shawn's blog

Fast Willie Gets My MVP Vote

2006-02-06T14:49:00.001-08:00

When two teams are evenly matched, as the Steelers and Seahawks appeared to be heading into Super Bowl XL, it often takes only one big play to help determine who will be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy and who will have to wait until next year. In Super Bowl XL that play came courtesy of a speedy running back who earned the nickname “Fast Willie”, and who is now the holding of the longest run from scrimmage in Super Bowl history. Willie Parker also should be holding the honor Super Bowl XL MVP. The Steelers enjoyed a 7-3 halftime lead, which obviously left the game very much in the balance heading into the third quarter. Pittsburgh would receive in the second half, and it didn’t take long for Pittsburgh and Parker to take full advantage of the opening possession. On just their second play from scrimmage Steelers QB Ben Rothlisberger gave the ball to Parker and the rest was history, literally. As soon as Parker made it into the Seattle secondary it was clear that nobody was going to catch him, and clear why he was nicknamed “Fast Willie”, and 75-yards later Parker arrived in the Seahawks’ end zone with an unnecessary head-first dive. The Steelers had their first breathing room of the ballgame, a 14-3 lead. Parker’s run broke the previous Super Bowl record held by the L.A. Raiders’ Marcus Allen, who ran for a 74-yard touchdown as part of his MVP performance in Super Bowl XVIII, 22 years ago. From then on the Seahawks were forced to play catch up, which meant going away from their own running game, and NFL MVP Shaun Alexander. The Parker run filled his team with confidence and made their opponents go away from their game plan. Is there anything more valuable than that? Certainly the pass on the trick play that Antwaan Randle El threw to Hines Ward (who was actually named the MVP) was icing on the cake a quarter later, helping to turn a 14-10 advantage into a 21-10 victory. But at that point it was more of a final blow, finishing off what Fast Willie had started. Ward would finish with 5 receptions for 123 yards and the touchdown catch from Randle El, but “V” in “MVP” stands for valuable, and the Steelers would not have won this game without what Willie Parker brought to the table with his 75-yard TD run. For that, the award should have been his. Parker finished with 93 yards rushing and the touchdown. Men have not won the MVP with much more impressive numbers than Parker had in this game (Timmy Smith had a record 204 yards rushing in Super Bowl XXII and didn’t win the award). On his non-TD carries in Super Bowl XL he rushed 9 times for 18 yards, a 2.0 yards per carry average. Not overwhelming by any means. But if there is one thing that should be shown years from now, just like Allen’s 74-yard run against the Redskins still is, it’s Parker’s run that opened up the game and gave Pittsburgh the breathing room they desperately needed at the time. I realize that the MVP of the Super Bowl is not the most important award in the world, and often it is not given to the most deserving candidate. I would have given Ty Law, for example, the Super Bowl XXXVI MVP when the Pats upset the Rams for their first title. Instead it went to Tom Brady who had a rather unspectacular game, aside from engineering the drive that put them in field goal range to win it at the end. But to say Parker “only” had one big play is a joke, because many other MVP’s have had “only” one big play to win the award before him. (Desmond Howard anyone?) When that one play is the largest deciding factor in the game, the award is well earned. Hines Ward had a solid game, and was not an altogether undeserving winner of the award. But when Fast Willie Parker broke through the line of scrimmage and attacked the Seattle defense without having to make much of a cut, he never looked back…and neither did the Steelers. With one play he turned a tight game into Pittsburgh’s favor, and there is no telling how things may have gone for the Steelers if that possession had been a “3-and-out” instead of a 75-yard record breaking touchdown run.There is nothing more valuable than being the deciding factor in who wins the game, and with his run I believe Fast Willie Parker was just that in Super Bowl XL. For that, he should have won the MVP. Hopefully Hines at least lets him ride around in the new Escalade.

