Sunday's conference championship games were nothing short of pure entertainment.

Both games were exactly what, we as fans, hoped it would be. The first game was the Philly V. Arizona game, in which 37 year-old Kurt Warner played for a potential 3 trip to a Super Bowl. Isn't this the guy, who for the past 5 years or so, has been shipped to teams as the scrappy old-veteran backup put in place to develop new up-and-coming QB's......Eli Manning, Matt Leinart?

In a sense, Kurt has been playing as the underdog since his days with the Rams. Entering the NFC championship, the Cardinals again were the underdog, in which they had been every game of the playoffs.

I think the most surprising thing about that game is that is how they came out and dominated the first half. The Cardinals left the field at halftime with a commanding 24-6 lead. For most of us fans we felt like the game was already over. The Eagles then came out of the locker room and ended up taking the lead in the fourth quarter 25-24.

It was Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald that played a phenomenal game all the way to the very end. Warner threw for 4 TD's while Fitzgerald caught 3 of them. However, it was the scrappy veteran who put together the game winning 72-yard game winning drive in the fourth quarter to put the last nail in the coffin.

I want to say thanks to all of you guys," Warner told the crowd during postgame celebrations. "When nobody else believed in us, when nobody else believed in me, you guys did and we're going to the Super Bowl."


The late game included the brawl in Pittsburgh.....two division rivals, two killer defenses, and two above average offenses.

In the end it was the team with a more experienced leader that proved a more suitable AFC champion.

Nothing against Joe Flacco, in fact he did what no man has done before. Flacco was the only rookie ever to win 2 playoff games. However, it was the Pittsburgh 'D' that realized that they could rattle the unflappable "Joe cool".

Flacco ended the game going 13 for 30 with 141 yards and 3 interceptions and no touchdowns.

"He was getting hit all day," said Steelers linebacker James Farrior. "He was running for his life."

It was Roethlisberger and the offense that made the big plays to stay ahead but it was the defense that won the game.

The play that sealed-the-deal was a Troy Polamalu interception in the forth quarter in which he took to the house.

"I think without a doubt this is the best defense I've ever played on," said Polamalu, who also played on the 2005 Steelers team that won a Super Bowl.

This game was a slug-fest. It started with Raven's safety Daren Stone suffering a concussion on the first play of the game, but it ended with Willis McGahee leaving the field on a stretcher.

The games were exactly what they were hyped to be. Now the Super Bowl will be very reminiscent of last year's story line, a high-flying offense versus a punch-you-in-the-throat defense.

The difference is this year it is the defense that is favored.

Pittsburgh opens up as a 7-point favorite for the Super Bowl: Steelers -7