I'm getting a bad feeling about Super Bowl XLV

I'm getting a bad feeling about this Super Bowl. I have the feeling the Steelers are going to do it for the 7th time. Why? Two words: Ben Roethlisberger. The guy is a past-master of stealing games in the final two minutes of play. I have said this over and over again on this blog and in other venues.

Big Ben hasn't done this once, twice or three times. He does this relentlessly, game in and game out, for several years now. Elway's astounding record for two-minute victory drives is going to be in considerable jeopardy if Roethlisberger stays in the league for another 6-8 years.

He is a clutch guy. Roethlisburger is certainly more of killer-clutch guy than Peyton Manning. I believe he is more clutch than Tom Brady. Michigan men may want to dispute that, but I think it is true. I also believe he is more clutch than Joe Montana. The only guy I rank ahead of Roethlisburger is John Elway. I put Roethlisburger in a tie with Roger Staubach. Only Elway is more clutch than Roethlisberger. Incidentally, Montana was not more clutch than Elway. He wasn't more clutch that Staubach either. Allegations to the contrary are pure mythological bullshit. I saw the totality of both their careers. I know.

Roethlisberger is just too damn clutch. I was reminded of this fact (once again) when I got home last night. The NFL Network was showing a replay of the 2009 meeting between the Packers and Steelers in Pittsburgh. How did it end? With a last-second touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace in the end zone. The Steelers stole that one.

Do I need to remind anybody of what Roethlisberger did to the Ravens in this playoff tournament?

The moral of this story is clear: If the game is close in the final moments, Roethlisberger will win the game for the Steelers. We don't expect most QBs in the league to complete the two-minute drive at the end of the game. Most can't. In Ben's case, we do expect him to complete the drive. At this point in NFL history, there is no worse feeling than having a 4 point lead on the Steelers with 1:34 left go, and Steelers in possession of the ball on their own 30. You are sitting on sharp nails if that is your present situation.

I was actually shocked in 2010 when the Jets prevented Roethlisberger from completing a two-minute comeback drive at the end of their regular season game. I thought Ben was going to do it. My instant reaction was "Damn! Rex is an amazing defensive mind! How did he pull that off?" In most cases, I would be shocked if the QB did pull it off. I would be pissed at the DC if his unit gave up the game-winning drive.

I would much rather see the Packers win the game. If the Steelers win their 7th, it would add greatly to my dismay in life. Still, if you let these guys hang around, they will beat you.

How can the Packers win? I'll tell you how. You must deal with Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers in precisely the way teams dealt with the young John Elway and the Broncos in the Super Bowl. You have to put them down hard and fast. You slam them right down on the turf and blow their brains out by three scores. You need to blow them out. You can't just beat them. You cannot allow the game to be close. You have to turn on the afterburner full-blast and never shut it down. You must maintain a 3 score lead at all times in the second half. In this situation, the two-minute drill only shortens the margin of victory.

The Patriots certainly blew out the Steelers in precisely this fashion. This is the blue-print for a Packer victory. You can't expect to beat them by four. You have to beat them by 17 or more.

Can this happen in SB XLV? I doubt it. If anyone has the firepower to blow the Steelers it is the Packers, but let's remember, that stellar Packer offense will be facing the #1 ranked scoring defense in the league. I doubt the Steelers will yield that many points. This one is for all the marbles. I doubt the Steelers will lay an egg as they did against the Patriots.

Memo to McCarthy: Open up the playbook. Hit them with the kitchen sink. Make every drive furious. Be aggressive as hell in your play-calling. Score throughout the entire game. Turn on the afterburners full-blast, and keep them on all-game long. Don't shut down the offense. No goose-egg quarters. Try to score on every drive and every play. Don't ever shut it down. You're guys need to chop wood all game long.

Dynasty Pilots vs. Great Quarterbacks

Before the Sunday night spectacular between the Patriots and Colts, NBC showed the results of a fantastic poll they conducted. The question was simple: Who is the better QB, Peyton Manning or Tom Brady? The question was put to all Hall of Fame quarterbacks still living in this world today. Greats such as Unitas, Waterfield, Van Brocklin, Baugh, Luckman have been silenced by Death.

The result was a landslide for Peyton Manning. He won 13.5 to 3.5. Four members abstained. What the hell is the 0.5 at the end of those figures? Joe Montana split his vote. He said he would start Brady in the first half and Manning in the second half. Rodney Harrison violently objected to that. He believes Brady finishes better than Manning. Not last Sunday he didn't. Maybe Joe actually knows a thing or two about Quarterbacking.

