NFL Playoffs: Conference Round

Some interesting matchups.

I'm going to make my picks now, while this weekend's games are fresh in my mind.

Philadelphia at Arizona: A 9-7 team vs. a 9-6-1 team. Who would have thought? I love this game. Both teams are on fire, both teams are playing excellent defense, both teams' playmakers are getting things done. This is easily the best and most interesting matchup of barely-above-.500 teams, ever. I love how Arizona's defense is playing right now, but I think Philly's defense has been even better.

Can't wait to watch this game. If you had told me these two teams would be in the NFC championship several weeks ago, I'd have thought you were insane. I'm rooting for Arizona, but I don't think they'll pull through. I think Philadelphia will find a way to break up the Cardinal offense's rythym, and I think McNaab and Westbrook will come up huge when it counts. Donovan is getting it done right now. Eagles 34, Cardinals 24.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh: Another great matchup. Two more teams playing outstanding defense and running the ball. I seriously think this is the most interesting Conference Round we've seen in terms of matchups in years.

This is another game where I'm rooting for one team but picking another. I want the Ravens to win, but I believe Pittsburgh's defense is too much for Baltimore. Pittsburgh's experience could be the proverbial "x-factor" in this one. I also love how Tomlin is coaching. Pittsburgh's been my pick for the Super Bowl since the start of the playoffs, and I'm sticking with them here. Close, hard fought game. Steelers 21, Ravens 20.

I see an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl.

So I was 1 for 4 in my picks this weekend, but I think my scores were close if they were the other way around. Hopefully I can pick better this round.

Philly @ Arizona -- Cards have made believers out of me. They've stopped Turner, they've stopped DeAngelo, they WILL stop Westbrook. Both defenses are playing outstanding, but I really don't think Warner can be contained. Arizona 27, Philly 21

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh -- So Big Ben got it done. I had San Diego in what was a toss up game for me, but Pittsburgh has shown that they are dominant. Sproles had 11 carries for 15 yards after gaining a thousand total yards the game before. Ben has shown he can play well against great defenses throughout his career and much of the season. Steelers will be too much for Joe Flacco and this Ravens offense. Pitt 20, Baltimore 10


I mean seriously, who wants a Pennsylvania Super Bowl? Not this guy. The media is already handing it to Pitt and Philly. A Mr. Kurt Warner will have something to say about that.

I'm a believer in Warner and the Ravens D. Cards and Ravens!

I'll take Pittsburgh over Baltimore and Philly over Arizona.

Philly @ Arizona: Gotta ride my guys. McNabb, Westbrook, and all of JJ's kids. Eagles 28 Cardinals 20

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh: Too much Ed Reed. Ravens 15 Steelers 10

Well beings I was one of the few that picked Arizona to win the Panthers, I will let it ride and pick Arizona again to defeat the Eagles, 31-14. Their defense has been butter because they are on a roll forcing key turnovers, and I think they can do the same to McNabbs pass happy offense. Not to mention I believe Arizona fans will be rabid next week to give their offense some problems at the line of scrimmage.

As far as the other game,

No rookie QB has taken a team to the super bowl let alone win 3 consecutive road playoff games. The Steelers are also very dangerous with a healthy Willie Parker. I think the Steelers can put up more points on the board than Baltimore. Steelers win 24-10.

Raven win 38-14
Eagles win 27-21

Those are some high scores you got there, especially Ravens and Pitt.

Pitt giving up 38 points?

I don't see it.

A team with less than 10 wins will be in the Super Bowl for only the third time in 40 years.

At this point, I have to pull for the Eagles, only so I wont have to hear Kurt Warner open yet another postgame interview with "Well, I give glory to God...".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Swampdog

A team with less than 10 wins will be in the Super Bowl for only the third time in 40 years.

At this point, I have to pull for the Eagles, only so I wont have to hear Kurt Warner open yet another postgame interview with "Well, I give glory to God...".

---

This is what I dislike about Kurt Warner. And didn't he "pray his way back" from that arm injury last season? Ugh...

That said, I do love him as a player, and I like the team a lot.

I'm rooting for them, but I think the Eagles are too much.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by justanewguy

This is what I dislike about Kurt Warner. And didn't he "pray his way back" from that arm injury last season? Ugh...

That said, I do love him as a player, and I like the team a lot.

