THRILLING
I
watched the AFC Championship with several guys from the
Outsports Discussion Board at Barrow Street Ale House. The
game was marked by lots of cheering for the Patriots, a
wayward cue ball that sunk shore, and me jumping up and
down, screaming and high-fiving throughout the game.
It would
have been nice if the Colts had shown up on one side of the
ball. Nonetheless, I thought the game was a ton of fun.
There were exciting plays, solid drives, good running, great
defense, and SNOW SNOW SNOW! I’ll take that game over 90% of
NFL games any day.
CHAMPIONS
There’s
just something in people that makes them champions. Some
people have it, some people don’t.
We saw
quite a bit into the hearts and ability of two players on
Sunday: Donovan McNabb and Peyton Manning. McNabb’s team
lost its third straight NFC Championship Game and became the
first team in NFL history to lose two consecutive home
Championship games. Peyton Manning, meanwhile, lost yet
another big game (and don’t think this demon was put to rest
by wins over Denver and Kansas City).
Both
quarterbacks completed under 50% of their passes. Both
quarterbacks threw more interceptions than touchdowns.
Peyton Manning looked like a rookie. Donovan McNabb, again,
looked like a guy playing with no support. Both quarterbacks
looked simply awful.
NOT
ALL PEYTON’S FAULT
I’ve
said for years that Peyton Manning’s biggest problem is what
many people deem his strength: the audibles. He may be able
to fool some defensive coordinators but, when he matches up
with a coaching staff like the Patriots have, he’s going to
get creamed. And he did.
To be
sure, Manning played terrible. He looked like a rookie out
there, throwing some terrible passes, making terrible
decisions, and then throwing up his hands as though to blame
someone else when the Pats came down with the ball. Hell, he
threw as many passes to cornerback Ty Law as he did to
all-pro wide receiver Marvin Harrison.
The
blame for the decisions to make those passes lies on the
shoulders of Manning and Manning alone. The decision to put
so much on those shoulders is the fault of the coaching
staff.
If you
want to ask more questions about the Colts’ coaching job,
look no further than one call in the waning moments of the
game.
The
Colts had just closed to within seven and 2:27 is left on
the clock. They had three timeouts and the two minute
warning left. With nine Patriots 10 yards off the ball, the
Colts decide to onside kick. Shocker: the ball goes right to
the Patriots and they start at the Colts’ 44.
I’m also
wondering where the big play was. With Harrison and Manning,
how did the Colts not take a shot downfield? When you’re
playing against a team like the Patriots, you can only
“finesse” so much.
Manning
is clearly a good quarterback. The best in the game? I
don’t know. It’s tough to believe that such a talent will
never get to the Super Bowl. But, as long as his coaching
staff allows him to run the offense from behind the center,
the Colts will not get to the Big Dance. Let Manning play
football – wait until retirement to let him coach.
THE
PATRIOTS THE SECOND BEST TEAM EVER?
The New
England Patriots have not trailed in 434:59 – not since
before Thanksgiving. They have won 14 straight games – the
second most in NFL history. If they win the Super Bowl, they
will tie for second for the most wins in a season in NFL
history and they’ll join an elite group of teams who have
won two Super Bowls in three years.
So, are
they one of the best teams ever?
The
answer to that question has yet to be determined. The ’85
Bears were a great team for one year and a good team for two
to three more. Same with the Dolphins of the early ‘70s. Do
we measure a team by one season or a series of them? I’d
consider these Patriots a piece to the legacy of the
Belichick Patriots. If they can win on February 1 and rattle
off another Super Bowl run in the next two years, I’d say
they have to be considered among the very elite in NFL
history. And keep in mind they have the best coach in
football and have a ton of early-round draft picks next
year. The AFC should be very scared.
I’d say
the Patriots are still a work in progress but could easily,
a couple years from now, be in elite status.
ARE
THE EAGLES ELITE?
How many
teams have been to three straight Conference Championships?
