NFL News: NFL Playoff Picture and Super Bowl Favorites

Steamrolling Towards the Playoffs
By: Keith Dobkowski, NFL News Writer
December 15, 2004

If the NFL season came to close today most people would pit the
Philadelphia Eagles playing against the New England Patriots in
the Super Bowl. A few may argue that the Pittsburgh Steelers
have beaten both teams and therefore should be favored over
the defending champion Pats. However, if Peyton Manning had
trouble winning in the playoffs, what is rookie Ben Roethlisberger
going to do.

What is left is to dissect the eight teams with a legitimate Super
Bowl dream.

THE NFC:

Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles are the NFC’s favorite boasting a
12-1 record. Their lone weakness from last year, receiver, has
been filled quite well by MVP candidate Terrell Owens. Brian
Westbrook has been a solid running back and All-Pro Donavan
McNabb leads the offense.

So long as everyone stays healthy the Eagles should have a clear
road to the Super Bowl. With plenty of playoff victories during the
last three years, the Eagles are well suited for the pressure
grind. Furthermore, they will have home field advantage
throughout the NFC playoffs.

If there is a wildcard it is Owens. If something goes wrong
between now and the playoffs, Owens could derail the entire
Eagles train. Owens has a history of dropping passes and then
blaming others. A couple of drops and Owens could destroy the
Eagles by himself.

Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons will get a first round bye and will
play their first game at home. Playing on turf will benefit the
Falcons best player Michael Vick. Vick may be the fastest player in
the league and is even faster on turf. Therefore Vick gives the
Falcons an edge no other team has. He is the only player in the
league who can throw for 300 yards and run for 100 yards in the
same game.

The Falcons are not as deep as the Eagles, but Vick may be
enough to power them through Philadelphia.

Carolina Panthers: While they still remain on the outside looking
in to even making the playoffs, the Panthers are playing as well
as anybody in football. The Panthers have won five straight and
have the experience from last years Super Bowl.

Over the past three seasons no one in football has a better
December record than the Panthers. This should be enough to
get the Panthers into the playoffs. However, winning three
consecutive games on the road in the playoffs is a tall order.

THE AFC:

Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers have surprised everyone this
year as they have the best record in the league all the while
being led by a rookie quarterback. The Steelers have the best
running team in the league and the second best defense. This
has allowed Roethlisberger to flourish.

However the Steelers have one weakness, points. If one of the
other AFC playoff teams can gain an early lead of 10 or more
points, the Steelers will have to rely on the pass to catch up. The
pressure upon a rookie quarterback to produce from behind in the
playoffs may just be too much.

The Steelers biggest strength is coach Bill Cowers. Cowers is a
proven winner who, much like this season, has taken a team with
little preseason hype to playoffs and home field advantage.
Cower does not get the press of coaching studs Bill Belichick and
Andy Reid or even old guys Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells. But Cower
is arguably the best coach in the NFL over the past dozen years.

New England Patriots: The Patriots have won two of the last
three Super Bowls and appear poised to win a third. The Pats are
even stronger this year with the addition of Corey Dillon. Dillon
has nearly doubled the Pats top runner from last season and
three games still remain. With over 1300 yards so far Dillon is on
pace to top 1600 yards and may possibly lead the league in
rushing.

The team first concept is stronger with the Patriots than any other
team in major sports. Look no further than Troy Brown who has
played on both sides of the ball this season. Last Sunday Brown’
s interception in the end zone tied Brown for the team lead.

Coach Bill Belichick has a system that all the players have bought
into for several years now. Even Dillon, who was supposed to a
me-first player, has jumped aboard. Therefore the Patriots are
clearly the favorites to come out of the AFC.

Indianapolis Colts: The Colts have the best offense in football led
by the best quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning is two
touchdowns short of setting an NFL record for touchdowns in a
season. Manning’s current passer rating is 126.3 which would
shatter the old record of 112.

The Colts offense is multidimensional. Star running back Edgerrin
James leads the NFL in rushing yards with nearly 1400. And
Manning has three receivers from which to pick. The combination
of rushing and passing excellence creates alignment problems for
any opponent. The Colts use three receivers on most plays, and
their third receiver, Brandon Stokley, is the fastest player on the
team. This forces defenses to always play a nickel or dime
package with three cornerbacks on the field at the same time. By
placing one or two extra players off the line to cover the
receivers, James is given more room to run. If a defense blitzes
or attempts to overload the line one of the three receivers will be
covered by either a linebacker or safety. And Manning has taken
advantage of this all season.

The Colts weakness is their defense. Most believe that the Colts
must pile on the points to have any chance of winning. This is
most likely true. However, the Colts have a knack for creating
turnovers. The Colts lead the NFL in takeaways with 33 and
differential with plus 18. With playoff games often decided by big
plays, the Colts’ ball hawking ability may prove to be the
difference.

San Diego Chargers: The Chargers are this years proof of NFL
parity. Last season the Chargers had the worst record in the
league. They were so bad that number one pick Eli Manning
wanted out before he was even drafted because of the Chargers
losing ways. Looks like Manning was wrong as the Chargers
have won seven straight and Manning’s New York Giants have
lost six straight.

The Chargers are lead by do-everything running back LaDainian
Tomlinson and quarterback Drew Brees. Tomlinson has over 1500
all-purpose yards and is a threat both running and catching the
ball. Brees, who benefited from first round pick Philip Rivers
holdout, has put together a pro-bowl season as he has the
second best quarterback rating in the AFC.

However, the Chargers are young and inexperienced in
postseason play. Furthermore, if they win their first round game
that would be in sunny San Diego, the Chargers would have to go
on the road and play in cold of Pittsburgh or New England. The
hot weather team will fold under these circumstances.

Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens aren’t even a lock to make the
playoffs as they battle the New York Jets, Denver Broncos and
Jacksonville Jaguars for the two open playoff spots. The reason
the Ravens even make this list is because a stubborn-headed
writer, who shall remain nameless, picked the Ravens to beat the
Eagles in the Super Bowl before the season started.

Assuming the Ravens can win two of three to finish the season
that should be enough to get into the playoffs. That assumption
is large because the Ravens would either have to win in
Indianapolis this Sunday or in Pittsburgh the following Sunday.

The Ravens still boast one of the best defenses in the game.
While All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis leads them, he is no longer
their best player. That title would belong to defensive player of
the year candidate Ed Reed. Reed leads the league in
interceptions and has a nose for making big plays. With Chris
McAlister shutting down half the field, Lewis is now the third best
player on the Ravens defense.

On offense the Ravens have finally got big time back Jamal Lewis
healthy. And for the first time in two seasons first round
quarterback Kyle Boller looks like a real quarterback and not just
a thrower. Boller had the best game of his career last weekend
by throwing four touchdowns and beating the Giants.

For the Ravens to even make the Super Bowl they will not only
have to beat either the Colts or Steelers on the road over the
next two weekends, but they would have to win three road
games in the playoffs. This would be a tough order for even the
best team, let alone a team with spotty offense and a defense
that just gave up 24 fourth quarter points to the Cincinnati
Bengals two weeks ago.

THE SUPER BOWL:

While there are eight teams all vying for the Lombardi Trophy,
common sense says that the Patriots will face the Eagles for the
championship. Looks like that stubborn-headed writer had to
change his tune.