"Okay now, breathe," Erin reminded me during the first overtime of the St. Louis Rams/Carolina Panthers playoff game, which wound up being the 5th longest NFL game in the history of the sport.

I must admit, I don't think I was breathing. John Kasay had just made his game winning field goal in overtime, but a delay of game penalty was called on the Panthers. A stupid 5 yard penalty turns a 40 yard field goal into a 45 yarder. I've never kicked, but I know those are 5 pretty big yards. I mean if it went from a 25 yard try to a 30 yard try I wouldn't worry at all, but this is different. He missed the 45 yard try. It hooked right. Breathe.

St. Louis worked it's was down the field. They set up for a 53 yard field goal to win it in overtime. They kicked it. It was perfectly straight. I'm sure I stopped breathing again. It came up short. By this point I was light-headed.

Carolina went 3 and out and had to punt the ball on the next possession. St. Louis worked its way back down the field, back into field goal range. I was becoming ill again. Then, Marc Bulger forced a pass in to Torry Holt that Ricky Manning Jr. just outfought him for. That interception set us up on our own 35. I think I passed out at this point. This was just too much!

St. Louis stopped us twice and got it to 3rd and 14 on our own 31 when the first overtime was over. Erin asked what happened next. I told her I've never seen a game go into a second overtime. Do they flip the coin again? Do they just switch sides? I told her that during the regular season if a game went into overtime and was still tied at this point that the game just ended in a tie. Obviously this can't happen in the playoffs as one team has to advance. They did in fact just switch sides. 2 overtimes! Breathe!

The first play of the second overtime wound up being the last play of the second overtime. Our savior Jake Delhomme, a Louisiana boy just like myself complete with the accent and everything, hit Steve Smith on a slant pattern and Steve just hit the afterburners and outran everyone for a 69 yard touchdown. I was jumping up and down and yelling at this point, as was just about every one else within earshot in our apartment complex. Game over. Carolina wins 29-23. 7 point underdogs in the game. Now we're in the NFC Championship. It was just so very sweet.

It's been like this all season though, they rarely dominate a team, they just find a way to win. I liken it to Ohio State when they won the National Championship two years ago. They won the close ones, won the overtime ones and just kept on finding a way to win. These Panthers have earned the nickname "The Cardiac Cats" and I'm proud I've been there for it all, despite the 79 extra gray hairs I have as a result.

The next day every one in Charlotte became huge Green Bay fans, because if Green Bay beat Philly, the NFC Championship was coming to Charlotte. Green Bay jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but still managed to find a way to lose, in overtime no less. It was tough, being so close to actually having the chance to go to the NFC Championship in my own city, but the Panthers are still clawing their way in to Philadelphia this weekend with a shot at the Super Bowl. It's a beautiful thing.