Running NFL Conference Championships Thread

Well wait a minute -- so if he had lost to Philly 30-21 instead of 30-9 -- that would have been OK? The second year Brad Johnson threw four interceptions -- that is Dungy's fault too?

And again -- they weren't favored to win or regarded as a Super Bowl favorite in either year -- they lost to a better team in both cases.

That's ridiculous. And I am a Dungy guy, I watched plenty of Buc's games in those era and marvelled at how that team won with an offense that bad.

Regular season games are different -- you can win a lot of them with a good defense, good kicking game and just not turning it over because you play so many shitty teams throughout the year. The one team you are hailing went 9-7 and finished third in its own division -- the other finished second and 10-6.

In the postseason, you better be able to score points and you better have a competent quarterback if you want to win a Super Bowl.

I know, I know -- the Ravens in 2001 or whatever the fuck year that was -- and you know why that team is always singled out? Because it is such an exception to this.

Tony Dungy was not the offensive coordinator. You want to kill him for who he had as his offensive coordinator, that's fine, but please remind me what offensive coordinator has made a living with a guy as bad as Shaun King as his quarterback?

Matt Cavanaugh -- who is now rotting away at a mediocre college program? I rest my case.......

Like I said, the next year after he left -- they retooled the offense -- added some competent second and third receivers and that changed the offense's abilities to score points in the passing game.

Who is to say that would not have happened had he stayed.

I'm not saying the guy is the greatest coach ever -- but this whole thing began when you and some of your cronies around here tried to make an argument that Jeff Fisher, who has far less on his resume than Dungy, was a better coach than Dungy and that is just plain ridiculous.

 

OK sorry, Dallas Clark and Jeff Saturday.

Which should tell you how Hall of Fame worthy they are as they are not even household names to a guy who frequently watches the team.

 

The point is the Bucs DID upgrade on offense, every year after 1999. Who was it that decided to get rid of Dilfer? Dungy. Who was the caretaker that QBd the Ravens to the Super Bowl THE VERY NEXT YEAR? That's right. And who kept throwing OCs under the bus? At some point, it's clear that the problem was not the random OCs but DUNGY HIMSELF.

In each of those last two years, Dungy took that better offense and a top-flight defense and crapped it away in the playoffs. Both years. Those teams SHOULD NOT have been the fifth and sixth seeds those years. The talent, on both sides of the ball, was much better than that. And there's no way those teams should have been that non-competitive against the Eagles.

And as for 2002? That Bucs team that had a journeyman as its leading rusher (Michael Pittman, he of the 3.5 YPC), not quite the vaunted rushing attack you believe is so essential to winning it all. And Keenan McCardell had an 11.0 YPC as the no. 2 WR...barely an upgrade over RB Warrick Dunn, who was the second-leading receiver a year earlier.

Yet Jon Gruden managed to win it all with an offense that was not noticably better than the ones Dungy coached. You know why? Because even Jon Gruden--the mad scientist, goes thru QBs like Paris Hilton goes thru dicks, crazy fucking Chucky doll Jon Gruden--is a better coach than Tony Dungy.

Not Jeff Fisher though. Jeff Fisher is a better coach than Jon Gruden AND Tony Dungy.

 

I think it's funny that the ESPN Talking Head mantra of "You must run to win" keeps getting repeated on here, especially when it's worked so well for running-teams such as the Panthers, Vikings, Giants, Falcons and Titans.

Truth is it basically takes three things to win, of which running is the least important.

1. A defense that stops the run. Ravens, Steelers, Eagles and Cardinals have all done this.
2. A quarterback who makes key plays to keep the eight men out of the box. Philly, Arizona, Pittsburgh and, to a lesser extent, Baltimore, all have this.
3. A good enough running game that can take the pressure off the quarterback at the beginning of the game and can churn out yardage when the team has the lead at the end of the game.

None of the teams this week played particularly bad run defense, at least early on, and none ran it exceptionally well. The key was quarterback. The Eagles dared Eli to complete passes one-on-one and he couldn't do it without Plaxico. The Cardinals shut down the Panthers run and Delhomme couldn't do a thing about it.

I think the Eagles are balanced enough on offense to pull it off. Arizona can't crowd the box and they can't drop everyone into coverage b/c Philly will eat them up with the short passes. I do wish the Eagles would try more screens to stave off the blitz.

