Divisional Playoffs

I started off 1-0 last week, and then it went down hill fast as I finished 1-3. I'll try to rebound this week.

Cardinals @ Saints
It's anybody's guess on how the Saints will come out and play today. Them and the Colts haven't had to play a meaningful game in about a month. But it's the Superdome, the place is going to be electric, and it's the number one offense in the NFL. I think the Saints defense will do a better job of stopping the Cards a bit more than the Packers did (how could they not?), and the Cardinals defense got lit last week and they're facing the number one offense? Forget about it. This game might be a shootout, but I see the Saints either jumping out to a big lead or having a bit more at the end to get the victory.

Ravens @ Colts
The Colts are another team you have no idea what to expect after laying down in games at the end of the regular season. Here's what I know in this game. The Ravens defense has stopped Peyton Manning before and they aren't intimidated. The Ravens don't give a flip where the game is played. The Ravens run the football, and the Colts have always had difficulty in stopping the run. I can't believe the line in this game is a full touchdown. I hate to go this way, but I like the Ravens to pull the upset and make the Colts think about taking games off in Week 15 next year.

Cowboys @ Vikings
I had to hear all week about how this game is so hard to predict because the Cowboys are the hottest team in the league or something. Well, the Chargers have won 11 games in a row, so forget the Cowboys being the hottest team ever. The Cowboys have almost been playing too good recently though, and I think that's about to run out for them this week. Brett Favre came back to football specifically for this game, these playoffs. They have a great defense, probably the most talented running back in the game and a tough offensive line. Plus, you have the Metrodome factor for the Cowboys to deal with all day. I think the purple people eater come out, stop Dallas running game and pick on Romo all day. The Cowboys magic runs out on Sunday.

Jets @ Chargers
The Jets have been a nice story with their strong defense and tough running game. Somehow the Bungals allowed a rookie running back to run all over them. The Chargers aren't going to allow Shonn Greene or Thomas Jones to run wild. I think San Diego will come out and stack the box and make Mark Sanchez beat them. He won't be able to do it. Meanwhile, the Chargers offense has too many weapons. Darrelle Revis can't cover Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Darren Sproles out of the backfield. Add in the Chargers advantage in special teams and a big play there could put this game out of control.

Worst Performances of the Wildcard Round

Everyone likes to talk about the top performances from the weekend and hand out game balls all the time. But that won't be happening here. For the second straight year, The Wheelhouse will hand out the worst performances from the latest NFL week. We want to know who failed and really stunk it up each week. So instead of game balls being awarded for good play, this will be like eggs being thrown out for terrible play. We'll hand out a couple here each week, but there's no limit as we'll let the bad play deem how many to give out.

Tom Brady: 23/42, 154 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs, 1 fumble
That felt really good to write Brady's line above from last weekend. The Patriots were never in this game from the start when Ray Rice went the distance of the first play from scrimmage. Brady took the football and responded by turning the ball over all day. Before you knew it, the Pats were in a major 24-0 hole and Brady was forced to pass all day and the Ravens were ready for it. What made it all the more enjoyable to watch was that this was Brady's first playoff game since their loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII and he had been waiting for this game for the past two season. What a shame. Tom Brady gets the only individual egg this week right at his head.

Eagles defense and Packers defense
One of the best coaching moves of last weekend was Packers coach Mike McCarthy kicking a surprise onside kick in the second half. But after watching his defense not come close to stopping Kurt Warner for three quarters, did he really have a choice there? The Packers defense, who are actually ranked 7th in total defense in the regular season, was getting gashed last Sunday in the desert. Warner was pretty much unstoppable, going 29/33 for 379 yards and FIVE touchdowns. The Packers held the Cards to just one punt in the entire game. Now, the Cards defense didn't play much better, but at least they came away with the game-winning score so they can't get an egg here.

Another defense that stunk last week was Philadelphia. Every time you look at the TV, Felix Jones or Tashard Choice were eating up the Eagles D. The Eagles gave up 27 points in the second quarter to pretty much not give their offense a chance to be in the game. It's amazing how bad some of the defenses were last week. Will we see much of the same this week in the divisional playoffs?