Using History to Help Pick an SB XL Winner

2006-02-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

I have received many emails already telling me just how ridiculous my article “Super Bowl XL: Black vs. Blue” was. I was told it was not scientific, and in no way helped to show who was going to win the big game on Sunday. Truth be told, that was pretty much the point. There is no real way to predict a winner, so helmet color was just as good as the 8 million other facts I have read (like starting QB’s wearing #8 are 5-0 in Super Bowls). None of that matters! But since my readers insist on some real advice on picking this weekend’s winner, I’ve opted to use history as my guide. Here is a look back at the previous 39 Super Bowls, and a nugget from each that may help us determine who will win #40. Super Bowl I – Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10: The more storied franchise wins as the Packers beat the champs of the upstart AFC in the first ever Super Bowl. Advantage: Steelers (Pittsburgh has 4 titles; the Seahawks are playing in the first Super Bowl). Super Bowl II – Green Bay 33, Oakland 14: Vince Lombardi, a coach who already won a Super Bowl, goes back to win his second. Advantage: Seahawks (Seattle coach Mike Holmgren has already won one Super Bowl, and like SB II winner Vince Lombardi, he won his first one with the Packers). Super Bowl III – NY Jets 16, Baltimore 7: A cocky young quarterback, Joe Namath, guarantees victory for the champs of the AFC and then leads his team to the title. Advantage: Pittsburgh (Steelers QB Ben Rothlisberger has already told Jerome Bettis he would deliver him 4 game balls this post-season, and he only has 1 more to go). Super Bowl IV – Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7: The Chiefs, a team who lost their most recent Super Bowl appearance, beats a team playing in their first Super Bowl. Advantage: Pittsburgh (The Steelers lost Super Bowl XXX to the Cowboys, the Seahawks have never been there before). Super Bowl V – Baltimore 16, Dallas 13: “The backwards Super Bowl”, as the team that had less time of possession and more turnovers wins, and LB Chuck Howley of the Cowboys becomes the only player to win MVP on a losing team. Advantage: Pittsburgh (the win over Indianapolis proved the Steelers are quite capable of winning ugly, and Seattle’s Lofa Tatupu is quite capable of walking away with MVP, win or lose). Super Bowl VI – Dallas 24, Miami 3: Although Cowboys QB Roger Staubach won the MVP; it was Dallas’ record 252 yards rushing that won the game for them, showing that there is often no substitute for the top ground attack. Advantage: Pittsburgh (The Steelers might have The Bus, but the Seahawks have the NFL MVP).Super Bowl VII – Miami 14, Washington 7: Dophins S Jake Scott wins MVP as the team with the best defensive backfield becomes World Champs. Advantage: Pittsburgh (Even though Seattle’s Macus Trufant is the best cover man in the game, the Steelers’ safeties, All-Pro Troy Polamalu and Chris Hope, give them the edge here). Super Bowl VIII – Miami 24, Minnesota 7: Larry Csonka was the MVP and the man that Minnesota couldn’t stop. Miami rode him all day to 145 yards on 33 carries, enabling the most dominant back in the game to take home the title. Advantage: Seattle. (Record breaking back Shaun Alexander is starting for Seattle. Willie Parker will be getting the bulk of the carries for the Steelers). Super Bowl IX – Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31: Steelers’ wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth combined for 239 yards and 3 touchdowns, as the team with the more explosive wide outs wins the big game. Advantage: Pittsburgh (Hines Ward and Antwaan Randle El are a more explosive duo than the Seahawks’ Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram…unless of course you ask Darrell Jackson). Super Bowl X – Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6: Defense dominated as the Steel Curtain led Pittsburgh to it’s second consecutive Super Bowl title. Advantage: None (These two teams seem to be evenly matched on the defensive side of the football). Super Bowl XI – Oakland 32, Minnesota 14: The more potent offense prevailed in this one as the Raiders ate up the Purple People Eaters for a