So it seems that I can pick a winning football team in the playoffs. In fact, from the looks of today’s scores I am able to pick two.

Both of the teams that I chose to win today did and at the same time I got to inflate my over-inflated ego yet further. I was also able to celebrate the fact that two very close friends of mine were going to be elated at their team going to the big game. Throw in the fact that my man, Kurt Warner, gets to go back to the Super Bowl and life today was all sorts of good.

My friend Mike is a huge fan of the Cardinals. He has been for years. Since I am a huge fan of Kurt Warner I was totally able to cheer for the Cards during their furious first half of scoring. I was also able to worry during their third quarter meltdown and cheer again when they pulled out the win.

My best friend Ray is a die-hard Steelers fan. I swear if he cut himself he would bleed black and gold. Yes, he loves the Steelers. And since he is my best friend I do too. So it was easy to cheer for them in their victory over Baltimore. The game was a snooze-fest, but Palumalu’s interception for a score late in the fourth made it worth watching.

So I am patting myself on the back right now. I have not been able to pick a winner for my life this post season. Until today. I am a little proud of me right now. Hopefully two weeks from now I will be able to say the same thing.

Last week proved to be my utter demise in picking a winner. If I wasn’t bad enough in the first weekend (going a paultry 1-3) then last weekend sealed that deal as I went 0-4 on the weekend. That makes my pick score for the playoffs a wild 1-7. So if there is anything to learn from any of this it is: do not bet according to my picks; pick against them.

With that in mind, let’s see how bad I can screw up today’s Championship games, shall we?

Game 1 – NFC Championship Game: Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals
The Eagle have made five of the last eight NFC title games but have won only one of them. This year they were a bubble team that pulled out what was needed to get into the playoffs. The Cardinals were a sort of run of the mill team that in any other division wouldn’t have even made the playoffs, but in the weak NFC West they exceled and made it in. And surprisingly they won both of their post-season games this year to make it to the title game. Playing in Arizona, in a very loud dome and in a hostile environment, is not at all going to work in favor of the Eagles. And as much as Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb are the people’s favorite, the Cardinals have the experience in Kurt Warner and Edgerrin James to blow this one out. I expect this be a win for the birds. The Cardinals that is.

Game 2 – AFC Championship Game: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh opened it up last week against San Diego in a savage way. They showed some grit and guts in that game and looked like a world champion caliber team. The Ravens have been playing crazy defense all year  long and have relied on a stupid +7 turnover rating in the playoffs to bring the wood to their opponents. This is going to be one heck of a game. One that I am going to look forward to until the last whistle blows. In the end I see the Steelers being a little too much for the stingy Ravens defense. Big Ben takes this one to the house and sets up a Cardinals/Steelers match up for Super Bowl XLIII.

Alright, you got all that? Ready? Set? Bet!