Friday Walkthrough, Super Bowl

I began this season talking trash about the Pittsburgh Steelers... nearing this season's end, I won't make the same mistake.

Minutes before week one’s Sunday kickoff, I sat in a bar with a Steelers fan, the Texans getting set in Pittsburgh to undertake another year of half victories and predictable defeats. At the time, I firmly believed Houston's twin towers, Andre Johnson and Mario Williams, would take it to a Pittsburgh team weakened at cornerback and along the offensive line.

I leaned over to the Steelers fan just before kick off and boasted something like, “You may win this game, but the Texans are going to knock Big Ben on his ass.”

Predictably, rightly, my boast fell completely flat. I only lucked out that the Steelers fan was in fact a nice person and declined to rub my brag in my face… even though I deserved it.

The Steelers continued to do what they do, rise to the occasion. The defense flummoxed Matt Schaub, stymied the ground game, and allowed Andre Johnson to rack up numbers without altering the course of the game. The offense churned up yards and did practically nothing but score at will until the game was out of hand.

While a Cardinals victory Sunday would be thrilling, almost necessarily so due to the considerable obstacles they face, a Pittsburgh win is the substance of what football should be. Not football how it’s drawn up on chalkboard. But football free of gimmicky schemes, predicated on solid truths like outhitting the opponent.

Back in summer, I outlined four big ideas what we the fans connect to in the sport beyond overblown storylines, storylines that can be manufactured for any purpose. What in the game inherently attracts our passion and loyalty. I called it the Practice Theory.

As a final walkthrough before the season’s biggest game, let’s revisit the four points of the Practice Theory and where can we can expect to see these four aspects in the game.

The four main parts of the Practice Theory are pure chaos, otherworldly talent, freedom from expectations, and the hopeless cause that soldiers on. With that, here's where the various points of the Practice Theory could play out on Sunday.

#1 Chaos: Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark, Steelers safeties.

The entire Steelers defense is predicated on creating chaos even if their blitzes and shifts are carefully calculated. But the backcourt of Pittsburgh is given the most freedom to attack the field from several points. While Polamalu gets the accolades for his rangy play and bruising acrobatics, Clark patrols the deep, handing out second thoughts to receivers and backs who venture into his territory.

The two safeties will be tasked with punishing the Cardinals receiving corps, thereby, sending the Arizona offense into a tailspin. While it’s seems unlikely Polamalu, Clark, and the Pittsburgh corners can stop Larry Fitzgerald, they might make his contributions irrelevant if they knock out all the other horses in the race. Either way, all the carefully laid gameplans can go to hell in a hurry if Polamalu and Clark are on their game.

#2 Tecmo Talent: Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals receiver.

Do I have to explain this one? We’ve all watched the playoffs. We all knew Larry was good before the playoffs. But rare is the player who owns the spotlight while making it all look so easy. Peyton Manning might be the best quarterback of his generation, but the Colts Super Bowl run was gritty, awkward, and downright ugly. Larry’s playoffs have been all grace and transcendence. And expect nothing to stop that… only perhaps to slow it down.

#3 The Drop: Steelers offensive line.

No one expects much from the Pittsburgh o-line. They’ve struggled all year in pass protection, they’ve been inconsistent drive blocking. But they acquitted themselves well against the physical Ravens. And the surging Arizona defense is getting a lot of notice for their improved attacking play.

If any unit has the Drop, the freedom from expectations, it’s the Steelers o-line. It’s not that they will stop Darnell Dockett, Karlos Dansby, Chike Okeafor, et al. It’s that no expects them to. If anything could put distance between these two teams, it’s the play along the Steelers’ front.

#4 Lost Cause: Edgerrin James and the Cardinals ground game.

James is running better in these playoffs. And back-up Tim Hightower has done well shifted back to the complimentary role. But the notion that the run game has undergone a resurgence (perhaps just “surgence”?) is patently false. They face the best run defense in the league, one too disciplined to allow much in the way of cutback lanes.

But if the Cardinals are to have any chance at victory, they’ll need the running game to live up to its recent reputation. Edge was halfway out the door earlier this season. Now, he’ll need to recall himself from five years ago to give his team a shot. Edge missed out on the Colts Super Bowl run. This will likely be his last best shot. Unlikely, however, is his success against that fearsome Steelers front.

Ante Up

The coming Super Bowl isn’t short on storylines.

(Storylines real or manufactured, will a Super Bowl ever be?)

We could talk Ken Whisenhunt versus his old team. We could talk the Cardinals offense versus the Steelers defense. We could talk Rooneys versus Bidwells, football royalty versus perennial paupers.

We could talk Kurt Warner versus life. Ben Roethlisberger versus pavement. Larry Fitzgerald versus expectations. Anquan Boldin versus Todd Haley. Troy Polamalu’s ferocious hits versus Ryan Clark’s ferocious hits.

Essentially, the major storylines – and the game itself – boil down to a tension between the familiar and the unknown.

Even in the supposed familiar there are considerable unknowns. Take Whisenhunt the former Steelers offensive coordinator running his offense versus Dick LeBeau, the defensive coordinator he coached against in practice every day for years. The Pittsburgh Whisenhunt offense was a run-first, three yards and a cloud of dust emobdiment of smashmouth offense. The best players on those Pittsburgh offenses were interior linemen and crackback blocking receivers.

LeBeau’s defenses haven’t changed much during his time in Pittsburgh. The brilliantly executed zone blitz scheme still relies on penetrating linemen, freakish linebackers, and turf churning safeties. The Steelers have always plugged in new backers into their scheme and netted the same results.

Whisenhunt at the Cardinals, though, has an offense with a similar set of plays, but an entirely different ethos. Arizona still sets up the trick play like Pittsburgh did under Whisenhunt, like a magician sets up his audience.

But the Cardinals wisely rely on their best players, receivers Fitzgerald and Boldin and quarterback Warner, to attack the field vertically, to put a defense on its heels early, then scale the game down with delays and draws, slants and flares.

Despite the familiarity of LeBeau and Whisenhunt with each other, there’s many departures, and even a clash of opposing styles… the only substantive similarity between the two? They both attack and attack hard.

A tendency when forecasting is to match up strengths against weaknesses. The Pittsburgh’s shaky pass protection versus the surging Arizona defensive front, for instance.

But in victory often the much derided weakness of a team steps up, even if its to mere competence. That in turn allows a team’s strengths to overwhelm its opponents.

Take the Cardinals running game throughout these playoffs. Clearly, the weak link in the explosive offense, the Arizona running game has posted solid numbers in this playoff run. Some have called it a revival. While I think that’s an exaggeration – a majority of yards coming off draw and delays rather than smashmouth dives and counters – the ground game has given just enough to balance with the aerial attack. Essentially allowing a point of strength to overwhelm opponents.

The playoffs are not about weaknesses against strengths, its about imposing strengths, its about a team playing its game and forcing the opponent to react.

So where do these two teams’ games interact? Where will strength collide against strength?

Warner versus the zone blitz pass rush. Can the Steelers confuse the veteran quarterback and force him to one of his occassional fumble fests? Or will Warner zip passes past the heads of James Harrison and Lamar Woodley on the way to touchdown after touchdown? I can imagine Polamalu will key Boldin on the underneath routes and Clark will key Fitzgerald down field, still it will be all for not if the pass rush doesn’t fluster Warner.

The physical Cardinals secondary versus the physical Steelers receivers. Essentially safeties Adrian Wilson and Antrel Rolle will try to set an aggressive tone that shouldn’t rattle a tough Pittsburgh receiving corps led by Hines Ward and tight end Heath Miller. Ward might be banged up, but they’ll use him in decoy and let him set some blocks to keep the Cardinals alert. I expect a lot of penalties in the secondary when the Steelers are on offense. But I’m guessing either coach will take the penalties if their squad is the one to outhit the other and own the second level and deep field.

Ben Roethlisberger on the scramble versus the Arizona linebackers. Roethlisberger will stumble and rumble until the play downfield opens up as he desires. The Cardinals linebackers have finally – finally! – played to potential in these playoffs, rattling Matt Ryan, Jack Delhomme, and Donovan McNabb. It’s as simple as this, if the linebackers can sack Roethlisberger on their blitzes or take him down while playing contain, they kill the only dangerous dimension of the Pittsburgh offense. Honestly, that’s much easier said than done.

These are the things we know, or think we know. But the unknowns, well, those are the reasons why we watch.

