The NFL’s version of the Final Four is on tap this weekend as the Cardinals, Eagles, Ravens and Steelers vie for a chance to play in Super Bowl XLIII.
Sunday, 1:00 p.m. MST
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES vs. ARIZONA CARDINALS
Why You Should Watch: When these two NFC squads went up against one another on Thanksgiving night few people had either team penciled in for the NFC Championship.
Arizona is playing host the NFC Championship, prior to this season the Cardinals franchise had only one playoff win in 61 seasons. The Eagles on the other hand are no strangers to the conference championship having played in the game five out of the last eight seasons.
The Cardinals are coming off of an impressive win against the heavily favored Carolina Panthers 33-13 on the road.
The Eagles have made their own improbable run as of late winning six of their last seven games including twice beating the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants, twice at Giants Stadium, first in Week 14 and then again last weekend to knock them out of the playoffs.
It can be argued that the Eagles winning steak starting against the very Cardinals team they will be facing on Sunday. The Eagles were 5-5-1 when faced they Arizona and Thanksgiving night, the 48-20 route helped to put the team’s season back on track.
Keep An Eye On: Brian Westbrook, RB, Philadelphia Eagles - Last time Westbrook went up against the Cardinals he had 130 total yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. MST
BALTIMORE RAVENS vs. PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Why You Should Watch: Not only is this a matchup between two bitter AFC North rivals, not only did the two teams finish the season No. 1 (Steelers) and No. 2 (Ravens) in the league in the total defense but this is the AFC Championship – winner goes to the Super Bowl. Expect a gritty contest where both teams leave everything they have out on the field.
Make no mistake about it, this will be a defensive slugfest. The Steelers were tops in the NFL allowing only 237.2 yards per contest. The Ravens enter the game with the league’s second-ranked defense in terms of yardage, allowing just 261.1 yards per game during the regular season.
The two clubs met twice in the regular season with Steelers coming away victorious in both. In each contest the margin of victory was less than a touchdown. In Week 15 Pittsburgh pulled off the 13-9 win and in Week 4 the Steelers edged the Ravens in overtime on a 46-yard field goal winning 23-20.
Keep An Eye On: Willie Parker, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers - In such a defensive battle the winner of the AFC Championship could be decided by a yard or possibly an inch. That is why Parker could be a game breaker. He leads all post-season running backs in yards per game with 146 and had two touchdown scores last week.
-Jake Grilley, DenverBronocos.com
Tags: Conference Championships, Jake Grilley, Playoff Preview
Got your picures backward Jake! I be routing for the Cardinals for a couple of reasons. One, they were the first team in professional football that I followed a little as a youth ,back when Jim Hart was the qb and they pretty good running back in those days whose name escapes me. That was of course the St. Loius Cardinals. The second reason I have to route for them is their history, they are way overdue to play for the championship!
Steelers/Ravens should be a great game, I have to route for the Raven’s starting a rookie qb. Always interesting when history is made!
Me, as a BRONCOS FAN. Ride or die, I gotta see the Eagles or Cardinals hold that Lumbardi. If the BRONCOS don’t rep the AFC, nobody should. Can we start next season already!
Im still waiting for a blog that says MATT PRATER CUT FROM BRONCOS!
I don’t want us to cut Prater unless we have another guy come in and compete and beat him out… I don’t want us to cut him and just get stuck w/ someone that is worse… Which Prater has a strong leg and made a few STUPID mistakes w/ the PATs
IM ROOTING FOR ARIZONA TO WIN THE SUPERBOWL JUST BECUASE THEYVE BEEN THE UNDERDOG THE WHOLE PLAYOFFS AND IM ORIGINALLY FROM ARIZONA.
DAMN IT SUKZ NOT HAVING THE BRONCOS TO ROOT FOR IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
well it is official,,Peppers wants out of Carolina….he prefers a 3-4 system otherwise any system that utilizes his true potential,,,thats about all I read from that article…just got a career-high 14.5 scks this season,,,meaning he hasnt lost a step…if he moves somewhre else he’ll dominate,,like Kerney to Seahawks and Jared to the Vikings..if he gets tagged, it would take a fortune for any team to acquire him,,,,i.e Jared Allen…
i dont want to talk about playoffs,,,aha,,only our offseason….
