A IN AFC STANDS FOR ALL; N IN NFC STANDS FOR NONE.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

It's been more than 30 years since the renegade AFL - the league that brought us vertical stripes and a vertical passing game - merged with the traditionalist NFL, which brought us everything that was best described in the somber tones of John Facenda.

It was a marriage of convenience, with the Colts, Steelers and Browns thrown in with the AFL teams to create the AFC. Interconference play with the NFC began immediately in 1970.

This was not, however, a marriage of equals.

It became clear the NFC wore the pants in this relationship and delighted in letting its partner know it at every turn. The NFC at one point won 13 consecutive Super Bowls and when the AFC did win, it was as often as not an old NFC team that did it - the Steelers mostly and the Colts.

Now, as the playoffs begin today, look who's on top.

The AFC has won four of the past six Super Bowls and is ready to do so again. Moreover, it is everything that's right with pro football: dynamic playmakers, the best teams, the most entertaining styles and the storylines worth tuning in for.

The NFC, on the other hand, is the heart-tugging story of Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre - thank goodness for the good hands of Arizona's Nathan Poole - and what else?

The consensus best team, the Eagles, has home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, which they earned because St. Louis blew a 10-point lead to hapless Detroit last weekend. Not that this means much to Philadelphia, which is a mortal 5-3 at home this season and lost at home last year in the NFC title game. It doesn't help that tailback/punt returner Brian Westbrook - their best offensive weapon - could be out for the playoffs.

St. Louis' high-octane offense has a torchbearer (never a good combination, there) named Marc Bulger, who has thrown 22 interceptions this season - or at least 10 more than any quarterback in the AFC playoffs. That might explain why the Rams' four losses were to teams that were 26-38.

Carolina has bruising tailback Stephen Davis, a stout defense and the ability to win close games (seven of their 11 victories were by three points or less) are good qualities to have in the playoffs. On the other hand, they've beaten one playoff team this season - Indianapolis - and needed overtime to do it.

Bill Parcells has turned Dallas in the right direction, but until this team gets a quarterback and a tailback, its offense is painful to watch.

Seattle has won two road games this season and one of them was not in Green Bay, where their opponent Sunday squashed them by 23.

That leaves Green Bay, which might be left standing again when this pageant of the mediocre concludes in two weeks. Green Bay has won six of its past seven, tailback Ahman Green keys an offense that leads the NFL in yards a carry (5.0) and the defense has allowed 10 points less a game since the midseason addition of run-stuffing tackle Grady Walker off the waiver wire.

Then there is the karma factor with Favre playing with the pain of his father's death and their surreal entry into the playoffs as Lambeau Field fans tuned in to the Cardinals' miraculous upset of Minnesota.

Yet the best thing the Packers have going for them is they wouldn't have to see anybody in the AFC until the Super Bowl.

The bottom seed in the AFC is Denver, which arguably has the league's most dangerous tailback in Clinton Portis and is 9-2 with Jake Plummer at quarterback. In the past two months, they've routed the Chiefs, barely lost to the Patriots with Danny Kannell at quarterback, and thumped the Colts - their opponent Sunday.

The Colts might look to be down, but don't count them out - not after having come from 21 and 14 down in the fourth quarter on the road to beat Tampa Bay and Houston in overtime. They also have the NFL's best kicker in Mike Vanderjagt, who hasn't missed a field goal since 2002.

Tennessee and Baltimore, former AFC Central rivals, meet in just as intriguing a matchup today.

The Ravens have beaten the Titans five consecutive times, so you wonder whether Ray Lewis and Jamal Lewis are in their heads. Baltimore had better hope so because Tennessee has allowed 80.9 yards a game on the ground - by far the league's fewest - and who would you rather have at quarterback, Anthony Wright or Steve McNair?

Kansas City and New England just sit back and wait. The Chiefs will take the extra week to locate a run defense, and the league's best coach, Bill Belichick, will search for a running game of his own and cross his fingers that the Patriots' defensive dominance at home (one touchdown in the past six games) is something more than an indictment of their opponents.

Next week you could have the Ravens in Foxboro, Mass., where they'll play until the first score. Or Peyton Manning trading touchdowns with Priest Holmes. Or the Titans trying to prove the 30 points they put up on their last trip to New England wasn't a fluke. Or Brian Billick getting another chance to kick to Dante Hall. Or ...

No matter how this week flushes out, the AFC will be well worth watching. Just as the NFC was back in the days when the 49ers, Redskins, Packers, Bears, Cowboys and Giants used to reign.

As for the NFC now, well, if you can't have Jake the Snake (Plummer), you settle for Jake the Fake (Delhomme) and call it a day. Or, failing that, Must Zzzzzzz TV.

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Photo:

The Titans hope Steve McNair can end a streak of five losses in a row to the Ravens as the playoffs open in the tough AFC.

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

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PLAYOFF SCHEDULE