Christopher Beck

NFL Conference Championship Predictions

Posted on 17. Jan, 2009 by Chris in Football Rants

Hello, sports fans! After spending the last five days or so beating the bushes for the latest and greatest NFL intel, I am finally ready to give you my five-star, super-lockdown, bet-your-momma’s-house-on-it predictions for this weekend’s games.

In case any of you doubt what I am about to tell you, I will remind you that I have in fact been 3 - 1 in each of the last two football weekends. While not exactly setting the world on fire, I would be willing to bet that there are a lot of folks in Vegas that would kill for that winning percentage.

Game 1: Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals

Sunday 3:00 pm on Fox

This game, to me anyway, is the tougher to pick of the two. Philadelphia did what I thought they would do to the Giants last week, winning 23 - 11 in the Meadowlands. Several of my cousins are not on speaking terms with me thanks to that, because they are positive that it was my prediction that sent the G-men over the edge. While I do not doubt the power that my MacBook Pro holds, I somehow think I have absolutely no influence on the results. But I digress.

Philadelphia Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson will blitz Cardinals QB Kurt Warner the moment the Eagles exit the tunnel for pre-game warm-ups. However, doing so can be costly. No signal caller has been blitzed more this season, and the ageless wonder can hit the hot route with the best of them. As strong as the Philly defense is, the corners leave a little something to be desired. And with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Bouldin both on the field this weekend, I believe the Eagles will be forced to call off the dogs after they get popped for big gains on some early slant routes.

On the other side of the ball, the Arizona defense has been playing out of their minds of late. I don’t know if someone has been substituting their Sugar Smacks for Wheaties, but the Cards D has been all over the place during the playoffs. It sort of reminds me a little bit of the defensive resurrection that Indianapolis went through during their Super Bowl run two seasons ago. Whatever it is, Arizona will need every bit of it against an Eagles team that put up a 40-spot on them on Thanksgiving.

In the end, though, I think the Cards will have their day. They are at home, playing improbably well, and seem to have all of the little intangibles to get the job done. Westbrook being injured for Philly doesn’t help the men in green, either.

38 - 33 Cardinals over the Eagles

Game 2: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Sunday 6:30 pm on CBS

Ok, I admit it. I am not really impartial here. But that doesn’t make what I am about to tell you wrong. The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to whoop that Ravens butt this weekend. Really. I am not kidding. Hey, where you going?

Let me tell you why. First of all, the Tennessee Titans exposed one flaw with the current Ravens defense, and that is if you have a fast running back that can get to the edge, you can move the ball. In the previous two games against the Ravens, Willie Parker did not play. Oh, I know he suited up in the last one and made a go of it. But did you see him run? That was not Fast Willie Parker. That was I Really Should Be Continuing My Rehab On My Knee Willie Parker. Over the last couple of weeks, though, Willie has gotten back to full strength. Just ask San Diego.

Secondly, Ben Roethlisberger also appears to have benefitted greatly from the bye week. Against the Chargers, his passes had a zip in them I had not seen for ages. I am not ashamed to admit that before last week’s game, I secretly wanted Byron Leftwich to play. Not because I want to bench Ben or anything stupid like that. It just seemed to me that the big guy had not been himself lately.  Well, I will happily put myself in timeout right now for that ridiculous notion, because Big Ben looked awesome.

But Ben and Willie are not the only pieces of the Pittsburgh offensive puzzle that will make a difference. Hines Ward has been killing the Ravens this year on first-down receptions, and Heath Miller missed both of the previous games against Baltimore. Can you say, Red Zone? That’s great, I knew you could.

Now, I don’t want to completely ignore Baltimore in this column, but I will (for the most part). Ray Lewis’ squad is normally Hell to play, but this weekend they will be missing T-sizzle, or Terrell Suggs to you non-Sirius NFL Radio subscribers. That is a HUGE loss. Suggsy is not the only injury on the Ravens better half, either. Basically, the blackbirds D looks more like a MASH unit then a football team right now. And who can blame them. They have basically had no bye week this year thanks to the game against Houston getting moved around early in the season.

There is no point talking about the Ravens offense, since they way Pittsburgh is playing D right now, Flacco and company will have a very forgettable day.

Bottom line is Pittsburgh is relatively healthy, and Baltimore isn’t. They have played twice so far this season, with the Steelers notching one in the win column both times. People like to say that third time is the charm, but in the NFL, that is not the case. In third meetings in the same season between teams in which one team has won the two previous matchups, the team that is 2 - 0 went on to defeat their opponent for the third time in 11 out of 16 chances. That does not bode well for the Ravens. Playing the game in Pittsburgh is like icing on the cake.

I think the Steelers will take control of this one fairly early. Look for the unflappable Flacco to have the kitchen sink thrown at him, and no ability to lean on the run against the nation’s number 1 Defense. Pittsburgh wins this one going away.

30 - 13 Steelers Stomp the Ravens

There you have it. My predicitons for the pernultimate NFL weekend. What are your predictions? You think I am nuts? Say so. I know you Eagles fans are chomping at the bit. Go ahead, tell me why I am wrong. I would love to hear your thoughts! (Just keep it clean, my kids may read this)

Tags: cardinals, eagles, football, playoffs, ravens, smack talk, steelers