Thoughts on Championship Weekend
By Pat Callahan
Bears 39, Saints 14 – The key sequence here occurred in the third quarter. Bears up 16-14 and the Saints, having just scored on Reggie Bush’s 88 yard catch and run, were back in business at Chicago’s 29 yard line, 1st and 10. The Bears were reeling, and the specter of playing catch-up with Rex Grossman at the helm had the sellout crowd spooked.
Then Sean Payton, with a Super Bowl berth in his sights, blinked. Instead of getting Deuce McAlister going, he called three straight passes, all incomplete, leading to a 47 yard shank by Billy Cundiff that gave the Monsters the ball, and a huge breath of fresh air, on their 37 yard line. While, as usual, Rex did nothing with that series, the ensuing punt pinned the Saints deep and led to Drew Brees’ ill advised grounding in the end zone. Again, why not pound McAlister three times here? He killed Philly last week, and the Bears had just given up 120 plus yards – and two scores – to Shaun Alexander.
The rest is history.
The Bears sure as hell knew to get the ball out of Grossman’s hands and, after inexplicably letting him sit on the bench for most of the first half, gave it to Thomas Jones.
Chicago deserves to be NFC Champion, if for no other reason than this: no one else comes close.
Colts 38, Pats 34 – A really great, entertaining game. Certainly it seemed like anything but in the second quarter, after Assante Samuel’s pick and roll made it 21-3, Patriots. But, facing the cementing of his status as a playoff eunuch, Peyton Manning reached down, found some badly needed mojo, and took Indy on a Magic Carpet Ride for the remaining 32 minutes.
Beginning with those last two minutes in the first half, through the middle of the 3rd quarter, the Colts ran 37 plays to the Pats 4, including a Tom Brady kneel down at the end of the half. New England was suddenly, shockingly, exhausted - tired, cramping and hurting - all in a span of some 20 minutes. Still, they fought back, and certainly could have won or forced OT if two plays had gone differently: first, Tom Brady somehow failed to see an uncovered Reche Caldwell to his right with the Pats at the Colts 20. (He did finally see him, with various Colts frantically scrambling to get over there, and Caldwell- who looked like a goldfish with a helmet on – promptly dropped it anyway.) Still, if Brady sees him right away and just leads him down the sideline, it’s an easy TD. The second play occurred shortly thereafter, and it again involved Caldwell. This time he was, in the opinion of most observers, clearly interfered with in the end zone on a Brady lob, but no call was made. A Gustkowski FG left four points on the table, the exact losing margin.
The Patriots are warriors and went down guns blazing, but Peyton Manning answered the call of greatness Sunday night, and Belichik’s Monster is finally dead.
Random Thoughts:
Bill Belichik was his usual miserable ogre self Sunday night, after the loss. He gave poor Solomon Wilcotts of CBS Sports a horrific interview after the game, all but ignored Manning’s handshake and greeting – Peyton had searched him out to talk to him – and then gave his usual half-hearted, I’ll-make-Andy-Reid-look-like-Robin-Williams-press conference. Just a bad guy, in the public eye.
Great to see Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy make it to the Super Bowl, and not just because they’re African-American. Most Americans do not care about that at all, and that’s precisely how it ought to be. Still, the media will, over the next two weeks, embarrass these two men by broaching this subject again and again. Here it is: they are both really good coaches, and great Christian gentlemen to boot. Good for them. Both Dungy and Smith are winners in every sense of the word.
Good thing there’s two weeks ‘til the Super Bowl. Phil Simms will need the entire time to regain his voice, having set a postseason record for most words spoken during an NFL telecast…Bill Parcells retires again, and the league is the lesser for it; like him or not. Parcells had become a legendary figure, perhaps bigger than his record warrants. He won as many Super Bowls as Tom Flores, and one less than Joe Gibbs, but it’s Parcells that’s a sure bet first ballot hall of famer…and now we head into the dog days of winter: football nearly over and camps are six months away. But stay tuned, dear reader: Timmy Mac and me will keep you posted all spring and summer. Prosid.
