Posted on 01/16/2005 2:23:05 AM PST by airborne
Incorrect. They let the Vikes control the ball for 11 minutes out of 1 quarter, controlling the ball for 11 minutes in a quarter is a formula for success. Only an intense lack of effort on the part of the Vikes allowed them to still lose the game. The score was 27-7 because the Eagles finally put together a drive. It was 21-7 for the entire 3rd quarter, when the Vikings stopped themselves from scoring to tighten things up. The Eagles did nothing in the second half, they did what they had to in the first half but in the second half the Eagles sucked and should have lost, had the NFC managed to actually set them up with an opponent rather than 53 color coordinated attendees they would have lost. Luckily for the Eagles they still might not get an opponent this week against the Falcons, depends on which version of the team shows up.
Incorrect again. Outside of 4 bad plays the Steelers looked damn good. They controlled the clock, controlled the line of scrimage, moved the ball at will, and only allowed the Jets offense 3 points. 4 bad plays almost cost the Steelers the game because the AFC provided them with an opponent, had the Eagles faced the Jets they would have been cremated.
The Falcons are a very streaky team. When they're good they're very good, but when they're not good they're horrid. If the Eagles let the Falcons control the ball in the 3rd quarter (or any quarter for that matter, but I've always considered the 3rd the most important, that's when teams decide if they're going to defend their lead or choke, the Eagles tried really hard to choke Sunday, good thing Moss knows the Heimlich) the Falcons WILL score on those possessions and beat the Eagles. When a 6 year veteran does something dumb in the playoffs that's rust. He should have known better, a two minute drill is the only time when QBs really get to control a game anymore, wen he got to control the game he screwed the pooch, either he was rusty or he stinks those are the only choices.
On the first possession Donovan went 1 for 3, and both those incompletes were obviously caused by terrible throws. He clocked in pretty well on the second possession and kept it together until their two minute drive when he made a pathetic rookie mistake that kept the team from getting a 3 score lead and icing the game. That's a bad first possession in the first, a bad last possession in the first, and 3 bad possessions out of 5 in the second. Not a rust free performance, and not a performance that is capable of beating the Falcons, or any AFC playoff team.
Yeah Westbrook looked great against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. Kudos to him for not letting a bad defense slow him down. Things are going to be tougher against Atlanta.
I think they will play better, I'm just not convinced they'll play better enough. They're really going to have to bring it up a notch, the Falcons are (when the good version shows up) a much better team than the Vikes, and they don't have any players that are going to spend the week distracting the team damaging focus and morale.
Even passing teams can control the clock, the Pats have been a passing team through 2 Superbowl wins, but they used high percentage short passes to make sure they got completions and ate clock, until picking up Dillon this year. Problem is you can't control the clock when you run 3 plays with 2 incompletions before you punt, then 4 plays with a sack and an incompletion before you punt, then 1 play with a fumble. Those kind of possessions allow good teams to beat you, the Eagles won because they didn't face a good team. I've been watching football of many types for a long time, time of possession is the single most important stat in football, even West Coast Offense teams know that you need to control the clock and keep the other teams offense off the field. Not even the best offensive coordinators in the history of the game have figured out a way for their offense to score points from the sideline, this is why the saying is "the best defense is a good offense", because a good offense does provide the best possible defense: not facing the other offense.
As I said, except for 4 bad plays the Steelers played very well, especially in the second half where they average 4.5 yards on 23 runs, ate the clock, wore down the Jets defense, overcame their bad plays to force OT, and drove through an exhausted defense for the game winning drive.
The bottom line is the Eagles played a bad game against a terrible team and had the results you should have against terrible teams. The bottom line is they probably won't have the luxury of facing another terrible team in the playoffs and if they play another bad game they will have the results you should have when you play poorly. That's the bottom line, if they're second half performance against the Falcons resembles their second half performance against the Vikes in any way they will lose their 3rd straight home NFC championship. And if that locker room is happy about their performance their doomed, there had better be a lot of yelling in the tape review sessions today because there's a lot of stuff in those tapes to be ashamed of.
No they didn't get lucky. Herm Edwards did a bad job of coaching in the final minutes of regulation and lost the game because of it. That's not luck, that's bad coaching. Heinz Field is hell on earth for FG kickers, especially going to the semi-open side, and given the events in San Diego Edwards should have known better, he didn't, he lost. That's again what is supposed to happen, bad coaching decisions cost teams playoff games.
Did mcNabb throw a bunch of crappy passes that clanked on the ground instead of going to wide open receivers? Yes. That's rust.
This is playoff football, it's supposed to be over analyzed, there's no reason for me to worry about next week, I don't work for the Steelers and they haven't asked for my gameplan input. The Pats always look good, they have the best coach in the NFL, one of the best coaches in the history of the NFL. THere's only one coach in the NFL today that can outcoach Bill Belichick in the regular season, that's Bill Belichick in the post season. The face off next week in the AFC is two strong ball control teams, one with vastly superior coaching and a highly depleted secondary, the other with a multifaceted run game and the best defense in the league. I'm picking the Steelers too, but purely out of sentiment, when I use exclussive my football knowledge I consider the game unpickable with the Pats having a slight edge but not enough to count on (I think the Steelers need 1 break, good bounce, bad call, somebody tripping on the sod, to win, that's not much of an edge for the Pats but it is an edge). The Steelers need to take 4 mistakes out of their game from last week to take this, the Eagles on the other hand need to take 20 bad minutes out of their game last week to win; which team is more setup for success?
