2008/09 NFL Playoff Thread

[burn_baby_burn]

Hey moon. Rumours in KC of Guther Cunningham interviewing for the Lions DC job.

Edit: sorry should have posted in the off season thread.

[mykalberta]

I will definately be cheering for the Cards. Cant stand Ben.

I think the cards, with a 10X better offence then the Ravens definately have a good shot.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by moon

And that game is not in week 6.

You can play the this team beat that team so that means they are better with every team this season.

The Chiefs beat 2 teams this year and I am sure Sylvanfan and all other KC fans will tell you they are not better than anyone (except maybe the Lions) this year.

True, but you have shot down the Cardinals since before the playoffs began.

Originally Posted by moon

If it were one team that might be different or if the teams on the outside weren't as good as they but to have two division winners look as bad as the Cardinals and Broncos have all season and they beat out teams with possible 11-5/10-6 records is crazy.

Especially considering that the Cards could have won the division with a worse record and the Broncos have been lucky to get the wins that they have. It isn't like these are two teams that are actually good and have had some bad luck they are legitimately poor teams that get to host play-off games.

Through in the Vikings, with Tavares Jackson at QB, and that is 3 bad teams that will win their divisions this year.

Well, both those divisions ended up with a team that won a playoff game and the Cards are in the Superbowl.

I'm just saying the regular season doesn't mean jack anymore; ask the '07 Patriots about that. The Steelers should win, and should win handily. But the Cards have a definite shot. They have won every meaningful game. They have beaten 3 teams they were not supposed to beat. They have 2 coaches from the Steelers organization and probably have much better insight into the Steelers' personnel than vice versa. And when it comes down to one game a few bounces can decide the game. I mean it isn't like this is a 10-6 team going against an undefeated team

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Secondly, I would think the Ravens defense had an awful lot to do with the Steelers being within reach at the end of the game. Yes, the Cards D has been very good in the playoffs (sans the second half on Sunday, yikes!) but it doesn't compare to either the Steelers defense or the Ravens. To say otherwise is really silly. In fact, that's more silly than saying the Cards don't have a chance.

That may be true during the regular season, but the Cardinals defense is giving up just as much yardage as the Raven's defense and turning over the ball just as much in the post-season.

As far as the Steelers being heads and shoulders above the rest of the league, they certainly are on defense. Not a single team put up 300 yards on the Steelers this year. They led the league in yardage allowed by 24 yards. That's a staggering gap. That lead is almost all in the passing side of the game too, where they led the league by 23 yards less per game. Huge margin and a statistic that doesn't bode well for the Cardinals pass happy offense which, while loaded with talent, will quickly become very one dimensional when the worst running game in the league can't provide any balance.

It's funny - the Cardinals get ripped for winning all their division games in an admittedly weak division. The Steelers play in a division against Baltimore, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. The latter two teams are ranked #31 and #32 in total yardage. That staggering gap is a byproduct of those 6 games against terrible offenses.

That's not to say that Pittsburgh isn't the best defensive team in the league because they are. But Philadelphia's D was ranked #3 and if they switch divisions with Pittsburgh they could easily have been #1. The Cardinals just put up 32 points on Philly with no points off of turnovers and no big special teams plays.

It's funny you bring up the Cardinals alleged one-dimensional attack...yet they sit forth among playoff teams in yards/game rushing. That includes a 100 yard game against the Eagles who are just as good as the Steelers at stopping the run.

[Pagal4321]

All we have to look back on is one year ago.

Long shot Giants vs. Undefeated Patrios = ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!!!

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

All we have to look back on is one year ago.

Long shot Giants vs. Undefeated Patrios = ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!!!

I thought the Giants had a good chance versus the Pats a year ago. The two teams played each other on the last week of the season and it was a nail bitter. I put $100 on the Giants at 3.25.

[Pagal4321]

Yea, alot of people who watched these two played a few weeks earlier would have known they'd play each other hard. But writing off Arizona (as much I'd want to) doesn't make much sense given what we witnessed last year.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

Yea, alot of people who watched these two played a few weeks earlier would have known they'd play each other hard. But writing off Arizona (as much I'd want to) doesn't make much sense given what we witnessed last year.

Agreed. I still am pretty positive Pittsburgh will take this one, but you really never know. I remember last year thinking the Giants had NO chance at winning. I knew they'd bring the pressure on Brady, but I thought the Pats would counter this with screens and underneath dump-off routes to Welker all day. And look what happened.

