2009 Super Bowl

Super Bowl forty three will be a showdown between the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa Bay, Florida in two weeks. The Steelers are definately the favorite to win the Super Bowl with the number one ranked defense in the NFL and led by sensational Quarterback Ben Rothlesberger. They also have one of the best Safeties in the game today with Troy Potamolu who is definately a game changer and causes defensive coordinaters to plan the game around him. Although if they want to come out with a win they are going to need a better performance out of runningback Willie Parker who only rushed for 47 yards on 24 carries in the AFC Championship game. The Cardinals on the other hand cant be counted out being led by quarterback Kurt Warner who has experience winning a Super Bowl and also could very well be the league MVP. He also has two dangerous weapons in recievers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin who are two of the best recievers in the game right now. I personally think that the Steelers will come out with the win in this game in what i think will be a surprisingly high scoring game. I think that the Steelers defense will come up in the clutch when they need it to and Big Ben seems to play at his best under pressure.

AFC Champs

The Pittsburgh Steelers came out as AFC champs today after beating the Ravens in a nail biter 23-14. A big reason for this was the poor performance by Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Flacco who threw three costly interceptions one of which was returned for a touchdown sealing the game for the Steelers. He also only went 13/30 for 141 yards and an 18.2 quarterbacking rating. The Steelers number ranked defense not only held the Ravens to 141 yards through the air and taking three interceptions but also held them to under 100 yards on the ground. On the other side of the ball Ben Rothlesberger had a decent game going 16/33, 255 yards and a touchdown and leading the Steelers to a win. Big Ben threw his only touchdown to reciever Santonio Holmes who caught two passes for 70 yards including the 65 yard touchdown pass.The Pittsburg running game on the other hand was shut down only going for 53 yards. Today was the third time that the Steelers beat in division rivals the Ravens this year proving their dominance over the East. Coach Mike Tomlin is now taking the Steelers to the Super Bowl in only his second season as the head coach of the team. If the Steelers win in two weeks in Tampa against the Cardinals they will be the only team with six Super Bowl wins in the league.

NFC Champs

Today the Arizona Cardinals became the NFC champions after beating the Eagles 32-25. Going into this game they were the first No. 4 seed ever to host an NFC Championship game. The Cardinals went down 25-24 with 10 minutes left until Kurt Warner drove them done the field for a game winning touchdown to Eddie Hightower with just under three minutes left. Larry Fitzgerald was a big part of the win with the first three touchdowns of the game for Arizona and having nine catches for 152 yards on the day. Kurt Warner had a huge day going for 21/28, 279 yards, 4 touchdowns, and no interceptions. Edgerin James led Arizona in rushing with 73 yards on 16 carries. The Cardinal defense also forced three turnovers two of which were fumble recoveries and the other a interception by Aaron Francisco. An underlying story to this was the injured Brian Westbrook being again held under 50 yards on the ground. However Donovan McNabb and Correll Buckhalter made up a little for this loss by running for a combined 52 yards. One of the biggest game changers in the game was the flea flicker for the Cardinals that went for a 62 yard touchdown to Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals also achieved some more firsts by going to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history and being the first team with 9 or fewer wins to reach the Super Bowl since 1979. The Cardinals will now play the Steelers in the Super Bowl.

Ed Reed

This post is all about my favorite Defensive player in the NFL, Ed Reed, and also arguably the best safety in the game right now. Ed Reed is an instruemental piece to the Ravens devistating defence. The seven year veteran out of the University of Miami is leading the NFL in interceptions with an amazing 9, two of which have been returned for a touchdown. One of the interceptions he returned for a touchdown was a NFL record return for 108 yards beating his own previous record of 106 yards. Also all of his interception return yards added up for 264 yards. He was also the only unanimous AP All-pro pick which says alot in its self. He also recieves high praise from his Head coach John Harbough. "He has a tremendous feel for the game," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of Reed, who made his third All-Pro squad. "Very, very intelligent player, studies it as well or better than anybody. And he's a highly disciplined player. He plays his position as well as anybody I've ever seen." To go along with all his interceptions he also recorded 41 tackles on the season leading the Ravens secondary. Just his presence on the field alone causes trouble for offensive coordinaters and make them mold their game plan around him. He is an indespensible part of the Ravens defence and intimidater just like thirteenth year linebacking teammate Ray Lewis.

AFC Championship

The AFC will come down to the late season rivalry between the Ravens and Steelers. The Steelers won the last meeting in a close 13-9 game. The Ravens got into the playoffs by way of wildcard because of the loss to the Steelers. They then played the Dolphins in the wildcard game and blew them out in Baltimore fashion and holding them to single digits, 27-9. The Ravens rookie quarterback didnt play the best in his first playoff appearance throwing 9/23 and 135 yards. The running game was head up by Le'Ron McClain with 75 yards and then Willis Mcgahee with 62 yards. Also as usual the Baltimore Ravens defense came up with 4 interceptions and 1 fumble. Veteran safety Ed Reed accounted for two of these interceptions and returning one of them for six. Their next challenge was the number one see Tennessee Titans. They won the game in a nail bitter 13-10. The difference in the game was the Ravens defence again, coming up with an interception and 2 fumble recovery. Joe Flacco also recovered from is terrible first game with a decent second game going 11/22, 161 yards and one touchdown. The Steelers won the AFC East and got a first bye in the playoffs. This turned out to be important because Big Ben suffered a concussion in their last regular season game. He then recovered over the week off and they beat the Chargers in the Divisional Playoff game. Willie Parker was an instruemental piece in this win by rushing for 145 yards on 27 carries. The Steeler defence also forced two turnovers that were very big.

NFC Championship

The NFC championship will come down to the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. The Eagles got there by first getting a wild card bid because they did not win their division. They then held Adrian Peterson in check and beat the Vikings in the NFC wild card game. They held Adrian Peterson, one of the best running backs in the league, to only 83 yards. The Eagles however were held to 67 rushing yards as a whole team. Donovan McNabb however picked up the slack throwing for 300 yards and one touchdown. Then today the under dog Eagles took down the NFC favorites, the Giants. Again the Eagles running game was held under 100 yards with only 59. McNabb also didnt have the best day throwing 22/40 and only 217 yards and 2 interceptions. The Eagles defence was the main part in the Eagles win and hold the Giants to 3/5 in the red zone. All of the Giants points were also field goals. The Cardinals who they will be facing got into the playoffs by winning the NFC South. In the wild card game they took out the hot Atlanta Falcons in a nail biter. All-star recievers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin both had a touchdown. Kurt Warner also went 19/32, and threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns. The next week they had to take out the Carolina Panthers. They beat them in a 33-13 win that wasnt as close as the score shows. The Cardinal defence came up big with 5 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery. In this match up i think that the Cardinals will come out with the win. Their pass offense is too good and also have Edgerin James to hand it off to.