SPORTSPGH
.COM
| STEELERS | PIRATES | FORUM | PENGUINS | POLLS |
|
On the road again… I just can’t wait to get on the road again By Magoo The media has been tripping all over themselves to point out that there has never been a team to win three consecutive playoff games on the road, and then go on to win the Super Bowl. Ed Bouchette, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote about it on Wednesday. And, of course, it's been all over the local electronic media. Mike Prisuta, of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, did his part to make matters seem worse in his Monday column when he adroitly pointed out that the Steelers have played three road playoff games under Bill Cowher and lost all three, in overtime at Kansas City in 1993, got blown-out at New England in 1996 and in an overtime heartbreaker at Tennessee in 2002. So the Steelers will need to be the first team in the history of the NFL to accomplish the feat, even though they have a 0-3 record in playoff games on the road. It's enough to make even the most optimistic fan fold up the tent and head for cover. I love history I am fascinated by it. It tells us quite a bit. I know that America is 2-0 in World Wars. On top of that, we hold an impressive 2-0 mark against the British, and everybody knows that they were the top dogs back in the day. And, what's more, in the two WWs, both of those were won on the road. Maybe that's why the Soviet Union decided to fold up their tents and bring the cold war to an end. I don't know. But I do know that the Boston Red Sox not only became the first team ever to recover from a 0-3 hole to beat the Yankees in the ALCS, and then go on to beat the Bambino's curse... not to mention the St. Louis Cardinals, to finally win the World Series for the first time in 86 years. So it could happen. All this concern over winning on the road, humph, after all, isn’t this the same team, that only this year, had won 11 consecutive game road games? Over the past two seasons the Steelers hold the same record (13-3) at home as they do on the road. Shouldn’t it be more of a concern how the Steelers fared this year against the teams that are in the AFC hunt for the Super Bowl? I think so. It’s more relevant than how the team played on the road in 1993. In 1993 Steeler running back Willie Parker was 12 year’s old and Hines Ward was not even 18 yet for heavens sake. Against their fellow AFC playoff teams the Steelers participated in 5 games. They played New England, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and finally the Cincinnati Bengals twice. Their record in those contests was a miserable 1-4. What is most disturbing is that the Steelers defense was not too effective in those contests, allowing 123 points (24.6 ppg). Against the rest of the league the Steelers were very impressive posting a 10-1 record, with the Chicago Bears being the only playoff team in that bunch. But against this group, in 11 games, they allowed only 135 points (12.2 ppg). It could be argued that the top tier of the AFC, especially this year, is a cut way above the rest. Just as imposing is the fact that the Steelers will need to beat the top three quarterbacks in the NFL. Against Tom Brady, Byron Leftwich, Peyton Manning, and Carson Palmer (2 times) the Steeler defense has had a mixed bag. In those 5 games they have allowed an average of 25 completions in 35 attempts, good for 249 yards per game. Those are fairly impressive numbers until you look at they allowed only 6 TD passes and picked off 5. In other words the Steelers have allowed twice as many points via running plays and field goals to those teams. Suffice to say... it’s not the Qbs that the Steelers have lost to but their teams collectively have beaten them. This is a rather sobering thought. It stands to reason if the Steelers are going to have any success in the playoffs it will be encumbered upon the defense to play much better than they did during the regular season. By the way if that’s not enough, the Steeler offense did not do well either. In those 5 games they managed to score only 88 points (17.6). In the other eleven games however they scored 301 points (27.3). With a healthy Ben Roethlisberger there is room for optimism. His career record of 22-3 cannot be ignored. I can’t resist this important stat though. Against AFC playoff opponents the Steelers posted a 0-3 home record while having a 1-1 record on the road. So maybe we are better off being on the road. In his Tuesday press conference coach Bill Cowher was asked what is it that makes the Steelers a good road team? ”We’ve been a pretty good team for a couple years,” Cowher told the media throng. “I don’t know if it’s any better on the road. We probably have the same record at home. Our football team has some experience. We know it’s going to be loud. We have to deal with that element of it. We had a chance this year to experience the next level of loudness in Indianapolis. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It’s going to be loud down in Cincinnati. We understand that going in. It’s a challenge. You go on the road then you’re an underdog. We are going to be an underdog in this game, as we should be. That being said, you go out there and you have to play hard. You have no margin of error but you have to play together. We understand the challenge with that. They understand what goes with that, the preparation has to be greater during the course of the week. They seem to accept that. It will be a big one this week.” At this point they are all big. This is not to say the Steelers will be unable to get to the Promised Land this year. As coach Bill Cowher is quick to point out… at this point everybody’s record is the same, 0-0. So far this season the Steelers have not lost a single playoff game on the road. Let’s hope it stays that way. |