The NFL Roundup: The NFC Championship

Sometimes when it comes to the Conference Championship games, you get a pretty good idea of what to expect from the teams taking the field and other times...it's a complete mystery. The game could turn out to be the kind of epic showdown that becomes the stuff of legend, making it an instant classic. Other times, it could be an epic disaster for one team as they are blown out in embarrassing fashion. It's that mystery that is now hanging over the NFC Championship game simply because...the Cardinals and the Panthers are two incredible teams and they have shown this fact time and time again on the field this season. But will Carolina blow out the Cardinals? Or will Arizona make this one another incredible playoff game? We won't know for sure until game time, but here are our thoughts as to who will hoist the George Halas trophy and advance to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 50.

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NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
ARIZONA CARDINALS AT CAROLINA PANTHERS

Scotty's Take
I do love to watch the Cardinals play on Sundays, why you may ask, because they are the most complete team in the NFL.  Yeah, you can hate me for saying that, but it is true, the are dangerous on both sides of the ball and with Carson Palmer finally getting his shot to drive a team to the Super Bowl, he will be hard to take down.  I was blown away last week by the play of the ageless wonder Larry Fitzgerald, he is the backbone of Arizona and if they are looking to win on Sunday, he will be a major factor on offense.  But the real question mark for this game is the Cardinals defense, as the Panthers are a high powered offense that can exploit any weakness. A lot of people are really down on Cam Newton overall this year, he is too arrogant and a quarterback should not act that way on the field.  Well, I will tell you what, if you won 15 games in the regular season and did not have a contest in any of them, would you not be having fun as well?  You can see the difference in the offense with Jonathan Stewart being back from injury, since the running options are starting to open up once again.  If the Panthers are able to play their game, this will be a very high scoring affair, but one thing that I have noticed this year is that they are not able to end the game when they should be able to.  Letting teams come back in the second half is a something that they cannot allow with the Cardinals and if the game is within a touchdown, I can see the winner doing it in overtime.  Literally a coin flip.
If I had to guess the score, I'm thinking it's going to be...Carolina Panthers 41, Arizona Cardinals 34.
NFC CHAMPION - Carolina Panthers

John's Take
This was a tough preview to write today, simply because I have talked big time smack about the Carolina Panthers all season long...and I can do it no more. Their powerhouse and decisive beatdown of the Seattle Seahawks last week, completely made me a believer. This is a squad that can beat you at will and while they are able to completely dismantle a team on a moment's notice, I think their greatest challenge of the season, at least in the NFC arrives by way of the Arizona Cardinals. I say that...because the Cardinals are a team that love to have their backs against the wall and they love to be challenged. Every touchdown a team scores on their defense, every sack they get on Carson Palmer just seems to fuel the fire and as we witnessed last week in the Divisional Round, just give them the opportunity...and they will take it. But, while I expect Arizona to put up one hell of a fight...I sadly don't expect them to win. The Panthers defense is simply terrifying and Cam Newton enjoys dropping the long bomb once he gets bored with picking the defense to pieces on the shorter routes and respect does have to be paid to Carolina's powerhouse running game. I think this game will end up a lot closer on the scoreboard than the Seattle game but the end result will be the same, meaning the Carolina Panthers will represent the NFC in Super Bowl 50.
NFC CHAMPION - Carolina Panthers