record 429 of total offense. Advantage: Seattle. (Seattle has the more explosive offense, finishing 2nd in the NFL this season in total offense. Pittsburgh was 16th). Super Bowl XII – Dallas 27, Denver 10: The difference makers in this game were on the defensive line. The only Co-MVP’s in Super Bowl history, Randy White and Harvey Martin, led the defensive that forced four turnovers in the game. Advantage: Pittsburgh. (All-Pro Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith give the Steelers the advantage on the D-Line in this match up). Super Bowl XIII - Pittsburgh 35, Seattle 31: In a battle of quarterbacks, it was the free-slinging Terry Bradshaw who would beat Roger Staubach and capture the MVP Award with a 318 yard nearly perfect passing display. Advantage: None. (Although Hasselbeck may be the better QB week in and week out, each had the same number of 300 yard passing games this season and both had 98 QB Ratings during the regular season). Super XIV – Pittsburgh 31, LA Rams 19: Again it was Bradshaw with over 300 yards, again it was Bradshaw winning the MVP, and again it was Bradshaw who made the biggest difference in the biggest game. Advantage: None (See Super Bowl XIII). Super Bowl XV – Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10: The Raiders’ Jim Plunkett, once a Patriots draft pick, won the MVP Award and proved that a QB that had moved on to his second team was still capable of winning a Super Bowl. Advantage: Seattle. (Seahawks QB Hasselbeck began as a backup to Bret Favre in Green Bay). Super Bowl XVI – San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21: The 49ers won their first Super Bowl behind MVP Joe Montana, but likely would not have been able to do so without the 4 field goals courtesy of Ray Wersching, proving that the kicker is a vital asset to a team’s asset in the big game. Advantage: None. (The Seahawks Josh Brown and the Steelers Jeff Reed are about equal on the field. Brown has better numbers, but in much better conditions, which makes this a tossup). Super Bowl XVII – Washington 27, Miami 17: John Riggins rushed for a record 166 yards on 38 carries behind the offensive line known as “The Hogs”, proving that a great offensive line can be an invaluable asset in the Super Bowl. Advantage: Seattle. (With three Pro Bowl players, led by the best tackle in football Walter Jones, the Seahawks have the edge over what is a very good Steelers line). Super Bowl XVIII – LA Raiders 38, Washington 9: Although this turned into the biggest blowout in Super Bowl history at the time, and Raiders RB Marcus Allen wound up with the MVP, the game first shifted when L.A.’s Derrick Jensen blocked Jeff Hayes’ punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, giving L.A. a 7-0 lead and putting them on their way to the title. Advantage: Pittsburgh (The Steelers punter, Chris Gardocki, has made an NFL record 1,112 punts without ever having one blocked. It’s unlikely the tides will not be turned by a punt being stuffed down Pittsburgh’s throat in this game). Super Bowl XIX – San Francisco 38, Miami 16: Superstars Joe Montana and Roger Craig got the glory in this one, with Montana winning the MVP, but it was backup running back Wendell Tyler who may have given San Fran their biggest boost. Tyler rushed for 65 yards and caught four catches for 70 yards, accumulating 135 yards of total offense and proving that a part time back can make a huge difference in the outcome. Advantage: Pittsburgh (Who better to have as your back off the bench than a future Hall-of-Famer like Jerome Bettis?). Super Bowl XX – Chicago 46, New England 10: This was a case of the dominant team in their conference, and #1 playoff seed, battling the lowest seeded Wild Card team. Sound familiar? Like the Patriots, the Steelers won three road playoff games to get here. Like Chicago, Seattle won two home playoff games to get here. Advantage: Seattle (Pittsburgh would become the first team to be a #6 seed that goes onto win the Super Bowl if they are victorious in Detroit). Super Bowl XXI – NY Giants 39, Denver 20: MVP Phil Simms was the star, completing 22 of 25 passes for 268 and 3 TDs, but you don’t have those types of numbers without great targets, and Simms’ biggest and best target was sure-handed tight end Mark