How many people can honestly say that they had Arizona and Philly picked for the NFC Championship Game? Probably as many that have made solid returns in the market this year, or none. This also might be the 1st time in Conference Championship history that both teams participating in the title game did not have at least 10 regular season wins on their resume; amazing.
Now to the story lines.
The Eagles have been in this game in five of the last eight years, only advancing in one out of the first four tries. Will this be two? Can McNabb keep his hot hand of limiting untimely mistakes and making big plays in crucial situations up?
Can the Eagles get Westbrook un-tracked, something they’ve been unable to do in the first two playoff games aside from the 71-yard TD screen pass vs. Minnesota. Can the defense continue to play lights out against this dangerous Cardinals passing game?
For the Cardinals, will the clock strike midnight for Cinderella? After finishing out an unimpressive final quarter of the NFL season, can they keep up their impressive play from the first two playoff games vs. the Eagles. Can RB James running the football keep the Eagles defense honest and not allow them to key on Warner? Can Arizona’s defense step up once again?
In the late game, featuring two teams that absolutely hate each other, the Ravens and Steelers, will the Ravens finally finish on the right side of the score. Both games came down to final plays this season with the last one featuring a controversial ending.
Can Baltimore get enough out of the ground game to allow Flacco opportunities in the passing game? Will the defense be able to continue to create turnovers and give the offense excellent field position? Will Joe Flacco be the first rookie QB to lead his team to a Super Bowl, and as a wild card team nonetheless?
Will the Steelers be able to take advantage of playing in their home field and beat Baltimore in that very challenging third meeting of the season? Can Pittsburgh keep Roethlisberger upright long enough to make plays? How will RB Willie Parker do against an extremely stout defensive unit?
All of these questions and scenarios will be answered this week when we go through our detailed game analysis. So make sure you check back to find out.
