Chilly Cowboys-Packers rematch tops playoff games

In a rematch of a brutally cold 1967 playoff classic dubbed the "Ice Bowl," the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers meet Sunday, topping a weekend of intense knockout clashes.
The Cowboys, unbeaten on the road this season, travel to Green Bay, perfect at home in the campaign, in sub-freezing conditions and one team will have its title dreams ended.
"We don't pay attention to them being 8-0 on the road because they haven't come here and beaten us here at Lambeau," Packers defensive back Micah Hyde said. "But it's going to be a tough matchup and we understand that."
It's the first time the Cowboys have visited Lambeau Field for a playoff game since New Year's Eve in 1967, when Bart Starr's late touchdown plunge in wind chills averaging minus-48 (minus-44 Celsius) gave the Packers a 21-17 triumph on their way to winning the second Super Bowl.
The last time an unbeaten road team visited an unbeaten host in the playoffs came in 1972 when visiting Miami won at Pittsburgh on the way to the only undefeated Super Bowl championship run.
"This will be a big challenge," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "It's definitely something that jumps off the stat sheet when you see eight wins on the road."
The Cowboys, featuring NFL rushing champion DeMarco Murray and standout quarterback Tony Romo, have lost their past six road playoff games while the Packers, whose quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been nagged by a calf injury, has thrown 38 touchdowns without an interception in 477 passes over his past 16 home games.
The Cowboys have not reached the Super Bowl since winning their third in four seasons in 1996.
And since the Packers last won the Super Bowl in 2011, they saw a 15-1 season end with a home playoff loss to the New York Giants and exits to San Francisco the past two years.
The Packers-Cowboys winner will face either defending Super Bowl champion Seattle or upstart Carolina, only the second playoff qualifier with a losing regular-season record, in the National Conference final.
In the American Conference, Denver quarterback Peyton Manning will guide the Broncos against his former club, the visiting Indianapolis Colts, on Sunday while the top seed New England Patriots play host Saturday to Baltimore, the Ravens fresh off winning their playoff opener at Pittsburgh.
Winners of the conference finals on January 18 will advance to the Super Bowl championship spectacle on February 1 at Glendale, Arizona.
Manning, who guided the Colts to a Super Bowl crown in 2007, is 0-4 in playoff games when the temperature is below 40 degrees and such conditions are forecast Sunday.
His replacement as the Colts' signal caller, Andrew Luck, is 0-2 in road playoff starts.
Manning's Broncos were routed by Seattle in last year's Super Bowl and the Seahawks look tough again thanks to a stellar defensive unit that allowed the fewest points in the NFL, although it figures to be tested by Carolina run-pass threat Cam Newton.
- Seattle, Carolina streaking -
The Seahawks have won six in a row while the Panthers have won five consecutive games, most recently ousting Arizona in last week's first round while Seattle and this week's other hosts enjoyed a bye.
Seattle star rusher Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Russell Wilson will be challenged by a quick Carolina defensive lineup, but the Panthers have led in the second half of games against the Seahawks in each of the past three years only to lose.
The Ravens, who won the 2013 Super Bowl, and the Patriots, who lost the 2008 and 2012 title games since taking their third crown in four seasons at the 2005 Super Bowl, meet in New England for a playoff contest for the fourth time since 2009 with Baltimore seeking a third road triumph.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will try to pick apart the Ravens pass defenders, who must pressure the veteran leader to help their secondary deal with favored targets Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman.
Brady is 12-3 at home in playoff games, but the Ravens inflicted two of the defeats.
Source: AFP