Jeremy Conn: Breaking Down The NFC Championship
This is one of the toughest games to call.
Both teams have great defenses and both teams have MVP caliber Quarterback's this season. Cam Newton without a doubt is the MVP of the league this year. I still have no idea how he ended up throwing 35 TD passes with that group of receivers. Carson Palmer has been a touchdown machine this season as well. He has a great arsenal of weapons to throw to, but I think the difference this week is going to be John Brown. I look for Carson to make some big plays down the field to Brown who will most certainly have the biggest mismatch on the field.
The Panthers Defense is banged up in the secondary and it wouldn't surprise me to see Bruce Arians go 4 wide at times to spread them out. Carson is going to have to play much better than he did last week. He had 2 interceptions last week but could have easily had 4 or more. The Cardinals defense loves to blitz, which means Cam will have the opportunity to make big plays down the field if he is able to avoid the rush. He can't take big sacks to set his team up for 2nd or 3rd and long.
I do believe the Cardinals will win 23-20 and play the Broncos in the Super Bowl.
