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Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers Defence Trumps Arizona Offence

Posted on February 1, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

TAMPA — It’s game time. Here is our pick for Super Bowl XLIII… and why.

SUNDAY EVENING

Pittsburgh Steelers, AFC Champions (14-4) at Arizona Cardinals (12-7) at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa.

 

What makes Super Bowl XLIII so simple in its scope is the fact this is a game about Pittsburgh’s defence and Arizona’s offence. They’re calling it Steel Curtain II here in Tampa, and there is little doubt that the reason the Steelers are seven-point favourites is the fact they possess the No. 1 defence in the NFL.  Since defence always trumps offence, we’ll go with the Steelers. But one thing could change it all: Kurt Warner-to-Larry Fitzgerald. If those two hook up early and put some points on the board, Arizona could run away and hide. Meanwhile, if strong safety Adrian Wilson does his job and helps stop the Pittsburgh running game, then Arizona could win it by half-time. Trouble is, I just like that Pittsburgh defence far too much — Troy Polamalu, LaMarr Woodley, James Harrison. Wow. By 9:30 tonight, the Steelers should be holding their sixth Vice Lombardi Trophy.

Take: Pittsburgh

 

Final score: PITTSBURGH STEELERS 20, Arizona Cardinals 10 

 

Championship Week: 2-0

 

Season: 159-106-1

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Oh, so sad, Lingerie Bowl VI has been cancelled. “We’ll play in our undies, but OMG, not nekkid!!!”

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

NFL Super Bowl Report No. 3, Monday, Jan. 26, 2009

 

TAMPA — I’d like to talk about football, but there is too much craziness going on…

 

1) Lingerie Bowl VI — The Really Big Game during the festivities of the past five Super Bowls — was supposed to be played at a vacant lot in Tampa this week, but after the neighbors complained, it appeared as if Lingerie Bowl VI was dead.

 

Then, in a magnanimous gesture, the folks at the Caliente Resort, a highly-regarded Tampa-area nudist colony, extended a hand to the Lingerie League, and told the organizers they could play the big game at the main field of the resort.

 

Eureka! The Lingerie Bowl had survived. Or so we thought.

 

On Sunday, the folks over at Caliente, which is actually a “clothing-optional” resort, told the Lingerie League that lingerie wasn’t acceptable. It was nude or no Bowl game. At a nudist colony, you are expected to be nude.

 

With that, a number of players quit. “We’ll play in our panties, but not in our girl-suits,” they said.

 

Organizers announced on Monday that the game was officially cancelled and that there was a good chance the league would fold, as well. 

 

Couldn’t the NFL help these girls out? I mean, come on, football in lingerie is just about perfect, isn’t it?

 

2) It has become pretty obvious over the last few weeks. If the Arizona Cardinals intend to upset the Pittsburgh Steelers, it will have to be done by Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. 

 

After all, in last week’s NFC championship game Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns, giving him an NFL postseason record 419 yards in his first three playoff games. Warner was equally as impressive in that game, completing 21-of-28 passes for 279 yards, four TDs and a QB rating of 145.7. 

 

If those two pull it off again, the Cards might indeed be the team of destiny. Trouble is, pulling it off against the No. 1-ranked defence in the NFL is a lot different than pulling it off against Atlanta, Carolina or Philly.

 

3) The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will make it official on Tuesday. Calgary Stampeders’ assistant director of scouting, John Murphy, will be the team’s new general manager and director of player personnel.

 

Down here in Tampa, the news arrived with a bit of a thud, but in fairness, it did not go unnoticed. NFL people know Murphy and the ones we talked to on Monday night thought very highly of him.

 

After all, he did play a major role in building the Grey Cup champion Stampeders. That looks pretty good on any football resume.

 

 

 

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The NFL Championship Games: A Post-Mortem

Posted on January 19, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It will be the upstart Arizona Cardinals and the heavily-favoured Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII and don’t forget, the 92-CITI Sports Machine will be live at the big game all next week.