I'm rooting for them, but I think the Eagles are too much.

---

Didn't Donovan say the same thing right after they won, I believe so. Come on guys, every athlete says that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bucher34

Didn't Donovan say the same thing right after they won, I believe so. Come on guys, every athlete says that.

---

Warner is in a different class, though. He's up there with guys like Kitna that talk about God at the drop of a hat.

Well, if you take a look at Warner's career, how he got there and what he is doing now, I would be thanking God too. Holy cow he's been replaced twice by younger, supposedly better quarterbacks (Bulger and Eli) and almost a third and soon-to-be (Leinart), but he still seems to fight and succeed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bucher34

Well, if you take a look at Warner's career, how he got there and what he is doing now, I would be thanking God too. Holy cow he's been replaced twice by younger, supposedly better quarterbacks (Bulger and Eli) and almost a third and soon-to-be (Leinart), but he still seems to fight and succeed.

---

Then where was God for Ryan Leaf's career?

The point is, the winner will thank God, but what about the loser? Logically, there's nobody to thank for a win except yourself and your teammates. Yeah, people are into God. That's fine. I don't mind people thanking God when they win something, but do they hold it against God when they lose? I guess I don't understand thanking God when you win, from a logical standpoint.

And, again, Warner is in a different class when it comes to being all about God.

I'm not going any further into this argument.

Seems to me like people are nitpicking. Sure, it's annoying...but athletes have so much to be thankful for...Warner simply chooses to express his thankfulness to a higher power to the World.

Nothing wrong with that. It's just like an actor thanking his parents for an Academy Award and his wife and his producer and his next door neighbor and his list maker and his agent and his dog.

It's simply just his way.

I understand what it's all about, it just makes him come off as kind of a douchebag, in my (very frank) opinion. Not just thanking God for a win (though, again, I addressed that point, it makes no logical sense, because there was a loser and all, and what, did God forsake the loser??)...

But praying your way back from injury, or making a claim that you, more or less, are on some sort of blessed mission from God. Without being funny in a Blues Brothers type of way about it...

I really doubt God is picking and choosing athletes and healing their injuries (Kitna prayed his way back from a concussion), or turning guys from grocery store shelf stockers into NFL MVPs.

But I guess I don't understand buying into religion, either, so yeah... I guess I'm through with this conversation too. :)

Like I said it's just his way of doing things.

I'm hoping for a Warner-less Super Bowl for one reason...the wives of the quarterbacks get face time, and I'd rather see someone not as blatantly annoying as Brenda Warner.

Quote:

---

I'm hoping for a Warner-less Super Bowl for one reason...the wives of the quarterbacks get face time, and I'd rather see someone not as blatantly annoying as Brenda Warner.

---

Ok, true story. I know a girl who actually dated Kurt for a month or so in their senior year of HS back in NW Iowa (1988). They went to Germany on an all-Iowa basketball trip. They took him down to the red light district and he went all God crazy on them and took off. Later, she was trying to get him into bed and he did the whole pre-marital thingie. Needless to say that her hormones and his didnt match.

Anywho, they all make fun of Brenda to this day as a huge inside joke. I never got it, but so be it.

Ravens/ Phillie.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OregonDuck1989

Pitt giving up 38 points?

I don't see it.

---

They gave up 31 to San Diego in the snow.

Well ... assuming you count the 7 points the refs stole when they overturned the pass to Vincent Jackson...

:rolleyes:

That was without a doubt the best catch I've ever seen. I'm a Pats fan so I pretty much hate both the Chargers and the Steelers, but I like good football. Nevertheless, it's hard to support a league that calls that an incompletion.

I think they said this is the most screwed up playoffs since 1971. If Baltimore knocks off the Steelers, it might be the most officially low seeded championships in Super Bowl history. I think that Baltimore will win 24-16. Phillie beats AZ 21-20.

What happened in 1971?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Clay Dreslough

They gave up 31 to San Diego in the snow.

Well ... assuming you count the 7 points the refs stole when they overturned the pass to Vincent Jackson...

:rolleyes:

That was without a doubt the best catch I've ever seen. I'm a Pats fan so I pretty much hate both the Chargers and the Steelers, but I like good football. Nevertheless, it's hard to support a league that calls that an incompletion.

---

San Diego IS the second highest scoring offense in the NFL.

