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A question quartet
The NFL's final four has been decided. CNNSI.com spoke to NFL Insider Pat Kirwan about the most pressing concerns facing each remaining team, as it prepares for the conference championship games. Minnesota VikingsCNNSI.com: All week the Vikings will talk about how they don't care about the weather or the field at Giants Stadium, but can Minnesota be a successful bad-weather team on either side of the ball? Kirwan: The field and the weather will be bigger issues than Minnesota cares to admit. Let's start with the kicker, Gary Anderson. Gary has not had to kick in cold weather this year. After watching Sunday's game, and spending 10 years at Giants Stadium, I know the crosswinds are an issue there. The grass field is also still tough to plant on. Don't underestimate that. In regard to the Vikings' offense, I had a conversation with a defensive coordinator from the NFC Central who felt the timing of the passing game and Minnesota's use of speed will be affected by the field. That's not to say, however, that Randy Moss isn't a big threat. As for the scrambling and running ability of Daunte Culpepper , the defensive scheme the Giants used against Donovan McNabb, in which they used a spy to shadow the Philadelphia quarterback, should be effective against the Vikings. New York used multiple players to keep an eye on McNabb and all of them proved they could tackle him in the open field. Cornelius Griffin is 300 pounds and shouldn't have a problem tackling Culpepper, either. The one dimension the Giants didn't have to deal with against Philadelphia was a running game. The Eagles were unable to run the ball. Minnesota's Robert Smith presents a much different problem. The good news for the Giants is that they have a history of closing the running game down. The field, once again, could be an issue. New York GiantsCNNSI.com: In the postgame press conference Sunday, Giants corner Jason Sehorn deadpanned that opponents just "happen to have bad games" against them, but this team is coming off a game in which it failed to score an offensive touchdown. That offense will have to score at some point. Can it? Kirwan: The Giants' offense will be facing a much different defense in the conference championship game. True, Minnesota played well on defense last week. But the Vikings' defense is not of the caliber of the Eagles'. The Eagles have excellent corners who matched up on Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard. The combination of Robert Tate and Wasswa Serwanga is not of the caliber of Philadelphia's Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent. When the Vikings study what the Eagles were doing against the Giants' offense, one thing that they should see is the blitz pressure inside. Kerry Collins is a traditional drop-back passer and his launch point is almost always five yards behind the center. Expect Collins to face inside pressure. Although the offense failed to generate a touchdown, Collins showed me something with his running. Even if it was for short yardage, he was able to move the chains. And Ron Dayne finally brought an inside power game, as it was hoped he would when the weather turned cold. A couple of important matchups come to mind in this game, too. The Giants' corners versus the Vikings' receivers, specifically Giants cornerback Dave Thomas. When the Vikings are in two-wide receiver sets, Thomas will get Cris Carter. When the Vikings go to a third wide receiver and Carter moves into the slot, then the slot goes to Emmanuel McDaniel. The Vikings will like both of these matchups. In one of the most interesting matchups of the game, Michael Strahan, who had his career game against Philadelphia, faces off against Korey Stringer, on his way to the Pro Bowl. Michael destroyed one of the best tackles in the league when he dominated Jon Runyan. Stringer -- on a soft, grass field -- could be in for a long day. Baltimore RavensCNNSI.com: We know about the defense, but the Ravens are still not a very good team offensively. Is this game going to be as simple as which offense can score even a single offensive touchdown? Kirwan: You would think that this is all about the Baltimore defense, and it will play well against Oakland. It always does. All along, though, and this goes back to his days in Tampa, Trent Dilfer has been unable to convince me that he can lead a team in the two-minute drill down the field to win a game, especially of this magnitude. When the game against Tennessee was tied it finally looked as though he might have to do just that. But he was bailed out by a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown and a Ray Lewis interception returned for a touchdown. My suspicion is that for them to get to the Super Bowl, Dilfer's going to have to do more than he's done. Some other problems include Raiders corners Eric Allen and Charles Woodson matching up very well against Baltimore receivers Qadry Ismail and Patrick Johnson. That will enable the Raiders to get a safety into the running game. And when you watch Jamal Lewis closely, yes, he's a big powerful back who can run downhill and remind you of John Riggins. But defensive people I've spoken to feel that when you make Lewis cut back he's not the same player. Dilfer will have to figure out which way to run the ball, and that could be a problem. Oakland Raiders
CNNSI.com: On offense, the Raiders try to bleed opponent's defenses slowly, but will that short-gain system work against the Ravens? Kirwan: This is a nice matchup for the Raiders on offense, which features a dink-and-duck passing game and an inside power running game. The reason that it's such a good fit for Oakland is that since the Ravens' offense won't be a high-scoring outfit, the Raiders won't be forced into wide-open, downfield attack, something they don't feature. Since the Raiders probably won't be behind 10 points, the offense won't be pressed into doing anything outside the things it does well. Jon Gruden is one of four or five NFL coaches who believe in running the football and gives it more than lip service. Go no further than the first two calls against the Dolphins, an outstanding defensive team. Gruden ran the ball right at Miami's two big tackles. Jon will run the ball right at the Baltimore defense, too. Expect short passing in the curl zones. It was interesting to see Tennessee do much of that, too. And maybe the only way to get Ray Lewis to look even human is to get him in space against the short passing attack. One interesting matchup to keep your eye on is Baltimore strong safety Corey Harris, in for injured Kim Herring, versus Oakland tight end Rickey Dudley, who has had an up-and-down season. This matchup could encourage Gruden to go to Dudley more often. Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years as a pro football coach, scout, and personnel
administrator, is an NFL analyst for CNN/Sports Illustrated and a regular
contributor to CNNSI.com. Chat with
Pat each Wednesday at 1 p.m.
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