It's Not Easy Being Blue

Perhaps odd because I truly look forward to the Arizona-Pittsburgh match-up in the coming Super Bowl, I can’t help but ruminate on what might have been.

One year after New York won it all with their young quarterback finally maturing into the signal caller they hoped, we nearly witnessed the two veteran quarterback castoffs who preceded Eli Manning on the Giants roster face each in this Super Bowl.

I’m of course talking Kurt Warner and Kerry Collins, whose one-and-done performance shouldn’t overshadow an impressive season.

Both quarterbacks were considered washed up a long time ago. Both compiled impressive numbers in the seasons around the dawn of this decade. Both bounced back on teams that played to their strengths: Warner’s deep downfield accuracy, Collins’s decision making and play action.

The names of both Warner and Collins were floated in MVP contention on the season, Warner perhaps deservedly so (once again, giving argument to delay the trophy’s awarding long enough to include postseason performance) Collins perhaps less so.

I wonder what this says about the Giants offense.

The Counselor is a big proponent of New York’s ball control style. An offense that compliments the defense, takes aim at the clock as much as the endzone.

When it works, it’s ruthless, it’s efficient.

But as the Giants fell apart toward the season’s end, the final collapse against the upstart Eagles, and as I consider the fates of these two castoff quarterbacks who found success in different offenses, I wonder if New York’s offense is simply incredibly difficult to run consistently with ruthless efficiency.

Collins was set loose by Tom Coughlin shortly after taking the job, deemed unfit to run his offense. Warner performed tepidly enough in his 10 games to rush Manning, then a rookie, into the starting line up to gain valuable experience (read: giving up on the season at hand).

Concerning the late season struggles of the Giants' offense, a lot of factors are in the mix, no doubt. The loss of Plaxico Burress finally ended New York’s streak of plug-and-play for assumed key cogs in their starting line-up. What started with Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora ended with Plax.

Without an elite receiver, Manning couldn’t divert focus from the ground game in key late regular season match-ups against NFC East opponents Philly and Dallas. And while the Giants ran fairly well against the same Philly squad in the playoffs, New York couldn’t gain the endzone lacking a true receiving scoring threat to key the Eagles defense on and open up the running lanes in the redzone.

The current Giants offense shares similarities with the Giants offense of the 80s under Bill Parcells. Consistently good teams, they were on the cusp of greatness but never truly great. Certainly, their defense was unimpeachable. But that great defense only grasped two Lombardi trophies, one a few feet – wide right! – from being in the hands of their Buffalo opponents.

Again, the Giants sport the defense to dominate. But in looking at the success of Warner and Collins this year, can the offense bring them to the promise land again and again. We all know Eli is capable of running it, we've all witnessed it, a little surprised at the time, but witnessed it nonetheless. If Collins wasn't even in consideration to run it and Warner couldn't do it, what of Eli?

When the Giants' offense does work it accomplishes the seeming impossible (see: 42, Super Bowl). And perhaps that's more important, the greater victory against the nearly immortal foe. But this ride-and-die-by philosophy might not net a cabinet full of championships, as such were the hopes of Giants fans through much of this season. For a team, defense may win a championship... but how often do they win championships?

Edit: Let me make it clear, I have no aesthetic qualms with the Giants offense. I love strong brutal running games and despite the idea floating out there that pro football is more about passing than running, it's interesting how the top rushing teams are often deep in the playoffs every year. In this examination, I'm merely looking at results and thinking back inductively...

The Notebook, NFC Championship

I’m wary of clichés.

It’s not that there’s not truth in the well-worn phrase. Rather, once tossed out, a cliché will cause all further critical thinking to grind to a halt.

So it goes with the football cliché that a game comes down to a handful of plays. Yeah… sorta.

Certainly, the intensity of the game and its myriad situations, varying in degree of importance, present moments we can point to as pivotal. But so much of the game unfolds in repeated battles, little victories meshing together and culminating in the ultimate victory.

As for the prior Sunday’s NFC Championship game, there are plenty of plays singled out as pivotal. Larry Fitzgerald’s twisting catch from Kurt Warner on the flea flicker. Or DeSean Jackson's desperate weave through the interception return melee to force the fumble and recover possession for Philly. Or Kevin Curtis's late crossing route and dash only halted from going the distance by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's ridiculous speed.

To think of football as a game that reduces down to a play or two is to dismiss all the whirling parts flying around the field, whether haphazard or meticulously plotted.

It is to mistake the game's intensity with its brevity.

Still, as I was watching the Arizona-Philadelphia tilt over a Sunday ago, I found plenty of moments where a single play stood in for many, or at the very least, one play was fundamental to a drive.

So here's a rundown of the Cardinals victory over the Eagles last week, not play by play, but not necessarily the big plays either. Rather, the little or big plays that best encapsulated the storm and stress in the biggest game of both teams' seasons, at least up to that point.

First Quarter

2-1-PHI 43 (12:19) 32-E.James up the middle to PHI 40 for 3 yards.

On 3rd and 2, fullback Terrelle Smith sets block for Edgerrin James to convert. Not just any block, a crushing block which flattens the linebacker and sets the tone for the drive. Though Larry Fitzgerald scores the first points, the Cardinals do most of their damage in the ground game.

3-6-ARI 35 (7:24) (Shotgun) 5-D.McNabb pass short left to 36-B.Westbrook to ARI 28 for 7 yards.

The Eagles pass protection affords Donovan McNabb plenty of time to check off his reads. Brian Westbrook sits patiently in the flat. When McNabb looks his way, Westbrook makes one knifing cut, setting safety Adrian Wilson nearly on his face. While the play gains a confident first down, the ominous waiting for McNabb is indicative of how the drive, and the team's first half, stumbles. Too much put on McNabb's shoulders as he faces the challenge with inconsistent at best play.

Second Quarter

1-10-ARI 38 (13:30) 13-K.Warner pass deep middle to 11-L.Fitzgerald for 62 yards, TOUCHDOWN [97-B.Bunkley]. PENALTY on PHI-97-B.Bunkley, Roughing the Passer, 15 yards, enforced between downs. Warner lateral to Arrington, backward pass to Warner.

In case you had any doubt, yes, Virginia, Larry Fitzgerald is Santa Claus... and the Easter Bunny... and the Jabberwocky's athletic, cool cousin...

1-10-PHI 34 (11:06) (Shotgun) 5-D.McNabb pass short left to 80-K.Curtis pushed ob at ARI 19 for 47 yards.

A rare moment of offensive grace for the Eagles. Strangely enough, the Cardinals do the predictable thing and drop their defenders back in coverage. The time afforded McNabb nets Curtis on a late crossing route which flips the field and threatens the endzone. While Arizona holds, it's a harbinger that the game is closer than the lopsided score.

2-5-PHI 46 (7:31) 13-K.Warner pass short left to 28-J.Arrington to PHI 30 for 16 yards.

Arizona's control over the first half is driven home by their clock eating fourth drive. Arrington's catch and run is solid but more importantly it showcases Philly playing on their heels, allowing a dump off to chew yards and clock against a defense wary, and rightfully so, of the big play.

1-10-PHI 40 (2:04) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 5-D.McNabb pass incomplete short right. PENALTY on PHI-5-D.McNabb, Intentional Grounding, 12 yards, enforced at PHI 40.

Linebacker Chike Okeafor executes a brilliant delay blitz that, in tandem with the intentional grounding call, kills any Eagles momentum before the half. It also sets up the Cardinals with enough time to kick a field goal before the half.

Third Quarter

2-6-PHI 39 (11:19) (Shotgun) PENALTY on ARI-69-M.Gandy, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at PHI 39 - No Play.

The Philly comeback was under way. But a patient answer like the two Arizona drives at the end of the half would go a long way to sewing up the game. Instead, Gandy’s false start kills the drive. I don’t want to pile on Gandy, the entire team looked nervous and failed to execute… understandable for a franchise unaccustomed to the glare of the spotlight

Fourth Quarter

1-10-PHI 38 (10:56) 5-D.McNabb pass deep right to 10-D.Jackson for 62 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

While the momentum swung back Philly’s way by a dominate third quarter, Jackson bobbling catch for the touchdown behind Rodgers-Cromartie could have driven the comeback knife home. The confidence of McNabb to toss deep, the concentration of Jackson to make the catch, the balls in calling the play, all mirrored, and inverted, the Cardinals dominate first half.

4-1-PHI 49 (7:57) 34-T.Hightower right end pushed ob at PHI 43 for 6 yards.

