Prognostication

Since Crossman has done the NFL prognostication thing (rather poorly might I add), I think I'll try my hand at it as well, my views on the NFL notwithstanding.

We have the potential for an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl (which would be almost as cool as the all-Pirate Super Bowl they had a couple of years back), however, I don't think that's going to happen. While both these games can go either way, I have a bit of a gut feeling as to how they'll actually turn out.

New England and Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh really didn't deserve to win last week. New England on the other hand made the top offence in the league look decidedly ordinary. I think a bit much emphasis is placed on that, though. The weather conditions were far from ideal. As well, as much as there was media criticism for John Lynch's remarks that the Colt receivers were "soft", that doesn't mean that they weren't true (and I don't think that running by the Bronco DBs at will necessarily proved that wasn't the case either). Pittsburgh is a different team, however. Their running game is much more punishing with a healthy Bus, and their receivers are grittier as well. They also have the top defence in the league. All of that being said, I just can't get bet against the Patriots in the playoffs. New England will win, but it should be close.

Atlanta and Philadelphia
As I've implied elsewhere, the Eagles haven't gotten the proverbial monkey off their collective backs just yet. They beat the Falcons last time they met in the playoffs, however that was two years ago and I think this Falcons team is better (but then, the Eagles are also better this time around). A lot will obviously depend on the Eagles' run defence, as well as the Falcon's secondary. McNabb won't have as much time as he did against the Vikings, but the Eagles defence will also put up more of a fight than did the Rams. An article I read earlier in the year talked about how it might come down to whether Deangelo Hall would be able to contain T.O. Well, that's not much of a problem any more. I'm going to go for the Eagles choking again, and the Falcons winning.

And I still miss hockey.