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In the first tens days of pre-Super Bowl hype
I've noticed that a central theme seems to be
a perceived lack of respect for the Seattle
Seahawks. I don't much disagree however I think
that little has been made of the Steelers march
to to the AFC title. Lets remember that the
Steelers were the sixth and final seed in the
tougher of the NFL's two conferences. Pittsburg
then went on the road and beat Cincinnati, Indianapolis,
and Denver, the top three seeds in the AFC.
Taking into account some horrific officiating,
they did so in dominating fashion! Only one
other six seed has ever advanced to the Super
Bowl and that was the 1985 New England Patriots
in Super Bowl XX.
Like this year's Steelers, the
'85 Pats finished their season at 11-5, good
enough for third in the AFC East. The Pats then
went to the Meadowlands and beat the Jets 26-14
in the Wildcard and then on to the LA Coliseum
where they downed the Las Angeles Raiders 27-20
in their Divisional game. New England then went
to Miami as overwhelming underdogs and dispatched
the Dolphins 31-14 to punch their ticket to
New Orleans and a date with the Bears in Super
Bowl XX
That '85 Pat team started with
veteran Steve Grogan at the controls but he
went down with a severe injury in Game Seven
and was replaced by Tony Eason. The Pats finished
21st in passing, 4th in rushing, 10th in points,
and 9th in total offense. Eason's abysmal 11/17
TD/INT ratio made the run all the more improbable.
Craig James had his best year
as a pro rushing for 1225 yard at 4.7 yard per
carry with Tony Collins 657 yards at 4.0 ypc
as the changeup. Irving Fryar and Stanley Morgan
both had 39 catches for 695 yard and 760 yards
respectively. Tony Franklin connected on 24
of 30 FG attempts for 80% and 112 total points.
HOFer John Hannah was the anchor of a pretty
good offensive line.
No doubt that Roethlisberger
stirs the drink in Pittsburg. Two of the five
Steeler losses can be summed up in two words
- Tommy Maddux. In the others, one could argue
that Big Ben eas less than 100%. Roethlisberger's
2385 yards, 17/9 ratio and 98.0 QB rating put
him third in the NFL amoung starters trailing
only Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer.
Wicked fast and shifty Willie
Parker burst on the scene with 1202 yards at
4.7 ypc. The Bus, Jerome Bettis got the tough
inside yardage and nine touchdowns. Vernon Hayes
and Deuce Staley would both start on other teams.
Heinz Ward had a so/so year in catches and yardage
but did get his 11 scores. Every Steeler wideout
blocks and Heath Miller has it all over '85
Pat TE Lin Dawson. The Steelers finished 3rd
in rushing, 4th in passing, and 3rd overall.
Edge: '05 Pittsburg
The '85 Pat defense was a wrecking
crew that always seemed to come up big in it's
biggest games. DL Julius Adams and LB triplets
Andre Tippett, Steve Nelson, and Johnny Rembert
anchored the #4 defense against the rush and
all went to the Pro Bowl. Fred Marion and Ray
Clayborn played corner and center field on the
6th rated pass defense. The Patriot defense
was ranked the overall #4 stop unit in the NFL
in 1985.
The Steeler defense in a group
effort where everyone is good but nobody is
arguably outstanding. Joey Porter (10.5) and
Cliff Haggans (9.0) own half the Steelers sacks
and Chris Hope leads the secondary with three
picks, only Porter and Troy Polamalu even have
two. The Steelers were #2 against the rush,
#10 against the pass and #8 overall.
Edge: '85 New England
In 1985 the New England
Patriots marched through the AFC playoffs as
the 6th seed to eventually be mauled by the
Chicago Bears 46-10 as 10 1/2 point underdogs.
In 2005 the Pittsburg Steelers marched through
the AFC playoffs as the 6th seed and are favored
in their matchup with Seattle by four points.
Win or lose, the 2005 Seattle Seahawks will
never be mentioned in the same breath as that
great Chicago Bear team. On Sunday we'll see
if they've even been given their proper respect.
Tony George is a documented member of The Professional
Handicappers League.
Read more of his articles and get his premium
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