In the meantime, it was quite a Championship Sunday for a team headed to the big game for the first time in franchise history and a team going off to try to win its record sixth Super Bowl crown.

 

In Glendale, Ariz., on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals took a big halftime  lead (24-6), blew that lead (25-24) and yet came back to beat the Philadelphia Eagles with a tremendous drive late in the fourth quarter, 32-25. The Cards Kurt Warner was 21-for-28 for 279 yards and four touchdowns while wideout Larry Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns as the 9-7 Western Division champs won the NFC title. Some were calling that final drive, “Warner’s Hall of Fame drive.” They might be right.

 

Talk about red-hot (no colour-coded pun intended). It was only a month ago that the Cardinals were demolished 35-14 in their own building by the Minnesota Vikings and now, this team full of surprises is off to the Super Bowl.

 

However, as great a game as Kurt Warner had at the helm of the Cardinals yesterday – and yes, Warner becomes the first quarterback ever to return to the Super Bowl after an eight-year absence – it could be that his favourite target, Larry Fitzgerald, is the best football player in the game.

 

Fitzgerald, who grew up in Minneapolis and went to Pitt, was absolutely spectacular and during the Cards game-winning fourth-quarter drive, the Pro Bowl-bound Fitzgerald caught three important passes for 39 yards. 

 

Fitzgerald has caught 100 yards worth of passes in each of his team’s last five games. If he does it again on Feb. 1, the Cardinals could be Super Bowl champs.

 

Although, they do have to face a Steelers team that appears to have way too much on defence.

 

On Sunday, the Steelers (and their No. 1 NFL defence) beat Baltimore (and their No. 2 NFL defence) 23-14 in a game that had   Troy Polamalu’s stamp all over it. The Steelers monster defensive back had four tackles and an interception return for the game’s final touchdown.

 

It’s a little tired perhaps, but if offence fills buildings and defence wins championships, then it’s clear the Pittsburgh Steelers should win Super Bowl XLIII. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did what he needed to do, but it was that sensational defence that won the Steelers another AFC title

 

While Warner, Fitzgerald and the rest of the Arizona offence put up 32 points to win the NFC championship, the Steelers got seven of their 23 points from the defence en route to Tampa.

 

The Steelers defence was outstanding as LaMarr Woodley had seven tackles and two sacks, Ryan Clark had eight tackles and, of course, Polamalu was out of this world. It was a defensive masterpiece and late Sunday night, the Steelers were rewarded in one small way: They were made 6 ½-point favourites in the big game.

 

Of course, that’s something the Cardinals will pin up in their lockers at Raymond James Stadium next week.

 

See you at Super Bowl XLIII and if you aren’t going, listen for me on 92-CITI-FM in Winnipeg, The TEAM 1260 in Edmonton and The FAN 960 in Calgary.   

 

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Great effort by Arizona. Indy-San Diego was a Tim Donaghy special.

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

You have to hand it to old Kurt Warner. He did a wonderful job on Saturday to give the Arizona Cardinals a 30-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the first game of the NFL’s Wild Card weekend. The old guy still has some big-time chops. 

 

Warner went 19-for-32 for 271 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and had a passer’s rating of 94.7 to lead the Cardinals to the first upset of the day.

 

With Larry Fitzgerald having a particularly good afternoon, catching six Warner passes for 101 yards and a 42-yard touchdown, the 9-7 Cards were full marks for their victory.

 

Can’t say the same about San Diego’s  23-17 win in OT against Indianapolis.

 

The National Football League should be ashamed of itself. There is very little doubt that Ron Winter’s officiating crew had San Diego to cover. If I ran a Vegas casino, I’d want an investigation. The officiating in overtime looked more suspicious than anything Tim Donaghy ever did in the NBA.

 

As I watched the replays and saw all the offensive holding on San Diego that was, of course, completely ignored, especially on that overtime drive, all I could think of was “How many of these officials had San Diego to win or San Diego to cover?” Sure glad I had the Chargers on one of my Sport Select tickets. Gentlemen, I appreciate the help.

