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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The long Ford LTD was big and old and had a sleepy way of creeping along. And there was a time when Marques Colston(notes) would step out of that car and spend his day exhibiting that same droopy lope in his step.

New Orleans Saints receivers coach Curtis Johnson saw it first, when Colston arrived as a seventh-round NFL draft pick in 2006. He was tall and big and almost entirely unknown coming out of Hofstra – the 252nd of 255 players selected. That meant Colston wasn't even a standard draft pick. Instead, he was taken with a supplemental choice the Saints had been awarded for losing a relatively inconsequential player in free agency the previous season. As far as the rest of the league was concerned, he couldn't have been more of an afterthought.

And if you listen to Johnson, Colston's career almost ended that way, too. Now Colston is the Saints' star wideout and one of the most dangerous pieces at

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DAVIE, Fla. – Darren Sharper's(notes) currency in his profession had supposedly gone counterfeit, which might be the worst thing that can happen to a player at his position. Linebackers can be camouflaged. Cornerbacks can be shifted. Even defensive ends can be schemed into relevance. But once an NFL safety becomes a liability – once his body is unwilling and his ball skills have eroded – he becomes impossible to obscure, like trying to hide a zeppelin under a bed sheet.

A year ago at this time, that was the dark cloud following Sharper once it became clear the Minnesota Vikings were turning their back on him. For a player whose tender was creating game-changing plays, his one forced turnover in 2008 spoke volumes. And to the NFL at large, the then 33-year old Sharper's bank appeared to be empty.

"That was the talk, right?" Sharper said with a Cheshire grin. "… [2008] didn't go the way I wanted, but yeah, I was surprised at

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INDIANAPOLIS – For 10 minutes, Peyton Manning(notes) disappeared into his conversation, displaying his obsessive-compulsive best. Eli Manning(notes) had seen this routine for years from his brother, so he knew what was coming. While Peyton's teammates shared a few moments of celebration in the locker room and headed to the exits in overdrive, they passed by as Peyton was making a flurry of hand gestures to Eli. He was engrossed. Routes. Protections. Alignments.

It was barely 30 minutes after the Indianapolis Colts' 30-17 AFC championship win over the New York Jets, and Peyton Manning was wrapped in a towel, delivering impromptu film review. His brother fed the beast, nodding and asking questions. And while the Colts' young wideouts – Austin Collie(notes) and Pierre Garcon(notes) – were off in their respective corner of the locker room, this kind of conversation had everything to do with them. Because as much as their 18

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NEW ORLEANS – One by one on Saturday night, the extended palms came out of the crowds gathered in seemingly every corner of the Louisiana Superdome. And Reggie Bush(notes) wanted to oblige them all, because this is how it was supposed to be.

Only hours earlier, prior to the New Orleans Saints rolling over the Arizona Cardinals 45-14, Bush was huddled on the field with Brad Pitt, the Hollywood icon whose philanthropic works in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans had facilitated a friendship between the two men. A few cameras swooped in to catch the semiprivate moment, capturing an embrace that would eventually seem to extend to the furthest fan in the furthest row in the house. Bush would feel the love from all of them, too, as the New Orleans faithful exploded in unison after a pair of pivotal touchdowns. It was an outpouring of affection that grew to include handshakes, hugs, slaps on the back … and even a postgame peck on

More: AFC title game preview

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Finally the NFC gets the glory matchup, with a brawl between the two top seeds (No. 1 New Orleans Saints vs. No. 2 Minnesota Vikings) and arguably the best quarterback matchup in a championship round since Tom Brady(notes) and Peyton Manning(notes) squared off in the AFC championship following the 2006 season.

Brett Favre(notes) and Drew Brees(notes) both factored into the MVP race this season and combined to throw for a staggering 8,590 yards, finishing with 67 touchdown passes. Favre is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and Brees is heading in that direction, and each is the unquestioned leader of his team. And a Super Bowl appearance would mean a great deal to both – the ultimate capper on Favre's stunning career, or an apex in Brees' statistic-bloated but championship thin résumé.

With that in mind, consider the following four issues as critical to the Saints-Vikings matchup on Sunday in the NFC

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NEW ORLEANS – As the New Orleans Saints gathered Friday night for their final meeting before facing the Arizona Cardinals, Marques Colston(notes) knew what was coming. A Bill Parcells disciple, Saints coach Sean Payton had a way of cutting through tension and calming nerves frayed by anticipation. When the doubts of the outside world were ringing in their ears, Payton could always find the mute button.

And that's what he did Friday night, pulling out the baseball bat.

"We call these our 'bat' games," Colston said. "This is the fourth or the fifth one that we've had since I've been here. It's one of those times where you feel like you have to be the most physical team. When he pulls that bat out, you know everyone is going to be on the same page."

Reggie Bush brought Sean Payton's motivational bat onto the field during pregame introductions.
(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

There was no denying that against the Cardinals, who

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INDIANAPOLIS – Jim Caldwell talks about the "quantum shift," how everything becomes faster and more intense in the NFL playoffs. He makes it sound as if football in January and February is being played in a constant state of warp speed.

Caldwell is going into his first playoff game as head coach.
(Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

What the Indianapolis Colts coach doesn't give much credence to is the anvil of expectations that appears to be resting between the shoulders of this Colts team. It's always a screaming bullet point this time of the season, this debate about pressure. We do an annual playoff autopsy about who is feeling it, who is crumbling under it, and who is in the best position to overcome it. Frankly, it's often an empty, overly bloated debate, more relevant to the outside world than within the confines of an NFL practice facility. But the concept truly does fit these Colts, because while the bye week has temporarily

INDIANAPOLIS – Pierre Garcon(notes) has many relatives – "too many to count" – still living in Haiti. And as of Wednesday afternoon, his immediate family hadn't heard from many of them.

A Haitian-American wideout for the Indianapolis Colts, Garcon was jolted by the news of Tuesday afternoon's 7.0 magnitude earthquake, which devastated much of his family's homeland. The quake ravaged the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, destroying much of the city and leaving a countrywide death toll that early estimates put at 500,000 and rising.

"It's terrible," Garcon said. "It's probably the worst thing that could ever happen. It's probably worse than a nightmare. It's a poor country and this just makes it worse.

"I couldn't believe it. I was like 'An earthquake in Haiti?' I never could imagine it, because I only think of earthquakes in California and out there. I never could believe it. A Caribbean earthquake, I didn't see it coming."

Garcon's immediate family, including his mother, father, and