Bledsoe Holds Key To Patriots’ Success
Drew Bledsoe says he doesn’t need to do anything special or spectacular this afternoon for the New England Patriots to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in their NFL playoff game at Three Rivers Stadium in PIttsburgh.
Not so quick.
Given the shaky-to-questionable state of the health of so many of his big-play offensive teammates, Bledsoe may need to serve up a monster-good performance for the Pats to advance to their second straight AFC championship.
Even Pete Carroll, his positive-thinking, let’s-not-put-too-much-pressure-on-any-single-player coach, has called upon Bledsoe to shoulder the challenge.
“He has to have a terrific game,” Carroll acknowledged the other day when somebody asked about the impact the Pats’ quarterback is likely to have on the outcome of the game. “He has to make good decisions and throws for us to stand a chance.”
Statistically, the evidence on this is indisputable.
The two-time AFC East champs have gone 23-5 in games in which Bledsoe hasn’t thrown an interception, 13-12 in games when he has thrown one, 7-9 when he has seen two passes picked off and 2-10 in games when three of his throws have been intercepted.
Now, as the Patriots (11-6) and Steelers (11-5) are rematched in the AFC semifinals, the Steelers are playing at home, where they have won 21 of their last 23 and the Patriots are 0-5 since 1986.
49ers may return to air
First, Terrell Owens and J.J. Stokes were called on to replace Jerry Rice. Now, the San Francisco 49ers are leaning on their young receivers to help make up for the loss of their big running threat.
The 49ers (13-3), the NFC’s top seed, enter today’s divisional playoff against Minnesota (10-7) without 1,000-yard rusher Garrison Hearst, whose broken collarbone from a month ago needs additional healing time.
That means another identity change for the 49ers, who began the year by building the offense around Rice only to lose him twice - to torn knee ligaments in the season opener and then a cracked kneecap in his comeback Dec. 15.
With Rice down, the 49ers cultivated an image as a running team, and for the first time since 1984, they ran the ball more than they passed this season. But Terry Kirby has struggled since replacing Hearst as the starter, averaging 2.6 yards on 43 carries in the past three games.
Now the 49ers also will be counting on more production from their passing attack, a trend that started in their first game without Hearst, a 28-17 victory over the Vikings on Dec. 7. Steve Young, the league’s top-rated passer for a sixth time, went 20 of 25 for 280 yards and two touchdowns in his best all-around game of the year.
Levens’ numbers pile up
In his first season as Green Bay’s featured rusher, Dorsey Levens piled up yards and Pro Bowl votes at a pace second only to Barry Sanders among NFC running backs.
On the heels of a strong finish last year, Levens took over rushing duties for the Green Bay Packers when Edgar Bennett went down with a torn Achilles’ tendon in the preseason.
Without having to split snaps, Levens flourished, rushing for 1,435 yards in establishing himself as one of the league’s best running backs.
He ran roughshod over everybody except the one team that really had his number - the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom the Packers face in a playoff game Sunday.
Levens managed just 44 and 54 yards in Green Bay’s sweep of the Bucs. In all other games, he averaged 95 yards rushing.