Alas! The bittersweet day known as "Championship Sunday" is upon us. This is truly the last "real" Sunday for the NFL. The final four teams will be reduced to two by the end of Sunday night and we will be left with the Super bowl remaining. Rumor has it the pregame show for The Big Game will begin Monday at 8AM.
After all the workouts, training camp, games, all the plays, the injuries, upsets, and drama ( both on and off the field ) we are left with an improbable matchup in the NFC if Philly vs. Arizona. How many in week 16 of the NFL season saw that coming?
In the AFC Pittsburgh and Baltimore a pair of bitter division rivals will play for a third time this season. The previous two matches have been decide by a total of 7 points with Philly come up on top in both games.
Last week I went 3-1 with my sole loss being the Cardinals coming out victorious over Carolina and Jake "6 turnovers" Delhomme doing his best Brett Favre impersonation.Once again: who saw that coming?
Anyways here are my picks:
NFC Championship Game: The Eagles are a 4 point favorite heading into the desert. After their upset last week ( you may recall I picked them to beat Big Blue outright), the Eagles are one game away from the Big Dance. It will be the 5th and probably last time the duo of McNabb and Reid will be in this position in the last 8 years. That should give Philly a lot of emotion and motivation heading into the game. But I smell an upset here. The Cards just took it to the Panthers last week without Anquan Boldin.
He looks like he will play this week. Coupled with all world receiver Larry Fitzgerald and a guy named Kurt Warner I am taking the points and the Cardinals. Don't be surprised if Arizona wins outright.
In the AFC game Baltimore is a 6 point dog to the Steelers. As a Pat fan I would love to see the Steelers lose this game but I think Baltimore is going to come up short. I don't believe in that "it's tough to beat a team three times in one year" philosophy. Each game is an independent event and Baltimore really should have lost last week as they were outplayed by the Titans and won as a result of Titan turnovers in the red zone and penalties. The Steelers got a great game from Willie Parker last week and Big Ben seems to have shaken off the injury he sustained in the last regular season game. It kills me to do this but I am giving the points and taking the Steelers.
-Steve
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