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Seahawks go to the Super Bowl
Seattle ended all that wild-card, road-win nonsense in the conference by routing Carolina 34-14 on Sunday. The Seahawks earned their first trip to the big game the same way they dominated the NFC, with:
- Shaun Alexander picking up plenty of yards on the ground and getting into the end zone.
- The defense unnerving an opposing quarterback with constant pressure.
- Qwest Field's patrons providing a deafening soundtrack that peaked when Alexander jogged to the end zone carrying the George Halas Trophy high.
“This is a tough place to play in, and today they were really into it,” Holmgren said of the fans, although he could have meant each and every Seahawk, too. “I looked out into the full stadium, which it hadn't always been that way, and I think we got people excited about football again here in the Pacific Northwest.”
That excitement will carry through the next two weeks to the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 against another wild card, the Pittsburgh Steelers. They became the first sixth seed to get that far, beating Denver 34-17.
The Steelers are 3 1/2-point favorites.
What they'll face from Seattle (15-3) is a balanced offense, a peaking defense and a coach seeking to become the first to lead two franchises to Super Bowl wins. Holmgren guided Green Bay to a win in the 1997 game, then lost the next year to the Broncos.
At least the Steelers can be comforted by not needing to deal with the frenzied fans in Seattle who love their Seahawks as much as they love their coffee. Seattle has won 12 straight home games.
“I think everybody in this town will be fired up,” All-Pro fullback Mack Strong said after opening holes for Alexander to rush for a club postseason-record 132 yards and two touchdowns - after Alexander missed most of last week's win over Washington with a concussion. “People will be going crazy, it will be pandemonium.”
Even owner Paul Allen, who usually remains in the background, got into the mood big-time Sunday.
Allen raised the team's 12th man flag before kickoff, then waved a white towel to stir up the crowd of 67,837 even more.
“I was at the Super Bowl last year, just hoping that one day we'd be able to get there,” Allen said. “I may seem like a mild-mannered guy, but my gut was churning inside: 'Let's win this game. Just win this game. We've got to win this game.”'
It never really was in doubt, thanks to a pass rush led by Rocky Bernard's two sacks. The Seahawks put pressure on quarterback Jake Delhomme and star receiver Steve Smith from the outset and never backed off.
That forced Delhomme into several errant passes, three of which were picked off, surpassing his career playoff total by one.
“They were the best team in the NFC all year and they played better than us today, that's for sure,” said Delhomme, whose worst postseason game saw him go 15-for-35 for 196 yards, one TD, three interceptions and two sacks. “We just never got it going.”
Smith certainly didn't, making five catches for 33 yards. He did score on a 59-yard punt return to make it 17-7 in the second quarter.
“Steve Smith is arguably the best receiver in the game right now, and we just shut him down completely,” Seattle defensive end Grant Wistrom said.
The Panthers weren't helped when starting running back Nick Goings was sidelined in the first quarter after a massive hit by linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who had one of the interceptions. They already were minus their top two runners, Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster.
The Seahawks had their horse, though, and by the second half, they could turn to Alexander. As he always has this season, he delivered some big runs as the crowd chanted “M-V-P, M-V-P.”
“We've come a long way, it's taken five years to put this group together,” Alexander said. “Now we are one of the elite teams.”
A team with a potent offense that led the NFL with 452 points. That offense gained 393 yards on Carolina and held the ball for nearly 42 minutes.
Matt Hasselbeck was a precise 20-for-28 for 219 yards and two scores, 17 yards to Jerramy Stevens to open the scoring and 20 yards to Darrell Jackson in the third quarter.
While Alexander paced the ball-control offense, it was the defense that really carried the Seahawks. It yielded only 62 yards, three first downs and no real threats in the first half.
Then, with Carolina desperate, Seattle allowed virtually nothing until it had a 20-point lead.
“This game is a physical game, especially this time of year,” defensive end Bryce Fisher said. “Carolina has been the puncher for most of the time, they line up and punch people in the mouth. Today, we took their push and we swung back, and our punches were definitely stronger.”
Super Bowl Rankings
Who's in line to be crowned champion in Detroit at Super Bowl XL:
1Indianapolis Colts: Those '72 Dolphins should get nervous if the Colts win tonight.
2Denver Broncos: They're hoping for a Colts slip-up just as much as those '72 Dolphins.
3seattle seahawks: Everyone is going to be paying attention to the Giants' missed chances, ignoring the fact that the Seahawks are in the driver's seat for homefield advantage in the NFC.
4chicago bears: As their schedule gets tougher, so do the Bears. They get a break in Week 13 when the Packers come to town.
5 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS It would be a shame if LaDainian Tomlinson's talents weren't showcased in the playoffs. He's doing everything he can to keep the Chargers in shouting distance of Denver.
Bowl picture slowly develops
For those of you who can't quite balance a checkbook, program a VCR or navigate the East Longmeadow rotary - you may want to wait a couple days to figure out the postseason high school football chase in the Intercounty League.
Four teams sit tied atop the standings in the nine-team conference, each with 5-1 league records and two games remaining.
