The Week That Was

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals, Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida. No one would have predicted it but that is what football fans will see in 13 days. Both championship games proved to be entertaining in their own ways.

In the NFC Championship the Cardinals showed no fear of playing in the biggest game of their lives and jumped all over the Eagles in the first half. I definitely underrated how much of a factor the Cardinals crowd would be as they were insanely loud. The Eagles had to settle for two field goals when they got into Cardinals territory, while the Cardinals led by QB Kurt Warner and WR
Larry Fitzgerald scored 3 TDs. The Eagles defense seemed to have no answer for the Cardinals offense in the first half, as the Cardinals scored at will. The Eagles kept blitzing and Warner kept picking it apart. In the second half, namely the third quarter the game changed. Down by 18 the Eagles came out and fumbled on their first possession. However, the defense held and finally the offense got going. McNabb found his favorite target for the day, TE Brent Celek, who if he isn't already, should be the Eagles starting TE over bummy LJ Smith next year, for a TD cutting the lead to 11. The defense again forced a three and out , and McNabb found Celek again for a touchdown. Instead of going for 2 the Eagles attempted the extra point, which kicker David Akers missed on what was a terrible day for him. Sure holder Sav Rocca held the laces in, which anyone who has seen Ace Ventura knows you are not supposed to do, but Akers still should have made the kick. The Eagles got the ball back again and McNabb hit WR DeSean Jackson with a beautiful deep ball and the Eagles were up 25-24 with 10 minutes to go after a failed 2 point conversion. The Eagles defense which had gotten stops to get the Eagles back in the game then collapsed again as Warner picked them apart and finally found RB Tim Hightower for what proved to be the winning touchdown. Eagles fans might be complaining about the pass interference that should have been called on the 4th and 10 play that failed but really the Eagles got a gift in the first half when an inadvertent onside kick was given to them, when it really should have gone to the Cardinals. I didn't like seeing so many Eagles smiling after the loss, including RB Correll Buckhalter who I am now ashamed to say was a Cornhusker chest bumping the Cardinals Edgerrin James. I understand this isn't life and death and these guys are millionaires but come on. Eagles S Brian Dawkins certainly felt bad about the loss, he cared, while the actions of some of the Eagles led me to believe they really didn't give a damn.

As everyone expected the AFC Championship game was all about defense. Early on it looked as if the Steelers would run away with the game as they jumped out to a 13-0 lead. Ravens QB Joe Flacco looked flustered and the Ravens running game was having trouble getting going. The Ravens got a pass interference call to set up first and goal which allowed RB Willis McGahee to punch it in. The Steelers had a chance to add to their lead before the end of the half but some terrible clock management did them in. With the Steelers up 16-7 the Ravens benefited from a poor punt by Mitch Berger and another pass interference call, allowing McGahee to score his second touchdown. Down 16-14, the Ravens had the ball and a chance to win the game. However, Flacco threw another interception, his third, and it was returned for a touchdown by Troy Polamalu, sealing the win for the Steelers. The other moment people will remember from this game was Ryan Clark's vicious hit of Willis McGahee. Both players laid on the field for a while, but Clark was able to get up while McGahee had to be carted off. It was a vicious hit but looked clean to me. I find it funny when people overanalyze these hits and try to say what a players intentions were. These guys are reacting, not thinking about what they are doing, so I doubt Clark had bad intentions, he was trying to make a play.

So it will be Steelers/Cardinals in 13 days. Coming up Thursday and Friday I will take a look back at both the Steelers and Cardinals seasons and what got them to this point. See you then.