A New Year's present for Matrix
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A New Year's present for Matrix
From today's Washington Post:
By February, Everyone Will See How Super the Steelers Are
By Michael Wilbon
Monday, January 3, 2005; Page D09
The NFL playoffs don't begin until Saturday, but the league's best team is already known. It's the only team with a 15-1 record. It's the team that didn't mail it in the final two weeks despite having a nice cushion, injured players and desperate quality opponents on the schedule. It's the team with the best defense of any team in the playoffs. It's the team that can run the ball and control the clock, or strike quickly by throwing deep down the field to a trio of receivers. It's the Pittsburgh Steelers, silly.
As a rule, it's a bad idea to pick against the champs in any sport until they're knocked out. And New England, at 14-2, ain't exactly chopped liver. But, in order to repeat, the Patriots will probably have to win at Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game. The problem with that is that the Patriots lost one game of consequence this season . . . at Pittsburgh. And every indication as the regular season closed for business yesterday is that these Steelers are just a teensy-weensy bit better than these Patriots.
Any responsible conversation about the playoffs starts and ends with the AFC side of the bracket and deals with the NFC only on an as-needed basis. That's because the NFC is a disgrace. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth seeds in the NFC have to be the weakest the conference has ever trotted out. Minnesota, St. Louis and Seattle are stiffs by playoff standards. The Packers, even with Brett Favre, are ordinary. Yet it's not out of the question that any of the aforementioned could beat Atlanta and/or Philly and get to the Super Bowl, which truly would be sad for the NFL. Sad enough, two of the hottest and most entertaining teams over the last seven weeks, the Panthers and Bills, couldn't remain hot enough to win yesterday and make it all the way to the playoffs.
The Rams reached the playoffs as a wild card because Jets Coach Herman Edwards went for a two-point conversion way too early in the game and wound up playing to tie the game and force overtime instead of kicking a field goal to win late. Once again, Edwards's decision was wrong because when he made it, the Jets still needed to win the game. Had Edwards simply kicked the extra point, it would have put one underachieving team with a coach who should be fired (the Saints and Jim Haslett) in the playoffs instead of another underachieving team whose coach should be fired (the Rams and Mike Martz).
The Vikings' position in the playoffs should be vacated. After losing a playoff spot on the final play last season, Minnesota couldn't beat the going-nowhere Redskins on the final day. It's hard to tell which team is a more disappointing chump outfit, the Vikings or the Seahawks. The Vikings get the vote, though, because Randy Moss, with one play left and his teammates on the field playing for a spot in the playoffs, just walked off the field. Moss is a great player but one utterly without character as measured in football terms. Any team with him as its best player is doomed, and any coach who presides over such an outfit, as much as I like Mike Tice and respect his football I.Q., has to go.
Come Sunday on the frozen tundra, the Packers will beat the Vikings and advance to meet Atlanta. The Seahawks crumple at the very sight of the Rams, so St. Louis will advance to meet the Eagles. And I'm having a hard time figuring out how Philly will beat either Atlanta or Green Bay in the NFC championship game except through blind faith that the football gods won't do this to Philly for a fourth straight year.
Problem is, the Eagles needed to figure out how to play without Terrell Owens in these last two weeks and didn't do it because Coach Andy Reid understandably chose health over strategic concerns. What has resulted, however, is that the Eagles won't have played at peak form since Dec. 5, which will make it six weeks of messing around by the time Philly tees it up Jan. 15 or 16. It just seems so much to overcome, the loss of T.O. and six weeks off, which is why the Falcons and Packers are slobbering for a shot at Philly.
Michael Vick should get the best of Brett Favre at home, setting up Atlanta vs. Philly in the NFC championship game and the possibility of doom (again) in Philly.
San Diego is the least-known, least-feared team in the league, but will nonetheless beat the Jets in California. The Colts, playing at home, will beat Denver, setting up a rematch of last year's AFC title game: Colts at New England. The Patriots, only if Ty Law and Richard Seymour play, will win the rematch, too. But San Diego will ultimately give Pittsburgh a tougher game than the Patriots will give the Steelers. Chargers at Steelers should be the very best game of the playoffs, though not the one with the most sizzle (that will be Favre vs. Vick in Atlanta).
Five of the AFC's six playoff teams -- Steelers, Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Jets -- would be the favorite in the NFC. And the Chargers and Patriots will wish they had been in the other bracket. Sometimes, the best team is right there before your eyes. In the last two weeks, while the other top teams struggled with injuries or issues of playing time to prevent injuries, the Steelers beat the Ravens and Rams, a pair of desperate teams trying to make the playoffs. And the Steelers won both games.
They can run in cold weather if necessary behind Jerome Bettis or Duce Staley. They can have Ben Roethlisberger throw deep to Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress and Antwaan Randle El if they fall behind or want to pick on a weak secondary. And the defense, ranked No. 1 in the NFL, is built to punish Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or Donovan McNabb, if it comes to that. The Steelers have a team built the old-fashioned way, to defend, run and pass in the NFL playoffs, which, by February, will result in a march through the Chargers, Patriots and Eagles, and a return to glory for one of the NFL's storied franchises.
