NFL Divisional Round Preview: Eagles, Ravens Riding Waves of Momentum

The Wild-Card round was as entertaining as any playoff round in recent memory. The Divisional round has a lot to live up to. But there's some serious potential in these matchups.

Starting with what could be the best defensive game of the playoffs, ending with what could be the best all-around game of the playoffs.

Ravens at Titans

Kerry Collins must be beside himself right about now.

Any team but the Ravens. The Colts? Fine. The Steelers? No problem. The Chargers? Bring ‘em on.

But the Ravens?

Collins still wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, remembering nothing from the dream except Ray Lewis’ laugh.

The last time Kerry Collins met the Ravens in the playoffs was the 2000 Super Bowl. His Giants were, to be nice, completely and utterly humiliated by the Ravens’ defense.

Worse yet, this Ravens’ defense is starting to remind some of us of that Ravens’ defense.

But the Titans have a pretty good defense of their own. Not only that, but they’ve been, wire to wire, the best team in the AFC this season. They were the last undefeated team in the NFL this season.

They deserve respect. They’ve earned respect. I should pick them to win this weekend.

But I can’t get past this one, simple question: How are the Titans, and Kerry Collins, going to score any points against this Ravens’ defense?

Until I get a good answer, I’m taking the Ravens in a defensive struggle.

Prediction: Ravens 17, Titans 9

Chargers at Steelers

The two biggest offensive stars in this game, LaDainian Tomlinson and Ben Roethlisberger, besides having names that are impossible to spell, are question-marks coming into the game.

L.T. probably won’t play. If he does try to play, he won’t be effective. There are some injuries running backs can’t play through, and a torn groin tendon (am I the only one who didn’t know that groins had tendons?) is one of those injuries.

Big Ben is coming off a concussion. Even before the concussion, he hasn’t had a great season. He’s starting to play like a quarterback that’s taken three straight years of Drew Bledsoe-like beatings.

That said, while the Chargers can win without L.T., the Steelers have no shot if Big Ben doesn’t play.

Darren Sproles made himself a nice chunk of money last week against the Colts. If the Chargers are going to pull off another upset, he’s going to have to be huge again.

I’m not sure, however, that the little man can hold up against the Steeler defense for an entire game.

Philip Rivers is going to have to be huge for the Chargers to win this game. He’s capable, but against the Steeler defense?

I’m not so sure.

The Steelers beat the Chargers 11-10 earlier this season. It should have been 18-10, but the officials screwed up the last call of the game and took a touchdown away from the Steelers.

It was a pretty good defensive game. I’m not sure I expect the same thing out of this playoff game.

The Chargers beat the Colts, but the Chargers always beat the Colts. These Steelers are not the Colts.

Prediction: Steelers 21, Chargers 17

Cardinals at Panthers

Nobody saw last weekend’s defensive effort by the Cardinals coming. Nobody. Not one person. Even the most adamant Cardinals fans thought they might win, if they could force a shootout.

The question is, can the Cardinals repeat the effort for a second week in a row? On the East Coast? Against the Panthers?

The Panthers have been the second best team in the NFC all season long. They’ve been absolutely dominating at home.

Their two-headed running attack, featuring DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, has combined for over 2,300 yards and 28 touchdowns.

They’ve been dominant.

The only way to stop the Panthers is to put the game in Jake Delhomme’s hands and hope he doesn’t morph into the 2003 version Jake Delhomme.

And even if you manage to do that, you still have to deal with Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad.

Can the Cardinals stop the Panthers’ rushing attack? Can they stop the Panthers from imposing their will?

I don’t think so.

The Cardinals will put up some points. Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald are too good to be held down for an entire game. But they won’t have the ball enough to do any real damage.

Every round in the playoffs has one game that ends up being a complete mismatch.

Prediction: Panthers 38, Cardinals 14

Eagles at Giants

This will be the best game of the weekend.

Earlier this season, this matchup would have been a joke.

The Giants had Plaxico, who is a bad matchup for the Eagles when healthy. The Eagles had the bad version of Donovan McNabb, who threw bad interceptions and couldn’t breathe at the end of close fourth quarters.

But this is not earlier this season.

The Giants don’t have Plaxico. McNabb is playing like a pro-bowler again.

Brandon Jacobs is banged up. Brian Westbrook is playing like...well...Brian Westbrook.

Justin Tuck is banged up. The Eagles’ defense is playing as good or better than any defense in the playoffs right now.

Most importantly, the Eagles have momentum.

The Giants lost three of their last four games, including a game they lost rather convincingly to these very same Eagles (the 20-14 score didn’t tell the whole story). The Eagles won four of their last five, including the previously mentioned game against the Giants.

The Giants road a wave of momentum to the Super Bowl last season. They weren’t the best team in the NFL. They weren’t the best team in the NFC.

But momentum is a powerful thing.

This season, the Giants are the best team in the NFL. But they don’t have the momentum. The Eagles have the momentum. And they’re going to ride it into the NFC championship game.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Giants 21

Sean Crowe covers the New England Patriots for Examiner.com and writes a bi-weekly column for Sports-Central.org.

He is a Senior Writer and an NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at [e-mail].