Friday, February 3, 2006
What Will Not Happen In The Super Bowl
The Steelers will not hop out to a quick 10-0 lead in the first quarter, aided by the first-ever punt return for a touchdown in Super Bowl history (that's right, it has never happened before, despite there being seven kickoffs returned for touchdowns. The longest punt return in Super Bowl history is a mere 45 yards. Sounds strange, doesn't it?)
Then Ben Roethlisberger will not throw two touchdown passes in the second quarter to give the Steelers a 24-3 halftime edge.
Seattle will then go scoreless in the second half, while Pittsburgh runs 22 minutes off the clock in the half with a steady ground attack, giving Jerome Bettis plenty of time to seal the win with 103 yards and a score in the fourth quarter to round off the scoring at 38-3, Pittsburgh.
Troy Polamalu will not win the Super Bowl MVP award with his interception, sack, 15 tackles and a forced fumble.
(It won't happen, because our saying it won't ensures that it will. Of course.)
The focus here in the Northwest is how the Seattle Seahawks have never been to the Super Bowl before, and all the Hawks are all wide-eyed in awe about just being in Detroit. Meanwhile, we haven't heard a whole lot of Steelers saying, "We're just happy to be here."
Matt Hasselbeck has, for lack of better word, "choked" before...and he is certainly capable of doing it again. Meanwhile, Ben Roethlisberger has a history -- albeit two seasons long -- of not choking. The only game he has lost that he really should have won was last year's AFC Championship, a game played in Pittsburgh, albeit against the eventual champ Patriots. He's a very poised player, especially for his youth, and will help Pittsburgh prove that its #6 seed was just a number, if beating the #1, #2 and #3 seeds on the road in consecutive playoff games hasn't already done that. The sixth-seed is not a testament to a wild-card caliber team but rather to the strength of the entire AFC.
Seattle has just one impressive victory this entire season, their 34-14 drubbing of the Panthers in the NFC title game. Pittsburgh has those three impressive victories in the playoffs alone. (Yes, the Hawks beat the Colts too, back in the fifteenth game of the regular season, but it came after Indy's dream of an undefeated season ended, and they were not going to be trying hard in those last couple of games.) And it seems as though every thing the Seahawks have, the Steelers have a better match, save for the running back category. It's just going to be too much, too overwhelming for Seattle. Again, let's make it Pittsburgh 38, Seattle 3.
Then Ben Roethlisberger will not throw two touchdown passes in the second quarter to give the Steelers a 24-3 halftime edge.
Seattle will then go scoreless in the second half, while Pittsburgh runs 22 minutes off the clock in the half with a steady ground attack, giving Jerome Bettis plenty of time to seal the win with 103 yards and a score in the fourth quarter to round off the scoring at 38-3, Pittsburgh.
Troy Polamalu will not win the Super Bowl MVP award with his interception, sack, 15 tackles and a forced fumble.
(It won't happen, because our saying it won't ensures that it will. Of course.)
The focus here in the Northwest is how the Seattle Seahawks have never been to the Super Bowl before, and all the Hawks are all wide-eyed in awe about just being in Detroit. Meanwhile, we haven't heard a whole lot of Steelers saying, "We're just happy to be here."
Matt Hasselbeck has, for lack of better word, "choked" before...and he is certainly capable of doing it again. Meanwhile, Ben Roethlisberger has a history -- albeit two seasons long -- of not choking. The only game he has lost that he really should have won was last year's AFC Championship, a game played in Pittsburgh, albeit against the eventual champ Patriots. He's a very poised player, especially for his youth, and will help Pittsburgh prove that its #6 seed was just a number, if beating the #1, #2 and #3 seeds on the road in consecutive playoff games hasn't already done that. The sixth-seed is not a testament to a wild-card caliber team but rather to the strength of the entire AFC.
Seattle has just one impressive victory this entire season, their 34-14 drubbing of the Panthers in the NFC title game. Pittsburgh has those three impressive victories in the playoffs alone. (Yes, the Hawks beat the Colts too, back in the fifteenth game of the regular season, but it came after Indy's dream of an undefeated season ended, and they were not going to be trying hard in those last couple of games.) And it seems as though every thing the Seahawks have, the Steelers have a better match, save for the running back category. It's just going to be too much, too overwhelming for Seattle. Again, let's make it Pittsburgh 38, Seattle 3.
