Since You've Already Been Inundated With Super Bowl Coverage...

I won't be putting a full-blown preview of the game up here.  No point.  If you haven't already heard two hundred analysts and hosts discuss this game over the last two weeks, the only thing I could conclude is that you're on the Island in ABC's Lost.

Assuming you're not there, and you haven't been speared by John Locke, you probably have seen the wall-to-wall coverage on ESPN, or any of the other sports networks previewing the game.  So instead of giving the whole rundown, here's what I'm excited for in tonight's Super Bowl: (and by the way, the Steelers are favored by 7 points, for those of you who haven't yet wagered on the game)

• I'm excited to watch the teams come out of the tunnel before the game.  Doesn't even matter which team it is.  It gives me goose bumps because I feel their excitement sitting in front of the TV.
• I'm excited to watch Larry Fitzgerald leap for a couple of big catches.  He's great.  I'm also excited to hear how many references to his father covering the game there will be.
• I'm excited to see Hines Ward play, and interested to see how truly healthy both he and his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, are.  I like Ward.  He's a consummate professional.  So is Big Ben, so long as he's not near a motorcycle.
• I'm excited to watch Kurt Warner in another Super Bowl.  I've always liked the guy, even though he's a little too religious for my taste.  He's a stand-up guy, he's got great belief in himself and his teammates, and he's a born leader.
• I'm excited to watch Bruce Springsteen as the half-time show.  Honestly, of all things, I'm most excited for that.  He's definitely going to play some hits, like Born to Run and Glory Days, but I'm hoping for a Rosalita, Lonesome Day, Radio Nowhere.  Eh, screw the game.  Just let him play a couple hours.
• I'm excited to see how many references to Ken Whisenhunt's former job with the Steelers are mentioned.
• I'm excited to see if the team that loses almost as often as my Cubs, the Cardinals, can finally hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
• I'm excited to see how many athletes ESPN personalities kiss up to after the game.
• I'm excited to hear how many references to the "Terrible Towels" there are.
• I'm excited that football season is over.  It's time to get ready for March Madness and Major League Baseball.

Everything You Need To Get Ready For NFL Championship Weekend

Philadelphia (-3.5) @ Arizona

This match-up may be the best example of parity existing in the NFL. Not many people thought coming into this post season that the sixth seeded Eagles would be facing the least successful division winner for the right to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. I guess that's why you always hear the old cliche "that's why you play the games".

This contest provides tremendous intrigue still, especially when you consider the storylines present. As I mentioned earlier this week, I think there's no way Kurt Warner is deserving of a hall of fame bid, but if Warner elevates another team to a Super Bowl, expecially the Cardinals, it would make him a legend in Arizona. As for Donovan McNabb, every win this post season is helping his case for future consideration.

That said, it has been Warner who has played outstanding football in this post season, while McNabb has been just good enough for his Eagles to win. Warner has completed nearly 63% of his passes this post season, has thrown for 491 combined yards, and has fired four touchdown passes while only throwing two picks. And maybe most impressively, Warner led his team into Carolina last week and pummeled a Panthers squad that was a perfect 8-0 at home in the regular season.

What's more, the Cardinals much maligned defense has been stellar too, as they have caused a whopping nine turnovers in their two playoff games, including six last week. Panthers QB Jake Delhomme had probably the worst game of his career, as Arizona intercepted five of his passes and caused him to fumble as well. So entering Sunday's contest, Arizona couldn't be playing better on defense. Oh, and Anquan Boldin is expected to play, so the offense that dominated Carolina last week could be healthier and better.

Now to McNabb and the Eagles. Sunday's NFC Championship will be the fifth Donvan has lead the Eagles to in the last eight years, so experience is no problem for the former Syracuse signal caller. He was very good in the Eagles win over the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs throwing for 300 yards and a touchdown, and in last week's game against a good Giants defense McNabb did just enough to help the Eagles win the contest. Oh, and against the Cards this year on Thanksgiving night, (the game nobody saw because it was on the NFL Network), McNabb threw for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 48-20 romp.

Philly's defense has been stifling, allowing an average of 12.5 points per game over their two contests. In that regular season win over the Cardinals on Turkey night, the only reason Arizona even got to 20 points was due to some garbage points at the end. They intercepted Kurt Warner three times in the game and held the Cards rushing offense to a mere 25 yards that night. I wouldn't expect a complete domination against Arizona tomorrow, but you know defensive coordinator Jim Johnson will send the house on the blitz early and often to force Warner to repeat those same mistakes.

The Cardinals are trying to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in team history, and it's going to be a tough one for them to win. The guys in Vegas think so too, as the Cardinals are home underdogs despite the fact they went 7-2 at home this season including their playoff win over Atlanta. It would be fun to see a team that perenially stinks make the Super Bowl just for the intrigue of it, but part of me wants to see Donovan McNabb finally win the Super Bowl. I'll take Arizona to cover the 3.5 point spread, and keep it close, but I'd like to see the Eagles win. (So now that I'm picking Arizona, Philly fans, book your tickets for Tampa.)

Scott's Pick: Philadelphia Jordan's Pick: Arizona

Baltimore (+5.5) @ Pittsburgh

The Ravens colors might be black and purple, and the Steelers might be black and gold. But this game figures to be black and blue the whole way through. These two teams are very similar, in that they both ranked in the top three in defense (Steelers #1, Ravens #3) during the regular season, and they rely on their defenses to set up their offense. The biggest difference, however, is the quarterback play.