Going for it on fourth down was making a statement. Going for it with a counter stretch play was just smart. The 3rd and short attempt was stuffed in the middle. The Philly defense bottled up the middle of the line the entire second half. Sometimes, a team can make a point by trying to win the point of attack. Sometimes, it’s better to just try and win the game. Hightower around the edge proved the better option.

1-10-PHI 34 (2:17) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 5-D.McNabb pass short left to 36-B.Westbrook pushed ob at ARI 47 for 19 yards .

Westbrook makes an astounding catch to move the chains and threaten field position. But in that great play is the truth that McNabb’s passes are once again splaying all over the field. Hank Baskett and Kevin Curtis wouldn’t be able to make the kind of play Westbrook made, and the Eagles would turn it over on downs.

1-10-ARI 47 (1:51) 34-T.Hightower left end to PHI 47 for 6 yards.

On the Cardinals first play, needing basically a single first down to nearly assure the game, Hightower busts through the line for six yards. The celebration begins because even though Hightower didn’t make the first down, the entire team believed that they could do with ease. They were able to bleed the clock enough before punting away with just seconds left.

1-10-PHI 7 (:09) (Shotgun) 5-D.McNabb pass short left to 10-D.Jackson to PHI 5 for -2 yards. Lateral to 36-B.Westbrook to PHI 5 for no gain. FUMBLES, recovered by PHI-10-D.Jackson at PHI 3. 10-D.Jackson to PHI 15 for 12 yards. FUMBLES, RECOVERED by ARI-90-D.Dockett at PHI 12. 90-D.Dockett to PHI 8 for 4 yards.

Attempt at a hook-and-ladder Stanford band type play is ended when Darnell Dockett nabs one of the laterals. Instead of going down, Dockett tries to make the endzone. Half the sideline and the stadium was probably screaming for Dockett to fall down to end the game. But the palpable excitement made Dockett’s inexpert scramble a thing of joy manifest.

While I have no idea what will happen in the Super Bowl this Sunday, I think there’s much to be mined from both the Steelers and Cardinals playoff runs. Fuhbaw will start looking ahead tomorrow with a walk-through, breaking down some of the major ideas behind both these teams.

Conference Championships Pity Party

Losing ain't easy. I know. I spent the balance of my varsity career on a losing football team. We lost early in the season. We lost late. We lost close ones. We lost blowouts.

And when we finally won a game, we still lost. The school district, tired of the losing ways, canned our head coach. While likely the best decision, that meant the remainder of my career would be spent on the early stages of a top-to-bottom rebuilding project.

What does rebuilding mean? That's right, losing.

So I know losing. But even after piling up wins, losing still ain't easy.

I can only think of two losses in football terms that hit me harder than last year's NFC Championship game. So this edition of the Fuhbaw Pity Party, while doesn't hit close to home, definitely has a dose or two more pity to it.

While the rest of the world moves onto a Pittsburgh-Arizona Super Bowl in Tampa, let's take a moment and pause to give place for the losers to sound off before quitting the stage.

Eagles 25 Cardinals 32. Enrico at the 700 Level says:

Denied again. This game summed up the Eagles season pretty well. Really bad for stretches before fighting back and looking really good only to come up short -- kind of like Donovan McNabb's accuracy. The fault for this one can be spread all around. The defense that played so well down the stretch came up small today and Larry Fitzgerald was just too much.

Was that P.I. on Curtis? Probably. But one play doesn't change it.

I'm bummed. If the Eagles would have just shown up in the first half we could be partying right now and making travel arrangements to Tampa. Instead, we have to listen to some troll of a "Cardinals fan" in the comments act like he cared about that team before two weeks ago.

The Iggles Blog says:

Unfortunately, if the beginning of the game fit into one kind of classic template, the ending was even more according to type. The Eagles had 14 chances on the Cards' last scoring drive to make the One Play that would have ended that game. Such a play was not made.

I guess having some more playmakers around wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Big picture, it was a nice season. When your 5-5-1 squad rips off a huge hot streak and makes the conference championship game, yeah, that's some good stuff.

Ravens 14 Steelers 23. B-More Birds' Nest says:

Remember in the Adam Sandler movie “The Waterboy,” when the coach played by the Fonz is scared to death of the rival team’s coach? To help him conquer this fear, the Waterboy teaches him about the visualization techniques he uses - the Fonz visualizes the other coach as a puppy or a baby, and his fear is gone.

Cam Cameron needs to visualize Dick LeBeau as a puppy. His game plans against Pittsburgh this year have all been ridiculously vanilla, timid, and, dare we say, Billick-esque. The one time the Ravens tried a bit of trickery, Mark Clayton picked up a good gain on a double reverse. Besides that play though, Cameron’s game plan was pretty shoddy. At no point was this more evident than when the Ravens failed to pick up a single yard on 3rd or 4th down after Ray Lewis forced a Slow Bill fumble.

You’ve got 8 months, Cam. Figure it out.

Rexx at Baltimore Beat Down says:

The game was still up for grabs deep into the fourth quarter, until the Steelers Troy Polamalu took a pick to the house to drive the final nail in the coffin. The emotional end came a few plays later when RB Willis McGahee was "de-cleated" by safety Ryan Clark on a pass over the middle that not only resulted in a fumble recovery for Pittsburgh, but sent McGahee to the hospital strapped to a stretcher. Willis should be fine and deserves a rest from what might have been his most impressive physical performance of the season, running for two short TD's, but playing all the while when he was obviously injured and in pain. He sure earned some props from me on this game, even though he had a rough season and is questionable to return as a Raven in 2009.

I honestly thought we were going to win this game, before, during and right up until the Polamalu interception. I had posted threads saying I didn't care that the Steelers were dominating the stats sheet, as I just wanted to kick a game winning FG to get out of town with a 17-16 victory. I actually thought we were on our way to do that after the first down pass from Joe Flacco to Todd Heap on that ill fated drive. I didn't care that Flacco was having a pretty horrible day, but don't lay it all on Joe, as you have to remember he was up against the #1 defense in football, and yesterday they played like it. Looking at the game overall, the defense didn't give up a ton of points, but they constantly were broken down and picked apart for the key third down or big plays by Ben Roethlisberger. Despite the loss of Hines Ward early in the game, the Steelers did what they had done all season to the entire league, but expecially the Ravens in the three games against us, and that was to make the play when they needed it.

This game could easily be blamed on the defense as much as you'd like to put it on Flacco's rookie shoulders. I'm not buying that. Sometimes you just have to admit that another team has your number and is a better team than yours is. The Pittsburgh Steelers proved that yesterday and to me are by far the best team in the NFL.

The Notebook, AFC Championship

Apologies for the delay in posting. This weekend I trashed my Windows Vista OS in favor of the Linux distribution Ubuntu. I possess a limited knowledge of Linux and have little experience in commands beyond a fuzzy recollection of DOS from, oh, twenty plus years ago.

But I'm impulsive and Vista was pissing me off. Plus, I support the idea of Open Source software and apparently can't refuse a challenge, even the ones I'm ill-suited for.

So, please forgive some glitches while I attempt to configure my wireless situation, currently nonexistent and an impediment to timely posting. God knows, life without wireless internet is like being zapped back into the Stone Age.

Anyway, Sunday. Second game first.

Of the Baltimore-Pittsburgh slugfest, I have only a myriad of impressions and one point of outrage.

The final lasting shot of the game, one that lingered long, that of Willis McGahee sprawled out on his back, awaiting the stretcher, tended to by the medical staff seems a fitting one for that particular game's brutality.

On the opening kickoff two Baltimore players limped off the field, Darren Stone and Brendan Ayanbadejo. Of the many vicious hits, the Ravens absorbed the worst, or seemed to. It was a game of victims: McGahee by Ryan Clark's equalizing hit, Willie Parker by Ray Lewis's gorgeous fumble forcing twist and drive tackle, Ben Roethlisberger by Terrell Suggs's broken wings.

On a field strewn with bodies a play like Santonio Holmes's ankle breaker through the Baltimore defense is a killer. I've often, well not doubted, but minimized Holmes. He's talented no doubt. But he's not often put the team on his back like other young receivers with his level of talent.

His scoring catch and run was a clinic in the dimensions of the field played against the angles of the game. His cuts across displayed something scientific and elegant. The game was close. And a modicum of offense has proven all Pittsburgh needs in close contests.

Still, I felt this game was Baltimore's to lose. At least, if they played their game, it was theirs to lose. More on that in a bit.

