Cardinals enjoying spotlight at Pro Bowl
KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) -- Everyone was all smiles Friday as they wore purple orchid leis, mingled with hula girls and took team Pro Bowl photos. That included the Arizona Cardinals, who feel as though they're finally getting what they deserve.
"It's the first time we're being respected as a team," said receiver Anquan Boldin, making his third trip to Hawaii. "Individually, I've been getting respect for a number of years, but to see our team get the respect is gratifying."
The longtime NFL doormats were doubted during the regular season, then finished 9-7 and limped into the playoffs, where they were underdogs all the way to the Super Bowl. Now, they're the ones who are basking in the Hawaiian sunshine, earning pats on their backs from their Pro Bowl peers - even after a 27-23 loss to Pittsburgh in the NFL's big game.
"Everybody has a great deal of respect for them now for what they've accomplished and for the road they had to go through to get to the Super Bowl," Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Farrior said. "That was a great accomplishment. They've got to be proud of themselves for that."
Boldin said all the praise from their fellow all-stars means the most.
"Those are the guys that see you week in and week out," Boldin said. "Those guys are the ones you compete against and watch you on film. So they're the only opinions that matter."
Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, who'll start for the NFC on Sunday, said the Pro Bowlers appreciate what the Cardinals accomplished when no one believed in them.
"You even get that sense from these great players," he said. "They were in a little bit in awe of the run we had and really appreciated it as football fans."
Warner said no one expected the Cardinals to reach the Super Bowl, especially before or during the regular season.
"I don't know if you polled the guys in our organization and how many would've expected it, but you know guys didn't expect it from the outside," he said. "Even with the great players we have, nobody expected it. So when you get the congratulations, you almost get a sense of respect that comes with that."
One NFC teammate the Cardinals earned the respect of was All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings.
Peterson admits having questions about how talented the Cardinals were, especially after the Vikings routed the Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium 35-14 in Week 15. Peterson had 165 yards rushing in that lopsided game, where Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald were held to just 86 yards receiving combined.
"When we went to Arizona, we put a pretty good butt whooping on them and it was kind of questionable as far as how good they were," Peterson said. "But when the playoffs started, they lifted their game and went above everybody's expectations."
The difference in the playoff, Peterson believes, is the Cardinals' offensive line protected Warner, they jelled as a team and they played for each other.
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, Warner's backup in the Pro Bowl, said he wasn't that surprised at what the Cardinals did.
"We played the Cardinals. We knew they were a tough team," Manning said. "They played great football, especially down the stretch and that's when it matters the most."
The Cardinals aren't used to all this praise. Since moving to Arizona in 1988, they've had two winning seasons. In 1997, they were a wild-card qualifier and beat Dallas in the playoffs, which merely was the franchise's second postseason victory.
The other came in the 1947 NFL championship game, and the Cardinals didn't even host a playoff contest again until January's wild-card win over Atlanta.
They followed with victories over Carolina and Philadelphia to surpass their all-time postseason victory total and get into the Super Bowl where they nearly escaped with a victory over the Steelers.
"Two minutes away from being world champs, and the actual world champs did what they needed to do and made great plays and won the game," Warner said.
He said the hard-fought, thrilling finish was what he loves about Super Bowls.
"You want to win, but you can appreciate it when the other team beats you," he said. "You don't beat yourself. You don't make mistakes. You don't throw a game away. Another team came out and did what they had to do to beat us and that's why they're the world champs."
Boldin said the Cardinals never listened to all the critics and so-called experts.
"The only thing that mattered was the guys in the locker room believing in one another," he said. "That was the important thing. We never once thought about what outside people said because they didn't play football for us."
Copyright (c) 2009 The Associated Press
For this fan, the Super Bowl is still about the Dallas Cowboys
When I started watching football, I lived in Canada. This was in the late 1970s. Since we didn't have a team, I had the field wide open. In those days, people still were loyal to sports teams, rather than individual athletes. I picked the Dallas Cowboys because they always seemed to be relevant, even if they didn't always win. While the Pittsburgh Steelers won four Super Bowls, the Cowboys went to five, and overall, were the most consistent team. They always made the playoffs, and seemingly always went to at least the NFC Championship Game.
