Three things ended this week that mattered to me. Let's examine.
1. Ohio State loses their first game at Wisconsin.
As bitter as I am about this game (I watched it in the hotel lobby), I hang my emotional hat on the thought that this loss can only be good for this team. Almost nobody goes undefeated in the college basketball regular season and most of the ones that do lose in the NCAA tournament. Watching the Bucks only lose by 3 at Wisconsin (the hardest place to play in the Big Ten) when the Badgers shot 50% from deep (12-24 to be specific) proved to me that this team probably WAS good enough to go undefeated, they just didn't. And that in truth might be a better situation than going into the tournament undefeated. Not being good is one thing but if you're good enough to win it all, one more opportunity to learn can only be beneficial.
If OSU wins big at home against Michigan State, all is well.
2. The Cleveland Cavaliers snap their record-setting 26-game losing streak at home against the L.A. Clippers.
In the thick of said losing streak, the 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers were the worst team in NBA history. There is no doubt in my mind about that. In the most diluted time ever in the NBA, they started more than one undrafted rookie and a first year guy out of the Congo who, on a decent team, wouldn't have seen the court this year. However, with Mo Williams back, the Cavs are just really really terrible. So, when everybody plays really well they can beat a really bad road team at home in overtime, barely. It was cute that they won.
While we're here, let me clarify something.
LeBron James is the best player in the NBA and it's really really obvious. Him leaving the Cavs was the difference between Cleveland being a title contender to essentially irrelevant. However, LeBron leaving Cleveland DID NOT make the Cavs the worst team in sports history.
Off the top of my head, they also lost:
1. Zydrunas Ilgauskas
2. Shaq O'Neal
3. Delonte West
4. Anderson Varejao
5. Leon Powe
Including LeBron, they might have lost their best five rebounders as well as their best perimeter and post defenders. They went from a huge team with a lot of depth and shooting with the best player and athlete in the game to a very small team with limited shooting and no depth or athleticism. A lot of that is LeBron, some of it is not. Honestly, it's better than being mediocre.
3. The Green Bay Packers finished a game and held off the Steelers to win the Super Bowl.
This obviously on the surface does not appear to be a streak that has ended, but it is.
Everything about that game on Sunday had "Steelers Win" written all over it. The Packers' wide outs were constantly open for touchdowns and were dropping them. They jumped out to a big lead and let Pittsburgh come back but, somehow, they didn't win it.
The Packers have had problems closing games all year and it almost looked like they knew it in that game and just accepted it as part of who they are which is exactly what they had to do. Accepting who you are is one of the most important things in sports and in life because even if who you are isn't what conventional wisdom says is good or desirable, you can't deal with any situation very effectively if you're constantly lying to yourself. The Packers just don't have that instinct that the old gunslingers love so much. NFL Films likes to repeat the quote, "Great players aren't always great, they're only great when they have to be." Even Ben Reothlisberger operates this way, occasionally looking sloppy most of the game but making the big plays to eventually win. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are always playing well but don't play any better or really any worse in crunch time. There's nothing wrong with that but it is dangerous against teams like the Steelers as you saw on Sunday Night.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but accepting this part of their personality, the Packers went into Dive Mode. The Packers just tried too hard and played too well for the Steelers to finish the come back. The interception return, the second interception, the forced fumble, the pass deflection by Woodson (that ended up breaking his collarbone), and the whole final drive by the Steelers; all Dive Mode. It was beautiful. Green Bay knew it couldn't match Pittsburgh in crunch time playmaking but they could match the Steelers in talent and constant effort and that's exactly what they did.
I knew someone would have to be in Dive Mode to beat the Steelers. It's great when teams do what you say.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The Matchup
The Steelers
The personality of the Steelers has is just like any really well run organization (because they are one).
They have their figureheads. Big Ben, Hines Ward and Palumalu take most of the questions. They have their young talents in Mike Wallace and Rashard Mendenhall (who take on more of the offensive load and are far more talented than Hines Ward). And finally, they have their mean guys. I don't know if you'd call them "the warehouse" or "the hitmen," but James Harrison embodies this type of guy. James Harrison makes everyone fear the Steelers, gives them their personality, makes huge plays, but never has to say anything. The guys who like being in front of the camera get the praise funnelled their way and the guys who don't can just do their jobs. A well run organization.
More specifically and perhaps more subjectively, the Steelers are a team of junk.
