Where's the Outrage?

There’s a lot of stuff going on in the NFL this week. Coaches getting fired (Jon Gruden [should have been fired 2 years ago] was fired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and coaches getting hired (Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants). But the real question and the real news will occur later on today as championship Sunday gets underway.

Philadelphia Eagles versus Arizona Cardinals

First of all, no one expected the Arizona Cardinals to be here.  They were basically ignored because all of the “smart football folks” thought that the Atlanta Falcons would run over the Arizona Cardinals.  They expected Kurt Warner to throw five or six interceptions. That didn’t happen.

The reason that the Arizona Cardinals are hosting the NFC championship this weekend is because of three things — Kurt Warner, a running attack and the Arizona Cardinals’ defense. In the last two weeks, the Arizona Cardinals’ defense stopped the high-powered running attack of the Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons. They forced six turnovers from Jake Delhomme. The Cardinals are not running over people, but they’re running the ball enough to control the clock and setup our relatively short third-down.  The combination of James, Hightower and Arrington have been effective enough. More importantly, they haven’t turned the ball over. The Arizona Cardinal’s offensive line has given Kurt Warner just enough time to find Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald may have the best hands in football.

The Philadelphia Eagles continued to be a head scratcher. Six weeks ago they were a team in disarray. Donovan McNabb had been benched.  strong>Andy Reid was about to be run out of town because his high-powered offense was sputtering, to say the least. Then, something happened. Donovan McNabb got benched and the defense responded. That’s right. The defense responded! If you look at the numbers, the defense began creating turnovers. They began sacking the quarterback. Simply put, they began to get after it. The key to the game from Philadelphia’s perspective is Donovan McNabb must take care of the ball, Brian Westbrook must get the ball 20 to 25 times (and stay healthy throughout the game) and the Philadelphia defense must create turnovers.

In my book, this game is a toss-up. I believe the key to this game will be the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive line. The Arizona Cardinals must be able to pick up the frequent and persistent blitzes from the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Cardinals’ offensive line can push the Eagles around just a little bit, that will give them enough room to run the ball and set up play-action pass. If they are able to do this they will win the game.

Pittsburgh Steelers versus Baltimore Ravens

This game is relatively easy. By that I mean easy to predict. This is going to be a hard-hitting game. If you like defense you will love this game. Both teams have outstanding defenses. Both teams have relatively anemic offenses. The Baltimore Ravens have a much better running game than the Pittsburgh Steelers do. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a much more experienced quarterback than the Baltimore Ravens do. The problem that the Steelers have is their offensive line. Their offensive line has been relatively porous over the last several years. Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked and hit a lot this year.  If the Ravens are able to create turnovers and (this is the key) capitalize on those turnovers, they will be able to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh. On the other hand, if the game is close in the fourth quarter, the Ravens will lose. Ben Roethlisberger will find a way to win.

I would look for the Baltimore Ravens to try to go deep several times early in the game to try to get a couple of easy scores.

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