So now that the season is over, and we've put the Super Bowl behind us (sort of), it's time to take a look at the offseason!
And what good timing, today marks both the deadline for teams to use the Franchise Tag, and the start of the NFL Combine for the upcoming draft.
So what's Seattle's situation look like? Yes, they have some key free agents. But there's no reason to think they won't get things done.
Last year, we were in much worse shape - Matt Hasselbeck, Walter Jones, and Shaun Alexander were all free agents. Well, we locked up Hasselbeck and Jones with reasonable long-term deals, and we slapped Alexander with the franchise tag. Alexander wasn't happy (is anybody ever happy being hit with the tag?), and as part of his agreement to actually sign the offer that came with the tag (and not have some kind of "hold out" scenario happen), the team agreed to include a stipulation that said they would not franchise him this year.
Well, this year is here. And we cannot franchise Alexander. As of March 3rd (a week from tomorrow), he can test the free agent market. Before I get into the whole Alexander thing, let's take a quick look at our other key free agents.
Here are the important guys who are unrestricted free agents: Pro Bowl fullback Mack Strong, Pro Bowl left offensive guard Steve Hutchinson, wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, defense tackle Rocky Bernard, and, of course, Pro Bowl running back and reigning NFL MVP Shaun Alexander.
Mack Strong should be back. He's been in Seattle his whole 13-year career. He just made his first Pro Bowl, but even Pro Bowl fullbacks don't exactly break the bank. Look for something like a 3 or 4 year deal worth a little over a million a year.
Jurevicius had a huge year for us this past year, and arguably could be the biggest free agent signing we made last offseason. He stepped up big time when Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram were both injured. He's been quoted as saying he likes Seattle, he likes the team, and he wants to stay. There have also been rumors that the Patriots have interest in him. But I can't see anybody blowing him away with money. And I think he's been more of a "role player" type his whole career to not suddenly be looking for a big payday. I expect him to sign a 2-3 year deal for reasonable money.
Rocky Bernard is a bit more of a tricky situation. He had an excellent year, showing good ability against the run and the pass. He had 8.5 sacks, which is pretty damn good for a defensive tackle. And he's only 26. So he's a young defensive tackle who can pressure the quarterback and is just hitting his prime. Sadly, that probably means some team out there is going to throw a ton of money at him. And it'll be hard for Seattle to talk themselves into paying a ton for him, especially since he's really just a cog in a 4-man rotation. From one prespective, that makes his numbers even more impressive - he was only on the field maybe a little more than half of Seattle's plays, and he still got 8.5 sacks! On the other hand, maybe the rotation kept him fresh enough to have the energy to get those sacks. Will he be as productive if he plays every single down, or will he wear down a bit? In any case, with Marcus Tubbs and Chuck Darby still giving Seattle a pretty solid starting 2 at DT, I don't see them opening the wallet to keep Bernard.
Steve Hutchinson will be a Seahawk next year. No doubt about it. If they don't get a long-term deal done today, expect him to be hit with the franchise tag. Did I say that nobody is ever happy when they are franchised? Maybe I was wrong. You see, there's a small quirk in the franchise tag system for offensive linemen. They're all lumped together. (Just a quick step back explaining what the franchise tag means.. It means the player gets paid, for one year, the average salary of the top 5 paid players at that position.) Typically, top offensive tackles are played significantly more than top offensive guards. If the positions would be broken up for franchise tag purposes, the average salaries of tackles would be about 2 million more than that of the top 5 guards. 2 million. That's a pretty big number. So, if the Seahawks franchise Hutchinson, they'll basically be overpaying him by 2 million dollars. But time is short, and it seems unlikely a long term deal will be worked out today. So they'd rather do that than let him walk away.
And then there is Shaun Alexander. I'll dedicate a whole article to him soon, but I'll just explain it this way… This is where we REALLY see what is important to Alexander. He said the right things during the season. Now let's see what his actions say. Basically, he is on the road to the Hall of Fame if he stays in Seattle. He (along with Hasselbeck) has become the face of a franchise that suddenly finds itself with a lot more national attention and respect. He runs behind one of the best offensive lines and blocking fullbacks in football. The offense throws plenty enough to set up the run and give him huge holes to run through. If he stays in Seattle, he has a chance at making a few more runs at the Super Bowl, cementing a trip to the Hall of Fame, and maybe even enter the conversation in terms of best running backs of all time. His numbers are incredible (the dude already has over 100 touchdowns). If he goes to some other team, will he be as productive? I doubt it. The teams most rumored to be interested are Arizona, Minnesota, and Carolina. The first two teams have been awful on the ground lately, possibly due to weak offensive lines. Carolina has no cap space to sign him. (And do you think Carolina always has their running backs injured because they're injury prone, or because their offensive line allows them to take a complete beating?)
Here's a direct quote from Alexander recently. From Pro Football Weekly:
When asked if Seattle was the best fit for him personally, Alexander seemed to indicate there was no question about that being the case.
“I don’t know. I hope it is,” he told PFW. “If it ain’t, then wow, I don’t know how much better it can get. We have a great offensive line, and we are good friends besides being great teammates. We’ve got the best fullback (Mack Strong) in the NFL. We have a great quarterback (Matt Hasselbeck) that understands how to put our running game into great position. This is a great fit for me.”
So it seems to me that Alexander does realize the ideal situation he is in. The question is whether or not he can pass up on a few extra million dollars to stay in that situation. We'll see I guess.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Two Weeks Later - It Still Sucks
Well, it's been over two weeks since Super Bowl XL. I still feel somewhat robbed and somewhat bitter. I still feel like Seattle was by far the better team on the field that day. And I still think that if the referees hadn't made several questionable calls that had a big impact on the game, the Seahawks would be World Champions right now…
I get a minor sense of satisfaction out of the fact that everybody was talking about the officiating after the game. Even a week later at the Pro Bowl, the ESPN crew was talking about it. Suzy Kolber asked Joey Porter and Matt Hasselbeck about it. For the record, Hasselbeck said, "Well, that's the way it goes sometimes. We can't make excuses. We had our chances to win that game and didn't get it done." Porter said something like, "Well, the NFL didn't issue no apologies, so I guess the officiating was just fine." Of course the NFL isn't going to admit they botched the game, you moron. Sure, they can issue apologies about games when the play does not effect the outcome. But no way, no how, do they admit that they made mistakes in the biggest game of the year. Mistakes that could (and did) effect the outcome. If the Colts win that game against the Steelers, do you think the NFL still apologizes for that Polamulu interception being overturned? No way in hell. But I digress.) Steelers fans and the Steelers themselves have to know in the back of their minds that they caught some breaks. They know that the officiating was bad. How can they not know? It's been all over the media. And that, at least makes me feel a little better - knowing the Steelers and their fans (and the overexposed Jerome Bettis) cannot truly enjoy their Super Bowl Championship because there's that underlying hint that it was tainted.
Did you know that Seattle won three major stat categories in the game? Turnovers, time of possession, and total yardage. No team in Super Bowl history has ever won all three of those stats and lost the game. Seattle outplayed the Steelers from start to end, and it was only those 2 big plays and the questionable officiating that prevented them from winning the game.
I'll probably always feel that way. Yes, they gave up the big plays. Something that had hurt them in past seasons, but something they had improved against vastly this year. The Willie Parker run no doubt had a hold in there somewhere that the refs overlooked. And that trick play pass by Randel El was inexcusably poorly defended. Oddly enough, nobody really talked about the injuries to the Seattle defense after the game, and I think those two big plays were a result of that.
Marques Manuel, the player who stepped in to start when Ken Hamlin was lost for the year, got hurt. Manuel has played very well all season. Enter…. Some guy named Etric Pruitt… Our 3rd string safety and full-time special teams player. Oh, and a rookie. Yikes. He totally bit hook, line, and sinker on the Randel El pass.. He took about 10 steps forward before realizing Ward had run right past him. It was ugly. I'm not sure if Pruitt was in yet or not on the Parker run, but I'm going to guess he was. Where the hell was the safety help on that play?
A bit has been made about the poor clock management at the end of each half by Hasselbeck/Holmgren. This didn't really bother me that much. You may remember at the end of the first half, as Hasselbeck led the team down the field effectively during the two minute drill, they had the ball just inside Steelers territory with the clock ticking. Seattle lined up, and all of the sudden, Hasselbeck started calling an audible.. Tick tick tick tick tick… A good 5-7 seconds ticked away while he pointed and yelled, and finally a timeout was called. "Why the hell did they wait so long to call a timeout?!?!" I'm thinking. But it turns out it was the Steelers who called the timeout. After the game, one of the more intelligent Steelers defenders (ie, not Porter.. I think it was Farrior, or maybe even Polamalu) said that Hasselbeck was audibling to a run, and that Pittsburgh had like nobody in the box cause they were expecting pass. Basically, they realized that if they didn't call timeout, it'd be a run up the middle for a huge gain. A gutsy call by Hasselbeck, and it would have been very interesting to see what happened if he got the play off. But he didn't. They didn't get much more yardage, and missed a long field goal.
Speaking of missed field goals… Josh Brown missed two for the Seahawks, 6 huge points. Yes, they were long. But it's a frickin dome. And it's the frickin Super Bowl. Gotta hit those, Josh.
The clock mismanagement at the end of the game didn't matter much either. Seattle was down 11, it would have taken a miracle to get a TD, 2-point conversion, onsides kick, and field goal in under a minute. Could they have done a better job? Of course. Could they have won the game at that point? Highly unlikely. Could they have covered? Maybe.
At the fan rally to welcome the Seahawks back to Seattle a few days later, Holmgren said something like, "I knew the Steelers would be a hard team to beat. I didn't realize we'd also be playing against the team in stripes." The crowd, many of whom held signs to the effect of "Referees 21, Seahawks 10", went wild. Should Holmgren have said that? Probably not. Do I blame him or hold it against him? Not at all. If I feel robbed, imagine how he feels. Down there on the sideline, chewing the ears off the referees, yet watching call and call again go against your team. Now, will the NFL fine him? Good question. In my opinion, they should not. How could they fine him, when they did not fine Joey Porter? And Joey Porter's comments were a lot more "conspiracy theory" and accusing than the one-liner Holmgren unleashed before a crowd that was eating it up. Porter accused the league of trying to steal the game from the Steelers and give it to the Colts, because everybody wanted the Colts to win. Well, Joey, guess what - the shoe was on the other foot in the Super Bowl. Everybody wanted the Steelers to win this time. And the officiating performance seemed to actually support your claims of conspiracies. What do you have to say about that now, big mouth?
