On Purpose and T-Shirts

What more can be said about Sunday? Everything’s pretty much been said. The cagey guys wind up picking the favorites, either Green Bay or the Steelers, and maybe half of the remainder (the non-cagey ones) find some reason to bet on the other two, the Bears and Jets.

Current Vegas Lines for both are 3 ½ points, interesting if only because the Bears are home dogs. That means Vegas thinks the Pack is actually a TD better than the Bears. But they’ll play harder and smarter because they’re home. So they won’t lose by the full touchdown but they’ll still manage to just lose.

Vegas figures the Jets and Steelers are dead even, but since the Steelers get turned on by terrible towels and what-not, they figure the Steelers will be able to eke one out with a field goal (and more) to spare.

Talk about oversimplifying! All I know is that there’re about 90 players sitting home and an equal number recovering from a plane ride to either Chicago or Pittsburgh. (Anybody who’s driven to Pittsburgh knows it’s a 7-hour ride). And they’re all thinking individually about what they’re going to do in this game.

The better players will be thinking about the game. Guys like Polamalu, for one example, will be thinking about the talent on the other side, what they’re likely to run, and what he can do to stop it.

Polamalu’s probably visualizing doing it, whatever it might be. For him, a fumble recovery, an interception, a big run stuff on a crucial third and one….it’s all in a day’s work. He’ll want to look fearsome in his uniform and maybe even wonder how his hair will fall over his shoulder pads.

As for the run-of-the-mill players, some of them will be thinking of the same kinds of things Polamalu thinks about. They’ll be the difference-makers in a game such as the AFC Championship Game. The others, the players thinking about their next back flip, for example, they’ll be the ones making the big mistake. At best they’ll be invisible.

Oh, there are always one or two who are so super-talented that it really doesn’t matter what they think about. They’ll somehow manage on athletic ability alone, that plus a huge concern for their future value as players.

And that might be the biggest motivator of them all. The Jets have several players in the same boat too, and they’ve all been pretty great….Holmes, Edwards and Taylor to just name a few.

I really don’t imagine that any players worry about the team’s legacy. If they did though, they’d know the Jets are tied with the Browns for the worst record in AFC Championship Games at 0-3. They’d know that the Jets are tied with the Chiefs for longest period of futility in this game, currently 41 years. They’d know the Steelers have the most appearances in this game and the most wins.

That and a couple of bucks will get them on the subway.

I don’t think any of that history would motivate me, whether I were on the good Steeler end or the horrible Jets end. Each team’s roster changes a million times over the years and each player, if he’s smart, will just worry about his particular team on this particular day, and the fellow lining up across from him.

It hasn’t mattered so far that even some of the Jets core players really don’t have contracts extending beyond this year. For example, Nick Mangold, David Harris and D’Brickashaw Ferguson could conceivably be gone next year.

But it hasn’t affected those players in a bad way. That much is for sure. Mangold has been eating people up, Harris made that key interception of Brady and D’Brickashaw just keeps on D’Stroying some pretty big and pretty fast people.

No matter what happens this Sunday, Jets fans shouldn’t count on any repeat performances. This Jets team becomes pretty moribund without LaDainian, D’Brickashaw, Mangold, Santonio, Braylon, Jason Taylor and David Harris.

Just don’t buy the tee-shirt(s). Except for Sanchez, Shonn Greene maybe, Cotchery (and I only mention him for that magnificent run and hop for about 65 total yards after it looked as if the Patriots were coming back) and perhaps a guy like Shaun Ellis, who also seemed to be growing out of Brady’s hip this past Sunday, there won’t be many tees that hold their present value.

Does any of this stuff matter? I don’t know but it might even be “advantage Jets”. If there has ever been a team assembled to win one particular game, it is this group.

I’d think that situation lends itself toward narrowing everyone’s focus, all these great players on loan, LaDainian Tomlinson, Jason Taylor, Santonio Holmes, Antonio Cromartie, Braylon Edwards…..it’d sure be a shame to squander their hopes for making it to a Super Bowl.

The Jets couldn’t cover last year, they picked up Cromartie; their receivers didn’t get open, they got Edwards and Holmes; they didn’t make enough big plays, enter Jason Taylor; and they had trouble scoring touchdowns, enter LaDainian, a regular scoring machine. Just ask any fantasy player.

Some of these Jets may have had enough money and just wanted a shot at a ring. Some of them screwed up in other venues and needed a chance to re-establish their value. They don’t necessarily see any future dollars coming in, not unless they can win just one more game.

Just one more game will get them into view on an even larger stage, the Super Bowl in Big D. Can you imagine? I’m quite sure these Jets do.

This game, unlike the Colts and Patriots victories, won’t be decided by any particularly brainy game plan. Both these coaches are too smart and too experienced to blow the game on strategy alone. If the plan isn’t working, they’re experienced enough to just change it. And quickly.

