01/20 — One of the most important numbers in the National Football League is three. And conference championship Sunday was all about the "trey."

The Patriots withstood a third solid postseason effort from the Chargers and once again will represent the AFC in Super Bowl XLII. NFL MVP Tom Brady was picked off three times, but the Pats still managed three TDs in a hard-fought 21-12 victory.

This one got away from the Bolts in the third quarter. LB Junior Seau, a former Chargers defensive stalwart, made a stop on Michael Turner that could haunt some SoCal natives for years to come.

After Brady's second INT — a nice pick by CB Drayton Florence off a tipped ball — the Chargers moved inside the Pats' 5-yard line for the first time. Better yet, they trailed just 14-9 and needed only a yard to get a first down and reach the 3.

But following a timeout, San Diego elected to run wide with Turner (filling in for LaDainian Tomlinson, one of three San Diego offensive stars who were limited due to injury) and Seau snuffed it out.

The result was another Nate Kaeding field goal — his fourth of the afternoon. That closed the gap to 14-12, but the Bolts would never score again. That led us to think of a wise statement from Bob Sutton back in November.

"If you want to be good on defense, the one thing you strive to do, if nothing else, is you want to force a team to kick field goals," said the Jets' defensive coordinator. "If you make a team kick field goals, you have a chance to win the game at the end."

The Jets — no strangers to the Patriots — will continue their annual series with their divisional foes from the Northeast in eight months or so, and they'll also visit the Chargers in '08. Those three contests should be a good measuring stick for the Green & White.

In frigid Green Bay, New York's NFC representative and the Packers faced off with temps falling in the low single digits and the wind chill a minus-23 at kickoff — the third-coldest game in NFL playoff history.

And they played into the late hours Sunday night as 60 minutes wasn't enough to decide a victor. The G-Men had a couple of chances late in regulation but K Lawrence Tynes was unable to break a 20-20 deadlock, sailing two three-pointers wide left, much to the delight of the Lambeau faithful.

But even after the Pack won the OT coin toss, the Giants refused to be denied. CB Corey Webster picked off Brett Favre and Tynes finally got it right on his third chance to win it. Remarkably, he drilled his toughest attempt, a 47-yarder, and sent the NFC Wild Card Giants to 'Zona.

If you're scoring at home, that's 10 straight for the road warriors and they'll get another a shot at the 18-0 Pats. Three weeks ago, those two played a thrilling contest at the Meadowlands. The Pats escaped by a 38-35 score on that evening and we're set for what should be an entertaining rematch.

We're sending Randy to Arizona next week to give you a Jets as well as an NFL perspective of Super Bowl week. In the meantime, what did you think of championship weekend?