(By the way, Porter was pretty much invisible all game, as was Polamalu. So much for all Porter's smack talk bringing him to a higher level of play. Give me a break.)
So, who do I blame for the loss? In order:
1) The Referees - At least 5 awful calls, all of which came at huge moments and were monumental momentum breakers for Seattle.
2) Jerramy Stevens - usually sure-handed, he was poised and in position to have a huge game to shut Porter the hell up. Sadly, he dropped several passes at key moments.
3) Etric Pruitt - the 3rd string rookie safety was not ready for prime time.
4) Josh Brown - can't miss two field goals in the Super Bowl, pal.
5) Mike Holmgren - bad clock management at the end of both halves, and he probably should have run the ball a bit more. (Hasselbeck threw the ball almost 50 times.)
Of course, since the Super Bowl, there have been plenty of articles coming out that explain how something like the previous 5 Super Bowl losers haven't even made the playoffs the following year. How the "Super Bowl Loss Hangover" is difficult to overcome. How there's so many factors to think about during a season, it's incredibly difficult to get to the Super Bowl two years in a row.
Whatever. We'll see what happens. But there's no reason, absolutely no reason, that this team cannot be the best in the NFC for the next 3-5 years. They've been knocking on the door for 3 years now, and they finally took the huge step this year. (Probably sooner than most people expected… No playoff wins in 20+ years to NFC Champs? That's a nice step forward.)
Free agency looms, and there are big questions about whether Shaun Alexander and Steve Hutchinson will be back. (Hutchinson will likely be franchise tagged… Alexander has an agreement that he won't be tagged this year, so he could walk… More on that later…) Even without Alexander, this is one of the best offensive lines in the league. And the defense is young, very young, and will only get better. Not to mention there's still a chance to fill some holes in the draft and free agency.
So maybe it's a bit too soon to be optimistic… Maybe after so many years of disappointment and disgust, I'm letting myself get a bit carried away by this high of such a successful season… But until I see differently, I have faith that this team will be a good team for a few years in a row. I just hope we get another shot at the Super Bowl, because losing the way we lost is a tough pill to swallow.
I get a minor sense of satisfaction out of the fact that everybody was talking about the officiating after the game. Even a week later at the Pro Bowl, the ESPN crew was talking about it. Suzy Kolber asked Joey Porter and Matt Hasselbeck about it. For the record, Hasselbeck said, "Well, that's the way it goes sometimes. We can't make excuses. We had our chances to win that game and didn't get it done." Porter said something like, "Well, the NFL didn't issue no apologies, so I guess the officiating was just fine." Of course the NFL isn't going to admit they botched the game, you moron. Sure, they can issue apologies about games when the play does not effect the outcome. But no way, no how, do they admit that they made mistakes in the biggest game of the year. Mistakes that could (and did) effect the outcome. If the Colts win that game against the Steelers, do you think the NFL still apologizes for that Polamulu interception being overturned? No way in hell. But I digress.) Steelers fans and the Steelers themselves have to know in the back of their minds that they caught some breaks. They know that the officiating was bad. How can they not know? It's been all over the media. And that, at least makes me feel a little better - knowing the Steelers and their fans (and the overexposed Jerome Bettis) cannot truly enjoy their Super Bowl Championship because there's that underlying hint that it was tainted.
Did you know that Seattle won three major stat categories in the game? Turnovers, time of possession, and total yardage. No team in Super Bowl history has ever won all three of those stats and lost the game. Seattle outplayed the Steelers from start to end, and it was only those 2 big plays and the questionable officiating that prevented them from winning the game.
I'll probably always feel that way. Yes, they gave up the big plays. Something that had hurt them in past seasons, but something they had improved against vastly this year. The Willie Parker run no doubt had a hold in there somewhere that the refs overlooked. And that trick play pass by Randel El was inexcusably poorly defended. Oddly enough, nobody really talked about the injuries to the Seattle defense after the game, and I think those two big plays were a result of that.
Marques Manuel, the player who stepped in to start when Ken Hamlin was lost for the year, got hurt. Manuel has played very well all season. Enter…. Some guy named Etric Pruitt… Our 3rd string safety and full-time special teams player. Oh, and a rookie. Yikes. He totally bit hook, line, and sinker on the Randel El pass.. He took about 10 steps forward before realizing Ward had run right past him. It was ugly. I'm not sure if Pruitt was in yet or not on the Parker run, but I'm going to guess he was. Where the hell was the safety help on that play?
A bit has been made about the poor clock management at the end of each half by Hasselbeck/Holmgren. This didn't really bother me that much. You may remember at the end of the first half, as Hasselbeck led the team down the field effectively during the two minute drill, they had the ball just inside Steelers territory with the clock ticking. Seattle lined up, and all of the sudden, Hasselbeck started calling an audible.. Tick tick tick tick tick… A good 5-7 seconds ticked away while he pointed and yelled, and finally a timeout was called. "Why the hell did they wait so long to call a timeout?!?!" I'm thinking. But it turns out it was the Steelers who called the timeout. After the game, one of the more intelligent Steelers defenders (ie, not Porter.. I think it was Farrior, or maybe even Polamalu) said that Hasselbeck was audibling to a run, and that Pittsburgh had like nobody in the box cause they were expecting pass. Basically, they realized that if they didn't call timeout, it'd be a run up the middle for a huge gain. A gutsy call by Hasselbeck, and it would have been very interesting to see what happened if he got the play off. But he didn't. They didn't get much more yardage, and missed a long field goal.
Speaking of missed field goals… Josh Brown missed two for the Seahawks, 6 huge points. Yes, they were long. But it's a frickin dome. And it's the frickin Super Bowl. Gotta hit those, Josh.
The clock mismanagement at the end of the game didn't matter much either. Seattle was down 11, it would have taken a miracle to get a TD, 2-point conversion, onsides kick, and field goal in under a minute. Could they have done a better job? Of course. Could they have won the game at that point? Highly unlikely. Could they have covered? Maybe.
At the fan rally to welcome the Seahawks back to Seattle a few days later, Holmgren said something like, "I knew the Steelers would be a hard team to beat. I didn't realize we'd also be playing against the team in stripes." The crowd, many of whom held signs to the effect of "Referees 21, Seahawks 10", went wild. Should Holmgren have said that? Probably not. Do I blame him or hold it against him? Not at all. If I feel robbed, imagine how he feels. Down there on the sideline, chewing the ears off the referees, yet watching call and call again go against your team. Now, will the NFL fine him? Good question. In my opinion, they should not. How could they fine him, when they did not fine Joey Porter? And Joey Porter's comments were a lot more "conspiracy theory" and accusing than the one-liner Holmgren unleashed before a crowd that was eating it up. Porter accused the league of trying to steal the game from the Steelers and give it to the Colts, because everybody wanted the Colts to win. Well, Joey, guess what - the shoe was on the other foot in the Super Bowl. Everybody wanted the Steelers to win this time. And the officiating performance seemed to actually support your claims of conspiracies. What do you have to say about that now, big mouth?
(By the way, Porter was pretty much invisible all game, as was Polamalu. So much for all Porter's smack talk bringing him to a higher level of play. Give me a break.)
So, who do I blame for the loss? In order:
1) The Referees - At least 5 awful calls, all of which came at huge moments and were monumental momentum breakers for Seattle.
2) Jerramy Stevens - usually sure-handed, he was poised and in position to have a huge game to shut Porter the hell up. Sadly, he dropped several passes at key moments.
3) Etric Pruitt - the 3rd string rookie safety was not ready for prime time.
4) Josh Brown - can't miss two field goals in the Super Bowl, pal.
5) Mike Holmgren - bad clock management at the end of both halves, and he probably should have run the ball a bit more. (Hasselbeck threw the ball almost 50 times.)
Of course, since the Super Bowl, there have been plenty of articles coming out that explain how something like the previous 5 Super Bowl losers haven't even made the playoffs the following year. How the "Super Bowl Loss Hangover" is difficult to overcome. How there's so many factors to think about during a season, it's incredibly difficult to get to the Super Bowl two years in a row.
Whatever. We'll see what happens. But there's no reason, absolutely no reason, that this team cannot be the best in the NFC for the next 3-5 years. They've been knocking on the door for 3 years now, and they finally took the huge step this year. (Probably sooner than most people expected… No playoff wins in 20+ years to NFC Champs? That's a nice step forward.)
Free agency looms, and there are big questions about whether Shaun Alexander and Steve Hutchinson will be back. (Hutchinson will likely be franchise tagged… Alexander has an agreement that he won't be tagged this year, so he could walk… More on that later…) Even without Alexander, this is one of the best offensive lines in the league. And the defense is young, very young, and will only get better. Not to mention there's still a chance to fill some holes in the draft and free agency.
So maybe it's a bit too soon to be optimistic… Maybe after so many years of disappointment and disgust, I'm letting myself get a bit carried away by this high of such a successful season… But until I see differently, I have faith that this team will be a good team for a few years in a row. I just hope we get another shot at the Super Bowl, because losing the way we lost is a tough pill to swallow.
Thursday, February 9, 2006
We Was Robbed
I'm still a bit in shock over the absolute robbery of the Super Bowl from the Seahawks. Samichlaus did a pretty damn good job of giving an impartial breakdown of just how bad the officiating was, and I'll probably wait another week or two before giving my complete feelings (to see if I feel any better about it), but here's one more robbery for you...
Here's a link to the ESPN's listing of NFL rule changes from last year.
And the quote we care about:
"A player will be ruled in bounds if he touches the pylon at the goal line before going out of bounds. For example, a pass would be considered complete if one foot touches the pylon and the other foot is in bounds."
Here's the same rule changes as described by NFL.com.
The quote:
"A player no longer can be ruled out of bounds when he touches a pylon unless he already touched the boundary line."
Guess what. Jackson did not touch the boundary line before hitting the pylon with his leg.
Now, when the play happened and they showed it, I thought "Holy shit, his foot hit the pylon! That's in bounds!" But my friends were like "No way, dude. That only counts when he like already has possession. He still needed to get both feet down."