They want turnovers, they want the play to break down. You would assume a team like the Steelers would have fantastic infrastructure if they're so "well run," but they have such a sucky offensive line. It seems puzzling but the fact is, Ben Roethlisberger doesn't mind having minimal protection. It seems like they're coached in such a way that if they can't give Ben the classic "pocket" for the classic amount of time, just give him some holes to maneuver and he'll figure something out. For a team that the national narrative is that they love to grind out wins with tough, solid defense and a great running game, they secretly are based on big plays on both sides of the ball.
How do you beat them? Well, it's hard and it's easy.
First and foremost, you have to break out of the mental prison that you start every game in. You're playing against a team owned by Dan Rooney, but what seems to have Roger Gooddell as its vice president. The Steelers are NFL royalty at this point but again, they're mean, dirty and full of tricks. You have to get over this strange combination of facts before you can start thinking about beating them. The hard part.
On offense, duh. Don't turn the ball over, EVER. No fumbling. No picks. The Packers are good enough to score in the upper 20s to low 30s on the Steelers based on their own merits, they don't have to go outside themselves so there's no reason to turn the ball over. That OF COURSE doesn't mean they won't.
On defense, it's a little weird but obvious if you think about it.
Analysts talk about, "You gotta get Big Ben on the ground." Well, duh. But that's hard. That's why it never happens. On TV, it looks like the defensive players falling off of Big Ben are just terrible, but they're not. Tackling Big Ben is one of the hardest things in football, apparently. That's like telling a basketball team, "We gotta make every single three we take or we're gonna lose." Of course, taking advantage of your opportunities is key, but some are harder than others and nobody makes you pay more after avoiding a sack than Ben Roethlisberger.
What you need to do is choose your blitzes carefully. The defensive line has to play as a team and slowly close the pocket in around him. KEEP HIM IN THE POCKET BECAUSE HE DOESN'T LIKE THAT. The safest sack on him is the type where the O-line gets pushed into the quarterback and he basically gets sacked by his own guys. You know the type I'm talking about?
To beat the Steelers, you have to keep chaos out of the equation.
Good luck.
The Packers
All season long the Packers (and Aaron Rodgers) have been the good guys and I've been trying to figure out why I am so neutral towards them as far as rooting goes and the answer came to me when I saw Rodgers' press conference.
The personality this team has is one of a Christian Youth Group. That's not a bad thing, of course. I really like Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings and a lot of their players, it's just like a movie where I can't relate to any of the characters. I just thought that was interesting.
So how does that translate onto the field?
Well, they're perfect. The Packers are great at every part of football. The quarterback has a catchy and uplifting yet not cocky celebration he does after every touchdown. Actually, Rodgers seems to be holding back his inner goofiness at all times on the field. He's so springy and his arm is so quick, I would almost argue that his arm strength is as much based on pure bottled excitement than it is on physical tools. These guys do everything the right way and nobody is misunderstood which is probably why I can't relate.
By the way, it's completely ridiculous that they lost six games. It's really hard to say how it happened. If we're going to use revisionist tactics to analyze why things during the season happen, I would argue that this religious nice-guy persona robs them of a throat-stomping play style that you often times need to win the Super Bowl. For example, I don't think they the Packers would have thrown the ball on the two late downs against the Jets two weeks ago and they may have lost that game. The way you beat the Packers is hope they don't fulfill their potential and let you back into the game like they did to the Eagles AND Bears. The Falcons game could have been close if not for that pick-six at the end of the first half. Just a reminder.
The Pick
Based on the personalities that I profiled, who wins?
The Steelers beat you up, trick you, imasculate you and then make fun of you. They create self doubt and shame in the teams they play (and for the record, the fans of the teams they play).
That won't work against the Packers. If the Packers' collectively have the personality of believing in a higher power, they don't need the approval of the public and they don't feel the burden of having to be the ones to dish out retribution on Big Ben (who deserves it). The Packers can just play the game and be the better team.
To clarify, if anyone is picking this game based on my picks, they are insane. I'm making conclusions based on other conclusions, all of which I invented...but I gotta pick someone.
Green Bay sends the Steelers packing:
27-13
The personality of the Steelers has is just like any really well run organization (because they are one).
They have their figureheads. Big Ben, Hines Ward and Palumalu take most of the questions. They have their young talents in Mike Wallace and Rashard Mendenhall (who take on more of the offensive load and are far more talented than Hines Ward). And finally, they have their mean guys. I don't know if you'd call them "the warehouse" or "the hitmen," but James Harrison embodies this type of guy. James Harrison makes everyone fear the Steelers, gives them their personality, makes huge plays, but never has to say anything. The guys who like being in front of the camera get the praise funnelled their way and the guys who don't can just do their jobs. A well run organization.
