Eagles or Cardinals... Put Your Wallets Away

There are three games left in an NFL season that has financially owned my ass. I've lost more money on "sure thing" games this year than I ever thought was possible. I mistakenly felt an understood for teams like the Panthers, Cowboys, Bucs, and Chargers but two of the biggest culprits were the Cardinals and the Eagles.

The Cardinals built up my confidence before crapping the bed, while the Eagles drained my faith, before, of course, playing with a fire lit under them. They even took my money last week. Clearly I am thoroughly confused by this weeks NFC Championship, in particularly the gambling line (Philly +3). This should be a time where the hours of football watching come in handy for capital gains.

You can analyze favorites for match-ups (Passing-Zona, Receiving- Zona, Rushing- Philly, Defense- Philly) but the biggest problem is trying to figure out which Cardinals and Eagles teams will show up Sunday.

On the Eagles side, are we supposed to expect the Andy Reid squad that destroyed the Cowboys, beat down the Vikings, and outplayed the top ranked Giants? The same ones who ruined Thanksgiving for the Cardinals (and for my Thanksgiving trifecta parlay)? Have the Eagles even really deserved the last two W's or did the Vikes and G-men give those games away? Or might we witness the team that tied the Bengals and lost a pair of games to the Redskins?

And its not like the Cards are any more consistent. Do we expect the recent Cards who took care of business in the first two rounds with solid defense and scorching hot offense? Or maybe their alter-egos who have been victims of against the Patriots, Jets, Vikes, and said Eagles? Have they improved by more than the four touchdowns they lost by to the Eagles a couple months ago?

There are so many forces opposing each other, I cant figure out which information should be filtered and which is relevant. The Cardinals good home record or the precedent they set on Thanksgiving? The Eagles winning six of seven or their terrible road record? The Cards inconsistencies or the Eagles shortcomings? They say in a bind, take the points and run. I may suggest taking a pass.