So now this official rule has been dug up, and it seems that everybody my friends (and, surprise surprise, the refs) were wrong. I mean, it could be open to interpretation if it was just the first sentence. But the second sentence, the example, explains that play EXACTLY. The pass should have been ruled complete. And a touchdown.
I bet if we dig a little deeper, we could find some more blown calls. I've seen some other people claiming there was a blatant hold on the Willie Parker run. And that Big Ben laid an "illegal chop block" during Randel El's trick play touchdown pass. And Big Ben wasn't even tackling anybody.
I mean, shit, I'm not one for conspiracy theories really, but the evidence is piling up.
Here's a link to the ESPN's listing of NFL rule changes from last year.
And the quote we care about:
"A player will be ruled in bounds if he touches the pylon at the goal line before going out of bounds. For example, a pass would be considered complete if one foot touches the pylon and the other foot is in bounds."
Here's the same rule changes as described by NFL.com.
The quote:
"A player no longer can be ruled out of bounds when he touches a pylon unless he already touched the boundary line."
Guess what. Jackson did not touch the boundary line before hitting the pylon with his leg.
Now, when the play happened and they showed it, I thought "Holy shit, his foot hit the pylon! That's in bounds!" But my friends were like "No way, dude. That only counts when he like already has possession. He still needed to get both feet down."
So now this official rule has been dug up, and it seems that everybody my friends (and, surprise surprise, the refs) were wrong. I mean, it could be open to interpretation if it was just the first sentence. But the second sentence, the example, explains that play EXACTLY. The pass should have been ruled complete. And a touchdown.
I bet if we dig a little deeper, we could find some more blown calls. I've seen some other people claiming there was a blatant hold on the Willie Parker run. And that Big Ben laid an "illegal chop block" during Randel El's trick play touchdown pass. And Big Ben wasn't even tackling anybody.
I mean, shit, I'm not one for conspiracy theories really, but the evidence is piling up.
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Reality checked into the boards
This is how the real world works: Rick Tocchet, a former NHL forward and current NHL assistant coach is scheduled to be arraigned on charges of running a million dollar gambling ring with two New Jersey State Troopers. According to New Jersey authorities, in a 40 day period the ring collected over 1.7 million dollars in bets. The investigation has uncovered evidence that the gambling ring is tied to a South Jersey / Philadelphia crime ring. In a even more bizarre twist, documents allegedly show that actress Janet Jones, who is Wayne Gretzky’s wife, placed bets with Tocchet.
And I think they’ve only scratched the surface.
Rick Tocchet is not some second rate hockey player. In a career that spanned 18 years Tocchet amassed 440 goals and 512 assists. He retired in 2002 and became an assistant coach during the 02 – 03 season. What’s even more astonishing is the ties to Gretzky. Granted, the evidence is tied to Gretzky’s wife, but during the sports news broadcast this afternoon I heard Wayne already sounding like he was less than supportive of Janet. It’s day 2 of the scandal and already it’s getting ugly.
Last evening Phil Jackson, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers accused the referees in the Lakers – Mavericks game of being “influenced” by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Yesterday Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren had this to say to the crowd in Seattle: “We knew it was going to be tough going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers, I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well"
There have been several allusions to corruption in sports over the past several weeks. The last 6 minutes of the Steelers – Colts game was beyond suspect, it was downright bizarre. But once the Steelers won they sure became the darlings of the league, didn’t they?
I think there is corruption in sports and I think it’s been there for a long time. St. Ides’s all time favorite Dr. Z told a story today about Craig Morton in Super Bowl XII: “A story broke that he owed the IRS serious money, and there are old Broncos who believe to this day that their quarterback had tanked the contest.” Fans of “Good Fellas” mobster Henry Hill know all about the point shaving scheme that Hill ran with several Boston College players in the late 70’s. Boxing fans have always known that fights were fixed. So have horse racing fans.
Baseball fans have always suspected it.
I wish that a real journalist would do some real investigative reporting. I’ll bet there’s a hell of a lot to find, and I’ll bet that it ain’t just hockey…
And I think they’ve only scratched the surface.
Rick Tocchet is not some second rate hockey player. In a career that spanned 18 years Tocchet amassed 440 goals and 512 assists. He retired in 2002 and became an assistant coach during the 02 – 03 season. What’s even more astonishing is the ties to Gretzky. Granted, the evidence is tied to Gretzky’s wife, but during the sports news broadcast this afternoon I heard Wayne already sounding like he was less than supportive of Janet. It’s day 2 of the scandal and already it’s getting ugly.
Last evening Phil Jackson, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers accused the referees in the Lakers – Mavericks game of being “influenced” by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Yesterday Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren had this to say to the crowd in Seattle: “We knew it was going to be tough going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers, I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well"
There have been several allusions to corruption in sports over the past several weeks. The last 6 minutes of the Steelers – Colts game was beyond suspect, it was downright bizarre. But once the Steelers won they sure became the darlings of the league, didn’t they?
I think there is corruption in sports and I think it’s been there for a long time. St. Ides’s all time favorite Dr. Z told a story today about Craig Morton in Super Bowl XII: “A story broke that he owed the IRS serious money, and there are old Broncos who believe to this day that their quarterback had tanked the contest.” Fans of “Good Fellas” mobster Henry Hill know all about the point shaving scheme that Hill ran with several Boston College players in the late 70’s. Boxing fans have always known that fights were fixed. So have horse racing fans.
Baseball fans have always suspected it.
I wish that a real journalist would do some real investigative reporting. I’ll bet there’s a hell of a lot to find, and I’ll bet that it ain’t just hockey…
Sunday, February 5, 2006
Reality check
This is the blog I suspect my partner in crime would like to write, but would never actually write because he has too much class. This is the blog that I’m sure every Seahawks fan wants to write but won’t lest they be accused of sour grapes. I’m a Packers fan and had only a mild rooting interest in this game. From a relatively unbiased perspective I have no reservation saying Seattle was blatantly and obviously robbed.
This wasn’t just one bad call, this was a consistent and deliberate agenda, a fraud perpetrated against the Seahawks by the officials. Every time Pittsburgh needed a call they got it. Every time Seattle began to move the ball, a call went against them. It was obvious and shameful.
1: Roethlisberger’s TD that wasn’t. We Tivo’d the play and watched it in stop action. Even the Steelers fan watching the game with us agreed he didn’t get in. We saw it on the Tivo and apparently Seattle’s booth people saw it too. However the officials did not. What made the officiating even more egregious was that the ref had originally ruled him down. Watch the play. The line judge runs out pointing at the spot and changes it at the last second.
2: The phantom interference call. I forget who the receiver was for Seattle, but the play was a touch down. Seattle would have been up 7 – 0 but the pass interference call negates the play. If I’m not mistaken the rule says the offensive player can not push off to catch the ball. Watch the play carefully. At best it was incidental contact, and the flail of the receivers arm did not constitute a push.
3: The phantom hold. Seattle completes a seam pass to their Tight End on the 5 yard line in the fourth quarter. The play gets called back for holding. A camera catches the entire play of the player involved in the hold, except there is none. John Madden remarks “There may have been a hold but I didn’t see it”
4: The illegal blocking call on Hasslebeck. Uhh.... HE FUCKING MADE THE TACKLE!!!! Let's just give the Steelers another 10 yards, or was it 15? Where was the outrage from the booth? All John Madden could say was "This is a case of the referess seeing something that wasn't there". No shit.
There were other examples, much I have already put out of my head.
This was consistent throughout the game, and its games like this that make me lose faith in the NFL and in the integrity of sports. When you think about it, it’s better for the league for Pittsburgh to win, after all they have a national fan base. It’s a better story line, a story line that makes everybody more money, and if you don’t think the world works that way then we’re living in a different world.
I always want to believe that professional sports transcends the corruption and bullshit of the real world. Then I watch a game like this and remember that sports is as much a part of the real world as Enron, political lobbyists, the church that extorted money from my family when I was growing up, and the garbage carting and cement industry in New York.
Thanks for the reality check.
This wasn’t just one bad call, this was a consistent and deliberate agenda, a fraud perpetrated against the Seahawks by the officials. Every time Pittsburgh needed a call they got it. Every time Seattle began to move the ball, a call went against them. It was obvious and shameful.
1: Roethlisberger’s TD that wasn’t. We Tivo’d the play and watched it in stop action. Even the Steelers fan watching the game with us agreed he didn’t get in. We saw it on the Tivo and apparently Seattle’s booth people saw it too. However the officials did not. What made the officiating even more egregious was that the ref had originally ruled him down. Watch the play. The line judge runs out pointing at the spot and changes it at the last second.
2: The phantom interference call. I forget who the receiver was for Seattle, but the play was a touch down. Seattle would have been up 7 – 0 but the pass interference call negates the play. If I’m not mistaken the rule says the offensive player can not push off to catch the ball. Watch the play carefully. At best it was incidental contact, and the flail of the receivers arm did not constitute a push.
3: The phantom hold. Seattle completes a seam pass to their Tight End on the 5 yard line in the fourth quarter. The play gets called back for holding. A camera catches the entire play of the player involved in the hold, except there is none. John Madden remarks “There may have been a hold but I didn’t see it”
4: The illegal blocking call on Hasslebeck. Uhh.... HE FUCKING MADE THE TACKLE!!!! Let's just give the Steelers another 10 yards, or was it 15? Where was the outrage from the booth? All John Madden could say was "This is a case of the referess seeing something that wasn't there". No shit.
There were other examples, much I have already put out of my head.
This was consistent throughout the game, and its games like this that make me lose faith in the NFL and in the integrity of sports. When you think about it, it’s better for the league for Pittsburgh to win, after all they have a national fan base. It’s a better story line, a story line that makes everybody more money, and if you don’t think the world works that way then we’re living in a different world.
I always want to believe that professional sports transcends the corruption and bullshit of the real world. Then I watch a game like this and remember that sports is as much a part of the real world as Enron, political lobbyists, the church that extorted money from my family when I was growing up, and the garbage carting and cement industry in New York.
Thanks for the reality check.
Friday, February 3, 2006
The Big Game - Super Bowl Predicitons!
Allright, I've been long-winded enough this week, so let's cut to the chase. Super Bowl predictions!
I'll let Samichlaus go first, since I'm sucking with my playoff picks so far. Not that I care about my pick score at this point...