More specifically and perhaps more subjectively, the Steelers are a team of junk.
They want turnovers, they want the play to break down. You would assume a team like the Steelers would have fantastic infrastructure if they're so "well run," but they have such a sucky offensive line. It seems puzzling but the fact is, Ben Roethlisberger doesn't mind having minimal protection. It seems like they're coached in such a way that if they can't give Ben the classic "pocket" for the classic amount of time, just give him some holes to maneuver and he'll figure something out. For a team that the national narrative is that they love to grind out wins with tough, solid defense and a great running game, they secretly are based on big plays on both sides of the ball.
How do you beat them? Well, it's hard and it's easy.
First and foremost, you have to break out of the mental prison that you start every game in. You're playing against a team owned by Dan Rooney, but what seems to have Roger Gooddell as its vice president. The Steelers are NFL royalty at this point but again, they're mean, dirty and full of tricks. You have to get over this strange combination of facts before you can start thinking about beating them. The hard part.
On offense, duh. Don't turn the ball over, EVER. No fumbling. No picks. The Packers are good enough to score in the upper 20s to low 30s on the Steelers based on their own merits, they don't have to go outside themselves so there's no reason to turn the ball over. That OF COURSE doesn't mean they won't.
On defense, it's a little weird but obvious if you think about it.
Analysts talk about, "You gotta get Big Ben on the ground." Well, duh. But that's hard. That's why it never happens. On TV, it looks like the defensive players falling off of Big Ben are just terrible, but they're not. Tackling Big Ben is one of the hardest things in football, apparently. That's like telling a basketball team, "We gotta make every single three we take or we're gonna lose." Of course, taking advantage of your opportunities is key, but some are harder than others and nobody makes you pay more after avoiding a sack than Ben Roethlisberger.
What you need to do is choose your blitzes carefully. The defensive line has to play as a team and slowly close the pocket in around him. KEEP HIM IN THE POCKET BECAUSE HE DOESN'T LIKE THAT. The safest sack on him is the type where the O-line gets pushed into the quarterback and he basically gets sacked by his own guys. You know the type I'm talking about?
To beat the Steelers, you have to keep chaos out of the equation.
Good luck.
The Packers
All season long the Packers (and Aaron Rodgers) have been the good guys and I've been trying to figure out why I am so neutral towards them as far as rooting goes and the answer came to me when I saw Rodgers' press conference.
The personality this team has is one of a Christian Youth Group. That's not a bad thing, of course. I really like Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings and a lot of their players, it's just like a movie where I can't relate to any of the characters. I just thought that was interesting.
So how does that translate onto the field?
Well, they're perfect. The Packers are great at every part of football. The quarterback has a catchy and uplifting yet not cocky celebration he does after every touchdown. Actually, Rodgers seems to be holding back his inner goofiness at all times on the field. He's so springy and his arm is so quick, I would almost argue that his arm strength is as much based on pure bottled excitement than it is on physical tools. These guys do everything the right way and nobody is misunderstood which is probably why I can't relate.
By the way, it's completely ridiculous that they lost six games. It's really hard to say how it happened. If we're going to use revisionist tactics to analyze why things during the season happen, I would argue that this religious nice-guy persona robs them of a throat-stomping play style that you often times need to win the Super Bowl. For example, I don't think they the Packers would have thrown the ball on the two late downs against the Jets two weeks ago and they may have lost that game. The way you beat the Packers is hope they don't fulfill their potential and let you back into the game like they did to the Eagles AND Bears. The Falcons game could have been close if not for that pick-six at the end of the first half. Just a reminder.
The Pick
Based on the personalities that I profiled, who wins?
The Steelers beat you up, trick you, imasculate you and then make fun of you. They create self doubt and shame in the teams they play (and for the record, the fans of the teams they play).
That won't work against the Packers. If the Packers' collectively have the personality of believing in a higher power, they don't need the approval of the public and they don't feel the burden of having to be the ones to dish out retribution on Big Ben (who deserves it). The Packers can just play the game and be the better team.
To clarify, if anyone is picking this game based on my picks, they are insane. I'm making conclusions based on other conclusions, all of which I invented...but I gotta pick someone.
Green Bay sends the Steelers packing:
27-13
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