Athol (7-2 overall), Frontier (5-2), Mahar (5-4) and Putnam (7-1) share the lead coming down the stretch, but none will clinch or find itself eliminated from the chase this weekend.
Where does it go from here?
It helps that the four teams play each other tomorrow night and Saturday, but the qualifying picture for the league title and its accompanying bid to the Division III Super Bowl won't be settled until the weekend of Nov. 18-19, at the earliest.
Only one of the four teams - Mahar Regional of Orange - has complete control of its destiny.
If the Senators win home games over Putnam Saturday and Athol on Thanksgiving, they'll win their third straight league title and have a shot at a third straight Super Bowl crown.
Athol, which has lost to Putnam, may have the toughest path, with road games left with Frontier tomorrow night and Mahar.
Frontier, which lost 35-6 at home to Mahar three weeks ago, has Athol, then a road date with Ware (0-8, 0-7) Nov. 18.
Putnam finishes with Springfield city rival Science and Technology (3-6, 2-4) Nov. 19.
T.O.'s Super Bowl 'heroics' overblown
That's what a lot of people have claimed over the past several months I think, and that is what Owens and his cartoon-character agent, Drew Rosenhaus, declared Tuesday in the aftermath of Owens' suspension and scripted "apology" to the Philadelphia Eagles, their fans, quarterback Donovan McNabb, etc.
But that's not what Eagles head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder said during a phone interview with the Tribune-Review a week after the Super Bowl. There was a lot more that he said.
Burkholder, in fact, made it clear that Owens would not have been allowed to step on the field that day -- and had no interest in doing so -- if it meant putting his career in jeopardy.
Knowing what you know now, do you think T.O.'s the type who would have "risked his career" and all the money that could come with it for the sake of the team?
Owens impressively caught nine passes for 122 yards in the Eagles' Super Bowl loss. He played with two screws and a plate in a right ankle that had been surgically repaired six weeks earlier (he'd suffered a broken right fibula and a torn ankle ligament).
That's not as incredible as it sounds, because on the day of the operation, surgeon Mark Myerson said Owens had a reasonable chance to play in "about six or seven weeks."
Which is precisely when Owens did play, although Myerson never cleared him.
Obviously, Owens could have re-injured himself. Common sense tells you that. But he was hardly risking his career.
Burkholder said he did not administer a pain-killing injection before the game and put nothing but Vaseline on Owens' ankle. Owens spread some over the scar to keep his sock from rubbing against it.
A 1987 Pitt grad, Burkholder had previous experience in getting an injured superstar ready for a Super Bowl. When he worked for the Steelers, he helped Rod Woodson recover from a torn-up knee to play in Super Bowl XXX.
"In those two instances," Burkholder said in the aforementioned interview, "I was blessed with a great athlete, who, really freakishly, healed up pretty quickly."
The key words there are "healed" and "up."
Burkholder did not want to revisit the situation Wednesday, because he and a whole bunch of other Eagles employees have apparently been told not to talk about the dearly departed T.O.
As for Owens' "apology," it was pathetic even by typical sports-apology standards (you know, the ones that begin with, "I apologize if I've offended anyone.").
This one was delivered not out of genuine contrition, but out of a desire to entice the Eagles to bring Owens back. The whole thing looked like a Saturday Night Live skit, complete with a manic press corps yelling questions and a stereotypical Jerry Maguire-type playing Rosenhaus.
Only it was Rosenhaus. And the fact that he stepped in and called Owens a "great person" didn't exactly help on the sincerity front.
Don't absolve the Eagles. They acquired Owens knowing his team-killing history. They arrogantly thought they could change him.
Now, they're attempting to distance themselves from him, trying to rub out the stain. It won't work. Owens could fly to the moon on Rosenhaus' super ego for all anyone cares.
The stain will remain.
Patriots' defensive play has been substandard.
One of the most interesting comments to come out of the Patriots' locker room after the defending Super Bowl champions had endured a 28-20 spanking from the Denver Broncos came courtesy of cornerback Duane Starks.
Echoing the edict found in Chapter 1, Page 1 of the National Football League coachspeak manual, Starks said the Patriots needed to be play more consistent defense.
They consistently allow receivers to run free in the secondary and they regularly let teams control the ball on the ground.
After managing to force one turnover in each of the first three games, the Patriots have cut that down to zero the last three.
And if consistency is indeed the goal, look at how much more undependable the Patriots have become in the red zone.
Early in the season, New England was among the worst in the league at giving up touchdowns in the red zone; after Sunday's performance against the Broncos, they took over the bottom slot.
The problem with this kind of consistency is that it's a formula for defeat. One reason the Patriots are near the bottom of the NFL in points allowed (28th in the league at 27.3 points per game) is that they are dead last in red zone defense (15 touchdowns and four field goals in 19 opportunities).
Denver had scored only seven touchdowns in 16 red zone opportunities in its first four games before going 4 for 4 against the Patriots.
''We certainly like to see it better," coach Bill Belichick said yesterday. ''We didn't stop them one time.
