I hope we don’t go in overconfident. Anything can happen. But looking at who they played this season, I have a lot less respect for Shaun Alexander’s yards. I mean, he can only run against who they play, so it isn’t his fault, but damn. Does anyone know what the Seahawks’ strength of schedule was this year?
Thanks. I couldn’t remember exactly which games he didn’t play.
Hope? No need to hope. “Hope” implies doubt. There is no doubt.
Pittsburgh 24, Seattle 14.
Well, ESPN’s Skip Bayless compared it to Charmin, but I suppose that’s up to you, really.
PIT 19th
SEA 27th
I didn’t say it, Airman.
This thread has earned its title!
Ben lost once last year in the AFCC game to the Patriots.
He lost this year in the regular season to the Patriots, then was injured for losses in OT to the Jaguars and Ravens, then returned (while still dinged up) for losses to the Colts and Bengals.
And since no one in the freaking media wants to pay attention to this or mention it…
in 3 straight road games, CB Ike Taylor has been assigned to all 3 of the AFC Pro Bowl receivers in the playoffs- Chad Johnson, Marvin Harrison, and Rod Smith.
Chad Johnson- 4 Rec. 59 yds 0TD
Marvin Harrison-3 rec 52 yds 0TD
Rod Smith- 4 rec. 61 yds 0TD
He also shut down Johnson in both Bengal games this season, and except for the opening play in the Colt game, shut down Harrison as well.
Ike Taylor is the best cover corner in the NFL, and no one knows it.
You are never to mention that… thing’s name in my presence again.
Eeep! Sorry. All right, Big Ben is worlds better than He Who Must Not Be Named.
I don’t think I can pull for a team whose uniforms are as butt-ugly as the Seahawks’ are.
Yeah, that was why I decided I wasn’t taking Seattle as the NFC champion. On the handful of occasions where they played a really good team, they either lost or won in a squeaker. But so much for what I thought I knew. Congrats, Doors, they’ve marched to the Super Bowl!
OK, now that the euphoria’s worn off, I have a question. What was whoever was doing Denver’s play calling thinking during the 4th quarter? The Broncos were down by 17 points, but they’re calling run plays, passing down the middle, and generally acting like they’ve got all the time in the world.
I’ll be honest. I didn’t think this would be the year, especially when we were fighting just to get a play off spot. Nevertheless, the Steelers have risen to the occaision for each game. I hoped we’d make it to the Superbowl; now I believe we’ll win it.
On the other hand if I were a Broncos fan, I’d be ticked at Jake Plummer right now. At the end of the second quarter, the announcers said, “He needs to be careful right now”, so what does he do? Immediately take a chance and throw a pass which gets intercepted and gives the Steelers 7 more points.
Sorry, NoClueBoy and the rest of you Denver fans. I’m glad we won, but you deserved better.
CJ
So, that’s 2 games in 2 seasons lost to teams other than the Patriots. I’d also like to point out that he was not only hurt in the first Indy game but was also missing his starting left tackle, who was replaced by a rookie.
That game was Plummer’s career in a nutshell. He alternates between fantastically athletic plays that keep a drive alive and boneheaded turnovers. He makes enough of the former to keep his job and enough of the latter to ensure that he’s not going to win too often. His performance this season was largely the result of the Broncos’ excellent running game keeping the pressure off him. When you’re down 21-3 at halftime, you can’t rely on the running game any more.
I think the 4th quarter rushes were trying to calm Plummer down and get him playing smart rather than instinctively.
My thoughts exactly. You don’t have to run the no-huddle every play, but why not call 2 plays in the huddle or at the very least, don’t take quite so much time on the play clock? It seems to me that football coaches forget that the clock exists until there are about five minutes left in the game.
Looks like Holmgren figured that out too.
Still, the Seahawks have beaten who, this postseason? The Redskins, who saw their offense disappear over their last three games. And the Panthers, whose offense consisted of Steve Smith.
