Former Tiger reflects on Super Bowl win with Steelers
CLEMSON -- He got so caught up in the moment, Nick Eason could not remember where he was standing when Santonio Holmes caught what is arguably the greatest catch in Super Bowl history.
With 35 seconds left in the biggest football game in the world, wide receiver Holmes made a spectacular toe-tapping catch along the right side of the corner of the end zone to give Eason and the Pittsburgh Steelers a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.
"I couldn't really remember where I was standing," said Eason, a former Clemson standout and now a defensive tackle for the world champion Steelers. "But it was a perfect pass and a perfect catch and the body control was just phenomenal how he controlled his body and got those two feet down.
"He's done that all year and he's been one of our clutch receivers that came on, and losing Hines Ward, who's one of our other good receivers, in the game through injury - Santonio just stepped up and that's what guys have done all year. When guys have been out, we've always had guys come in and step up. That's been a huge thing for us this year."
Eason speaks through experience. When a couple of guys got banged up during the course of the season along the defensive front, Eason was one of those players who stepped up a filled the void.
Though he did not start a game, he played in every regular season game and all three playoff games as a key reserve on a defense that led the NFL in total, passing, scoring and red zone defense.
"It's been a great opportunity for me to become better as a player and I've done that and you know I play with a lot of great guys, great character guys," the six-year veteran said. "They are football players and pro bowlers.
"You know you have an opportunity to play with Dick LeBeau, who is a great coach and has been around the NFL for 50 years, so these opportunities have been great and now we've won the Super Bowl.
"These opportunities are once in a lifetime chances so I'm enjoying it."
Eason finished the season with 17 tackles from his defensive tackle position and recorded 1.5 sacks.
"Coach LeBeau's system is very complicated, but he puts everybody in position to make plays and linebackers run and he puts the defensive linemen where they're supposed to run and make some plays and get touches on the quarterback," he said. "It's every man's defense.
"We have a lot of great players you know in James Harrison, James Farrior and Troy Polamalu. I could go on with a list of guys that are great players and you know we have a lot of great depth that a lot of people don’t know about either and that's why we've been able to sustain what we have done all year.
"We've had a lot of people go down this year, but that's why we've been able to do a great job. That's why Dick LeBeau's game is just one of a kind and it's hard to stop him. I can tell you that. You know we always make changes in the games. If you stop us, we'll come from some other direction. He's good at that. He's the best."
The Steelers' defense was the best, but it's ironic in the end, when everything was on the line, it was their offense that came through.
After the defense gave up a rare long touchdown pass to Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII, it was Big Ben Roethlisberger that engineered a 78-yard scoring drive in the final 2:32 to lift the Steelers to their record-breaking sixth Super Bowl championship.
After the defense bailing out the offense for much of the season, Eason said it was nice to see the offense get them off the hook and even better that it lifted the team to a world championship.
"It's a team sport and we've had a good defense this year," he said. "Statistically it shows that, and our offense they do their job to score points when they have to. It has been that way all year.
"You know everybody makes mistakes and those things happen and regardless of whether we're up 30 you know it's our job to stop them. We have had each other's back all year so that's why we're Super Bowl champs now."
And that's something Eason will never forget.
(c) Copyright 2008 Edwards Group
Steelers' D will draw curtain on Cardinals in Super Bowl
Pittsburgh by plenty.
That may not be the sexiest Super Bowl pick, but it is the only one that makes sense - especially when I think about what the Arizona Cardinals' offense must confront.
Statistics will tell you that Pittsburgh has the NFL's top-rated defense. And that the Steelers have allowed the fewest points, yards and passing yards in the league. The statistics don't measure the impact of collisions. The Steelers give good collision.
Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has been wondrous in the postseason. But sometime early in today's game, a Steelers defender will lower the boom on him, maybe even in a borderline questionable manner. But the message will be sent. Fitzgerald will not have another wondrous game. Make the final score: Steelers 31, Cardinals 17.
Pittsburgh by plenty, in other words.
Many faces will receive way too much television time today. Dick LeBeau's face will not be one of them. He'll get fewer close-ups than the Budweiser Clydesdales. He is Pittsburgh's defensive coordinator. But at age 71, he likes to keep a low profile.
