Mark Craig: Hats off to GMs for dream-come-true matchups

The four teams still alive in the NFL playoffs have strong coaches, great defenses, young franchise quarterbacks and general managers who brought it all together beautifully.

Green Bay's Ted Thompson and Pittsburgh's Kevin Colbert are top-five among NFL general managers. The Jets' Mike Tannenbaum is young (41) and climbing quickly. And Chicago's much-maligned Jerry Angelo is enjoying yet another redemption that has taken him and coach Lovie Smith from their perpetual hot seats to the doorstep of their second Super Bowl in five seasons.

"First, we weren't going to make the playoffs," said Bears defensive end Julius Peppers, Angelo's prized free-agent acquisition last offseason. "Then, we couldn't win the division. Now, I think I hear [people saying we can't beat the Packers]."

It's best not to doubt these four teams, nor the four men steering them through the rough waters of the modern-day NFL.

When Bill Cowher stepped down as Steelers coach after the 2006 season, Colbert -- who acts as a typical general manager even though his title is director of football operations -- took a chance on 34-year-old Mike Tomlin. The Steelers won a Super Bowl two years later and are back knocking on the door.

When Brett Favre waffled one too many times in Green Bay, Thompson put his foot down and staked his career on Aaron Rodgers, whom he had drafted three years earlier in his first move as general manager. In three playoff games since, Rodgers is 2-1 with 10 touchdown passes, one interception, a 129.4 passer rating and an average of 323 yards passing per game.

When the Jets needed a quarterback in 2009, Tannenbaum traded up and took a shot on greener-than-green Mark Sanchez. Today, Sanchez, at age 24, is the only quarterback in NFL history to win two road playoff games in consecutive seasons. A victory Sunday and he's the first -- ever -- with five road playoff victories.

The four general managers not only hired their current coaches and acquired their current quarterbacks. They also had a hand in shaping the best foursome of defensive units the conference title games has seen in 39 years.

For the first time since 1972, the final four teams all are ranked in the top six in points allowed. The Steelers (14.5) are No. 1, followed by the No. 2 Packers (15.0), No. 4 Bears (17.9) and No. 6 Jets (19.0), who got this far by holding Peyton Manning and Tom Brady to an average of 18.5 points the past two weekends.

Pittsburgh has the best of the four defenses in part because Colbert kept Dick LeBeau as defensive coordinator when he hired the defensive-minded Tomlin. At 73, LeBeau still has the league's best defense. In Pittsburgh's past three home playoff games, LeBeau's defense has allowed an average of 41 yards rushing while racking up 12 sacks and nine takeaways in three victories.

"We have an awesome working relationship because we have one very important thing in common," Tomlin said of Colbert. "We don't care who gets the credit, and all we want to do is win."

No one is better at dealing with adversity and pressure than the final four teams and their general managers.

Meanwhile in New York, nothing on or off the field distracts the Jets. They actually go looking for controversial players that other teams want to cast aside. Tannenbaum brings in guys such as Braylon Edwards, Antonio Cromartie and Santonio Holmes. Then, somehow, some way, Ryan makes it work.

"We don't make moves just to stay the same or make moves just to be selling newspapers or something," Ryan said. "You look at our roster and about half of it has been turned over in the past two years [and we've gone to consecutive AFC title games]. I think that's a real tribute to Mike Tannenbaum and his guys up there trying to bring in the right kind of players."

Sunday is a dream-come-true day for the NFL. The league's two biggest markets (Chicago and New York) are playing the most storied franchise (Green Bay) and the most successful one of the Super Bowl era (Pittsburgh).

All that's left is to play the games. The general managers already have done their jobs.