NFL: First Look at the Championship Games

We’ll take a few looks at the Championship Game this week. Today we’ll take our first look. This look will center on a few of the major themes that should emerge in this Sunday’s games.

The major theme that is an absolute given this Sunday is that the Baltimore Ravens at the Pittsburgh Steelers will be a brutal battle. An absolute “blood bath” is how the players are referring to it. And that’s exactly what it will be.

The Ravens and Steelers have 2 very fast, very talented, and very nasty defenses. And the defenses can be mean too… and cheap shop artists at times.

In fact, the Eagles can be thrown into that mix too. They all take cheap shots that come very close (and often crossover) the line of what’s legal. What this does, is makes the offense hesitate a little and then the defense takes control.

So, the Ravens and Steelers game will have 2 defenses that should be able to have a lot of success against the offenses they are facing.

Another theme in this game will the turnovers. If there aren’t any turnovers on the minus side of the field then this game will probably have less than 20 total points scored. But if one team turns the ball over a lot then the other team will win.

As for the Eagles and the Cardinals, the biggest theme here is the fact that no one expected these two teams to be playing. Of course, the Eagles are used to this type of stage because this is there 5th appearance in the last 8 years. But the Cardinals aren’t experienced at all. But the Cards are at home and they are much better at home and in nice weather.

So, another huge theme here is the Cards offense against the Eagles defense. Will the Cards be able to move the ball.

And then. the other major theme is: Can McNabb and company be stopped by the Cards defense?

We’ll get into all of this a lot more in a couple days.