Philly vs Baltimore Super Bowl on the way?
The Pitt vs Baltimore game on Sunday has all the makings of a backyard brawl
between two familiar combatants. These teams generally do not like each other and for the viewers like most of us are, that are not attached to either team toomuch, makes for better theater.
I look forward to Ray Lewis, Bart Scott or Terrell Suggs smashing Big Ben
hard to cause some turnovers. I also think that James Harrsion will probably
do the same to Joe Flacco. Whomever is less apt to turn it over will win this
game. I am banking on Balimore to continue their defensive dominance, kind
of like in 2000
and wreak havoc on the Pittsburgh offense. Rothisberger is a good QB that is prone to throwing picks at the wrong time when pressured. I think the stout Baltimore defense will continue this tread. I also feel that Flacco will staycomposed, along with McGahee and McClain to play some ball control, and also their other viable options like Dereck Mason on offense to score some points. Pittsburgh is a tough place to play but as history has shown us, (January 1995, 1998, 2002, 2005) that it is not
impossible to win there. Baltimore lost two very tough games to Pitt this seasonbut I feel with their being battle tested will help them immensely. It is very hardto beat a team 3 times in one season, especially a rival like Baltimore. My pick in this game is Baltimore 16 Pittsburgh 13 in an real tight defensive battle.What would you expect here.
As for the NFC Championship game I know that there is a lot of sentiment for
the Arizona Cardinals this week. I can understand that a lot of people want a team that has basically sucked for the better part of 30 years to taste success. I would not mind seeing them win, but I think their flaws are too big to overcome. Also from a trend standpoint, the only team that went 9-7 during the regular season since 1978 when the 16 game season was introduced, that went to the Super Bowl was the 1979 LA Rams. So the probability of this happening is not that great. Yes Philly also only
won 9 games but their 9-6-1 record is a bit better. It is really amazing that Philly even made the playoffs when they had to depend on Tampa Bay losing a home to Oakland and Chicago losing at Houston as well.
As for the game, I feel this will be a high scoring somewhat close game. Ever since Donvan McNabb was benched ironically vs the Ravens, he has played lights out for the most part. He had a field day vs this same Arizona team on Thanksgiving Night in Philly. With him and Westbrook leading the way, I feel that the Eagles will score their 30 pts again vs Arizona. The Cards do look good on offense and did a masterful job led by Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald at Carolina last week. They will put up their share of points as well but I think the better defense in the Eagles with super coordinator Jim Johnson leading the way, will slow down Warner and Co with enough
pressure to cause at least a turnover or two to help them win the game. My final score prediction is Philly 31 Arizona 27 in a very entertaining game to watch.