NEW ENGLAND vs. PITTSBURGH ? 6:30 pm
What a match-up! We have what are probably the two best teams this league has seen in a while playing for the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl and this one should be a doozy. The Pittsburgh Steelers bring a 16-1 record into this game that they will play on their home field where they have not lost this season. The New England Patriots have only lost two of their 17 games this season and with one of the losses coming at the hands of this same Steelers? team. The contest is a rematch of the AFC Championship Game following the 2001 season, when New England went into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers 24-17. The Patriots then stunned the St. Louis Rams 20-17 to win their first of two Super Bowl titles in three years.
Patriot?s HC Bill Belichick has shown time and again that he has one of the finest football minds in the game. Last week?s victory over the Indianapolis Colts was the result of masterful game planning and the Pats? ability to keep the Colts? offense off of the field for all but 22 minutes of the game was an astonishing feat. Belichick gets a lot of credit for his team?s success and deservedly so but he has not been the sole guiding hand in the Patriots stellar run over the last four years. A lot of the credit should go to his top coordinators, Charlie Weiss on offense and Romeo Crennel on defense. These guys have done such remarkable jobs that Weiss was offered and has accepted the Head Coach job at Notre Dame for the 2005 season and Crennel is rumored to get the job of Head Coach for the Cleveland Browns. Make no mistake, these situations create plenty of distractions for guys under the kind of pressure that comes with a game like this. Weiss has been pulling double duty with Notre Dame recruiting and preparation for this game.
Too much is being made over Steelers? HC Bill Cowher?s big game record where he is just 1-3 in AFC Championship Games. This year he has perhaps the best group of players that he has ever coached and that includes rookie phenom QB Ben Roethlisberger who has now won 27 straight games dating back to his college career. He is undefeated in the NFL and is a physical player who has shown great poise in his first year in the league. The Steelers led the NFL in rushing, riding on the backs of Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley. On defense the Steelers have been nothing short of dominating as they have held their opponents to a league best 15.7 points and a mere 258 yards per game. On Halloween last year, the Steelers were able to beat the Patriot, 34-20 in a game that halted New England 12 game winning streak. In my opinion, too much has also been made about the fact that Pats? RB Corey Dillon did not play in that game.
There is no question that Tom Brady has continued to mature since his breakout season in 2001 and is unquestionably one of the best quarterbacks in the game today, and that New England is one of the best teams in the league. They might even pull what in my mind would be an upset, but I would be surprised if they did. In my opinion, they do not deserve to be favored in this game that they will be playing on the road against the best defensive team in the league and one that also leads the league in rushing. Sorry Bean Town, the ?dynasty? ends today at Heinz Field.
The Verdict: PITTSBURGH (+3)
What a match-up! We have what are probably the two best teams this league has seen in a while playing for the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl and this one should be a doozy. The Pittsburgh Steelers bring a 16-1 record into this game that they will play on their home field where they have not lost this season. The New England Patriots have only lost two of their 17 games this season and with one of the losses coming at the hands of this same Steelers? team. The contest is a rematch of the AFC Championship Game following the 2001 season, when New England went into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers 24-17. The Patriots then stunned the St. Louis Rams 20-17 to win their first of two Super Bowl titles in three years.
Patriot?s HC Bill Belichick has shown time and again that he has one of the finest football minds in the game. Last week?s victory over the Indianapolis Colts was the result of masterful game planning and the Pats? ability to keep the Colts? offense off of the field for all but 22 minutes of the game was an astonishing feat. Belichick gets a lot of credit for his team?s success and deservedly so but he has not been the sole guiding hand in the Patriots stellar run over the last four years. A lot of the credit should go to his top coordinators, Charlie Weiss on offense and Romeo Crennel on defense. These guys have done such remarkable jobs that Weiss was offered and has accepted the Head Coach job at Notre Dame for the 2005 season and Crennel is rumored to get the job of Head Coach for the Cleveland Browns. Make no mistake, these situations create plenty of distractions for guys under the kind of pressure that comes with a game like this. Weiss has been pulling double duty with Notre Dame recruiting and preparation for this game.
Too much is being made over Steelers? HC Bill Cowher?s big game record where he is just 1-3 in AFC Championship Games. This year he has perhaps the best group of players that he has ever coached and that includes rookie phenom QB Ben Roethlisberger who has now won 27 straight games dating back to his college career. He is undefeated in the NFL and is a physical player who has shown great poise in his first year in the league. The Steelers led the NFL in rushing, riding on the backs of Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley. On defense the Steelers have been nothing short of dominating as they have held their opponents to a league best 15.7 points and a mere 258 yards per game. On Halloween last year, the Steelers were able to beat the Patriot, 34-20 in a game that halted New England 12 game winning streak. In my opinion, too much has also been made about the fact that Pats? RB Corey Dillon did not play in that game.
There is no question that Tom Brady has continued to mature since his breakout season in 2001 and is unquestionably one of the best quarterbacks in the game today, and that New England is one of the best teams in the league. They might even pull what in my mind would be an upset, but I would be surprised if they did. In my opinion, they do not deserve to be favored in this game that they will be playing on the road against the best defensive team in the league and one that also leads the league in rushing. Sorry Bean Town, the ?dynasty? ends today at Heinz Field.
The Verdict: PITTSBURGH (+3)
