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Sunday, January 16, 2005
Divisional Playoffs recap.
Divisional Playoffs recap.
Well, the home teams won, and out of those winners, three of the four won decisively.
Since it's still fresh in my mind, let me talk about how Indianapolis was absolutely drug through the snow at Foxboro against the Patriots.
It was one of those games where nothing but the score stayed close throughout the game. Manning only got into the redzone once, and that resulted in the only field goal of the game. Despite the new receiver contact rule, New England's secondary made a mockery out of Indy's receiver corp. There was nothing they could do to move the ball down the field and complete the drives they've been doing all year.
And please note; this year's Indianapolis Colts had the fourth highest scoring percentage in NFL history, yet they only managed three points today. Manning had no one to throw to, he was being pressured by the defensive line and linebacker set, and James was ineffective while running the ball. Three and out was the name of the game all day for the Colts.
Meanwhile, Tom Brady continued to be Tom Brady. Despite being pressured by the best pass rusher in the league, Dwight Freeney, he was able to get off his trademark short passes and move the ball downfield. Corey Dillon was the workhorse, bouncing off of blockers and breaking tackles throughout the game. Indianapolis never had a chance against all of these factors.
Brady and Dillon slow-grinded that defense. Take a look at the drive summary for the game. There was one drive in the third quarter where they steadily went downfield and eventually scored a touchdown on that took over eight minutes on, and another one that took seven and a half. Hell, Manning only got four chances to score in the second half. You're not going to win football games like that.
Everyone, including me, has been talking about how the Indianapolis Colts has been unstoppable all year, and Peyton Manning is at the top of his game. However, we forgot about Brady's consistency and the genius of the best coach in the National Football League, Bill Bellichek. If I was the Steelers, I would be very afraid of this team next Sunday.
Why? Because Saturday evening the Steelers had to pull some luck to walk out of Heinz Field with a win over the Jets. If it wasn't for the Jets missing two fg's - one in the fourth that hit the crossbar and another in overtime that went wide left - the Steelers would be taking an early winter vacation.
If I was a Steeler fan, I wouldn't get too excited about that win. This is the same Jets team that lost to the Rams to close out the regular season and just barely got into the playoffs. And the Steelers looked quite normal on Saturday evening.
Big Ben Roethlisberger, the rookie quarterback that is the Baby Jesus of the Steel Curtain, looked like a rookie playing against the Jets, making erratic passes and throwing picks. The Bus and the Duce had to work for every rushing yard they got, and Jets QB Chad Pennington had a decent game against that Steelers' secondary. If Roethlisberger plays like that against New England's patchwork secondary, and the Steelers' secondary allows Brady to make plays to compliment the rushing prowess of Dillon, who didn't play in the first game between these two teams during the regular season, The Bus will make an early visit into that retirement junkyard.
The NFC playoffs saw two blowouts that either team should be that excited about.
Saturday's game was a farce. The St. Louis Rams didn't deserve to be on the same field as Atlanta, much less the playoffs. And I never saw a team that could have been beaten solely by their opponent's special teams offense, as Allen Rossum averaged a playoff-record 49.7 yards per return.
I say solely because Michael Vick and Warrick Dunn turned the game into a marathon, running for a combined 317 yards in the game. The Rams' front line should have just stepped aside and allowed the Falcons to do what they wanted. And you know things are bad when Peerless Price is making touchdown catches.
You have to feel sorry for Marc Bulger. He is a good quarterback, but the fact is that he can't do it alone. He has the sorriest coach in the league right now that simply wastes the talent on that team. They have a potentially good running back in Stephen Jackson that could be part of the future of that franchise if put to use, but all Martz wants to focus on is the passing game. The Rams secondary has some athletic DB's, but it means nothing because the Rams don't have any kind of pass rush from their front line and linebackers. Until Martz is gone, the fact is the Rams will struggle.
As for Minnesota, they returned to normal today after stepping it up last week and lost to Philly.
If I was Vikings owner Red McCombs, I would fire the Vikings' defensive coordinator. It was as if they never watched last year's NFC Championship Game, and thus made Freddie "The People's Champ" Mitchell and Todd Pinkston look like All-Pro receivers. They played those two soft, and did not draw pressure onto Donovan McNabb. McNabb had plenty of time in the pocket to make any pass he wanted.
Meanwhile, there's Mike Tice, who panicked after falling behind 21-7 in the second quarter and started making erratic playcalls that eventually blew the game for them. The Vikings played as if every drive was their last, rather than making sound plays that would move the ball down the field and put points on the board. Tice is another coach who can not seem to draw upon the talent that's on that team. Allow Culpepper to run the offense, but the emphasis this offseason should be the defense.
I'll talk about the conflicts that Culpepper and Manning both have with their respective teams, as well as review the conference championship games later this week.
Posted at 10:35 pm by Expertise
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