Giants vs Eagles

[RKO]

These teams are playing this Sunday 1 PM ET and I just can't wait till the game. Being a Giants fan for the past 10 years never brought me boredom when watching them play. They are so exciting and especially last year in the Super Bowl. This year we are a different team with so many stars being traded, or retired and some are injured but the Giants still managed to get a 12-4 record. Now its the playoffs and the record doesn't really matter much but who do you guys think will win this Sunday and move on to face the winner of the Panthers/Cardinals game??

[Matthew]

I'll say New York based only on their performance against the Panthers in week 16. If the Giants get their running game going, they'll be fine. Philly is on fire though and look fantastic, but New York should be able to handle them.

My picks for this week:

Giants over Eagles
Panthers over Cardinals (this might even go into OT)

Ravens over the Titans
Steelers over Chargers

[Oznogrd]

I
Panthers over Cardinals (this might even go into OT)

Without Boldin? Also remember the Panthers have their DTs back: Edge/Hightower arent gonna do what Jacobs/Ward did. But I still think its gonna be closer than the experts say. The panthers have a hard time when they're heavily favored

As for the other ones:
Titans/Ravens is too close to call for me. Yes baltimores D is frigging amazing but their offense will choke and i see it happening this week. Its going to be whose offense gets 1 big play.

Eagles/Giants
I have to go with Giants as long as Jacobs is 100%. He's freakin beasty. As much as I wanna see the Eagles knock the Giants out, I just dont see happening.

Chargers/Pitt: I think this'll be a low scoring affair: i have no faith in Pitts offense. They dont show up when it matters. Pitts D is stellar though and will shut down the Chargers that lucked into playoffs.

[Matthew]

Without Boldin? Also remember the Panthers have their DTs back: Edge/Hightower arent gonna do what Jacobs/Ward did.

Where did you pull the Arizona run game to Giants run game comparison from? I was saying the Giants will beat the Eagles based on what I saw the Giants do to Panthers with their run game.

Who would of thought the Panthers would fall flat on their face the way they did though? I was expecting a shootout, not maybe the biggest boil over I've ever seen in the playoffs. The Cardinals got 5 picks and a fumble from Dellhome? Sweet Jesus.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but the Cardinals Defense isn't a powerhouse. You'd expect that type of performance from Balitmore, or the steelers, or the Bucs from 03. Either Delhome threw the game, or the Panthers simply didn't take the Cardinals seriously.

Chargers/Pitt: I think this'll be a low scoring affair: i have no faith in Pitts offense. They dont show up when it matters. Pitts D is stellar though and will shut down the Chargers that lucked into playoffs.

By luck you mean winning their last 4 games, right?

[jonthefon]

The Panthers made no effort to run the ball in the first half. After that first drive in which they sauntered down the field to score in five plays, it seemed like Delhomme was dropping back to pass the ball on first down each time and failing as a result. DeAngelo Williams ran 12 times for like 60 yards and I think 40 of them was on his first carry. I don't know why they left Larry Fitzgerald open so often either.

Eagles' D just killed Dumbface. Looks like the Giants really missed Plaxico. Means Arizona is hosting the NFC Championship Game: who would've thunk it?

The Steelers offence always shows up when it matters. They look like shit for an entire game, rely on the D to keep them in it and then produce a fourth-quarter drive out of their ass. Looks like they've won it now (bar a miracle).

[Oznogrd]

The panthers didnt take the cards seriously. They were making no effort to be physical with fitzgerald. There was 1 decent play fitz made: the rest he was so wide open that i could've caught that ball. My comparison of the run games came from in recent weeks the team that beat the panthers was the giants and they did it by running through them. No one had beaten them in a passing manner. The Cards did and it was unexpected. And Jake turned it over 6 times? you cant win like that. Jon is right though: they abandoned the run only down 10 seemed ludicrous to me. Abandon your team identity (strong running/strong D) blow the game...sounds about right.

The chargers werent so lucky by winning their last 4 games, but by the broncos choking as badly as they did. lets look at their last 4 games
Oakland, Kansas City (who they barely beat), Tampa Bay, and Denver
2 teams that were only considered OK because the lions were so bad....Tampa Bay: decent team but wasnt clicking at that point in the season...Denver goes into play an offensive shootout...Puts up 21 and loses to the chargers 52
Weak Schedule +shortcomings of other teams does not mean you earned your spot
But since the Steelers manhandled them i guess its moot

The Eagles game was a pleasant surprise for me to be wrong on. They're probly my favorite of the teams left. I just hope that they're over their "1 bad game" disease they had for all those years that kept them from championships

[Matthew]

But they (the chargers) won their way in. I'd agree if they got in by losing their last 3 games that it was lucky. But if you win 4 games in a row (including the game against the division leader to take the playoff spot), then it's not luck.

Besides, if you want to talk about luck, we could always bring up the fumble call against Denver that shafted them.

Picks for this week:

Pittsburgh over Baltimore
Philly over Arizona

I'll be going for the Ravens though, but I cant see them winning that game. I'm pretty indifferent to the NFC game but will be watching nevertheless

[jonthefon]

The Chargers killed the Broncos in Week 17 and played well against the Bucs. They were lucky as shit to beat the Chiefs twice. But they had a horribly easy schedule and should've gotten a higher record than 8-8.

I'm picking the Eagles (would like Zona to win, but just don't see how they can against Philly's great rush defence) and the Steelers to win.

As a Cowboys fan, I'm still terribly bitter that they blew their last two games. They just reeked of mind-blowing fail after the first three weeks.

[Drex]

I want to see a Pennsylvania SuperBowl. After the Phillies won the WS, it's the Sixers time

[shadowgrin]

I'm hoping for Eagles-Steelers. I have a bad feeling that the Eagles will lose bigtime if they go against the Ravens.

[buzzy]

I'm rooting for the Steelers and Eagles as well.

I got a quite big French exam tomorrow but I'm staying up till 4 am watching those games.

[Drex]

Great games so far. McGahee got hit pretty hard and he's out, but that Polamalu INT sealed the game, IMO. I'll root for the Steelers in the SB.

[jonthefon]

Amazing win by the Cards. Was rooting for them after the Cowboys failed in Week 17 but wasn't really expecting them to get past the divisional round. Huge drive by the Arizona offense after they gave up the lead on that DeSean Jackson bomb. I think this would pretty much seal Kurt Warner's place in the Hall of Fame.

Looks like the Steelers have it now. That hit on McGahee looked awful though.

I'm rooting for the Cardinals again, even though once again, I'm pretty sure they're going to get killed by the Steelers' D.

[Matthew]

I'm sold on Arizona. They are such an explosive team on offense, and based on how both teams have played in the playoffs, the Cards have been better.

Arizona 38, Steelers 30

[shadowgrin]

I want the Steelers to win but as Matthew said the Cards offense is explosive. They can gain yardage even before Kurt Warner can finish saying "Ben Roethlisberger". Damn that long name.

[The X]

I've taken the day off work for a Superbowl party, so I'm hoping the explosive offense of the Arizona Cardinals can get the job done

[buzzy]

They can gain yardage even before Kurt Warner can finish saying "Ben Roethlisberger". Damn that long name.

I agree, that son of a bitch should change his name to Al Roethlisberger.