So today we get the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers are looking to start blinging out their other hand, while the Cardinals are benefiting from Kurt Warner’s innate ability to somehow will really bad franchises to victory. Of course, when I think of the Cardinals, I’m always reminded of Denny Green:

So who wins? The smart money says the Steelers, but the Cardinals have beaten the smart money three games in a row now. The stage has gotten bigger and the Cardinals have proven that the stage is not bigger than they are so far. Both teams are playing their best football right now, too — I suspect this game has the potential to be much better than most people expect. Prediction? I’m really on the fence here. I think I take Arizona in a colossal upset, which means the Steelers will likely win because I haven’t given them a chance all postseason. (One does have to wonder what the week off does to Arizona’s momentum, after all.) Enjoy the game, folks!

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44 days until Spring Training…

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Arizona at Carolina, 8:15 ET Saturday, FOX

The Panthers are rested and healthy again (getting run-stuffer DT Maake Kemoeatu back for the first time in several weeks). They host an Arizona team coming off perhaps their most complete game of the year, defeating Atlanta in the first round. The key for Carolina? Pass rush and pass defense. Fact is, Kurt Warner can still torch you through the air and has a wide supporting cast. The run game finally got a little traction, too. Defensively, the Cardinals did everything they had to do against Atlanta — stuff the run and make Matt Ryan beat them. Matt Ryan is a good quarterback, but he’s still a rookie, and that came out a little bit against Arizona.

They’d have to use a similar attack to have a chance against the Panthers. Jonathan Stewart and D’Angelo Williams are a potent 1-2 punch that have bruised and beaten defenses to a pulp, especially over the last half of the season. If Arizona manages to slow down the Panthers’ rushing attack — no easy feat — they may have a chance to slow down Steve Smith and Mushin Muhammad and at least keep the game close. Jake Delhomme’s statistics aren’t pretty, but he finds a way to win, and he’s historically elevated his game in the playoffs.

I get the feeling Arizona is overmatched here. They have a pretty good team but they also can’t win on the East Coast. Carolina’s penchant for letting teams back into games — always a problem under John Fox for some reason — will elevate some blood pressures, but the Panthers will carry the day and advance to the NFC Championship Game for the fourth time in four playoff appearances.

Chargers at Steelers, 4:45 ET Sunday, CBS

The Chargers won in truly heart-stopping fashion in overtime last weekend against the Colts and got heroic performances from many key players, including punter Mike Scifres (his 67-yard punt changed the field position battle for the rest of the game), the entire Charger defense, and Darren Sproles, who became third all-time in all-purpose yardage in a postseason game. They’ll need a similar performance in what promises to be a very bruising game in Pittsburgh. San Diego kept it close in their last meeting, but could not get it done. Pittsburgh is coming off a bye and everybody’s reasonably healthy (including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger). Philip Rivers struggled against the Colts’ pass defense last weekend and I suspect he’s going to have similar problems against the Pittsburgh D. I also don’t believe that Darren Sproles will come close to the day he had against the Colts.

This game is going to come down to missed opportunities. The Chargers missed a lot of opportunities to break the game open against Indy last week (three dropped interceptions, two turnovers in the end zone). The Chargers have to capitalize, capitalize, capitalize against the Steelers if they wish to have a chance.

I have a feeling it’s going to be another low-scoring affair. Roethlisberger hasn’t torched too many people through the air this year, and Willie Parker hasn’t had any earth-shattering performances as of late, either. The Charger D was able to really shut down the Colts’ attack; the question is, can they come east and do this? The Chargers didn’t win an East Coast game either this year. They’ve also essentially played five straight playoff games — how long can they ride this emotional high? Lots of questions. I’m cautiously optimistic about my Chargers, but also realistic. They’ll need a third playoff miracle in Pittsburgh and similarly heroic play if they want to get back to the AFC Championship Game.

The other games…

• Ravens at Titans, 4:30 ET Saturday (CBS): Toss a coin and you can make a pick for this game. These teams are fairly evenly matched and should beat each other up pretty well. I suspect it will be a low-scoring defensive game as well. Chad Pennington learned the hard way what happens if you throw it to Ed Reed — Kerry Collins won’t repeat that mistake. He doesn’t throw often, relying on a power running game to generate points. I’d have to give the edge to the Titans here, if only because Collins is a playoff veteran, knows what it takes to advance, and has done an excellent job taking care of the football. Turnovers will determine the ebb and flow of this game, but it’s truly too close to call.
• Eagles at Giants, 1:00 ET Sunday (FOX): This one comes down to stopping the run — whoever does it best wins it. And I’ll tell you what, the Giants are a tough run to stop. Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward are as bruising and punishing of a running game as you’ll see in the NFL (ask Carolina how well stopping those guys went). Brian Westbrook has started to see signs of life, and Donovan McNabb is playing inspired football. Is it enough against the Giants? That’s a tough team to beat. I think the Eagles’ run ends tomorrow, but there’s no way you get rid of McNabb in Philadelphia now. They’re not where they are without his play.

Best of luck to everybody this weekend — here’s hoping these games are at the level of quality that we’ve seen so far in these playoffs.