I got to know LeBeau a little during his time as an assistant coach for the Bengals in the 1980s when I was working in Cincinnati. I was always a bit in awe. I remembered LeBeau as one of Ohio State's last great two-way players from the '50s. As both a running back and cornerback, he hit people real hard. That's where the Steelers' current collision ethic began.
LeBeau, though, also has a terrific brain. He basically invented the zone blitz defense that sends linebackers and safeties charging at quarterbacks from unpredictable angles, making them miss receivers or take sacks. It turns football into a simple physics equation.
"All quarterbacks have to have time and space to operate," LeBeau explained to me many times. "We try to take it away."
I am confident that, after two weeks to plan, LeBeau has found a way to get into the head of Arizona's Kurt Warner. The veteran quarterback will not be easily rattled. He's known for his quick delivery. But my hunch is, he will see something unexpected today.
It is an educated hunch. One time, I asked LeBeau why more offenses couldn't figure out the zone blitz - after all, there are only a given number of angles and players a defense can utilize on one play.
"There is a finite number of blitzes you can come up with," LeBeau agreed. "But it's sort of like music. There's a finite number of tunes. But we probably haven't come close to exhausting them all yet."
Pittsburgh by plenty. This will be the 29th Super Bowl that I have predicted in my dubious history as a professional sports journalist. I went back and tallied up my success rate. I have a 21-7 record, or a 75 percent success rate.
The success is deceptive. I have never picked against the spread, which to most people is more important than picking a winner. Plus, favorites usually win the Super Bowl, and I usually pick the favorite. It is those upsets - such as last year's surprising win by the New York Giants over the Patriots - that keep everyone honest.
Today will not be an upset. If Warner can't throw the ball, Arizona can't win. The Cardinals' rushing game is a plate of limp noodles. It ranked last in the NFL this season.
Those making a case for Arizona point out that the Cardinals beat the Steelers 21-14 in their most recent meeting - in September 2007 in Arizona. But check the game stats. Arizona's offense scored only two touchdowns (the third was on a kick return). So the Cardinals hardly dismantled the Steelers' defense.
The bigger problem that day was Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who three two interceptions, including one in the end zone. He is the one worry, the one way that the Steelers could blow it today. But on a neutral field, with the confidence of someone who has already won a Super Bowl, I don't see Roethlisberger self-destructing.
Besides, last Sunday following Mass I shook hands with my football-fan pastor and asked for his Super Bowl pick. He uttered only two words.
"Steelers," he said. "Defense."
I wish his sermons were as short. But usually, your pastor has the right idea. Pittsburgh by plenty.
Copyright (c) 2009 - San Jose Mercury News
Cardinals receiver gives the rest of the league Fitz
PITTSBURGH - Larry Fitzgerald might be the most scouted player in Pittsburgh Steelers history. For two years, they needed only to look out their office windows to watch him.
Fitzgerald's exceptional hands, his knack for making difficult catches while heavily covered and his high jumper-like leaping ability might pose the biggest obstacle to the Steelers beating the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.
As Steelers coach Mike Tomlin suggested earlier this week, scouting and a good game plan alone are not enough to slow Fitzgerald, whose 419 yards receiving are the most in a single NFL postseason, with one game remaining.
"If you get down the field one-on-one with him, he's going to come back with the football," Tomlin said. "He is the best in the world at that, bar none."
Not that any one needs to remind the Steelers.
Displayed in their Heinz Field press box, alongside pictures of former and current Steelers players, is a large photo of Fitzgerald leaping above three Texas A&M defenders to make a touchdown catch while at Pitt in 2003. He could not have been more covered, yet it made no difference. The football was there, and, in Fitzgerald's mind, nobody else was going to get it.
Ask the Philadelphia Eagles about plays like that.
Fitzgerald's series of three, can-you-top-this touchdown catches in the NFC championship game last Sunday prevented an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl. It also set up an improbable matchup between the Cardinals, an old franchise that could hardly be less successful, and the Steelers, an old franchise that could hardly be more successful.
