Welcome back! Our final installments of the NFL Picks will highlight the culmination of the NFL season as the post-season winds down. This week, we look over the AFC and NFC conference championships. The regular season doesn’t matter anymore. Every game could be the last. Check your insight against ours, including last year’s NFL Picks champ: Scott!

The cast:

Tom Asselin
Tom is the veteran. Crusty, grumpy… well, maybe just grumpy… He needs to rely on his experience to fend off the newcomers.

Marko Bilandzjia
Marko is one of the new guys. Will the rookie come through in his predictions?

Josh Boulding
With only mediocre NFL experience, does he stand a chance against the veterans?

Kevin Chaves
As a hockey fan sticking his nose into America’s league, only time will tell if Kevin Chaves can make the plays on this season’s outcomes.

Scott Christiansen
Scott is an experienced contributor to the section but new to the Picks.

Mike Collins
Mike is another experienced contributor.

Adam Peleshaty
Another newcomer to the section, Adam will try to take an underdog win.

Brad Pennington
Brad knows basketball. Will that help picking the pigskin winners?

Jo Villaverde
Jo, the contender, was in the running last year. His football experience may just land him on top this season.

The Games

AFC

Adam says: BAL
This AFC Championship game between the Ravens and the Steelers should be low-scoring as the two best defences go head-to-head. However, in the past two games, it appears that the Ravens defence has been better. QB Joe Flacco only has twenty completions this post-season and, last week, their rushing game was stopped cold. Yet, they still won against Miami and Tennessee. The Ravens are my pick for the conference and the Super Bowl. Why? Simply, defence wins championships.

Kevin says: BAL
I have been since the beginning and I shall continue to fly with the Ravens in these playoffs. They aren’t the same offensively-struggling team of the past and will, somehow, someway, exploit the Steelers. Yes, Baltimore did lose both regular season games but by only a total of seven points. Though both defences are scary brilliant, the Ravens are just unforgiving and a touch better. I don’t have the answers. I just have a feeling. The Ravens will be Super Bowl Champions. Ravens 24 – Steelers 10

Josh says: PIT
Despite the aviary theme to the conference championships this year, I feel this gritty contest will come out with the Steelers on top in the AFC. I can say for sure that this will be the game to watch come Sunday afternoon. My peers have gone with the Ravens, but I see Pittsburgh coming up with a few more points this time. Baltimore is looking for redemption against their rivals but that doesn’t give them an edge when both teams have so much at stake. As long as Pittsburgh can make a few breaks on the ground and put the ball through the uprights, they will take it. Steelers 16 – Ravens 13

Scott says: PIT
I really want to pick the Ravens in this one. But with their aging and hurting defence, rookie quarterback, and first-year head coach, it is really difficult. They should keep it close, but Joe Flacco is going to have trouble throwing against the Steelers’ defence, and their running game just isn’t good enough to put up points.

NFC

Marko says: ARI
Arizona WILL win the NFC Divisional Title. The cardinal is the most vicious predator of the South American jungles. It has fangs of steel, a titanium body that is bullet proof and a built in SONAR on its foreheads. The cardinals that you are used to reading about in nature magazines are actually all mythological creatures. To put it shortly, the eagles stand no chance here. The new and improved Cardinals take it 34-11.

Mike says: PHI
After the Eagles went to the Super Bowl three times and came up empty handed, I swore I wouldn’t put my faith in them again. However, even though the Cardinals beat the Panthers in a blowout last Sunday, I have no faith in them as a Super Bowl team. Plus, McNabb is playing like the QB we all knew and loved, Westbrook continues to dominate the ground attack, safety Brian Dawkins is as prolific as ever, and the Eagles are coming off a big away win against the defending Super Bowl champions. Eagles by 7.

Jo says: ARI
I’ve been saying it all year. Kurt Warner is the man. Don’t believe me yet? How can you not? He’s led his team all the way through to the NFC Conference Final and this is a team very few people picked to be in the playoffs. Many thought he would fade into obscurity once Matt Leinart came to Arizona but this is the same guy who was supposed to fade into obscurity while he was working in super markets and playing in the Arena Football League. Warner is as tough as it comes and he will prove it again against the Philadelphia Eagles as he comes away with at least a 10 point win to lead the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl appearance.

Scott says: PHI
Despite playing a solid game, the Cardinals were essentially handed their win in Carolina last weekend. The Eagles, however, had to slug it out against a depleted but still respectable Giants team. If the Philadelphia defence can keep Larry Fitzgerald in check, and McNabb once again “answers the call,” the Eagles should come out on top, and be a very dangerous opponent in the Super Bowl.

Published in Volume 63, Number 16 of The Uniter (January 15, 2009)