Wildcard Weekend or Rematch Weekend?

The first round of the NFL playoffs will get underway in just a couple of hours as we get ready to watch four rematches from the regular season—three from last week and the Patriots-Ravens from earlier in the season. Let's take a brief look at each game in the order they play this weekend.

Jets @ Bengals
Here's what we know—the Jets dominated the Bengals last week 37-0, but the Bengals may or may not have been real interested in last week's game. Their starters still played for at least a half and the Jets punched them right in the face. I don't like how Cincinnati didn't really go after this game with much fire, but it's not like they were playing that well before Week 17. They had lost their past two out of three with the only victory being a 17-10 win over Kansas City at home, not exactly the most impressive win ever. They just have the look of a team that would be one and done in the playoffs. The Jets dominated both lines in last week's game, and overall I think the Jets are just the better team. I like the Jets to win, not in a blowout this time though, and I think the Bengals realize they should have came to play last week instead of handing the Jets a world of confidence.

Eagles @ Cowboys
The Eagles went from a win and the No. 2 seed to a loss and the No. 6 seed. Ouch. The Cowboys played great last week, dominated the Eagles (who were actually trying) and swept the regular season series. But something in the back of my head says Eagles in this game. Such is the NFL where everyone becomes fixated on one team all week and sort of forget about the other team on the field and they end up coming out in winning (see Steelers over Colts in '06). Here's the other thing, the Cowboys have all the pressure in the world on them in this game...can they finally win their first playoff game since the mid '90s? Can Tony Romo finally step up and win a playoff game? With the pressure on, this is why I like the Eagles to make this a much closer game and pull it out in the end.

Ravens @ Patriots
Can both teams lose this game? The Ravens were everyone's big Super Bowl pick before the season and they didn't even win their division. Now as the six seed, they will have to go on the road three times to reach the Super Bowl. I don't see that happening. I just don't see anything special about Joe Flacco and the defense has been gashed at times this year. Ray Rice is indeed a beast, but unless he goes off tomorrow I don't know if they can win. This is a rematch as well as the Pats held on for a win over the Ravens on the same field in Week 4. I'm rooting for the Ravens (wow, that hurt me to type), but I have a feeling Tom Brady will pull this game out of his ass whether be by cheating or his calling for a flag every time someone breathes near him.

Packers @ Cardinals
There's been a lot of talk over this game and how the winner could easily make a run at the championship. I don't know if Kurt Warner could get up for a big run again, and with a few key players banged up (Boldin and Rodgers-Cromartie), I like the Packers in this one. Actually, like the Packers to possibly make a run in the playoffs. The main reason for that is because this team has been hot. The Pack have won seven out of their last eight games with the only loss being a last-second (literally) loss at Pittsburgh. Plus, the Packers have played great defense in the second half as they are ranked in the Top 10 of the league. The Cardinals defense is ranked middle of the road, so I'm going Green Bay. Plus, I don't think I could stand another Kurt Warner-video montage for three weeks if they were to make a run again.

BCS Exhibition Game

Congratulations are order to the Alabama Crimson Tide for their big win in the BCS exhibition game. Yeah that's right, it's an exhibition game as far as I'm concerned. Here's a newsflash...I hate the BCS. There's no legitimacy or true champion in college football until the sport moves to a playoff.

Think about it. Every sport in every single level of competition determines its champion by way of a playoff system. High school, every other college sport and pros. Even Division I-AA, Division II and III have a playoff tournament. Everyone except Division I college football.

Just think if the NFL went that direction. Instead of an exciting three weeks of playoff action, let's just have the NFL put the Colts and Saints in the Super Bowl. When was the last time the two top seeds in the NFL faced off the big game? Exactly, it doesn't happen often because when push comes to shove and the pressure is on against good teams, that's when you find out who the real teams are. That's why I only watched about a total of about three bowl games. Give me the NFL playoffs anytime. College football will never be that as long as the BCS and the greedy college representatives have their way.