Bears 39, Saints 14 – The key sequence here occurred in the third quarter. Bears up 16-14 and the Saints, having just scored on Reggie Bush’s 88 yard catch and run, were back in business at Chicago’s 29 yard line, 1st and 10. The Bears were reeling, and the specter of playing catch-up with Rex Grossman at the helm had the sellout crowd spooked.
Then Sean Payton, with a Super Bowl berth in his sights, blinked. Instead of getting Deuce McAlister going, he called three straight passes, all incomplete, leading to a 47 yard shank by Billy Cundiff that gave the Monsters the ball, and a huge breath of fresh air, on their 37 yard line. While, as usual, Rex did nothing with that series, the ensuing punt pinned the Saints deep and led to Drew Brees’ ill advised grounding in the end zone. Again, why not pound McAlister three times here? He killed Philly last week, and the Bears had just given up 120 plus yards – and two scores – to Shaun Alexander.
The rest is history.
The Bears sure as hell knew to get the ball out of Grossman’s hands and, after inexplicably letting him sit on the bench for most of the first half, gave it to Thomas Jones.
Chicago deserves to be NFC Champion, if for no other reason than this: no one else comes close.
Colts 38, Pats 34 – A really great, entertaining game. Certainly it seemed like anything but in the second quarter, after Assante Samuel’s pick and roll made it 21-3, Patriots. But, facing the cementing of his status as a playoff eunuch, Peyton Manning reached down, found some badly needed mojo, and took Indy on a Magic Carpet Ride for the remaining 32 minutes.
Beginning with those last two minutes in the first half, through the middle of the 3rd quarter, the Colts ran 37 plays to the Pats 4, including a Tom Brady kneel down at the end of the half. New England was suddenly, shockingly, exhausted - tired, cramping and hurting - all in a span of some 20 minutes. Still, they fought back, and certainly could have won or forced OT if two plays had gone differently: first, Tom Brady somehow failed to see an uncovered Reche Caldwell to his right with the Pats at the Colts 20. (He did finally see him, with various Colts frantically scrambling to get over there, and Caldwell- who looked like a goldfish with a helmet on – promptly dropped it anyway.) Still, if Brady sees him right away and just leads him down the sideline, it’s an easy TD. The second play occurred shortly thereafter, and it again involved Caldwell. This time he was, in the opinion of most observers, clearly interfered with in the end zone on a Brady lob, but no call was made. A Gustkowski FG left four points on the table, the exact losing margin.
The Patriots are warriors and went down guns blazing, but Peyton Manning answered the call of greatness Sunday night, and Belichik’s Monster is finally dead.
Random Thoughts:
Bill Belichik was his usual miserable ogre self Sunday night, after the loss. He gave poor Solomon Wilcotts of CBS Sports a horrific interview after the game, all but ignored Manning’s handshake and greeting – Peyton had searched him out to talk to him – and then gave his usual half-hearted, I’ll-make-Andy-Reid-look-like-Robin-Williams-press conference. Just a bad guy, in the public eye.
Great to see Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy make it to the Super Bowl, and not just because they’re African-American. Most Americans do not care about that at all, and that’s precisely how it ought to be. Still, the media will, over the next two weeks, embarrass these two men by broaching this subject again and again. Here it is: they are both really good coaches, and great Christian gentlemen to boot. Good for them. Both Dungy and Smith are winners in every sense of the word.
Good thing there’s two weeks ‘til the Super Bowl. Phil Simms will need the entire time to regain his voice, having set a postseason record for most words spoken during an NFL telecast…Bill Parcells retires again, and the league is the lesser for it; like him or not. Parcells had become a legendary figure, perhaps bigger than his record warrants. He won as many Super Bowls as Tom Flores, and one less than Joe Gibbs, but it’s Parcells that’s a sure bet first ballot hall of famer…and now we head into the dog days of winter: football nearly over and camps are six months away. But stay tuned, dear reader: Timmy Mac and me will keep you posted all spring and summer. Prosid.
posted by THIS WEEK IN PRO FOOTBALL | 10:41 PM
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