peppers and vilma would be sick
Peppers needs to come here. someone get me his cellphone #. i’ll take care of it. I too am going for arizona. i always have kinda been a fan of theirs. they will beat Philly but i dont know if they can take the AFC teams tho. some picks:
Arizona- 34
Philly- 27
Baltimore- 17
Pittsburgh- 16
Either way what a totally unexpected superbowl no matter who makes it. pretty cool in my opinion.
broncos20-I totally agree with that assesment.Julius Peppers could be a cornerstone of our D. If they don’t franchise him then I think we should make a run at him. I was reading an article today that said Jim Goodman has not givin up on Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder. Don’t get me wrong,I would love to see them both work out but frankly I just don’t see it happening. They are 4-3 guys and have proven to be nothing more than situational pass rushers at best. If we go with the 3-4 which it sounds like we are, I don’t see where they fit. I can’t blame us for taking Moss in the draft cause he was a beast at the University of Florida. But so far its been disappointing to say the least. Tim Crowder did not play at all this year which IS NOT a good sign. Marcus Thomas was mediocre and Dewayne Robertson did not have the impact Broncos fans were hoping for. Even Elvis Dumervil would be limited in a 3-4 because of his size. He too is a 4-3 DE. If we go with the 3-4, we need a big time NT and a tough physical DE like Julius Peppers. It’s too bad we didn’t still have Trevor Pryce,Bertrand Berry or Reggie Hayward. Obviously, we need a facelift on defense and it starts with the D-line.
P.S. I’m happy SD is out of the playoffs. I could not stand watching them anymore.
Jeremy Bates at Jedd Fisch are gone. McDaniels replaced them with some other guys. They better be good because Cutler is not going to be very happy.
get julius peppers!!!!!!!!!
I wanted Jeremy Bates to stay.
i think that prater should stay if he can keep up what he was doing in the start of the season i agree with you louisianabroncofan we need to pick up peppers
Julius Peppers wants to join a 3-4 defense, so perhaps he could be what we’re looking for. My question is: is it worth it if the Panthers franchise him?
Peppers would glorious! Send Bly out and a late draft pick. Maybe it’s just me but I’ve watched Bly get torched way too much!!!!! Teams fear Champ, that’s a no-brainer. Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne own Dre(Farve & many other QB’s). D. Williams or J. Stewart would be a great move(put it together plz). Our offense is plush, one RB and the rest DEFFENSE. We gotta keep Hillis & Ryan T. Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!! I just cut myself!!!!! There’s BLUE & ORANGE all over the place……Gitty Up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
not gonna lie, black horse seems kind of wierd.
imready: the runner for the Cards back then was Terry Metcalf. (His son later played for the Browns – Eric Metcalf). Cards surprised everyone in the playoffs as they were big underdogs against Falcons and Panthers. If Warner gets them to Super Bowl, he will be HOF candidate down the road. McNabb has had a great career and his situation is similiar to that of Elways as he is near the end of career and would like to get a ring(s) before he retires. Big Ben is tough has a great D behind him. Flacco is the first rookie to win two playoff games. It may be a Pennsylvania SP matchup but I’m going for a Cardinals – Steelers matchup.
…No… he is weird… and Unintelligent at that (sports wise)
Carolina has probably the best RB tandem in the history of the NFL w/ Williams and Stewart, and you think they’ll let one go?…. A team would have to trade a Franchise QB and some draft picks to get one of them (I’m not sure, That’s just what trade I would take if I was carolina). You just live in this Fantasy world where teams can easily get a great player via trade… SORRY… not gonna happen. Stewart and Williams are gonna be in Carolina for a while…
As far as im concerned we dont need to worry much about getting a free agent RB. We went through 8 last year to see what we might like. And honestly, the only ones i wouldnt want back are Andre Hall and Selvin Young. Hillis, Torain, Pittman, and even Bell and Pope showed real good signs for our running game. It’s just our injury issue that kills us.
I believe Derrick Ward of the Giants is going to be a unrestricted free agent this offseason. And if we are going to look for a steady back who wont cost a fortune, he would be a good option.
Agreed… Everything you said bronc fan in WA…
HERE’S WHAT i GOT FOR THE NEW STAFF!
Josh McDaniels HC
Mike Nolan DC
Mike McCoy OC
Mike Priefer STC
Rick Dennison OLC
Bobby Turner RBC
Rich Tuten STR & C
Adam Gase REC,C
Ed Donatell Secondary
any input?
