NFL Super Bowl Weekend Edition!!!

Journal NFLFan's Journal: NFL Super Bowl Weekend Edition!!! 7

Journal by NFLFan on Thursday February 02, 2006 @12:59PM

The Fan's Six Pack:

Here are my Super Bowl XL weekday thoughts:
- What is up with ESPN? Way too often do I turn on ESPN to hear their analysts saying Vegas got it wrong and that the Seahawks should be the favorites. It is fine that they think the Seahawks should be the favorites but I do not want to hear about Vegas. If ESPN wants to talk about the odds at Vegas then they should put together some 30 minute show once a week where they do just that.
- What is up with ESPN (II)? Did anybody see that fake Chad Johnson press conference? Guess the Seahawks and Steelers are so boring and Johnson is so great in front of the cameras that it just made sense, gag me.
- I like the Steelers going with their white jerseys. Why? Not because of their recent success in them but because they would almost definitely get more penalties in black.
- If the Steelers win then I never want to hear someone question Bill Cowher ever again. Everything that I have heard or read have the Steelers doing things differently than what the "experts" suggest. For example, all those experts were saying how important it was to get in a good full week of practice with the game plan during the first week because the second week would be full of distractions but Cowher gave his players an extra day off last week and did not install the game plan until this week! He does things his way.
- The more I find out about Troy Polamalu, the more I like him. It is between him and Ed Reed, both AFC North guys, for the title of best strong safety and right now I would pick Polamalu. Reed is good, real good, but he has two things working against him: he plays more like a free safety and Baltimore is now using a 4-3. Maybe my new found love for the 3-4 is clouding my judgment but I think the 3-4 offers more opportunities to showcase the strong safety.
- Lately I have been hearing that the Steelers might be able to run on the small-ish front seven of the Seahawks. I do not agree. Pittsburgh has not run the ball well enough lately to suggest that they can. I do think a real good running team can beat up on a good run stopping defense but the Steelers are not such a team right now.
- Word is that the Seahawks having been studying their game with the Cowboys to prepare for the Steelers 3-4. I think that is a mistake. The Steelers defense does a lot more and have the better 3-4 personnel. Like I wrote last week, the Seahawks have only faced vanilla 3-4 defenses this year.
- I wonder how smart Jerramy Stevens is.
- That is one sweet plane the Seahawks have. It makes so much sense for them to have it too; Seattle is just so far away from the rest of the NFL.
- How many Slashdotters can really cheer for the Seahawks? They are owned by Bill Gates's evil twin.
My thoughts on the coaching carousel:
- Mike Martz would be a perfect fit as the Lions offensive coordinator. Detroit has a lot of offensive talent going to waste and Martz knows how to use such talent.
- Donnie Henderson to the Lions is a move I like a lot. The guy was good for the Jets and do not be surprised if he is better for the Lions longterm-- I do not know if he is a longterm guy.
- I do not know what to make of Dom Capers and Mike Mularkey both coaching in Miami. Dom Capers is probably the better coach of the two.
Perhaps I should care but I do not care what is on Brett Favre's mind. Probably one of the top five arms ever in the NFL but it would be difficult for me to say he is a top five all-time quarterbacks. The guy has already won the big one and the guy is so revered that he has probably suffered from some sort of quarterback-rot these past few years.
When I first heard that Tom Brady opted out of the Pro Bowl, I thought sour grapes because he is not starting. The Patriots have been snake bitten before with Edwards and Bruschi suffering Pro Bowl related injuries so I would I think there is a soft voice somewhere in the Patriots organization suggesting that players do not participate. Now the word is that he probably has a sports hernia and that makes sense because it took him the entire first half of both playoff games to get going-- McNabb looked the same way when he was trying to play through his sports hernia.
Super, more T.O.-McNabb stuff for the Super Bowl!
So who would you rather have, The King or Machine?

The Pick:
I like the Steelers. I still feel like I do not know enough about the Seahawks but it is time to make my pick. I think the Steelers are playing better all around football right now. As I have already said, these two teams are pretty equal on offense but the Steelers possess the better defense.

I think the Seahawks will be able to move the ball some on the Steelers, perhaps more than what a lot of people are suggesting, but at the end of the day it will not be enough. I expect Alexander to get his yards, especially at the beginning of the game and perhaps at the end but the stuff in-between he will have to work real hard for. I am not so sure about the passing game and Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck seems like the excitable sort and the Steelers are awfully good at confusing a quarterback. I would expect Hasselbeck to get picked-off once or twice, I do not care how careful he has been with the football this year.

I think the Steelers will be able to move the ball even more easily on the Seahawks. I expect the Steelers to have some trouble running the ball with Parker while Bettis is something of a wild-card who could be very productive against the Seahawks. Where the Steelers success will come is through the air. Roethlisberger has been tested a lot more than what people realize or are willing to admit and the Steelers probably have the better group of receivers.

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