New Orleans at Tampa Bay 10 a.m.

DOG DAY AFTERNOON

Before the season started, the Sporting News predicted this as the matchup for the NFC championship game. Which suggests the Sporting News ought to go back to doing what it did best, which was printing baseball box scores.

In fairness, the magazine was not alone. The Buccaneers, with their off-season acquisition of Brad Johnson, and the Saints, with their worst-to-first ascension in the NFC West last season, had many people fooled, including their coaches, Tony Dungy and Jim Haslett.

After 13 regular-season games, Tampa Bay and New Orleans are 7-6, Johnson & Johnson is a brand of adhesive tape used to piece Dungy’s resume together.

And Haslett is so irritated with the state of things in New Orleans, he can’t kick straight, so, according to Sports Illustrated, he zaps Hasbro the family dog through a remote-controlled electrified collar.

(Personal note to Hasbro: Hope you were out digging holes in the backyard while tapes of the last St. Louis game were being reviewed.)

This, then, is the last chance for both underachievers.

To the winner: The NFC’s last wild card, probably.

To the loser: Run, Hasbro, run!

The line: Tampa Bay by 21/2.