Perhaps the greatest illustration of just how close the game was throughout? Both coaches wanting to challenge, for differing reasons, the same play. Holmes catch and simultaneous dive for the endzone. Mike Tomlin didn't like the spot of the ball short of the endzone. Jim Harbaugh didn't like the fact that it was a catch at all, the ball coming out of Holmes's arms as he made contact with the ground. Harbaugh got the challenge and the ruling, because the receiver must retain possession all the way through if a defender forces the receiver to the ground.

More importantly, though, how closely and how differently a single play can be viewed in such a contest serves as a good encapsulation of it.

The game aside, a good emblem of the enigma of the Ravens defense: how can a man as large as Haloti Ngata - perhaps 350 lbs after a juice fast - sneak anywhere?

Normally a defensive tackle, at one point, Baltimore lined Ngata up outside the tackle. Ray Lewis on the inside and whoever lined up at nose tackle both stunted hard to the outside, creating a large wall which Ngata did in fact "sneak" behind, looping inside and viciously sacking Roethlisberger in the process.

Rex Ryan is a genius for making Ngata nearly disappear. I hope he has fun with Kris Jenkins, Calvin Pace, and David Bowens in New York next year.

And, finally, my point of outrage.

Perhaps, the biggest victim in a game flush with them was quarterback Joe Flacco. People are likely piling on the rookie for his interceptions and tepid play. But Flacco was a victim – not so much of the Steelers defense. Rather, the Baltimore game plan was atrocious.

Imagine how different the game had the Baltimore offense played like the Baltimore offense in its opening drives. With a great defense, time is precious. The Ravens came out throwing to begin the game and netted three 3-and-out's. They could have easily done so running the ball as well. But every incomplete (I believe Flacco threw on five of the first six plays) stopped the clock and all but insured that the defense would need to be on the field for more minutes at the close of the game.

I was simply dumbfounded as I watched the Ravens trying to maxprotect against the Steelers early, while running their receivers into nickel coverage. Flacco's played better than his numbers throughout these playoffs, but asking him to win the game against the league's best statistical defense is utterly ridiculous.

The game isn't conceded by trying to control the clock and soften up the defense for a third quarter push. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron has done a commendable job getting the rookie to play this season, but part of that is working within his limitations and playing to his strengths.

And on Sunday night, I saw neither of those two tendencies within the game's early goings effectively putting the Ravens behind from the get-go.

All the credit in the world to the Steelers. Roethlisberger managed to complete only half of his passes, just the half that counted. And the key stops by the defense proved themselves worthy of their league leading numbers, not that they carried much doubt in accordance to their accomplishments.

As for Pittsburgh's Super Bowl opponents, I'll have more on the NFC Championship and the Cardinals later and soon.

Prey Of Birds

I have only a little more to add about this upcoming weekend, this conference championship weekend… this is, after all, the new NFL, all of your favorites are losers.

There is no more clutch, there’s only freedom from expectations or a leaden crown. And the chaos of the game on the field is now reflected in the outcomes.

My only real question is this: did Donovan McNabb change? Or did we?

McNabb has long frustrated, at least these last few years. The slipshod focus leading to the atrocious footwork leading to Howitzer shots grazing the tops of his receivers’ shoes.

Linebacker size or not, the man possesses that linebacker build. And the contrasting nimble, knifing steps have always been essential to his game – in youth busting the line of scrimmage, in the august years extending the play and subtly altering the dimensions of the West Coast offense from vertical to horizontal.

Sure, McNabb has produced more consistently in this late run. But I’m tempted to believe that this is as much a product of the stellar defense, better playcalling, and Westbrook/Buckhalter combination frustrating opponents as it is the benching.

And we may not find the answer to this question on Sunday. The Cardinals defense has excelled against inside running games in these playoffs and relatively immobile quarterbacks.

Philly presents an entirely different match-up. A quarterback difficult to bring to the ground and great speed with Westbrook and Buckhalter at gaining the edges, run or pass.

McNabb has struggled his whole career with what a quarterback should be, with our expectations. A Super Bowl ring will likely revive his Campbell’s Chunky Soup career… but, more importantly, it might free us to consider him the quarterback that he is, not the one we think he should be.

…

One thing that’s come out of this year’s playoffs is the ascension of Larry Fitzgerald to the spotlight. Sure I and anyone reading this has long since been blown away by Fitzgerald’s ability to make the improbable likely. The body control in the air, the strength to outmuscle defenders for the catch.

But now Fitzgerald is basking in the national attention long eluded in the outlying market of Phoenix. And the appropriate praises are being sung.

I have nothing to add to the sung chorus. Instead of more words spilled on Larry’s behalf, here’s a little Fuhbaw photo essay of Fitzgerald pulled from Flickr. Enjoy the games everyone.

The New Math

Forget dominance. "Improbable" is the most misused word in the NFL.

It's time to stop calling runs like the ones the Cardinals, Eagles, and Ravens are on to the conference championship games improbable.

Out of those three teams at least one, and potentially two, will end up in the Super Bowl. And all sportswriters and commentators can apply as a modifier to this state of affairs is unlikely, unprecedented, and, yes, improbable.

Forget that the Cardinals have beat more playoff teams (two) in the playoffs than they did during the whole regular season (one).

Forget that the Eagles drooled all over themselves during the most inept game of the season, a thirteen-all tie against the Bengals.

Forget that the Ravens crumpled like a paper doll in the palm of every frontrunner's hand during the regular season, their lead paper doll rookie quarterback Joe Flacco in those games.

Forget all that.

Look to the recent history of Super Bowl and near Super Bowl teams. What becomes apparent is that these championship-bound teams of 2008-09 are on paths anything but improbable.

Take the 2005-06 playoffs.

The Steelers rose from a sixth seed – needing four straight wins at the end the season to even qualify for the playoffs – to Super Bowl champions (crowned anywhere outside of the Seattle area, that is). All season the defense was hampered by an inconsistent offense in large part due to inexperience at quarterback. When coach Bill Cowher took the restraints off Ben Roethlisberger, he responded with three straight solid-to-great games. Roethlisberger’s Super Bowl was horrible, but Pittsburgh outlasted Seattle in a sloppy game. Sloppy or not, these champions kicked off this notion of improbable runs.

Take the 2006-07 playoffs.

The Colts entered the playoffs with an almost historically bad run defense. Sure, the Indianapolis offense was dominant again most of the season. But championship football is always about a defense making key stops, key plays. With the return of Bob Sanders, the defense dominated the Chiefs and Ravens and flummoxed the Patriots and Bears on the way to a Lombardi Trophy. The previously atrocious defense turned Peyton Manning into a game manager, a dink and dunker.

Take the 2007-08 playoffs.

The Giants despite qualifying for the playoffs were considered frauds. Their coach was roundly mocked as inept, their quarterback disinterested, their defense inconsistent. All it took was one shot at the Patriots. No, not the Super Bowl, but the Week 17 game played with nothing on the line. In close loss, the Giants proved to themselves capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone. The story need not be repeated here, of course, but that confidence parlayed into a brutal run, bloodied opponents left in their championship wake.

And, after three straight supposed unlikely sets of hands hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, we’re supposed to dismiss the ugly mitts of Arizona, Baltimore, and Philly as undeserving?

While each of these teams possess weaknesses, the playoffs are not about weaknesses. The playoffs are a crucible to impose strengths and run roughshod over inconsistencies.

Seeds of doubt sew a perfect situation for teams like these Cardinals, Eagles, and Ravens. I’ve talked about it here before. Arizona, Baltimore, and Philly so far have had the Drop on their respective situations. The literal and figurative chance of the bouncing ball works in tandem with a freedom from expectations. Expectations are a heavy burden in a game whose taxing quality is its intensity, not its grind.

I could draw the obvious parallels between the Steelers of three years ago and these Ravens, dominating defense and young quarterback displaying his considerable skills at the right time.

Or the Colts of two years ago and these Cardinals, great quarterback surrounded by a suddenly surging defense built around speed and chaos.

Or the Giants of last year and these Eagles, often-derided leader playing to potential amidst a finally awoken long slumbering pressure defense.

Instead, I'll just let each of these teams write their own stories. Improbable is the new likely, impossible the new truth. This new math will fry the circuits of your supercomputer.

Divisional Round Pity Party

A weird and wonderful weekend. Well, weird definitely. Not wonderful for fans of the Titans, Panthers, Giants, and Chargers.

