Championship Round Weekend Power Poll

Championship Round Weekend Power Poll

Conference championship games are set and there have been a lot of surprises in this year’s NFL playoffs. Only one home team won this weekend and all the top seeds in the playoffs lost except for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The matchups that did come out of this weekend’s games are all going to be very good and should be hard fought battles which will decide who will go the Super Bowl.

The following is a look the remaining playoff teams still in the hunt for the Super Bowl and where they rank in my weekly playoff power poll. There is also a prediction on who will win each game this weekend.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW 3)-The Steelers are the only top seed remaining in the playoffs now and have a tough road ahead of them in having to meet the Baltimore Ravens once again for the third time this season. It promises to be a bloody battle but the Steelers, with their stellar defense and ball control offense, should be able to win and move on ahead to the Super Bowl. As long as they can move the ball against a tough Raven’s defense, there shouldn’t be any problems with them winning this game.

2. Arizona Cardinals (LW 8)-Yes, believe it or not, the Cardinals, playing at home and playing the kind of offensive football that they are the Eagles might be overwhelmed by their ability to move the ball down the field quickly through the air. Arizona has also been playing pretty good defense and after shutting down the run against the Panthers, will have their hands full with the Eagle’s Brian Westbrook and Donavan McNabb but if they can play the way they did against Carolina, they should win this game.

3. Baltimore Ravens (LW 5)-With a few breaks and a tough defense, the Ravens were able to topple the AFC’s most powerful team and meet their arch rivals, the Steelers in the AFC Championship game. It promises to be a big defensive battle but the Steelers have the edge thanks to their tough defense. I think that this game will be won by the team that turns the ball over the least because both defenses are very opportunistic. Also, with the Raven’s offensive woes, they don’t have the kind of power offense that’s going to score points in bunches. If the Ravens get behind, they will probably stay behind.

4. Philadelphia Eagles (LW 6)-The Eagles played pretty well against their arch rivals and are poised to get into the Super Bowl with a win over the Cardinals. They have to travel to Arizona to play and the Cardinals are playing very well right now and may be too tough for the Eagles to stop. However, if they can force Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner into making mistakes, they could very easily win this game.

Predictions:

The Steelers defense will be too much for the Ravens to overcome and rookie quarterback Joe Flacco’s magical run will end: Pittsburgh 24 Baltimore 13

Arizona will be able to hang tough against the Eagles blitzes and move the ball down the field just fine passing it. Arizona should win this one: Arizona 27 Philadelphia 21