Homefield Advantage Returns... Finally

Just when we thought home-field advantage in the NFL was extinct, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals proved that there is still value in playing at home. The two teams each finished 2-0 at home in the playoffs and because of this will be meeting in Tampa in two weeks for the Super Bowl. After last week's home-field massacre, it's great to see some normalcy returning to the playoffs.

Yesterday will definitely go down as the best day of football in this postseason as both games offered equal parts drama and intrigue as the stakes were high and the play on the field was equal to the task. Let's break the games down one at a time.

NFC Championship Game

In the early game, the Cardinals raced out to yet another nice first half lead, 24-6 at the break (they led the Falcons 14-3 in the second quarter in round 1 and led the Panthers 27-7 at the half in round 2), before the Eagles defense kicked up the pressure in the second half. It seemed as though the Eagles had made the same mistake that the Panthers made the week prior, letting Larry Fitzgerald go unchecked and run either 1-on-1 or through a zone, and he responded with a three-TD first half. After the intermission, however, it looked as though Philadelphia really poured on the pressure on Kurt Warner, hitting him regularly and forcing hurried, inaccurate throws. This second half philosophy change clearly worked as the Eagles dominated time of possession in the third quarter and erased the big halftime deficit to take their first lead, 25-24, early in the fourth quarter.

Then the future Hall Of Famer stepped up (that's right, I said it). Kurt Warner (he of two NFL MVP awards and now three Super Bowl trips with two teams and at least one victory) led the Cards on a phenomenal 14-play, almost eight-minute drive to score the go-ahead touchdown and leave Donovan McNabb with just 2:53 to try to respond. Going into this game, I had said that if it came down to a final drive to win the game, I had more confidence in McNabb to accomplish the feat. Well, what I hadn't envisioned was the previously mentioned Arizona drive, which not only stopped the Eagles frantic comeback to give the home team the lead again, but also got the home crowd fired up after it had fallen into stunned silence when Philly took the lead. With the crowd roaring and the Cardinals defense fresh thanks to the long breather, McNabb (whose accuracy was off all day) struggled to get back into rhythm and the Eagles failed to move the ball with the game on the line, ending with a failed fourth down around midfield.

Am I surprised by the outcome of this one? After what I wrote last week, clearly I am not. This was certainly a plausible outcome for the game and it played out one of the best possible ways for both the viewer and the Cardinals. I have a hard time believing the Cards could have rallied from a big deficit the way the Eagles did, but it's obvious that they could survive the comeback attempt and come out victorious. It appears that the "Nobody Believes In Us!" sentiment outweighs the "Even If We Lose, We Had A Great Year" mentality, something that I wasn't quite able to account for accurately in my picks last week.

AFC Championship Game

The late game was exactly what I expected it to be. In cold, snowy weather, the defenses held a huge advantage, and when you put a veteran quarterback against a rookie quarterback in this situation, the result is the game we got. Baltimore's Joe Flacco, with the Ravens rushing attack struggling throughout, was barely, barely better than terrible yesterday, not really providing any real benefit to the Ravens offense and clearly hurting them in numerous instances, including the game-clinching TAINT in the fourth quarter. Ben Roethlisberger, however, had to deal with a very similarly poor running attack, yet provided numerous big plays with his arm and legs (his performance would have been even better if not for a couple of dropped passes and one that was questionably overturned(I'll discuss the overturned catch in a later post)) setting up the Steelers to score early and put the Ravens' backs against the wall.

Baltimore's offense never functioned well. The only reason they scored 14 points in the game was because of a long punt return by Jim Leonhard and an all-time atrocious punt by Mitch Berger, both giving the Ravens a short field. In a postseason where special teams have played such a critical role (particularly in the AFC), it's no surprise that special teams made a difference in this one. It turns out that difference was just to make the game artificially closer than it should have been. As well as the Ravens defense played, it's offense was equally poor for most of the contest.

Now to what I'm sure many of you are thinking (something I agree with, in fact): this game would have been a heck of a lot closer had the Ravens been healthy. There's no question this is true. The Ravens were beyond banged up and it showed from the start. Running back Le'Ron McClain was never able to make much of a contribution after being a big factor in the regular season. Todd Heap, Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton, all dinged up, were not themselves in the passing game and certainly added to Flacco's struggles. The Ravens secondary, particularly the corners, were a disaster; when Raiders castoff Fabian Washington is your number one corner in the AFC Championship game, you know you have issues. That's not to say the Steelers didn't have any injuries coming in, but they were definitely healthier. This will happen, though, when your team doesn't get a week off after week 2 (remember the Ravens regularly scheduled bye week was moved to week 2 when they were scheduled to play the Houston Texans but Hurricane Ike hit). Even completely healthy, though, I think the Steelers win this game.

In the end, the better team won in Pittsburgh, and the Ravens know that they will be very good for years to come if Flacco can continue to develop as a passer. Oh, and no one's saying today that he's not a rookie, are they?

I will break down the Super Bowl matchup later on this week.

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