Quarterback will always be the most important position:
Fans can argue whether Peyton Manning is the second coming of Johnny Unitas. Or whether Jake Delhomme is the second coming of Trent Dilfer. But the bottom line is simple. You will not win NFL Playoff games without a leader. The leader of every team is the quarterback. Even in the 2000 Super Bowl run by the Baltimore Ravens, middle linebacker Ray Lewis still needed Dilfer to help lead him to a ring. Not to say that Dilfer outshined Lewis; just that quarterbacks can't make mistakes.
I am a true believer that defense wins championships and without a running game, you can't win in the NFL. But when it comes to the playoffs, every team has a good defense and every team can run the ball. That is why the pressure comes down to the quarterback and the passing game.
The Carolina Panthers have had the toughest road to a league championship game. Of the four teams left in the post season, no team has less talent in the passing game. Donovan McNabb and Philadelphia are by no means a passing juggernaut. However, what they do have is playoff experience. The proof of that came when Freddie Mitchell caught a 26 yard pass on 4th and 26 without a timeout and without any time to second guess the play. And when Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers tried to counter that play in overtime, Favre's bad pass into the Eagle's secondary was the difference. Delhomme has never been in the playoffs, and neither have his two favorite targets at wide receiver, Muhsin Muhammed and last week's hero, Steve Smith.
The Panthers defense and running game are so important to the team's success this year, and why they earned the right to play St. Louis in the second round of the playoffs. But Carolina won because Delhomme outshined the Ram's Marc Bulger. Bulger's three interceptions, his last the most damaging, were the difference in the game. It wasn't Marshall Faulk versus Stephen Davis. It wasn't "the Greatest Show on Turf" versus "the Cardiac Cats." It came down to which quarterback could lead their team to victory.
Manning and the Colts outplayed Trent Green and the Kansas City Chiefs as well. Neither defense played well. both running backs were good. But it was Manning's leadership that put the nail in the coffin at Arrowhead Stadium.
The coldest day in New England football history made the Patriots game against the Tennessee Titans a struggle from the first snap. But Tom Brady was able to do just enough to avoid Steve McNair's Titans from leaving Boston with a victory. If McNair had been healthy, maybe the Titans would have advanced. But it was clear in this game, just as in every other, that McNair's health was far more important than their running back Eddie George.
Football always uses war like references when they talk about the games. The offensive lineman battle the defensive front line in the trenches. How the coach takes his troops with him into enemy territory when you play on the road. But the most important reference will always be the play of the general; the quarterback, and how he leads his army to victory.