Gridiron Playoff Challenge: Final preview

Eagles-Cardinals. Incredible.

You might have heard the stats already, but in case not, here's what ESPN Research's Mark Simon turned up on that -- and the AFC's -- matchup:

• The NFC's is the first conference championship game in which neither team won at least 10 regular-season games (nonstrike seasons, of course).

• The four conference championship teams combined for 41 regular-season wins, again, the fewest in any nonstrike season since the NFL went to a 16-game season.

• The four conference championship teams combined for a .651 winning percentage (41-22-1 record), the lowest in any season since the merger.

• It's the first time both No. 6 seeds have advanced to the conference championships.

That demonstrates how unlikely these matchups are -- well, at least the NFC one. I had the AFC championship matchup -- Ravens at Steelers -- dead-on from the start.

The NFC matchup was, well, a different story. I had neither one right.

That's not going to fly in this, the final round of the Gridiron Playoff Challenge, in which lineups lock for good, through Super Bowl XLIII. Correct choices are mandatory -- not one of the top 10 on last year's leaderboard had a player from any team other than the Giants or Patriots. Pick your teams right, or pick a certain losing team.

In spite of my 3-of-8 performance picking correct playoff matchups thus far, I remain confident in my final three choices; 6-of-11 is acceptable so long as these final three are dead-on. Those three picks are below.

But I'm well aware you might not agree, and again, having the right Super Bowl teams is critical. Have a different Super Bowl matchup? My advice: Run with it. I'm going to bet only a very small percentage of GPC players had the Cardinals and Eagles meeting this week, but if you did, you're probably in prime position to make a run for the title.

For that reason, and with so few players remaining in the available pool besides, I've provided my position-by-position rankings.

Let's get started!

NFC Championship Game: Eagles over Cardinals. I picked against the Eagles in each of the first two rounds and was wrong each time, though to be fair, I hedged on both and probably should've succumbed to the instinct of second-guessing myself. Here's what I said during wild-card weekend: "[Eagles-Vikings] is the toughest call of the four … and if Gus Frerotte was Minnesota's starting quarterback, I'd probably feel stronger about this choice." And during the divisional playoffs: "Counting the playoffs, the Eagles have won four of [their] past six meetings [with the Giants] played after Thanksgiving, and they always seem to give the Giants trouble." Trouble indeed, and they're going to give the Cardinals trouble, too. Philadelphia has a well-rounded team, much more so than Arizona, and those are the teams that tend to win these kinds of games. One thing is for sure: This should be a high-scoring game, great for the GPC.

AFC Championship Game: Steelers over Ravens. It's a classic, fierce, physical defensive battle, just like their most recent matchup, a 13-9 victory for Pittsburgh in Week 13. That, by the way, was the one time in any of Joe Flacco's past 13 games (playoffs included) when any defense has made him look disastrous -- think near Jake Delhomme-level disastrous (I said near) -- and the game, incidentally, was played in Baltimore. To ask the rookie quarterback to stroll into Pittsburgh and win a third consecutive road game is simply too much … especially considering that his opponent's quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, is 6-2 in the postseason.

Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers over Eagles: It'd be fun to pick the Eagles to win, making this a big year for Philadelphia sports. But in this "Battle for Pennsylvania," it's hard not to pick the Steelers, with their stingy defense, former Super Bowl-champion quarterback and a rejuvenated Willie Parker. The Eagles will make this a contest, but the Cinderella run has to end somewhere. I'm thinking Tampa is where it'll happen.

Quarterbacks
1. Donovan McNabb, Eagles (7.1 price tag): He managed 260 yards and four touchdowns passing in these teams' Thanksgiving meeting, a bounce-back game for him. Don't expect a Delhomme-like meltdown from this guy.
2. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (6.2): Fifteen points in these teams' Week 15 meeting.
3. Kurt Warner, Cardinals (7.3): If you think he's winning his conference championship, by all means, he should be your No. 1 option. But at this price, you must get two more games out of him in order for it to be worth it.
4. Joe Flacco, Ravens (5.9): Great run, but it ends this week.