Bavaro who had 4 catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. Advantage: Pittsburgh (Rookie Heath Miller has proven to be everything the Steelers could have asked for as a blocker and receiver. The Seahawks Jeremy Stevens is big and quotable). Super Bowl XXII – Washington 42, Denver 10: Led by MVP QB Doug Williams, the ‘Skins scored 35 points on five consecutive possessions, turning a 10-0 deficit into a blowout of an advantage. Advantage: Seattle (Even on their best day I don’t see the Steelers scoring on five consecutive possessions. The Seahawks could do it any game against anyone). Super Bowl XXIII – San Francisco 20, Pittsburgh 16: Super Bowl MVP Jerry Rice caught 11 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown and showed that the best player on the planet is sometimes the key ingredient to a championship team. Advantage: Seattle (Okay, so Tom Brady is still the best player on the planet, for Shaun Alexander did win the MVP, so he’s as close as anyone in this game comes). Super Bowl XXIV – San Francisco 55, Denver 10: In the biggest Super Bowl blowout to date, the 49ers dominated from the start and showed that a long-tenured coach is sometimes just destined not to bring his team a title, as the Broncos Dan Reeves’ moved to 0-3 as Denver’s head coach in the big game. Advantage: Seattle (The Steelers’ Bill Cowher is the longest tenured coach in the NFL, but maybe it’s simply not to be in the big game for Pitt’s main man). Super Bowl XXV – NY Giants 20, Buffalo 19: This game will always be remembered for one player: Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood, who missed wide right to seal the Bills’ fate. This showed that it’s not always the best kicker, but the most clutch kicker, who will determine the outcome. Advantage: Pittsburgh (The Steelers’ Reed was 2-2 on game winning tries this season; the Seahawks’ Brown was 2-3, missing a potential game winner against the Redskins on October 2nd). Super Bowl XXVI – Washington 37, Buffalo 24: A balanced attack beats a superstar. The Bills’ Thurman Thomas was the AFC’s leading rusher during the regular season, but struggled in the Super Bowl, He finished as the 5th leading rusher in the game with 13 yards on 10 carries. This shows a team concept is sometimes better than one superstar…at least if there is no backup plan to the superstar. Advantage: Pittsburgh (The Steelers 3rd string back, Duce Staley, is still a very capable runner, whereas the Seahawks will be in big trouble if Alexander struggles or is injured). Super Bowl XXVII – Dallas 52, Buffalo 17: The Bills Jim Kelly went down early with an injury and the Bills never had a chance from then on as the Cowboys quickly turned this one into a rout. Troy Aikman (4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) showed in order to be a winning Super Bowl QB you need to be a healthy Super Bowl QB. Advantage: Seattle. (Pittsburgh’s Rothlisberger missed 4 games due to injury this season; Seattle’s Hasselbeck has missed only 2 starts in the last three and half years). Super Bowl XXVIII – Dallas 30, Buffalo 13: Dallas proved that the NFC was the dominant conference in the NFL, winning the conference’s 10th consecutive Super Bowl. But tides have changed, as the AFC is now clearly the cream of the crop, and have won 6 of the past 8 title games. Advantage: Pittsburgh (This game will prove just how dominant the AFC really is as the AFC’s #6 seed battled the top seeded team from the NFC). Super Bowl XXIX – San Francisco 49, San Diego 26: Steve Young emerged from the shadows of Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana, who he backed up for years, to win a Super Bowl title of his own. In the process he broke Montana’s record by throwing 5 TD passes to go along with 325 passing yards. Advantage: Seattle (Hasselbeck used to back up future Hall of Famer Brett Favre…Rothlisberger used to back up Tommy Maddox). Super Bowl XXX – Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17 – A cornerback, Larry Brown, made the biggest difference in this game, intercepting two passes, returning them for a 44 and 33 yards, and walking away with the MVP Award over his more heralded teammates. Advantage: Seattle (If there was one cornerback, on paper, that seems capable of stealing the