I would not have commented on this poll were it not for the shocking fact that so many took umbrage over it. Their simple argument is so simple that it must come from a simpleton: Brady has 3 rings, Manning has 1, ergo Brady must be the better QB.

This is a classic example of how the QB gets too much credit when things go well, and too much blame when things go badly. Folks, I cannot say it loudly enough. No quarterback ever won a Super Bowl. Those who use this terminology radio & TV put their massive ignorance on parade before the public. Quarterbacks do not win championships, teams do. It takes 40 men together, plus some luck, plus a bad call or two, to put a Super Bowl ring on your finger. If you think quarterbacks win Super Bowls, you are a fucked up bitch indeed.

Everybody who knows and understands the sport of football knows Manning plays better than Brady. This is evidenced by the landslide victory Peyton just won among the Hall of Fame Quarterbacks. This has been true for a long time.

So why does Brady have more championships? Because he had the better defense, that's why. If you know and understand football, you know that offense wins games, and defense wins championships. In the first half of the 2000s, the Patriots had the most consistently excellent defense in the NFL. Sorry Ravens, you weren't consistently great during that stretch. The Patriot offense was nothing special. Brady would do enough to win, not a lot more. The defense was pretty stellar. Belichick's defense won those championships.

On the other hand, the Colts did not have a consistently good defense. They were not expected to be a factor at all in 2006 because their defense was collapsing as they went into the post season. Nobody could have predicted that that defense would go on one of the most dominant tears we had ever seen during that 2006 tournament. Guess what? The Colts won the Super Bowl that year. Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.

If I were to consistently apply your fallacious logic, I would have to say Trent Dillford was a better QB than Dan Fouts because he has a ring and Dan doesn't. I would also have to say that Terry Bradshaw is a better QB than John Unitas because Bradshaw has 4 rings and Unitas only had 1. I would have to say that Brad Johnson is a better QB that Dan Marino because Johnson got one with Tampa, and Marino got none with Miami.

Naturally, each and every one of those statements is absolute bullshit. You cannot judge a QB by his jewelry. Any attempt to do so is a homosexual assessment indeed.

Also, Bart Starr is better than Brett Favre because Bart got 2 rings and Brett only got 1. It should be noted that Bart doesn't even claim that. Bart Starr has said many times, in public, that Brett can throw the ball on his knees better than Bart can standing up.

Dynasty pilots get way too much credit folks. Bart Starr got a hell of a lot of credit because his Packers won a hell of a lot of championships. Everybody knows that was a running team folks. Some tried to say he was a better QB than Unitas. Why? Because he handed off more frequently?

I am sorry to say this about my fellow Virgo, born on September 2nd just like me, but Terry Bradshaw is the ultimate case of title inflation. While Bradshaw remains one of my favorite characters around the league, truth be told, he wasn't that good of quarterback. The Steelers were a running team. Bradshaw only had 4 games where he passed for 300 or more yards. That was for his entire career. Further, you should know that he was considered a serious draft bust until 1976. The pressure turned off when the Steelers won their 2nd Super Bowl. Bradshaw didn't turn into a quality quarterback until the 1978 rules changes suddenly transformed him into the Blond-Bomber. Even then, he averaged about 27 TDs and about 25 Ints per year.

During the time he played, everybody knew Staubach and Stabler were better than Bradshaw. Still, 'Bradshaw often beat' these guys in head to head competition. Guess why? Bradshaw had the better defense. He won more championships because he had a better defense. Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.

Then we go forward to Joe Montana. I have already blogged about the NFL's greatest myth. Look it up on my blog. Folks, everybody who watched football during the 1980s knew Joe was a good quarterback, but we also knew Elway and Marino were better. Now the 49ers never had any defense, right? BULLSHIT! BULL FUCKING SHIT! You go check out the statistics my friend. The 49ers were #2 in total team defense in 1981, the year they first won the Super Bowl. That defense was so good, they were able to overcome 4 turnovers by Joe in the NFC championship game against Dallas. You go check out the film. You will see Joe throw a few dastardly picks during that game.

What about Aikman? Well, that was truly a stellar QB on a running team. Aikman had limited statistical success in the league because the Dallas offense was about muscling it down your throat with Moose Johnston and Emit Smith. Still, everybody who saw him play knew he could be called upon to any extent you needed to make any throw in the book at any time. It should be noted that he had a Hellacious defense in his back-pocket also.

Tom is a good guy, but like several before him, he was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. Similar to Joe Montana, many believe he would not have been successful anywhere else in the league. On the other hand, Manning would have piloted New England to 4 or 5 championships easy.