As the 1996 season progressed and it became evident that the Packers were amongst the elite, a lot of attention was paid to their 47 year old coach Mike Holmgren. Predictably before each game the networks would trot out a piece of eye candy to ask the coach “What do you think the key to winning this game is?” Equally predictable was Holmgren’s answer, and this is almost verbatim: “These are two good football teams out here today. It’s going to come down to special teams and turnovers. I think the team with the fewest turnovers will win”
This is how Super Bowl XL will play out.
The Steelers have one of the best young defenders in the game right now in Safety Troy Polamalu, and one of the best defensive coordinators in the game with Dick Lebeau. They play a 3-4 defense that’s similar to the scheme Dallas plays. That would be the same Dallas Cowboys that shut Seattle down earlier this season, well at least for the first 3 quarters. The Seahawks won that game with a furious fourth quarter comeback, but I remember thinking at the time “I wonder why more teams don’t play a 3-4”. Speaking of the Cowboys, I haven’t seen “Brokeback Mountain” yet but I hear it’s pretty good. When I read the reviews of the film I couldn’t help but think of ol’ Jimmy Johnson after his first Super Bowl win with Dallas, standing there at the mike and yelling “How ‘bout them Cowboys!”
I digress.
As good and complex a defense as Pittsburg has, they do not have Michel Boulware, Lofa Tatupu and Jordan Babineaux. These three player account for 10 of Seattle’s 16 interceptions and they will be the difference makers. Here’s why:
Every other category is a statistical wash.
Both quarterbacks are off the charts on fire, and neither one is named “Manning”.
Both defenses are shutting teams down.
Both offenses have stud running backs playing at the top of their games.
Both offenses have solid receivers who are consistent week in and week out.
Both teams are well coached.
A note about that last point… much has been made of Bill Cowher’s history of coach-choking in big games. Cowher is coaching at his best right now, and I just don’t see it happening.
This will be a close game. The crowd will heavily favor the Steelers, and in case you’re wondering, I’m sick of the whole Jerome Bettis angle as well. If the Steelers win, I’ll be happy for Bettis, but I have to tell you I’m not one of those “feel good story” guys. The feel good story I care about is the one that the long suffering St. Ides is writing. We’re rooting for the Seahawks at the Samichlaus household, for Mike Holmgren, for the NFC, but mostly for St. Ides. Seattle 27 Pittsburgh 20
I appreciate the support from the Samichlaus household! Thanks!
There's only one point Samichlaus makes that I'll disagree with:
"Both offenses have stud running backs playing at the top of their games."
I'm not sure if he's talking about Bettis of "Fast" Willie Parker here. But neither of them scare me. As I posted in the comments section of a previous item, if Willie is so damn fast, how come Parker has only had 12 runs of 15+ yards all season, including the playoffs? For comparison, Alexander had a run of at least 15 yards in every game he played the full game, except Dallas. And I'm sure he had multiple long runs in many of those games. The Steeler running game does not scare me at all.
What does scare me is Big Ben getting into a comfortable groove, with Seattle getting no pressure on him, and him getting enough time to pick apart the secondary. Considering our front four has generated pretty good pressure on their own all year, that's an unlikely scenario. What else scares me is turnovers. Particularly on punt and kickoff returns. We coughed up 2 punt returns and a kickoff return against the Redskins, and it could have easily cost us the game. Jimmy "Butterfingers" Williams was replaced on punt returns last game by the more reliable Peter Warrick, but it's still looming as a potential disaster spot.
Excluding the Packers game (when the bookies knew Seattle would be playing their second stringers), Seattle has been an underdog 3 times all season. Just 3. The last time being in Week 5, playing in St. Louis against the rival Rams. Seattle being the underdog makes it a bit tougher for me to work the reverse jinx magic.. When they're giving points, I can pick them to win the game outright, but not cover the spread. Now with them getting points, I'd have to pick the Steelers to win outright in order to cover. Quite the dilemma.
It's incredible to me that just about everybody in the media is picking the Steelers. It's as if nobody has watched Seattle at all this season, including their playoff wins.
At least the media seems to be mostly laughing off Joey Porter's latest antics. This guy was on the NFL Network last night. Porter was actually on the NFL network earlier tonight, right after Isaiah Kacyvenski (no, I'm not going to look up the correct spelling) and Bryce Fisher. Fisher and Isaiah basically shrugged off the comments and said, "No big deal." Then Porter came on and said they had no credibility because they went to Harvard and Air Force, not football powerhouses. (When was the last time Colorado State was any good anyways?)
Porter then proceeded to say he wasn't offended at all when he heard Seattle was already planning a victory parade, because both teams have to come in expecting to win. "You can't come in here expecting to lose, know what I'm sayin?" But then again said that Stevens talked "out of pocket" (whatever the hell that means) with his comments.
The guy can't even keep his story straight. Anybody got the Wonderlic scores handy for those 3 players?
I think Seattle is going to open a lot of eyes with their defense. The Steelers will be turned into a one-dimensional team, throwing the ball. You saw what they did to Jake Delhomme last game, who had the best career postseason QB rating ever going into that game. During the 3rd quarter of that game, they flashed his rating on the screen. It was under 10. And Delhomme is a seasoned veteran who has been to a Super Bowl.
Also, an interesting thing to watch is that Troy Polamalu "tweaked" his ankle at practice yesterday, and is now listed as "probable" on the injury report. No doubt he'll play, but if he's not at 100%, that's a tough break for the Steelers. That hurts them not just physically, but mentally as well. And look for Seattle to go after him early. Joey Porter wants to make stupid comments about "tasting blood", but when a key guy is injured, most teams are smart enough to attack that potential weakness, and maybe bang them up a little more. Keep an eye to see how his cutting ability looks, especially with that being one of Alexander's strengths.
Looking at the coaches, Samichlaus also makes a point I was going to make. That Cowher has been known for some big-time choke jobs in the playoffs, including losing multiple AFC Championship games at home. He made some calls in the Colts game I didn't agree with (like going for it on 4th and short several times right around midfield), but they panned out for him. When you get to the big game like this, coaching matters. And so does experience. Holmgren has been head coach in two Super Bowls with Green Bay (went 1-1), and a high level assistant in San Fran for two others (which the Niners won both of). There are more players on Seattle than Pittsburgh with Super Bowl experience, including veteran leaders Grant Wistrom and Joe Jurevicius, both of whom won as well. The only Steeler who's been to the big game is former Seahawk cornerback Willie Williams, who was cut twice by the Steelers this season, but brought back due to injuries. And the dude speaks about as eloquently as Gilbert Grape.
All the pressure in the world is on Pittsburgh - on Cowher, on Bettis, on Roethlisberger, on smack-taling Joey Porter, and on the entire franchise that's consistently come up short in the playoffs in recent history. Seattle is happy to be there, and enjoying the ride. Almost nobody is picking them to win. They're a 4 point underdog. The stands will be full of Steeler fans. And although maybe the "just happy to be there" mentality might be dangerous for a team that didn't expect to get to the Super Bowl, I think that deep down, the players and coaches knew they could do it. It's not a "We're just happy we got this far, so it doesn't matter if we lose" attitude. It's more of a "We're happy to be here, because this is so fucking cool. Nobody expects us to win, but let's show these bastards how good we are" type deal. If that makes any sense.
I'm fairly confident that Seattle can and will win this game. But you never know. This is Seattle, afterall. And turnovers and freak plays happen. And you gotta dance with the girl you took to the prom. Or something like that. The reverse jinx has gotten us this far. My last reverse jinx of the season, and let's hope it's a winner. Steelers 28, Seahawks 23.
And for the record, I'm not usually superstitious. But for the past two playoff games, I've worn the same green t-shirt, blue long sleeve shirt, shamrock covered boxers, and old comfortable jeans. Those clothes have been washed, and have been sitting alone in a draw in my dresser, awaiting this game. If Seattle wins Sunday, those clothes might have to be sent to the Hall of Fame.
Go Seahawks!
I'll let Samichlaus go first, since I'm sucking with my playoff picks so far. Not that I care about my pick score at this point...
As the 1996 season progressed and it became evident that the Packers were amongst the elite, a lot of attention was paid to their 47 year old coach Mike Holmgren. Predictably before each game the networks would trot out a piece of eye candy to ask the coach “What do you think the key to winning this game is?” Equally predictable was Holmgren’s answer, and this is almost verbatim: “These are two good football teams out here today. It’s going to come down to special teams and turnovers. I think the team with the fewest turnovers will win”
This is how Super Bowl XL will play out.
The Steelers have one of the best young defenders in the game right now in Safety Troy Polamalu, and one of the best defensive coordinators in the game with Dick Lebeau. They play a 3-4 defense that’s similar to the scheme Dallas plays. That would be the same Dallas Cowboys that shut Seattle down earlier this season, well at least for the first 3 quarters. The Seahawks won that game with a furious fourth quarter comeback, but I remember thinking at the time “I wonder why more teams don’t play a 3-4”. Speaking of the Cowboys, I haven’t seen “Brokeback Mountain” yet but I hear it’s pretty good. When I read the reviews of the film I couldn’t help but think of ol’ Jimmy Johnson after his first Super Bowl win with Dallas, standing there at the mike and yelling “How ‘bout them Cowboys!”
I digress.
As good and complex a defense as Pittsburg has, they do not have Michel Boulware, Lofa Tatupu and Jordan Babineaux. These three player account for 10 of Seattle’s 16 interceptions and they will be the difference makers. Here’s why:
Every other category is a statistical wash.
Both quarterbacks are off the charts on fire, and neither one is named “Manning”.
Both defenses are shutting teams down.
Both offenses have stud running backs playing at the top of their games.
Both offenses have solid receivers who are consistent week in and week out.
Both teams are well coached.
A note about that last point… much has been made of Bill Cowher’s history of coach-choking in big games. Cowher is coaching at his best right now, and I just don’t see it happening.
This will be a close game. The crowd will heavily favor the Steelers, and in case you’re wondering, I’m sick of the whole Jerome Bettis angle as well. If the Steelers win, I’ll be happy for Bettis, but I have to tell you I’m not one of those “feel good story” guys. The feel good story I care about is the one that the long suffering St. Ides is writing. We’re rooting for the Seahawks at the Samichlaus household, for Mike Holmgren, for the NFC, but mostly for St. Ides. Seattle 27 Pittsburgh 20
I appreciate the support from the Samichlaus household! Thanks!
There's only one point Samichlaus makes that I'll disagree with:
"Both offenses have stud running backs playing at the top of their games."