show it is the Seahawks’ Marcus Trufant. But then again, many people would have assumed it would have been Pittsburgh’s Rod Woodson, not Brown, in SB XXX). Super Bowl XXXI – Green Bay 35, New England 21: In this battle of big-armed QB’s, Green Bay’s Favre and the Patriots’ Drew Bledsoe, it was a special teams player that stole the show with his 99 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and his 244 overall return yards. Advantage: Pittsburgh (Neither team ran back a kickoff return for a TD all season, but the Steelers’ Antwaan Randle El ran back two punts to the house and is very capable of making a very big difference in this game). Super Bowl XXXII – Denver 31, Green Bay 24: Terrell Davis, the most productive running back in the NFL, was the most productive man on the field this day, rushing for 157 yards and a record 3 touchdowns on the ground. Once again, it looks as though having the best running back (or player for that matter) is not a bad thing on Super Bowl Sunday. Advantage: Seattle (Once again, having the MVP aboard pays dividends for the NFC Champs). Super Bowl XXXIII – Denver 34, Atlanta 19: A future Hall of Famer, John Elway, wins the final game of his football career (and wins MVP in the process) before riding off into retirement. Advantage: Pittsburgh (Jerome Bettis, another future Hall of Famer, may be calling it quits after this one). Super Bowl XXXIV – St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16: The Rams brought the best offense on the planet to the big game, and that was enough to hold on to the victory against the Titans, led by Super Bowl MVP quarterback Kurt Warner. Advantage: Seattle (See Super Bowl XI). Super Bowl XXXV – Baltimore 34, NY Giants 7: The Ravens’ MLB Ray Lewis was the difference maker in this one, earning Super Bowl MVP honors. He had no sacks, no interceptions, no touchdowns, but proved what a huge difference the man in the middle can make when the defense is clicking on all cylinders. Advantage: Pittsburgh (As good as Seattle linebacker Lofa Tatupu is, the Steelers’ James Farrior is even better). Super Bowl XXXVI – New England 20, St. Louis 17: The Patriots were huge underdogs coming into the game, but this game showed why the Super Bowls are played on the field, and not in the papers. Bill Belichick devised a brilliant game plan to shut down the “Greatest Show on Turf”, and the underdog Pats walked away with their first title. Advantage: Seattle (The Seahawks are the ‘dogs in SB XL, but until the Steelers can win on the field they haven’t won anything. They don’t actually start the game up 4 points, unless you’re a gambler). Super Bowl XXXVII – Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21: A team that is making just their first ever Super Bowl appearance proved that a big-game rookie can knock off a franchise with Super Bowl appearances, and victories, in their history. Advantage: Seattle (The Seahawks are making appearance #1. The Steelers are making appearance #6).Super Bowl XXXVIII – New England 32, Carolina 29: Just as Scott Norwood proved how costly having a non-clutch kicker can be, Adam Vinatieri proved (for the second year in a row) how valuable it is to have one on your side. Advantage: Pittsburgh (See Super Bowl XXV). Super Bowl XXXIX – New England 24, Philadelphia 21: Safety Rodney Harrison was one of many stars for the Patriots who won in their typical “team” mode. Harrison had two key interceptions in the game for the Pats, helping to seal their third Super Bowl title in four years. Advantage: Pittsburgh (Troy Polomatu is as close as anyone in this game can get to matching all that Rodney brought to the table for the Pats). Final Score: PITTSBURGH STEELERS 19, Seattle Seahawks 16.For all of you who didn’t think that my article analyzing the base colors Super Bowl contestants have worn wasn’t scientific enough, hopefully this re-assured you that it did in fact have some merit. Whether it’s based on helmet color or based on past Super Bowl history, it appears that the Pittsburgh Steelers are about to join the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers as the only 5-time champions in history. Should they even bother playing the game? They have black helmets and history on their side, does Seattle stand a chance?