Quick thoughts about the pre-season

So the month of August is winding down to an end, and I realize that I have only blogged some 5 times during this month. It has been an incredibly busy time. I have been working late every night on a major project at work involving WPF, I took advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program, and I am preparing to buy my first shogun and townhome. Wow... that is a lot of stuff in just one month.

Item #1: Bulger breaks his right pinking finger. Well, here we go again. It has often been said Buger is a china doll. How many QBs have busted the pinkie finger on their passing hands taking snaps from a Pro-Bowl center? This is not a good sign. Our guys have not mastered the West Coast, and now we are loosing precious practice time necessary to get it right.

Item #2: Coach Cable busts his assistant's jaw. Well what can I say about this? The scuttlebutt says that Defensive assistant Randy Hanson is Al Davis's personal snitch. This is the dude who reported all of Lane Kiffen's sayings to Al Davis. Rumor has it that Mr. Hanson was continuing in this role under the Cable administration. Cable found out about the leak and busted Hanson's jaw. The X-Rays show a clean fracture. Yesterday, it was reported that Hanson is cooperating with the police and the police intend to question Cable about this incident. Wow... I do have a new found respect for Cable. This is a man's man. He's don't take no shit from his subordinates. Gotta feel bad for the Raider fans. Just as they appear to be getting it together, it seems to be coming unglued again.

Item #3: Tom Brady looks like shit in his return from the IR. The NFL Network showed split screen side-by-side comparisons of Brady throwing during his historical 2007 season and during the 2009 preseason. It is clear that Brady's movement and comfort level are not the same. Specifically, he is not planting and stepping into his throws correctly. Why? Because it hurts like hell, that's why. The results have been some wildly off-course throws sailing well over the head of Randy Moss.

Item #4: Brett Farve looks like shit in his first outting with the Vikings. Well... what can you say about this? He looks like a dead man walking. He looks like a guy with about 1,000 injuries. The debut was last Friday night at the Metrodome. It was terrible. On Saturday night, the Packers played the Panthers at home in Green Bay. The cheese-heads in the stands were waving signs saying "Cash for clunkers: The Vikings are paying Brett Farve." Rumor has it that there is now an insurgency in the locker room. Some Viks want Tavaris to be the QB.

Item #5: Kyle Orton looks like shit in his first two outings with the Broncos. I suppose owner Pat Bowlen will come to Shannahan on bent knee asking him to take his old job back at the end of the 2009 season. Orton looks obnoxiously bad. I mean he sunk up the joint like a dead skunk. Phil Simms son Chris should be the man for the Broncos this year.

Item #6: Tony Romo looks pretty damn fine in the Texas opener. I have to say that the Cowboys looked pretty damn fine destroying the Titans 30-10 in the grand opening of the new Taj Mahal of professional football. On the opening drive, the Cowboy starters jammed the football right down the throat of a starting Titan defense that was absolutely determined to stop them. The Titans weren't fooling around either. Dallas just knocked them off the line of scrimmage on running plays, and Romo made some tremendous throws in the passing game.

Item #7: Stafford is struggling a bit. I really like Matt Stafford. I really hope he will be the solution for the long suffering Lion fans. There is nothing I would like better than the Lions and the Rams to be the Miami and Atlanta of this 2009 season {except maybe for the Cardinals to win SB44}. May the meek inherit the NFL. Still, Matt is struggling right now. He's doing exactly what Mike Mayock said he was prone to do. He makes one sensational throw that takes your breath away. He then makes one bone-headed decision which results in an Interception. Matt Stafford may become the new Brett Farve. Detroit will accept that and embrace that if it happens. Brett Farve is better than anything they have had in 50 or 60 years.

Item #8: Sanchez looks pretty good: Sanchez has already been declared the opening day starter. I think it is a good decision. The Jets have one of the finest offensive lines in football. Mangold, Faneca, and Ferguson are the best left side of a line since Dalby, Upshaw and Shell. Sanchez's ass is covered. Let him learn how to play and prosper.

Item #7: It looks like Packers vs Dolphins in the Super Bowl.

If we look hard at the preseason results, the most outstanding teams early have been the Packers and the Dolphins. A strong nod should be given to the Colts and the Saints also. We know preseason football is largely meaningless because of the number of scrubs playing. However, 1-vs-1, these four teams have looked superior. If I was to call it I would say that the Saints face the Packers in the NFC Championship, and the Dolphins face the Colts in the AFC Championship.

Item #5: Ocho Cinco kicks pretty good. We know the Bengals occupy one of the smallest markets in the NFL. They might well also be in the poorest of the 32 NFL cities. I think the Bengals should save money and improve their special teams by letting Chad kick all the time.