Playoff Musings

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a good team. Their defense is good. Their offense is good. They have a bunch of great individual players who understand how to play as a team. They have Jerome Bettis, the cinderella story of this year's playoffs. They have Bill Cowher, the square-jawed screacher who is one of the best, most consistent coaches in the NFL. Cowher has been to the AFC championship several times during his tenure in Pittsburgh. He reached the Super Bowl once too. Just as it seemed the Broncos were ready to get the respect they deserve this season, the glorious Steelers jump in and steal the limelight.

That's okay. The Broncos showed that they know how to steal a little thunder. Just ask the Patriots - they were being touted as the best franchise in sports history only a few weeks ago. But the Broncos found a way to silence the national media and knock off Brady and Co. The Broncos face a similar task this week. Hines Ward gets more respect than Rod Smith. Bettis is a better story than the Broncos' plug-and-play running machine. Roethlisburger, in only his second season, has advanced to the AFC championship game twice and has a sandwich named after him. Jake Plummer looks like Grizzly Adams and has no endorsement deals. Despite being the oddsmakers favorites, the Broncos are again the underdog in the nation's eye.

And once again, the Broncos will find a way to silence their critics and advance to the Super Bowl.

You see, the Broncos have a secret weapon. In all the offseason shenanigans, no move was more ridiculed than relocation of the Cleveland Browns front four to Denver. Even I was wary of the ability of the new 'Browncos' defense. The 'Browncos' paid off however. Denver had one of the best run-defenses in the league this season. They didn't get a lot of sacks, but the pressured opposing quarterbacks and shut down opposing running backs. They created turnovers by forcing bad throws - just look at Champ Bailey's interception last week to see what I mean. Brady had to throw a split second before he wanted to, and that split second was all Bailey needed to change the course of the game.

The defensive front-four is the Broncos secret weapon, and they've been sitting exposed in plain site all week. No other starting front-four in all the league (aside from teams playing in the AFC North) has more experience facing the Steelers dependable offense. Ekuban, Brown, Warren, and Myers have seen their fair share of the Steelers and their experience will be invaluable. If the 'Browncos' and rejuvenated Trevor Pryce can slow Cinderella-Bettis's pumpkin ride to Detroit, then the linebackers and secondary will expose Roethlisburger as the inexperienced sophomore he really is. Champ Bailey will contain Hines Ward. Ian Gold is more than a match for TE Heath Miller. And the rookie CB's should easily be able to contain Antwaan Randle El and Cedric Wilson which will leave Al Wilson free to create the kind of havoc that the perennial Pro-bowler is so good at. It'll be a good day if Pittsburgh can put 17 points on the board and that won't be enough to beat Denver.

Sunday won't be a walk in the park though either. The Broncos offense has a hard day ahead. The Steelers' defense is just as good as the Broncos and matches up well against Denver. The Steelers are good at stopping the run, and their linebackers do an excellent job of rushing the quarterback and dropping into coverage. You'll hear safety Troy Polamalu's name a lot on Sunday because he's equally capable of getting a sack, dropping the RB for a loss, or making an acrobatic interception. Polamalu and linebacker Jerry Porter are going to make life rough for Jake Plummer. They're going to blitz half the time and double cover the receivers the other half. They'll get the majority of tackles on Broncos' running backs as well. That's how good they are. Plummer's newfound ability to make good-decisions and avoid costly throws will be tested throughout the game. If the Snake throws more than one interception on Sunday the Broncos may very well lose a close game. But if he continues to avoid errors and gets a couple big plays plus a touchdown or two, the Broncos will make it to Super Bowl 40 in Detroit.

I picked the Broncos to upset the Patriots last week and got lucky on the score. I'm taking the Broncos again this week in a close one. Final score - 24-17. (Plus, Carolina will beat the Seahawks and square off against Denver in Super Bowl 40.)