3-1 last week was a really good record for me, and I was robbed on the Ravens game by the refs! Flying high this week are the bird teams. All the bird underdogs won last week, the Cardinals, The Ravens, The Eagles...Well, there's also the Steelers, but they weren't an underdog or a bird team. Again this week, we get rematches of games played in the regular season. As last week proved, the regular season matchups are largely irrelevant, as Arizona destroyed Carolina, Baltimore beat Tennessee, and Pitt destroyed San Diego despite playing close earlier this year. I think every team is much improved over their regular season selfs. Pitts is finally healthy, The Ravens D is ridiculous, Arizona is running the ball, and McNabb is playing the best he's ever played. To the picks!
Philadelphia @ Arizona - The last matchup was the first game after the McNabb benching. He had something to prove that week and he did it. He came out blazing, throwing 4 TD passes. They put up 48 points on Arizona this week. This was truely the beginning of the incredible run into the playoffs the Eagles have started. I don't really take a lot out of that game when predicting this one. It was in Philly and McNabb was playing with an immense passion. Arizona, on the other hand, has played incredible as an underdog in these playoffs. They have THROTTLED teams defensively. They remind much of the Colts team who won the superbowl a couple years ago. No defense in the regular season shuts down offenses in the playoffs. Boldin is expected to be out or very limited. Noone expects him to be anywhere close to 100%. Nonetheless, I'm buying the soup that the Cards are cooking. I love home dogs. I look for Fitz to have another huge game and Warner to clinch his spot in Canton. Arizona wins 28-24.
Baltimore @ Pittsburgh - To say this game is going to be physical is going to be an understatement. I'm going to make a bold statement here, and I'm sure that noone will agree with me. A physical game is going to be a HUGE advantage to Pittsburgh. Baltimore had their bye week in week 2 when a hurricane ripped through Houston. They have played, I think, 16 strait weeks without an off week. The injuries are starting to show. They were physically dominated by Tennessee, and they are quite lucky that Johnson went out early, or they'd be sitting at home this week. Suggs is expected to be very limited. He's only going to be in for pass rush coverage. The Steelers, depsite injuries, still handled their business early in the season against Baltimore. As difficult as it is to beat the same team (especially a really good team) 3 times in a season, I see the Steelers pulling this one out, and I don't think it's going to be as close as the other two. Pitt wins 20-10
So there you go, Arizona vs Pitt in the superbowl. Write it down and call your bookie. I'M MONEY BABY!