I'm not sure if he's talking about Bettis of "Fast" Willie Parker here. But neither of them scare me. As I posted in the comments section of a previous item, if Willie is so damn fast, how come Parker has only had 12 runs of 15+ yards all season, including the playoffs? For comparison, Alexander had a run of at least 15 yards in every game he played the full game, except Dallas. And I'm sure he had multiple long runs in many of those games. The Steeler running game does not scare me at all.
What does scare me is Big Ben getting into a comfortable groove, with Seattle getting no pressure on him, and him getting enough time to pick apart the secondary. Considering our front four has generated pretty good pressure on their own all year, that's an unlikely scenario. What else scares me is turnovers. Particularly on punt and kickoff returns. We coughed up 2 punt returns and a kickoff return against the Redskins, and it could have easily cost us the game. Jimmy "Butterfingers" Williams was replaced on punt returns last game by the more reliable Peter Warrick, but it's still looming as a potential disaster spot.
Excluding the Packers game (when the bookies knew Seattle would be playing their second stringers), Seattle has been an underdog 3 times all season. Just 3. The last time being in Week 5, playing in St. Louis against the rival Rams. Seattle being the underdog makes it a bit tougher for me to work the reverse jinx magic.. When they're giving points, I can pick them to win the game outright, but not cover the spread. Now with them getting points, I'd have to pick the Steelers to win outright in order to cover. Quite the dilemma.
It's incredible to me that just about everybody in the media is picking the Steelers. It's as if nobody has watched Seattle at all this season, including their playoff wins.
At least the media seems to be mostly laughing off Joey Porter's latest antics. This guy was on the NFL Network last night. Porter was actually on the NFL network earlier tonight, right after Isaiah Kacyvenski (no, I'm not going to look up the correct spelling) and Bryce Fisher. Fisher and Isaiah basically shrugged off the comments and said, "No big deal." Then Porter came on and said they had no credibility because they went to Harvard and Air Force, not football powerhouses. (When was the last time Colorado State was any good anyways?)
Porter then proceeded to say he wasn't offended at all when he heard Seattle was already planning a victory parade, because both teams have to come in expecting to win. "You can't come in here expecting to lose, know what I'm sayin?" But then again said that Stevens talked "out of pocket" (whatever the hell that means) with his comments.
The guy can't even keep his story straight. Anybody got the Wonderlic scores handy for those 3 players?
I think Seattle is going to open a lot of eyes with their defense. The Steelers will be turned into a one-dimensional team, throwing the ball. You saw what they did to Jake Delhomme last game, who had the best career postseason QB rating ever going into that game. During the 3rd quarter of that game, they flashed his rating on the screen. It was under 10. And Delhomme is a seasoned veteran who has been to a Super Bowl.
Also, an interesting thing to watch is that Troy Polamalu "tweaked" his ankle at practice yesterday, and is now listed as "probable" on the injury report. No doubt he'll play, but if he's not at 100%, that's a tough break for the Steelers. That hurts them not just physically, but mentally as well. And look for Seattle to go after him early. Joey Porter wants to make stupid comments about "tasting blood", but when a key guy is injured, most teams are smart enough to attack that potential weakness, and maybe bang them up a little more. Keep an eye to see how his cutting ability looks, especially with that being one of Alexander's strengths.
Looking at the coaches, Samichlaus also makes a point I was going to make. That Cowher has been known for some big-time choke jobs in the playoffs, including losing multiple AFC Championship games at home. He made some calls in the Colts game I didn't agree with (like going for it on 4th and short several times right around midfield), but they panned out for him. When you get to the big game like this, coaching matters. And so does experience. Holmgren has been head coach in two Super Bowls with Green Bay (went 1-1), and a high level assistant in San Fran for two others (which the Niners won both of). There are more players on Seattle than Pittsburgh with Super Bowl experience, including veteran leaders Grant Wistrom and Joe Jurevicius, both of whom won as well. The only Steeler who's been to the big game is former Seahawk cornerback Willie Williams, who was cut twice by the Steelers this season, but brought back due to injuries. And the dude speaks about as eloquently as Gilbert Grape.
All the pressure in the world is on Pittsburgh - on Cowher, on Bettis, on Roethlisberger, on smack-taling Joey Porter, and on the entire franchise that's consistently come up short in the playoffs in recent history. Seattle is happy to be there, and enjoying the ride. Almost nobody is picking them to win. They're a 4 point underdog. The stands will be full of Steeler fans. And although maybe the "just happy to be there" mentality might be dangerous for a team that didn't expect to get to the Super Bowl, I think that deep down, the players and coaches knew they could do it. It's not a "We're just happy we got this far, so it doesn't matter if we lose" attitude. It's more of a "We're happy to be here, because this is so fucking cool. Nobody expects us to win, but let's show these bastards how good we are" type deal. If that makes any sense.
I'm fairly confident that Seattle can and will win this game. But you never know. This is Seattle, afterall. And turnovers and freak plays happen. And you gotta dance with the girl you took to the prom. Or something like that. The reverse jinx has gotten us this far. My last reverse jinx of the season, and let's hope it's a winner. Steelers 28, Seahawks 23.
And for the record, I'm not usually superstitious. But for the past two playoff games, I've worn the same green t-shirt, blue long sleeve shirt, shamrock covered boxers, and old comfortable jeans. Those clothes have been washed, and have been sitting alone in a draw in my dresser, awaiting this game. If Seattle wins Sunday, those clothes might have to be sent to the Hall of Fame.
Go Seahawks!
Thursday, February 2, 2006
Super Bowl Analysis - Defense!
We're getting closer! 72 hours from now, we'll be fully assaulted by Super Bowl pre-game coverage that runs for like 12 hours straight. And I can't wait!
But for now... let's look at the defenses...
I've said it several times already this year, but I'll say it again for those tuning in late - Seattle's defense is pretty damn good. The game planning is good, the execution is good, the players are good. They're stepping up big time in the playoffs, and the Steelers are crazy if they think that this is a "soft" defense that they'll be able to abuse.
Let's take a look at their previous two playoff games. Only 3 touchdowns allowed in 2 games by Seattle.
1) Against the Redskins, late in the game, Brunell launches a pass into the end zone from like 20 yards out into tight coverage. Andre Dyson, in near perfect position, dives towards the ball. The ball deflects off his hand, then off his helmet... and hits Santana Moss right in the chest, and he somehow holds on. Freaky play. 9 times out of 10, no way does a ball deflected like that get caught.
2) The mysterious "vanishing block in the back" punt return by Steve Smith. Horrible call by the refs, as Carolina coach John Fox basically talked the officials into picking up the flag. But, whatever, it counted. But this was a touchdown scored on special teams, not against the defense.
3) 47 yard touchdown catch by Drew Carter of the Panthers. The coverage was just a little late getting over and just a little early timing the jump. Yes, burnt for a bad long touchdown. But the score was 34-7 at the time. I can excuse the team for having a slight lapse with such a big lead.
Again, Seattle has only allowed one (yes, 1) 100+ yard rusher all season long, including the playoffs. That was Tiki Barber, and he needed OT. Had Feeley hit the winning field goal as time in regulation expired, Tiki would have finished with 90-something yards. The Redskins couldn't run on Seattle. Neither could the Panthers. Even though we were clearly playing the pass. We don't need 8 in the box to stop the run. Our front 4 do an excellent job, with help from the quick linebackers.
So speaking of the front 4, let's look at them. Defensive ends Grant Wistom and Bryce Fisher. Fisher had 9 sacks during the regular season, and sacked Brunell in the first playoff game, forcing a fumble. He's a high motor guy that's generally considered a pass rush type. But he's been solid against the run too. Wistrom is the captain of the defense, and has had an awesome year. His numbers don't jump off the page, but there's a ton of stuff he does that doesn't show up in the box score - forcing the QB up in the pocket so someone else gets the sack, penetrates into the backfield forcing the running back wide giving the linebackers time to come up and make the tackle, chasing the QB all the way across the field. Keep an eye on Wistrom, and you'll see him around the ball on just about every play. He might not get to the QB, but he's right on his heels pressuring him.
Our defensive tackles have been great this tear. First round draft pick Marcus Tubbs is in his second year, and he's a primary reason we've been so good against the run. He's one of those clogging type tackles that takes up space and pushes offensive linemen back into the backfield. Chuck Darby is a veteran from Tampa Bay, where they know a bit about playing defense. He's basically taken Tubbs under his wing this season, and taught him a few tricks. The two work well together. Seattle actually uses a pretty regular rotation at tackle, to keep everybody fresh. Rocky Bernard has been awesome. 8.5 sacks in the regular season. 2 sacks last week (including a huge one on 3rd and long). Not too shabby for a defensive tackle who only plays about half the plays. Craig Terrill is his partner in the rotation, and he's not going to make any huge plays, but he's solid.
Then there's our linebackers. Everybody already knows about Lofa Tatupu. He's going to the Pro Bowl, probably should have won Defensive Rookie of the Year (he finished second to San Diego's Shawne Merriman), and has already become a leader on this team. He calls the plays on defense, and shifts the defensive linemen once he sees the offensive formation. Watch this on Sunday. Watch how he taps the linemen on their butts to shift them into holes. And then watch what happens when the running play goes right into one of those now-filled holes. Most importantly, Tatupu knows how to win. This is his 3rd championship game in a row. The last two years, he won a little thing called the NCAA National Championship while playing for USC. The dude is a beast. Oh, and for when Bettis runs over Tatupu the first time in this game (and it probably will happen.. I mean, Bettis huge and Tatupu is underdsized for a MLB), just remember this - Bettis also ran over Brian Urlacher and dragged him like 5 yards when the Steelers whupped the Bears a few weeks ago. There's no shame in getting run over by the Bus. Just keep the fat bastard out of the end zone.
With all the talk about Tatupu, our other rookie linebacker is getting little attention. But LeRoy Hill is having an impressive season himself. He didn't become the full-time starter until late in the season due to the injury to Jamie Sharper, but even before that, he was good when he played. 7.5 sacks in the regular season. 15 tackles in the playoffs. He's a fast mofo. The defense was sending him on blitzes fairly often during the regular season, but have eased up a bit on that lately. He's pretty good. If we can keep Tatupu and Hill together, we might have one of the best linebacking groups in football within a few short years.
