Cleveland Press - Football News

By Mark Riley,

The New England Patriots kept the ball away from Peyton Manning most of the game and shut him down when he had it.
Sound familiar?
For the second year in a row, the Pats made the league's MVP look ordinary and his Indianapolis teammates inept, this time beating them 20-3 behind Corey Dillion's 144 yards rushing.
"I think our defense is what made this game successful," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said. "Three points to one of the best offenses in the history of football is incredible."
Manning's quarterbacking brilliance was neutralized as usual by Bill Belichick's punishing defense and the Colts' Super Bowl aspirations ended yet again on this snowy New England field.
Manning is now 0-7 in Foxboro. Brady is 7-0 in the postseason.
For the defending champions, one more win in Pittsburgh and it's on to Jacksonville, Fla., for their third Super Bowl trip in four years.
Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest and coach Bill Belichick's defense spent the day frustrating Manning, who was 27-for-42 for 238 yards. In a stunning failure for the NFL's most prolific passing attack, the Colts managed only a field goal.
"It was just the best game plan that we've had since I've been here," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said.
The conditions were just right for the Patriots' strategy: run the ball, throw short passes and watch the clock tick down, putting together their three most time-consuming drives of the season.
The cold temperatures couldn't have helped Indianapolis, which plays home games in the 72-degree warmth of the RCA Dome. Last year in Foxboro, Manning threw four interceptions in a 24-14 AFC title game loss.
"I don't have a clue," said Edgerrin James, held to 39 yards rushing by the Patriots. "I really don't know what happened out there. I was just trying to do what I can do."
Dillon keyed a ball-control offense that kept Manning on the sideline, while Brady threw for one touchdown, ran for another and completed 18 passes in 27 attempts for 144 yards.
"I'm not even recognizing my last seven seasons right now," said Dillon, who spent them with Cincinnati. "It's all about this year."
New England (15-2) led 6-0 on Adam Vineateri's field goals of 24 and 31 yards in the second quarter with the first one capping a 16-play, 78-yard march that lasted 9 minutes, 7 seconds.
Indianapolis (13-5) scored on Mike Vanderjaq's 23-yard field goal on the last play of the first half.
"We just ran into a better team today," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "That's one thing about them. They find a way to win. We felt pretty good sitting 6-3 at the half."
When Brady threw a 5-yard scoring pass to David Givens to cap a third-quarter drive that lasted 8:16, Manning had to make his remaining possessions count against the hard-hitting defense.
He didn't -- and Brady followed with a 94-yard drive that ended with his 1-yard touchdown run.
Facing a 20-3 deficit with 7:10 left, even Manning couldn't do much.
The Patriots proved once again they could win without their best defenders. Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour was sidelined with a knee injury, and starting cornerbacks Ty Law and Tyrone Poole are on injured reserve. But the Patriots' defense still stifled the fifth-highest scoring team in NFL history.
The season ended for the Colts right where it started. They lost the opener in Foxboro 27-24 when Vanderjagt missed a 48-yard field goal attempt in the final minute.

