A Weekend to Remember
January 26, 2007
Who would have thought that the game held indoors would outshine the game held in the blustery and snowy north side of Chicago? This year’s NFC and AFC Championship weekend featured two exciting match-ups that promised a day of excellent football, and it did not disappoint.
The first game of the day pitted the New Orleans Saints against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. The Saints entered the game as the most inspiring story in the NFL this year. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the Southeast, New Orleans embraced their team more than ever, and the historically underachieving Saints responded with the best season in the club’s history.
Quarterback Drew Brees, in his first season with New Orleans, had an MVP-caliber season. Starting running back Deuce McAllister showed no lingering signs of injury after a knee surgery ended his 2005 season. Fellow running back Reggie Bush, the most highly acclaimed member of the 2006 draft class, had a mediocre first half of the season, but came into his own as the season progressed. Marques Colston, another rookie, had a dominant year.
The Saints’ defense, predicted by some critics to be one of the worst in the league, performed well enough to let the explosive offense win games. After a 10-6 regular season record and a defeat of the surging Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round, the Saints appeared to be a team of destiny.
The Bears, meanwhile, appeared to be an implosion waiting to happen, despite their 13-3 regular season record and victory over the Seattle Seahawks last week. Quarterback Rex Grossman limped through the second half of the season, vacillating between stellar and awful performances.
The defense, one of the league’s best early on, had shown increasing signs of weakness, due to injuries to standouts Tommie Harris and safety Mike Brown. It seemed that Chicago was due for a collapse at the hands of the Saints.
In the face of all the pre-game praise of New Orleans and criticism of the Bears are two numbers: 39 and 14. The poorly quarterbacked Bears scored 39 points to only 14 by the supposedly electric New Orleans offense. Chicago built a 16-0 lead with less than two minutes to go in the first half on three field goals and a Thomas Jones run that capped a drive consisting of eight consecutive runs by Jones. At a time of the game where the Saints needed a spark, they responded with two straight scores to bring it to 16-14, and capturing the momentum. After stopping Chicago’s next drive, New Orleans drove down to the Bears 29 yard line, only to have Billy Cundiff miss a 47-yard field goal, a play that seemed to change the complexion of the game. On the next Saints possession, Drew Brees was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, which resulted in a safety, and a four point Bears lead. From there, Chicago dominated the Saints, scoring three fourth quarter touchdowns.
The Bears did not dominate the Saints in all facets of the game. New Orleans showed unexpected mettle on defense, stopping the Bears numerous times in the red zone. Pro Bowl end Will Smith had several big stops defending the run. The Saints’ defensive backs were considered a weakness, but they were only really taken advantage of on one drive.
The New Orleans special teams unit was able to limit Chicago’s record-setting return man, Devin Hester, to only 13 yards per kickoff return.
The Bears won the game by pressuring Brees and forcing turnovers. All told, the Bears had four takeaways (three forced fumbles and an interception), and Rex Grossman and the offense did not turn the ball over once.
The Bears offense benefited immensely from good field position, and scored often, despite solid defense by the Saints. Since New Orleans trailed for most of the game, they were unable to fully utilize their strong running game. Once they stopped running the ball, Chicago could focus more on Brees, and forced him to have a sub-par game.
On offense, the Bears were mostly pedestrian, but succeeded in not giving the ball back to New Orleans. The Chicago running game was good, amassing 199 yards on 46 carries. Grossman had a mediocre game, but played well within himself and did not take any chances with the ball. All in all, the Bears played a solid team game, and earned a spot in the Super Bowl, proving the national pundits wrong.
The second, more exciting game exhibited one of the biggest rivalries in professional sports today. The Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots met for another battle of epic proportions, this time at Indy’s place: the RCA Dome. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning looked to avenge a history of hard-fought losses at the hands of the Patriots. His 5-6 playoff record was the most frequently cited number by Manning’s detractors, and another loss to New England would further cement his reputation as a less effective player in the post-season. Meanwhile, Manning’s counterpart at QB, Tom Brady, looked primed to have another Super Bowl run after his team’s defeat of the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional Round. Most football commentators seemed to favor the Colts, but nothing but an Indianapolis win would remove the stigma that Manning could not defeat New England in a meaningful playoff game.
