GaryMrMets
02-06-2005, 07:04 PM
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/special1/article.adp?id=20040921122309990001&ncid=SPR0001200501290000000001
What will decide Super Bowl XXXIX?
The better offense
The better defense
The kickers
If Terrell Owens plays
Other
Are Patriots Team of Decade?
If the Patriots win Super Bowl XXXIX, will they be the team of the decade?
Yes
No
Not sure yet Discuss
Will the Patriots win Super Bowl XXXIX?
Yes
No
Remember the Adage, Defense Wins Championships
Eagles Need to Rely on the Legs of McNabb, Not Owens
By IRA MILLER, AOL Sports Exclusive
It can’t be a Super Bowl without a media-driven story, and this one was clear as soon as the participants were determined: Terrell Owens -- will he play, or won’t he?
Owens isn’t supposed to be ready to play, not by the timeline established after he was injured in December and not by the opinion of the doctor who performed his surgery.
But count on this: You will hear or read as much or more about Owens than you will about Donovan McNabb, Tom Brady, Corey Dillon or just about any other player who surely will figure to play a bigger role next Sunday.
That’s just how it is.
There is another week of hype to fill, and the media abhors a vacuum. Look for Owens to lead the media parade all week, even though Eagles’ receiver Freddie Mitchell already has answered a question by predicting that newly signed tight end Jeff Thomasson was more likely to score a touchdown than Owens and then got into a war of words with the Patriots by dismissing their secondary.
So here are the five things we need to know for the Super Bowl:
1. After all that talk about offense during the season, defense still wins championships.
This was the year of Peyton Manning, of all the quarterbacks with high passer ratings and great TD-to-interception ratios, of renewed running games. In short, it was a year of offense.
But in January (and now, into February), the old cliché still holds true, that defense wins championships.
New England and Philadelphia tied for second, behind Pittsburgh, in fewest points allowed during the regular season. Both teams also ranked in the top 10 in the NFL on defense.
Kansas City, Indianapolis, Green Bay, Minnesota, Denver and St. Louis were the NFL’s top six teams on offense during the regular season. All of them are long gone, and the Patriots and the Eagles are left. Of those top six teams on offense, only Denver ranked in the top half of the league on defense.
With Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb and others, the Patriots and Eagles certainly have good offenses. Neither is as downtrodden in that area as, say, the Trent Dilfer-led Baltimore Ravens of 2000. But ultimately, just like always, defense wins.
Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, only three teams ranked worse than 11th on defense have won the Super Bowl.
2. Owens is a threat but the Eagles can’t count on him, so move on; they’ll need McNabb’s legs, instead.
Philadelphia did just that in the NFC Championship Game against Atlanta, and it will have to do that one more time.
The Eagles made the deal to get Owens this season because they fell short in losing three consecutive NFC title games and they needed a weapon like him to get to the Super Bowl. That they managed to win the NFC Championship without him this year should give them confidence they can win it all without him, too.
Of course, that could be false bravado because the NFC was so incredibly weak this season, it is difficult to make the Eagles’ case. Nonetheless, Philadelphia was able to handle Atlanta easily, and even though Owens will get so much attention, the Eagles can’t afford to let themselves be distracted by thinking he can make a difference for them.
Philadelphia wide receivers Freddie Mitchell and Todd Pinkston do not present the threat to the New England defense that Owens does. To make up for his loss, the Eagles will need quarterback Donovan McNabb to use his legs again, and they’ll need a big game from running back Brian Westbrook. McNabb had 10 rushes against the Falcons; he averaged fewer than three carries a game during the regular season.
3. Bill Belichick can leave his mentor behind.
Life takes funny twists. For awhile there, Bill Parcells’ eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a subject of much controversy because Parcells had a great record but didn’t get elected. Some thought he hadn’t proved he earned a spot yet. Others wouldn’t vote for him because they figured he’d coach again.
Well, he’s coaching again. But what has happened now is it suddenly appears that maybe it was Belichick making Parcells instead of the other way around. Remember that Parcells’ great success only came with Belichick as his defensive coordinator – and now Belichick, on his own, stands on the precipice of winning a third Super Bowl in four seasons.
