Russ here with your NFL Recap. And then there were 4. Arizona is proving they belong. In my last blog I stated that turnovers will kill your chances in the playoffs. Carolina proves that. The Panthers allowed 6 turnovers. All can be credited to Jake Delhomme with 5 interceptions and a fumble that accounted to 23 of Arizona's points in their 33-13 win. Kurt Warner had two touch downs in the air connecting to Larry Fitzgerald and Tim Hightower. Hightower led the Cards in rushing with 76 yards on 14 carries with Edgerin James rolling for 57 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. Neil Rackers managed to make 4 field goals to destroy Carolina. The panthers never got off the ground people scoring the first and last touchdowns in the game. With only 20 minutes of time of possession and only converting 2 third downs the panthers had no chance.
The other game was set up to be a must see event. The Giants and Eagles didn't disappoint. It was a tale of two quarterbacks with Eli Manning and Donovan McNabb. Numerous opportunites were wasted on New York with the howling wind factoring into Eli's throws as he missed a couple of wide open receivers that could have easily scored. McNabb took matters into his own hands by even rushing for a touchdown. He would later hook up with Brent Celek for a 1 yard touchdown pass to seal it for the Eagles.
Both teams are hot heading into the NFC championship game. Arizona is 6-2 at home with Phily struggling on the road. However this playoffs have proven that home field means nothing. The Eagles are putting away the fact that they destroyed Arizona on Thanksgiving as they believe the Cards have changed so much and they have. Time of possession will be the key for the Eagles so they can keep Kurt Warner and the Cardinals offense on the sidelines. Running back Brian Westbrook will be getting a lot of carries to help with time and to limit any potential interceptions which have been critical to Arizona's success. The Cardinals will be able to add receiver Anquan Boldin after sitting out with a hamstring injury. The Eagles defense will have the twin running back attack of Edgerin James and Tim Hightower to contain. The Cardinals running game will open up their passing game. The Eagles will have to pressure Warner all game, the same goes to the Cards and McNabb. Truly this game will be Arizona's offense vs The Eagles defense.
Over in the AFC Baltimore, Tennessee was as good as I thought it would be. Immovable objects meet early early this year with Tennessee walking away the victor. Both teams swapped touchdowns early with Chris Johnson scampering on a 8 yard touchdown run while Baltimore answered late in the first with a Joe Flacco 48 yard bomb to Derrick Mason. From there it was all about defense as expected. Tennessee shot themselves in the foot turning the ball over 3 times in Ravens territory killing long drives. Matt Stover started off the 4th with a field goal to put Baltimore ahead. Rob Bironas of Tennessee answered with 4:26 left. Baltimore's Matt Stover kicked a 43 yard field goal to win the game. Flacco became the first rookie to win two playoff games with his game managing.
The Chargers simply were out gunned by the Pittsburgh offense. Philip Rivers out threw Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger by almost 200 yards but the Steelers had Willie Parker rushing for 142 yards with two touchdowns. The Steelers now face the Ravens for the third time this year. Much like the Titans Ravens game this will be a low scoring affair with both defenses trying to score. The Steelers will capitalize with their offense as they have more weapons. Ravens are going to pressure Roethliessberger all day to have any success at take away's.
My predictions are The Eagles over the Cardinals and Steelers over Ravens
Image courtesy of Kevin C. Cox
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