Although the Ravens vs Steelers matchup seems to be getting all of the attention, the game I’m excited about is the Eagles vs Cardinals matchup. It’s tough to beat a team twice in a year. See: the Ravens/Titans game last week, or the Chargers/Colts game the week before. So does that mean that the game-to-game adjustments benefit someone in this Eagles vs Cardinals matchup?

Nonetheless, let’s get to some picks:

Eagles vs Cardinals odds: Eagles -4

The Eagles vs Cardinals spread is a little strange for an NFC Conference Championship game: the road team is favored by more than a field goal. It’s pretty rare that at this point in the season we would see a road team favored by so much, but that’s the case since no one really believes in the Cardinals.

One thing to keep in mind for this Eagles vs Cardinals line, the Cards did get blown out in the previous meeting and the question is how will they adjust? The Eagles pass defense seems to be the kryptonite to the Cards passing game while the Cardinals welcoming pass defense figures to be a huge weakness against the Eagles pass-happy offense.

I’ll go with the experience in this matchup.

Eagles vs Cardinals pick: Eagles -4

Ravens vs Steelers odds: Steelers -5.5

I’ll keep it short and sweet in this contest. Bla, bla, bla…physical contest…bla, bla, bla…tight defensive tilt…bla, bla, bla…division rivalry.

Bottom: in the previous two Ravens vs Steelers matchup this season, neither contest was decided by more than this spread so I’ll take the points.

Ravens vs Steelers pick: Ravens +5.5

Are the Philadelphia Eagles the Arizona Cardinals kryptonite? Sportsbook odds have the Eagles as a four-point favorite over the Cardinals, yet the Cardinals are at home. The bookmakers are clearly saying that the Eagles are the better team.

The Cardinals simply don’t run the ball and if you had to pick a weakness in the Eagles defense, it would be their run defense. The Eagles have the third-best pass defense and they have a quartet of solid corners that can play with anyone. More importantly in this Eagles vs Cardinals matchup is the fact that the Eagles, who send a variety of exotic blitzes, will find a way to pressure Kurt Warner.

On the flip side, the Eagles are very much a passing team themselves. And the good news for them is that the Cardinals have allowed the most passing touchdowns in the league. On top of that, Brian Westbrook figures to have a big day.

As long as the Eagles don’t make a ton of mistakes like the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers did, they should come up on the winning end of this Eagles vs Cardinals matchup.