The third linebacker is D.D. Lewis. Solid. Not spectacular or flashy. He was projected to earn the starting job last season, but then missed the whole year with an injury. You might remember him from the play Carolina tried to run to Steve Smith on a screen. D.D. Lewis was the defender who jumped the route so quickly that the ball actually deflected off his helmet.
Many people will say that the secondary is our weakest link, and that may be true. But it's still pretty solid. Marcus Trufant is an excellent cover corner, and may be a year or two away from the Pro Bowl. Opposing QBs just don't throw at him enough for him to pass his interception total. On the other corner, Andre Dyson has been pretty good too, though he's been hurt a decent chunk of the year. He's a bit more physical than Trufant, but not quite as good in coverage. A strength is in nickel packages, when Kelly Herndon gets on the field. Herndon and Dyson battled it out for the 2nd CB spot throughout training camp, but injuries to both throughout the season has prevented any real separation between the two. Herndon is quicker and more of a ball hawk, but he's not a great tackler, and sometimes gives opposing WRs wayyyy too much cushion. Still, he's good enough to be the 2nd CB on a lot of NFL teams, and that's nice insurance.
Our secondary took a big hit when Ken Hamlin was lost for the season after that brawl outside a Seattle bar. But Marques Manual has stepped in and played well, even passing along some of Hamlin's trademark big hits. (It was Manuel who absolutely flattened Shockey in the end zone on that controversial "touchdown" catch in the Giants game.) Michael Boulware has successfully made the switch from linebacker (where he played in college) to safety. He's solid against both the pass and run, and continues to come up with interceptions at key moments.
Overall, I love this Seattle defense. This is the first time I think I can say that since I've followed the team. There are some players who aren't quite superstars yet, but can be. They play well as a unit. They communicate well, and help each other make plays. If one player doesn't make a tackle, he at least forces the angle or slows down the runner so his teammates can. Their final numbers yardage-wise are very deceiving, because they played with huge leads in so many games. I think this defense can be a Top 10 defense next year. And I think they start making people believers on Sunday.
Predicted Seattle defensive stats: 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 4 sacks.
Now, the Steelers... Obviously, I don't know as much about their individuals, but I'll do what I can. :P
A lot of media morons are making a big deal about the 3-4 defense the Steelers play, and how Seattle had trouble with the 3-4 this season. They played one 3-4 defense: Dallas. They struggled on offense, but still won the game. Newsflash! This just in! They actually had some trouble with some good 4-3 defenses too! Jacksonville, the Giants, and the Redskins all gave Seattle some trouble with their defense. They all play the 4-3. And those games were all a long time ago. Seattle absolutely shredded the Redskins and Carolina defenses in the playoffs. And the Steelers defense (3-4, 4-3, 5-2, whatever the fuck they're going to play) is not as good as those two defenses.
One more comment on the 3-4. The tricky thing about it is you don't know where the 4th pass rusher is coming from. It could be any of their 4 linebackers, or even a safety. Rushing 4 defenders is NOT a blitz. I'm sure the announcers will make that mistake about a hundred times on Sunday, and call a 4-man rush a "blitz". Anyways, I get the feeling that Seattle has watched enough film, and been together long enough as a team that they'll have a pretty good idea where the 4th rusher is coming from on most plays.
Joey "Big Mouth" Porter is a pretty good player and a Pro Bowler. He's looked good in the playoffs coming off the end on a rush or blitz, going unblocked, and squashing the quarterback. As the bold and brazen Jerramy Stevens predicted, I don't think he'll have such an easy time if he tries doing that on Walter Jones' side. Walter Jones is a beast. All he has to do is get one paw on the guy, give a little shove, and the guy flies 5 yards up field. Hasselbeck steps up in the pocket, and throws a bullet. Remember how last week all everybody kept talking about was Steve Smith, Steve Smith, Steve Smith? Remember how Seattle made sure they didn't let him beat them? Expect Porter to get the same treatment. If Jones doesn't get him, look for Mack Strong to be in the backfield with protection help, or even Alexander to give up the body to protect the QB. I don't expect Porter to have a particularly good game, since Seattle will have him in their sights at all times.
Then there's Troy Polamalu. This guy scares me way more than Porter. He's frickin nuts out there. Tatupu and him play with a similar reckless abandon, yet disciplined style. Maybe it's the polynesian blood in them, or their USC experience. He's smart, aggressive, and quick. If he has any weaknesses, it'd be that maybe he's slightly too aggressive, and can miss tackles sometimes. Alexander loves cutting the run back across the field when there's no hole to run through. If Polamalu is too aggressive and gets caught in that mosh pit of blockers while Alexander runs the other direction, that's a big gain right there. But the key to not letting this guy beat us is just accounting for him in pass coverage. Make sure you don't throw a ball that he can get to. It'll be tough for Hasselbeck to keep both Porter and Polamalu in his sights at all times, but that's what he needs to do to stop them from making the big plays.
The rest of the defense is pretty good. Their nose tackle, Casey Hampton, is going to the Pro Bowl, as is linebacker James Farrior. Their cornerbacks can be had, and their defensive ends are solid, but not great. They'll be doing a lot of shifting and rushing from different angles, but if they are going to bring a big blitz, they sure as hell better get there, because Hasselbeck can and will burn them. The Seattle offense is smoking hot right now, and I don't see this defense cooling them off.
Predicted Pittsburgh defensive stats: 1 interception, 2 sacks
But for now... let's look at the defenses...
I've said it several times already this year, but I'll say it again for those tuning in late - Seattle's defense is pretty damn good. The game planning is good, the execution is good, the players are good. They're stepping up big time in the playoffs, and the Steelers are crazy if they think that this is a "soft" defense that they'll be able to abuse.
Let's take a look at their previous two playoff games. Only 3 touchdowns allowed in 2 games by Seattle.
1) Against the Redskins, late in the game, Brunell launches a pass into the end zone from like 20 yards out into tight coverage. Andre Dyson, in near perfect position, dives towards the ball. The ball deflects off his hand, then off his helmet... and hits Santana Moss right in the chest, and he somehow holds on. Freaky play. 9 times out of 10, no way does a ball deflected like that get caught.
2) The mysterious "vanishing block in the back" punt return by Steve Smith. Horrible call by the refs, as Carolina coach John Fox basically talked the officials into picking up the flag. But, whatever, it counted. But this was a touchdown scored on special teams, not against the defense.
3) 47 yard touchdown catch by Drew Carter of the Panthers. The coverage was just a little late getting over and just a little early timing the jump. Yes, burnt for a bad long touchdown. But the score was 34-7 at the time. I can excuse the team for having a slight lapse with such a big lead.
Again, Seattle has only allowed one (yes, 1) 100+ yard rusher all season long, including the playoffs. That was Tiki Barber, and he needed OT. Had Feeley hit the winning field goal as time in regulation expired, Tiki would have finished with 90-something yards. The Redskins couldn't run on Seattle. Neither could the Panthers. Even though we were clearly playing the pass. We don't need 8 in the box to stop the run. Our front 4 do an excellent job, with help from the quick linebackers.
So speaking of the front 4, let's look at them. Defensive ends Grant Wistom and Bryce Fisher. Fisher had 9 sacks during the regular season, and sacked Brunell in the first playoff game, forcing a fumble. He's a high motor guy that's generally considered a pass rush type. But he's been solid against the run too. Wistrom is the captain of the defense, and has had an awesome year. His numbers don't jump off the page, but there's a ton of stuff he does that doesn't show up in the box score - forcing the QB up in the pocket so someone else gets the sack, penetrates into the backfield forcing the running back wide giving the linebackers time to come up and make the tackle, chasing the QB all the way across the field. Keep an eye on Wistrom, and you'll see him around the ball on just about every play. He might not get to the QB, but he's right on his heels pressuring him.
Our defensive tackles have been great this tear. First round draft pick Marcus Tubbs is in his second year, and he's a primary reason we've been so good against the run. He's one of those clogging type tackles that takes up space and pushes offensive linemen back into the backfield. Chuck Darby is a veteran from Tampa Bay, where they know a bit about playing defense. He's basically taken Tubbs under his wing this season, and taught him a few tricks. The two work well together. Seattle actually uses a pretty regular rotation at tackle, to keep everybody fresh. Rocky Bernard has been awesome. 8.5 sacks in the regular season. 2 sacks last week (including a huge one on 3rd and long). Not too shabby for a defensive tackle who only plays about half the plays. Craig Terrill is his partner in the rotation, and he's not going to make any huge plays, but he's solid.
Then there's our linebackers. Everybody already knows about Lofa Tatupu. He's going to the Pro Bowl, probably should have won Defensive Rookie of the Year (he finished second to San Diego's Shawne Merriman), and has already become a leader on this team. He calls the plays on defense, and shifts the defensive linemen once he sees the offensive formation. Watch this on Sunday. Watch how he taps the linemen on their butts to shift them into holes. And then watch what happens when the running play goes right into one of those now-filled holes. Most importantly, Tatupu knows how to win. This is his 3rd championship game in a row. The last two years, he won a little thing called the NCAA National Championship while playing for USC. The dude is a beast. Oh, and for when Bettis runs over Tatupu the first time in this game (and it probably will happen.. I mean, Bettis huge and Tatupu is underdsized for a MLB), just remember this - Bettis also ran over Brian Urlacher and dragged him like 5 yards when the Steelers whupped the Bears a few weeks ago. There's no shame in getting run over by the Bus. Just keep the fat bastard out of the end zone.
With all the talk about Tatupu, our other rookie linebacker is getting little attention. But LeRoy Hill is having an impressive season himself. He didn't become the full-time starter until late in the season due to the injury to Jamie Sharper, but even before that, he was good when he played. 7.5 sacks in the regular season. 15 tackles in the playoffs. He's a fast mofo. The defense was sending him on blitzes fairly often during the regular season, but have eased up a bit on that lately. He's pretty good. If we can keep Tatupu and Hill together, we might have one of the best linebacking groups in football within a few short years.
The third linebacker is D.D. Lewis. Solid. Not spectacular or flashy. He was projected to earn the starting job last season, but then missed the whole year with an injury. You might remember him from the play Carolina tried to run to Steve Smith on a screen. D.D. Lewis was the defender who jumped the route so quickly that the ball actually deflected off his helmet.
