NFL Post Season: 5-2 (+3.82*)
NFL Regular Season: 40-29 (+7.40*)
NCAA Regular Season: 44-40 (-0.33*)
NCAA Bowl Season: 7-8 (-1.20*)
I'm probably kind of hopeless on this one if I've waited this long, but . . .
- - HC Mike Holmgren did everything by design to establish Seattle as the toughest home field in football, and coupled with the loudest outdoor field ever, real and not just intangible edges operate to their advantage at home in getting off the ball on defense and maintaining their quick rhythm tempo on offense. Carolina was overmatched and found that out in a hurry two weeks ago. . . The identity of Pittsburgh under HC Bill Cowher has always been about emotionally charged challenges to the football manhood of you and your opponent.
- - NO WAY Seattle would have gone on the road and knocked off Cincinatti, Indianapolis and Denver in successive playoff games. But they would have held their own just fine among the AFC elites over the course of a 16 game season.
- - I believe 23 of 40 carries by Shaun Alexander in the post season have gone for no gain or a loss. The Seattle running game kind of works that way, but has been accustomed to more success than that; running the ball effectively needs to be a full complement of Seattle's identity in this game, and in fact Pittsburgh's surest path to victory is to get Holmgren to give up on the run and the effect it needs to bring throughout the whole game.
- - It's not a stretch to say Seattle has been regarded as an afterthought in Detroit this week, and I wasn't expecting that at all. I've been a Hasselbeck fan since he was Mr. August in Green Bay, and his pedigree is being born out in every way. The biggest unsung story has been the transition from a defense that was lacking simple fundamentals for years to a play making defense that has been making teams work hard all year to find ways to beat them. Seattle has been charting this course to Detroit all season, been surging since the Philadelphia game, and they possess all the necessary weapons and heart of a championship team. But just because I can identify a live dog that should have a real chip on their shoulder, and just because I've wanted Seattle for months going on years, it doesn't mean I I should abandon Pittsburgh if I expect them to hoist the trophy.
- - Pittsburgh takes its cues from their head man, but there is something different about this year's squad, and I believe it owes much to Cowher turning over the bulk of the reins for game planning and game management to offenseive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and defensive coordinator Dick LeBBeau; the consequence has been a full-blooded pushing of the envelope in the first quarter and the fourth quarter, whether ahead or behind or down to the wire, and the team has responded beautifully. And with QB Ben Roethlisberger, who I pegged when he was drafted for my choice as the surest bet for a first round franchise quarterback since Peyton Manning, its not surprising that his presence, more than a coaching philosophy, is being singled out for the transformation.
- - - - It's been a long road for Pittsburgh from 7-5 to 14-5, and the week off had to be agreeable to the Steelers in terms of healed bodies and fresh legs. My concern was whether they would lose an emotional edge, and I really sensed that Cowher had the same concern; whether it simply built upon arriving in Detroit, or whether windbag Joey Porter was a catalyst, I have to say Cowher believes his team is back at full tilt, and I'm getting that sense today, too. I have to give Pittsburgh the edge in terms of unfinished business and lacking the center stage moment that Seattle experienced two weeks ago. This certainly hasn't been one of those games for me that just clearly comes into focus and then my research builds on that vision, and it's fair to say I'm probably kind of hopeless on this one if I've waited this long, but Pittsburgh is the call.
Pittsburgh(-4) over Seattle (1*)
GL
NFL Regular Season: 40-29 (+7.40*)
NCAA Regular Season: 44-40 (-0.33*)
NCAA Bowl Season: 7-8 (-1.20*)
I'm probably kind of hopeless on this one if I've waited this long, but . . .
- - HC Mike Holmgren did everything by design to establish Seattle as the toughest home field in football, and coupled with the loudest outdoor field ever, real and not just intangible edges operate to their advantage at home in getting off the ball on defense and maintaining their quick rhythm tempo on offense. Carolina was overmatched and found that out in a hurry two weeks ago. . . The identity of Pittsburgh under HC Bill Cowher has always been about emotionally charged challenges to the football manhood of you and your opponent.
- - NO WAY Seattle would have gone on the road and knocked off Cincinatti, Indianapolis and Denver in successive playoff games. But they would have held their own just fine among the AFC elites over the course of a 16 game season.
- - I believe 23 of 40 carries by Shaun Alexander in the post season have gone for no gain or a loss. The Seattle running game kind of works that way, but has been accustomed to more success than that; running the ball effectively needs to be a full complement of Seattle's identity in this game, and in fact Pittsburgh's surest path to victory is to get Holmgren to give up on the run and the effect it needs to bring throughout the whole game.
- - It's not a stretch to say Seattle has been regarded as an afterthought in Detroit this week, and I wasn't expecting that at all. I've been a Hasselbeck fan since he was Mr. August in Green Bay, and his pedigree is being born out in every way. The biggest unsung story has been the transition from a defense that was lacking simple fundamentals for years to a play making defense that has been making teams work hard all year to find ways to beat them. Seattle has been charting this course to Detroit all season, been surging since the Philadelphia game, and they possess all the necessary weapons and heart of a championship team. But just because I can identify a live dog that should have a real chip on their shoulder, and just because I've wanted Seattle for months going on years, it doesn't mean I I should abandon Pittsburgh if I expect them to hoist the trophy.
- - Pittsburgh takes its cues from their head man, but there is something different about this year's squad, and I believe it owes much to Cowher turning over the bulk of the reins for game planning and game management to offenseive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and defensive coordinator Dick LeBBeau; the consequence has been a full-blooded pushing of the envelope in the first quarter and the fourth quarter, whether ahead or behind or down to the wire, and the team has responded beautifully. And with QB Ben Roethlisberger, who I pegged when he was drafted for my choice as the surest bet for a first round franchise quarterback since Peyton Manning, its not surprising that his presence, more than a coaching philosophy, is being singled out for the transformation.
- - - - It's been a long road for Pittsburgh from 7-5 to 14-5, and the week off had to be agreeable to the Steelers in terms of healed bodies and fresh legs. My concern was whether they would lose an emotional edge, and I really sensed that Cowher had the same concern; whether it simply built upon arriving in Detroit, or whether windbag Joey Porter was a catalyst, I have to say Cowher believes his team is back at full tilt, and I'm getting that sense today, too. I have to give Pittsburgh the edge in terms of unfinished business and lacking the center stage moment that Seattle experienced two weeks ago. This certainly hasn't been one of those games for me that just clearly comes into focus and then my research builds on that vision, and it's fair to say I'm probably kind of hopeless on this one if I've waited this long, but Pittsburgh is the call.
Pittsburgh(-4) over Seattle (1*)
GL
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