Philly's D, which put everything into shutting down NY's run, will now dare Arizona to run the ball while it saturates the passing game. Let 'em run.

I am a little worried about the Cardinals' passing game. Sheldon Brown let Giants WRs get behind him a couple of times tonight. He lucked out because Eli couldn't make the throw. Warner will make the throws.

I wish the whole Lito situation was resolved, but it's been apparent during his brief stints on the field that he doesn't have his A game. Should be a good game.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AnkQvPMDgc1gWozHGAAKKuE5nYcB?slug=jc-titlegamestorylines011109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

From Jason Cole's Yahoo! column ...

Can the Steelers pull off the three-peat?
How many times will somebody stupidly say, "It's hard for one team to beat another three times in one season?" That's one of the most roundly held, yet mistaken, clichés in the history of the league. There have been 18 situations since 1970 in which a team has attempted to complete a three-game season sweep, 11 resulting in three-peats. Why the high success rate? As former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe once said, "It usually means that team is better."

... And as noted earlier on this thread, the Steelers are responsible for two of those 11 three-peats, against the Browns in 1994 and 2002. With any luck, the Steelers can do it again.

 

It takes a ton of luck and poor officiating for the Steelers to win any playoff game!!! [/certainSJerswhoshallremainnameless]

 

Interesting note: All four remaining teams beat the Cowboys this year. Three of them beat Dallas in December. The fourth, the Cardinals, won in overtime on that blocked punt that started the Cowboys' collapse (Romo hurt his hand and their All-Pro punter was KO'd for the year).

 

This certainly isn't a great Ravens offense, but it may be better than any offense during the entire Brian Billick era. The design and execution are simply better. I think people who haven't seen the Ravens this season until the playoffs think this is the same old crappy Ravens offense. That just isn't the case. While they did have six return touchdowns, they averaged 24.1 points per game, which was 11th in the NLF.

The Ravens stuggle against good defenses because their offensive talent is mediocre. They do have a solid, young offensive line. I'm sure they will struggle to score 10 points against the Steelers but all season they've displayed the ability to get first downs, control the clock, and hit big plays down the field at opportune times.

While the Ravens defense is very good, it isn't great. It's susceptible to teams that run the no huddle and can throw the football down the field. The Cardinals would actually be a bad matchup for the Ravens defense. The Ravens defense has carried this team but the offense has held its own and has won several games (i.e. Dallas). It used to be that the Ravens offense would never help win a game. It is different this year.

While the Ravens defense has helped these numbers, the Ravens led the entire NFL in time of possession (33:23), were fourth in rushing while leading the AFC (yes, they did have more rush attempts than any other team), and were in the top half of the NFL in third-down conversions. More than anything this year's Ravens offense has helped keep its defense off of the field (not at Tennessee, of course) and has been great closing out games in the fourth quarter.

Since beginning the season with one touchdown and seven interceptions, Flacco finished the regular season with 13 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Two of those interceptions were against the Steelers. Also, Flacco had to face the Steelers twice, the Titans twice (playoffs and regular season), Miami twice, and the entire NFC East. For someone on the other thread to suggest that he will only be a journeyman quarterback seems quite harsh. He's got a hose, is poised, and is more accurate and a better athlete than you may think. I love Matt Ryan but Ryan didn't face close to the number of good defenses that Flacco has this season.

I happen to think that the Ravens may be out of gas, but maybe there's a bit more left in the tank.

 

I won't be surprised if the Pittsburgh-Baltimore winner scores 14 or less. I don't see either running the ball particularly well. During the first game these two played this season I remember thinking it was only a matter of time before the Ravens broke Roethlisberger in two. I certainly understand the Steelers being favored. I know late this week (Wednesday through Friday) the high temperatures in Western Pennsylvania were supposed to be in the teens, so if it stays that way through Sunday, points might be even harder to come by.

 

Any offense with Shaun King at QB is a shit sandwich.

 

Ray Lewis did break Rashard Mendenhall's shoulder in two. They also lost right guard Kendall Simmons (right Achilles) for the season in that game, too, promoting Tomlin to say the Steelers weren't going to hold a "pity party." True to his word, they didn't.