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
Well, looks like the Big Red Birds will be going to the SuperBowl unless in the next 9 seconds something totally bizarre happens. I think it would be fun to see them & the Steelers in a SB matchup.
As for Bates, really sorry to see him go. Wow, Cutler is really going to have a new setup to deal with. I hope he can work things out and not quit on us or anything… this guy is our future and I hope he can give the new coach and his staff a chance… if I can, surely he can do it.
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ’09!!!!
im saying 16-13 ravens over steelers..
as for some of the coach hirings and firings.. all i can do is shake my head and cross my fingers.. im not even going to get started
It would nice if we could get an update on what’s going on in Broncoland with the coach situation. Makes me crazy listening to all the hear say.
Thanks ROYALBRONCOFAN for remembering Terry Metcaff , I sure couldn’t pry it out of this melon of a brain I’m dealing with!
They just carted Willis McGahee off the field with a possible neck, spine injury . Lets all say a prayer for him guys.
Go Broncos!
Eric Metcalf also played for the Cardinals, and I hope Willis McGahee comes back next season. He’s a class act. I think Cutler will act like a professional and work with Mike McCoy marvelously. I wonder, as a Utahn, if this Mike McCoy is the former University of Utah quarterback?
yeah,
why is it taking so long to update the official site of the denver broncos with more bronco news. we really don’t care whats going on with other teams in the nfl. we really don’t care to hear about it on our site we can turn on sports center if we want to hear about other teams. whats going on in denver?
BradJamesBroncoFan, yes Mike McCoy who led Utah to a 16-13 win over Arizona in The Fredom Bowl! He has been with The Carolina Panthers since 2000 mostly as QB Coach. he was also an undrafted Free Agent signed by Shanahan in 95. He should do just fine.
P.S. did’nt Eric metcalf play for The Broncos? I’m pretty sure He did.
reaper81 I agree with you The Broncos web site has been slow with information on what’s going on in Broncos Nation. Come on Guy’s get it together!
SUCKAS GOT TO KNOW!
TIME OF POSSESSION ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
the champ bailey hatin psycho can take that elsewhere as far as im concerned. the season before this one was unimpressive to say the least, but up to the injury he had this year he wasn’t tested at all. and if you watch the pats game we had moss shut down untill bailey went out with injury.
what are peoples picks for the first round now that mays is not declaring? i have been big on laurenitis for the past two years but its mainly because he is animals son, and i would like to see him be the next urlacher.
chuntbuck, I like what I’ve heard about Terrance Taylor at NT. At 6′ He has a low center of gravity, He’s a former undefeated HS wrestleing Champion, and a former HS powerlifting Champion. Strenght, size, and ballance.
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
RE: News
I just wanted to take a second and answer the question about why their hasn’t been any news about the assistant coaches on the site. We have not reported anything because nothing has been made official by the team. Once it becomes official, then we will have it on the site. Hopefully we should have some news in the next few days.
Thanks for all the feedback
Kyle
DAYS?
Actually looks like an announcement on some of them is coming in the next few hours, but I think the staff will be completed in the next few days.
Champ has never been tested here in Denver he has always had to generate big plays here. I don’t hate Champ I would simply like to know WTF is going on with him he is the best at his job that anyone has seen in a long time and for him to have had two difficult years seems odd and un Champ like is all. I am simply callin him out cause I know he is better than what we have seen the last two years. I like what he has done here in Denver but if a player can’t do the same job you hired him for then you have to question what is going on. Bowlen didn’t just say well Mike is proven and I am already paying him so just ride it out. Hell no! When you don’t produce you take a walk I don’t want to see Champ go but if he can’t do what he was hired to do then he needs to go but maybe he has been trying to get healthy since 2005 and if that is the case maybe this last year of sitting on the bench might have done the trick so I fully expect to see the Champ we all know. I just wanna know if he hasn’t felt right since that hit I mean really that hit was a destroyer and sometimes it might take awhile to recoup from a hit like that compounded with other injuries sustained that season and the rigors of every season he might have needed a couple of years to get his health back.
right there with ya broncosfanatic4. champ needs to step it up and stop getting injured constantly. he’s been injured way too much and when he was on the field wasnt doing too well. flip rivers tore him a new one and that really pissed me off. so go ahead and preach it brother broncosfanatic4!!!!! the truth shall set you free!!!