By Mark Riley,

There was no rust, even though most starters barely played for nearly a month. There was no lack of big-play offense, even with All-Pro wide receiver Terrell Owens watching from a luxury box.
Thanks to the best clutch performance of Freddie Mitchell's four-year career, the Philadelphia Eagles advanced to their fourth straight NFC championship game, routing the Minnesota Vikings 27-14.
Donovan McNabb and the Eagles (14-3) got plenty of help from the self-destructing Vikings (9-9), who showed exactly how they lost seven of their last 10 regular-season games to back into the playoffs. Minnesota's high-powered offense couldn't handle defensive end Jevon Kearse and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter-- neither of whom was with the Eagles last season.
Philadelphia, which has lost three consecutive conference title games, the last two at home, hosts Atlanta next Sunday. The angst level this week in Philly will be off the scale as the Eagles attempt to get to their first Super Bowl in 24 years.
It's the first time a team has hosted three straight conference title games.
The inept Vikings didn't exactly provide a test, but Michael Vick and the Falcons should be a more formidable hurdle, especially with Owens sidelined with a severe ankle injury.
But Mitchell and the other receivers picked up the slack.
"We stayed together as a group," Todd Pinkston said. "I don't think it was a matter of stepping up, but just continuing to do what we can do."
While Philadelphia was getting two touchdowns from Mitchell -- and one takeoff of Randy Moss' simulated mooning as Mitchell pretended to pull up his pants after his first score -- it also benefited greatly from Vikings' errors:
- An offensive lineman remaining on the field instead of Moss for a fake field goal, leaving no receivers to catch Gus Ferotte's pass.
- Several costly defensive penalties, including three pass interference calls totaling 78 yards.
- Two damaging interceptions thrown by Daunte Culpepper, who had 39 TD passes and only 11 picks during the season.
Mitchell finished with five catches for 65 yards, and each one was a key play. He also got lucky on his second TD, catching a fumble by tight end L.J. Smith in the end zone.
Under coach Andy Reid, the Eagles have never lost after a bye, and the regulars basically had three weeks of nonaction. It didn't hurt, and Philly led 14-0 44 seconds into the second quarter.
Mitchell caught a 2-yard pass from McNabb midway in the opening period, then did his reverse moon. Greg Lewis catch of a 52-yard throw set up Brian Westbrook’s-yard TD reception, Westbrook's first postseason score; he was injured for last year's playoffs.
Moss, who was fined by the NFL for his simulated mooning of the Green Bay crowd last weekend, was held to three catches for 51 yards. Culpepper was sacked three times and befuddled nearly the entire game.
The Vikings gained more on one second-quarter play, a 40-yard pass to Marcus Robinson managed in total before that. It sparked a drive that culminated in Culpepper's 7-yard scramble to make it 14-7.
But Minnesota immediately messed up again. J.R. Reid returned the kickoff to the Vikings' 46, then Minnesota was hit for two pass interference calls. From the 14, McNabb found Smith over the middle, and Smith fumbled at the 4 when hit by Antoine Winfield. The ball shot directly to Mitchell, who caught it in the end zone for his second score.
"Freddie was hustling to the play and had the opportunity to make a block," Reid said. "It put him in great position and then, there was the ball.
"We always emphasize on offense and defense to make sure you finish the play and that's what Freddie did."
Only Mitchell's fourth-and-26 reception in the playoffs against Green Bay last January was more meaningful. That catch pretty much got the Eagles to the NFC title game, where they lost to Carolina.
Mitchell didn't mock Moss this time, and Moss caught his first pass on the Vikings' next offensive play, a 15-yarder. That sparked a drive to the Philadelphia 3, where Minnesota botched the fake field goal with head coach Mike Tice and his staff screaming for a timeout they didn't get.
The Vikings damaged themselves again moments later. Chris Claiborne recovered Josh Perry's fumble at the Philadelphia 41, but he had stepped out of bounds and only got one foot back in when he picked up the ball. Philadelphia won a replay challenge, but didn't score on the drive.
On Minnesota's opening drive of the second half, third-string linebacker Ike Reese tipped Culpepper's pass to himself for a brilliant interception. That was the way it went nearly all day: stars, supporting cast members and backups made plays for the NFC East champions.
David Aikers kicked two field goals, Westbrook had 117 total yards, Kearse and Trotter made stops all over the field.
Minnesota got a 32-yard TD reception by Nate Burleson with 1:59 remaining. By then, Philly's thoughts had turned to Vick and the Falcons -- and whether the Eagles finally have what it takes to get to the Super Bowl.