Unfortunately for me, I picked them at the end of their run. They lost to Philadelphia in the 1980 NFC Championship. Then, in the 1981 NFC Championship, The Catch beat them in San Francisco. I always thought of that as the beginning of the end. They made the NFC Championship the next year, but lost to Washington. There was a long drought, until 1993, when they beat San Francisco for the first of their three 1990s Super Bowls. It was dynasty time again, and it was even sweeter that the beginning of the beginning was with a win over San Francisco, in San Francisco, no less.
But even though the Cowboys exorcised that demon, there was one more.
The Steelers, who but for a few plays in a couple of Super Bowls, would not even be the Team of the 1970s. In 1996, with both teams having won four Super Bowls, they met in the big game. The Cowboys won, and tied the hated 49ers with five Super Bowl wins.
But they really did not become the dynasty they should have, and again, there was a beginning of the end. It actually came in the second half of the 1996 Super Bowl, where if not for a couple of poor reads and/or throws by the Pittsburgh quarterback, the Cowboys might have lost. In fact, the Cowboys were outscored 10-7 in the fourth quarter, starting a 10 year pattern of crunch-time collapse -- whether it's the fourth quarter of a game or a season, the Cowboys consistently find new ways to be in it, and lose.
The next few years were running on fumes. What could have been the rebirth of the Cowboys as a top-notch, always relevant team turned into a bit of a fluke -- a collection of talent, coaching and organization that blazed for a few years and then quickly passed. The Cowboys, instead of being a team a fan could count on to win enough games to keep playing in games when only a few teams were left playing, instead became a team everyone talked about because they had a great run for a few glorious years and because they had a history over generations of being a good team. Now they're a team that is talked about because, well, they're being talked about.
I started as a young fan on their decline, and while still young, witnessed their explosion of talent and victories in the 1990s. When they declined after the 1996 season, I expected that in another football generation, they would again the the Cowboys I knew, and I would continue into my middle age watching a premiere team.
But year turned into year, no playoff appearances; then playoff appearances, but no wins, and now this: Pittsburgh, after a slow turn in the 1980s, built momentum, and consistently, since the 1990s, have been a solid team. And so they find themselves on the verge of a sixth Super Bowl.
It would be rubbing salt in the wounds of Cowboys fans for the Steelers to win. After this season, with a team and organization that seems more bent on perception than reality, more focused on television and contracts and accolades than on actually playing the game, to collapse as they did, and then see Pittsburgh become the winningest Super Bowl team?
Go Cardinals.
Because even though they're not in it, it's still about the Cowboys.
Just not in the way it ought to be.
If this keeps up, one day my son might be a Steeler fan, and wonder why dad ever watched the Cowboys.
Copyright (c) 2009 - Newspaper Tree
Finding a wideout of Plaxico Burress' caliber will be no small order for Giants
One year ago at this time, the Giants were preparing to leave for the Arizona desert and Plaxico Burress was in the middle of the greatest two weeks of his football career, maybe the two greatest weeks any receiver has ever had in NFL playoff history.
The previous week, he caught 11 passes for 151 yards in the minus-23 degree wind chill at Green Bay's Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship Game. Then two weeks later, Burress twisted Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs into a pretzel in the end zone with a slant-and-go route and caught Eli Manning's 13-yard Super Bowl game winner with 35 seconds left, making good on his guarantee that the Giants would beat New England.
Now, just one year later, the Giants need a new No. 1 receiver and Burress could be going to jail.
Burress is a unique talent, but he's not irreplaceable. And in the next four months, the Giants must find a replacement. He sabotaged their attempt to repeat as Super Bowl champions when he accidentally shot himself in the thigh in the early morning hours of Nov. 29 in a midtown nightclub. The Giants had no way to find another No. 1 receiver so late in the season.
Now, they do.