The last 2 teams in each conference are about even with each other. The NFC isn't even remotely even with the AFC. Neither the Falcons nor the Eagles have a prayer against either the Steelers or the Jets. This year is a wonderful argument for ending the conference system and just picking the top 12 teams for the playoffs.
I just have to ask, you're the same guy (I assume you're a guy, if not...sorry) who last week was trying real hard to convince me that the Rams could beat the Steelers right? But now neither the Falcons or Eagles have a prayer? That makes sense. Did you used to work in the Clinton White House before you saw the light?
I'm a Pats fan first -- but a football fan beneath it all -- and I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS GAME! Whoever wins, they'll be paying for the victory with PAIN!
Now the Bus doesn't have a very good record vs the Pats (2TD's overall and averaging ~50 yds a game) but Staley is a different animal altogether.
One more thing Steeler fan should take into account - there's no way that we'll be giving you 3 turnovers in the first half - the Halloween game came a mere 4 days after the Red Sox W.S. victory, and ALL OF NEW ENGLAND was hung over from one helluva party!
And the Rams could if coached properly. I suppose there's a set of random star alignments that could allow the Eagles and Falcons to beat the Steelers, and it's probably less rarified than the alignment necessary for the Rams to win, but we all know it's not going to happen. If the best 4 teams in the NFL were playing for the right to play in the Superbowl it would probably be Steelers-Pats-Jets-Colts, but I might swap out the Colts with the Chargers or the Jags. I don't think there is an NFC team that deserves to be thought of as a top 4 in the league. The top teams in the NFC are, legitimately, the Eagles and Falcons. The Eagles have no depth and needed to avoid 1/8 of the season for fear of injury (a frankly unforgivable flaw since they're 10 mil under the cap), and the Falcons are only as good as their QB with no stand out playmakers able to step up when Vick is throwing for crap and the defense keeps him from scrambling; those flaws keep them from claiming a top status in the league.
It should be a slugfest of comicbook proportions. Bus might do better against the Pats than usual, he's pretty fresh and the offensive line is just having too much fun. Of course we've still got Staley, and there's more behind them.
One of the more interesting things about this game is desire. One of the things the Pats did last year and this year was bring in a wiley veteran with no ring who really wanted to seal the deal on his career. Harrison really inspired the Pats last year and Dillon has done the same thing this year (wasn't it great to see Dillon at the end of the game against the Colts, just looking around the stadium soaking in the joy of playing in the playoffs and having the support of rabid fans, moments like that are what draws me to sports). Well Bus and Staley are in the same situation, and I think coming into the AFC Championship to get to the Superbowl (someplace Staley has never been and Bus has been but lost) is going to really inspire the team, it probably didn't help the team much getting to this game (since both have vied for the conference championship before) but I think it's going to help Sunday.
One thing is for sure, the best team in the NFL will win in Pittsburgh Sunday.
The Pats make a lot of teams look bad, that's what happens when you have the best coach in the league. The Chargers weren't overrated, they were under coached, Shottenheimer has a long tradition of not increasing his level of preperation in the playoffs, which has a long tradition of hurting him in the playoffs. The Jets are a good team, they're weak at QB but not that weak (Chad has a hard time with the long ball, and is old, but can make good decisions), ranked 5th in the league in scoring defense, and had the league's top rusher; they're problem is they play in the same division as the best coached team in the league which pretty solidly puts 2 in the L column right at the beginning of the season.
The Eagles hardly overcame any injuries. You want to see overcoming injuries look at the Pats, THAT is overcoming injuries. Special teams has nothing to do with depth, coaches that treat special teams as a storage place for other positions wind up with crappy special teams and don't make the playoffs, Reid's not that dumb. But the facts speak for themselves, they lost 50% of their offense with 1 injury, and played scared in the last two weeks of the season, meanwhile they've got 10 million dollars of cap room that should have been used to get a second good receiver, keep Staley so the RB situation wouldn't be so thin, and get Kearse some backup on the defensive side. They didn't spend it, and they feared injury all year because of it.
Yes, McNabb is a better QB than Ben, but you're wrong in the second half. If the Steelers wind up in a situation where Ben has to step up they will have already lost, they're a running team and if they have to lean on the QB they're not playing their game. I doubt any performance Sunay is going to make Ben stop being 6-4 241, which is why he's Big Ben. Oh and McNabb's rookie season was crap compared to Ben's so don't count on Donovan being the better QB down the stretch.
Lucky win
No argument from me.
The defense won it. Twice, late, the Jets could not get close enough to make the field goal.
The sencond field goal had plenty of distance, the guy pulled it. He'd probably make 9 out of ten....that's unlucky or lucky depending on who you supported.
Same thin in the game the previous week with that rookie kicker, he choked, the opposing team got lucky.
If he had been closer, he would not have tried to over-kick it (and thus hook it), as he admitted doing. The Jets offense just couldn't get him close enough.
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