Time To Separate Nfl’s Best
It was a wild wild-card weekend in which no winner scored fewer than 35 points and every loser scored at least 20.
But the big guys - Dallas, Kansas City, San Francisco and Pittsburgh - sat by, healed wounded bones and charted the strengths and weaknesses of next week’s opponents. The Chiefs, for example, are now aware that Indianapolis has a Zack Crockett, whom the Chargers hardly knew existed Sunday before he ran for 66- and 33-yard touchdowns against them.
Still, all the favorites will say nice things about the underdogs - no one wants to provoke the other guys, as Detroit’s Lomas Brown did to Philadelphia before the Eagles jumped off to a 51-7 lead en route to a 58-37 victory.
Of those underdogs, Green Bay (at San Francisco) and Buffalo (at Pittsburgh) probably have the best shots.
“If they were watching today, they know not to take us lightly,” Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre said after the Packers beat the Falcons 37-20.
So on to next week.
NFC
Green Bay (12-5) at San Francisco (11-5) (Saturday, 1 p.m.)
Philadelphia (11-6) at Dallas (12-4) (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.)
Are these games anticlimactic, a warmup by Dallas and San Francisco for the NFC title game that will once again pass for the real Super Bowl?
It’s hard to conceive of the Eagles winning in Dallas, although it’s not hard to conceive of Ray Rhodes outcoaching Barry Switzer. But Green Bay could have a shot.
The offenses mirror each other, and the muddy field may be similar to the one at Lambeau on which the Packers beat the Falcons.
This is probably where the Packers want to be - they’ve lost five straight in Dallas over the past three years and seem to have a mental block about the Cowboys.
But they have some edges against the 49ers - Mike Holmgren ran the 49ers’ offense until he took over the Packers, and Fritz Shurmur, the Packers’ defensive coordinator, spent a lot of time attempting to defend it with the Rams.
The offenses match up well.
Brett Favre is healthier than Steve Young, Mark Chmura is healthier than Brent Jones and Edgar Bennett is simply better than Derrick Loville, the best in a San Francisco running game that ranked 23rd in the NFL.
Robert Brooks is no Jerry Rice, but who is?
San Francisco’s edge is on defense, particularly with Reggie White at less than full speed for Green Bay. The Niners are better from front to back and are relatively healthy - nobody’s run on them all year, which puts more pressure on Favre.
The Cowboys beat the Eagles 34-12 in Dallas on Nov. 6, then lost to them 20-17 on Dec. 10 in the game that made Switzer infamous - the two failed fourth-and-1 plays at his own 29 that led to Gary Anderson’s winning field goal.
Philadelphia can probably stay with Dallas only if Rodney Peete comes close to his performance of Saturday - 17 of 25 for 270 yards and three touchdowns. That was his first decent game in five weeks.
But Rhodes will make the most of the underdog role.
“People still look at us like we’re a joke,” he said Sunday.
“The respect factor is something that’s out there and looms over our heads.”
The Cowboys have another edge if Kevin Williams continues to play like he did the final two weeks after going most of the season as a poor fill-in for the departed Alvin Harper. That can take some of the pressure off Michael Irvin, who was pretty well contained by rookie Bobby Taylor in the Eagles’ win.
Then there’s that week off.
It provided time for the Dallas defensive line to heal after being trampled by 244 rushing yards in a narrow escape two weeks ago against the Giants. Russell Maryland should be back.
But without Charles Haley up front for the Cowboys, Peete will get time to throw. The question is whether he can take advantage of it.
AFC
Buffalo (11-6) at Pittsburgh (12-4) (Saturday 9:30 a.m.)
Indianapolis (10-7) at Kansas City (13-3) (Sunday 1 p.m.)
The Bills can be scary, largely because they retain a nucleus that won four AFC championships and know how to win. But the Steelers also know how to win - because they know that they lost the AFC title game at home to San Diego last year, when they were overconfident.
The Bills rushed for 343 yards in the 37-22 win over Miami and might have had 400 if they hadn’t called off the starters in the final quarter. Thurman Thomas led the way with 158 yards in 25 carries.
“Thurman came back to the sideline a couple of times after a series and said, ‘Man, some of those long runs,”’ said Jim Kelly. “He said, ‘Every time I get a long run, I almost feel like I am going to pull my hamstring.’
“When you’re able to hand the ball off and you are able to watch those guys do their magic, it sounds good to me.”
Buffalo also has a more solid defense than it’s had and could pressure Neil O’Donnell into mistakes. And the running game can ease the pressure of the Pittsburgh blitzes against the 35-year-old Kelly.
But Pittsburgh’s week off also comes into play because Buffalo got banged up against Miami. Steve Tasker, who’s been a savior at wide receiver, pulled a hamstring, and some other key Bills came out bruised.
But the Bills got to the Super Bowl by this route before. In 1993, the year they came from a 35-3 deficit to beat Houston at home in the wild-card round, they carried the momentum through to the Super Bowl.
The Colts-Chiefs game features two lateblooming quarterbacks - Jim Harbaugh and Steve Bono - who had little respect until this season, It also showcases Crockett, who made Marshall Faulk’s absence irrelevant against San Diego.
Crockett is liable to find it harder to run now that the opposition knows who he is, particularly against a team that was third against the run in the league this year.
So the Chiefs remain in a no-win situation.
All year, they’ve been told they win ugly and they play no one. Playing the Colts, they’ll be told again they’ll be playing no one, a team that’s been up and down all season, losing to, among others, expansion Carolina.
Moreover, the Colts’ win Sunday was their first playoff victory in 24 years, or since they had a quarterback named Johnny Unitas.