I just can't picture a scenario where the Cards are lifting the Lombardi Trophy in two weeks. But I'm smart enough to realize it's happened before, and there's no reason why it can't again.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by JayP

That may be true during the regular season, but the Cardinals defense is giving up just as much yardage as the Raven's defense and turning over the ball just as much in the post-season.



It's funny - the Cardinals get ripped for winning all their division games in an admittedly weak division. The Steelers play in a division against Baltimore, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. The latter two teams are ranked #31 and #32 in total yardage. That staggering gap is a byproduct of those 6 games against terrible offenses.

That's not to say that Pittsburgh isn't the best defensive team in the league because they are. But Philadelphia's D was ranked #3 and if they switch divisions with Pittsburgh they could easily have been #1. The Cardinals just put up 32 points on Philly with no points off of turnovers and no big special teams plays.

It's funny you bring up the Cardinals alleged one-dimensional attack...yet they sit forth among playoff teams in yards/game rushing. That includes a 100 yard game against the Eagles who are just as good as the Steelers at stopping the run.

I'm really not sure why you are trying to spin the stats so much.

First of all, I've never ragged on the Cardinals for the weakness of that division. They won their division and deserve to be where they are. They sit 4th in RYPG among playoff teams, but 4 of the 8 teams only played once and 3 of those played the best rushing defenses in the league. It doesn't say a whole lot. If they run the ball in the Super Bowl I will happily eat crow.

Again, I LIKE the Cardinals. They have a lot going for them.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I thought the Giants had a good chance versus the Pats a year ago. The two teams played each other on the last week of the season and it was a nail bitter. I put $100 on the Giants at 3.25.

If you looked at last year's Super Bowl and had to pick the game with out that head-to-head matchup, I can't imagine anyone would have given the Giants a chance outside the most zealous Giant fans.

This year we don't have a head to head matchup to base any late season guesses on.

Based upon the regular season, this game shouldn't be close.

But based on the regular season, the Cards shouldn't have made it out of the first round. Everyone thought they could score, but good defense wins championships. Well, they were able to score on the #3 ranked regular season defense.

In the regular season the AZ defense was ranked 19th, against the run they were 16th - pretty mediocre. Yet in the playoffs they ran up against the #2 running offense(regular season) and the #3 running offense (regular season) and were able to stop both of them.

So Regular season stats mean very little in the post season.

To evaluate this game, look at the matchups based on what we saw during the previous playoff games.

AZ can stop the run. Even a healthy Willie Parker doesn't give the Steelers a running game to match Carolina or Phil. Big Ben will need to make his plays through the air, and he has that ability.

Pitt can stop the run and pass. The saying goes you don't blitz a good QB, but Pitt will anyways to take away Warrener's time. Warrener with time can hit pretty tight windows, and with Boldin and Fitzgerald (and Breaston had 1000+ yards, too) they can be deadly in the passing game, no matter how good the secondary.

That is why I think the game comes down to the Ari offensive line. Pitt will get points, as good as the Cards D has played, they aren't as good as the Ravens, so I think Pitt will put up 20-24 points. The question is can The Cardinal offensive line give Warrener the time to make big plays? If they can, Cardinal can put up 28. If they can't Cards will get 10.

If Steelers get a 14+ point lead, the game will be a blowout.
The only way the Cardinals get a blowout is if Big Ben has a bad game and pulls a Delhomme.

But that is how I see the game. My final score guess? Pitt will get a late FG as Warrener has to risk it and go long late in the game and gets picked. 27-13

[Displaced Flames fan]

Does anyone find this at all funny? I sure don't. Good on McNabb for rolling with it until something a little more serious happened, but then again....maybe that's what allowed them to escalate.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playof...ory?id=3847672

[Montana Moe]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Does anyone find this at all funny? I sure don't. Good on McNabb for rolling with it until something a little more serious happened, but then again....maybe that's what allowed them to escalate.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playof...ory?id=3847672

I would have probably laughed off the first two incidents as well, no big deal. Gotta love the level of intelligence of the vandals though:

Favazzo said officers found an address label on the box that had been left, and it led to Chandler resident Rex Perkins, 37, who later admitted to the pranks.

[habernac]

a good piece on Chuck Noll

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playof...ad19/chucknoll