Many people will say that the secondary is our weakest link, and that may be true. But it's still pretty solid. Marcus Trufant is an excellent cover corner, and may be a year or two away from the Pro Bowl. Opposing QBs just don't throw at him enough for him to pass his interception total. On the other corner, Andre Dyson has been pretty good too, though he's been hurt a decent chunk of the year. He's a bit more physical than Trufant, but not quite as good in coverage. A strength is in nickel packages, when Kelly Herndon gets on the field. Herndon and Dyson battled it out for the 2nd CB spot throughout training camp, but injuries to both throughout the season has prevented any real separation between the two. Herndon is quicker and more of a ball hawk, but he's not a great tackler, and sometimes gives opposing WRs wayyyy too much cushion. Still, he's good enough to be the 2nd CB on a lot of NFL teams, and that's nice insurance.
Our secondary took a big hit when Ken Hamlin was lost for the season after that brawl outside a Seattle bar. But Marques Manual has stepped in and played well, even passing along some of Hamlin's trademark big hits. (It was Manuel who absolutely flattened Shockey in the end zone on that controversial "touchdown" catch in the Giants game.) Michael Boulware has successfully made the switch from linebacker (where he played in college) to safety. He's solid against both the pass and run, and continues to come up with interceptions at key moments.
Overall, I love this Seattle defense. This is the first time I think I can say that since I've followed the team. There are some players who aren't quite superstars yet, but can be. They play well as a unit. They communicate well, and help each other make plays. If one player doesn't make a tackle, he at least forces the angle or slows down the runner so his teammates can. Their final numbers yardage-wise are very deceiving, because they played with huge leads in so many games. I think this defense can be a Top 10 defense next year. And I think they start making people believers on Sunday.
Predicted Seattle defensive stats: 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 4 sacks.
Now, the Steelers... Obviously, I don't know as much about their individuals, but I'll do what I can. :P
A lot of media morons are making a big deal about the 3-4 defense the Steelers play, and how Seattle had trouble with the 3-4 this season. They played one 3-4 defense: Dallas. They struggled on offense, but still won the game. Newsflash! This just in! They actually had some trouble with some good 4-3 defenses too! Jacksonville, the Giants, and the Redskins all gave Seattle some trouble with their defense. They all play the 4-3. And those games were all a long time ago. Seattle absolutely shredded the Redskins and Carolina defenses in the playoffs. And the Steelers defense (3-4, 4-3, 5-2, whatever the fuck they're going to play) is not as good as those two defenses.
One more comment on the 3-4. The tricky thing about it is you don't know where the 4th pass rusher is coming from. It could be any of their 4 linebackers, or even a safety. Rushing 4 defenders is NOT a blitz. I'm sure the announcers will make that mistake about a hundred times on Sunday, and call a 4-man rush a "blitz". Anyways, I get the feeling that Seattle has watched enough film, and been together long enough as a team that they'll have a pretty good idea where the 4th rusher is coming from on most plays.
Joey "Big Mouth" Porter is a pretty good player and a Pro Bowler. He's looked good in the playoffs coming off the end on a rush or blitz, going unblocked, and squashing the quarterback. As the bold and brazen Jerramy Stevens predicted, I don't think he'll have such an easy time if he tries doing that on Walter Jones' side. Walter Jones is a beast. All he has to do is get one paw on the guy, give a little shove, and the guy flies 5 yards up field. Hasselbeck steps up in the pocket, and throws a bullet. Remember how last week all everybody kept talking about was Steve Smith, Steve Smith, Steve Smith? Remember how Seattle made sure they didn't let him beat them? Expect Porter to get the same treatment. If Jones doesn't get him, look for Mack Strong to be in the backfield with protection help, or even Alexander to give up the body to protect the QB. I don't expect Porter to have a particularly good game, since Seattle will have him in their sights at all times.
Then there's Troy Polamalu. This guy scares me way more than Porter. He's frickin nuts out there. Tatupu and him play with a similar reckless abandon, yet disciplined style. Maybe it's the polynesian blood in them, or their USC experience. He's smart, aggressive, and quick. If he has any weaknesses, it'd be that maybe he's slightly too aggressive, and can miss tackles sometimes. Alexander loves cutting the run back across the field when there's no hole to run through. If Polamalu is too aggressive and gets caught in that mosh pit of blockers while Alexander runs the other direction, that's a big gain right there. But the key to not letting this guy beat us is just accounting for him in pass coverage. Make sure you don't throw a ball that he can get to. It'll be tough for Hasselbeck to keep both Porter and Polamalu in his sights at all times, but that's what he needs to do to stop them from making the big plays.
The rest of the defense is pretty good. Their nose tackle, Casey Hampton, is going to the Pro Bowl, as is linebacker James Farrior. Their cornerbacks can be had, and their defensive ends are solid, but not great. They'll be doing a lot of shifting and rushing from different angles, but if they are going to bring a big blitz, they sure as hell better get there, because Hasselbeck can and will burn them. The Seattle offense is smoking hot right now, and I don't see this defense cooling them off.
Predicted Pittsburgh defensive stats: 1 interception, 2 sacks
Port-ee Mouth
In case you haven't seen this yet, here's a little smack-talking that started yesterday. I actually saw footage of Joey Porter making these comments, and he looked half asleep...
Here's an article with all the juicy details. Notice the ridiculous title of the piece. "Near-guarantee" ??
If Porter needed someone to talk smack to get him motivated, he's got problems.
I don't have a problem with what Stevens said. All he said is it'll be sad if Bettis doesn't get the trophy with all the hype. Except instead of saying "if" he said "when". I find it hard to believe that no Steeler made a similar comment this week. Big deal. What the hell is a "near-guarantee" anyways? I'll tell you what it is - shit the media is inventing. :P
Porter and the media needed to dig pretty deep to find that "near-guarentee" to get them revved up. Guess the week has been too boring so far.
Stevens also said that Porter might have a tougher time blitzing against what most of the league and media consider the best offensive tackle in the game, Walter Jones. Uhhhh, oh yeah, that's a real daring and bold prediction there.
And for Porter to call Stevens "soft" is just the generic insult players throw around. "A first-round bust who barely made some plays this season," he calls him? This is Stevens' 4th season in the league, and he was stuck behind an established and solid veteran at the position. It's a bit early to be calling him a bust.
I'm still baffled how the league did not fine Porter for bashing the officials and basically blame them for cheating.
He's right about one thing though, they will match up time after time after time during the game. Stevens is 6'7", 265 pounds, quick, with good hands. Porter is 6'3", 250.
Since I was "working from home" (while my new TV was delivered and my DirectTV upgraded to HD for the big game) yesterday, I watched the NFL Network all day, and they had live coverage from Detroit for 5 hours straight. And they haven't even mentioned this at all. It didn't come up until the "Around The Horn" show later on ESPN and Pardon the Interruption.
Stevens' numbers this year, who "barely made some plays":
Regular Season: 45 catches, 554 yards, 5 TDs
Post Season: 8 catches, 79 yards, 1 TD
Antween Randle El, the #2 WR (WR, not TE) on the Steelers (both on the depth chart and statistically):
Regular Season: 35 catches, 558 yards, 1 TD
Post Season: 9 catches, 97 yards, 1 TD
I also liked Stevens rebuttal:
Stevens found Porter's comments amusing.
"I think that will make it more exciting. That fuels the fire," Stevens said. "He's an up-tempo guy and playing that way is why football is fun."
Then, reflecting on what Porter said, he added, "He said I'll be on my back?"
Stevens flashed a smile.
"We'll see."
That's right. We WILL see.
Here's an article with all the juicy details. Notice the ridiculous title of the piece. "Near-guarantee" ??
If Porter needed someone to talk smack to get him motivated, he's got problems.
I don't have a problem with what Stevens said. All he said is it'll be sad if Bettis doesn't get the trophy with all the hype. Except instead of saying "if" he said "when". I find it hard to believe that no Steeler made a similar comment this week. Big deal. What the hell is a "near-guarantee" anyways? I'll tell you what it is - shit the media is inventing. :P
Porter and the media needed to dig pretty deep to find that "near-guarentee" to get them revved up. Guess the week has been too boring so far.
Stevens also said that Porter might have a tougher time blitzing against what most of the league and media consider the best offensive tackle in the game, Walter Jones. Uhhhh, oh yeah, that's a real daring and bold prediction there.
And for Porter to call Stevens "soft" is just the generic insult players throw around. "A first-round bust who barely made some plays this season," he calls him? This is Stevens' 4th season in the league, and he was stuck behind an established and solid veteran at the position. It's a bit early to be calling him a bust.
I'm still baffled how the league did not fine Porter for bashing the officials and basically blame them for cheating.
He's right about one thing though, they will match up time after time after time during the game. Stevens is 6'7", 265 pounds, quick, with good hands. Porter is 6'3", 250.
Since I was "working from home" (while my new TV was delivered and my DirectTV upgraded to HD for the big game) yesterday, I watched the NFL Network all day, and they had live coverage from Detroit for 5 hours straight. And they haven't even mentioned this at all. It didn't come up until the "Around The Horn" show later on ESPN and Pardon the Interruption.
Stevens' numbers this year, who "barely made some plays":
Regular Season: 45 catches, 554 yards, 5 TDs
Post Season: 8 catches, 79 yards, 1 TD
Antween Randle El, the #2 WR (WR, not TE) on the Steelers (both on the depth chart and statistically):
Regular Season: 35 catches, 558 yards, 1 TD
Post Season: 9 catches, 97 yards, 1 TD
I also liked Stevens rebuttal:
Stevens found Porter's comments amusing.
"I think that will make it more exciting. That fuels the fire," Stevens said. "He's an up-tempo guy and playing that way is why football is fun."
Then, reflecting on what Porter said, he added, "He said I'll be on my back?"
Stevens flashed a smile.
"We'll see."
That's right. We WILL see.
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Super Bowl Analysis - WRs
And the Super Bowl hype continues! Let's continue my wacky side-by-side comparisons, shall we? Here's what I plan on for the rest of the week: Today - Receivers. Tomorrow - Defenses. Friday - Coaches and final predictions.
So let's look at the targets for each teams.
First, the Steelers. They actually have a pretty good receivers group, led by Hines Ward. Ward has been great for several years now. He puts up Pro Bowl numbers, and even has some flashy big plays that show up on SportsCenter occassionally. I've always liked him and thought he was fairly underrated. He has good enough speed to be a deep threat, good enough hands and quickness to be a possession type.
