Super Bowl Predictions: Updated Picks

Things couldn’t have gone worse for my Super Bowl predictions for this year last weekend.  The Panthers were simply horrible against the Cardinals, blasting my pick for the NFC representative in the big game out of the water.  Worse yet, my pick to win the Super Bowl this year, the Tennessee Titans were eliminated in a hard-fought defensive struggle against the Ravens.  It’s obviously time to make some revisions to my early Super Bowl predictions based on the teams that are still left in the field.

First up, the Baltimore Ravens got by the Titans by the skin of their teeth on Saturday.  There was the no-call on an obvious delay-of-game penalty on Joe Flacco, and way I the only one that thought that Flacco stepped out of the back of the endzone a few possessions earlier and that the Ravens should have been charged with a safety?  Oh well, it’s not like the Ravens aren’t a deserving team.  Baltimore’s defense looks as good as ever with Ray Lewis and Ed Redd leading the way.  I’m a little tired of hearing about how mature Flacco is, I mean the guy throws less than any other quarterback in the league, but he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and that in itself is impressive for a rookie QB.  Ultimately, I don’t think the Ravens have enough offense to carry them into the Super Bowl, but if they keep creating turnovers, they won’t need many points to get through to the next round.  They’ll face off against Pittsburgh this weekend as 6 point underdogs, in an epic AFC rematch.

Also on Saturday, the Carolina Panthers were flat-out embarrassed on their home turf by the “can’t-win-in-the-Eastern-Time-Zone” Arizona Cardinals.  So much for that theory.  Jake Delhomme kept throwing up garbage and the Arizona secondary was more than happy to pick it up for him.  At what point do you think they should have pulled Delhomme from the game?  Certainly it should have been before he ever got the chance to throw a 5th interception.  I’m leaning more toward a Carolina meltdown than the fact that the Cardinals are all of the sudden unstoppable, but Arizona is definitely improved.  Their defense has looked better than it probably is, but how can they not be brimming with confidence after their performance on Saturday night?  In the end, I do not think the Cards are a complete enough team to beat the Eagles, then again, I didn’t think they would beat the Panthers either!  The guys that set the NFL odds have made the Cardinals 3 point underdogs at home against Philadelphia.

Sunday things kicked off in the NFC with the defending champion New York Giants against the Philadelphia Eagles.  Staying true to form, the road team in this series came out and really controlled the game.  Donovan McNabb looks as good as he’s ever been and the Philadelphia defense made me a believer, at least in their secondary.  They did allow Brandon Jacobs to have a good game, but the Giants couldn’t move the ball through the air and Eli Manning looked more like the Eli Manning that New York fans wanted benched two years ago than the Eli Manning that won the Super Bowl last year.  The Eagles might be the best team left in the field from top to bottom.  They bring a big-play type offense to the table with a very strong defense.  All of the teams have one or the other, but not both.

The final score in the Steelers/Chargers game was 35-24, but Pittsburgh really dominated the second half of that game.  Willie Parker was the man for the Steelers, carrying the ball 27 times for 146 yards.  With Fast Willie healthy this team is so much better on offense than they were for the majority of the season.  Big Ben made good decisions and the Steelers won.  That’s all he really has to do!  As long as he doesn’t turn the ball over, the running game and defense can take care of the rest.  Roethlisburger made some clutch throws on Sunday, don’t get me wrong, but having Parker back at full steam is huge for Pitt in the playoffs.  It’s going to be extremely difficult to beat the Ravens for a 3rd time this season, but I think they have just enough of an edge on offense to get the job done.

So, for my revised Super Bowl prediction, I’ve got the Philadelphia Eagles playing the Pittsburgh Steelers for the NFL Championship.  The two met back in Week 3 of the regular season with the Eagles taking home a 15-6 victory in Philadelphia.  This time around the Steelers defense will get the best of the Eagles offensive line and cause some major problems for McNabb and Brian Westbrook.  As long as Big Ben plays like he did against the Chargers on Sunday night, the Super Bowl is the Steelers’ to lose.

Predicted Super Bowl Score: Pittsburgh Steelers 24, Philadelphia Eagles 12

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