smh810

Everybody knows that I think Cowher made the right move regarding kicking the FG but there is one scneario that needs to be addressed. The notion that Belichick would have voluntarily given the Steelers two points had they been backed up on the 2 is beyond absurd. The Monday Night game in Denver in 2003 was under completely different circumstances than that of the AFC Title Game. The Pats were trailing 24-23 with under 3 minutes to go and backed up on their 1 yard line. Taking a safety in that situation was extremely intellegent because you were still trailing by just a FG and youre also relying on your defense to get a 3 and out in order to get the ball back with plenty of time remaining. (which of course happened and the Pats won the game) It was an extreme gamble but well worth it. Now in the AFC Title Game say the Pats stop them on 4th down and get the ball on the 2 or 3. If Belichick voluntarily takes a safety there that makes the score 31-19 and you probably put Pittsburgh in good field position with a tired defense that just got off the field and approximately 11-12 minutes to go. (FYI: In that situation its 4 down territory EVERYWHERE for Pittsburgh and taking a FG under any circumstances is unacceptable IMO.) There by it is an unnecessary risk for them to take by giving Pittsburgh a free two points and I dont think the Pats do that. As I've said before had the Steelers gone for it and failed I think the Pats would have been unfazed by the crowd noise and killed more time than they did on the drive following the FG.

I would dissect that post but God Damn MIB you put effort into that and I gotta give it up for ya.

There are some good points there but heres the thing you know the Pats better than I do obviously. I think you know they would have a)stopped them and b) held the football for a lot longer than they did on the ensuing drive. Brady wouldnt have gotten a safety, Weis would have found a play to get a first down and you know that. Cowher saw the writing on the wall and was being realistic about the situation Hence the FG. You are right two point conversions are not gimmes I just feel there was no way Pittsburgh was gonna get a TD. So taking the pure emotion out of it, yes I think the FG was the best move in order to keep Pittsburgh's slim hopes alive. As I've said many times in this thread, 0 is a lot worse than 3. I see your point MIB but you just saw your best short yardage runner not only get stopped but pushed backwards. Youre not gonna get the touchdown so whatever slim hopes you had, you have to kick the FG in that situation. This needs to be said again though if they were on the 1 no matter what happened on 3rd down you go for it. Since its only a yard no matter what. With 2 yards to go there is too much of a risk for failyure especially against NE.

Wouldnt have worked Vrabel or one of the other LB's would have buried him. Wouldnt have happened Weis would have dialed something up in order to get a 1st down.

Alright Steeler fans for the last time I'm gonna spell it out for you so you can comprehend this, YOU WOULDNT HAVE SCORED. The whole no guts no glory arguement is complete bullshit. There would have been no glory you still would have lost. As I've said many times in this thread, the third down run for Bettis was writing on the wall that no matter what play the Steelers would have or could have run on fourth down they would not have scored a TD. Getting nothing would be more of a death knell than kicking a FG. Now, you can criticize the Steelers on their sequence of plays but the bottom line is on Fourth down and 2 you must kick the FG. I dont care what TMQ, ESPN, CBS, FOX, the NAACP or the SPCA says, in the grand scheme of things Cowher made the right call that would guarantee him points.

Corey Dillon was a malcontent but not one that was beyond repair. I think Moss's actions late in the season pretty much typify who he is and after seven years in the league, I dont see him changing.

I would have gone for it in that situation since a FG is no gimme. You dont have to try when the odds are grossly against you. What sort of trick play would they have realistically done. Try another shovel pass and Bruschi buries Hines Ward into the ground, you dont think the Pats were ready for that? Again leaving with 0 is far worse than leaving with 3. They've called 3rd Down runs inside the 5 all year long and its worked for them until last night. I'm not so sure play action would have worked. As far as their D goes I really dont think it mattered The Pats would have gotten the 1st down and the defense would have been on the field for twice as long as they were. How about this for a change instead of talking about the Steelers being "outcoached" how about this scneario... The Patriots are just a better football team.