"Larry Fitzgerald, is quite simply, the best receiver in the world down the field in one-on-one situations," Tomlin said. "If we're to be successful in Tampa, we need to limit the number of times we're downfield with him one-on-one. Invariably, he's going to come up with the football. The (video) tape tells us that."
So did their own eyes.
Although the Steelers and University of Pittsburgh never practice together on the four-field complex they share on the city's South Side, more than few Steelers employees were tempted to sneak a few peeks at Fitzgerald when he played for Pitt in 2003 and 2004.
Why wouldn't they? In his two college seasons about being recruited by former Pitt coach Walt Harris, a passing game whiz, Fitzgerald caught 161 passes for 2,677 yards and 34 touchdowns, with at least one TD catch in a record 18 consecutive games.
The Steelers also influenced Fitzgerald, too.
Not long after the Cardinals drafted Fitzgerald No. 3 overall in 2004, when the Steelers drafted Ben Roethlisberger eight spots later, Fitzgerald said his goal was not just to be the receiver who made the occasional highlight-film catch. Instead, he wanted to be as steady and reliable as the Steelers' Hines Ward.
Now, Fitzgerald probably needs to be better than Ward if the Cardinals are to win their first NFL championship since 1947 - three cities and 61-plus years ago. Curiously, the then-Chicago Cardinals beat the Eagles to win that '47 title, a week after Philadelphia beat the Steelers in a rare playoff game for the Eastern Conference playoff.
Tomlin is not about to tip his hand about the Steelers' coverage plans for Fitzgerald, but cornerback Ike Taylor and safety Ryan Clark are keys to it.
If Fitzgerald runs into All-Pro safety Polamalu, it might be when he goes over the middle rather than deep, as Polamalu often plays as much like a linebacker as he does a defensive back.
The Steelers like to negate a receiver's production by putting pressure on the quarterback, and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau practically invented the zone blitz. But blitzing could be difficult against Arizona's Kurt Warner, who, according to STATS, led the NFL with 14 touchdown passes against the blitz.
Fitzgerald is one of three Arizona 1,000-yard receivers, along with Anquan Boldin and former Pittsburgh high school star Steve Breaston. But Fitzgerald might be toughest matchup problem all season for the Steelers, who easily led the league in pass coverage. Pittsburgh allowed an average of 156.9 yards passing, or more than 130 yards game below the Cardinals' offensive average of 292.1 yards.
Still, Steelers wide receiver Nate Washington said, "It's not about what they do. It's about what we do. As long as we block hard, run hard, tackle hard, catch passes, make the right reads, our potential is unlimited. We can do anything we want to do."
Or kind of like the way Larry Fitzgerald plays on many Sundays.
Copyright (c) 2009 HeraldTribune.com
RAVENS' McGAHEE HOSPITALISED
Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee has been hospitalised after absorbing a jarring hit late in the latter stages of the AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
McGahee was carted off the field late in the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit involving Steelers safety Ryan Clark.
After laying on the field for several minutes, McGahee was strapped to a cart and brought to the locker room, where it was announced that he had movement in his arms and legs, but was suffering from extreme neck pain.
McGahee later was taken to Presbyterian Hospital, where doctors said he is "neurologically intact." He is expected to remain hospitalised overnight.
McGahee rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns in the Ravens' 23-14 loss to Pittsburgh.
(c)2009 Sporting Life UK Ltd
Eagles quietly construct offseason plan
The day after teams are eliminated from the playoffs is when the agony of defeat really sets in.
Cleaning out lockers and undergoing exit physicals and interviews less than 24 hours after a crushing loss does nothing to foster the team spirit the players built during the season.
There's also the feeling of impending doom for soon-to-be-free agents and unhappy players who quietly know where they stand.
If the Eagles find themselves in that gut-wrenching situation after playing the New York Giants Sunday, don't expect them to give a sneak preview of their offseason plan.
However, they will make a big push to re-sign veteran unrestricted free-agent safety Brian Dawkins, according to sources.
The Eagles like everything about Dawkins, starting with his play this season, which they consider very good, to the leadership he showed while rallying them into the playoffs.
