NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

CAROLINA (13-4) at GREEN BAY (14-3)

Sunday, 9:30 p.m.

Channel 11

STORYLINE: Titletown USA gets its first championship game since Dec. 31, 1967, and Charlotte gets its first game against the Packers. Hint: Pack the long johns, guys. Both teams went undefeated at home, but the Packers remain at home where they have won 17 in a row. The Panthers are on an eight-game winning streak and have been most dominant on defense. Can they score enough points to stay in the game? The emergence of running back Anthony Johnson gives the Panthers a shot at controlling the ball, but falling behind would not be advisable.

And what if it snows or gets really cold? The coldest weather the Panthers have ever faced came in Washington in last season’s finale, when the temperature was in the 20s. The NFL will try to improve the Lambeau Field turf this week by using NFL groundskeeper Chip Toma, but unless a dome can be built over the field by Sunday, the conditions favor a Packer rout.

* PANTHER UPDATE: Carolina’s blitz package is designed to shake up a quarterback and Brett Favre has been known to get flustered under pressure, but wide receivers Andre Rison and Antonio Freeman appear to have a decisive edge on the Panthers’ cornerbacks.

* PACKER UPDATE: Linebacker George Koonce has been lost because of a knee injury suffered against the 49ers. Koonce, the Packers’ leading tackler and defensive signal-caller, tore a ligament early in the fourth quarter. He will be replaced by Ron Cox.

Edge to Green Bay unless destiny has already dictated a Jacksonville-Carolina Super Bowl.