Here's a basic mathematical principle that we can all understand:

Ben Roethlisberger > Joe Flacco

In the Steelers win over the Chargers last week, Ben Roethlisberger made plays to help Pittsburgh earn a hard fought win. Even though he did have the help of Willie Parker's 146 yards rushing, Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to Heath Miller and completed 65% of his passes to lead the Steelers to victory. The rookie Flacco, on the other hand, in two post season games, has completed just 44% of his passes, and has thrown for 296 combined yards. The key is that he hasn't thrown a pick. He doesn't make plays, but he doesn't make bad plays. That's probably the biggest reason the Ravens have survived the first two playoff rounds.

The defenses are excellent, and they're both opportunistic. In last week's win over the Chargers, Phillip Rivers threw an interception to Larry Foote inside the ten yard line which completely turned the momentum in favor of the Steelers. Especially when you consider that the play before was a Darren Sproles punt return into the red zone. It's no secret the Ravens defense has been unbelievable too, considering they made big red zone stops against the Titans last week, and Ed Reed ran wild on the Dolphins in the first round with 64-yard interception returned for a touchdown. Reed's pick was one of four the Ravens would get against a normally smart quarterback in Chad Pennington. So expect points to come at a premium tomorrow.

To pick this game, I use this logic: Both teams have great defense. Both have similar philosophy on offense, preferring to run the football to set up the pass. The Steelers have a dynamic special tems presence in Santonio Holmes, who returned a punt for a touchdown last week. But it's not like the Ravens can't cover him for one game. They have played each other twice already this season, and the Steelers won both contests. Often times, teams have trouble beating a team three times in the same season, but the Ravens wanted this match-up, openly rooting for Pittsburgh to beat San Diego last week after they beat Tennessee the day before.

The Steelers are a great team. They were 12-4 in the regular season. They earned the first round bye, but have less momentum entering this week's game because the Ravens had to win twice to get here. There's a reason for that, though: they're better than this Ravens team. They were during the regular season, and they're 7-2 at home including last week's playoff win. The Steelers have a tough spread to cover, so I'm taking the Ravens. But the Steelers should eek out this game in a close one.

Scott's Pick: Pittsburgh Jordan's Pick: Baltimore

The Monday Morning Longsnapper

Cancel Your Playoff Plans Edition

If you live in New York (and wear green and white), Denver, Dallas, or Tampa, you've got to be extremely disappointed with your football teams' efforts.  There's no true way to describe how awful these teams played, not just this past week, but over the last quarter of the season.

It's honestly even hard to pin one down as the worst choke job of them all.  

Tampa has to be up there, losing four in a row to close the season, allowing more than 30 points  per game in that stretch (which just included a home loss to Oakland and Walter Payton...sorry, Michael Bush).

The Jets would have to get serious consideration, too.  They join the Bucs as the only two teams to start out at least 8-3 and not make the playoffs since 2002, and the advent of the current four division set up.  Road losses to the dregs of the league in Seattle and San Fran obviously don't help anyone's cause.  Neither does Brett Favre saving his absolute worst stretch of the season for the end (2 TDs to 9 INTs in the final 5 weeks).

Denver is just bad, plain and simple.  Good teams don't give up 52 points.  Good teams don't lose home games to Oakland and Buffalo in the same calendar year.  Good teams don't lost to Kansas City, anywhere.

And last, Dallas.  If you're really surprised by this latest Dallas collapse, then you've mysteriously either missed out on the last few seasons of awful Decembers for the Boys, or, you refuse to believe it could happen again.  Can Tony Romo have a full good season before people anoint him as anything other than an average QB?  As far as I see it, he's a guy that gets injured too often and has a real hard time winning games either in December or January or any other time labelled as "big".

• You think Pittsburgh's rethinking playing Ben Roethlisberger after watching him take a beating that lead to his leaving the game with a concussion?  Maybe, but, that sort of thing happens sometimes.  If it had happened in the third quarter, there's beef.  As it is now, that bye week should be enough.
• Stat of the Day:  the Browns haven't scored an offensive TD since Nov. 17th.  That's a string of 6 games to close the year, without one.  So long, Romeo.
• Whether or not you're from the New York area (in fact, unless you root for the Jets), you've got to be happy for Chad Pennington.  After being let loose for the golden goose, he latched on with a one win team, and most people in the NY area figured never to hear from him again, at least not with anything serious on the line.  To have him come into the final game of the season in the Meadowlands, and not only beat his former team, but kick them out of the playoffs...Mmmm, revenge is sweet.
• Who says the one-running back systems are dead?  Don't tell that to Michael Turner.  First full season in the books, pretty darn good.  Nearly 17-hundred yards, 17 TDs and two 200+ yard games.  And, oh yeah, he lead the league in carries.
• Of course, this wouldn't be complete without a reference to the now infamous Detroit Lions.  At one point during the broadcast, the Detroit announcers referred to the roster as the worst roster in the NFL.  The final call went something to the effect of "16 times the Lions thought this Sunday was theirs, 16 times, they were wrong".  Obviously, this isn't just a one year problem.  Those of you thinking this year's Lions will be next year's Miami--not so fast.  Detroit's lost 97 games over the past 8 seasons.  Getting rid of that clown Millen is a great start, but, from there, it's truly anyone's guess.  I don't root for Detroit, nor do I truly care how they do.  But, for their own sake, could they at least work at not being the biggest joke in the league?  Until that point, get them off the Thanksgiving Day game.  If 0-16 doesn't kick you off that game, nothing will.
• Houston is on the brink of something big.  Maybe it'll just take Matt Schaub to be healthy for the whole season.  Maybe another year of dominance from Mario Williams.  Who knows?  But, they're going to be good, and real quick.

Special season wrap up edition of the Longsnapper coming mid-week.