NFL'S BEST ON DISPLAY RIGHT NOW.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

That's it. That clinches it. Do not want to hear one single argument otherwise.

We are in the midst of the NFL's greatest weekend.

Not next week in the conference championships. Not at the end of the month in that bloated corporate would-be super extravaganza.

Right here, right now, in the divisional round.

Did you catch the Panthers-Rams? That wasn't a game, it was theater. A Russian novel played out on turf. It came with more ebbs and flows than the Mississippi.

And it was only the weekend opener?

If you've been in mourning since the Rams and Raiders fled, this is the weekend to shelve the black wardrobe and remember why the NFL once mattered around here.

Figured the creme de la creme would be today's final game, Packers and Eagles. Brett Favre's inspirational play since the death of his father. Donovan McNabb's motivational play since the lunacy of Rush Limbaugh.

But how do you top Carolina's 29-23 double-overtime victory in St. Louis? Where the Rams had won 14 consecutive games?

There were big hits, missed opportunities, clutch plays, brain-cramped head coaches, ear-aching noise, courageous efforts.

It wasn't a game, it was a mini-season. If it was a stage performance, both teams would have been accused of overacting.

Carolina thought it had the game won in regulation when it was up 23-12 in the fourth quarter.

But the Rams finally found the end zone behind an inspired Marshall Faulk, scored a 2-point conversion and then turned to secret weapon Jeff Wilkins.

Wilkins is a football player who happens to be a kicker. He hit the onside kick perfectly, saw it ricochet off a Ram and then, making like a leaping Kobe Bryant, skyed to catch his own kick. Never seen anything like it. You want Jeff Wilkins on your football team.

St. Louis should have thought it had the game won when it then marched downfield. Yet Rams coach Mike Martz incredibly, ridiculously, let the final 30-plus seconds tick away after gaining a first down at the Carolina 15 despite owning a timeout.

The Attila-the-Hun Rams offense suddenly makes like conscientious objectors, lets the clock run down and settles for Wilkins' team-record fifth field goal to force overtime.

The Rams should have lost without ever touching the ball, but John Kasay's 40-yard field goal was called back because of a silly delay-of-game penalty, and his second attempt from 45 yards just sliced right.

Then it was the Rams on the move, and this time surely the game would end, but Wilkins - who deserved much better - must have been weakened by his extraordinary day, his 53-yard field goal falling just short.

The Rams actually forced a punt and, Attila back in control, were again marching for the game-winning score. Only this time UCLA product Ricky Manning Jr. reaches with one hand in front of receiver Torry Holt and wrestles a pass away for an interception.

The game goes into a second OT, and on the first play, Carolina receiver Steve Smith takes a reception over the middle and turns it into a 69-yard touchdown.

Never has a stadium been so loud, suddenly grown so quiet. If it had deflated any more, the Edward Jones Dome would have collapsed.

And it's only the first of the weekend's four playoff games!

The Titans and Patriots come up next, their faces almost hidden behind their frozen breaths. Are tied going into the final quarter.

This is some serious, big-time football. Season-on-the-line, take-no- prisoners football.

Now today we open with Indianapolis-Kansas City, the two highest-scoring teams in the NFL. Then it's Packers-Eagles, an exciting, intriguing grand finale.

Four great games in two days. The NFL's best weekend, and it's only halftime.