By Mark Riley

There's more to the Atlanta Falcons than Michael Vick.
Sure, the Falcons' one-of-a-kind quarterback put on quite a show in the NFC playoffs, throwing two touchdown passes and running for 119 yards. But his teammates managed to escape Vick's considerable shadow, putting Atlanta within one victory of the Super Bowl.
Warrick Dunn ran for a 62-yard touchdown, Allen Rossum set an NFL playoff record for punt returns and Atlanta routed the St. Louis Rams 47-17.
The Falcons advanced to the NFC championship game for only the second time in the franchise's 39-year history. They will either play host to Minnesota or travel to Philadelphia next weekend for a spot in the Super Bowl.
"You saw a team that plays together," rookie coach Jim Mora said. "You saw a team that's pretty complete. We like to say in the locker room that the best player on our team is our team. We proved that tonight with the way we played."
The only other time Atlanta made it this far was the 1998 season. The "Dirty Birds" got all the way to the Super Bowl, only to get blown out by Denver in John Elway's final game.
Now, a team known mostly for its inept play is on the verge of making it to Jacksonville, Fla., with a first-year coach. And speaking of Mora, he finally gave his family a playoff victory.
His dad, Jim Mora, took New Orleans and Indianapolis to the playoffs six times, only to go one-and-out each time. He's the only 100-victory coach in NFL history without one postseason victory on his resume.
Well, his son has a 1-0 record in the playoffs -- and his dad, who was at the Georgia Dome, must have been pretty proud.
St. Louis won its last two regular-season games just to make the playoffs with an 8-8 mark, then knocked off NFC West champion Seattle last weekend. But the Rams ran out of gas against the Falcons, who were off last week and had not played a meaningful game in almost a month.
It didn't take long for those fresh legs to pay off, especially when matched against the Rams' woeful defense and special teams.
"I've been a part of a lot of losses," defensive end Bryce Fisher said. "But I don't think I've been part of a loss like this. We played like we had handcuffs on."
On Atlanta's third offensive play, Vick got loose on a 47-yard run, which set up an 18-yard touchdown pass to Alge Crumpler only three minutes into the game.
The tone was set for the first half: It resembled a track meet more than a football game. The Falcons led 28-17, the teams combining on the second-highest scoring half for a divisional-round game in league history.
Rossum did more running than anyone. The 5-foot-8 return specialist brought back a punt 68 yards for a touchdown with less than a minute to go in the first half.
He wasn't done, setting an NFL playoff record with 152 yards on three punt returns -- a staggering 50.7-yard average.
"I truly left it all out on the field," Rossum said. "I'll have no trouble going to sleep tonight."
He had returns of 39 and 45 yards in the third quarter, setting up Vick's 6-yard touchdown pass to Peerless Price and Jay Feely's 38-yard field goal to give the Falcons a comfortable 38-17 lead.
Rossum broke the mark set by Minnesota's Anthony Carter, who had 143 yards in punt returns against the Saints during the 1987 season. In a fitting bit of symmetry, that was the first playoff loss for Mora's father.
Dunn rushed for 142 yards on only 17 carries, including the 62-yard touchdown that quickly eclipsed Vick's scamper for the longest run in Falcons' playoff history. By the time he was done, Dunn had eclipsed Jamal Anderson's franchise record of 113 yards in a playoff game.
The Falcons looked every bit like the league's top running team, finishing with 327 of their 397 yards on the ground -- one of the greatest rushing games in playoff history.
Vick passed for only 82 yards but was an efficient 12-for-16.
"This is a very exciting time for us," he said. "The whole world is watching. This is something we've worked for all year. Why not go out there and enjoy the moment?"
Vick's only blemish was a fumble at the end of a run, and the Rams' defense had nothing to do with it. He simply lost the ball after stumbling to the turf without being touched.
Rossum's touchdown was a thing of beauty, crafted by special-teams coach Joe DeCamillas. The Falcons lined up three players for the punt, with Rossum faking a lateral pass to DeAngelo Hall before taking off up the middle without being touched to give Atlanta a 28-14 lead.
DeCamillas is the son-in-law of former Falcons coach Dan Reeves, who took Atlanta to its lone Super Bowl.
The Falcons exposed one of St. Louis' biggest weaknesses, an atrocious special-teams unit. The Rams ranked at or near the bottom in every return category -- 30th in defending the punt.
Jeff Wilkins did give the Rams a glimmer of hope with a 55-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, but that was St. Louis' last hurrah.
The Atlanta defense made life miserable for Rams quarterback Marc Bulgerin the second half.
Brady Smith crushed Bulger in the end zone for a safety, Jason Webster had an interception, and Keith Brooking forced Bulger into a fumble that Travis Hall recovered.
Brooking and Hall are the only holdovers from Atlanta's last Super Bowl team.
"Most times, the game comes down to four or five plays, and we're usually making them," Brooking said. "That reminds me of '98. We have a tremendous amount of resolve."
The Rams got some bad news before the game, learning Issac Bruce couldn't play because of a lingering groin injury.
Even though fill-in Kevin Curtis managed seven catches for 128 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown, it was pretty much downhill from there for St. Louis.
Bulger was 23-for-35 for 299 yards, also throwing a 28-yard touchdown pass to Torry Holt. It was a gutty effort by the Rams quarterback, who sustained a bruised thumb and lower back in the first half -- and was beat up even more over the final 30 minutes.
But it wasn't nearly enough. "Every person in this locker room is a little stunned," Rams safety Antuan Edwards moaned. "In all phases of the game, we got whipped."