No doubt the felling of favorites will make for a long lingering sting. Even as the NFL world quickly adjusts to the new favorites.

But before moving on to next week's slate of championship games, let's commence the pity party, a look around sports blogfrica at reactions to the teams in loss.

Titans 10 Ravens 13. Nick Bishop at Titan Sized says:

Very, very sad. And this hurts. This hurts very, very bad. Seeing so many opportunities blown makes me question so many things right now. My own mere existence even. There was nothing I could do but continue to lose my voice, and keep drinking beer. Even as I’m typing this, I’m getting upset. All that I can say right now is that this has been the most fun I’ve ever had following a team, and as painful as this is, they don’t say “there’s always next year” for nothing (whoever “they” are). I’m gonna take some time to heal, but I want to thank each and every one of you (you know who “you” are) for reading, writing, criticizing and offering advice along the way. It just should have ended differently…

Panthers 13 Cardinals 33. Carolina Huddle says:

Panthers fans just witnessed first hand the most embarassing game they have ever seen at Bank of America Stadium. Pity it had to come in the form of a playoff game.

Jake Delhomme completed more passes to Arizona defenders than to Steve Smith. I think that pretty much sums up the night. The night will go down as Jake Delhomme’s worst game as a pro. Indeed, it does not get much worse.

Giants 11 Eagles 23. Jon Eiseman at Big Blue 101 says:

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!!!

GOD-FUCKING-DAMNIT! HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED! The Eagles!! We lost to the God-Damned Eagles! Andy Reid most likely spent the majority of his week analyzing the properties of a twinkie, and yet we still couldn't score one frickin' touchdown!

Do you wanna know why there's a picture of a duck on the top of the page?! CAUSE THAT'S WHAT EVERY FUCKING THROW BY ELI MANNING LOOKED LIKE! A GOD-DAMNED DUCK! Maybe had he not spent so much time getting his crotch rub on, he might have remembered how to throw the ball like an NFL quarterback, rather than the half-retarded pee-wee football player he played like.

Chargers 24 Steelers 35. Ross Warner at Justice Is Coming says:

What hurts the most is that Pitt can be taken, but not by us. Cletis Gordon imploded just like the man he backs up used to do. We didn’t try to run between the tackles too much but the d held some. We just did not get enough pressure on Roethlisberger and our 3rd down woes returned. Coming back at Arrowhead led to a great ride. But I really wished we had gone out with a better performance. Last year I was OK until the Giants exposed the Pats. I really thought this game presented us with a good chance to finally get that trophy. I don’t know how many more shots we will get. We can’t play Indy in the playoffs every year. As Doug said to Brian in Cocktail, what I will miss most is our talks. But don’t worry, I won’t off myself as he did. In fact, I am turning off the computer and going to spend time with my wife.

Phi Bloga Recapa: BCS Bowls

I don't want this final Phi Bloga Recapa of the season to be my closing remarks on the college football season. Still, I want to wrap up the BCS bowl season with a tour around sports blogfrica for reactions to the five big games.

In a year where calls for a playoff system intensified yet again, the results of most of the bowls did nothing to quite those calls. Strong finishes by Texas and USC armed them with legitimate arguments to top the rankings. And Utah's surprising upset of Alabama reinforced a new fluidity to the college game, where a non-BCS conference like the Mountain West might be tougher than the Big East or Big Ten.

Those quibbles put to the background. For right now, let's check some reactions to this year's BCS bowl games. To the victors go the spoils.

Rose Bowl: USC 38 Penn State 24. The Trojan Horse at the Trojan Empire says:

Let’s just rename the event and call it “The woodshed” powered by Citi. For the third consecutive year, the Trojans have dragged their Big 10 Rose Bowl opponents behind that Pasadena shed, where they were paddled into submission. A new program, new coaching staff, new theories, and a fresh batch of criticism, yet we have the same results. Though the 38-24 final score may appear respectable and hint of a 4 quarter war on the football field, this was total domination by USC, in a game that was basically over at the half.

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech 20 Cincinnati 7. MadJay at TechSuperfans says:

Redshirt freshman LB Barquell Rivers was starting his first game and had gotten nice drops in his pass coverage and shown good instincts all game, but was being blocked pretty easily. Here at the goal line he charged down the line of scrimmage, reading the play. As Pike made his cut, Rivers squared up and made a picture-perfect hit - head up, arms wrapping and driving with his legs - at the 1 yard line. Instead of his momentum carrying him into the end zone, Pike was stopped cold and it allowed the rest of the swarm to arrive and bury him for no gain.

At this point my Calm and Beloved Reader, despite having watched noble and phenomenal goal line stands from this defense for years (most notably against Auburn in the 2004 Sugar Bowl), a tear ran down my cheek. For people who hadn't watched the Hokies much, there encapsulated in four downs was the essence of Virginia Tech. When the game is on the line, no matter who is out there (in this case replacements for Brett Warren and All-ACC DE Jason Worilds), the Hokie defense always is going to put on their hard hats and go to work. That is the Lunchpail. They will defend that end zone with a ferocity that takes other teams by surprise. And in this case, they stopped the Bearcats and sealed the game for the Hokies.

Sugar Bowl: Utah 31 Alabama 17. JazzyUte at Block U says:

There has not been a victory like Utah's since the BCS was created that demonstrates just how utterly flawed the system is. This is the BCS nightmare, because no one can make a legitimate excuse for keeping Utah from winning the championship. They went undefeated, they beat four ranked teams, two top-ten teams and dominated the 4th ranked Tide, who were a quarter away from playing in the national championship only a few weeks prior.

But if they want to debate that Utah does not belong or the Utes should not be in the national championship picture, then the debate needs to come back to a playoff. Because speculation and subjective analyzing is no way to decide a national champion.

Fiesta Bowl: Texas 24 Ohio State 21. EyesOfTX at Barking Carnival says:

The Longhorns didn’t accumulate a lot of the “style points” the pinheads at ESPN and in the sports media nationally seem to value over substance, and they didn’t get the blowout victory that some had hoped might put Texas in line to win the AP poll for a split national championship (a real pipe dream, that).

But Texas won yet another huge game against yet another great football program. The Longhorns won ugly, they won with character, they won with tremendous courage, determination and leaders who stepped up their play when it mattered most. Guys like Colt McCoy, Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley, Brian Orakpo, Roy Miller, Rodderick Muckelroy, Earl Thomas, Sergio Kindle and Henry Melton - all of them struggled at times during the game, but every of them stepped up to the plate and made plays when it mattered most. They left the field wearing torn and filthy uniforms, with bruised and battered bodies, knowing they had been in a battle with another group of warriors, and had come out on top.

Championship Game: Florida 24 Oklahoma 14. Henry Louis Gomez at Saurian Sagacity says:

The point is that championship teams in college don't rank 57th in scoring defense. In the BCS era the winner of #1 vs. #2 match has historically on average ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense. 57th is a far cry from 6th. Granted OU's offense played far below their averages and that's mainly why they lost but their defense played basically to the level they played at all season and that simply isn't good enough.

OU fans seemed gracious and classy. Perhaps being humbled so many times in big games in recent memory gave them trepidation about being cocky. I know I wasn't cocky. I thought we had an advantage based on our defense and that we should win the game. But that's an intellectual exercise and I've been a fan long enough and had my heart broken enough to know that the better team doesn't always win.

I still feel bad for Utah and I feel bad for the Gators. One of the things that makes me angry about the ludicrous BCS system is that the controversy it inspires actually takes away from the winner's glory. Florida won and yet there's a lot of AP writers who voted for Utah. And that's their right. But the point is that some will point to that and the records of the two teams and take away some legitimacy from the Gators.

The Notebook, Divisional Round

I pick every NFL game all season long, straight up, no spread. Three close friends and I all send around our picks before the weekend then tally up wins and losses. The stakes comprise a bottle of the winner's choosing at the season's end.

I've been behind all season (thanks Green Bay, Houston, and Jacksonville). But even my last place marks stack up well with national sportswriters.

And with my friends there's usually very little certainty. My best call all year was Minnesota destroying Arizona in Arizona. My friends have called several surprising results - and yes, it's just all luck, but there's a lot of football knowledge and bright minds between my little group.

That said, there was on one thing all four of us were certain. No way was New York losing its home playoff game to the Eagles.

Whoops.

With the ascent of Philadelphia and Arizona (and Baltimore for that matter) to the championship round, the notion of domination that the Giants helped to alter last year is really undergoing a continual redefinition.

