails. AFC teams have played the NFC on even terms each season since 1984, winning their share of the annual interconference series. Then each time, their champions have gotten untracked on the last afternoon, losing six consecutive Super Bowls.

One of the biggest acquisitions of the NFL off-season, a player who could tilt the balance of power in the AFC -- winner of five of the last six Super Bowls -- never lifted a finger to help his old team. Adam Vinatieri did it all with his right foot. The Indianapolis Colts, tearing a page from the if-you-can't-beat-'em-sign-'em book, coaxed Vinatieri from New England in March, staking claim to the best clutch kicker in league history.

In recent years, the Indianapolis Colts have had all the earmarks of an elaborate Hollywood movie set -- richly appointed, elaborately detailed ... and disappointingly two-dimensional. If the Colts could ever build a defense to match their score-at-will offense, Peyton Manning could use Lombardi Trophies for doorstops. So far, that hasn't been the case.

Four days after Tennessee was knocked out of the NFL playoffs in January, Titan running back Chris Brown was knocking out sets on the squat rack. When most of his teammates were on vacation, Brown was on a mission. He showed up unannounced at team headquarters, walked into the weight room, picked up some dumbbells and quietly, without fanfare, officially began his quest to unseat an institution.

Fade to black. Hang up the spikes and put the skulls in storage. The Oakland Raiders are not going to the Super Bowl after the Baltimore Raven defense put on a display of toughness in the AFC championship game Sunday that was far more than a weekend costume act. The Ravens knocked Raider quarterback Rich Gannon out of the game with a shoulder injury, then thwarted him when he tried to come back. They took on the NFL's No. 1 rushing offense and held it to only 24 yards.

Today's AFC championship game is guaranteed to be a moving experience. The Raiders went from Oakland to L.A. and back again, and now they're on the verge of their first Super Bowl as the Oakland Raiders in 20 years. The Baltimore Ravens were the Cleveland Browns until 1996. Now Art Modell, scourge of Cleveland, is on the brink of bringing a Super Bowl team to the city that lost its beloved Colts in 1984.

* Site: Network Associates Coliseum * Time: 1 p.m. * TV: Channel 2 * Radio: KNX (1070) * The line: Oakland by 6. * Story line: These teams bring a level of swagger and trash talk to the field matched by few others. The long drought is over for the "fine" citizens of Oakland, who haven't seen their beloved Raiders in the AFC championship game since Jan. 11, 1981. (In 1984 and 1991, the Raiders belonged to L.A.) The last time Baltimore saw a team get this far was in 1971 with the Colts.

A football sits three yards--nine feet--from a goal line and for San Diego it is fourth and forever. Pittsburgh has one more play. Three yards are all that stand between the Chargers and a Super Bowl, all that is keeping the state of California from possessing both of America's Teams. It is half past noon back in San Diego and everybody must be half past crazy.

It is destiny, a Mile High reunion show featuring Dan Reeves, Steve DeBerg, John Elway, Mike Shanahan and Pat Bowlen, doubling now as Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami, four years to the date Shanahan was hired to the coach the Broncos, rejuvenate Elway and win the big game--something Reeves could not do.

QUARTERBACKS ADVANTAGE: OAKLAND When Rich Gannon arrived in Oakland last season, he was considered a temporary starter until someone better came along. Now he is one of the most versatile quarterbacks in the league, a threat running the ball as well as throwing it. Gannon's leadership has brought the Raiders this far. As for Trent Dilfer, bash him all you want, but the Ravens are 9-1 since he took over as the starter.

The St. Louis Rams took the prize, going from 4-12 to Super Bowl champions. But if you go by the book, the turnaround team of 1999 was the Indianapolis Colts. Their fabulous flip--from 3-13 to 13-3--was the biggest regular-season reversal in NFL history. Brace yourself, because they should only get better for a long time to come. Peyton Manning, in his third season at 24, is among the NFL's elite: Only Kurt Warner, Steve Beuerlein and Jeff George had better passer ratings than his 90.7.