Steelers Back In The Super Bowl

You want football at its best, you got it. We all knew this game was going to be hard hitting. We all knew both team's offense would have trouble moving the ball. We all knew there would be many injury timeouts as players would be constantly scraped off the field of play. This is why we love football!

And lets be honest. Did anyone really think rookie quarterback Joe Flacco would lead his team to three straight road playoff victories?

And lets face it, the Steelers owned this game. It's a miracle Baltimore was somehow only down 16-14 and had the ball halfway through the fourth quarter. You can contribute that to the Ravens' suffocation defense or the officials getting calls from Vegas or CBS to keep the game close.

With Pittsburgh already leading 3-0 in the first quarter, Ben Roethlisberger hit Santonio "Mister Clutch Playoff Playmaker" Holmes with a 23 yard pass down to the Ravens' one yard line. Both Head Coaches threw the red flag. What should have been a Pittsburgh touchdown, or at the very least a First and Goal, turned out to be an incomplete pass after an official review. What? So the Steelers get a field goal and lead 6-0.

Later, Pittsburgh defense showed signs of the original "Steel Curtain" when they stopped the Ravens on third and one, and then fourth and 1. Pretty solid.

The Steelers than seemed to put the game away early when Roethlisberger, on a third and 9, scrambled and hit Holmes about 20 yards downfield. Holmes again showed his playmaking ability and crossed the field turning a 20 yard completion into a 65 yard touchdown.

Pittsburgh defense didn't allow a first down until Baltimore's 16th offensive snap!

The Steelers got screwed again later in the second quarter. Guard Chris Kemoeatu was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty setting Pittsburgh back to a third and 19. Replay showed Kemoeatu's motive. The Ravens' Marcus Douglass got away with a highly illegal hands to face no call.

Pittsburgh was forced to punt and Jim Leonhard sparked the Ravens with a 45 yard punt return to the Pittsburgh 22 yard line. Baltimore struggled to move the ball but were fortunate to get a pass interference call coming on third and 10. Willis McGahee put the Ravens on the board with a 3 yard touchdown run. 13-7.

On the Steelers' ensuing possession, Roethlisberger hit a wide open Limas Sweed in the hands for a easy 6. Sweed took his eyes off the ball and dropped it!

Later in the second half, McGahee scored another touchdown bring the Ravens within striking distance, 16-14.

Baltimore actually got the ball back late in the fourth down 16-14. There's no way the Steelers were gonna let rookie Flacco beat them. And with 4:24 left in the game, Flacco finally looked like a rookie in the Playoffs. Troy Polamalu did what he does best, make big plays on defense. Polamalu picked off Flacco and then did his best Ed Reed impression and skipped across the field all the way to the end zone and taking the Steelers to the Super Bowl. What did I tell you about the "Pick 6?"

The game wasn't over until Pittsburgh's Ryan Clark delivered one of the hardest hits I've ever seen. Flacco hit McGahee running full speed down the middle and Clark was also coming full speed. This video says it all.



Wow! Holy Shit!

I'm glad both players are alright. In fact, I have new respect for Steelers' fans. As McGahee was being carted off the field and then down the tunnel, you could hear Pittsburgh fans yelling "Good Luck Willis." That's classy.

Congratulations Pittsburgh. Looks like you're well on your way to being kings of the NFL and should win the record of 6 Super Bowl Rings.

The Most Dangerous Play in Football: The Pick 6

This time of year, the NFL Playoffs and College Bowl games, usually gives us games between evenly matched teams. Watching a game in its entirety, the contest usually comes down to one crucial play.

If there's one play that can change the outcome of a game, it's the "Pick 6." A Pick 6 quickly changes the momentum of a game and pretty much crushes the victim's hopes of winning.

Different from a kick or punt return for a touchdown, the Pick 6 not only negates a team's possession, but also swings the score by a touchdown. Whereas on a special teams touchdown, the opposing team was already receiving the ball.

I don't have official stats, but I'm willing to bet a team with a Pick 6 wins at least 85% of the time, especially in the playoffs.

Just look at the first two rounds of this year's NFL Playoffs. The Ravens/Dolphins were evenly matched except the Ravens' defense and one Ed Reed. With the score 6-3 nearing halftime, Chad Pennington overthrew everyone but Ed Reed turned into a wide receiver and made an incredible "Willie Mays" catch and then is somehow able to turnaround and zig zag up field for what was pretty much a momentum killing, game clinching touchdown. We all know Ed Reed has made a career of this play that will one day put him into the Hall of Fame.

The guy is flat out sick and a lot of fun to watch. I guarantee you every opposing quarterback losses sleep while having nightmares about Reed the night before playing the Ravens.

Let's go to the Eagles/Vikings Wild Card Game. The Vikings were focusing on stopping Brian Westbrook giving the Eagles a hard time to find the End Zone. With Philly up 9-7 in the second quarter. Tarvaris Jackson made a boneheaded mistake that pretty much cost his team the game. Jackson made a horrible pass out in the flat while Asante Samuel's eye's lit up and picked off the pass and scooted down the sideline for a touchdown. Eagles 16, Vikings 7. The Vikings never recovered and you can bet Tarvaris Jackson thought twice every time he wanted to throw in Samuel's direction.

Rewind to the Falcons/Cardinals game in Glendale. After being outplayed most of the first half, Atlanta was able to finish off the half strong and take a 17-14 lead into halftime. Atlanta also received the opening kick off of the second half. A bad snap/pitch whatever it was, landed right in the hands of Antrel Rolle who took the gift all the way to the house untouched for a TD. Cardinals 21, Falcons 17. Game over as Atlanta could never recover. Not exactly a "Pick 6," but pretty much the same effect.

On Sunday, Eagles/Giants. Asante Samuel up to his old tricks again. The Giants were leading 3-0 early and there defense was having their way shutting down Westbrook. Eli Manning overthrows his receiver and the ball lands right into Samuel's hands. Samuel took the ball down inside the 5 yard line. Again, not exactly a "Pick 6," but it gives the offense a First and Goal inside the 5. Two plays later, Philly 7, Giants 3. You can bet this play hurt Eli's confidence and gave all the momentum to the road team. This play was a huge gamebreaker considering the Giants never found the End Zone.

So look out on Championship Sunday. You'll have the usual "Game Breaking" suspects with Asante Samuel, Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu looking to make the big play to put their respected teams in the Super Bowl.