Super
Bowl playoff drama shocks football
followers
Jesse Munoz
Sunday’s two divisional championship games played out to give an interesting
Pittsburgh vs. Seattle matchup in Super Bowl XL, the 2005-06 NFL campaign has
come to an end. Sure the big game is still a couple weeks away, but for fans
not living in either the greater Pittsburgh or Seattle area, it’s now time
to ride out winter watching basketball and hockey. All good things must eventually
come to an end, and the action packed theatrics of an NFL season are no exception.
You can’t even say the word disappointment without thinking of the Oakland
Raiders. I mean, no one was predicting a Super Bowl, but when you trade for Randy
Moss, one would expect to win more games than the year before. That was not the
case for the Raiders, who for the first time in franchise history have finished
with three consecutive losing seasons.
Another group of fans no doubt left scratching their heads has to be Atlanta’s,
where Michael Vick and the Falcons started the season strong, only to collapse
under a no-show defense and a hit-or-miss Michael Vick. I guess it is a miracle
he even played in as many games as he did without breaking a leg, but his stats
are erratic at best, hovering right around 200 yards passing per game, banking
on the potential that he may break a big run.
Everyone knows the man is a living breathing piece of football immortality, but
how much longer will he play? Every year there is speculation it could be his
last, and every year Favre puts up his numbers and keeps the sportswriters guessing.
But no one could have predicted a career high 29 interceptions from Favre.
This year’s biggest disappointment came in Terrell Owens, and the ongoing
soap opera his NFL career has become. Lets just remember that the Eagles were
a Super Bowl caliber team every year for the past four years, until Owens started
his little feud and disrupted the Eagles’ nest.
Along with this year’s disappointments came some big surprises. Chief among
them was the dominance of the Chicago Bears’ defense and their run into
the playoffs. After Quarterback Rex Grossman went down with a leg injury, the
Bears were forced to go with untested rookie Kyle Orton, who was just good enough
to win behind Brian Urlacher and a record breaking Chicago defense.
The Bears were rolling along until Carolina Panther receiver Steve Smith rolled
into town, and promptly ended all Chicago Super Bowl plans with a 218-yard, two-touchdown
performance. However, those sorts of games were not unordinary for Smith, who
in 2005 racked up over 1,500 yards receiving and 13 regular season touchdowns.
Other monumental surprises came during the playoffs, the biggest among them being
Indianapolis kicker Mike Vanderjagt missing the would- be game-tieing fieldgoal.
It wasn’t surprising that an “idiot kicker,” to borrow the
term from Peyton Manning, missed a kick, it was more the fact that the NFL’s
most historically accurate kicker missed the kick.
All disappointment and surprises aside, Super Bowl XL looks to be a matchup of
two highly deserving and well- coached teams.
With each capable of putting points on the board, and neither afraid to strap
up and bring the hat on defense, the game should be evenly matched, and will
probably come down to which team can better limit the amount of mistakes, while
seeking to make the big play first.
Look for the usual variety of insight and special interest stories focusing on
the backgrounds and personal triumphs of players from both teams in the days
leading up to Super Bowl XL, but don’t be surprised if you are inundated
with the fact that aged Steeler running back Jerome Bettis is from Detroit, coincidently
the home of Super Bowl XL, and that this may very well be his last NFL season.
Football fans should also expect to hear over and over how remarkable the Steelers
are for becoming the first No.6 seated team to advance to the Super Bowl, and
that Ben Roethlisberger will be the second youngest quarterback to start a Super
Bowl at the tender age of 23 years and 11 months.
On the Seattle side I expect the focus to be on Coach Mike Holgren’s return
to the Super Bowl, this time as a Seahawk and without the assistance of the aforenmentioned
Favre. And finally no Super Bowl coverage would be complete withouta star running
back story. And it just so happens Seattle running back and league MVP Shaun
Alexander will be a free agent next year.
All in all, it was another great season, filled with competitive parity amongst
the teams, some big time performances from some unexpected places, and some major
disappointments in places that usually shine. All the glitz and hype of the Super
Bowl leaves a couple more weeks for football junkies to get their last fix, one
last shot of football induced excitement to last them through the winter, or
at the very least the final 67 days until baseball season gets underway.
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