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Notes from the weekend that was Posted: Tuesday January 22, 2002 1:24 PMUpdated: Tuesday January 22, 2002 1:25 PM
Here are a few lingering thoughts on last weekend's playoffs, plus a bit of look ahead for Sunday: Eagles-BearsSomewhere I read that Donovan McNabb's disruptive style of throwing on the go wouldn't work against the Bears because their defense was too disciplined. So McNabb rolls left (the book on him is to get him moving to his left -- yeah, right) and hits James Thrash 43 yards downfield through a coverage that seems to have melted away. In the second half, en route to the TD that put the Eagles ahead for good, he scrambles right and finds his second tight end, Jeff Thomason, for a 30-yarder, as the defense once again loses its focus. Thus, Philly's two longest plays of the day come from improvisations. And the touchdown that ended the Thomason drive, the six-yard pass to a flanked Duce Staley, was a walkover after the Bears had blown the coverage entirely.The message is that the unchartable element can play havoc with a normally disciplined defense. (Yes, it was your faithful narrator who wrote that this could never happen.) How will the Rams cope with this twinkle-toed magic? By outscoring it. Unless an underrated Philly defensive front storms the St. Louis O-line as it did to a Bears unit some people were calling the best in football. Terry Bradshaw waxed eloquent about the Rams' line, calling it the absolute best. I'm not so sure. I think it works well together, but these guys are basically short-setters, geared to Kurt Warner's quick, timed throws, and I haven't seen any real punch from them. I'm trying to build a case for Philly, but if their best cornerback, Troy Vincent, is out because of that groin strain, then it's almost lights out. Al Harris would replace him, with Rashard Cook, a safety, as the nickel back, backed up by a bunch of names you've never heard of. I think that the Eagles would keep their weakside linebacker, Mike Caldwell, out there, rather than go deep into their DB roster. It's logical to assume that the Rams would spread the field with four wideouts, but I think Mike Martz would go after Harris in a much more direct way. He'd leave his big guys, a tight end and a fullback, in and max-protect, giving Warner time to go deep to Isaac Bruce or Torry Holt, whichever one is on Harris's side. Double-coverage? Sure, but that's never bothered Martz before. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one personal note. Dick Stockton, doing the Eagles-Bears play-by-play, was meticulous on his down and distance and his accuracy in spotting the ball. In my announcers rating column last week, I ripped him for his laxity in this department. Nothing personal. He's a good guy, and on this day he raised his game the same way the Eagles did. Raiders-PatriotsRemember early in the movie Chariots of Fire when Harold Abrahams attends a county meet and sees Eric Liddell fall at the start of the race and then scramble to his feet and gradually run down the pack? And he gets so emotionally caught up in the drama that he twists his program practically to shreds? That was me watching this game. Rich Gannon was getting no rush in that slippery, snowy footing, even when the Patriots tried blitzing, and he was surveying the field and picking New England apart, just as he had done to the Jets in the wild-card playoff. Tom Brady was struggling. When Oakland went up by 10 in the third quarter, I said, "That's it, game's over."Well Brady went 9-for-9 on his TD drive in the fourth period, and in overtime he went 8-for-8. That's 17-for-17 on two crucial drives under miserable conditions. Wideout David Patten, whose speed was blunted by the snow, became a possession receiver. So did the backup tight end, Jermaine Wiggins, a guy with good hands but no speed. On a normal surface, he couldn't shake coverage but he was perfect on a field where everyone was slow. I counted six plays the Patriots simply had to make or the game probably would have been over. How about Adam Vinatieri's 45-yard field goal? Or this play near the end of regulation time, one that got practically no mention in the papers? The Raiders were running the clock, third-and-inches on their own 44. The Patriots had one timeout left. Zack Crockett, Oakland's 240-pound short-yardage specialist, got the call and Richard Seymour, the rookie defensive tackle, shed his block and stiffed him cold, forcing the punt that set up the tying field goal drive. I mean, talk about big plays. If