Super Bowl Prediction

Well, we’ve come down to the final game.  Arizona vs Pittsburgh for all the marbles.  On the surface this looks like a classic battle of contrasting styles with the high powered offense of the Cardinals running head on into the bruising defense of the Steelers.  But, if you look deeper you see that Pittsburgh is averaging 29 points a game in it’s two playoff games while the Arizona defense in it’s three playoff contests has forced 12 turnovers.  I think this is the key matchup.  Arizona’s offense is going to put up some points and Pittsburgh’s defense is going to make some big plays, it’s what they’ve done all year and I don’t think it’s going to change now.  The question becomes will Pittsburgh’s offense with injuries to both QB Ben Rothlisberger and WR Hines Ward be able to put up enough points themselves and will they see the Cardinals defense that forced those turnovers in the playoffs or the one that ranked 28th in the league during the regular season allowing 26.6 points a game.

Pick: I’m going to go against the grain here and say the Cardinals continue to force the turnovers and score just enough to win.  Arizona 27, Pittsburgh 24

Last Week: 2-0

Season: 101-48-1

Well, that’s it for this season, enjoy the game!

NFL Conference Championship Game Predictions

Well, we’re getting down to it now.  Only four teams are left with a chance to call themselves Super Bowl Champs.  Who would have thought coming in to the playoffs that at this point Arizona would still be alive while both Manning boys and the Titans would be done.  Anyway, here are my picks for who will meet in Super Bowl 43.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh: The Steelers appear to be the clear favorite to win it all at this point with the highest remaining seed and the league’s best defense during the regular season.  However, they come up against a Ravens defense that has allowed just 19 points while forcing 8 turnovers in two playoff games.  This looks like a smash mouth defensive struggle as Pittsburgh looks to knock off Baltimore for the third time this season.  The Steelers won the previous two meetings by a total of seven points.  I think being at home and the fact that Baltimore will be playing for the 18th week in a row gives the very slight edge to the Steelers.

Pick: Pittsburgh

Philadelphia at Arizona: This is also a rematch from the regular season as the Eagles hammered the Cardinals 48-20 on Thanksgiving in Philadelphia.  However, this match up will be in Arizona and the Cardinals have played much better at home.  Arizona’s offense has been it’s calling card all season and the playoffs have been no exception has they are averaging 31.5 points a game in the postseason.  But in their two playoff games the defense has come up with some playing plays forcing 9 turnovers including six last week at Carolina.  The Eagles defense has been stout as well allowing just 12.5 points a game and forcing 5 turnovers of their own in their two playoff games.  I think the return of Anquan Boldin will only make the Cardinals offense even better as they are the only one of the three teams having that have played twice in the postseason to have topped 30 points in b0th games.  I think that will be the difference in this game.

Pick: Arizona

Last Week: 1-3

Season: 99-48-1

NFL Divisional Playoff Predictions

This weekend the big boys getting going after last weeks byes.  Here’s who I think will win.

Tennessee over Baltimore-This should be a knockdown, drag out fight between two teams with stout defenses who like to run the ball as evidenced by Tennessee’s 13-10 win early in the season.  Given the extra time to prepare and being at home I like Tennessee to get the win again.

Carolina over Arizona-The Cardinals did well to make a lot of people (including yours truly) to look bad by beating Atlanta at home last week.  However, I don’t think they’ll have enough to take out the Panthers who are the only team not to lose at home this year.  It will be especially difficult if Anquan Boldin is unable to play or limited by his injury.

New York Giants over Philadelphia-This is teh rubber match between these two teams this year with each team winning on the other one turf.  While I give all kinds of credit to Donovan McNabb and the Eagles for getting to this point, I think with the week off to rest some of their banged up players (namely Brandon Jacobs), I think the Giants will be more like the team that scored 36 points on the Eagles in week 10 than the one that struggled to get 14 points in week 14.

Pittsburgh over San Diego-The Chargers have made a valiant effort to still be playing at this point in the season, but I think they are just too banged up to knock off the Steelers in the cold and the muck of Pittsburgh.  Although their chances improve if Ben Rothleisberger shows any ill effects from his concussion.

Last Week: 2-2

Season: 98-45-1

NFL Wildcard Playoff Predictions

This weekend starts the one and done stage of the NFL season.  Here’s who I think will still be standing.

Atlanta over Arizona-This is a match up of two powerful offenses that get it done in different ways.  Arizona ranked 4th in the NFL in total offense almost exclusively behind Kurt Warner and the 2nd best passing game in the league.  The Cardinals however, were the worst rushing offense at just 73.6 yards a game.  That inability to run could be a problem against the Falcons, who ranked 6th in total offense and will look to control the clock behind Michael Turner and the league’s 2nd best rushing attack.  Atlanta is also the hotter and maybe more confident team coming in having won five out of six while Arizona lost four out of five before a season ending 34-21 win over Seattle.

Indianapolis over San Diego-I think this is an uphill battle for the Chargers.  Despite the fact they won four straight to steal the AFC West from the Denver Broncos, they face the hottest team in the league in the Colts who have won nine straight.  Regardless of the health of LaDanian Tomlinson, I don’t think the match ups are good for San Diego either.  The Chargers offense relied much more heavily on Phillip Rivers and the passing game than was probably expected at the start of the year, ranking 7th in the league throwing the ball.  However, the Colts ranked 6th in the league against the pass.  On the other side of the ball, MVP Peyton Manning and the Colts offense ranked 5th in pass offense and will face a Chargers defense that ranked next to last in defending the pass.

Baltimore over Miami-The plan for the Ravens all year has been simple: run the ball, ranking 4th in rush offense and play great defense, ranking 2nd in total defense and pass defense and 3rd in rush defense and scoring defense.  For Miami, who may be the 2nd hottest team in the league having won 9 of their last 10 games, their offense has been more balanced ranking 10th throwing the ball and 11th running it.  On defense they could give the Ravens some problems as they ranked 10th in the league against the run.  However, I just don’t think the Dolphins have the explosive weapons on offense to deal with the powerful Ravens defense.

Philadelphia over Minnesota-The Eagles are the only one of the eight teams playing this weekend to rank in the top ten in both total offense (9th) and total defense (3rd).  I wouldn’t look for a ton of rushing yards in this game as the Vikings were the best at stopping the run allowing just 76.9 yards a game and the Eagles ranked 4th at just 92.6 yards a game.  That last stat could bode very badly for Minnesota who relies heavily on the run ranking 5th in the league at 145.8 yards a game on the ground, while ranking 25th through the air offensively.  The Eagles conversely rank 6th in passing yards and just 22nd running the ball.  I think these numbers point to an Eagle victory and a date next week with the defending champs in New York.

Last Week: 12-4

Season: 96-43-1