First it was Dallas, the new dynasty looking like the old dynasty. Then it was New York and possibly Tennessee... then Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. The Jets were even in there at some point.

A wacky couple of weeks ending the regular season led to a few headscratchers in the playoff seeding. San Diego and Philly? Really?

Despite those late runs by nearly also rans, the playoffs were supposed to swing back to the chalk picks. Baltimore never beat anyone all season long. Arizona and San Diego "won" limp divisions in fairly limp fashions. For the love of Christ, Philly tied Cincinnati in probably the worst game of the season.

Instead both number one seeds - New York and Tennessee - are done. In a year of great defensive play, the adage is playing out literally and with a short-term memory.

The divisional round definitely showcased good match-ups. That wasn't at issue. Rather the problems presented in loss for the favored teams are seemingly new and gum up the works of this season even more.

Tennessee generally dominated Baltimore yet lost by putting the ball on the turf too many times. Invert that formula and that's precisely the game the Titans win.

The Cardinals were supposed to have the worst remaining defense, the Panthers perhaps the most balance of talent across their team. Of course, Arizona's defense crushes Carolina easily after they run up a quick lead.

And New York's pass rush did exactly what it needed to do, get Donovan McNabb to sidestep and move. Sure they didn't register a sack, but flustering McNabb is a fairly straightforward undertaking, get him rolling on those low throws and bad footwork and the Eagles will hand over the game.

Ai-yeah. No dice. Nope it's something else entirely.

Watching Ravens-Titans with a big, random group on Saturday proved exciting if nothing else. One Steelers fan was rubbing his hands as alternating Titans and Ravens fell to injury in a very physical game. The Baltimore victory put a big smile on his face and seemingly a lot of confidence in his back pocket.

But in a year where the moment we know something is certain, that truth dissolves into thin air, I'm not so sure that confidence isn't just a big target.

Wild Card Pity Party

Tomorrow, Fuhbaw looks ahead to this weekend's slate of games. But first, let's cast one last look back on Wild Card weekend, this time the losers as they prepare for the long offseason sooner than they hoped.

It's not easy making the early exit from the playoffs. At least, Atlanta and Miami came in with little-to-no expectations. Indianapolis and Minnesota, on the other hand, sported championship aspirations at various times during their turbulent seasons.

So how the teams and their fans taking these losses? Let's take a gander around sports blogfrica for some reactions to last weekend's losers.

Falcons 24 Cardinals 30. James A. Smith at Flying High says:

As I watched the clock tick down from the final two minute warning, still reeling from the 17 yard pass Warner made on 3rd and 16, thus crushing any hope we would have in yet another Matt Ryan Miracle, my wife said to me, "Are you sad?"
I had to think about it. Basically, yes, I was sad to see such an untimely end to such an unlikely season. But as I dug deeper, I still found I felt a great deal of pride about my team.
They didn't play a great game, far from their best, at a time when their best game should be coming to the forefront. Matt Ryan looked like a rookie at times, but that only makes sense. The Cardinals were all over our offensive line (not to nitpick, but how many times can the Cards jump offside before the refs flag 'em....just saying...) and Michael Turner was effectively shut down, though he was able to make a rather exciting TD run. The game seemed lopsided at times, but it still came down to a six point game. As they have shown all season, the Falcons are not willing to lie down, and will not give in.

Colts 17 Chargers 23. Deshawn Zombie at 18 to 88 says:

Much has/will be made of Indy's "postseason" failures. Most of this is by simpletons who will attempt to either assuage their pain or earn their fortune by ripping on the biggest and brightest stars the Colts have. They'll forget things like the fact that Dungy has outcoached his Pythagorean win total more than any coach in the NFL, meaning that he routinely gets one or two more wins out of his team than they deserve. They'll forget that Peyton Manning hoisted a very average team to 12 wins. They'll forget what we've been saying for weeks: This team wasn't that good. Last night, Dungy didn't make a single bad call. He challenged a close play that he should have. He went for it on fourth down at the 33. His team was prepared and ready. He did everything he could. Last night Peyton Manning outplayed his counterpart (who led the NFL in rating and TDs) dramatically. He made no mistakes, smart decisions, and had the Colts 2 yards from winning. He did this with no running game, and with one of the worst lines in Indianapolis since 1998. He was every bit the MVP.

Dolphins 9 Ravens 27. Rob at Past Interference says:

Irony, thy name is Chad. Just as I put the finishing touches on my brilliant Pennington-For-MVP post he has to go out and lay an incredible inedible egg against the Ravens. Probably the worst game of his career and the number one reason Miami loses the game. Clearly Miami needs to bring in some playmakers on offense to help Pennington out but what can you say? He flat-out sucked. Still, one bad game against a great defense can’t nullify the most fun season we Dolphins fans have had since 1984. That’s a long friggin’ time. I expected nothing from Miami this year and I got something. A lot more than something. 11 wins! An AFC East title! Kicking the Jets (and Favre’s) ass to seal the deal (and knocking the Pats out in the process)! It was like a dream. Thanks Chad. We owe you.

Vikings 14 Eagles 26. The Pacifist Viking says:

All summer we heard that the Vikings were a quarterback away from being a Super Bowl contender. And today we know that is true: the Vikings are not a serious championship contender because of the quarterback position. If the Vikings don't make a significant attempt to improve the quarterback position for 2009, then the Metrodome may not sell out any games. Without improved quarterback play, we're just playing around watching this team. It's fun to watch a dominating defense, and it's fun to watch Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. It's fun when the Metrodome energy is as wonderful as it was today. But it is just laughs. There's no Super Bowl in the future without major improvement at quarterback.

Note: I don't entirely agree with Pacifist Viking here (as I don't extend a blanket agreement with anything linked here) but I thought his viewpoint was reflective of what most Minnesota fans are thinking.

Phi Bloga Recapa: Non-BCS Bowls

No more jokes about whether you can get your GMAC Bowl serviced by the Meineke Car Care Bowl... the ever expanding non-BCS bowl games are finished.

Ball State was pummeled by Tulsa Tuesday night, leaving only the National Championship Game (TM) to close out the college season. And by "close out," I mean, of course, start the annual who's really number one bitchfest from coaches, critics, fans, and the office of the President-elect.

Still, it was a postseason of football, flawed or not. Let's recap some of the better games from this season's non-BCS bowl games.

Poinsetta Bowl: TCU 17 Boise State 16. Drew at Fight, Fight, BSU says:

The Boise State/TCU game provided everything that fans were looking for (besides a Boise State win) and really could've gone either way. Were we disappointed with the outcome? Absolutely—the way the game ended, with Kellen's out-of-leftfield INT, quickly soured the optimistic mood that most fans probably had going into the last 2 minutes of the bowl, but It is great to be a Bronco fan. Their insistence on trying to break the record for "most bowl game ended with a pick in one decade" certainly sprouts some gray hairs among even the most loyal Bronco fans, but no player or fan should be hanging their heads about the 2008 campaign...

Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia 31 UNC 30. Charley West at West BY GOD Virginia says:

But now, as we bid adieu to a quarterback that has broken the mold at quarterback at our school, it’s time to do the same with our retirement requirements. Who cares if Pat White hasn’t yet had a successful pro career. He’s the all-time leading rusher at QB in NCAA history, he’s the first QB to win four bowl games as starter, and he’s the best damn player in Mountaineer history. All of those, plus hundreds of other reasons, lead me to reach only one conclusion:

Retire #5. Now.

Emerald Bowl: California 24 Miami 17. Bear With Fangs says:

What more can be said about the conference’s leading rusher? Jahvid Best has been absolutely spectacular, particularly in the second half of this season. And he was in prime form on Saturday, running through, around, and most often right by Miami defenders. Best was the most consistent offensive attack for the Bears, rushing for 186 yards on just 20 carries and two touchdowns.

Anyone else even think that number is a bit low compared to what Best has done in recent weeks? Yeah, it’s become THAT ridiculous.

The difference this time is that Miami was a legitimate defense. While giving up big yardage on the ground in the closing games of the season, the Canes were certainly no Stanford or Washington, and it’s impressive to consider what Best was able to do on the ground against Miami.

Alamo Bowl: Missouri 30 Northwestern 23. The True Son at Mizzourah! says:

I can’t say I’m elated with this victory. Like I said, for most of the night the Tigers looked like they were attending a funeral rather than playing in a bowl game. But all I really wanted was for this group of players to have one more night where they could exit the stadium with smiles on their faces. And that’s what I got.