Even though general manager Jerry Reese seemed to leave the door open for Burress to return to the Giants if he stays out of jail and then Tom Coughlin seemed to kick it shut, the Giants have to approach the offseason as if Burress has played his last game for them. Even if the Giants want him back, his next court date isn't until March 31, and the case could drag on much longer than that. It's hard to imagine the Giants even considering his return to the team until the case is resolved.
Reese must find Eli Manning another go-to receiver like Burress.
It is the No. 1 offseason priority.
The Giants have a roster full of No. 2 receivers with Amani Toomer, who is a free agent and may not be re-signed, Domenik Hixon, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss. They need a big receiver who can command double-teams and get down the field. What they really need is the Burress who helped them win the Super Bowl last season, but that player never showed up in '08 and is not likely to play for them again.
The free agent and trade market opens Feb. 27. The scouting combine, where the groundwork for deals is set, is Feb. 18-24 in Indianapolis. The draft is April 25-26 in New York. By the time the draft is over - and that's often when trades are made - the Giants, who will pick 29th in the first round, will have a new No. 1 receiver. There is no way Reese and Coughlin will go into training camp with the same group, not after Manning threw only one TD pass to a wide receiver after the shooting and went his last 21 quarters, including the playoff loss, without throwing a touchdown pass to a wideout.
Can you win without a great receiver? Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin were the only Pro Bowl receivers to play in last week's conference championship games. But if you just go back to last year, the Giants would not have made it to the Super Bowl without Burress, and the Patriots would not have been nearly as explosive without Randy Moss, who set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches as New England set a record for points.
The Giants thought they were set for years when they gave Burress a new five-year contract worth a maximum of $35 million, hours before the season opener on Sept. 4 and he went out and caught 10 passes against the Redskins. And then only 25 more before he shot himself.
Now they have to start over.
Boldin, who seems to be growing tired of playing in the shadow of Fitzgerald, should be the Giants' top target if Arizona is willing to trade him, which seems possible. Until his sideline rant at Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley during Arizona's winning touchdown drive last week against the Eagles in the NFC title game, Boldin was not even close to being another annoying wide receiver diva. He's been a respected team leader.
But his tantrum - he was upset he was not on the field for part of the drive as Haley went to a different personnel group - was followed by not sticking around for the postgame celebration on the field. He quickly left the locker room after the game. This raised some red flags about his attitude.
On Thursday he addressed the criticism: "For me it's hilarious. I mean, I don't want to sit here and dwell on it because for me it's in the past, but that's something that goes on every week in the NFL whether people know it or not."
Know this about Boldin: He missed only two games after needing eight plates inserted to repair two fractures in his face after the horrific hit by Eric Smith at the end of the loss to the Jets on Sept. 28. He could have sat out much longer and nobody would have questioned his heart.
It's a weak free agency class. Cincinnati's T.J. Houshmandzadeh is one of the best possession receivers in the league - he was sixth in the NFL with 92 catches, but for only a 9.8-yard per catch average - and he could be franchised. Antonio Bryant was a comeback player of the year candidate in Tampa, but he has bounced around the league and has been a headache in the past. Devery Henderson of the Saints and Nate Washington of the Steelers are also scheduled to be unrestricted free agents.
The Colts could make Marvin Harrison a salary-cap casualty, but he's got a lot of miles on him and had only 60 catches this season. He is 36 years old and is scheduled to make $9 million in 2009. Indy had no problems saying goodbye to Edgerrin James three years ago. Harrison could be next.
It's more likely the Giants will use their late pick in the first round to draft a wide receiver with No. 1 potential rather than sign or trade for one.
Can they find somebody who can make a huge impact as a rookie?
"History says no," former Cowboys vice president Gil Brandt said. "I think next to quarterback, it's the hardest position for a rookie to come in and play. They have to learn how to run alternate routes against so many different coverages and they have to do it quickly."
It's a good draft for wideouts, and the early rounds will be dominated by underclassmen. "Five or six underclassman wide receivers will go before the first senior goes," says NFL Network draft expert Mike Mayock.
Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree is expected to be a top five pick. In two seasons, his numbers are absolutely gaudy: 231 catches for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns. He's also 6-3, 210 and runs around a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash, which is a bit of a concern.
"He reminds me of Larry Fitzgerald," Mayock said. "He's got great ball skills. He's a big, physical receiver who catches everything."
Missouri's Jeremy Maclin will probably be the second receiver to go, but still too high for the Giants to get. At 6-1, 200, he doesn't present a huge target like Burress. "He is a rocket," Mayock said. "He is a big play waiting to happen."
Mayock said the Giants could have a shot at one or both of the next group who have some size to them: Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey and Rutgers' Kenny Britt. "They are the bigger, more physical receivers with good speed the Giants might look at as a potential Plaxico replacement," Mayock said.
Florida's Percy Harvin, who Mayock says has durability issues, "goes from 0-to-60 in no time at all." But he's just 5-11.
The Giants would need the instant production Moss gave the Vikings in 1998 when he caught 69 passes for 1,313 yards and 17 touchdowns. Fitzgerald, the best receiver in the NFL right now, had only 58 catches for 780 yards and eight TDs as a rookie, but his quarterbacks were Josh McCown and Shaun King.
Even Jerry Rice struggled as a rookie in 1985. He caught 49 passes for 927 yards and three touchdowns and went through a stretch when he couldn't hold onto the ball. He had a breakout season in his second year with 86 catches for 1,570 yards and 15 TDs. In his rookie year of 2000, Burress also struggled with just 22 catches for 273 yards and no touchdowns.
"It's a tough position to come in and play," Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome said. "But look at Randy Moss and look at DeSean Jackson (Eagles rookie with 62 catches and 912 yards). I don't think you can say a rookie receiver can be treated any differently than any other position. I can name you receivers who have come in this league and done well."
Newsome, a Hall of Fame tight end, said the pre-snap and post-snap adjustments are a heavy burden, but the key is putting the players in a system where they can "use their instincts and go and make plays. It has to be the right players getting to the right team."
Mayock said he did a study and found that the greatest improvement for receivers comes between their second and third seasons.
"In college football, the corners are few and far between that can get up in their face and press cover you all day long," Mayock said. "Typically in college, they get a free release. In the NFL, they are jumping in your face and play press all day long. The second piece is the mental piece. You have to convert routes on the fly without losing any athleticism. That is hard. When you think about things, you slow down."
The Giants have more than three months to get their draft board in order and decide whether to move up, stay put or move down to get another weapon for Manning.
"They do a really good job of finding guys and do a good job of making the right picks," Brandt said. "And they do a heckuva job coaching them."
Now, all they have to do is find the next Burress.
(c) Copyright 2009 NYDailyNews.com
Leftwich, Legursky Headed To Super Bowl
Doug Legursky (MU 2004-07) and Byron Leftwich MU 1998-2002) missed each other by just a year at Marshall, where Leftwich led the Herd to two Mid-American titles and three bowl wins in 2000, 2001 and 2002 (and was a back-up to Miami Dolphins QB Chad Pennington for two more MAC titles and two more bowl wins in 1998 and 1999). Legursky was an All-Conference USA center who started 36 games over four years, including not missing a start as a sophomore (11) junior or senior (12 each year).
While Leftwich was putting up prolific numbers, No. 2 at Marshall to Pennington (four years as starter to three for Leftwich), meaning when he left the Herd, he was the MAC record holder in yards passing (11,903), completions (939), completion percentage (65.1 percent) and total offense (12,084). He was sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting despite playing the entire season with a screw in his leg, but was the two-time MAC Offensive Player of the Year and MAC MVP in 2001, earning the Vern Smith Award. He was drafted in the first round with the seventh pick, best ever for any Marshall player, by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Legursky was on the Rimington Award Watch for the nation's top center in 2006 and 2007, along with the Outland Trophy Watch and the Lombardi Award Watch lists. He was a three-time All-Conference USA selection in his career, but was not drafted. He signed a free agent contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the spring of 2008, and survived being cut to return to the team on the practice squad.