If that happens, the Patriots would join the 1992-95 Dallas Cowboys as the only teams to win three championships in four years during the Super Bowl era. But New England’s accomplishment would be much the greater because it has come in the salary cap/free agency era, with rules specifically designed to prevent such a dynasty.
Beyond that, however, Belichick would move into a very select group.
At the moment, Belichick and Parcells are both among a dozen coaches who won two NFL championships. But there are only nine others who won at least three. All nine of them are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, making it seem that Belichick would be in line for induction someday if he wins a third.
The nine who have won at least three: George Halas, Curly Lambeau, Paul Brown, Guy Chamberlin, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, Vince Lombardi, Weeb Ewbank and Chuck Noll.
4. There’s a reason no rookie quarterback has gotten this far.
As the season went along, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger struggled a little bit more. The pressure mounted on him, the games became bigger and the season became longer. Don’t overlook the fact an NFL season is so much longer than a college season, and Roethlisberger hadn’t been used to playing that long. He got tired.
Now, however, it’s difficult to tell who is going to be under more scrutiny: Tom Brady or Donovan McNabb.
Brady has done it before, but all that means is people expect him to do it again. The comparisons with Joe Montana have grown as Brady’s playoff record has grown, now to 8-0 – making him the first quarterback in NFL history to win his first eight playoff starts.
McNabb has been magnificent all season and shares this much with Brady, especially without Owens: He is not surrounded by the greatest talent on offense. In fact, with Corey Dillon on Brady’s side and Brian Westbrook on McNabb’s side, you could make the case that Brady actually has more help on offense than McNabb has now.
Nonetheless, Brady has been through this twice and McNabb has not lived through the Super Bowl microscope yet. McNabb has handled so many other things so well, including Rush Limbaugh, there’s a tendency to believe it won’t bother him.
But the level of scrutiny will be higher than ever, and it just points out how hard it is to get here. Especially for a rookie QB, who never has done it.
5. Kickers are more important than ever, and both these teams have good ones.
The Super Bowl used to be a blowout, routinely. During a 13-year period that ended with the Super Bowl following the 1996 season, NFC teams won every championship, often by large margins. Only 2 of the 13 games were closer than 10 points and six were decided by more than 20.
Both those trends have changed.
AFC teams have won five of the last seven titles, and four of the last seven have been decided in the closing moments.
New England won both its Super Bowls by three points, on field goals by Adam Vinatieri in the final seconds. St. Louis beat Tennessee after the 1999 season when Mike Jones made a game-saving tackle at the one-yard line on the final play. Denver beat Green Bay after the 1997 season by stopping a Packers’ drive at the end.
Vinatieri is considered the best clutch kicker in the game today; besides the two Super Bowl-winning kicks, he also made those two field goals in the snow to beat the Raiders in a 2001 playoff game, the first of Brady’s eight consecutive post-season victories.
During the 2004 regular season, Vinatieri made 31 of 33 field goal attempts and did not miss from less than 47 yards. He led the NFL in field goal percentage. He has made all four of his field goal attempts in the playoffs.
The Eagles’ David Akers did not have his best season in 2004, but is still a dangerous weapon. He made 27 of 32 attempts during the season and is also 4 of 4 in the playoffs. So the edge here goes to Vinatieri but you can bet on this: Neither team wants the game to come down to a field goal with the other team’s guy kicking.
Ira Miller has covered the National Football League and the San Francisco 49ers for the San Francisco Chronicle since before the 49ers learned enough to play in their first Super Bowl and after they forgot what they learned.
Copyright (C) 2005 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
1-31-04 10:03PM EDT
http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews_photos/01/07/20041221172809990015
1. Which famous Italian-American was a member of ‘Franco’s Italian Army?’
Robert DeNiro
Frank Sinatra
Martin Scorsese
2. Which Supreme Court Justice did John Riggins tell to ‘loosen up?’
Antonin Scalia
William Rehnquist
Sandra Day O'Connor
3. What movie did Lawrence Taylor star in as Luther 'Shark' Lavay?
'Any Given Sunday'
'North Dallas Forty'
'The Longest Yard'
4. Which pro wresting league did Steve McMichael wrestle under the name ‘Mongo?’
WCW
WWF
ECW
5. What was the name of John Elway’s ill-fated Internet venture?
JohnElway.com
MVP.com
TheDrive.com
What will decide Super Bowl XXXIX?
