Conference Championships

This has been a huge week in the NFL. Tony Dungy retired, Jon Gruden was fired, and the Cardinals Cinderella story will expire. I can not wait for the Conference Championship games. Even though, once again, I will be stuck selling drugs at CVS Pharmacy, hmph.

Anyway, the Birds vs. the…well umm…Birds. I am pumped about seeing the Eagles play the Cardinals in what should be a high scoring game. The only thing that could stop that is the play of the Quarterbacks. Kurt Warner has never played particularly well against the Jim Johnson blitz happy defense and Donovan McNabb (along with the entire Eagles offense) has not been playing up to their potential. I think D Mack will come up huge in this his fifth NFC Championship game. Maybe 18-24 with 250 yards and 2 touchdowns…we’ll see, but Kurt Warner may not be so lucky. He is an old man now and ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ is a distant speck in his rearview. So with the maximum four seconds he will have to throw before being enveloped by the Eagles defense does not bode well for Mr. Warner.

Therefore, the Cards are going to be playing on Edge…literally. Edgerrin James has actually been a positive for them this postseason with his nearly four yard per rush average and one touchdown. But don’t look for James to produce great numbers against the third ranked defense in the league during the regular season (92.2 rushing yards allowed per game). So while I still believe that the entire city of Philadelphia is still cursed, I (for now) feel safe saying that the Eagles are going to Tampa. Eagles 35 Cardinals 20. (DISCLAIMER: I make this prediction only because the Phillies are “World F***ing Champions,” as per Chase Utley. If this feat had not been achieved I would not have had the confidence to pick the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl because of the William Penn Curse. I thank you for your time.)

The AFC Championship pits a couple of heavy hitting defenses against each other. Numbers one and two statistically during the regular season, these two defenses have always been tops in the league since I can remember. Best part of this match up is, much like the Eagles-Giants last week, they are bitter divisional rivals. So not only are these teams meeting for the third time this season, but they hate each other (see how B-more feels about Hines Ward here http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.steelers15jan15,0,5770924.story). With all of the heat between these two teams, this game is going to be more fun to watch than your last “Little People Big World” marathon (except not as hilarious…that Roloff guy got a DUI!).

Big problem is that the Ravens have not had a week off in 18 straight weeks because of Hurricane Ike. The Hurricane forced them to take their bye during week two and play against the Texans during what should have been their bye…week 10. That could come back to haunt them with their 12 man injury report this week. Big names on the list? Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are probable, Le’Ron McClain,Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, Terrell Suggs, and Mark Clayton are all Questionable and Samari Rolle is Doubtful. These eight players are intricate to the success of the Ravens both offensively and defensively. I expect all of the previous players minus Rolle to play, but how effective they will be is tough to estimate. Ray Lewis could play hard with a broken leg, and Todd Heap is going to have to step up big for a pressed Flacco. I still have confidence for the Ravens however. We must reflect on the season between these two teams.

The Steelers have already won the previous two meetings by a combined seven points…two games figured by seven points…now that is as close as you and your cousin before you found out it was weird (admit it…FREAK). I just can not imagine a team beating another three times in a year. It’s just too difficult to do in our era’s NFL and the Ravens are looking for revenge. What better time to get it than for a Super Bowl berth. Look for another close one Ravens 17 Steelers 16. Matt Stover comes up huge.

Well that’s my Super Bowl picks. See you in Tampa.

p.s. Go to http://www.speakwithoutinterruption.com/site/ to read some more of my stuff. Thanks