With only three games remaining until the end of football season The Sports Union’s experts J.David and Kevin Patra are deadlocked in their picks.  Both writers are 5-3 after J.David correctly picked that both NFC teams lead by bird mascots would win en route to a 3-1 week (how he didn’t know the their team with a bird mascot–Ravens–would win, we will never know).  Patra’s weekend began phenomenal as he picked the score of the Ravens-Titans game exactly correct predicting the 13-10 outcome. Unfortunately, like most of his life, it was all downhill from there and he finished 2-2 on the weekend.

Philadelphia at Arizona

Kevin Patra – Quick quiz question: When was the last time the Arizona Cardinals were favored in a playoff game?  Correct Answer: Never.  Since moving to Arizona in 1988 the Cardinals have been in four playoff games.  In 1998 they beat the heavily favored Cowboys (the Cowboys losing a game they were supposed to win? Never happens) and lost miserably to Rookie Randy Moss’s Minnesota Vikings (before both Randy and Dennis Green got the crazy-ok you got me, Denny always had the crazy, I just needed an excuse to include that clip).  Fast-forward to 2009 with games against Atlanta and Carolina.  They were not favored at home against the Falcons, and then were 10 points underdogs (according to some bookies) verse the Panthers.  Meanwhile the Eagles of 2009 are the team nobody thought would win.  They eked into the playoffs thanks to some shoddy play by other teams (see Bears, Chicago; Cowboys, Dallas; Buccaneers, Tampa Bay).  They were supposed to lose in Minnesota to a superb defense and a bruising Adrian Peterson led offense (AP quota met for the week).  Then they were supposed to bow out to Lil’ Manning’s number one seeded Giants.  So in essence we have a ‘battle of the birds’ both of whom the majority of pundits thought could never win (sans TSU, of course).  With the Eagles favored on the road is there any way that I can choose them?  No.  Not only does their playoff resume include victories over Travaris “Are we playing lawn darts or football?” Jackson and Eli “Who ordered the wind?” Manning, but everyone in the country jumped onto their bandwagon after last weeks victory.  It’s even rumored that the phone call Donovan McNabb made from the Giants’ sideline was to his bookie, betting on himself for this week.  When majority goes one way, I try go the other.  Not to mention the Cardinals getting Boldin back, being at home, having an extra day to rest, and Kurt “Old man and the glove” Warner is more in the zone than Jimmy Chittwood during the championship game.  Can’t you just picture Warner with the game on the line, saying to Ken Whisenhunt on a fourth down play ‘I can make it’ and driving his team for the winning touchdown instead of settling for a tying field goal?  ARIZONA 35  – PHILADELPHIA 31

J.David – If the late game is the defensive marquee matchup of the playoffs, this game will be the offense explosion that fans can’t stop talking about.  Future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner will have his full compliment of weapons in Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Edgerrian James and the guy from Police Academy.   The opposing sideline will have another Hall of Famer in Donovan McNabb and he will continue the playing loose and using his weapons, Brian Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter, DeSean Jackson and Hank Baskett.    This game will be decided by the team who has the ball last.  Early in the game the coaches will throw out the playbook and let their veteran leaders do what they do.  Warner will throw for 400-plus yards and McNabb will keep pace with 350-plus yards.  No matter what either defensive coordinator does to stop the opposing attacks, it won’t make a difference because these offenses will be unstoppable.  If you love scoring, and don’t we all, you are going to love the plethora of top plays throughout this game.  Both teams are destined, but one team has to lose even though every fan will be begging for another quarter of action.  In the end, McNabb comes up huge in a big game and leads Philly to the promise land. PHILADELPHIA 48 – ARIZONA 45

Baltimore at Pittsburgh

Kevin Patra – Even Edgar Allan Poe couldn’t have conjured up a defense so dark and daunting as the Ravens.  It is so menacing that the Tennessee Titans just gave them the ball on three occasions.  Honestly you had to feel for the Tennessee fans as their team prematurely ejaculated every time they got in sight of the goal line.  It was worse than watching American Pie when Jim blows it (pun intended) with the hot foreign chick and the whole time you are thinking, ‘Good God please just once in my life give me a shot with a foreign supermodel…’ I am pretty certain that Alge Crumpler had money on the Ravens; never has a play gone from, ‘oh they are going to score’, to ‘wow they really don’t want to win this game’ faster.  That game wasn’t a win for the Ravens as much as it was a non-loss.  The Titans ability to move the ball at will between the twenties was shocking.  Also the ability of sprinter, errr, running back Chris Johnson to gouge the defense with big plays displayed an odd vulnerability to speed you didn’t expect from this defense. Hmmmmmm what other team has a fast, fast running back?  Oh yes, the Steelers do.  Can you say Willie Parker without adding “Fast, fast” before his name–that or “frail, frail”–especially when he just got outside on your defense easily floating past your fastest linebacker?  Given what we saw from the Ravens last week this game sets up well for the Steelers.  Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers may be the Anti-Collins and the Tennessee Hot-PoTitians.  They rarely shoot themselves in the foot, and they always seem to make plays just when you think they are starting to choke. Additionally,  last week you had a punt returned for a touchdown against the man whose foot was worshiped the week before, Big Ben pulling out his wedge and sticking a beautiful punt to pin the Chargers deep in their own zone, and then a traditional punt inexplicably hits a Chargers player in the helmet and bounces perfectly for a Steeler to nab, all of which indicates God clearly loves the Steelers’ Special Team.  STEELERS 20 – RAVENS 13

J.David – Get the ice tubs ready for after this game because like the previous two meetings of these teams, this game will be a slugfest leaving even the backup kickers sore.  The Steelers defense is the top defense in all of football, and the Ravens, known for defense, are the third best defense.  With a strained calf slowing down the do-everything defensive captain, Troy Polamalu, the defenses are a virtual tie, and will limit the offenses to another stagnant Sunday.  The running games for both teams are subpar and the offensive lines are nothing to write home about especially with battling these premiere defenses.  Pittsburgh has the advantage at the quarterback position with Ben Roethlisberger over the rookie Joe Flacco, but the defenses will leave both quarterbacks looking like rookies.  Both teams will know what the other team wants to do and how they go about accomplishing their goals for victory.  So then, the coach who adds the little wrinkle to the offensive and defensive game will be the difference in the game.  Mike Tomlin, the Steelers second year coach, will out duel the rookie coach for the Ravens, Jon Harbaugh, and will be the edge that the Steelers will need to come out with a victory.   PITTSBURGH 20 – BALTIMORE 12

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Kevin Patra lives by the adage: Those who can’t do, teach, and those who don’t want to teach, write.  Currently, he is a grad student at the University of Southern California studying Online Journalism, after spending four years at the University of Michigan obtaining a bachelors degree in useless fun. Patra grew up watching the Honolulu Blue and Silver every weekend, so he is an expert on what football is not supposed to look like.

J.David has never won an award for his writing, but he is a former collegiate athlete for a small college where everyone makes the team.  Currently, he is a grad student at the University of Southern California studying the archaic form called, Print Journalism.  J.David points to watching Barry Sanders catlike moves as the birth of his love for the NFL, and LT’s hit on Joe Theisman as the last day he ever wanted to play quarterback.

Related posts:

1. ⊚  The Sports Union’s NFL Divisional Playoff Predictions
2. ⊚  The Sports Union Predicts Wild Card Weekend
3. ⊚  A BCS Bowl Prediction from The Sports Union
4. ⊚  Betting the NFL Divisional Playoffs