The Road to the Super Bowl

This week's AFC and NFC Championship games feature one that looks like it will be an old fashioned grudge match between Pittsburgh and Baltimore and one that features two teams that didn't even win ten games in the regular season. The only real appealing Super Bowl match up that there is would be Philadelphia against Pittsburgh and that's one of the reasons that I'm picking against both of those teams this weekend. The love fest between Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb is making me feel uncomfortable and I don't think I could take two teams from the same state playing in the sports biggest game of the year. Plus, I pretty much hate both of these teams (I know, that's real objective, huh?)

Even though it's championship weekend, winning team is still in CAPS.

Philadelphia at ARIZONA
I can't believe that I'm doing this but I'm picking the Cardinals. Less than a month ago the Cardinals came to Foxboro and got embarassed 47-7 and the score wasn't even that close. The fact that they've rebounded from that loss and won a home playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons and then went on the road and embarassed the Carolina Panthers, with some help from Jake Delhomme, says a lot about this team. I know that Philly beat the defending Super Bowl champs last weekend but that was a beat up and worn down Giants team that they were playing.

BALTIMORE at Pittsburgh
If my prediction is correct, we'll have a Super Bowl that virtually no one will care who wins outside of each home town, along with a team that was only in the playoffs because of a better conference record than the Patriots. While Pittsburgh seemingly destroyed the Chargers last weekend, there were just too many fluky plays in that game to say that the score reflected the actual play on the field. I think that Ben Rothlesberger is more banged up than we're being led to believe and I think that Willie Parker is one big hit away from going out for the game. The Ravens defense is relentless and if they can control the field position game it will give rookie quarterback Joe Flacco the confidence he needs to earn his first trip to the Super Bowl.

So it'll be Arizona and Baltimore in this year's Snoozer Bowl.