I would have done exactly the same thing Bill Cowher did. Again I repeat the third down run basically assured the fact that the Steelers would not get a touchdown. Getting away with nothing is much worse than getting 3 points with plenty of time remaining. However theres a couple of other points that need to be raised here. The problem with Roethlisberger was not the "injured thumb". The release of his throws was fine it was his decision making (completely excusable for a rookie) that got him into trouble. All in all, considering the fact that he is a rookie in a conference title game I dont think Ben played badly at all. Secondly everyone seems to assume that had the Steelers been stopped inside the 5 the Pats would have run Corey Dillon three times up the gut and Pittsburgh would have gotten the ball back on the 50. Have some of you even seen the Pats play. I think weis and Belichick have enough faith in Brady to get a first down. They would have driven the ball for 70 yards and killed double the time they killed on the drive following the FG. New England does NOT do things by the book. Just because they lost the games at home doesnt mean the opposing team wasnt better than them. The only case of "choking" was in his first title game in 94. So what that the Colts dropped a hail mary the bottom line is they won the game. In 2001 anyone who remembers that year will tell you that the Pats were peaking at the right time while Pittsburgh peaked in December with that Sunday Night win over Baltimore . Sure they had a little luck along but the fact is they were getting better while Pittsburgh was regressing. I feel for you MIB but you gotta realize something. Pittsburgh would not have scored there and their D was wearing down. I think not making it would have been even more demoralizing to the crowd than kicking the FG. The Bettis play on 3rd down was a big hint NOT to go for it and again you cant leave with nothing in that situation.

And you also completely kill Pittsburgh's morale and lift New Englands. Like I said before the third down run was writing on the wall they were not going to score a TD on that defense and you must get SOMETHING on that drive. You have complete tunnel vision on all accounts. Different areas of the field call for different strategies. Youre not gonna kick a FG from the 30(?) because its no gimme in that stadium and in those conditions. when its 4th down on the 2 and you've been stuffed the play before it changes things. Now again if they were on the 1 you go for it anyway cause its only one yard 2 yards is too much of a risk to come away with nothing. As far as putting in Maddox goes do you expect a benching when the QB drives the team down the field to score on their first possesion of the half I think not? And to say that Cowher "choked" in all his title games is beyond ludicrous except for maybe the 1st one against San Diego. Every other time he has simply ran into a better team than his own. Also look at his QB's in those years. O'Donnell? Kordell? (granted he stuck with him for too long) and a rookie? I think once Roethlisberger gets fully qcquainted that the Steelers will break through and win a Super Bowl.

With the way the Steelers Defense was starting to wear down, Pittsburgh had to get something out of that. Even if the Pats were inside their own 5 they would have found a way to move the football and eat up more time than they did on the drive following the FG. Bottom line, the most important thing for Pittsburgh in that situation is to get points. Cowher did the right thing.

Gotta love selective memory the FG was kicked 1:25 into the fourth quarter still too early to go for it.

The Pats will do one thing the Falcons and Vikings couldnt or didnt do. Be physical with the Philly recievers. History has shown (and I AM including TO in this) that if you jam the Eagle recievers they will eventually wilt. I dont see Westbrook being much of a factor either as I think Belichick will find different people to spy on him depending on the formation. On the flip side, it will be tough for the Pats to drive on the Philly defense so I think this game remains close for a little while but in the end NE will win out. New England 24 Philadelphia 10

Theres a fine line between being aggressive and being stupid. If the Steelers were on the 1 yard line you go for it no matter what. If they're on the 2 (which they were) you kick the FG. The Bettis run on third down was writing on the wall that going for it on 4th down would backfire. If youre gonna blame Whisenhunt for anything blame him for the 2nd down pass play.

WOW!!! I am just in shock right now, it wouldnt have surprised me to see NE win (even though I picked Pittsburgh) but not like this. Make no mistake folks, this game is over. There is no way the Patriots have a meltdown in the second half. They're too smart and too good. I will never bet against a Belichick coached team ever again.

Congratulations Philly fans you deserve it.

Brian Westbrook is taking over this drive.