By February, Everyone Will See How Super the Steelers Are
By Michael Wilbon
Monday, January 3, 2005; Page D09
The NFL playoffs don't begin until Saturday, but the league's best team is already known. It's the only team with a 15-1 record. It's the team that didn't mail it in the final two weeks despite having a nice cushion, injured players and desperate quality opponents on the schedule. It's the team with the best defense of any team in the playoffs. It's the team that can run the ball and control the clock, or strike quickly by throwing deep down the field to a trio of receivers. It's the Pittsburgh Steelers, silly.
As a rule, it's a bad idea to pick against the champs in any sport until they're knocked out. And New England, at 14-2, ain't exactly chopped liver. But, in order to repeat, the Patriots will probably have to win at Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game. The problem with that is that the Patriots lost one game of consequence this season . . . at Pittsburgh. And every indication as the regular season closed for business yesterday is that these Steelers are just a teensy-weensy bit better than these Patriots.
Any responsible conversation about the playoffs starts and ends with the AFC side of the bracket and deals with the NFC only on an as-needed basis. That's because the NFC is a disgrace. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth seeds in the NFC have to be the weakest the conference has ever trotted out. Minnesota, St. Louis and Seattle are stiffs by playoff standards. The Packers, even with Brett Favre, are ordinary. Yet it's not out of the question that any of the aforementioned could beat Atlanta and/or Philly and get to the Super Bowl, which truly would be sad for the NFL. Sad enough, two of the hottest and most entertaining teams over the last seven weeks, the Panthers and Bills, couldn't remain hot enough to win yesterday and make it all the way to the playoffs.
The Rams reached the playoffs as a wild card because Jets Coach Herman Edwards went for a two-point conversion way too early in the game and wound up playing to tie the game and force overtime instead of kicking a field goal to win late. Once again, Edwards's decision was wrong because when he made it, the Jets still needed to win the game. Had Edwards simply kicked the extra point, it would have put one underachieving team with a coach who should be fired (the Saints and Jim Haslett) in the playoffs instead of another underachieving team whose coach should be fired (the Rams and Mike Martz).
The Vikings' position in the playoffs should be vacated. After losing a playoff spot on the final play last season, Minnesota couldn't beat the going-nowhere Redskins on the final day. It's hard to tell which team is a more disappointing chump outfit, the Vikings or the Seahawks. The Vikings get the vote, though, because Randy Moss, with one play left and his teammates on the field playing for a spot in the playoffs, just walked off the field. Moss is a great player but one utterly without character as measured in football terms. Any team with him as its best player is doomed, and any coach who presides over such an outfit, as much as I like Mike Tice and respect his football I.Q., has to go.
Come Sunday on the frozen tundra, the Packers will beat the Vikings and advance to meet Atlanta. The Seahawks crumple at the very sight of the Rams, so St. Louis will advance to meet the Eagles. And I'm having a hard time figuring out how Philly will beat either Atlanta or Green Bay in the NFC championship game except through blind faith that the football gods won't do this to Philly for a fourth straight year.
Problem is, the Eagles needed to figure out how to play without Terrell Owens in these last two weeks and didn't do it because Coach Andy Reid understandably chose health over strategic concerns. What has resulted, however, is that the Eagles won't have played at peak form since Dec. 5, which will make it six weeks of messing around by the time Philly tees it up Jan. 15 or 16. It just seems so much to overcome, the loss of T.O. and six weeks off, which is why the Falcons and Packers are slobbering for a shot at Philly.
Michael Vick should get the best of Brett Favre at home, setting up Atlanta vs. Philly in the NFC championship game and the possibility of doom (again) in Philly.
San Diego is the least-known, least-feared team in the league, but will nonetheless beat the Jets in California. The Colts, playing at home, will beat Denver, setting up a rematch of last year's AFC title game: Colts at New England. The Patriots, only if Ty Law and Richard Seymour play, will win the rematch, too. But San Diego will ultimately give Pittsburgh a tougher game than the Patriots will give the Steelers. Chargers at Steelers should be the very best game of the playoffs, though not the one with the most sizzle (that will be Favre vs. Vick in Atlanta).
Five of the AFC's six playoff teams -- Steelers, Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Jets -- would be the favorite in the NFC. And the Chargers and Patriots will wish they had been in the other bracket. Sometimes, the best team is right there before your eyes. In the last two weeks, while the other top teams struggled with injuries or issues of playing time to prevent injuries, the Steelers beat the Ravens and Rams, a pair of desperate teams trying to make the playoffs. And the Steelers won both games.
They can run in cold weather if necessary behind Jerome Bettis or Duce Staley. They can have Ben Roethlisberger throw deep to Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress and Antwaan Randle El if they fall behind or want to pick on a weak secondary. And the defense, ranked No. 1 in the NFL, is built to punish Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or Donovan McNabb, if it comes to that. The Steelers have a team built the old-fashioned way, to defend, run and pass in the NFL playoffs, which, by February, will result in a march through the Chargers, Patriots and Eagles, and a return to glory for one of the NFL's storied franchises.
Deb, it's not too late - you can still join us!
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