Centerfield

Hawks 35
Panthers 10

Broncos 24
Steelers 20

I was worried earlier this week, but John Clayton convinced me that the loss of Deshaun Foster was a bigger deal for the Panthers than I originally thought. Steve Smith is outstanding, the Michael Jordan of the NFL, but the Bulls didn't win a championship when they were a one man show. The Carolina Panthers are a big play oriented team... Minimize the one play maker they have and take away some long yardage downs and they are fairly average, if not below. Even if Smith breaks a few here and there it is unlikely that it will be enough to score more than the second rated offense in the NFL. Remember, this is pretty much the same defense that Shaun Alexander almost ran 200 yards against little more than a year ago, even with Peppers who has missed his second practice this week.

The Steelers usually blow the Championship game and I don't think they have the team to do anything different this year. Denver played mediocre at best and beat New England, if they play to their potential they win this one in the fourth quarter. If you compare Cowher's Championship record to Shannahan's, I think this one is a fairly easy call barring a breakdown in the Denver run game.

John Clayton must have forgotten to look at Goings stats from last season, when Goings was a pretty capable all-purpose replacement for Davis and Foster. Look it up.

Great running backs piling up huge yardage numbers against solid defenses whose attention is well-focused by the high stakes? Count those on one hand.

Denver-Pittsburgh should be a war. Strength on strength.

We can but hope so. The one thing I really hate in a playoff game is a blowout. Even when my favorite team is winning it. Boooooooooringggg.

Yeah Brian, good point... I should have explained better.

Clayton's point isn't that Going's isn't any good, he clearly is, but rather that he isn't the threat that Foster is, a key to the Carolina offense. According to Clayton your attention can be focused in other areas if you are not so concerned about the running back breaking away for fifty yards. Goings, while solid, doesn't have that capability, nor has he proven that he does, which is why he is the third string running back.

I've really loved watching the Seahawks come into their own the last few years. I remember the Knox years when it felt like they were always on the cusp of something great..but couldn't quite get there.

Off topic: Over at Preemptive Karma I've posted a moral dilemma. I'm hopeful some of the folks here at Centerfield will take a few moments to weigh in.

I'm guessing Panthers and Broncos in the Soup Bowl.

My condolences to the Broncos fans who talked themselves into believing in Jake Plummer. As I write, the Seahawks are taking the Panthers to the woodshed, just like Matt predicted.

I think everyone can agree that the teams that made it are the ones that deserved it. Both the Steelers and Seahawks made their way in pretty convincing fashion.

I'll be rooting for the Seahawks to get off the Super Bowl Schneid, but I have been extremely impressed with how the Steelers have been playing, especially by letting big Ben throw and attack the other team. I dunno if Cowher finally overcame his 3-yards-and-a-cloud of-dust mentality, or if he just finally thinks he can really throw now that he has a bonafide NFL qb.

Open question...is it just me, or do the conference championship games often seem to be lousier games than we expect, as compared to the previous round, which always gives us a few good match-ups.

Open question...is it just me, or do the conference championship games often seem to be lousier games than we expect, as compared to the previous round, which always gives us a few good match-ups.

If you get one good conference championship game, it's a good year. If you get two it's a miracle. The Steelers did to the Broncos what the Broncos did to New England--put on the pressure, forced the turnovers, and turned those into points. Unlike NE, they prepped for the stadium as well as the team.

Sadly, that was the better of the two games. So here's hoping the Super Bowl will be a better game than the ones we saw this weekend.