Leftwich had some monster years with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was cut following the final pre-season game of the season. Possibly blacklisted by the Jags staff, his phone would not ring until late in the year when the Atlanta Falcons brought him in for the final three games of 2007. He would then not hear from any team until July of 2008, when Pittsburgh lost back-up quarterback Charlie Batch, a MAC player from Eastern Michigan. Leftwich was brought in to try out, along with UCF great and former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Tomlin had served as an assistant coach at VMI in 1995 for current West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart, and the Keydets were on the wrong end of a 56-21 loss to Pennington's Herd that season in Huntington. He later coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense to a Super Bowl win, and was a member of the Vikings staff while Culpepper was the QB, along with Randy Moss (MU 1996-97) of the Herd at wide receiver. Tomlin choose Leftwich to become the Steelers back-up to another former MAC quarterback, Miami-Ohio's Ben Roethlisberger.
Leftwich, Legursky and the rest of the Steelers are now headed to Super Bowl XLIV in Tampa Bay on Feb. 1, where they will meet the Arizona Cardinals, with outstanding receiver Larry Fitzgerald. His younger brother, Marcus, was a Marshall wide receiver from 2004-07.
The Cards are in their first championship game since not defending the 1947 title when they lost to the same Philadelphia Eagles franchise the Cards could not handle in 1948. The oldest franchise in continuous operation in the NFL, since 1898, the Cards also won a title in 1925, when Pottsville (Pa.) was ruled to have played an illegal game outside the league.
The Cardinals were still in Chicago and, in 1959, drafted a receiver out of the University of Virginia named Sonny Randle. Randle starred for the Cards from 1959-66 (most touchdown catches of any player in the NFL all during the 1960s) and went on to be a three-time All-Pro with the now St. Louis Cardinals (1960-1989, then moved to Arizona for 1988-2009). Randle was the MU head football coach 1979-83 and was on the Marshall Football Network from 1991-2005.
For Herd fans, having Marshall players to pull for is nothing new. The last three years have seen eight different Herd players with teams in Super Bowls. Pittsburgh has Leftwich and Legursky (a practice squad player who will travel but not dress unless an injury happens), but last year was as good as it might ever get with five players on two teams. Troy Brown (MU 1991-92) was inactive for last year's New England Patriots vs. New York Giants Super Bowl, but had played a huge part in wins in SB XXXIX ('05), XXXVIII ('04) and XXXVI ('02). He was inactive in his first Super Bowl as well, against the Green Bay Packers in 1997, when former Marshall teammate Mike Bartrum (MU 1989-92) dressed against the Packers, having joined the Pats after being traded to NE after two years in GB. Bartrum was on the losing end to Brown in the 2005 game when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Also with New England last year was punter Chris Hanson (MU 1995-98), receiver Randy Moss and practice player Jason Rader (UGA 2000-01, MU 2003-04), who played for the Atlanta Falcons this season. Meanwhile, the winning New York Giants had former Herd running back Ahmad Bradshaw (MU, 2-004-06), who was key in games leading to and including the win the the Super Bowl. The rookie, drafted in the seventh and last round, got his ring on his first try with the "G-Men," besting Moss, a first-round pick of the Vikings in 1998, and Hanson, a free agent signee of the Cleveland Browns in 1999.
In 2007, Johnathan Goddard MU 2001-04) was a member of the Indianapolis Colts team when they defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. Goddard was on the injured reserve after going to the Colts in 2006. He was selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of 2005. He led the Herd with 49 tackles for loss combined in 2003-04 as well as sacks with 16 in 2004, when he was named to the Football Writers First Team All-American team. Goddard tragically passed away in the summer of 2008 from a motorcycle wreck.
Brown and Bartrum, now retired and known throughout the Tri-State for their decade long summer football camp/auction/golf outing to raise funds for youth organizations and the Herd program, matched up in 2005, and Brown won titles in 2004 (against the Carolina Panthers) and in 2002, when he and former Marshall (1994-95) and University of Georgia (1996-97) tight end Jermaine Wiggins teamed up for the two catches that set up the winning field goal to beat the St. Louis Rams.