The Eagles think Dawkins, 35, richly deserved being voted into his seventh Pro Bowl and want him back for at least a 14th season.
While it's not clear whether the Eagles would want to discuss a two- or three-year pact, Dawkins will be a priority. And it's pretty safe to assume his price has gone up based on performance.
Dawkins thinks he has multiple years left and earlier in the season seemed unafraid of leaving the organization he loves.
The Eagles likely will make an effort to bring back cornerback Joselio Hanson, although it doesn't appear they would want to get into a bidding war for the defender.
If the Eagles get rid of high-paid cornerback Lito Sheppard, who wants to start, Hanson would be a good guy to keep around. He could be the next Rod Hood, the corner who left for a starting paycheck in free agency.
Sheppard almost certainly will be traded.
Veteran offensive tackles Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan likely will be looking for work as the team contemplates getting younger on the edges. Left guard Todd Herremans is the team's left tackle of the future and right guard Shawn Andrews, still rehabbing from back surgery, could be the right tackle.
It would be a good idea to have a Plan B, for Runyan had started 211 straight games entering the divisional playoff game with the Giants, while Andrews has missed nearly two of his five seasons due to injuries.
Tight end L.J. Smith almost certainly won't be back next season unless he takes a huge pay cut, and the Eagles can find replacements for their remaining unrestricted free agents, running back Correll Buckhalter and safety Sean Considine, if they aren't retained.
The restricted free agents - wide receiver Hank Baskett and guard Nick Cole - are young, serviceable players worthy of tenders.
And last but not least, quarterback Donovan McNabb finally will get his audience with management. McNabb still has questions about his benching, as well as his future with the team.
If the Eagles want McNabb to be the guy, it's fairly obvious he won't be happy until they put it in writing in the form of an extension and raise on a contract that voids after the 2010 campaign.
Trivia question: Eagles head coach Andy Reid is 9-6 in the playoffs. Which referee officiated Reid's first postseason game, a Dec. 31, 2000, victory over the Buccaneers? Answer below.
Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson was put in the awkward position last week of explaining why his former assistant, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, would be a good head coach.
Spagnuolo isn't the only protege of the 67-year-old Johnson interviewing to be a head coach. Leslie Frazier, the defensive coordinator of the Vikings is a head-coaching candidate as is Ron Rivera, the Chargers defensive coordinator.
"I think he's a good (coach) who has been around the league for a while," Johnson said of Spagnuolo. "He is a smart guy and is very meticulous about his stuff. There are a lot of good head coaching candidates out there. He is in a good situation right now. He produced last year and it has helped him and he produced this year. Just like Leslie Frazier and Ron Rivera. They're all good, young coaches."
Nothing against "good, young coaches," but the system really seems to be discriminating against veterans like Johnson who have paid their dues.
Johnson is making a very good wage, and deservedly so. But when a man with his talents doesn't get a nibble for a head-coaching position, you have to wonder what role ownership thinks experience plays in coaching.
Trivia answer: The referee who worked Andy Reid's first playoff game with the Eagles is Mike Carey. He gets the nod again today when the Birds oppose the Giants at the Meadowlands. Reid is 2-1 in postseason games officiated by Carey.
The Re(a)d Zone: A lot of football players suspect the strategic opening of a gate in the east tunnel makes the tricky Giants Stadium wind ridiculously hard for opposing kickers and quarterbacks. Another theory is the place was built in the middle of a swamp with only the stadium to break the wind. Winds could be gusting 20-25 mph. today ... Obviously NFL player salaries have escalated since the 1985 Bears won the Super Bowl. Nonetheless it was interesting to stumble across a list of base salaries for that title team. The late Walter Payton ($685,000), the Hall of Fame running back, and quarterback Jim McMahon ($600,000) were the highest-paid Bears. Those barely would be veteran minimums these days. Leslie Frazier, the former Eagles assistant, earned $130,000 for leading the Bears in interceptions. Defensive end Richard Dent, the Super Bowl XX MVP, made $90,000. The Giants got $78,000 apiece for winning the Super Bowl XLII.