''[There was] a combination of problems. They threw it and they ran it. Threw it in twice and ran it in twice. A lot of times, those problems lead to other problems. If it was just one thing, you might be able to say, 'This is what it is,' put all our eggs in one basket and address it.
''But if they hurt you with one thing and they hurt you with something else, you're depending on a wide front, you get spread kind of thin."
Thinly spread would be an accurate description of the Patriots' roster, as nearly a third of the starters in Sunday's game were not in the starting lineup on opening night against the Raiders. And each of the new faces was in because of an injury.
The injury situation should improve over the next two weeks as the Patriots get a much-needed bye week to heal.
The Patriots should have defensive end Richard Seymour (knee) and cornerback Tyrone Poole (ankle) back by the time they face Buffalo Oct. 30, and the return of linebacker Tedy Bruschi should mean an instant improvement in the intensity of the defense, though even Bruschi doesn't know when he'll be ready to play.
Rams still know Super Bowls
NFL will crack down on outsiders' mass showings
But if you want to rent a theater and charge a few bucks admission for people to watch the game, think again. The NFL bans the mass showing of games outside homes, citing federal copyright law. The league protects its lucrative TV franchise.
Detroit's three casinos and Casino Windsor also will be popular spots to watch the game, but if the casinos try to bring in additional big screen televisions to attract more customers, they, too, would be in violation of copyright laws.
Undercover investigators hired by the NFL will comb the Detroit area in fan clothing, trying to enforce copyright and trademark laws at casinos, movie theaters and other venues large enough to consider mass viewings of the game. The trademark protects the terms "NFL" and "Super Bowl."
Violators would first see a cease-and-desist letter. If that doesn't work, a lawsuit would be on the way, said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.
When it comes to the Super Bowl, the NFL wants as many people as possible watching the game that attracts about 130 million viewers worldwide. In key cities, including where the game is played, the NFL has been increasingly vigilant about enforcing the law.
Last year, the NFL had investigators on the ground in hot spots, including Jacksonville, Fla., the host city; the hometowns of the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles; Biloxi, Miss., then home of 12 waterfront casinos, and Las Vegas, McCarthy said.
The higher the viewership, the better the ratings and the more companies pay to advertise during the Super Bowl. A 30-second Super Bowl television ad cost $2.25 million last year, Advertising Age reports.
"Nielsen ratings are based on at-home viewership, which does not account for mass out-of-home viewing. Lower ratings translate to lower advertising rights that the network could recoup," McCarthy said in an e-mail.
"The network pays us rights fees, which could diminish if it does not see the value in broadcasting the Super Bowl. Losing the rights fees could put in jeopardy our longstanding ability to put our regular, post-season and Super Bowl games on free over-the-air TV, something that only the NFL continues to do."
The league stopped the New England Aquarium from showing the AFC Championship Game on its IMAX screen in 2004. Last year, the NFL did a sweep of Las Vegas casinos causing some to cancel their plans to show the game. Others decided not to charge admission and were allowed to show the game.
"We make every best effort to police the activity and try to stop it before we have to take legal action," McCarthy said.
Besides being targeted for mass viewing monitoring, MGM Grand Detroit Casino, MotorCity Casino, Greektown Casino and Casino Windsor are automatically banned from sanctioned NFL and Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Committee events because of NFL rules against gambling.
An estimated $5 billion to $7 billion, both legal and illegal, is wagered on the Super Bowl each year, said Jason Been, an oddsmaker with Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
"The NFL has the opinion that gambling is bad and hurts their business," Been said. "The NFL is always going to have huge television ratings no matter what. The ratings would not be as high without the bets wagered on them."
"We are aware that gambling exists, and we do everything to distance ourselves from it," McCarthy said.
Ironically, the NFL has leased seven acres at Gratiot Avenue and I-375 from Greektown Casino for the invitation-only NFL Tailgate Party on Super Bowl Sunday, in what is called "very much an arm's-length relationship," said Greektown Casino spokesman Roger Martin.
"We are aware of the lot's owner. The tailgate party has nothing to do with the owner and does not constitute an affiliation or endorsement of its activities. There are no trademarks granted," McCarthy said.
Casino operators say they'll do just fine during the festivities leading up to the biggest game in sports -- with or without the NFL's blessing. The Super Bowl is to be played Feb. 5, but the party starts Jan. 30.
"My feeling is the entire city of Detroit and the suburbs will be one big party celebrating the Super Bowl," said Tom Shields, spokesman for MotorCity Casino.
The people who can afford to attend Super Bowl games -- celebrities, high rollers and corporations -- find casinos a huge draw, said Robert Tuchman, president of TSE Sports & Entertainment in New York. Tuchman plans a celebrity poker tournament at MotorCity Casino during Super Bowl week.
"MotorCity, Greektown and MGM will be swamped for the whole week," Tuchman said. "You put it in Detroit in the middle of winter. Where else are people going to go?"
Casino Windsor spokeswoman Holly Ward said its 389-room hotel has been sold out for months. The casino hosts Super Bowl parties every year and is not concerned about breaking any NFL rules.
"We are well aware of all the regulations the NFL has placed on using the Super Bowl name. So we are just being very creative about how we market," Ward said.