Mattie T’s NFC & AFC Championship Game Previews

Here it is! We’re down to 4 teams who will be fighting on 60 minutes come Sunday for a berth to Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida on February 1st.

3 of the 4 starting quarterbacks left do have previous Super Bowl experience, with the exception of Baltimore’s Joe Flacco.

3 of the 4 teams have all appeared in a Super Bowl this past decade with the exception of Arizona, who will be making their first NFC Championship Game appearence in franchise history.

Now let’s see who i think will earn berths to Super Bowl XLIII!

Sunday at 2pm CST on FOX.

Philadelphia Eagles playoff history: Have won 2 of 5 career NFC Championship Game appearences with the last win in 2004 over Atlanta.

Arizona Cardinals playoff history: Will make their first NFC Championship Game appearance on Sunday.

Not a lot of people expected Arizona to make it this far into the playoffs, but they are sitting just 60 minutes away from possibly making their 1st ever Super Bowl appearence.

In order to accomplish this feat though, they will have to beat a red-hot Philadelphia Eagles team that has won 6 of their last 8 games.

Good news for the Cardinals, as Anquan Boldin will be available on Sunday after missing the team’s Divisional Playoff win over Carolina.

In the 6 quarters that Boldin has missed in the playoffs, Arizona has outscored their opponents 46-20.

Arizona’s resurgent defense has been the biggest story out of all 4 remaining playoff teams, as they have forced 9 takeaways & have held both Michael Turner/DeAngelo Williams in check during their magical run.

Philadelphia does have a big concern regarding running back Brian Westbrook, who re-injured his bothersome right knee during the team’s Divisonal Playoff win against New York.

With Westbrook most likely not at 100%, Donovan McNabb will have to shoulder a bigger load offensively in hopes of leading the Eagles to their 2nd Super Bowl appearence in the last 4 years.

Problem is, McNabb leads all remaining postseason quarterbacks with 3 interceptions & is also the only remaining quarterback who has been sacked multiple times.

Kurt Warner is still going strong at 37 years old & is having his best season since 2001…which ironically, was the last year that he appeared in a Super Bowl. Take a guess who his former team, the Rams beat to reach the big game? You guessed it, McNabb & the Eagles.

Arizona is the one team that can feed off the emotion from their home crowd, as over 70,000 fans are expected to fill a noisy & raucous University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday afternoon. I have liked the Cardinals’ recent re-commital to the run, which makes them a more dangerous offense from here on out. While the Eagles’ run defense is very good, it can also give up big plays as both Adrian Peterson & Brandon Jacobs have broken off runs of 25 yards or more so far during the playoffs.

Philadelphia has definitely had their fair share of Conference Championship Game heartbreaks over the past 8 years, so Eagles fans should get ready for yet another disappointment.

Mattie T’s Prediction: Cardinals 33, Eagles 27.

Sunday at 5:30 pm CST on CBS.

Baltimore Ravens playoff history: Won their only Conference Championship appearance in 2000 over Oakland.

Pittsburgh Steelers playoff history: Have lost 3 of their last 4 Conference Championship appearences dating to 1997.

So here we are with Ravens/Steelers, Part 3. The last AFC Championship Game to feature two teams from the same division was Tennessee/Jacksonville in 1999, with the Titans recording a 33-14 road win to reach Super Bowl XXXIV.

Baltimore will try & do the unthinkable on Sunday, which is to beat three straight division-winning teams on the road in order to get to the Super Bowl with a rookie quarterback & a rookie head coach.

Pittsburgh on the other hand, has survived through the NFL’s toughest schedule & will look to win their first home Conference Championship game since 1995 against Indianapolis. (Was highlighted by Jim Harbaugh’s famous “Hail Mary” pass as time expired…which was the last playoff game ever shown on the old NFL on NBC. Yes, i am old school!)

Both teams have excellent defenses that should provide a smashmouth & physical game, but Baltimore has a huge concern to worry about.

Ravens defensive end Terrell Suggs will be a game-time decision for Sunday with a shoulder injury that was suffered during the team’s Divisional Playoff win over Tennessee.

If Suggs cannot play, then the Ravens might turn to former Bear Brendan Ayanbadejo to start.

Pittsburgh has one major concern, as All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu is playing with a calf injury that almost kept him out of the team’s Divisional Playoff win over San Diego.

Baltimore had some problems slowing down Chris Johnson last week before his foot injury, and Willie Parker provides a similar challenge: Speedy running back with good cutback moves who WILL make tacklers miss. I applaud the Ravens for the run that they have made to this point,but i think sooner or later the fatigue will catch up to them from playing in SEVENTEEN straight weeks, as they haven’t had a bye since Week 2.

Willie Parker has played some of his best football late in the season, and i expect for Pittsburgh to stick with the run against a Baltimore defense that could be without Suggs on Sunday. As long as the Steelers keep pounding the ball, this will set up play-action passes downfield by Ben Roethlisberger to his pair of speedy wideouts, Santonio Holmes & Nate Washington.

This is going to be a very hard fought and physical football game, but in the end i think the host Steelers will emerge as AFC Champions & will head to their 2nd Super Bowl in the past 4 years.

Mattie T’s Prediction: Steelers 16, Ravens 13.

So there you have it! Pittsburgh vs. Arizona, aka the Ken Whisenhunt bowl. (Whisenhunt served as Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator when the Steelers won Super Bowl XL over Seattle.)

There will be no in-game blog of Super Bowl XLIII, as i will be enjoying the game at a local sports bar this year. 🙂

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