CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hey, don't forget about us.
As in, yes, while Brady-Manning 17 takes place earlier in the day, the teams with the two best records in the NFL go at it in the NFC championship game Sunday night.
That would be the host Carolina Panthers, that rare team to go 15-1 in the regular season, and the Arizona Cardinals, who were next in the NFC and overall standings at 13-3. Maybe it isn't the juiciest story line dominating the football world, but there's plenty of reasons to be intrigued by this one, too.
"One guy (Tom Brady) is playing in his 10th and there are two guys that are playing in their first," Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer says of reaching the last step before the Super Bowl.