By Mike Kahn
SportsLine Executive Editor
Jan. 14, 1999

Cinderella isn't going to the ball this year. None of that streaky stuff was going to fly this year in the NFL. The four best teams are playing for the right to get to Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami, which is exactly the way it should be.

Just

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looking at their respective regular-season records is enough to consider the possibilities when the Minnesota Vikings (15-1) play host to the Atlanta Falcons (14-2) for the NFC Championship, while the AFC Championship game will be played at Denver, where the Broncos (14-2) will meet the New York Jets (12-4).

When the four teams remaining have a combined 55-9 regular season mark, you have to believe plenty of special performances are still to be seen.

Beginning with the coaches, the intrigue is at the maximum. In the NFC, Dennis Green was on the verge of being fired by managing partner Roger Headrick last year and the entire franchise was ready to high-tail it out of Minneapolis. Along came Texas car-dealer Red McCombs to rescue Green and the Vikings.

Green obliged by talking quarterback Randall Cunningham out of retirement, and going against the odds by drafting troubled Marshall wide receiver Randy Moss when nobody else would take the chance. All they did was set the NFL on fire with a record number of points and a franchise mark for victories as well.

But

John Elway has the chance to lead the Broncos to a Super Bowl repeat. (AP)

is it a better story than Dan Reeves returning from heart surgery to coach the Falcons into the NFC Championship Game? No way. Few teams have had more pathetic histories than the Falcons. Before this season, they had won exactly two playoff games since the franchise began in 1966 and qualified for the postseason only five times.

When Reeves, 55, took over the Falcons before 1997, there were scoffs and hopes weren't particularly high. It got worse after a 1-7 start last season. But things turned around quickly behind a stout defense. Plus, Jamal Anderson grew into an All-Pro running back and Chris Chandler finally stayed healthy enough to be a productive quarterback. They finished last season 6-2 and their 20-4 mark through this regular season is the best in the NFL during the past season-and-a-half. And, oh yeah, Reeves had quadruple bypass surgery just 3½ weeks before the Falcons beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-18 last weekend.

There just isn't a better story around when it comes to a pair of coaches at different crossroads than what Green and Reeves have been through the past few years.

But it isn't as if the AFC matchup is pathetic by any stretch of the imagination.

SO MUCH WAS MADE OF THE BRONCOS winning their first 13 games, that when they finally were upset by the New York Giants, they turned around and played even worse the next week in a loss at Miami. People claimed they lost focus and were going down the tubes just like they had so many years in the past.

But people forgot this is the new regime under the steely resolve of Mike Shanahan that won Super Bowl XXXII. Not only do they still have John Elway as their perennial All-AFC quarterback, but also the best running back in the NFL, Terrell Davis, who ran for 2,008 yards this season, third most in NFL history and good enough to win the MVP.

And they responded by pounding the Dolphins into submission in the divisional playoff game last week, 38-3. Having a week off allowed Davis to rush for 199 yards and look as unstoppable as he has all season. Indeed, they have talent, but it is Shanahan who took this team over the top. His intensity level continues to make him look like his eyes are about to pop out of his head. Whatever works ...

No team is more reflective of its coach than the Jets. Two years ago, they had the worst record in the NFL and Bill Parcells decided to bolt the New England Patriots for New York after losing Super Bowl XXX to Green Bay. The Jets immediately became tenacious with a fire on defense and special teams that only Parcells can bring, so they slipped and slided to a surprising 9-7 record last season. They even stumbled early this season with quarterback Glenn Foley, but Parcells elected to turn the ball over to Vinny Testaverde, the former No. 1 pick of the draft who had floated through a disappointing vagabond NFL career.

Testaverde responded with an NFL record touchdown/interception ratio (29-7) and led the AFC with 101.6 passing efficiency, which is ironic if only because the name Testaverde has traditionally been an oxymoron for efficiency.

AND THE ONLY BETTER QUARTERBACK rating in the NFL was Cunningham's whopping 106.0.

All of that leads to the inevitable comparison of these two wonderfully talented quarterbacks, both of whom will be 36 this year. Why it took so long for their performance level to catch up with their skills can only be traced to maturity and finding the right coaches.

Wouldn't that be the best Super Bowl . . . Testaverde vs. Cunningham and Green vs. Parcells? And talk about two great young receives, Moss vs. Keyshawn Johnson.

Or what about Reeves vs. his former assistant Shanahan, with all the controversy that led Reeves out of town? Besides, the two best running backs still playing, Davis and Anderson, would also fill a story line.

That's not to diminish Reeves vs. Parcells, two former coaches of the New York Giants, or Shanahan and Green, with their Bay Area histories.

In other words, no way will Super Bowl XXXIII be a bust. The four best teams are meeting this weekend and whoever comes out alive will deserve it. Sometimes, things just work out the right way.