Championship Sunday---The National Takes
How very outsports.
On to the good stuff.
----Don Banks in si.com with Snap Judgments and this thought among many others:
"The only passes Grossman seemed to have trouble with all day were the forward ones. For the second week in a row, I saw Grossman repeatedly throwing off his back foot, or sidearm, or falling away from the pass pressure. He missed high, like when he couldn't even hit a wide-open Desmond Clark in the back of the end zone, despite being less than 15 yards away. He missed low, like when even flat passes to Jones proved difficult."
Solid observation. And yet, when Chicago was ready to die, clinging to an 18-14 lead, Grossman made a series of money throws that in essence salted the game away. Still, if he hadn't flat-lined up to that point, that game would not have been in doubt at the start of the fourth quarter. Peyton Manning vs. Rex Grossman has to be one of the biggest on paper mismatches at the quarterback position in Super Bowl history.
One more from Banks, because it is a point being debated in the Swamp last night:
"Nice hands, Reche Caldwell. Hard to imagine Deion Branch letting so much slip through his fingers."
Indeed. No way Reche Caldwell is the reason the Patriots lost that game. But it is impossible to watch the Pats and not wonder if their season long fetish with shit at receiver didn't hurt them in a big way when it mattered most. At some point, someone at receiver who isn't league trash wouldn't be the worst idea ever.
---Clark Judge at sportsline.com with Judgements:
"Defensive player of the playoffs: Asante Samuel, cornerback New England. He returns an interception for a touchdown against the New York Jets. He makes a critical third-down stop in San Diego. Then he intercepts a Manning pass and returns it for a touchdown. He's a Pro Bowl starter, and now you know why. He's also a prospective free agent, and he's about to make himself a bundle."
Yes, yes he is. In a different reality, one where the Bengals pursue and win battles for coveted free agents, I would be hoping for him. In this reality, no chance, I know. Too bad. Samuel is a game changer at defensive back, and those are a rare, rare commodity in the NFL. Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison only combined for nine catches and 109 yards in a game where Manning went over 300. Amazing work from Samuel and the other Pats corners, while watching their linebackers and safeties get continually burned. Samuel will make a LOT of money from someone. If the Pats let him walk, it will hurt them, whether their fans ever admit it or not.
As for my thoughts (as ever, not that you care), head after the jump:
---I couldn't have been the only one who gave Indy no chance after they fell behind 21-3 after Manning's traditional playoff devastating interception. In fact, when the Patriots got the ball back in great field position after that, up that score, and didn't move it, the game changed and New England never got the momentum back after that. Indy' defense, in holding the game at 21-3 and getting the offense the ball back just before halftime was absolutely crucial. Without that series, the Colts come up short once again, as everything that happened thereafter was setup by that.
---The Saints picked a really bad time to make some incredibly dumb mistakes. Yes, the Bears have a ferocious defense. But that defense is made better when you don't protect the ball and, well, don't block them. Amazing how ferocious unblocked players can be. An early turning point in that game was New Orleans ceding field position to the Bears because Chicago's right defensive end came free to Brees because the Saints tackle turned inward and mistakenly let him go. Just not advisable. You obviously cannot do that kind of stuff in any game, much less a conference championship game on the road.
---The Saints mistakes made it that much harder to deal with a bad first half from the officials. That fumble call remains smelly, and the offensive pass interference call which helped to blunt the start of another New Orleans drive was bad. That plus a critical hold that wasn't called on the Bears gave the appearance that the Saints were playing the Bears and the officials.
---The AFC dominance of the NFC in the Super Bowl should continue in two weeks. That kind of dominance (it last happened when the NFC ruled the AFC in the 80s into the mid 90s) is usually reflected by a gap between the conferences in the regular season, and this year left no doubt that the AFC was the better conference. Hard to imagine the Bears, as good as they can be defenisively, mustering enough to hang with the Colts in this one. Then again, it IS Peyton Manning, and he has to go ahead and win in two weeks to finish destroying his "can't win the big one" label. And that in and of itself will be worth tuning in for.