But then again, who am I kidding? I'm sure everyone thoroughly enjoyed the Little Caesars Bowl.

2009 Steelers—What Went Wrong

I've never seen a season before quite like the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers season. There's many different ways to look at their season. Any season in Steelers Country where they don't make the playoffs is a disappointment, but to miss the playoffs coming off a Super Bowl title again is severely disappointing. On the other hand, optimists will say the Steelers had a winning season at 9-7, and you can't argue that point, but in Pittsburgh that's just not good enough these days.

The undoubtedly frustrating part this season is how the Steelers were in every single game and easily could have been 14-2 if not better. In what truly was a bizarre season, they never were out of any game nor did they blow any team away. The biggest victory of the season was a 28-10 win at Denver that was a tight game until the fourth quarter when the Steelers finally put them away. Meanwhile, five of their seven losses were by only three points including two of those games in overtime. The other two losses were by six points and seven points. That's it. They did not lose a game by more than seven points all year.

So what went wrong? The phrase "Super Bowl hangover" gets tossed around a lot when the Steelers dropped five straight in the middle of the season. I don't understand how that can be true. The Steelers won their opener against Tennessee and rolled to a 6-2 start. Not exactly the signs of a team thinking about their championship last year, so forget that. Toss that theory out the window.

The black and gold held a lead at some point in the fourth quarter in five out of their seven losses. Let's take a look at those five losses.

Week 2 @ Chicago Led 14-7 in 4th (lost 14-17)
Week 3 @ Cincinnati Led 20-9 in 4th (lost 20-23)
Week 11 @ Kansas City Led 24-17 in 4th (lost 24-27 in OT)
Week 12 @ Baltimore Led 17-14 in 4th (lost 17-20 in OT)
Week 13 vs. Oakland Led 17-13 AND 24-20 in 4th (lost 24-27)

The sixth loss was a tie game in the 4th quarter against the Bungals
Week 10 vs. Cincinnati Tied 12-12 in 4th (lost 12-18)

And their last loss was an awful 6-13 defeat at Cleveland where they never held a lead. I have nothing else to add at that performance.

Looking at the games above, you can obviously point out the glaring problem—the fourth-quarter collapse that let six games get away. The defense was a shell of its self this year especially in the 4th quarter when they suddenly couldn't stop Ryan Leaf if he was out there. And these collapses didn't just happen in the losses, they also exploded to a 28-0 lead over San Diego before almost blowing it before making it a game and holding on for a 38-28 win.

Injuries were an obvious part of the problem with Aaron Smith and Troy Polamalu missing for most of the season, but injuries are a part of the game and the reserves were not prepared to handle that. The defense deserves a lot of the blame, we know this, but I'll be damned to not hand the offense some blame for falling apart late as well.

For some reason the Pittsburgh media seems to think it's sacrilegious to say the offense was part of the problem because they had a 4,000-yard passer. Wow, what an accomplishment! Last I checked, a 4,000-yard passer was not the equivalent of a Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Look above at all those fourth quarter scores...only in the Oakland loss did the Steelers offense score points late in the game. The rest of the losses, they were completely shut out. The reason the offense deserves part of the blame in this year's collapse is due to their lack of a game plan with a lead. All season with the lead, OC Bruce Arians continuously went to the passing game instead of running the football and eating the clock. I couldn't tell you the number of times the Steelers had a late drive that took no more than two minutes off the clock. That's horrendous. Look no further than last week's game against the Dolphins when the Steelers took a 27-10 in the last quarter only to see Miami, just like magic, move the ball straight down field with a third string quarterback for a touchdown. With the score 27-17 and 11 minutes left, how were the Steelers not thinking about another late game collapse? What did Arians draw up? A first-down pass that led to a sack. Second down, well now we're buried on 2nd and long so two passing plays and punt. That series took a nice 1:32 off the clock. No wonder the defense was awful in the fourth quarter when they were on the field 90 percent of the time.