Super Bowl XL: Black vs. Blue

2006-02-06T14:48:00.000-08:00

Who will win Super Bowl XL this Sunday in Detroit? The answer depends on what you think will determine the winner. Who has a better running game? Who has the stingiest defense? Who has the hottest quarterback? Who will make the fewest mistakes? The answers to these questions are all open to interpretation, so I decided there had to be one factor that would clearly help figure out this year’s champion. Finally I found one, and determined the answer that really needs to be answered is which team is going to be wearing the right colored helmet in the battle of black vs. blue? In the 39 previous Super Bowl games there have been 10 different base colors of the participants’ helmets: black, blue, gold, green, orange, purple, silver and yellow. You may be surprised to know just how telling which color lid the team is wearing can be. Wearing gold helmets? You may as well be fitted for your rings now. If your helmets are green, orange or purple however, you will be fighting the odds before you ever even walk down the runway. Some fun facts about helmet colors in the Super Bowl….GOLD is the only undefeated color, at 5-0. GREEN, ORANGE and PURPLE are a combined 0-8 in the big game. SILVER has been worn by the most teams in the Super Bowls (19), and has the most Super Bowl titles (12). BLUE have lost the most Super Bowl games (8), followed by SILVER and RED with 7 apiece. 10 teams have worn WHITE, but only once (the Tennessee Titans in SB XXXIV) since the white-hatted Pats lost to the blue-hatted Bears in Super Bowl XX, 20 years ago. Only four colors (GOLD, YELLOW, BLACK and SILVER) have winning record in Super Bowls. The overall records of Super Bowl participants based on helmet color are: COLOR (RECORD, WIN %)1. Gold (5-0 1.000)2. Yellow (6-2 .750)3. Black (5-2 .714)4. Silver (12-7 .632)5. Blue (6-8 .429)6. White (4-6 .400)7. Red (4-7 .364)8. Green (0-2 .000)8. Orange (0-2 .000)10. Purple (0-4 .000)So what does this tell us about this year’s Super Bowl XL match? Based on overall history it would look like the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to walk away with the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday. Black helmeted teams have won 5 of their 7 Super Bowl appearances, including 4 of 5 by the Steelers themselves. Black also won their most recent Super Bowl appearance, when the Ravens took the title in Super Bowl XXXV. Blue has had a much rockier history in Super Bowls. Blue was 2-7 in their first 9 appearances, with one of the two wins coming in a blue vs. blue game (Giants vs. Broncos in Super Bowl XXI). Blue then won 4 of their next 5 appearances, including Denver’s back-to-back titles in John Elway’s final two seasons. But the last two Super Bowl games for blue haven’t been nearly as kind. The Giants first fell to the Ravens and then the Rams were upset by the Patriots in back to back games in Super Bowls XXXV and XXXVI. This will be the fourth Super Bowl game of black against blue, with black holding a 2 to 1 advantage. The first battle was back in Super Bowl XIV when the Steel Curtain beat the L.A. Rams 31-19 to capture their fourth (and last) Super Bowl title. Another 19 years would pass before the two colors would meet up in football’s biggest game once again, but this time it was blue that would come out on top, as Denver beat the Atlanta Falcons to capture SB XXXIII by a near revered score, 34-19. Black would only have to wait two years for revenge, when Baltimore beat the Giants, 34-7. So now, for the third time in the last eight Super Bowls, it will be black vs. blue as the Steelers take on the Seattle Seahawks. History would dictate that the men in the black hats will prevail and finally get the “one for the thumb” their city has been waiting on for the past 26 years. If the Seahawks decide to pay tribute to Steve Largent, Kenny Easley and Curt Warner and wear their “throwback” silver helmets, Seattle may have a fighting chance in this one. Otherwise take the Steelers and give the points. I understand this study is flawed in many ways. The Seahawks’ blue, for instance, is not even close to the blue of the ’85 Bears team that won Super Bowl XX, yet they have been grouped together here. But since I’m a football fan and not an interior designer the only colors that exist in my world are the ones that were included in the Crayola 8-pack of fat magic markers. So blue is blue is blue.Okay, so helmet color may not be what makes or breaks the game this Sunday, but since none of the other historical stats you’re going to be bombarded with leading up to the game seem to mean much when the teams take football’s biggest stage, I figured it has just as much merit as how other young quarterbacks have fared in Super Bowls or how these teams have fared in the Midwest on Sunday evenings. And trust me, somebody is placing a bet based on that as well. And, at the very least, my stat was more fun to research.