No, this game will hinge on motivation and purpose. And these Jets’ have had theirs clearly defined….for quite some time.

Who Wants It More.?

I’m still trying to come down off my high after that Jets win over the Patriots. I’m not even letting Francesa get me down. I did finally turn him off though. That show desperately needs Chris Russo back. At the very least, they should stop screening the callers who disagree with him. It’s really a one-sided program.

But what a feeling of elation for New Yorkers and Jets fans! To beat Manning and then Brady in successive weeks is an incredible high, but for Mark Sanchez to throw 3 touchdown passes against Bill Belichick and his vaunted Pats defense takes it up one more notch.

My chief concern, though, now is that the Jets will experience a natural letdown after not just one but two great upsets over the best quarterbacks in the game. I myself am even feeling a letdown. Why shouldn’t the Jets?

And it’s not only that. Playing the Steelers is like playing themselves. The coaches are alike, the philosophies are alike and the players are even somewhat alike in their personalities. Where’s the hate?

I was able to conceive how the Jets could beat each of those two teams, the Colts and the Patriots. I think their different styles of play made it an easy matter to distinguish the Jets strengths versus their opponents’ and formulate a plan based on playing to the Jets strengths, even if some of those strong points weren’t even so evident at the time, such as the Jets potential dominance in the passing game.

The Steelers are a totally different animal from both the Colts and Pats. Manning and Brady threw from the pocket, Roethlisberger throws well on the run. The Colts and Pats featured offenses based on precision and timing in the passing game. Messing up that timing was a key ingredient in the Jets wins.

The Steelers offense is based on running the ball. The passing game clicks mostly off Roethlisberger scrambles while his receivers just try to find a hole to sit in. Manning and Brady go down when hit. Roethlisberger does not.

My initial take on this game is for the Jets to think of Big Ben as a kind of monstrous Michael Vick. He’s not as shifty as Vick, almost no one is, but he’s almost as dangerous when he’s running around, not because he’ll run with the ball but because he’ll kill you with his arm, sometimes while being dragged down to the ground.

The key to winning this AFC Championship will then be to contain Roethlisberger, much as the Giants contained Vick for 52 minutes before they totally lost their composure. The Jets were terrific at making Manning and Brady move out of the pocket. I wonder if they’ll be quite as adept at containment.

The Steelers like to run the ball. And they always stop the run. Those are two things they are noted for. That differs hugely from what the Colts and Pats brought to the table. Once again the Jets may have to take advantage of their potentially strong passing game in order to move the ball down the field.

Although the Jets did beat the Steelers in Week 15, 22-17, those Steelers were playing without two starters on their defense, defensive end Aaron Smith and the best safety in either league, Troy Polamalu. Another key ingredient missing from that game was Heath Miller, their tight end and one of Roethlisberger’s favorite targets. That’s a big difference.

Another huge factor in that Week 15 game was Brad Smith’s opening kickoff return for a touchdown. The Jets were ahead 7-0 after 12 seconds. That’s a huge boost, one that the Jets can’t really expect to duplicate in this upcoming game. And let’s not forget a huge tackle in the end zone by Jason Taylor that not only put two more on the scoreboard for the Jets but gave them the ball as well.

Not that I’m being pessimistic but this game could definitely be the toughest playoff game yet. This Steelers team is made for the playoffs, made for cold weather, made to win games in December and January. They had some bad luck in that Week 15 game.

The current line on this game says the Jets are 3 ½ point underdogs, a spread that simply reflects the home field edge. These teams are pretty much dead even. The Jets have a superior offensive line and receivers. The Steelers have the edge defensively.

The Steelers running back, Rashard Mendenhall, rushed for 100 yards in just 17 carries in that Week 15 game. Both Jets running backs, LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene, did pretty well for themselves too, gaining about 89 yards combined, but that was on 23 attempts. Based on those stats, I’d expect to see a bit more of Mendenhall in this game. Whether the Jets stick with the running game remains to be seen.

Stats are great, I love them, but they’re probably more meaningful over a full season than in one isolated game, especially a playoff game that will determine who goes to Dallas for the Super Bowl. This game will probably be decided by individuals making plays in big situations, not by which running back or quarterback garners more yards.

The playmakers in that Week 15 game were obviously Brad Smith early and then Jason Taylor late. They were the big reasons the Jets carried the day. One could also point to the coverage by Revis and the rest of the Jets secondary on those two final shots Roethlisberger had at the end zone.

There’s no better playmaker than Polamalu, of course, and he’ll be back for this one. The Steelers have no lack of playmakers, including James Harrison, their deadly outside linebacker, and their very speedy wide receiver, Mike Wallace, who was pretty much shut entirely down in that Week 15 game, catching just one pass for 8 yards.

The Jets have Santonio Holmes, Darrelle Revis, Jason Taylor…..

It’ll come down to who wants it more.

