Lou Holtz, meet Ken Whisenhunt.
Back in the day, long before he parked his career in a TV studio, Holtz liked to tell anyone who would listen that his Notre Dame teams didn’t have much of a chance on Saturday. And sure enough, the Irish typically would win by only 20 points, if not 30.
Now comes Whisenhunt, whose Arizona Cardinals will play in today’s NFC championship game in suburban Phoenix. Like Holtz, he has played the woe-is-us card all year long. Even after beating Carolina last week to move within whispering distance of the Super Bowl, Whisenhunt couldn’t resist going for the sympathy vote.
“Not a lot of people have had many nice things to say about us or given us a chance,” he told a national television audience.
Enough already. Memo to the Cardinals: We give you a chance, all right? You’re not the second coming of the ’76 Tampa Bay Bucs. We’ve got cable. We know you’re 7-2 at home and averaging 30 points a game. And while the stubble has a few more flecks of gray in it, we still recognize Kurt Warner out there, too.
Not that Whisenhunt doesn’t have a point. Why would people have a lot of nice things to say about the Cardinals? They’re . . . well, the Cardinals. The last time they hosted any kind of championship game, the first baby boomers were taking their first steps. We’re talking 1947, when the Cardinals played in Chicago, 13 years before they moved to St. Louis and 41 years before they fled to the desert.
They made the playoffs this season for three reasons: location, location, location. The Cardinals play in the NFC West, where their 9-7 record was good enough to win the division. Along the way, they lost five games on the East Coast by an average of 20 points a game.
Last week, they ventured back to the Eastern time zone to face the Panthers. So what happens? They win by 20 points. No, really, we’re not making this up. They had allowed an average of 40 points a game in those five losses, but beat Carolina 33-13, thanks to those five interceptions thrown by Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme.
So what’s going to happen today in Glendale, Ariz., and Pittsburgh, where the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will square off in the AFC championship game? Former Broncos guard Mark Schlereth gets paid to analyze NFL games for ESPN, but he has to admit, expert analysis has given way to educated guessing this season.
“I don’t know what to make of this bizarro season,” said Schlereth. “I was talking to Merril Hoge a month ago. He was saying, ‘In all my years I’ve been doing this and playing, I’ve never seen anything like it.’ Neither have I. You think you understand what a team is all about, and the next week they do something totally uncharacteristic and lay an egg. It’s hard to put a definitive stamp on any one team because, at any time, things can change.”
How about this for expert analysis?
“One thing I’ve noticed is that three of the four teams are birds,” said Schlereth. “The Ravens, Eagles and Cardinals. That must mean it’s the year of the bird. I guess we should have known. That’s how this season has been all around.”
Today’s NFC game will match two teams, neither of which had double-digit victory totals. The Cardinals before this year had made the playoffs once since moving to Phoenix after the 1987 season. The Eagles? They were 5-5-1 after 11 games, at which point some Las Vegas sports books ranked their odds to win the Super Bowl at 200-1.
Oh, and did we mention the Eagles’ quarterback, Donovan McNabb, was benched in November? Or that the Philadelphia media were awash in speculation that McNabb and coach Andy Reid were history? That’s the team that’s favored by four points to win the NFC championship.
Then you have the AFC championship combatants. In a season in which Hall of Fame candidates Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren were shown the door, rookie head coach John Harbaugh has the Ravens one step from Super Sunday. Harbaugh before this season had never been a coordinator, much less a head coach. Maybe he’s the one who ought to be taking pages out of the Holtz Handbook.
Baltimore, which finished 5-11 in 2007, doesn’t just have a rookie head coach. Barely a year ago, the Ravens’ starting quarterback was playing for those feisty Fightin’ Blue Hens of the University of Delaware. Joe Flacco last week became the first rookie quarterback to win two NFL playoff games.