the kid doesn't make the stop, the game's over. The play they've all been talking about, of course, was the replay reversal that gave New England the ball back. Neither Phil Simms nor Greg Gumbel in the booth questioned the fumble call when it occurred. I can't get into the nuances of whether Brady had fully tucked the ball away, which seemed to be the heart of the issue, since I don't know the difference between a full or partial tuck. Tuck rhymes with luck, and the Patriots sure bought some this time. I don't know how they'll cope with the power of the Steelers machine, which seems to be sound in every department. But when so many players raise their game to its absolute peak when the stakes are highest, how can you write them off? Ravens-SteelersWell, Pittsburgh's got money players of its own. Kordell Stewart, for instance. Amos Zereoue. And here's the guy who made what I think was the play of the game: Hines Ward, the flanker. It's the second quarter. The Steelers run that fool 'em play that shouldn't work anymore because they'd already shown it this year. You know, when Stewart pretends he's talking to somebody, and then the ball comes back on a direct snap, and the relaxed defense gets hammered. This time it went to backup wideout Troy Edwards on a reverse right, and he's off and running. Ward flattens cornerback Duane Starks with a block and keeps going. Edwards fumbles 23 yards downfield. The ball is loose, and from behind the play, here comes a blur in a Steelers uniform. It's Ward, who flies to the ball and recovers the fumble to keep the drive alive. New England has its inspirational guys but so does Pittsburgh.How did the Steelers hold a rushing attack that racked up 436 yards in its last two games to 22, and still get plenty of heat on Elvis Grbac? Speed. They were simply too fast for the Ravens' offense. And my defensive game ball goes to the rookie linebacker Kendrell Bell, who was the most explosive of all the Steelers' defenders. Packers-RamsHere's Green Bay coach Mike Sherman at halftime: "We're gonna try to win this game any way we can." Is that what he told his team during the intermission? After he butchered the clock at the end of the second quarter? The Rams are leading, 21-10, and it looks bad for the Pack, but it's not hopeless. St. Louis is on the Green Bay 13 at the two-minute warning. The Rams run three plays and kick a field goal. The Packers should have been calling timeouts. I mean, St. Louis is going to score anyway, one way or another, so at least give your offense a chance to get something back. Green Bay makes no attempt to stop the clock. The Rams score with 21 seconds left, giving Brett Favre time for one kneel. This is how you try to win the game any way you can?Favre, to me, looks like a quarterback who's greatly undercoached. Even in his best years, his fundamentals were closely monitored, but on this afternoon they fell apart. It was sad. Bring back Mike Holmgren. Hire Norv Turner. Do Something! One final note. As a Hall of Fame selector, I've been getting calls on how I'll vote when Bill Parcells' name comes up the day before the Super Bowl. I've heard that the real reason he turned down the Tampa Bay job was that it would ding him for enshrinement, since active coaches can't be on the ballot. I don't really believe it, but with this guy, who knows? Last year I voted yes. Other selectors felt that they couldn't vote for him because they weren't certain that he had really hung it up for good. Well, I feel that on his record he certainly deserves it, and changing one's mind is not a blackball offense. But I'd also hate to believe that we're being used in some way, that as soon as we'd vote him in, bingo, back he'd come into the arena. So to be honest, I'm torn, although when the smoke clears, I'll probably vote for him. Repeat, probably. I've also been asked what I think his chances are of making it. I'd say not as good as they were last year. The guys in his corner probably aren't as certain as they were in 2001. And I'd guess that the ones against him are even stronger in their negative feelings. A great coach but a strange person, and that could be enough to keep him out until people are absolutely certain that he's through messing around and is really retired. Sports Illustrated senior writer Paul Zimmerman covers the NFL for the magazine and CNNSI.com. His "Inside Football" column and Mailbag appear weekly on CNNSI.com. To send a question to Dr. Z, click here. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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