The better offense
The better defense
The kickers
If Terrell Owens plays
Other
Are Patriots Team of Decade?
If the Patriots win Super Bowl XXXIX, will they be the team of the decade?
Yes
No
Not sure yet Discuss
Will the Patriots win Super Bowl XXXIX?
Yes
No
Remember the Adage, Defense Wins Championships
Eagles Need to Rely on the Legs of McNabb, Not Owens
By IRA MILLER, AOL Sports Exclusive
It can’t be a Super Bowl without a media-driven story, and this one was clear as soon as the participants were determined: Terrell Owens -- will he play, or won’t he?
Owens isn’t supposed to be ready to play, not by the timeline established after he was injured in December and not by the opinion of the doctor who performed his surgery.
But count on this: You will hear or read as much or more about Owens than you will about Donovan McNabb, Tom Brady, Corey Dillon or just about any other player who surely will figure to play a bigger role next Sunday.
That’s just how it is.
There is another week of hype to fill, and the media abhors a vacuum. Look for Owens to lead the media parade all week, even though Eagles’ receiver Freddie Mitchell already has answered a question by predicting that newly signed tight end Jeff Thomasson was more likely to score a touchdown than Owens and then got into a war of words with the Patriots by dismissing their secondary.
So here are the five things we need to know for the Super Bowl:
1. After all that talk about offense during the season, defense still wins championships.
This was the year of Peyton Manning, of all the quarterbacks with high passer ratings and great TD-to-interception ratios, of renewed running games. In short, it was a year of offense.
But in January (and now, into February), the old cliché still holds true, that defense wins championships.
New England and Philadelphia tied for second, behind Pittsburgh, in fewest points allowed during the regular season. Both teams also ranked in the top 10 in the NFL on defense.
Kansas City, Indianapolis, Green Bay, Minnesota, Denver and St. Louis were the NFL’s top six teams on offense during the regular season. All of them are long gone, and the Patriots and the Eagles are left. Of those top six teams on offense, only Denver ranked in the top half of the league on defense.
With Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb and others, the Patriots and Eagles certainly have good offenses. Neither is as downtrodden in that area as, say, the Trent Dilfer-led Baltimore Ravens of 2000. But ultimately, just like always, defense wins.
Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, only three teams ranked worse than 11th on defense have won the Super Bowl.
2. Owens is a threat but the Eagles can’t count on him, so move on; they’ll need McNabb’s legs, instead.
Philadelphia did just that in the NFC Championship Game against Atlanta, and it will have to do that one more time.
The Eagles made the deal to get Owens this season because they fell short in losing three consecutive NFC title games and they needed a weapon like him to get to the Super Bowl. That they managed to win the NFC Championship without him this year should give them confidence they can win it all without him, too.
Of course, that could be false bravado because the NFC was so incredibly weak this season, it is difficult to make the Eagles’ case. Nonetheless, Philadelphia was able to handle Atlanta easily, and even though Owens will get so much attention, the Eagles can’t afford to let themselves be distracted by thinking he can make a difference for them.
Philadelphia wide receivers Freddie Mitchell and Todd Pinkston do not present the threat to the New England defense that Owens does. To make up for his loss, the Eagles will need quarterback Donovan McNabb to use his legs again, and they’ll need a big game from running back Brian Westbrook. McNabb had 10 rushes against the Falcons; he averaged fewer than three carries a game during the regular season.
3. Bill Belichick can leave his mentor behind.
Life takes funny twists. For awhile there, Bill Parcells’ eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a subject of much controversy because Parcells had a great record but didn’t get elected. Some thought he hadn’t proved he earned a spot yet. Others wouldn’t vote for him because they figured he’d coach again.
Well, he’s coaching again. But what has happened now is it suddenly appears that maybe it was Belichick making Parcells instead of the other way around. Remember that Parcells’ great success only came with Belichick as his defensive coordinator – and now Belichick, on his own, stands on the precipice of winning a third Super Bowl in four seasons.
If that happens, the Patriots would join the 1992-95 Dallas Cowboys as the only teams to win three championships in four years during the Super Bowl era. But New England’s accomplishment would be much the greater because it has come in the salary cap/free agency era, with rules specifically designed to prevent such a dynasty.