If he makes it three, we would have arguably the most shocking development yet in a season in which shocking has become the rule, not the exception. But then, it’s still early. The Super Bowl is two weeks away.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
NFL, as in No Figuring League
By Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
“Bizarro,” former Bronco-turned-ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth calls it. But whatever word you want to use, there’s no denying that this has been one of the most wildly unpredictable NFL seasons. Here are 10 seemingly impossible developments that have helped define the 2008 season:
1 The Eagles, listed in Las Vegas at 200-1 to win the Super Bowl after dropping to 5-5-1, are playing in today’s NFC championship game.
2 The Lions, whose history includes 17 Hall of Famers, celebrated their 75th anniversary by finishing 0-16.
3 Adam “Pacman” Jones was reinstated by commissioner Roger Goodell, only to be suspended again after getting into a fight with one of his bodyguards. Maybe we should have known. The night before his 2007 meeting with Goodell that ended with a one-year suspension, Jones was spotted at a New York strip club.
4 The Cardinals were scorched for 426 points, becoming the first NFL team to win its division after allowing 400-plus.
5 The Chargers were 4-8 through November, but made the playoffs. The Patriots won 11 games but missed the playoffs, joining the ’85 Broncos as the only teams to win 11 and not qualify for the postseason.
6 Brett Favre came out of retirement to throw 12 touchdown passes and four interceptions in his first four games as a Jet. In the next 12, he threw 10 TD passes and 18 INTs.
7 The Giants, who finished 6-9 and 8-8 after their first two Super Bowl triumphs, won 12 games, the third time in 20 years that a Super Bowl champion had improved its record the next season. A lot it got them. They lost their only playoff game to the Eagles.
8 Indianapolis stumbled out of the gate at 3-4, but won its final nine games to become the first NFL team to win 12-plus games in six consecutive seasons.
9 The Browns, whose high-powered offense helped them win 10 games in 2007, didn’t score an offensive touchdown in their final six games.
10 Tom Brady threw 50 fewer touchdown passes than he did in 2007, thanks to a season-ending injury in the Patriots’ opener.
NFC
Records
Philadelphia 11-6-1; Arizona 11-7
Point spread
Eagles by 4
Hash marks
Eagles won 48-20 at Philly in teams’ first meeting of ’08. Now for the fine print: Cardinals were coming off a deflating 37-29 loss to Giants. They won’t be deflated for this one. . . . Cardinals forced 30 turnovers, tied for fifth in the league, but also had 30 of their own. . . . Philly media were speculating about Andy Reid’s future two months ago. Huh? Today’s game marks team’s fifth NFC title game appearance in Reid’s 10 seasons. . . . Cardinals’ pass rush the stuff of milk cartons. Former Bronco Bert Berry leads team with five sacks. . . . Donovan McNabb in last meeting with ‘Zona: 260 passing yards, four TDs, no picks one week after being benched at halftime.
Eagles win if . . .
Their fourth-ranked run defense stifles the Cardinals’ 32nd-ranked ground game, prompting Kurt Warner to force some throws that become turnovers. And did we mention that Warner, even in his best days, was vulnerable to fumbles after blindside hits?
Cardinals win if . . .
They continue to ride the wave of emotion that has carried them to their first conference championship game since the ’40s. How to do that? Scoring first would be a big step. If so, University of Phoenix Stadium would be rocking like never before.
Eagles player on the spot
RB Brian Westbrook. With the Cardinals playing their best defense of the season, he’ll have to turn some would-be short gains into big plays. And he’s just the guy to do it. Westbrook has scored at least one touchdown in four of his past five playoff games.
Cardinals player on the spot
QB Kurt Warner. Strip away the hype and you have two teams, one (Philadelphia) with the league’s third-ranked defense, the other with the 19th. The Eagles will score their share of points. Warner, who had a streak of five consecutive 300-yard passing games from late October to late November, will have to keep pace through the air.
Bet you didn’t know
The Cardinals before this season had played in seven playoff games, winning two and losing five. Their last appearance in a championship game came in 1948, when they lost 7-0 to the Eagles, pocketing a loser’s share of $874.
