By Scott Burks
The Baltimore Ravens' defense is downright scary.
The Ravens D is downright nasty. During the Ravens-Dolphins game,
I literally cringed and turned my head every time Dolphins QB Chad
Pennington got leveled by Ravens LB Bart Scott, Terrell Suggs, and Ray
Lewis. And how about FS Ed Reed? My man had 2 interceptions
yesterday, and is a touchdown threat waiting to happen. As a
Steelers fan, it hurts to say the following: to see Steelers LB James
Harrison win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year over Ed Reed was
criminal.
The winner of the Philadelphia Eagles-New
York Giants game will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
You gotta love this match-up. Two arch-rivals from the NFC East
slugging it out with the chance to go to the NFC Championship game.
I honestly think that the Eagles and Carolina Panthers are the only two
teams left that are not afraid of the defending champion Giants.
As with the last meeting, the game will come down to big plays and
turnovers. While I like the Giants at home, the Eagles are not
going down without a fight.
Ditto for the Ravens-Tennessee Titans
game. If the Eagles-Giants tilt is "must-see TV", then the
Ravens-Titans game will be a prime-time slobberknocker. I think
the Ravens-Titans game will feature a plethora of hard hits, trash
talking, and maybe a cheap shot or two. These two teams still
carry grudges from the old AFC Central days. I'd set the
over-under at 10 points for this one.
The 2008 Miami Dolphins is a nice story, but they have
some work to do. I like what I saw from
the Dolphins this season. They pay the game the right way, they
don't turn the ball over (except for Sunday's game with the Ravens), and
they play hard every Sunday. Give a lot credit for Dolphins
executive Bill Parcells and his head coach Tony Sparano for the
turnaround. Both men were successful in changing the losing
culture that permeated the Dolphins franchise the last few seasons.
Having said all of that, look for the Dolphins to re-tool their offense
a bit. Another dependable wide receiver and a few more offensive
linemen should work.