For one final night we got to see Jeremy Maclin sprint at full speed, Chase Coffman make clutch catch after clutch catch and William Moore, Ziggy Hood and Stryker Sulak wreak havoc on an opposing offense.

When all was said and done the Tigers ended the night with their tenth victory of the season, which pushed their average number of wins over the last three years to 10. And for one final night, Mizzou fans were able to watch No. 10 walk off the field with a victory in-hand.

Sun Bowl: Oregon State 3 Pittsburgh 0. Chas at Pitt Blather says:

In the first quarter, McCoy touched the ball 3 times — 2 rushes and 1 pass. McCoy ran the ball a total of 8 times in the first half. Stull was 5-14 with an interception and a sack in that half.

In the second half, McCoy got 16 touches, but 5 of them came in the second last series after Stull was pulled due to injury. Meaning, everyone knew and the Beavers were not even bothering to worry about covering the receivers.

We can blame Stull for not making passes anywhere near the receivers. For locking in on his target at the line of scrimmage. But, put the blame on the guy making the decision to keep doing it when it was obvious and apparent very early that it wasn’t going to work.

Oregon State was without their best player and best offensive weapon in RB Jacquizz Rodgers. To say nothing of WR James Rodgers. Yet, they still did enough without the two players that accounted for 21 of the Beavers 46 TDs and over 2500 yards. I don’t even want to imagine what Pitt’s offense would have looked like without McCoy.

Music City Bowl: Vanderbilt 16 Boston College 14. Diezba at Star & Stripe says:

And there was Myron Lewis. Holding the ball after staying in-bounds just long enough to register possession, tip-toeing his way into everlasting fame and Vanderbilt legend.

The silence lasted for the smallest of moments.

And then cacophony.

Chaos.

Eruption.

Mind-searing jubilation.

It may be possible in the hindsight of history, perhaps five to ten years down the road, to understand the implications of what took place along the icy banks of the Cumberland River that night.

But in that moment, for 118,000 living Vanderbilt alumni -- almost half of whom made the pilgrimage back to Nashville to see what for many was something they had almost given up hope would occur in their lifetime -- there was absolution. There was release.

Capitol One Bowl: Georgia 24 Michigan State 12. Chancellor of the Sexchequer Doug at Hey Jenny Slater. says:

It wasn't a perfect game by any stretch -- pretty damned ugly, actually, depending on your standards, for the first two and a half quarters at least -- but I told one of my fellow Dawg fans after the game that if we were going to win by 12, much better that it be a 24-12 win than one by a score of, say, 48-36. The offense took a while to get started, but I think we've been given reason to be confident by now that any team with Stafford and Moreno on it is never too far from breaking out. The defense was the group that had the most to proved, and they proved it. This one game won't take Willie Martinez off the hot seat in a lot of people's eyes, but it did prove that the talent, the drive, and the coaching are all there, it's just a matter of getting them all to operate at 110 percent at the same time.

Gator Bowl: Nebraska 26 Clemson 21. Sammy Vegas at Double Extra Point says:

Joe Ganz isn't the best quarterback Nebraska has ever seen, but he very well could be the toughest. Whether it was hobbling on a gimpy knee, slamming his head on the turf, or committing 2 costly turnovers that lead to touchdowns, he wasn't about to let any of that get to him. Joe's a winner in every way and he couldn't have dreamt of a more fitting way to go out.

Cotton Bowl: Ole Miss 47 Texas Tech 34. The Ghost of Jay Cutler at the Red Solo Cup says:

Leading up to the game, just about every member of the major sports media, the Texas Tech fanbase, and even a few of their players predicted a blowout victory for the Red Raiders.

They deserved better than the play some 8-4 team in the Cotton Bowl. They were going to do to us what we would do to Oklahoma State. This guy was somehow going to scare Peria Jerry.

We heard it all month long but we nor our players listened. Yesterday we had a confidence and swagger that I could have never imagined as an Ole Miss fan. If an Ed Orgeron led team had fallen behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter, would they have turned around and won by 13? This team isn't afraid to play anyone and that attitude is what won our 9 games.

Nice Day For a Beheading

There's blood in my mouth. And I feel like Lawrence of Arabia yelling, "No survivors!"

But will bloodlust get the better of me? It's too soon to tell.

Word leaked out Monday. The official word came down yesterday: the Green Bay Packers canned the bulk of their defensive staff.

The other Bob Sanders and four of his assistants on the defensive side are out of the league's smallest market. Coach Mike McCarthy even canned the strength and conditioning coach.

Firings in the NFL are a weird business. I'm often skeptical of the axe sharpening after one bad season for a coach. Sure, some situations cannot persist. Scott Linehan in St Louis was a disaster. At least Jim Haslett provided the team a couple weeks of competitive play, if not a true turnaround.

I'm just not sure fomenting knee-jerk reactions and panic is good for an NFL team. Patience isn't always a virtue (see: Lions, Detroit). But a steady approach has done well for teams like Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Carolina.

The message successful teams preach revolves around resiliency and consistency. Accountability and responsibility are all tied up in there. The message gains more force as teams display those characteristics themselves in their dealings with coaches and players.

On the other hand, teams don’t want to appear that they tolerate mediocrity. Shake ups in the coaching staff send a strong message. Whether it’s the right message… well, that’s why teams year in and year out quickly ascend or fall in the league.

People will point to the rapid turnarounds in Atlanta, Miami, and Baltimore this year for reasons why an about face can work wonders. And shakeups were needed in all three cities, all three franchises mired in sudden awfulness for differing reasons.

In more sober moments, I might offer Jeff Fisher and John Fox, coaches respectively holding number one and two seeds in their conferences, in response. Both Fisher and Fox have held their positions through tough times, rebuilds and wretched seasons.

And the Packers mass firing instills conflicting feelings as well. This season watching what was supposed to be a competitive defense blow every close fourth quarter – and there were many – drove me to too many midday whiskey shots.

When something goes horribly wrong the changes come. But they come in varying degrees.

I'm sad to see cornerback coach Lionel Washington go, a man who's been about as steady as they come and helped turn Al Harris into a Pro Bowler. Kurt Schottenheimer, on the other hand, I gladly put at the end of my boot.

And I truly liked the other Bob Sanders, his players seemed to respect him. But his inflexibility and inability to get his coordinators, much less his players, on the same page at key moments is certainly a welcome loss.

Word on the street marks Mike Nolan, the former 49ers coach, as the frontrunner to replace Sanders as defensive coordinator. A couple other big names are mixed in as well as in-house candidate Winston Moss.

Frankly, as terrible as Nolan was in San Fran, I’d love to see him come to Green Bay. He helped put the Ravens defense back on track after a down season and gutting job. And he did a solid job on the defensive side of the ball at the 49ers, even if he crumpled under the temptations and pressures of the head job.

It’s a marked difference from when little heralded McCarthy came to the Packers three years ago. Then his potential assistants were of the little known variety. It’s nice to know that even after a down season, good coaches out there recognize that Green Bay has the talent to compete.

And despite the fear that McCarthy and Nolan in Green Bay would be a repeat of Nolan and McCarthy in San Fran circa 05, I’m interested to see how McCarthy handles a big name and a big ego.

Going back to consistency, one the impressive hallmarks of Bill Cowher’s coaching tenure in Pittsburgh was his ability to bring big names together and focus them on the best interest of the team. One of his greatest coaching moves might have been giving disgraced Cincinnati head coach Dick LeBeau a job helming the Pittsburgh defense. LeBeau might have had a rough go in Cincy as the top man, but his zone blitz defense, which he continues to run in Pittsburgh, has kept teh Steelers a force year in and year out.

But Cowher was a rare coach. McCarthy’s biggest challenge this year might not be pushing Aaron Rodgers to that next level, but keeping the swagger of his new defensive staff in line.

The Notebook, Wild Card Weekend

16-0 to 0-16. That’s the enigma of this NFL season.

In one year, the league went from having a team rack up an undefeated regular season to a team incapable of winning a single game.

It’s been an exhausting ride. Every week, the narratives we fashion are shattered on the field. Every week, everything that is solid melts into air.

In a sense, it’s been a season of modern conundrums throughout a tradition-heavy league. The myth of the quarterback is shattered as Matt Cassel capably fills in for Tom Brady and rookies lead their teams to the playoffs. As their offense regressed, the Steelers became better. That is until the Titans mercilessly beat them in every phase of the game, the Titans who were supposed to be pretenders.

