NFC Championship Game Preview

What: A conference championship game that no one saw coming.
Who: The Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
When: 3:00 EST
What Channel: Fox
Announcers: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman with Pam Oliver and the ubiquitous Chirs Myers working on the sidelines
Announcers' Talking Point of the Game: How will the Eagles secondary fare against these dynamic Cardinal receivers?
Weather Forecast: Sunny, 77 degrees
Regular Season Meeting: Eagles 48, Cardinals 20

Analysis: Well then! No one saw this coming a month ago. But alas, it's the Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship game and the executives at Fox are jumping off cliffs as we speak. And while it is certainly a most unappealing matchup (no offense to Cardinals fans, but very few people outside of the Phoenix/Glendale/Arizona market care about this team), this actually has the potential to be a very good game.

The Philadephia Eagles are about as red hot as anyone, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Ever since the loss to the New York Giants in Week 11, this defense has played lights out. And yes, I know the Baltimore game was a blowout, but not many of those points were the sole fault of the defense. However this game will pose a different test to the Eagles' defense. The past two games it has been about the Eagles' run defense. This game will focus more on the Eagles' secondary and can they stop when of the best receivers in the NFL, Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals run game has come alive in the past few weeks thanks in large part to the re-emergence of Edgerrin James, however, the Eagles faced a lot worse the past few weeks with the Purple Jesus of Minnesota and Earth, Wind, and Fire in New York. It is worth noting that none of those teams were really threatening through the air. But what about Eli Manning, JFein? Well, it was quickly established in that game last week that Eli would not be able to throw in the wind at his own stadium. And minus a big play-making receiver on the New York side, there was just no way that Eli would beat the Eagles and Jim Johnson noticed that and spent all of his defensive resources, if you will, to stop the run.

Enough with the digression, though. Point being is that Arizona is a different animal. And it will definitley be to their advantage that this game is in the desert. Could you imagine if they played in Philly today? For those that don't know, it is currently the coldest here that it has been in years with temperatures in the single digits now, and a high that won't come close to 20. Oy, another digression. Anyway, the Kurt Warner is thanking his lucky stars that the game is Sunday in the desert (here it's going to be slightly warmer than it is now, but a chance of snow exists). And so maybe the Eagles. The Eagles play in a cold-weather city, but they are not necessarily a grind it out cold-weather team. Even though Andy Reid has been relying on the run a whole lot more than he ususally does (I'm just as shocked as you are, this maybe the best I've ever seen him with McNabb at QB). So this Eagle offense should not have any problems moving the ball. The temperature is going to be fairly comfortable, roof open or closed, the Cardinal defense is nowhere near the threat of Minnesota's and New York's defense, and oh yeah, the Eagles lit them up for 48 on Thanksgiving day to end their mid-season cold streak.

Prediction: I have picked the Cardinals to be blown out in each of the last two weeks. Look at how that's turned out for me. However, I may be stupid, but I'm doing it again. Except I don't think that this is going to be a blowout. The Eagles defense is awesome, yes, but the Cardinals have momentum and they have a fan base now that has NEVER been this excited about Cardinal football. Regardless of who wins, the winner of this game will cement themselves as one of the most unlikely Super Bowl contenders of all time, and that unlikely contender will be the Philadelphia Eagles, the same team that was left for dead at 1:00 PM on Week 17 of the NFL season, will be going to the Super Bowl, beating the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 31-27.