Running backs
1. Brian Westbrook, Eagles (6.6 price tag): It needs to be said: The Cardinals allowed more receiving touchdowns to opposing running backs (five) than anyone, and Westbrook himself managed two of them in their Thanksgiving meeting.
2. Willie Parker, Steelers (5.5): What a divisional playoff game he had! Only worry: He has averaged 2.3 yards per carry and 35.0 yards per game in his past four meetings with the Ravens. Talk about a boom-or-bust candidate.
3. Edgerrin James, Cardinals (4.8): For a guy who played sparingly after Week 8, James ran fairly efficiently the past three weeks, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Problem is, at his age he lacks upside, and his matchups won't be especially attractive.
4. Tim Hightower, Cardinals (5.2)
5. Le'Ron McClain, Ravens (5.0)
6. Correll Buckhalter, Eagles (3.8)
7. Willis McGahee, Ravens (4.6)
8. Mewelde Moore, Steelers (4.5)
9. J.J. Arrington, Cardinals (4.2)

Wide receivers
1. Hines Ward, Steelers (5.3 price tag): He has 71 receptions for 966 yards and eight touchdowns in 12 career playoff games, five of which were 100-yard efforts.
2. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals (6.6): Remember that he caught two touchdowns against Philadelphia on Thanksgiving, making him the rare candidate to be as valuable to you in one game as a lesser receiver might be in two.
3. DeSean Jackson, Eagles (4.6): McNabb has spread the ball around more often lately, but the Cardinals still do serve up a ton of passing scores, and Jackson is this team's best big-play receiver. He's a good value, especially if he plays two games.
4. Santonio Holmes, Steelers (4.5): He has four touchdowns in his past seven games (regular season and postseason), so maybe there's some hope yet.
5. Anquan Boldin, Cardinals (6.0): I'm expecting only one more game for him, and with his hamstring injury, he's not even guaranteed to play in it.
6. Kevin Curtis, Eagles (4.3): Team-high eight targets in the divisional playoff win.
7. Derrick Mason, Ravens (5.2)
8. Steve Breaston, Cardinals (4.2): Bump him up to Boldin's spot if Boldin sits.
9. Reggie Brown, Eagles (3.8)
10. Nate Washington, Steelers (4.4)
11. Mark Clayton, Ravens (4.2)
12. Jason Avant, Eagles (4.0): A hyperextended knee shouldn't keep him out this week, but it's something to keep an eye on during midweek practices.
13. Jerheme Urban, Cardinals (4.4)
14. Hank Baskett, Eagles (4.4)
15. Limas Sweed, Steelers (3.8)

Tight ends
1. Brent Celek, Eagles (3.9 price tag): He has seven red zone targets and two receiving touchdowns in the past nine weeks combined.
2. Heath Miller, Steelers (4.5) He has seven red zone targets and three receiving touchdowns in that same time span. He just happens to cost more than Celek.
3. Todd Heap, Ravens (3.6): Yes, this position is that weak. Even if you're forecasting a Cardinals-Ravens Super Bowl, I'd still take one of the first two.
4. L.J. Smith, Eagles (3.6)
5. Ben Patrick, Cardinals (3.6)
6. Matt Spaeth, Steelers (3.6)
7. Daniel Wilcox, Ravens (3.7)
8. Leonard Pope, Cardinals (3.6)

Kickers
1. David Akers, Eagles (4.7 price tag): About as trustworthy as they come; he has double-digit points in five of the past seven weeks, averaging 10.6 per game during that span.
2. Jeff Reed, Steelers (3.8)
3. Neil Rackers, Cardinals (4.0)
4. Matt Stover, Ravens (3.9)

Defense/special teams
1. Pittsburgh Steelers, Steelers (6.3 price tag): The Super Bowl champion is guaranteed a minimum of 10 points from just the two wins; that's quite an advantage.
2. Philadelphia Eagles, Eagles (6.1): It's all about the five-point win potential, because otherwise, I don't entirely admire their conference championship matchup.
3. Baltimore Ravens, Ravens (6.6): Most talented, but least likely to win.
4. Arizona Cardinals, Cardinals (5.6)

Total points: 187.
Percentage: 60.8 Overall rank: 100,962nd
Ranking in Fantasy Editorial Group: 7,739th

Tristan H. Cockcroft is a fantasy baseball, football and hockey analyst for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.