Then there's Antwaan Randle El, the former college QB and the featured player in any gimmick plays the Steelers try. He's blazing fast. But he drops the ball more than he shoudl, and is somewhere between 2nd and 3rd receiver it seems.
Especially after the game Cedrick Wilson had last week. He caught 5 balls for 90 yards and a TD, and there were a few other balls thrown in his direction. During the regular season, he never caught more than 4 passes in game (and that was only once). Seems Roethlisberger is looking for him more, but maybe it was just that he was so wide open last week.
The final piece, and maybe the scariest, is rookie tight end Heath Miller. He had a pretty good year for a tight end, and has excellent hands and size. He's only had 3 games all year with 0 catches, pretty impressive for a rookie tight end in an offense that generally runs the ball first.
Willie Parker out of the backfield isn't a huge threat, although he does have some speed to gain yardage if he gets some space. Seattle was all over the WR screen last week, and if the Steelers like using screens, I don't expect them to do much with them.
Overall, I think the Steelers have a pretty solid, well-rounded group of receivers. Seattle won't be able to just focus on one receiver like they did last week. If Big Ben has time, he should be able to find an open receiver. As long as his throws are accurate. Really, the Steelers passing game will come down to how accurate Roethlisberger can be with the pressure of the Big Game and the Seattle pass rush.
Predicted stat lines:
Ward: 7 catches, 101 yards
Miller: 5 catches, 67 yards, 1 TD
Ranle El: 3 catches, 42 yards
Wilson: 3 catches, 29 yards
Parker: 2 catches, 14 yards
Seattle has a simlar approach, spreading the ball around to their reliable receivers. Yes, I said it - reliable. After leading the league in drops for 3 years in a row, they cut their total in half this year. A big reason is simply because it's a psychological thing that seems contagious. And Koren Dropinson, the biggest offender, is gone. Maybe he was a bit tipsy during most games and that's why he had so many drops. But the disease spread. Darrell Jackson was uncharacteristically dropping balls last year. Bobby Engram held onto it most of the year, but he dropped the most important pass of all, the one in the end zone against the Rams in the playoffs. Jerry Rice was brought in short term in hopes of helping the team shake the dropsies, but he started dropping balls too. It was a frickin nightmare.
This year... out is Koren, in comes Joe Jurevicius. The results have been amazing.
Darrell Jackson missed much of the season with a knee injury, but he's been great in the playoffs. When Alexander was knocked out against the Skins, Jackson was Hasselbeck's main target. My favorite play that game was a long pass to Jackson down the sidelines. Jackson was pretty much wide open, but there was a lot of air under the ball. Hard-hitting Redskins safety Sean Taylor (the same guy who was ejected the previous week for spitting in a player's face, and now faces several years in prison for waving a gun in the faces of several people) was closing in fast. Jackson caught the ball, just as Taylor unloaded on him. Jackson held onto the ball, and jumped right up. Taylor remained on the ground for several moments as he has hurt himself. Jackson got in his face and said something like, "I'm 200 pounds, baby. Bring it."
Bobby Engram missed several games with an injury as well. With the departure of Robinson, Engram was promoted to the #2 receiver role, something many people questioned whether he was ready for. Well, he was. He played great. He's a smart veteran who knows how to run routes and adjust to blitzes. Sure handed. Not blazing fast, but quick. He gets open.
And Joe Jurevicius. Another sure-handed veteran who knows how to run routes and get open. He stepped up big time for this team when both Jackson and Engram were out. Basically, he was asked to be the team's #1 receiver for a team for the first time in his career, and he stepped up. And here's the thing I noticed about Jurevicius this season - he probably has the nastiest stiff arm of any wide receiver in the league. He's had at least a dozen plays this season where he planted a stiff arm in the face of a defensive back and picked up an extra 5-20 yards. Oh, and in case you were wondering how big he is, since some announcers will in passing mention that he's a "big target" : 6'5", 230 pounds. For comparison, Troy Polamalu is 5'10", 212.
Tight end Jerramy Stevens. A first round pick in 2002, he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder his first two years because he wasn't starting. Last year, he started being used more, and accepted the role as #2 tight end (behind Itula Mili). As long as he could still contribute, he'd be happy. This year, he worked his ass off in training camp, and earned the starting job. And he's never looked back. With all of Seattle's weapons, he's often overlooked by the defense. I'm not real sure how a defense does not notice a 6'7", 265 pounder running routes, but they do. Exhibit A - his 17 yard touchdown catch last week against the Panthers. The dude is a frickin beast. You'll often hear that it's tough to cover a tight end with a safety, because of the size advantage of the tight end. This dude is so big that he's a size mismatch against most linebackers. For comparison, Joey Porter is 6'3", 250. That's 4 inches and 15 pounds Stevens has on him. Even beyond this game, look for Stevens to be a solid contributor on offense for years to come.
Predicted stat lines:
Engram: 6 catches, 87 yards, 1 TD
Jackson: 5 catches, 69 yards
Stevens: 4 catches, 41 yards, 1 TD
Jurevicius: 2 catches, 26 yards
Hackett: 1 catch, 24 yards
So let's look at the targets for each teams.
First, the Steelers. They actually have a pretty good receivers group, led by Hines Ward. Ward has been great for several years now. He puts up Pro Bowl numbers, and even has some flashy big plays that show up on SportsCenter occassionally. I've always liked him and thought he was fairly underrated. He has good enough speed to be a deep threat, good enough hands and quickness to be a possession type.
Then there's Antwaan Randle El, the former college QB and the featured player in any gimmick plays the Steelers try. He's blazing fast. But he drops the ball more than he shoudl, and is somewhere between 2nd and 3rd receiver it seems.
Especially after the game Cedrick Wilson had last week. He caught 5 balls for 90 yards and a TD, and there were a few other balls thrown in his direction. During the regular season, he never caught more than 4 passes in game (and that was only once). Seems Roethlisberger is looking for him more, but maybe it was just that he was so wide open last week.
The final piece, and maybe the scariest, is rookie tight end Heath Miller. He had a pretty good year for a tight end, and has excellent hands and size. He's only had 3 games all year with 0 catches, pretty impressive for a rookie tight end in an offense that generally runs the ball first.
Willie Parker out of the backfield isn't a huge threat, although he does have some speed to gain yardage if he gets some space. Seattle was all over the WR screen last week, and if the Steelers like using screens, I don't expect them to do much with them.
Overall, I think the Steelers have a pretty solid, well-rounded group of receivers. Seattle won't be able to just focus on one receiver like they did last week. If Big Ben has time, he should be able to find an open receiver. As long as his throws are accurate. Really, the Steelers passing game will come down to how accurate Roethlisberger can be with the pressure of the Big Game and the Seattle pass rush.
Predicted stat lines:
Ward: 7 catches, 101 yards
Miller: 5 catches, 67 yards, 1 TD
Ranle El: 3 catches, 42 yards
Wilson: 3 catches, 29 yards
Parker: 2 catches, 14 yards
Seattle has a simlar approach, spreading the ball around to their reliable receivers. Yes, I said it - reliable. After leading the league in drops for 3 years in a row, they cut their total in half this year. A big reason is simply because it's a psychological thing that seems contagious. And Koren Dropinson, the biggest offender, is gone. Maybe he was a bit tipsy during most games and that's why he had so many drops. But the disease spread. Darrell Jackson was uncharacteristically dropping balls last year. Bobby Engram held onto it most of the year, but he dropped the most important pass of all, the one in the end zone against the Rams in the playoffs. Jerry Rice was brought in short term in hopes of helping the team shake the dropsies, but he started dropping balls too. It was a frickin nightmare.
This year... out is Koren, in comes Joe Jurevicius. The results have been amazing.
Darrell Jackson missed much of the season with a knee injury, but he's been great in the playoffs. When Alexander was knocked out against the Skins, Jackson was Hasselbeck's main target. My favorite play that game was a long pass to Jackson down the sidelines. Jackson was pretty much wide open, but there was a lot of air under the ball. Hard-hitting Redskins safety Sean Taylor (the same guy who was ejected the previous week for spitting in a player's face, and now faces several years in prison for waving a gun in the faces of several people) was closing in fast. Jackson caught the ball, just as Taylor unloaded on him. Jackson held onto the ball, and jumped right up. Taylor remained on the ground for several moments as he has hurt himself. Jackson got in his face and said something like, "I'm 200 pounds, baby. Bring it."
Bobby Engram missed several games with an injury as well. With the departure of Robinson, Engram was promoted to the #2 receiver role, something many people questioned whether he was ready for. Well, he was. He played great. He's a smart veteran who knows how to run routes and adjust to blitzes. Sure handed. Not blazing fast, but quick. He gets open.
And Joe Jurevicius. Another sure-handed veteran who knows how to run routes and get open. He stepped up big time for this team when both Jackson and Engram were out. Basically, he was asked to be the team's #1 receiver for a team for the first time in his career, and he stepped up. And here's the thing I noticed about Jurevicius this season - he probably has the nastiest stiff arm of any wide receiver in the league. He's had at least a dozen plays this season where he planted a stiff arm in the face of a defensive back and picked up an extra 5-20 yards. Oh, and in case you were wondering how big he is, since some announcers will in passing mention that he's a "big target" : 6'5", 230 pounds. For comparison, Troy Polamalu is 5'10", 212.
Tight end Jerramy Stevens. A first round pick in 2002, he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder his first two years because he wasn't starting. Last year, he started being used more, and accepted the role as #2 tight end (behind Itula Mili). As long as he could still contribute, he'd be happy. This year, he worked his ass off in training camp, and earned the starting job. And he's never looked back. With all of Seattle's weapons, he's often overlooked by the defense. I'm not real sure how a defense does not notice a 6'7", 265 pounder running routes, but they do. Exhibit A - his 17 yard touchdown catch last week against the Panthers. The dude is a frickin beast. You'll often hear that it's tough to cover a tight end with a safety, because of the size advantage of the tight end. This dude is so big that he's a size mismatch against most linebackers. For comparison, Joey Porter is 6'3", 250. That's 4 inches and 15 pounds Stevens has on him. Even beyond this game, look for Stevens to be a solid contributor on offense for years to come.
Predicted stat lines:
Engram: 6 catches, 87 yards, 1 TD
Jackson: 5 catches, 69 yards
Stevens: 4 catches, 41 yards, 1 TD
Jurevicius: 2 catches, 26 yards
Hackett: 1 catch, 24 yards
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