An apology is required.

Yes, one may eventually be asked of Vikings coach Leslie Frazier for building a coaching staff filled with people who have either been demoted or have yet to prove they can succeed at their current jobs.

Today, though, let me be the one to offer the apology.

I'm sorry, Leslie, for questioning whether your vintage football philosophies could work in the modern world.

I'm sorry for questioning whether your vision of the bareknuckle 1985 Bears had skewed your perspective on the NFL in the Year of the Mayan Prophecy, when passes flew in NFL stadia like locusts in the Old Testament.

Whether your coaches and players will be good enough to win remains in doubt, but your philosophies will be on display all day Sunday, in the NFL's conference championship games.

Three of the four remaining teams play black-and-white football in the age of 3D color. Sunday provides proof that Frazier's vision of winning with a powerful running game and a stout defense doesn't necessarily require that he undergo Lasik surgery.

The Ravens have won a Super Bowl and sustained a decade of success by building around a fierce defense and a variety of offenses that are the equivalent of a drum solo at a concert -- providing lengthy bathroom breaks.

The Giants are coached by Tom Coughlin, who proudly stands for every crusty coach in the history of sports who ever yelled at his players for showing up just five minutes early to a meeting. They can throw the ball, but not because of a new-age spread offense or a reliance on bubble screens. They drop back in the pocket, keep extra blockers in, and chuck it downfield, just the way Norm Van Brocklin once did.

The 49ers may be the best example of what you, Leslie, wanted to happen this year with the Vikings. Jim Harbaugh took over a struggling team with a struggling veteran quarterback and a premier running back and pounded opponents into submission.

Last weekend, the two best passing teams in the NFL, New Orleans and Green Bay, were upset by teams with more traditional approaches, in the Giants and 49ers, giving the lie to the idea that if your quarterback doesn't need to ice his shoulder after each game, you can't be an elite NFL team.

The Giants, Ravens and 49ers use their running games, or more specifically the threat of their running games, to set up their passing games. The 49ers actually are at their best when they throw on first and second down, while defenses are lined up to stop running back Frank Gore. The Ravens are at their best when they hand it or throw it to running back Ray Rice. The Giants use multiple backs and a power running game to support Eli Manning.

It's not that teams need to succeed at running the ball to succeed in the playoffs. The Final Four teams ranked eighth, 10th, 20th and 32rd in rushing this season. But this postseason proves that teams don't necessarily need to be passing innovators to win.

Even the innovations of Patriots coach Bill Belichick are rooted in NFL tradition. While he uses tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez creatively, the idea of matching big, fast tight ends against slower linebackers or smaller defensive backs is as much an homage to NFL legends like John Mackey and Dave Casper as it is a new wrinkle.

This postseason has also proved again what had become cliché: That finesse passing teams are susceptible to bad conditions and layoffs. The Packers went two weeks without playing a complete game before facing the Giants, and their timing was atrocious. The Saints, unstoppable in the Superdome, often looked a step slower on the mushy grass in San Francisco.

There is room in the Super Bowl for someone with Frazier's philosophies. More to the point, the success of the 49ers proves that dynamic coaching can produce a winner overnight. That might be comforting to Frazier or, following a 3-13 season, it might feel a little threatening.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon and weekdays at 2 p.m. on 1500ESPN. His Twitter name is SouhanStrib. • jsouhan@startribune.com