(c)Copyright 2009 The Delaware County Daily Times
Vision becoming even more clear for Ravens
MIAMI -- The only thing the Baltimore Ravens didn't take away from this playoff win was the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders.
In a game that qualified as more dominating than the final score indicated, Baltimore took a 27-9 victory Sunday at Dolphin Stadium in an AFC wild-card matchup. In the process of putting together this purposeful and thorough victory, the Ravens sent a message to the rest of the playoff field that they are the most likely wild-card team to follow in the footsteps of Pittsburgh in 2005 and the Giants last season - something that Baltimore accomplished en route to their Super Bowl XXXV victory following the 2000 campaign.
"We have a vision," Baltimore running back LeRon McClain said. "We have a vision of that Lombardi Trophy. We've had it since March when we started working out and preparing."
The Ravens will carry that vision with them to Tennessee on Saturday for the second round of the playoffs. Along the way, they grabbed their first playoff win since 2001. Like that game that was also at Miami, the Ravens did this with a style of play that was beyond physical. It was intimidating.
The Ravens forced five turnovers from a Dolphins team that had only 13 coming into the season. Miami's total tied the Giants for the fewest in the league this year and for the fewest ever by a team since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1976. All five turnovers came during a stretch of six legitimate possessions that bridged the second and third quarters.
In so doing, the Ravens basically ripped the heart out of the Dolphins and showed it to them like in some Indiana Jones movie. The only difference was that this was real.
"Hey, you have to be a man to play on this defense and we have some rough, tough, mean guys out there," Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said. "That's their personality. It's a football mentality that you have to have if you're going to be good and this group has it. We've been working on that here for 10 years since I got here.
"I've been part of that and I'm proud of it."
It would be remiss not to comment on the state of the Dolphins and their fine 2008 season. While the transition from 1-15 to 11-5 has been a phenomenal NFL story, there are certain realities that people need to understand before expecting the Dolphins to make another huge leap in contending status.
Despite the presence of three top-10 draft picks (running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams and wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr.), the Dolphins are sorely short of talent. Specifically, quarterback Chad Pennington isn't built to beat championship-caliber defenses. His soft-tossing, hyper-accurate arm is fine in the regular season when Pennington can feast on the vast array of mediocrity that the NFL presents. When Pennington plays against teams that can either close off the passing lanes he likes to throw to or redirect his wide receivers, Pennington has problems.
Here's the telling stat about Pennington: In 15 games against the rest of the NFL this season, he had six interceptions. In two games against the Ravens, he threw five picks.
By the second quarter against Baltimore on Sunday, the Dolphins offense looked like it was being played in a shoe box with Pennington throwing one short pass after another and usually to the wrong team. The only excitement was a 45-yard catch-and-mostly-run by wide receiver Davone Bess. That play set up a spectacular 2-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to Ronnie Brown.
That score ended a run of six legitimate possessions by the Dolphins (they had a kneel-down at the end of the first half) in which they had five turnovers, including four interceptions by Pennington. The most telling interception was on a route in the middle that he tried to squeeze in the third quarter but was picked by Baltimore safety Ed Reed.
That was Reed's second interception of the game. His first came on a desperate long throw by Pennington as linebacker Terrell Suggs was bearing down on him. Reed gathered the ball, avoided a tackle as he circled back to his left, then ran all the way across the field to the right to complete a 64-yard touchdown return that gave the Ravens a 10-3 lead in the second quarter.
"That was sweet to get that one in my first playoff victory," said Reed, who has returned eight turnovers for touchdowns in his career. "That was something special."
Moreover, the blocking on the return was something to behold. The Ravens have become so conditioned to Reed returning turnovers that they react differently when he has the ball.
"When most [defensive] guys get the ball, as a defensive player you just run to them, looking for a block," said defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, who buried Miami wide receiver Ted Ginn with a block during the return. "With Ed, because you know he's so good at it, you're looking to help him set up the return, so you wait for him to run to you."
By the time the barrage of turnovers was over, the Ravens led 20-3. It might as well have been 41-3 as the Ravens kept pounding and pounding. While the Dolphins briefly created hope with Brown's touchdown, the promise was short-lived.