By Mark Riley

PITTSBURGH (Jan. 15, 2005) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers greatest season since the 1970s was all but lost, and Ben Roethlisberger unbeaten rookie streak seemed to be over. Then Doug Brien missed the biggest kick he likely will ever try. Twice.
Jeff Reed did what Brien couldn't do -- make a game-winning field goal -- and the Steelers somehow beat the New York Jets 20-17 in a remarkable overtime playoff game filled with wild swings in momentum and emotion.
Roethlisberger overcame two huge interceptions -- one for a touchdown and another that appeared to doom the Steelers late in the fourth quarter -- to lead a decisive drive that began at their own 13 and sent Pittsburgh to the AFC championship game Jan. 23 at home against New England or Indianapolis.
Reed's 33-yarder with a little more than 12 minutes gone in overtime won it and was his 19th successful conversion in a row, tying Gary Andersons team record.
The loss will go down as one of the most excruciating in the Jets' star-crossed history. Brien's twin misses were doubly stunning disappointments for a gutty team on the verge of its biggest upset since Broadway Joe's guaranteed victory against the Colts in the January 1969 Super Bowl.
"I've never seen anything like it," Steelers linebacker Larry Foote said. "I'm not going to say it was a miracle, because that's crippled people getting up and walking, the blind seeing. But that's the closest thing to it I've ever seen."
Steelers center Jeff Hartings felt much the same way, saying, "God gave us another chance."
Brien's 47-yarder with 1:58 remaining hit the goal post, but Roethlisberger gave the Jets the ball right back when his off-line throw was intercepted by David Barrett-- just the kind of mistake rookie quarterbacks are supposed to make in the playoffs, but Big Ben had rarely made during his 13-0 rookie season.
The Jets then drove cautiously from the Steelers 37 to the 25, giving Brien a 43-yarder to try to win it on the final play of regulation.
But the kick sailed far to the left, not even close, and the given-a-reprieve Steelers danced joyously on their sidelines -- Roethlisberger right in the middle.
"I tried to hit it a little harder because I was real surprised I didn't have the distance," Brien said, referring to the 47-yarder. "The second one I missed. The first one didn't go in."
Brien's 28-yard kick in overtime beat San Diego last week -- yes, by the same 20-17 score -- and he hit a 42-yard FG to halt Pittsburgh's early momentum and make it 10-3 Pittsburgh early in the second quarter. He was 24-for-29 during the season.
"I had confidence in him, he made the one last week and I thought he could make it," Jets coach Herman Edwards said. "We were kind of in a spot, there was nothing else we could really do; we had to kick the field goal. He's been a good kicker for us. It was just a tough day."
The Jets became the first NFL team to play three consecutive overtime games, including their regular-season ending loss in St. Louis. They dropped to 0-7 in Pittsburgh and 2-16 all-time against the Steelers.
The Steelers are 1-3 in AFC title games under coach Bill Cowher, losing all three at home as big favorites, but linebacker Joey Porter senses this season will be different -- and not just because they have won a team-record 15 in a row. They were only the fourth NFL team in 26 years to go 15-1 during the regular season.
The Steelers won four Super Bowls in six seasons from 1974-79, but they have returned only once since, losing to Dallas after the '95 season.
"After what we went through today, I think it's our time," Porter said. "The way these circumstances played out, it's our time."
The Jets will wonder for years why they're not going to the AFC title game.
"This is about as frustrated as I've ever been in my career," said NFL rushing championCurtis Martin, who was outrushed by Jerome Bettis 101-77 in a matchup of two of the NFL's top five career rushers. "Right now I feel there is no end to my anger. ... We left our hearts out there today."
The Jets turned two long touchdown returns, Santana Moss 75-yard punt return and Reggie Tongue’s 86-yard interception, into 17 consecutive points and a 17-10 lead in the fourth quarter that stunned nearly everyone in a jammed Heinz Field except the Jets.
After the Jets' 17-6 loss there Dec. 12, defensive lineman Shaun Ellis predicted they would win if they returned to Pittsburgh in the playoffs. Last week, it didn't appear anyone in the Steelers' locker room took him seriously.
When Bettis fumbled at the Jets 24 early in the fourth quarter -- his first fumble in 353 carries or receptions this season -- Ellis' confidence was looking like more than empty talk. Shades of Broadway Joe Namath?
But Roethlisberger then directed two pivotal scoring drives, just as he did last month against the Jets, with the first ending on his 4-yard scoring flip to Hines Ward. Roethlisberger finished 17-for-30 for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
"I did everything I could to lose the game," Roethlisberger said. "I've got to play better. That was terrible. The game we played today is not going to cut it."
Roethlisberger is only the fourth rookie to win his first playoff start since the 1970 NFL merger -- two others had prior pro experience in different leagues -- and he said he wasn't nervous.
"Maybe I should have been. I came out calm and relaxed and took it like a regular game," he said. "Maybe next week I need to be a little more stressed."
The Steelers, who haven't lost a divisional playoff game in seven tries under Cowher since 1993 are 9-0 at home this season.