Football is a violent ground acquisition game played by men with enormous size and physical skills. Often a player exhibits his athletic prowess and makes a play that defies gravity and is a picture of grace and beauty. Not to often can a game as a whole be described that way yet that is what comes to mind in watching the Patriots defeat the Steelers 41 to 27. From a planning and execution stand point this game was a thing of beauty.
There should have been a hint of things to come when Bill Belichik told Armen Ketayan in the little pre-game interview that he felt confidant that his team would do well and that the team was coming off its two best games of the year.
Sure enough the Patriots came out confidently on defense as on the first series of downs the Steeler rookie quarterback was intercepted. This resulted in Adam Vinatieri giving the Pats a 3-0 lead. The Patriots set the tone of the game and showed its defensive strategy right away. They were going to stop Bettis and Staley on the ground and make the rookie beat them in the passing game. The Patriot defensive game with few exceptions included a rush by only three men in passing situations and dared Rothlisberger to beat them.
The next Steeler possession began at midfield and gained one first down before having a fourth and 1 yard in Patriot territory. The Patriot line stuffed Bettis and he fumbled and Vrabel recovered. Smelling blood in the water, Brady immediately went deep to Deon Branch for the 61 yard touchdown and a 10 –3 lead.
They struck again on their second possession of the second quarter with the long ball to Branch for 46 yard gain and two plays later David Givens scored on a 10 yard pass making the score 17-3.
Immediately following the Givens score the Steelers had a seven play drive to the Patriot 25 when Rothlisberger was picked off by Rodney Harrison and he returned it 87 yards for the touchdown to give the Pats a seemingly insurmountable lead going into the locker room at the half. The teams traded points throughout the second half with the Steelers closing to as close as 11 but could manage no more.
Nobody comes to mind as the MVP of this game although Brady certainly was error free and Branch had two big catches but everyone should get credit for this as the execution both offensively and defensively was flawless. It’s to early for stats but we know they made no turnovers while Pittsburg had four and in the penalty department, Pittsburg made several critical errors including a holding call on a screen-play that was already doomed to failure.
There were many keys to the game but certainly the inability to get to Brady enabled him to riddle the Pittsburg secondary. The offensive line play gave Brady protection and his only sacks were coverage sacks where he simply ate the ball instead of making a poor throw.The "Blittsburg" attack was picked up no matter where it came from. Corey Dillon was a factor with some very hard ball control running which kept the Patriot attack perfectly balanced
Despite having only a containment rush by the defensive line, the defensive backfield held the larger Pittsburg receivers in check. Along with Harrison’s interception were two by Eugene Wilson. Although the line recorded only one sack, Green, Wilfork and Ty Warren were stalwarts against the run.
The offensive plan was typical Patriot as it was completely unpredictable. Corey Dillon got the ball often but so to did Faulk and Branch contribute to the running game. Brady also spread the ball around the receivers with everyone contributing. Brady was so accurate in is throws that it did not appear that Pittsburg was close to intercepting a ball the whole game.
This is a game of historical trivia in that Pittsburg is the only other team to put Superbowl bookend championships surrounding a World Series victory (Pirates in 1979). If the Patriots win this Superbowl they will have accomplished the same thing for this region. What an exciting time to be a sports fan in New England.
It’s early in the pre Super Bowl analysis but one thing stands out. As bad as Philadelphia wants a championship, the Eagles are a flawed team. They are ineffective on the ground and will have to rely on short passes to Brian Westbrook and to their wide outs. Philadelphia also may be without Terrell Owens for the big game. McNabb is a gifted athlete and a dangerous runner but look for Belichik to force him to beat us with the passing game. My pick Patriots by 10.