 

I especially liked the phantom holding on that incomplete pass for a first down. Nice work. Oh yeah, and the defensive holding while the exact same defensive lineman, the one who was called for holding, was being, well, tackled. Brilliant stuff. 

 

Over the course of the game, San Diego had three penalties for 40 yards while Indy had nine for 74. More importantly, the Colts were assessed three key penalties on that one overtime drive. That’s fix city baby. That’s how you get an 8-8 team to beat a 12-4 team. 

 

In fact, that was just about the phoniest finish to an NFL playoff game I’ve ever seen. But, then again, here in Canada I’ll take the government’s money. Thanks boys. You’re crooked as hell and my wallet likes it.

 

 

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It’s Week 2 in the NFL. Here are the 10 things you need to know.

Posted on September 14, 2008 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s Week 2 in the National Football League and we’re here in the press box at the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis for a pretty important matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings.

One of these teams will shuffle out of the Humphrey Dome with an 0-2 record and after both teams were borderline dreadful in Week 1, no one will be surprised which of these two teams it is.

As he was called in a headline in the Twin Cities Star-Tribune this morning, Indy’s Peyton Manning is the "rusty, slow, dangerous quarterback." Granted, he and the Colts were drilled at home by Chicago last week, but you can never underestimate the things Manning can do.

The Vikings, meanwhile, are a team that didn’t pass the consistency test last week in Green Bay. They lost 24-19, but had a dozen opportunities to win the game. In the end, quarterback Tarvaris Jackson threw an interception on the final drive to lose it.

One of these teams will snap out of it today and we’ll have all the action and colour right after the final gun.

In the meantime, here are the 10 things you need to know heading into Week 2. (By the way, go see Brad Pitt and George Clooney in Burn After Reading. Spectacular flick.)

1.  By Tuesday morning, only 16 teams will be able to boast about having a perfect 2-0 record. That leaves at least 16 clubs at 1-1 or 0-2. Since NFL realignment in 2002, 42 of the 72 playoff teams (58.3 per cent) began the year at either 1-1 or 0-2.  Four of the past seven Super Bowl champions began their seasons with a 1-1 or 0-2 record, including the Super Bowl XLII Champion New York Giants. In case you’ve forgotten, the Giants started 0-2 last season and coach Tom Coughlin nearly got his butt fired.

2.  In case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s a scoop: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury. However, the NFL still has plenty of durable quarterbacks. New York Jets QB Brett Favre (I still have trouble writing, "New York Jets QB Brett Favre), who goes head-to-head against Matt Cassel and the Patriots today (more on that later), holds the NFL record for consecutive regular-season starts with 254. Indy’s Peyton manning will start No. 162 here in Minnie today.

3. Speaking of Peyton, he’s had plenty of success against the Vikings. According to the league, Manning has thrown four touchdowns in each of his two career games against Minnesota. With a similar performance today, he can become the first NFL quarterback to pass for four touchdowns in three consecutive games against an opponent. OK, that’s an obscure milestone, but it’s still pretty good.

4. And on the topic of obscure milestones the Eagles Donovan McNabb can break a 22-year-old record this Monday night when Philadelphia plays the Cowboys in Dallas. McNabb, coming off a three-touchdown performance last week against St. Louis, needs two TD passes against Dallas tomorrow night to surpass former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski (1977-86) as the Eagles’ career leader. Oh yeah, and Jaworski will be covering the game in Dallas for ESPN.

 5. When the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals meet up in the Cards home opener today, history suggests there will not be very many incomplete passes. Dolphins QB Chad Pennington (65.5) and Cardinals starter Kurt Warner (65.1) lead the NFL with the highest career completion percentages. That’s right, Pennington and Warner are 1-2 ahead of No. 3 Steve Young and No. 4 Peyton Manning.