Why the Seahawks Will Win the Super Bowl

2006-02-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

When word went out looking for somebody to write an argument about why the Seattle Seahawks will win Super Bowl XL I knew immediately that I was the man for the job. No, not because I’m a great writer or overly creative. The reason I’m the perfect man for this job is actually because I’m not creative at all. And picking the winner for this game takes absolutely no creativity whatsoever, it only takes common sense, and that is something that I have plenty of. Why will the Seahawks win the Super Bowl? I’d like to know how anyone in their right minds could legitimately think that they will not win it. Like I said, this is simply a matter of common sense, and anyone with common sense can see that they Seahawks have this one in the bag. Instead of trying to write out the reasons for why the Seahawks will win in some creative way that may blur my point, I will give ten reasons, of the hundreds, why it will be Seattle cruising to victory on Sunday. 1. People refer to the NFC as a “second class conference”. DK himself referred to it as the NFL’s J.V. league. But this could work to Seattle’s advantage. While Pittsburgh had to battle through three tough playoff games to get here, Seattle had a bye and then cruised over overmatched Washington and Carolina teams. They are healthy, well rested, and they aren’t going to be suffering any ill-effects of a month’s of hard battles like some team I know. The NFC, after all, does hold a 21-18 lead in the Super Bowl games. 2. Shaun Alexander is the best player in the NFL. He set touchdown records this year, won the MVP Award, and will give the Steelers fits. The problem with the other teams that played Pittsburgh is that they went away from the run. Cincinnati’s Rudi Johnson averaged over 4 yards a carry and scored a touchdown…but they only gave him 13 carries. The Colts’ Edgerrin James had the exact same type of game….over 4 yards per carry and a TD, but also only got 13 carries. Denver’s backs combined for 97 yards on 21 carries, but they stopped giving them the ball as soon as they fell behind. Seattle will not make the mistake of the teams before them that played Pitt. They will feed the MVP early and often and ride him to victory. 3. People are underestimating the Seahawks defense. They are not just good, they are borderline great. In their two playoff games they have not allowed a rushing touchdown (sorry Bus), and one of the only two passing touchdowns they allowed in the playoffs was a last minute throw by Carolina that meant nothing, while the Seahawks were already in celebration mode. The two most key stats on defense are usually 3rd-down conversations allowed and turnovers forced. Seattle held opponents to a lower conversion percentage than Pittsburgh (38.0 vs 39.7) and had a better +/- for turnovers (Seattle +10, Pittsburgh +7).4. The Steelers may have four Super Bowls and the Seahawks have none, but those weren’t even in my lifetime. Out of players that are actually on the teams now the ‘Hawks have more Super Bowl experience. Five of their players have Super Bowl rings already. I can’t think of a single player on Pittsburgh who can say that. Oh yeah, that’s because there aren’t any. 5. Speaking of Super Bowl rings, our coach has one. As Pats fans may remember he won a ring in Super Bowl XXXI when the Packers beat the Steelers. Bill Cowher got outcoached by Barry Switzer in his only Super Bowl appearance. OUCH!6. The Steelers are just happy to be there. It seems like they are even in shock that they pulled off three road wins to reach the Super Bowl. Meanwhile the Seahawks didn’t just expect to make it, they expect to win it. They aren’t feeling great about all they accomplished like Pittsburgh because they haven’t accomplished their goal yet. They will on Sunday. 7. Matt Hasselbeck is a better quarterback than Ben Rothlisberger. Maybe he doesn’t get the press attention or carry the same rock star persona, but he is a better player. Only one of them will be in the Pro Bowl this year, and it won’t be the guy with the dopey looking beard. Big Ben didn’t even make it when they needed two injury replacements for the AFC at QB. Rothlisberger is more like Hasselbeck the year he was the cocky gunslinger who threw the overtime interception against Green Bay after confidently guaranteeing victory. He has matured way beyond that now. I can’t wait for Rothlisberger to eat some humble pie served up by Lofa Tatupu and friends on Sunday. 8. Since September 25 of last year the Seahawks have gone 13-1. Their only loss was in a meaningless season finale in what may be Bret Favre’s last game, and their backups still almost pulled that one out. They haven’t lost a meaningful game in over four months…why would anyone think they would start now? And that did include a spanking of the AFC #1 seed Indianapolis 28-13, so don’t even try to use the argument that it was just an easy conference. 9. Walter Jones is the best tackle in the NFL. It’s not even really close. And the rest of their line isn’t too bad either. Steve Hutchinson and Robbie Tobeck will be joining Jones (and Hasselbeck, Alexander and Tatupu) in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. They say the game is won and lost in the trenches, and I’d take these guys against anyone, any day. The only Steelers defensive lineman to make the Pro Bowl was DT Casey Hampton, and that was only after Richard Seymour decided to stay home. How will they stop Shaun? Exactly, they won’t. 10. If Pittsburgh wants to throw history in the faces of Seattle, bragging about their four Super Bowls, they should also keep in mind that at least the Seahawks haven’t lost one. And of the four franchises that played in the Super Bowl for the first time in the past six seasons, three of the four have won. The only team to play for the first time and lose during this team was the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, and Seattle isn’t going to have to play against Tom Brady. Seattle will win. Shaun Alexander will be Super Bowl MVP. The Steelers fans can cry in their “Terrible Towels” and keep dreaming about that ever elusive fifth Super Bowl. The Seahawks will not just win on Sunday, they will win easily. It’s just common sense. (If you haven't already done so, be sure to read last week's DK's Guest Writer Mike Kelley's article "Why the Steelers Will Win the Super Bowl")

my first post

2006-02-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

this is a test