Since 1965, it’s happened 13 times. How many times has a
team lost three consecutive Conference Championships? Four
times: in the NFC: Los Angeles (74-76), Dallas (80-82); in
the AFC: Oakland (68-70 & 73-75). Each of those teams
eventually did go to the Super Bowl within three years of
losing their last except Dallas, who had already been five
times.
Elite?
No. Good? Sure. What do they need to compete? Just one wide
receiver who can make plays on a consistent basis. We all
saw what happened when Peyton Manning’s stud receiver got
shut down by the Patriots. Imagine being Donovan McNabb, who
has never gotten to play in the pros with a receiver
remotely of Harrison’s skill. If the Eagles can land a top
receiver for McNabb (Terrell Owens – are you listening?), we
may be listening to
PhillyFan and Joe in Philly for quite some time.
THESE PANTHERS LOOK FAMILIAR
Something else I’ve been saying for a while now is how these
Panthers look one heck of a lot like the Baltimore Ravens
the year they won the Super Bowl: opportunistic defense,
strong running game, serviceable quarterback who can hit one
or two big plays in a game. The Panthers’ appearance in the
Super Bowl is no surprise to me. They have all the pieces
and were playing in a conference that simply wasn’t that
strong this year.
THE MOST
IMPORTANT POSITION ON THE FIELD
My
brother and I were arguing the other day what is the most
important position on the field: quarterback, center,
linebacker or cornerback. After today, cornerback got a big
boost in that argument as Ricky Manning and Ty Law both
posted three interceptions in leading their teams to forcing
frustrating performances by the opposing (and losing)
quarterbacks.
SUPER
BOWL
I’ll
make my official Super Bowl pick next weekend. But, this
year I have had a lot of success with my gut, and my gut
tells me: Patriots 26, Panthers 20 in overtime. |
--The two
championship games, especially that dog played in Philadelphia, lacked
the excitement we saw in the first two playoff rounds. For my
homoerotic moment of the weekend, we had to divert a bit from the
action. I watched the title games with three other guys and the most
fun we had was during commercials when we switched to the new NFL
Network and watched a documentary “Football in America.”
One of the featured
subjects was this totally adorable high school football quarterback
from Western Pennsylvania. The filmmakers followed his team at summer
camp, cavorting shirtless in rustic cabins and diving into a lake at a
rock quarry. It looked like they were shooting an A&F catalog (and the
fact that the coach looked, as my friend
JP remarked, like a Pennsylvania porn king, only made the
double entendres funnier). During the season, the quarterback's high
school team was getting destroyed at half, when the coach addressed
his players in the locker room.
“You guys have the
bodies of giants, but hearts the size of a pee-pee,” the coach said.
“My grandson is only 2 … and he has a bigger heart.” Ouch!
On to the NFL, where
the players have pee-pees the size of giants and brains the size of
2-year-olds.
--Early Super Bowl
read: Patriots 26, Panthers 7. The AFC title game was the real
Super Bowl, and it’s hard seeing the Panthers doing much against New
England’s defense. We’ll have complete predictions next week.
--New England’s 24-14
AFC win over Indianapolis was one of the weirder games I can remember.
The Pats were utterly dominant on offense, intercepting Peyton
Manning four times, forcing a fumble and getting four sacks. They
drove inside the Colts’ 20 five times, but had to settle for four
field goals and a touchdown. It was strange that with two minutes to
go, the Colts had the ball down only seven points. The way the game
had been played, it could have been 27.
--I’m a huge Manning
fan and agree with New England’s Rodney Harrison, who said
afterwards that “he's the best quarterback
in the league.” But he was awful on Sunday and totally befuddled by
the terrific defensive game plan drawn up by coach Bill Belichick
and coordinator Romeo Crennel. Manning looked tentative and
threw off his back foot frequently. He seemed to lock in on one
receiver, ignoring open running backs in the flat. After losing to the
Pats in 2001, Manning said he thought there were 15 defenders on each
play. It looked the same way Sunday.
