Denver had many selling points for its new coach Josh McDaniels. One was not its 2009 schedule. McDaniels and the Broncos face what can only be termed as a brutal schedule next season.

With the fantasy football season over (unless you signed up for our Playoff Challenge, of course), it’s time to start looking ahead to 2009.

Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin probably never realized it. But when the Steelers beat the Chargers in Sunday’s AFC Divisional Playoff Game, Tomlin just might have saved his job as well as the jobs of other coaches and executives that would have played San Diego this postseason. It sounds hard to believe, but it is true.

The NFC Championship Game will be a rematch for the Eagles and Cardinals from early this season. This game is also a championship game rematch between quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Kurt Warner. The two met when St. Louis played host to Philadelphia in the 2001 NFC Championship Game, which Warner was victorious in.

The Cardinals have (excuse the expression) flown under the radar in the playoffs so far. Yeah, not any more. The Cardinals, who had trouble selling out their first home playoff game in a lifetime, had little trouble selling out the stadium for the NFC Championship Game. In fact, it took only six minutes. The Cardinals fans are at full boil, and now the players are having to find a way to fight through the distractions.

The Ravens and Steelers will meet for this third time this season, with Pittsburgh winning the first two games. The old adage is that it’s tough to beat a team three times in one season. Is it? Since 1970, teams looking to complete the sweep in the playoffs are 11-7. The latest being the Giants who defeated the Cowboys for the third time in the 2007 playoffs, on the way to Super Bowl XLII.

The Denver Broncos brought in former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to replace Mike Shanahan as their new coach. The decision should mean an increase in the value of the Broncos’ top offensive players, none more than Brandon Marshall.

The home teams for this weekend’s conference championship games apparently are not superstitious. Otherwise, they might have thought twice before selecting the National Anthem singers.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels confirmed Monday he has had discussions with former 49ers coach Mike Nolan.

Tony Dungy retired after seven seasons as coach of the Indianapolis Colts, a decision he has wrestled with over the past couple offseasons. Dungy was one of the most well-respected coaches in NFL history, so it’s no surprise that the accolades are already starting to roll in.

As head coach of the Patriots, Bill Belichick has seen a number of coaches from his staffs move on to head coaching positions elsewhere. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will join that list on Monday when he is officially introduced as the Broncos’ next coach, like Charlie Weiss, Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini did before him.

With the fantasy football season over (unless you signed up for our Playoff Challenge, of course), it’s time to start looking ahead to 2009.

I’ll be working on a complete list of player rankings over the next several weeks, but for now, I’ll offer up the top five players per position over the next few days.

I’ve already run through the quarterbacks and running backs, so here are the wide receivers:

Tony Dungy — infinite class, abundant grace, and of course, quiet dignity — exits to a lot more noise than he ever made. He didn’t yell like Halas, motivate like Lombardi, or intimidate like Belichick. When old-school methods ruled, Dungy offered a new-school approach, an uncommon calm in a coaching profession hardly known for it.

Veteran Kerry Collins wants to continue playing football — but only as a starting quarterback. Whether that happens with the Tennessee Titans has yet to be determined.

The Steelers and Ravens looked like AFC heavyweights in Pittsburgh’s 13-9 win in Week 15. That looked like a potential matchup for the AFC Championship Game. If you thought the same thing after the Eagles beat the Cardinals, 48-20, on Thanksgiving night, well, you are going to have to provide proof. But these are your matchups for championship game Sunday, and here is some reaction from the local papers.