Baltimore...isn't.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OregonDuck1989

San Diego IS the second highest scoring offense in the NFL.

Baltimore...isn't.

---

Good point. Even if you assume Ed Reed will get 7, and the defense tacks on 2 or 3 safeties (haha), that's still a LONG WAY from 38 points.

Tell me San Diego fans why an 8-8 team in the worst conference in the NFL should be my favorite?

Any game they win is a craps throw and you know it. If they win it all, I'll probably eat crow and wish I played the odds.

Any given Sunday

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Clay Dreslough

Good point. Even if you assume Ed Reed will get 7, and the defense tacks on 2 or 3 safeties (haha), that's still a LONG WAY from 38 points.

---

Indeed. I see the game being a huge defensive battle..considering the two defenses that will be playing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by grasshopper

Tell me San Diego fans why an 8-8 team in the worst conference in the NFL should be my favorite?

Any game they win is a craps throw and you know it. If they win it all, I'll probably eat crow and wish I played the odds.

Any given Sunday

---

what?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by grasshopper

Tell me San Diego fans why an 8-8 team in the worst conference in the NFL should be my favorite?

Any game they win is a craps throw and you know it. If they win it all, I'll probably eat crow and wish I played the odds.

Any given Sunday

---

Hey grasshopper, are you aware that San Diego lost?

Whoops sorry. Drunken bender since Giants lost plus huge sale on Sunday = confusion, money, and picking Ravens. My badd.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by grasshopper

Whoops sorry. Drunken bender since Giants lost plus huge sale on Sunday = confusion, money, and picking Ravens. My badd.

---

So which one of These Geniuses is you, grasshopper?

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11260320

Quote:

---

The Eagles' secondary is not Carolina's. It is better. It is deeper. And it is tougher to solve.

In fact, since Fitzgerald put up two touchdowns on Philadelphia on Thanksgiving, no wide receiver has caught a touchdown pass on the Eagles in six games, and only one receiver, period (New York Giants tight end Darcy Johnson), managed to beat them for a scoring catch.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by filihok

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11260320

---

This is why I pick Philly. Better defense than what Arizona has seen so far in the playoffs, and that team has been playing outstanding football going into this game. Arizona has been too, but they are outmatched. Still, I expect a close game, and I think Warner/Fitz will manage to make enough plays to keep the Cardinals in it. Boldin's health could be a big factor. He's supposed to play, but we'll have to wait and see how effective he'll be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by filihok

In fact, since Fitzgerald put up two touchdowns on Philadelphia on Thanksgiving, no wide receiver has caught a touchdown pass on the Eagles in six games, and only one receiver, period (New York Giants tight end Darcy Johnson), managed to beat them for a scoring catch.

---

Hmmm. If only the Cardinals could get their hands on this "Fitzgerald" guy. That would really help them.

;)

I heard an intersting fact on the Radio today ...

You have to go back to 2002 to find a QB who has played the Eagles defense more than once in a a season an has improved. Everytime for the last 6 years the QB have always gotten worse each time they faced Johnson's defence.

Warners stats for the 1st time they played this year

Code:

---

Arizona          Comp          Att          Yds          Pct          Y/A          Sack          YdsL          TD          Int          Rating
 K. Warner        21        39        235        53.8        6.0        0        0        3        3        65.7

---

if does worse than that he'll look like Jake Delhomme.

I predict a Baltimore - Philly Superbowl.

I gotta tell ya...it's really cool to drive around in Baltimore of late. Purple everywhere. Shades of 2000 again.

I have to figure if the Steelers play the Ravens on the field, the Ravens will win. If they play the way they've been playing, who knows, because if it goes the wrong way, they'll just send it upstairs and get it reversed. Last-minute TD grab in Baltimore a little outside the goal line? Send it upstairs, and poof! A magic six points! Chargers receiver pulls a perfect Lynn Swann impersonation for a big gain? Send it upstairs, and poof! No more catch! I suspect the Steelers will simply film their team playing, send it to the officials, and be declared the winners of the game had they shown up...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Clay Dreslough

Hmmm. If only the Cardinals could get their hands on this "Fitzgerald" guy. That would really help them.

;)

---

Quote:

---

McNabb threw four touchdown passes, Brian Westbrook tied a team record with four scores and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Arizona Cardinals 48-20 on Thursday night.

---

Or not...