With 4:53 remaining, Baltimore running back Willis McGahee broke a 48-yard run that put Baltimore in position for its final touchdown. The run came on a play that the Ravens had called at least six times earlier in the game. It was a no-frills call that was simply about wearing down an opponent.
"If you keep beating and beating on something, eventually something is going to break," said McGahee, whose run highlighted a 33-carry, 151-yard effort for the Ravens. "On that play, the levee broke."
After McGahee's run, Dolphins fans headed to the aisles faster than water through a broken dam. By the time Baltimore rookie quarterback Joe Flacco finished the drive with a 5-yard run on a quarterback draw for the final margin, about the only people left to pull for the Dolphins were the cheerleaders.
And more than a few Ravens took notice.
"That's the only thing the Dolphins have that's better than the Ravens, those cheerleaders," a Baltimore player was overheard saying.
Copyright (c) 2009 Yahoo! Inc
Patriots embarrass Bills, remain in playoff picture
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Having booed as loudly as they could, and having placed as many angry phone calls to local radio stations as their time would allow, fans of the Buffalo Bills turned to the last form of protest left at their disposal.
They walked out.
Thousands of fans left Ralph Wilson Stadium, never to return, at halftime of their team's National Football League season finale on Sunday. More followed in the second half, as the Bills lost 13-0 to the New England Patriots.
Buffalo has not qualified for post-season play since 1999, and finished with a 7-9 record for the third straight year. The Patriots, meanwhile, finished 11-5, and had to wait to learn their fate.
New England needed the New York Jets (9-6) to beat the Miami Dolphins (10-5) to win the AFC East and a post-season berth. The Patriots can also book passage as a wild card berth if the Baltimore Ravens lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It was a frigid, windy afternoon in Orchard Park, NY, with gusts that reportedly tore a strip from Buffalo's practice facility. The wind wreaked havoc with the goalposts, to say nothing of the kicking and passing games.
And, in the end, the weather was New England's only real obstacle.
Buffalo's season began with promise, which escalated quickly to delirium before abruptly tumbling back into despair. It all unfolded within a few weeks of November, as the Bills allowed a 5-1 start dissolve into meaninglessness with a four-game losing streak.
Quarterback Trent Edwards was never quite the same after suffering a concussion in the first game of October. And the coaching staff, led by Dick Jauron, began absorbing more and more criticism for its decision-making in crucial situations.
The target was looming especially large over Jauron yesterday, with speculation swirling over his future with the team. The fans were quick to voice their displeasure, and he was, involuntarily, almost as quick to offer more ammunition.
Buffalo had finally gained traction, with the wind at its back, and seemed poised to tie the score at 3-3 in the final seconds of the first half. Instead of calling for a field goal attempt on third down, with the clock winding down and no timeouts remaining, Jauron opted to send running back Fred Jackson up the middle.
The veteran backup was stuffed for a three-yard gain, down to New England's nine-yard line with 22 seconds remaining. Jackson began trotting off the field - with the ball in hand, having run for 100 yards for the first time in his career - as confusion reigned behind him. Centre Duke Preston was caught up in a shoving match as more and more time melted from the clock.
Buffalo's field goal team never made it onto the field. Time expired. The Bills were booed as they left the field and, when they returned, they were greeted by thousands of empty seats in all three levels of the stadium.
New England increased its lead to 10-0 late in the third quarter after driving against the wind into Buffalo territory. Quarterback Matt Cassel found receiver Wes Welker wide open on a fourth-and-five gamble, which set up a two-yard touchdown plunge by running back LaMont Jordan.
There could not have been a fan left in attendance who thought the Bills had a chance to rally. The Patriots have been unbeatable in December, winning 23 of 25 games over the previous five years heading into play yesterday.
Under coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots had overcome the loss of a franchise quarterback (Tom Brady, knee) and a starting running back (Laurence Maroney, shoulder) to keep within striking distance of a playoff berth. Adding to his challenge Sunday was the absence of defensive end Richard Seymour, who was ruled inactive with a back injury.
(c)2008 The National Post Company
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