BGI Analysis: Vegas does Cowher, Steelers big favor by making Patriots three-point favorites
Monday, January 17, 2005
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Monday morning and it's nine degrees in Pittsburgh:
The key to beating the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game will be the play of the Steelers' gloved quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. Looks like another glove day for the quarterback Sunday, which means I'll receive a truckload of e-mails about it. Look, the guy says he gets a better grip on the ball with the gloves in cold weather. Maybe he does not get as good a grip as he does without gloves in warm weather, but he's been doing this for awhile and I'm sure he's not pulling the gloves on because they give him less control. I know Terry Bradshaw did not wear gloves, but they also did not have the kind they do now and maybe Bradshaw felt more comfortable without them. Different strokes, you know?
Tom Brady wears gloves.
Against Baltimore on Dec. 26, two weeks after his worst outing of the season against the New York Jets, Ben Roethlisberger completed 14 of 19 passes for 221 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and a 125.1 passer rating. He's capable of playing a very good game Sunday night.
Did the playoff pressure get to Roethlisberger? I don't know. What did they call it when he had his previous poor game against the Jets on Dec. 12 -- the 13-Shopping-Days-Left-Until-Christmas pressure?
The Steelers are 3-point underdogs? That's the best news Bill Cowher could receive on this Jan. 17. It will be the first time he takes a team into a home playoff game as an underdog. They were heavy favorites in each of their previous AFC championship games, except the one against Denver when they were slight favorites. And you know how most of those turned out.
Yes, the Steelers are lucky to be here, just as the Denver Broncos were lucky to beat the Steelers in the AFC championship game after the 1997 season. Just because Norm Johnson missed his field goal, from 38 yards, early in the game rather than near the end didn't make it any more of a miss. And, just as with Herm Edwards and his staff, some key bonehead decisions that day by Bill Cowher and his staff helped the Broncos -- Kordell Stewart throwing deep into the end zone on second-and-two in the first half, for one; going into a hurry-up offense, punting, and giving Denver and John Elway a chance to score a second touchdown just before the half. The Steelers lost that game by three points and Denver went on to win its first Super Bowl.
It doesn't matter how you win. The Patriots were lucky to beat Oakland in the "tuck" game, which put New England here and helped them win their first Super Bowl.
Stop complaining. In 1972, the Steelers pulled off the most miraculous play in NFL history, the Immaculate Reception, to beat the Raiders at the buzzer, 13-7. Did their fans moan the rest of the week about how lousy the offense played that day and how lucky they were to be in the AFC championship game? The following week, the Miami Dolphins needed a fake punt to beat the upstart Steelers 21-17 to advance to the Super Bowl. Now, they talk about those unbeaten Dolphins as one of the great teams in NFL history, as they should.
Doesn't matter -- luck, breaks, yips by the kicker, bad officiating calls, none of it. You win, you win. Sort it out later.
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