Key matchup
Larry Fitzgerald vs. Asante Samuel. This is why the Eagles gave Samuel the big money in free agency. Fitzgerald is a Hall of Fame talent, having led the NFC with 96 catches, 1,431 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. Samuel, meanwhile, has returned four interceptions for touchdowns in the playoffs, the most in NFL postseason history. Samuel in 16 career playoff games: 13-3, including two Super Bowl wins.
Injury report
Eagles — OUT: G Shawn Andrews (back). PROBABLE: DE Victor Abiamiri (foot), WR Jason Avant (knee), S Brian Dawkins (back), RB Dan Klecko (shoulder), T Jon Runyan (knee), RB Brian Westbrook (knee).
Cardinals — QUESTIONABLE: WR Anquan Boldin (hamstring), P Ben Graham (groin), DE Travis LaBoy (ankle), TE Ben Patrick (knee).
Prediction
Eagles 30, Cardinals 24
AFC
Records
Baltimore 13-5; Pittsburgh 13-4
Point spread
Steelers by 6
Hash marks
Third meeting. Steelers won first two 23-20 (OT) at Pitt, 13-9 at Baltimore. . . . According to league office, NFL teams have met three times in same season 18 times, with 11 sweeps. . . . Ravens S Ed Reed on a roll with 10 INTs in past eight games. . . . Steelers allowed 223 points, less than half as many as the 448 allowed by the Broncos. . . . Steelers’ special teams could be the difference, what with Santonio Holmes having returned a punt 67 yards for a TD vs. Chargers. . . . Steelers scored 347 points. Only Dolphins (345) scored fewer among eight division winners.
Ravens win if . . .
Their defense controls the line of scrimmage and forces Ben Roethlisberger into throwing multiple interceptions. The Ravens’ D led the league with 26 INTs, four more than any other NFL team.
Steelers win if . . .
Their pass rush, which produced 51 sacks, second in the league to Dallas’ 59, overwhelms rookie quarterback Joe Flacco and forces some poor decisions.
Ravens player on the spot
QB Joe Flacco. Much has been made of his ability to avoid turnovers. But Flacco, who has thrown five INTs in his past 13 games, never has felt the kind of pressure he’ll be under today. Steelers outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley have combined for 27.5 sacks and Harrison has turned forcing fumbles into an art form. If Flacco coughs it up early, he could be in for a long day.
Steelers player on the spot
RB Willie Parker. Injuries limited him to 791 rushing yards during the season, but he showed he’s healthy last week vs. the Chargers, racking up 146 yards and two touchdowns. It doesn’t figure to be as easy vs. Baltimore’s stellar front seven.
Bet you didn’t know
The Steelers have some interesting history with the Cardinals, a team they could face in the Super Bowl. With many players off to war, the two teams merged for the 1944 NFL season, finishing 0-10. The team was known as the Card-Pitt.
Key matchup
Justin Hartwig vs. Haloti Ngata. Ngata was the Ravens’ most glaring Pro Bowl snub. At 6-feet-4 and 345 pounds, he might be the most dominant nose tackle in the league. And to think Hartwig, the Steelers’ center, is going to have to contend with him on a gimpy knee. He tweaked it last week and played the second half in a brace.
Injury report
Ravens — OUT: LB Antwan Barnes (shoulder). DOUBTFUL: CB Samari Rolle (thigh). QUESTIONABLE: DT Justin Bannan (foot), WR Mark Clayton (thigh), TE Todd Heap (back), LB Jarret Johnson (calf), WR Derrick Mason (knee), FB Le’Ron McClain (ankle), LB Terrell Suggs (shoulder). PROBABLE: LB Ray Lewis (shoulder), FB Lorenzo Neal (shoulder), S Ed Reed (knee).
Steelers — PROBABLE: C Justin Hartwig (knee), S Troy Polamalu (calf).
Prediction
Ravens 20, Steelers 19