The Seahawks looked good yesterday, but they’ve not had to beat a team that didn’t have very distinct limitations; there’s no “shut down X and you’ve shut down the Steelers” player, so this’ll be a whole new ballgame for them. While the Steelers have gotten where they are by convincingly beating the cream of the AFC, which right now is the stronger conference.
And regular-season strength of schedule? I’m gonna do this the quick-and-dirty way: their respective opponents’ records against the rest of the league.
Steelers’ opponents: 121-119, .504
Seahawks’ opponents: 107-133, .446
Ten of the Seahawks’ regular-season games were against teams with a combined total of 46 wins. That’s 4.6 wins per team.
I don’t think the Seahawks are anybody’s idea of a pushover: Shaun Alexander is an excellent RB, and Hasselbeck is a good QB. But even if they’re good enough to play the Steelers even-up, they’re not used to having to play teams that good, and that by itself could make the difference.
The thing that I was struck by on this note is that despite playing such palookas, their defense ended up with stats placing them squarely in the middle of the pack. Against the worst offenses that the league could muster, their defense still allowed over 500 more yards than the Steelers.
Nevertheless, the emerging story in the media seems to be that the teams are at least evenly matched up, with some head-scratching as to why the Steelers should be favored. One article even suggested that the Steelers were favored only because of their Superbowl history! That’s fine by me - the Steelers feed off the lack of acclaim they have received. No reason to change things up now.
Ah, another Kordell. Chokes when you need him.
Still, I did feel bad when I saw him sucking on the oxygen tank. Ouch.
I just want to see Seattle get owned if only because Hasselbeck’s sister in law, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, is a whiny little shrew.
I think Cowher’s strategy-tell the team that at half-time, the scoreboard’s wiped clean, seems like a decent one.
So it’s come down to this…
For the ENTIRETY of this season, I’ve seen this thread floating around and laughed it off as a pipe dream. I’ve always had an inexplicable dislike for the Steelers. I’m a fan of Big Ben, although I don’t quite believe the hype, a fan of Bettis, and a huge fan of Randle El (I love that name and LOVE versatile players like that). I love trick plays, and the Steelers do more of those than any other team. I do have a deep hatred of Heins Ward, which I can explain only that I don’t like the way he blocks. I am also not a fan of Troy Polamalu, even though I can recognize how amazing of a player he is. I guess I don’t like the “hell no” thing he does with his hands after he makes a tackle. He is also just way too fast.
All that being said, for the entire regular season I just knew that you guys had no shot. Then, when you just barely made the playoffs, I knew you’d get bumped off by Cinci. Once you won that game, I wrote it off as pure luck in injuring the quarterback. You’d never beat Indy. After that victory, I figured it came down to Nick Harper cutting the wrong way.
Well, here we are. As a lifelong Seahawks fan, I’d like to offer a pre-battle handshake. I’ve grown to respect the Steelers, even if i don’t like the way they play. After this, it’s gonna be all hatred coming from this corner.
Hines Ward is one of the few receivers in the NFL who isn’t afraid to lay down a serious block. I admire him for that, and I love the fact that he has more fun on the field than anyone in the game.
I’m a UGA fan, so I’m biased. However, having spent a small amount of time with him (years ago), I also know that he is a darn good guy. He may talk a little smack, but it is very good natured most of the time.
He got 1000 yards passing, receiving, and returning while at Georgia. The guy’s a ball player.
It’s not that he chokes “when you need him” as much as it is “when you let him.” Plummer is a serviceable QB as long as he has a solid running game and the coach has him on a short leash. If you give him a little rope, though, he’ll hang himself pretty quickly.
Down by 3 scores in the second half of a playoff game, the coach doesn’t have much choice. Jake responded the way he always has - trying to win the game himself. Instead of taking what the Steelers were giving, he’d throw to the deep receiver on every play. He’d escape pressure and buy a little more time (he’s very athletic and tough to bring down), but then make a terrible decision.
That’s the way Plummer’s played for almost ten years now, and he’s not changing. The Broncos can get through the regular season just fine because of their defense and running game. If the other team shuts down the run, though, Plummer will lose the game for them.