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This Chargers fan has seen this face far too much, and it needs to stop. Today’s performance was, once again, pitiful. They completely squandered LT’s first real healthy performance of the season with turnover after turnover, and they have completely forgotten how to play defense. There’s a REASON why Ted Cottrell was working in the NFL office before he became the Chargers’ D-coordinator!

But let’s get back to Norv. The Chargers are showing clear signs of being Norved — they’re disorganized, not playing defense, and there are a lot of selfish people on the team making plays for their own stats instead of for the overall big picture (Cromartie, I’m calling you out). Most importantly, they do not look ready to play. That’s where coaching and conditioning come into play.

Remember, Norv took a 14-2 team that was one dropped interception from the AFC Championship down to 11-5 and squeaked into the playoffs. Granted, he got one more playoff win than Marty Schottenheimer could muster, but the more I see this year play out, the more I feel like the Chargers — very, very trendy Super Bowl picks — are going to flame out as the most talented 8-8 team in NFL history.

I realize that injuries have hurt this team somewhat, most notably the absence of Shawne Merriman in the pass rush, but that’s no excuse for completely failing to play secondary, for somehow forgetting the fundamentals of tackling…ugh.

The Chargers are now 3-5 and it won’t get easier. It’s an uphill battle for them to get into the playoffs now, especially if the Broncos right the ship after their bye week. (And I refuse to blame Ed Hochuli for that bad call in the Denver game, in retrospect — yes, it eventually did cost them the game, but the Chargers still have to make that stop, and they couldn’t do it — twice.)

At least the Panthers won today. Might don that shade of blue for the weeks ahead if the Chargers can’t turn it around.

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In case you haven’t heard, all indications are that Tom Brady is done for the year. Last year, the Patriots talked about playing through the adversity of Spygate, etc — but they had all their players remain reasonably intact. The rush of air you feel? The rest of the AFC East breathing a sigh of relief. While the Belichick-era Patriots are resilient, losing their superstar quarterback may be too much. The Patriots are definitely more mortal now, and the division is completely up for grabs now.

Meanwhile, I watched my Chargers and the Panthers tangle to the last second, when a Jake Delhomme miracle throw was caught by Dante Rosario for a game-winning touchdown with no time left. Incredible! I hate seeing the Chargers lose, but losing to the Panthers is the only team I can accept them losing to. The Panthers haven’t looked this good in years. Having Steve Smith out may not necessarily be a bad thing for Delhomme; he spread the ball out to everybody. Delhomme always seems to lean on Smith when he’s in the game. The playcalling was very well-balanced (though going for it on fourth-and-1 on their second drive of the game was foolish), and the defense was as strong as ever.

This game is a gut-check for the Chargers, who need to strongly rethink their policy of leaving players out completely in preseason. Everybody was shaking off rust, and the regular season just isn’t the time for that. One silver lining: Philip Rivers looks as sharp as ever. His mobility was all there — it’s uncanny considering that less than seven months ago he had his ACL reconstructed. The Chargers will bounce back and will be fine; they needed this game to get a few things in check.

Looks to be a fun and wild year ahead; I’m really glad football’s back, especially after such a dismal baseball season.

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I do question why Billy Volek wasn’t brought in. Rivers had a tough time generating power behind his throws on his bad knees, and it showed, especially on an interception in the 2nd quarter. There’s something to be said about riding the horse that gets youu there, though.

Nobody expected the Chargers to even have a chance against the Pats, and they came out and gave them quite a game. Sure, I’m bummed that the Chargers aren’t going to the Super Bowl, but at least they went out with dignity this time. I feel reasonably good about next season, too, given that most everybody is returning.

Norv Turner did a heck of a job, too. (Never thought I’d say THAT.). The regular season was turbulent but he helped get them together at the right time. That’s good coaching.

Less than a month to Spring Training…but for now, Go Pack Go.

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The Chargers just played absolutely inspired football today, getting contributions from anybody and everybody, at almost all levels of the depth chart. It’s hard to pick out one MVP. Mike Scifres, when he had to punt, made some of the best kicks of his career. Michael Turner further proved his worth to the Chargers, coming in when Tomlinson was hurt and absolutely bruising the Colts’ defensive line. The 4th quarter of that game looked more like the 4th quarter of an exhibition, with Volek driving the Chargers down the field for the clinching touchdown, which he took in himself.

The Patriots are probably salivating — that game took an incredible physical and emotional toll. Without a healthy Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers will have serious trouble with The Undefeated. Then again, the Colts were a force to be reckoned with this year — their year would have gotten them a #1 seed in any other year. The injuries proved too much for them, though.

This playoff run has been a most unexpected and incredibly pleasant surprise. Gotta keep it rolling…

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Yesterday’s games marked some of the best playoff football I had ever seen. The Lambeau Snow Globe (as it’s come to be called) will go down in the highlight reels for a long time. Ryan Grant did a marvelous job shaking off a very inauspicious start to the game (two fumbles lost) to become one of the top three single game rushers with 201 yards. And Brett Favre was just Brett Favre. What a revival for his career. I haven’t seen that guy so happy to play football in a long time.

And the Patriots…wow. Tom Brady played arguably the best game for a quarterback in NFL playoff history last night. He West-Coasted the Jaguars to death, absolutely shredding their D with a steady dose of short passes and Laurence Maroney runs. In the end, I don’t see how the Patriots DON’T run the table — but that’s why we play the games…

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