This is a closer game than I expected it to be and Atlanta is playing really inspired football but I do think Philly's talent will take over in the second half for a 10-14 point victory.

It looks like the Eagles are playing straight Cover 2 right now with very little blitzing at all and its defintely working early

I finally watched the second audition show and I gotta say that Dirk and Adam are my new heroes. Anyone who sings a David Hasselhoff song is awesome and on top of that Adam screwing up the "Opposites Attract" video was gold. Screw William Hung these are the two best bad singers ever.

I just thought of this now and it is potentially a huge spoiler concerning The Apprentice: Two weeks ago it was reported in the news down here, that there will be a Trump Tower in Tampa. John the PM of Networth from last night lives in Tampa. Coincidence?

Magna makes me want to quit school and John from Networth is from Tampa...REPRESENT!!!!

For realworldschampion: I think you'll see Johnson mix up the schemes a lot with a variety of blitzes and certain Buc-like Cover 2 packages. I havent seen the Eagles play too much this year so I'm not a complete expert in how they use their personeel but what they seem to do is line Jevon Kearse all over the place he and whoever lines up on the other side (Burgess, McDougale or other) needs to rush WITHOUT OVERPURSUING and force Vick into the middle, Trotter and the linebackers should handle him from there. If memory serves didn't the Eagles handle Vick well two years ago? (if not I stand corrected) As far as the Falcons defense goes, I'm just not sold on them at all they seem to do well against inferior offenses but when they face a team with punch (Kansas City, I know Coleman was out but he wouldnt have been that big of a difference) they dont do well. They gave up a ton of yards to STL but since the Rams are morons they got away with it. I dont see that being the case against Philly.

In Super Bowl Thirty Ni... I mean the AFC Championship Game I'm gonna go with Pittsburgh. Dont get me wrong I have all the respect in the world for the Pats but I think much like the Pats match up well with the Colts (mainly due to Belichick's schemeing) Pittsburgh matches up well against the Pats. With all the talk about Roethlisberger I dont think he's gonna be much of a factor at all in the Championship Game. I do think the Pittsburgh running attack will be huge. The Patriots lack of a runstuffer (ie, Ted Washington) more than anything else is gonna be the difference in the game. Granted they stopped the Colts rushing attack but Indy's running plays are mostly stretch plays to the outside and their linebackers are quick enough to get to the football. Pitssburgh's running attack is all north-south. The Pats didnt stop it the first time and I dont see that changing now. As far as Corey Dillon goes he being in the line-up will certainly help and they will run the ball more than 6 times. However, I dont think he'll gain a lot of yards against that defense. Brady will do a good job as always but he wont be on the field long enough to make a difference. Steelers 21 Patriots 13 The NFC Championship Game has the potential to be a rout of epic proportions. The Eagles even without TO are simply a better team in all facets of the game than the Falcons are. Atlanta's 327 yards rushing against the Rams was an optical illusion against a clueless defense. Against the Philly Rush D, they'll be lucky to hit 90 and that includes Michael Vick. The defense will force Vick into bad decisions and turnovers and I could easily forsee a defensive TD or two. On the flip side, Atlanta's defense is okay but far from spectacular and can be penetrated. Look for Brian Westbrook to have 150 all-purpose yards in the game. All in all forget the last three years I don't see a way for the Falcons to emerge on top. Eagles 41 Falcons 10

Elaborating somewhat on AoO's point, heres the deal with Norm Macdonald, he was outstanding on SNL and may have been the greatest Weekend Update anchor ever. However, Norm trying to do parlay that style into a sitcom (twice) just didnt work. Now as someone who enjoys Norm's humor I enjoyed both sitcoms and the Norm Show actually had a little success before ABC started shifting it into 50 different time slots. That being said, they just dont fit Norm's style and I think the sketch show he's now working on for Comedy Central has a much better shot at long-term success than the sitcoms ever did.

Doesnt matter to me sarcasm or not its the funniest sports quote I've heard in a long time and one Freddie may never live down. (depending on how he does against the Falcons)