The Philadelphia Eagles are destined to join their baseball counterparts, the Philadelphia Phillies, and add another championship to the city of brother love. On Sunday, January 18, 2009, the Eagles will dominate the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship game and head to the Super Bowl XLIII. 

The Eagles convincingly defeated their NFC rival, New York Giants, last week to advance the NFC Championship. 

Tomorrow, expect the Eagles defense to be in the face of the Cardinals QB, Kurt Warner and hold one of the most explosive passing games in the NFL to single digit points.  The Eagles QB, Donovan McNabb and running back Brian Westbrook will do enough to take them to the Super Bowl.

GAME INFO

Date: Sunday, January 18, 2009 3:00 PM EST
Location: U of Phoenix, Glendale, AZ    TV: FOX

THE SPREAD
The Eagles are the favorite by 4 points. Over/Under is 49 1/2 points.

GAME PREVIEW AND TRENDS
In the last meeting between the two teams, the Eagles dominated on Thanksgiving Day 48-20.That victory provided a spark for the Eagles, as they won four of their last five regular season games, outscoring opponents by an average of 23.0 points in those wins.

Philadelphia still needed help in Week 17 to make the playoffs, and it has taken full advantage of its opportunity.

The Eagles trounced Dallas 44-6 in their regular-season finale to clinch the No. 6 seed, then beat Minnesota 26-14 in a wild-card game before defeating the New York Giants 23-11 in last Sunday’s divisional game.

While that Thanksgiving win got Philadelphia’s season back on track, Arizona’s loss led to an awful late-season finish for what is historically one of the league’s worst franchises.

The Cardinals dropped four of their last six regular season games. Their only wins in that span came against St. Louis and Seattle - teams which combined for a 6-26 record - and they were outscored by an average of 24.3 points in those losses.

Although it won the weak NFC West and had won only two playoff games in their history prior to this season, the Cardinals have been at their best in this postseason and now become the first No. 4 seed to host a conference championship game.

They had been the only NFC team not to play in one since the 1970 merger before pulling off a win few saw coming. Arizona traveled to Carolina for last Sunday’s divisional game as a 10-point underdog, but raced to a 27-7 halftime lead en route to a 33-13 win over the Panthers, the league’s only unbeaten team at home in the regular season.

“Not many people had very nice things to say about us and didn’t give us a chance,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “We believe in ourselves. I like being the underdog, and we’re going to continue to be the underdog.”

Arizona will be the underdog again, as oddsmakers made the Eagles as 4 point favorites.

The Cardinals are 7-2 at home this season, including a 30-24 win over Atlanta in the wild-card round, but Philadelphia is not going to be intimidated.

After winning just three road games during the regular season, the Eagles have had no trouble playing away from Philadelphia in the postseason. They’ve already won at the Metrodome, where the Vikings were 6-2 during the regular season, and at Giants Stadium, where New York was 7-1.

Philadelphia had success at Minnesota and against the Giants thanks to a swarming, suffocating defense.

The Eagles have forced five turnovers and allowed 322 passing yards in the postseason. Philadelphia had the league’s third-ranked defense during the regular season (274.3 yards per game), and has allowed just four TDs in the past six games.

“We’re going to be close in every game because we aren’t going to give up those type of big plays and hopefully that gives the offense confidence to make whatever call they want whenever they want to call it because they trust us not to give up a lot of points,” Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins said.

Shutting down Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald may not be as easy.

The Cardinals thrive on big plays behind Kurt Warner and Fitzgerald. They hooked up for a 42-yard touchdown in Arizona’s wild-card win and a 29-yard TD last week.

The Eagles, though, did a solid job of slowing down Warner and Fitzgerald in their Thanksgiving meeting. Warner threw for three touchdowns but also had three interceptions, while Fitzgerald was held to five catches for 65 yards, though he did score twice.

Last week, Fitzgerald set a team playoff record with 166 yards receiving even though Warner was missing one of his deep threats in wide receiver Anquan Boldin.

Boldin, nursing a strained left hamstring, returned to practice this week and said he will play Sunday.