Toe-Tappin' to Glory (Days)

“After all, they are the Steelers”. That’s how I ended my Super Bowl prediction column last Friday. I’d maintained that the Cardinals were a bit deficient on character as a team, that they’d quit on a few games during the season, and despite their huge talents, they’d lose in the end.

That’s the way it ended up, of course, but NOT for lack of character. The Cards effort was even throughout, and at a very high level. I’m a little ashamed to have suggested otherwise. That they lost a tough one is bad enough. They made a hell of a game of it.

The game was decided on two plays really; the interception return for 100 yards and a touchdown by James Harrison was a 14-point swing, and the Cards showed a lot of heart to come back from that at all.

In fact, it seemed to me that Harrison should have been a stronger candidate for MVP himself. He also appeared to come up with a Warner fumble recovery in the third quarter, but it was later ruled an incomplete pass. But how can you argue with the selection of Santonio Holmes and those 9 big receptions for 131 yards, including the game-winner?

The second big play was the Holmes toe-tapper, a beautifully-thrown Big Ben TD to Holmes in the corner of the endzone with just 35 ticks on the clock, with Santonio deftly tapping those feet down in bounds while fully extending to make the catch.

But Warner was awesome. Even after that last Holmes back-breaking touchdown, here came Warner again, bravely leading his charges downfield in the face of the black and gold rush. It reminded me of last year’s Giants victory over the Pats, when all Giants fans hearts beat a little faster when the ball was back in Brady’s hands, even with just 20 seconds left.

Kurt brought his team back from 10-0 and, against any other team, would have had a 14-10 lead at the half. But the Steelers were too smart, dropping their best pass rusher Harrison into coverage, thus enabling him to pick off the Warner short toss intended for Boldin. Harrison made like Earl Campbell on the return, behind a cadre of black and gold, and voila! The score became 17-7 Steelers instead.

Pittsburgh extended their lead to 20-7 after the third quarter and it looked as if they could coast the rest of the way and still win. But Kurt would have none of that. The fourth quarter was all Arizona as Warner took advantage of the Steelers two deep safeties to complete pass after pass downfield, completing eight passes in a row to five different receivers for 87 yards and a touchdown to bring the Cards within six.

The Cards defense stiffened and on Warner’s next opportunity, he drove the Cards downfield again but a Cards penalty helped stall the drive at the Pitt 36. The subsequent punt put the Steelers on their own 1-yard line. And, after a Steelers holding penalty in the end zone for a safety, the Cards were really in business.

At the 2:53 mark, Warner threw an incompletion, but then threw a beautifully-timed pass to Fitzgerald over the middle, who proceeded to race downfield, splitting those two deep safeties easily for still another touchdown and, incredibly, the Cards were up by 3 points.

That set the stage for Big Ben’s heroics. Starting from his own 12-yard line because of still another Pittsburgh holding penalty, Roethlisberger found Holmes time after time for big yardage, 14, then 13, then 40 and 6 on his perfect strike to Santonio in the corner with just 35 seconds on the clock.

If Warner was awesome, and he was, I don’t know what to call Roethlisberger. Does he make any throws from the pocket? Isn’t anyone ever open on his first look down the field? It seemed as if every big throw came only after a lot of running and ducking and dodging and pumping.

But Big Ben had been doing it all night; he looked like the greased chicken from “Rocky” only much much bigger. Not only did he use the scramble but he also used the pump fake more than a few times, especially before that 40-yard strike to Holmes to get to the six-yard line.

He did get time on that last throw, though, just standing tall in the pocket and throwing a dart to the corner of the end zone behind three Cards secondary men for the game-winner, as the handful of Cards fans present spent the rest of the evening trying to peer through yellow towels.

It was a great Super Bowl though, one of the best ever…..maybe not on a par with the Giants victory over the Pats last year for sheer suspense, but it had more big plays for sure, and, dare I say it, arguably better players.

For the Steelers, there was Big Ben and Hines Ward, Holmes and Willie Parker and for the defense, Harrison and Polamalu, Farrior and Woodley. The Cards trotted out Warner and Fitzgerald, Boldin and Edgerrin James, and on defense some newer stars such as Dockett and Wilson, Rolle and Rodgers-Cromartie.

It had better announcers too, John Madden and Al Michaels easily surpasing Joe Buck and Troy Aikman and, oh yeah, better music too, although the Boss may have lost his voice somewhere along the way. The pre-game was better than last year’s too, with Costas and Chris Collinsworth, Mike Holmgren and Tony Dungy.

The Boss made Tom Petty look a little tame, and, come to think of it, did a lot of scrambling and arm pumping himself. Bruce exhorted the audience through “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”, then “Born to Run” with the big man Clarence and his sax, then “Workin’ On A Dream” before segue-ing nicely into “Glory Days” with Stevie Van Zandt.

Yeah, the Boss was great, but his toe-tappin’ had nothin’ on Santonio’s. We’ll be seeing those feet for another twenty years or so.

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