6. Perhaps the most intriguing game of the weekend will feature the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. Before the season began, this was going to be a matchup between Jets QB Brett Favre, the NFL career leader in all the major passing categories, against three-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady. But Brady’s gone for the duration (knee surgery) and a seventh-round draft choice from 2005 named Matt Cassel is the quarterback. Cassel, who backed up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinert at USC, hasn’t started a game since high school. However, be fair. Brady was a sixth-round pick who carried a clipboard for a year before replacing the injured Drew Bledsoe. Favre, who now calls himself "a New Yorkian," was a second-round pick who was traded after his rookie year (and no starts) from Atlanta to Green Bay before he got his chance. This will be an intriguing matchup because after Brady’s success, you can’t write off Cassel quite yet.     

7. Atlanta Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan’s 62-yard touchdown pass on his first NFL attempt last Sunday was the first time a player threw a TD pass of 50 or more yards in the first quarter of his NFL debut since Roger Staubach hit Lance Rentzel on a 75-yard TD bomb on Sept. 21, 1969.

8. The Cleveland Browns will try to bounce back, as they did last year, from a 28-10 opening game shellacking at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and end an ugly streak. After losing 34-7 in their 2007 opener to the Steelers, the Browns roared back in Week 2 last year with a 51-45 win over Cincinnati, so they know a quick turnaround is possible (they eventually finished 10-6). Problem is, the Browns are playing Pittsburgh a team that has won nine in a row over the Browns and 14 of the last 15.

9. What a Monday night matchup. Last week, the Philadelphia Eagles amassed  522 yards of total offence while the Cowboys picked up 487, to rank 1 and 2 after Week1. That means, Monday will be the first time since Nov. 19, 2006 (Cincinnati, 545 at New Orleans, 513) that teams have met the week after posting at least 475 yards of offense.

10. Oh yeah, and the quarterbacks were pretty hot last Sunday, too. Philly’s Donovan McNabb threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns while three Eagles receivers (rookie DE Sean Jackson, Greg Lewis and Hank Baskett) each  put up at least 100 receiving yards (the first time that has happened for Philly since 1960). Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ Tony Romo threw for 320 yards while putting together four long touchdown drives against the Browns.
 

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Put on your fantasy thinking caps. The 2008 NFL season starts tonight.

Posted on September 4, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Say whatever you like, but this is the greatest moment of the sports calendar.

 

The National Football League, the greatest sports league on the planet, opens a new season tonight with the Washington Redskins at the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants (that’s still hard to write with a straight face), and I have just spent an entire morning answering questions like these…

 

“I have a choice. The Lions defence in Atlanta or the Jags defence in Tennessee? What do you think?”

 

I like the Lions defence, not because I particularly like the Lions defence per se, but because the Lions are favoured on the road for the first time in 23 games and only the fourth time this decade, so since hell has indeed frozen over again, I fear Vince Young more than I fear Matt Ryan.

 

“I have a choice between Matt Hasselbeck in Buffalo or Derek Anderson at home against Dallas. What do you think?”

 

I hate road openers (unless it’s Detroit in Atlanta), and I’m not sure Dallas is as good as everyone thinks. Derek Anderson will put up some points at home. I’m not sure Hasselbeck, against a pretty decent Buffalo defence playing in their own backyard, will do much of anything.

 

“I can either go with Arizona’s Anquan Boldin at San Francisco or the Jets’ Jerricho Cotchery in Miami. What do you think?”

 

Boldin is a great receiver, but Kurt Warner will look for Larry Fitzgerald first (wouldn’t you?). Boldin doesn’t even want to be in Aizona anymore. Brett Favre, meanwhile, seems to love Cotchery. Big target who runs Brett’s routes. Take Cotchery simply because he’s going to see the football.

 

Isn’t this fun? It’s football season. Real football season. Major league football season. And there is nothing more fun than lining up your fantasy team in Week 1.