Beyond that, however, Belichick would move into a very select group.
At the moment, Belichick and Parcells are both among a dozen coaches who won two NFL championships. But there are only nine others who won at least three. All nine of them are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, making it seem that Belichick would be in line for induction someday if he wins a third.
The nine who have won at least three: George Halas, Curly Lambeau, Paul Brown, Guy Chamberlin, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, Vince Lombardi, Weeb Ewbank and Chuck Noll.
4. There’s a reason no rookie quarterback has gotten this far.
As the season went along, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger struggled a little bit more. The pressure mounted on him, the games became bigger and the season became longer. Don’t overlook the fact an NFL season is so much longer than a college season, and Roethlisberger hadn’t been used to playing that long. He got tired.
Now, however, it’s difficult to tell who is going to be under more scrutiny: Tom Brady or Donovan McNabb.
Brady has done it before, but all that means is people expect him to do it again. The comparisons with Joe Montana have grown as Brady’s playoff record has grown, now to 8-0 – making him the first quarterback in NFL history to win his first eight playoff starts.
McNabb has been magnificent all season and shares this much with Brady, especially without Owens: He is not surrounded by the greatest talent on offense. In fact, with Corey Dillon on Brady’s side and Brian Westbrook on McNabb’s side, you could make the case that Brady actually has more help on offense than McNabb has now.
Nonetheless, Brady has been through this twice and McNabb has not lived through the Super Bowl microscope yet. McNabb has handled so many other things so well, including Rush Limbaugh, there’s a tendency to believe it won’t bother him.
But the level of scrutiny will be higher than ever, and it just points out how hard it is to get here. Especially for a rookie QB, who never has done it.
5. Kickers are more important than ever, and both these teams have good ones.
The Super Bowl used to be a blowout, routinely. During a 13-year period that ended with the Super Bowl following the 1996 season, NFC teams won every championship, often by large margins. Only 2 of the 13 games were closer than 10 points and six were decided by more than 20.
Both those trends have changed.
AFC teams have won five of the last seven titles, and four of the last seven have been decided in the closing moments.
New England won both its Super Bowls by three points, on field goals by Adam Vinatieri in the final seconds. St. Louis beat Tennessee after the 1999 season when Mike Jones made a game-saving tackle at the one-yard line on the final play. Denver beat Green Bay after the 1997 season by stopping a Packers’ drive at the end.
Vinatieri is considered the best clutch kicker in the game today; besides the two Super Bowl-winning kicks, he also made those two field goals in the snow to beat the Raiders in a 2001 playoff game, the first of Brady’s eight consecutive post-season victories.
During the 2004 regular season, Vinatieri made 31 of 33 field goal attempts and did not miss from less than 47 yards. He led the NFL in field goal percentage. He has made all four of his field goal attempts in the playoffs.
The Eagles’ David Akers did not have his best season in 2004, but is still a dangerous weapon. He made 27 of 32 attempts during the season and is also 4 of 4 in the playoffs. So the edge here goes to Vinatieri but you can bet on this: Neither team wants the game to come down to a field goal with the other team’s guy kicking.
Ira Miller has covered the National Football League and the San Francisco 49ers for the San Francisco Chronicle since before the 49ers learned enough to play in their first Super Bowl and after they forgot what they learned.
Copyright (C) 2005 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
1-31-04 10:03PM EDT
http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews_photos/01/07/20041221172809990015
1. Which famous Italian-American was a member of ‘Franco’s Italian Army?’
Robert DeNiro
Frank Sinatra
Martin Scorsese
2. Which Supreme Court Justice did John Riggins tell to ‘loosen up?’
Antonin Scalia
William Rehnquist
Sandra Day O'Connor
3. What movie did Lawrence Taylor star in as Luther 'Shark' Lavay?
'Any Given Sunday'
'North Dallas Forty'
'The Longest Yard'
4. Which pro wresting league did Steve McMichael wrestle under the name ‘Mongo?’
WCW
WWF
ECW
5. What was the name of John Elway’s ill-fated Internet venture?
JohnElway.com
MVP.com
TheDrive.com