Eagles at Cardinals: Proof that the networks are the tail that wag the dog, this game in the desert, two time zones west of Pittsburgh, with the game to be played indoors to enhance the home crowd’s influence, is the early game.  Enjoy the wintry nighttime air, Steelers fans.

This has nothing to do with the game, but Dan Bickley’s column on Jake Plummer has multiple interesting items.  Bickley mentions Plummer doing door-to-door campaigning when the Cards were looking for government help to build their stadium.  Then Plummer admits to being pleased upon hearing of Mike Shanahan’s firing.

Have the Cardinals really improved that much defensively, or was it just a case of horrific performances by Matt Ryan and Jake Delhomme?  Can ancient Kurt Warner withstand the pressure of the Eagles and Jim Johnson’s aggressive schemes?

Do the Cardinals have the heart to get this done?  After all, it’s safe to say that we’ll never again see a team that loses four times by 21 or more host a conference championship game.   One of those games was a devastating Thanksgiving night crushing at the hands of these Eagles.  But can we throw that game out based on the Eagles short week and long trip?

And remember that the Eagles were at their low point and desperately in need of a win on Turkey Day night.  Donovan McNabb was off of his Baltimore benching following the Bengal tie and the Eagles badly needed that one.  Incidentally, if the Cardinals didn’t have so much money invested in the QB position, we’d here rumors of McNabb to this franchise, with Phoenix being McNabb’s offseason home.

Will the Eagles offense get the job done?  Surprisingly, in their 13 possessions in their win over the Giants, Philly failed to gain 10 yards on 9 of those drives.  Now those possessions included taking knees at the end of each half.  But still, it wasn’t an avalanche of offensive production from the Eagles.

Two surprising teams make for an intriguing matchup.  Read on for some additional impressive numbers numbers on the Eagles defense.

Ravens at Steelers:  Defense is obviously the name of the game in this one.   These two, along with the Eagles, were in the top four in the NFL in the defensive categories of scoring defense, total defense, yards per play, opponent’s 3rd down conversion percentage, passing yards, yards per pass attempt, rushing yardage, and TD runs allowed.  Obviously these two (along with the Eagles) have the ability to shut down both the run and the pass.

Ravens rookie Joe Flacco has been famously efficient this year, but his two outings against this Steelers D were far from stellar. In those two games Flacco was 27 for 59 for 307 yards.  That’s only 5.2 yards per pass attempt and Flacco was intercepted twice and sacked 7 times, while notching only a single TD pass.  Yet the Ravens lost by just a smidge in each outing, one in OT, and one decided by a replay official differentiating between being on the goal line and being on the six-inch line.

It’ll be cold in Pittsburgh, with temps around 24, but light winds and the potential of light snow showers.  No big deal, as they each won in similar conditions last week.  With the series history and Baltimore’s well-earned reputation as a hard-knocking underdog, they’re a tempting proposition.  Remember, this team was in must win situations down the stretch.  Can their banged up defense rise up yet again against a Steelers offense that is running on all cylinders?  Can their poor-tackling corners take down a fresh Willie Parker when he gets to the outside?  Will that injury-riddled secondary a couple of big pass plays?

Enjoy this pair of fascinating games on Sunday.