How We Saw the Playoffs

And a miracle win it was.  The Patriots got outplayed for the first 52 minutes of the game.  Bill Bellichick then outcoached Jon Gruden for the last eight minutes, and the Patriots are going to the AFC Championship.

For the last three years, I have won the season-long NFL pool that Jim and I are in.  This year, I hitched my wagon to the Baltimore Ravens.  The "reign of terror," as Jim calls it, came to an end on Sunday.  

I must admit, watching the Rams is a lot of fun.  As long as Mike Martz and Kurt Warner aren't telling me how amazing and unstoppable they are, I actually like this team - it's just that they're constantly talking about it.  

That "unstoppable" offense is going to get a big test against the Philadelphia Eagles.  Here's why.  The Rams are a very fast team.  But, when they play against fast defenses, they struggle - particularly Kurt Warner.  The Eagles are that kind of team:  they're fast and they blitz.  Plus, Donovan McNabb is playing better than any other quarterback right now.  

Off of Jim's point about Madden and Summerall, there were two great examples of why Pat needs to go.  At one point, a runner went down more than a yard short of the first down; Pat's call:  "it looks like he has a first down."  Another time, Ahman Green ran well over 15 yards on first or second and 10; Pat's call: "he may have gotten the first down."  It's bad enough that they're not reading anything into the plays or their calling of the plays, but they're not even correctly assessing what is plain as day in front of them.  

Marty Schottenheimer is probably going to be the head coach in San Diego.  I love it.  Marty is perfect for a team that needs a spark of intensity.  If Norv stays as the offensive coordinator, look for the Chargers to make plenty of noise next year.

My Championship predictions:  

Pittsburgh 20, New England 17

Philadelphia 23, St. Louis 20

I went 4-0 in my picks this weekend and am 7-1 in the playoffs. My guess is that many people are 7-1 since these have been predictable playoffs. Home teams rule (6-2) as they often do.

I enjoyed every minute of the Steelers drubbing of the Ravens. The big, bad, loud, obnoxious, arrogant Ravens got their heads handed to them. Look at these stats that shows Pittsburgh's total dominance: Ravens 150 total yards (22 rushing); time of possession--Steelers 40:45 to 19:15; Baltimore four turnovers to one. One team showed up, the other was living off its press clippings.

Ravens quarterback Elvis Grbac was dreadful, with his worst being an end zone interception with Pittsburgh only leading 10-0. His receivers weren't much help, dropping several passes.

Jerome Bettis not being able to play for Pittsburgh was to their advantage. The running back had missed five games and would have been rusty. Without Bettis, the Steelers went to a more diversified offense that worked to keep the Ravens off balance.

I still think the refs blew the call in the Oakland-New England Snow Bowl. My beef is this: the ruling on the field was that New England quarterback Tom Brady fumbled (a result that would have given the Raiders the game). To overturn it would have required indisputable visual evidence, something no replay was able to show. Whatever the original call would have been (a fumble or an incompletion), there wasn't enough to overturn it.

New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady was clutch in the second half, but their MVP was little-known tight end Jermaine Wiggins, who had 10 catches, almost all of them vital.

Oakland blew a big chance to put the game away when they ran the slow Zack Crockett up the middle in the snow on 3rd-and-1 with less than three minutes to go. The elusive Charlie Garner outside would have been a much better choice. A first down there would have likely iced it.

The NFL should play one playoff game in the snow each season. It makes for memorable TV.

St. Louis' win over Green Bay went according to form. The Rams have too much talent and Brett Favre continued his history of not playing well in domes (he's now 12-18). Favre's two first-half interceptions led to 14 points and were killers. The killer for Green Bay was that their defense did a pretty good job of containing the Rams in the first half when the outcome was in doubt.

Favre tied an NFL mark for interceptions with six, but after he showed a bit of dark humor: "I don't know if this is my worst game. I'm sure it's in the top three. I just haven't had time to reflect on the other two."

St. Louis got too cute for its own good, facing third-and-1 inside the Packer 5. They tried a tight end reverse, which went for no gain. Rams coach Mike Martz showed his arrogance with that call.

The Fox announcing team of Pat Summerall and John Madden sucks and has sucked for years. They make any game they work less enjoyable. Guess who does the Super Bowl?

Chicago proved what utter frauds they were in get blown out by Philadelphia. The Bears were two miracle plays from being 11-5 and a wild card entrant. I predict that unless they get a better quarterback, the Bears finish below .500 next season.

Philadelphia continued its remarkable streak of holding teams to 21 points or less. It now stands at 21 games.

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