 

So without further adieu, here are the 10 things you need to know heading into the NFL’s Kickoff Weekend:

 

1. The Lions and Vikings will battle for first in the NFC North. Barring catastrophic injuries to either team, they could both battle for the NFC crown. In fact, if you’re looking for a sleeper team in the NFC this season, look out for Detroit. they have an easy travel schedule (only 11,860 miles, making them 27th on a list led by Seattle at 34,766 miles) and their quarterback, Jon Kitna, is not as inept as his reputation would suggest. In fact, Kitna threw for 4,068 yards last year, his second with the Lions, becoming the first quarterback in club history with back-to-back 4,000-yard seasons.  Kitna, who passed for a career-high 4,208 yards in 2006, ranks fourth in the NFL with 8,276 yards over the past two seasons. The 12-year veteran has thrown for 200 yards in 28 of his 32 starts with Detroit, the most 200-yard games in the NFL during that span. If the Lions get any defence at all, they could win a lot of football games. 

 

2. The New York Giants won an NFL single-season record 10 consecutive road games in 2007, going 7-1 in the regular season. Considering they opened the year in London, England, they travelled 15,618 total miles. They won’t do that again and, as a result, won’t win the NFC East.

 

3. Watch out for teams with a “tandem backfield.” In 2007, 12 clubs boasted two running backs each with at least 500 rushing yards apiece, including five playoff teams: Dallas, Indy, the Jags, the Giants and Seattle. In fact, in Jacksonville, Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor (1,202) combined for 1,970 yards and they went 12-4 with a first round playoff win.

 

4. RUN THE FOOTBALL!!! Last season, teams with a 100-yard rusher won 73.4 per cent of the time, compared to 56.9 per cent for teams with a 100-yard receiver and only 53.1 per cent for teams with a 300-yard passer. Run the football, win the game.

 

5. Oh yeah, and force turnovers. San Diego led in takeaway-to-giveaway ratio with a plus-24 takeaway differential and finished 11-5 (it didn’t hurt to have LaDainian Tomlinson either). 13-3 Indy was next at plus-18 while 16-0 New England was third at plus-16.

 

6. The New England Patriots went 16-0 last season. They also finished first in fourth-down conversions, going 11-for-11 and second in sacks with 47. The Super Bowl champion New York Giants led in sacks with 53, but both defensive ends Michael Strahan (rertirement) and Osi Umenyiora (knee injury) are gone.

 

7. Win in Week 1: According to the NFL’s media department, there are never any guarantees, “but there are trends and they start in Week 1.” History is clear that the best way for a team to start its drive towards a possible Super Bowl championship is to win its opening game. The 42 Super Bowl winners have a 34-7-1 record in the Kickoff Weekend games of their title seasons. However, as the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants proved, a loss on Kickoff Weekend can still lead to a championship season. According to the league, since 1978, when the NFL went to the 16-game schedule, and excluding the abbreviated season of 1982, teams that are victorious on Kickoff Weekend are more than twice as likely to reach the playoffs than losers of an opening game. 

 

8. Once again, you have to like Pittsburgh. After all, QB Ben Roethlisberger is chasing his third divisional title in five years. Roethlisberger has a 39-16 (.709) regular-season record and was named to his first Pro Bowl after shattering the Steelers’ single-season record for passing touchdowns (32) and passer rating (104.1) last season. Yeah, it’s hard NOT to like Pittsburgh.

 

9.  A team that’s been forgotten during the pre-season is Tampa. The Bucs won the NFC South last year and have won the division three times under head coach Jon Gruden. In fact, under Gruden, the Bucs are 17-0 since 2002 when not committing turnover. Meanwhile, quarterback Jeff Garcia was named to Pro Bowl last year and in his career (incl. playoffs), Garcia’s teams are 32-12 (.727) when he has 95+ passer rating. The Bucs will not roll over this year.

 

10. Can the Giants repeat? The short answer is no, but until we meet up in Tampa in January, who really knows, right?

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