For most of the first half, the game seemed to bear the signature of yet another Manning collapse. The Patriots took a 21-3 lead after breakout cornerback Asante Samuel returned a Manning interception for a touchdown.
However, Manning was able to put together an 80 yard drive that lead to a field goal, making the score 21-6 at half. The Colts received the ball to start the second half, and it soon became apparent that New England’s defense could not consistently stop the Indy passing game. Touchdowns on two straight drives brought the score to 21-19.
On the two point conversion, Marvin Harrison’s incredible balance and coordination allowed him to make a catch that few, if any, receivers in the league could make, tying the score. Patriot cornerback Ellis Hobbs returned the ensuing kickoff to the Indy 21 yard line, and Tom Brady threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney five plays later to take a seven point lead.
The Colts responded with another long drive, this one ending in a fumble recovery in the end zone by center Jeff Saturday; this play mirrored an earlier one where Tom Brady and running back Laurence Maroney were unable to connect on a handoff, and the ensuing fumble was recovered by guard Logan Mankins for a Patriots touchdown.
After two Patriot field goals sandwiched one by the Colts, the stage was set for Manning to either make or break his unfavorable playoff reputation. Getting the ball with 2:17 to go, Manning drove the Colts 80 yards, with running back Joseph Addai running the ball three straight plays to score the go ahead touchdown, 38-34. With a minute left, Brady lead his team into Colts territory, only to have Colts defensive back Marlin Jackson make a game-sealing interception with sixteen seconds left. It was one of the best games in the NFL this year.
After his lone interception, Manning played very well, throwing for 349 yards and one touchdown. He led the Colts on four drives of at least 76 yards. The Colts running game was effective, somewhat of a surprise due to the prodigious strength of New England’s defensive linemen.
While Pro Bowl receivers Harrison and Reggie Wayne were less than spectacular, tight end Dallas Clark caught six balls for 137 yards and made a big difference in the game. Also, the Colts defense played well, and did not allow Brady to engineer any long drives in the second half. The Indy run defense faced harsh criticism all through the regular season, but has responded with three strong post-season performances.
New England seems to always have injuries in the secondary come playoff time, and this year was no exception. The absence of veteran Rodney Harrison was big in a game where Peyton Manning frequently exploiting openings in the middle of the field. The Patriots cornerbacks played very well, despite a pass interference call on Hobbs that put the ball on New England’s one yard line. The linebackers, however, did not make enough plays. On offense, Brady was solid, as was the running game. But with Peyton Manning putting up 38 points, a solid effort was not enough.
The week leading up to Super Bowl XLI will feature ESPN specials on every single angle one can come up about the Colts-Bears matchup. Will Peyton Manning win a ring and extricate himself from the list of prominent athletes who never won a championship, like Dan Marino? How will the mentor-protegee relationship between head coaches Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith affect the game? This game will also be the first Super Bowl to feature two African-American coaches. Whatever the case, when February 4th rolls around, the two teams that deserved to be there will lay it all out on the field.
On a weekend to remember, a good caption that reminds me of the way things used to be when it comes to bad calls against the Patriots. First let me say I'm very happy for what the Patriots have given us fans for the past 4 or years but the interference call against Ellis Hobbs in the end zone ended up being one of those calls from years ago. When it happened I kind of agreed with Phil Simms you can't block the view of the reciever(facegaurding)to catch the ball. Just before I read this article there was another one on the same site where yours appeared making mention of the call on Hobbs as being a bad call. There was an online chat forum out of Jacksonville Fl, which had a fan bring up that call, and it ends up that the ruling of this call was taken off the books and is no longer a penalty. When this call was brought up an executive from the home office of the officiating team stated that the call from the official on the field was incorrect. There was no contact just the view of the reciever was blocked, and ths is no longer a penalty so the ruling on the field was incorrect. The official who made the call, could not be reached So a weekend to remember is fitting, and I thought I would just bring it up.
Posted by: Tony Ripaldi at January 27, 2007 12:25 PM