Man's Last Best Hope

So the obvious news story that emerged out of this past weekend is that 3 of the 4 remaining teams are birds. What makes this story somewhat shocking is nobody had the Arizona Cardinals beating the Carolina Panthers who were 8-0 at home in the 2008 season, Arizona was perhaps the least respected team in the playoffs, having the 2nd worst record even the 8-8 Chargers were given more respect than the Cardinals who had the 2nd weakest division in football and much was made of their poor record in 1 PM Eastern time zone starts. Lucky for Arizona this was an 8 PM Eastern start so the bodyclock issue was not going to be as much of a factor. When the Panthers rushed out to a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game I certainly thought this was the beginning of a Carolina rout. Remarkably though Carolina abandoned the run and put the ball in the hands of Jake Delhomme, who showed why he was Kurt Warner's backup in NFL Europe. Del Homme was Favresque and threw 4 picks seemingly not ever noticing the defender. The Eagles upset the Giants at home who seemed to be having troubles getting big back Brandon Jacobs moving up field or connecting on many big plays, honestly the extra stride length a 6'5 WR versus a 6 foot WR might have made a huge difference in that game, John Carney has certainly played his last game as a giant. 2 crucial missed field goals in the game, they were not easy kicks but Giants fans will certainly be screaming for his head (remember Carney is the guy who missed the extra point with no time left that would have tied the game on the after the Saints made that miracle Cal-Stanford band play in 2003). The Ravens beat the #1 seed Tenessee Titans in what some may refer to as an upset but in reality no one was really that surprised given the way the Ravens defence has been playing.

In the final playoff game of the weekend, the Steelers beat a "surging" Chargers team leaving them as the only "non bird" team remaining. Looking at team mascots, there has only been 1 bird team to actually win a Superbowl and that was the 2000 Ravens. If you look at the 42 year history if one were to consider the "Giants" to be human 32 of the 42 Superbowls have been won by "humans". The overwhelming majority of multiple superbowl winners are human or : The Giants, Colts, Steelers, Patriots, Broncos, Packers, Cowboys, 49ers, Redskins, Raiders,Dolphins 8 of those 11 are "human". In the late 1990's Animals seemed to rule with 4 straight Superbowls since that time only the Colts have interrupted an impressive reign for humans.

What will happen this year? The possibilites are there for an all bird, all Pennsylvania or former Steeler assistant vs. his old team. Personally as someone who primarily watching the AFC the defences there are impressive. The Eagles and Cardinals are so inconsistent, I could forsee the Cardinals upsetting the low scoring Eagles although I think the Eagles would be more competitive in the Superbowl than I think the Cardinals would be. The Ravens and Steelers are pretty evenly matched so I don't know, I'd give a slight edge to Pittsburgh being at home and having a slightly more experienced QB and just slightly better defence. As much as it hurts me to say this being a United Steelworker I think I have to cheer for the Steelers.