--The Colts were effectively doomed
when Manning threw an interception in the end zone on third down from
the New England 8. It showed that the Pats had him figured out, as
Manning made a bad read and threw the ball right to Harrison. Tight
end Marcus Pollard was open, but Manning threw to his wrong
side.
--There will be those who will say that
Tom Brady is a better quarterback than Manning, but I don’t buy
it. Brady has the game’s best coach and defense and is told basically
to not screw it up. The Colts are utterly dependent on Manning and
don't have a defense to bail him out. Simply put, if Manning
quarterbacked the Patriots on Sunday and Brady the Colts, the score
would have been the same or worse. The Colts are where they are
because of Manning. The same can’t be said for Brady, who is
nonetheless a clutch and deserving quarterback.
--New England did a great job in
punishing the Colts receivers, but did get some help from the
referees, who failed to call several late hits, defensive holds or
unnecessary hits. This was especially evident late in the game, when
the Pats got away with legalized muggings.
--Believe it or
not, the Patriots even played the no-respect card. “No one gave
us a chance.” Pats defensive back Ty Law said. Really? New
England was the favorite and the majority of experts picked them to
win on Sunday. It doesn’t take much to motivate players, it seems.
--The Colts
defense needs some serious fixing. They didn’t stop Kansas
City once last week and this is what New England did to them on the
first three drives: 13 plays, 65 yards, touchdown. 13 plays, 67 yards,
field goal. 11 plays, 52 yards, field goal.
--The league would
be crazy to eliminate instant replay, and we saw another
example Sunday. The Patriots were leading, 21-14, with under a minute
to go and facing third-and-5. For some dumb reason, the team called
Brady to run a naked bootleg. He was drilled and fumbled and the
officials awarded the ball to Indy. Replays, though, clearly showed
that Brady’s knee was down, negating the fumble. What if we had no
replay and the Colts drove down to tie the score, then won in
overtime? Such a nightmare scenario is why the owners will likely keep
replay.
--CBS’ coverage
pretty much sucked. They missed a Colts onsides kick attempt
when the wrong camera was cued. After the Colts suffered a safety and
had to free kick the ball, we were treated instead to a shot from the
top of the stadium, in a camera angle that remained frozen for about a
minute. Replays were seldom timely and we almost never got a high
angle shot that would have showed how well the Pats defense had the
Colts receivers covered.
--Despite the loss,
the Colts will be a Super Bowl threat next season if they improve
their fairly weak defense. The offense is still the league’s best and
they have a terrific kicking game. Manning has shown that he can win
big games and the team knows the imperative of playing at home under a
dome and not in wintry climes.
--Over in the JV
League … I mean the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles made
history by being the first team to lose championship games at home in
consecutive years. The Birds have now lost the last three NFC title
games and it’s hard to see where they go from here.
The Eagles have
scored only 10 points in two home title games, have receivers who
couldn’t catch SARS in a roomful of civets and an offensive
line that allowed 13 sacks in its last two games. Plus, their
management philosophy is to let players leave rather than ante up, so
expect another exodus of talent. I predict Philadelphia does not win
the division next season and may even miss the playoffs.
--The Carolina
Panthers were dominant in their 14-3 yawner over the Eagles. They
sacked Donovan McNabb five times and knocked him out of the
game (albeit on a late hit that wasn’t called). Their defensive backs
jammed the Eagle receivers at the line and totally got in their heads.
Ricky Manning Jr. had three interceptions, becoming the best
Manning in the championship games.
--In a throwback to
the 1970s Miami Dolphins, Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme
threw only 14 times, completing nine for 101 yards. He didn’t have to
do a whole lot with the way his defense was playing.
--The Panthers
became the first NFC team to reach the Super Bowl without
benefit of a bye week since the bye format was instituted in 1978.
--Hard to believe
that the Panthers were 1-15 two years ago. There is hope for
the Lions and Cardinals, after all! |