Take this Wild Card weekend. If there was anything most were sure of, it was this: the Cardinals wouldn’t make it out of Arizona. And San Diego had no business hosting a home playoff game.

Props to Zac at Throwing Into Traffic, who called the Arizona victory, aside… the Cardinals and Chargers convincingly won stating their case among the league’s top teams and – despite the initial outcries from exluding teams with better records – validating the playoff system to a certain degree.

And it’s not just the results that surprised, but the notions confounded that startle as well. The rule says to back experience in the playoffs. Matt Ryan was to be the exception, Joe Flacco the rule. As with everything else in the season, just invert for actual results.

In Miami, Flacco didn’t dominate, his numbers weren’t very good. Both DJ Noid and I were stunned when we saw only nine completions for twenty-three attempts on the crawl. Flacco played a solid game and didn’t get in the way of his defense’s domination of the fluffy Dolphins.

As DJ Noid pointed out, it was jarring to alternate between Chad Pennington and Flacco. Every pass from Flacco desperately hurtling toward whatever conclusion. Every pass from Pennington lazily fluttering a few yards from its intended target. The joke of course that Pennington was setting himself up for a third run at the comeback player of the year.

In San Diego, everything about Peyton Manning’s year was supposed to carry over into a familiar dominance. This year’s MVP award was the one earned on the field as much as on the stat sheet. The team was supposed to be impervious to rushing woes or late comebacks.

Instead the Colts crumpled under the weight of their own mistakes and faded with every Darren Sproles shifty run through their defense. In a season in which the Dallas Cowboys were punished for sins against talent, the Chargers fought off a similar fate, a similar charge of a lesser degree. San Diego won at the right time with the confident awareness of their situation, its perils and challenges.

In Minnesota, the running back just as likely deserving the MVP as Manning carried the ball only 20 times. Adrian Peterson, perhaps the best player on the field, was outshone by Brian Dawkins who began headhunting and couldn’t stop. All the love for Dawkins, but the Vikings should have rode Peterson throughout the game regardless of down and distance and rendered Dawkins in centerfield irrelevant.

I’m not sure how this confounds expectations, it just seems like a tactical error that drove me crazy throughout the game. Stop sending your receivers over the middle to be killed by Dawkins and ride your best player to victory.

In Phoenix, the principles of running the ball and stopping the run were supposed to prevail in an Atlanta victory. Instead, the Cardinals found a ground game and dropped Michael Turner for loss after loss.

Darnell Dockett and Karlos Dansby played like they should have all season, disrupting the flow around a disciplined defense. Edgerrin James made the Falcons pay for nickel coverage. Then Larry Fitzgerald gave back the price of admission with several circus catches.

What does this all mean for the balance of the playoffs? Who knows. Baltimore looks like the best team in the league. Which probably means they lose next week to the Titans… or if they do win, it’ll be because Joe Flacco shines as a receiver and Troy Smith strikes a Heisman pose over Cortland Finnegan.

Like everything else this season, all the possibilites will likely be exhausted… and exhausting.

The Bloodbath, the Bystanders

Rod Marinelli. Romeo Crennel. Eric Mangini. Mike Shanahan.

Even coordinators Mike Martz and Richard Smith.

Gone... at least for a little while.

I couldn't help thinking back to the rash of axings in college football this year. Philip Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville chiefly among them.

Sure, the Ty Willingham's and Greg Robinson's of the world coach their way out of jobs through several years of pitiful squads and records. Marinelli and possibly Crennel fall in that category.

But going back to Fulmer and Tuberville, are the results of a single down season justification for rolling out the guillotine? And are teams sure that the next brilliant mind is better than the one on the chopping block?

At Tennessee, in Fulmer's case, the long tenured coach was one year removed from a SEC championship game appearance. Yet a disappointing season ensued following the loss of four-year starter Erik Ainge and Fulmer resigned under extreme pressure.

Tennessee was lucky to land Lane Kiffin, a talented coach, despite his dismal record at the Raiders, and, perhaps more importantly, an experienced recruiter from his days at USC. Vols fans are optimistic, but the wisdom in shoving out a stalwart coach such as Fulmer remains to be seen.

At least the Vols are cautiously optimistic. At Auburn, Tommy Tuberville was only a few seasons removed from an undefeated season and led the Tigers to bowls in the previous eight seasons. Like Fulmer, stumbling this season in the ultra-competitive SEC led to Tuberville's ouster (or resignation, whatevs).

Unable to entice Mike Leach or other hot candidates, Auburn looked past relatively successful Turner Gill and plucked Gene Chizak, a former Tigers coordinator, from his brief but awful tenure at Iowa State.

While a minor firestorm ignited over whether Turner - who's black - was more qualified for the job comparing his solid resume against Chizak's, the more important point may be that neither were as nearly qualified as the main they interviewed to replace: Tuberville.

I think that's a valid question heading through this offseason for teams, college and pro, replacing their main guy. Can these teams honestly hope to find better?

In three years, Eric Mangini delivered two winning seasons, one playoff appearance, imbued the Jets with relevance in the New York market, and made life hell for the team's main rival, the Patriots.

That's no ironclad resume, but considering the short tenure, it's certainly promising. It's also much stronger than Dick Jauron's at Buffalo, the Jets AFC East rival, whose three consecutive 7-9 seasons have defined mediocrity despite a talented squad.

Then there's Shanahan. I'm no Shanahan apologist. But he does leave big shoes to fill for the next coach. And remember that the Broncos were still in the middle of rebuilding, boasting a talented, young quarterback surrounded by equally young and talented weapons like Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Ryan Clady.

The tendency in the NFL is to look to short-sighted success. Four teams chose unproven head coaches last year for their vacancies. Three of the four teams made the playoffs - Atlanta, Baltimore, and Miami. And the fourth, Washington, missed the playoffs after a late season skid, finishing at a respectable 8-8.

But history rarely repeats itself with such resounding results, especially in the ever fluid NFL.

Others point to the glut of coaching talent available. Bill Cowher and Marty Schottenheimer lurking in retirement. Bill Parcells suffering from simply restless syndrome, the legs, pocketbook, and everywhere else. Star coordinators Steve Spagnuolo, Josh McDaniels, Jim Schwartz, Leslie Frazier, and Rex Ryan. Maybe even Jason Garrett.

Word is Cowher's already rebuffed the Browns and Jets and is likely to do so to the Broncos as well. And there's the fact that all three of the coaches fired - Crennel, Mangini, and Marinelli - were all hot prospects like this new crop not that long ago.

Did Mangini and Shanahan get raw deals? Yeah, probably. But the league isn't a sympathetic place.

More importantly, their firings might not indicate better days for their teams unless they luck into the right guys because these teams aren't really present much of "right situation."

...


A couple of extra points about Shanahan. Of all the fired coaches, he certainly brings the biggest resume. Which means, for all the openings, he probably commands some of the best leverage, outside of Cowher and Parcells.

But interesting to note, part of his undoing at the Broncos revolved around his terrible personnel decisions especially on the defensive side of the ball. Firing GM Ted Sundquist last year put the onus completely on Shanahan. That pressure in part was Shanahan's undoing.

Shanahan had long had the final say in personnel matters, but centralizing the control in his hands proved too much responsibility, real now perceived as well, for the two-time Super Bowl winning coach.

Should Shanahan land a plum job this year, it's likely that he will command considerable say in the personnel process. To me, it seems a situation setting up for his failure.

Ironic, in a way, that his past successes and recent failures could lead him to exact the same place, and that Shanahan could really be no better off.

Another unrelated issue. One of the unexpected innocent victims of Shanahan's ouster from Denver might be the zone blocking scheme.

No, it's not going anywhere right away. But Denver under Shanahan, and his position coach Alex Gibbs, was where it gained popularity. And their success using the scheme with several different running backs was at one time a very attractive idea to thrifty general managers and coaches looking to use resources spent on top-tier running backs elsewhere on their teams.

A few teams run a pure zone scheme, and all teams run some zone blocking plays. Green Bay, Houston, and Indianapolis all run zone schemes for now and the foreseeable future.

But the trend is downwards. Atlanta ditched their zone principles a couple seasons ago. Oakland is set to put theirs aside. And, now, its likely to be phased out of Denver when a new coach is named.

Ideas come and go, often making comebacks, in the NFL. But for a notion that was a hot one in just the earlier part of this decade, the zone scheme could be facing a quick demise.