It happened all season as the Steelers lacked the ability to put their foot down and close out games. The defense was at largely at fault, but the offense isn't clean in this mess. Oh, and how could I forget the special teams play? The kickoff and punt coverage was shitty too, allowing four returns for touchdowns in five games. Overall, everything went wrong for this team at times.

Also, where was Coach Tomlin in the midst of this mess? He just promised to unleash hell in December only to see his team fall flat. I'm still looking for his mark on this team, it's Dick LeBeau's defense while Arians is allowed to run the offense however he sees fit. It was encouraging to see the team rebound and win its first three games, but the damage done midseason was too much to overcome. Tomlin talks a great game, but in the end he was just as clueless as anyone else on how to fix this team.

Changes will be made (and already have) with part of the coaching staff and players. I don't understand how Tyrone Carter could be brought back next season. Overall, it was one maddening year in Steelers football. Oh well, I can't write, talk or think about it much more. There's always next year, right?

Randy Johnson and The Bird

It's not everyday you witness a Hall of Fame pitcher calling it quits, but after 22 fantastic seasons Randy Johnson retired Tuesday.

You can pick from a long list of career achievements to find a favorite Randy Johnson moment. There's his five Cy Young awards, 10-time All-Star honors, 303 wins, World Series co-MVP, two no-hitters and oh yeah just one of 16 pitchers ever in baseball history to throw a perfect game. Despite all those accolades though, my most memorable moment of Randy Johnson will always be known as "The Bird."



Seriously, what are the chances of an 100 MPH fastball connecting with a bird at the precise second it flew in front of the plate? That bird never knew what hit him. Neither did 4,875 Major League hitters who Johnson fanned throughout his career. Thanks to the Big Unit for one hell of a career and a great moment caught on video!

Playoff Notes

With the NFL regular season coming to a close and the playoffs looming this weekend, I thought I would review some of my thoughts and interesting stats/notes from the season. UH, PLAYOFFS?

Remember when the Broncos were 6-0? I remember. I remember hearing every writer, TV analyst, radio personality telling me how new coach Josh McDaniels showed everybody what a great decision trading Jay Cutler was and how he was the greatest first-year coach of all time. Well, where are those people now? The Broncos benefited from some early luck (see week one against the Bungals) and started off great, but at the end of the season they were exactly in the spot I expected them to be—out of the playoffs. I'm not saying Cutler is a great quarterback because he's proven this year he has some issues he needs to work on, but at the end of the day Cutler is a better QB than Kyle Orton. The Broncos 2-8 finish was fun to watch.

Here's an interesting note I saw the other day. Quickly think of the four teams that earned first-round byes last year in the playoffs. You'll start figuring out that those teams are missing this year. That's right, the top four seeds from last year did not qualify for the postseason this year: Giants, Panthers, Titans and even the defending champs Steelers. That's hard to believe, but true. No way I would have believed that at the beginning of the season and thinking about this year's playoffs, does anybody think the Colts, Chargers, Saints and Vikings will miss the postseason next year?

Another thing you couldn't of predicted prior to the season was 9-7 did not get you into the playoffs in the NFC. Usually 9-7 is a lock in that conference. Hell, 10-6 wouldn't even get the job done for a wildcard. Meanwhile in the AFC, four teams tied at 9-7 and only two made it.

Also, if the NFL learned one thing this year about scheduling is that the Redskins should not be allowed on primetime until they prove they are a legitimate football team and make the playoffs. Somehow they pulled in three primetime games this year. What was the NFL thinking!? That swinging gate play against the Giants three weeks ago was absolutely horrid.

I'll end with a brief mention on the Steelers season. People around the 'Burgh are already calling it one of the most bizarre seasons in 77 years of Steelers football. Well, I've been watching the team for just over 20 years and it sure was a ridiculous season. I don't remember a season by any team where it was in every single game, but also kept its opponent in every single game. A 9-7 season easily could have been 14-2 or better. I could go on and on, but I won't today. I'll have more on what went wrong for the Steelers in a separate post.