True Enough, Matt, but...



Some of the blame must fall on Herman Edwards and Paul Hackett. Brien's been having trouble kicking for the last couple of weeks at least. (I'm on the west coast, so I don't how far back these problems go.) And Heinz field is notoriously difficult to kick in (nobody's managed a field goal of 50+ yards all year). Edwards played too conservatively in the last couple of minutes, running the ball to set up a field goal while still outside of the red zone. When a kicker's struggling, you want to get it as close as you can for him. Use Chad Pennington. Send Moss and McCairens downfield to open up the underneath routes for Martin, Jordan and Becht. Mix the run and pass to keep the Steelers' defense honest. Get it down to the 15 or the 10 at least, then you can run the clock down and kick it. Edwards' strategy might have worked if his kicker had been Sebastian Janikowski, Jason Elam, or (the evil one) Adam Vinatieri. But the Jets have to play with the kicker they have, not the kicker they would like to have.

Whatever the case, here's hoping Manning takes care of business and eliminates Tom "Tuck Rule" Brady. When is a fumble not a fumble? When the Patriots drop a ball.

UPDATE: Well, so much for that. It looks like the Colts are just about cooked, which means that you, Pittsburgh, are the hope of humanity against the evil scourge of the New England Patriots. Destiny is on the line, Mr. Roethlisberger. Will you accept the charges?

Posted: Sun - January 16, 2005 at 01:48 PM        

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