NFL Round-Up, Conference Championships

The stage is set for Super Bowl Extra Large! Looking back on my Conference Championship picks I’m reminded of the word’s that Lloyd uttered in the movie Dumb and Dumber, “Samsonite, I was way off.”

It’s not the first time I’ve been wrong and it won’t be the last. For more proof on my inability accurately predict look at my pre-season AFC and NFC predictions.

Riding the Bus



Led by 275 yards and two passing touchdowns from Ben Roethlisberger and a touchdown by Jerome Bettis, the Steelers became the first team since the 1985 Patriots to win three postseason road games en route to the Super Bowl. Counting the regular season, they've played five of their last six away from Pittsburgh.

"We were sitting, looking at an outside shot to be in the Super Bowl," Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans said. "This is an unbelievable feeling to be here right now."

The Steelers first drive resulted in a field goal. On Denver's next possession, Pittsburgh's Joey Porter blitzed to force a Jake Plummer fumble. Five plays later, Roethlisberger hit Cedrick Wilson for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. Bettis capped it by bulling in from the 3 for a 17-3 lead to put him and his teammates well on their way to the Super Bowl.

Jake Plummer, who had played so well in the lead all season, finally faced some comeback pressure and failed miserably. He went 18-for-30 for 223 yards with two lost fumbles and two interceptions.

He threw one pass underhanded, scrambled for his life and, though valiant as always, proved what had been proved many times before -- that he can't do it by himself.

"If you look at our ownership, Mr. Rooney is a football guy and he understands how hard it is to do this," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "Nothing would be more satisfying to me than to hand him the Vince Lombardi trophy in two weeks."

"It feels great today, I'll tell you that," Steelers owner Dan Rooney said. "The coach already told me we're going to the Super Bowl to win it, not just to be there."

Seattle Serves Notice



The couldn’t do it as an AFC team but as an NFC team the Seahawks served notice to all Steelers fans that they can be just as tough and nasty as Pittsburgh by beating up the Carolina Panthers.

Shaun Alexander, the league's MVP, came back from last week's concussion to rush for a team playoff-record 132 yards and two touchdowns, and Seattle pressured Carolina stars Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith into oblivion.

The Seahawks picked off three passes in winning their 12th straight home game and shattering the fifth-seeded Panthers' stunning postseason road run.

Seahawks owner Paul Allen raised the team's 12th man flag before kickoff, then waved a white towel to whip the crowd of 67,837 into a frenzy. What really got the fans going was when Holmgren sent in backup quarterback Seneca Wallace as a wideout, then Hasselbeck threw to him. Wallace, one of the better athletes in the NFL, made a superb over-the-shoulder catch for 28 yards.

One play later, Jerramy Stevens slipped uncovered down the middle for a 17-yard TD pass.

Josh Brown made it 10-0 with a 24-yard field goal set up when Delhomme forced an ill-advised pass for Smith into triple coverage and rookie Tatupu speared it. His 21-yard return got Seattle to the Panthers 20.

The rout was on from there!

In all the conference championship games were not that entertaining for the unbiased football fan. I’m trying to decide which was worse though, the performances of the Broncos and Panthers or Terry Bradshaw’s post game coverage.