) and i was not impressed at all. Not i'm just assuming that it was a combo of Philly having a bad day and Pitts having a good day cause all that's in the past now and doesn't matter. But the city of Philly is a freaking snowball right now, and Atlanta plays in a dome. Not only are the Falcons used to a done, but they also only went 4-4 on the road when there was no snow. To me this is a big disadvantage for the Falcons. They didn't have that great of a record on the road for a team playing in the NFC chapionship game, and i don't think they'll have a good game today when the weather is bad. Kinda like how indy was completely embarassed last week. I think the snow will affect Vick's running game in a negative way and i think the eagles will take this game 24-17. Eagles: if you mess it up this time..... i better see all of you crying.
New England @ PittsburghHere's what has me so nervous. Early in the week people were saying the steelers at home were the underdogs, all this talk about Bill Belichick being the greatest person in the world, and they're stong win over the Colts got me pretty shook up. Then i started thinking positively wheni thought of a few things.
1.) Yes, Corey Dillon DID NOT play in the steelers win over the pats, but the game was lost by 14 points (and AGAIN the steelers took 3 knees inside NE's 10 yd line to just end the game) and the steelers' rushing defense is amazing. C Martin, supposedly the bst RB in the league was stopped to 72 yds the first time he played the steelers, and 79 yd the second time. They can do the same to Corey Dillon.
2.) 90% of football anouncers, "analyzers", writers are idiots (and not that BB isn't a really good coach, cause he is) but they tend to say the most obvious stuff to make them look good. If the steelers win this game because 4th sting RB Willi Parker rushes for 200 yds, they will all be saying Cowher is the best coach ever.... you know it's true.
3.) Now on to the reason the steelers are the home underdogs: NE's win over the Colts was impressive, but, as many people on here and on TV and in the paper and in magazines have been saying all year "Defense wins championships". Not only that but the Colts have no depth. You can't beat the pats at home in the playoffs without a good D and some depth, it just won't happen.
4.)....And the steelers close call against the jets last week has everyone saying Big Ben sucks now and all that. Well first off the steelers NEVER needed big ben to win them the game the way some teams rely on their QB to do. Second he didn't have a really bad game, he had a really really bad 1st half and besides the big int he had a damn good second half. People only look at the overall stats which weren't that great but if you look at them in a timeline of sorts you'll see that his last 30 minutes of play was pretty damn good.
5.) The steelers are playing at home. They are 9-0 at home and the Pats are, i dunno, something like 6-2 on the road. Both teams have a great home atmosphere and both feed well off it. But there is no way this will hurt the steeler' confidence, ESPECIALLY with the home team being the underdogs, it just motivates the steelers to prove the whole world wrong in fron of their home fans, it would just be great.
6.) I chalked this up to luck when my brother mentioned it to me halfway through the season when he told me "this seasons the steelers have just found a way to win the game no matter what", after that when watching a game i thought they were gonna lose, sure enough they found a way to win. Last week wasn't lucky for the steelers and unlucky for the jets. It is a hellofa lot luckier to return a punt for an 80yd td AND an 80yd int for a td than it is for a kicker to miss a 47ys FG under enormous pressure (AND it was being kicked in the open end at Heinz Field, which is the hardest FG to make in the NFL)and a 43 yd FG under tha same conditions. To anyone who has watched a lot of steelers games (i've watched 15 this year) you were probably with me when you were surprised how close that 47yd attempt came to being good.
7.) Some teams don't play well against certain teams. The steelers' two worst games (state-wise) this year were against the jets, so it doesn't have me scared when people talk about how close the game was. Cause odds are 99-1 NE won't have 2 80 TD returns. In fact in the 2 games the stelers played the jets this year, the jets had ZERO offensive TD's.
ahhh there's my thinking on the whole situation. Keep in mind i am a steelers fanatic so the things i wrote were from that perspective. And to me they make sense. I'm not saying the steelers are going to win by 14pts (or 21pts had they not taking 3 knees inside the 10) like they did last time. But i'm saying the steelers will win this game....... 24-21.... here's to hoping
your thoughts....
thomes08