While Arizona relies on its high-scoring offense, the Cardinals defense has surprisingly stepped up in the playoffs. Arizona was 19th in total defense during the regular season (331.5 ypg), but has limited its two playoff opponents to an average of 259.5 yards.

The Cardinals held Atlanta’s Michael Turner, the No. 2 rusher in the regular season, to 42 yards and Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams, the league’s No. 3 rusher, to 63 yards. Arizona also intercepted Jake Delhomme five times last week, and has forced nine turnovers in the playoffs.

“We feel like we’re a solid defense,” Cardinals defensive end Bertrand Berry said. “We have some guys out here who can make plays. It’s just a matter of putting it all together for 60 minutes on Sunday. If we can do that, the sky’s the limit.”

Arizona had no answer for Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook on Thanksgiving, though, as the versatile running back rushed for 110 yards on 22 carries and scored a career-high four touchdowns - two rushing and two receiving.

Westbrook hasn’t been much of a factor on the ground in the playoffs, as he has rushed for just 74 yards on 38 carries. He did come up with a big play in the fourth quarter of the wild-card win, though, scoring a 71-yard touchdown off a screen pass.

GAME PREDICTION
Philadelphia Eagles 21  Arizona Cardinals 3

sources: nfl.com, espn.com, thespread.com, fox.com

GAME INFO
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers
8:30 PM EST
ESPN
Bank of America Stadium

 

FOR THE RECORD
The Tampa Bay Bucaneers are 9-3, 3-3 on the road, 3-1 in the NFC South and 8-2 in the National Football Conference. They are tied with the Carolina Panthers for first place in the NFC South.  The Bucs have scored 280 points this year while giving up 200.

The Carolina Panthers are also 9-3 but are 6-0 at home.  They are 2-2 in the NFC South and 6-3 in the NFC.  They have score 285 points and given up 231.

THE LINE
Panthers are favored by 3 points Under/Over is 38 points (subject to change)

PREVIEW
Tonight’s matchup is a huge game for both teams. They are tied for first place in the NFC South. It seems that both teams are headed to the postseason, but the division winner will likely get the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye, so there is plenty at stake — the division champion would likely not have to face the Giants until the NFC Championship Game. These teams have a lot of similarities, and while neither is overly dynamic or exciting, both are well coached and fundamentally sound and find ways to win. In a division that will go down to the wire, every game becomes critical, and this may be the most important remaining game for both teams. We may not see a high-scoring, offensive-oriented contest, but this game will be close and physical.

TAMPA BAY FACTS
Jeff Garcia, the starting QB for Tampa Bay, took over the reins in October against Carolina in their earlier meeting.  He seems to be at his best the Panthers.
Jeff has thrown for 1902 yards and thrown 8 TDs. His QB rating is 92.5.

The Bucs running is lead by Warrick Dunn who has 640 yards on 145 carries with 2 TDS and Earnest. Graham who has 563 yards on 132 carries with 4 TDs.

Offensive Tackle J. haye is out. Wide ReceiverMichael Clayton, Defensive End Kevin Carter and Defensive End Gaines Adams are questionable for tonights game.

Jake Delhomme will be at QB for the Carolina Panters.  He has a QB rating of 81.7 in 2008 throwing for 2,427 yards with 12 TD passes. Running BackDeAngelo Williams leads the Panthers in the backfield with 955 yards in 193 attempts, scoring 11 TDs

Offensive Tackle Jeremy Bridges is Questionable for the game and Running Back Johnathan Stewart is listed as Probable.

PREVIOUS MEETING
 In the earlier meeting on October 12, 2008, the Bucs devastated the Panthers in Tampa Bay 28-3. This was the first game Jeff Garcia started for the Bucs.

OTHER NOTES
Two of the Carolina Panthers Defensive Ends are questionable for tonights game.  Even if they play, expect the Bucs to exploit them both.

PREDICTION
Considering the implications for both teams and the bump and grind style of both teams - expect it to a low scoring affair with the Carolina Panthers using the home field advantage to get revenge from their first meeting.

Carolina Panthers 21     Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10