One season earlier, offensive lineman Scott Harper (MU 1999-2000) was a member of the championship winning Baltimore Ravens for two seasons, including the Super Bowl year of 2001, when the Ravens beat the Giants in SB XXXV. Harper went onto to play 2002-04 in the Canadian Football League for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
In 1999 running back Orlandis Gary, who like Wiggins started at MU in 1994-95 (backing up all-time Herd leading rusher Chris Parker, who was a free agent signee with the Jaguars 1996-98), then followed former Herd head coach Jim Donnan to UGA for 1996-97, was a member of the Denver Broncos for their win in Super Bowl XXXIII over the Atlanta Falcons. Finally, Bartrum and Browns were Pats teammate when New England lost to the Brett Farve Green Bay Packers in 1997 in Super Bowl XXXI.
While the Super Bowl traces its roots to 1967, when Green Bay beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I, the Marshall player with the most championships is also Marshall's only member of the NFL Hall of Fame and the only Herd football player with his number retired, Frank "Gunner" Gatski. Gatski, from Farmington, W.Va. (also home to NY Giant great Sam Huff and current West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin), played JV football in 1940, then started at linebacker and center for the Herd in 1941-42 before heading off as a soldier in the U.S. Army from 1943-45. In 1946, Paul Brown signed the 6-foot-2 center to play for his new Cleveland Browns in the All-American Football Conference. The Browns won all four titles in that league, including a often forgotten 14-0 season in 1948 that was part of a three-year, 28-game unbeaten streak (including two ties).
The Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts jumped to the NFL in 1950, the Cleveland continued its run with a title in 1950, 1954 and 1955. The Browns were runners-up in 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1957, when Gatski was a member of the Detroit Lions for that '57 season and won his eighth championship in 11 years in professional football. His teammate at Marshall and with the Browns in the AAFC, Eddie Ulinski, was an assistant coach with the Browns for titles in 1954, 1955 and 1964, and was there for runner-up finishes in 1957, 1965, 1968 and 1969, giving him four titles in the AAFC as a player and three more NFL titles as an assistant coach and, later, the film/video coordinator through 1972.
Copyright (c) 2009 SteelCityInsider.com and Scout.com
Ravens 13 Titans 10: It Hurts More Today
Yesterday was weird for me because after the game I felt OK. Sure I was sad, but I was able to tell myself that this stuff happens in sports. I went to sleep last night with no real problem...
...Then the dreams came. I had at least two dreams about the game and have been playing it over and over in my mind ever since. I think the reason it hurts the most is two fold:
1. There are about three plays in the game that if just one of them goes the other way we are probably talking about the AFC Championship game this morning. 2000 was different because we could really blame all of it on Al Del Greco. That was by no means fair to Del Greco, but that was the easiest thing to try and move on for the loss. There is no one person to blame for that loss yesterday. Penalties, a missed field goal, blown coverage, and fumbles. It is really impossible to blame any one person for all of that.
2. There is no reason this team couldn't have won the Super Bowl. Last season I never really bought us as a legitimate Super Bowl contender, so when we lost it was a lot easier to sit back and say it was a great season and something awesome to build on. This year there is not a single team out there that is just flat out better than the Titans. The Ravens were better yesterday when it mattered the most, but they aren't a team the Titans couldn't beat if they play good football.
In the NFL you don't get too many chances like the one the Titans had this season. You can tell that by all of the comments already on this site about what happens with a lot of key guys on the team in the offseason. 1999 was a miracle run, but 2000 and 2008 were years that this team really had a solid shot to win it all. That is why I have this feeling in my stomach.
Copyright 2008 Sportsblogs
Titans hungry for deep run after first-round loss
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans [team stats] had the pieces in place to be among the NFL's best a year ago when they squeaked into the playoffs only to lose in the first round.
Turns out their biggest help sat on their bench.
With Kerry Collins calmly replacing the injured Vince Young after the opener, the Titans ran up the NFL's best record at 13-3 to grab the AFC's No. 1 seed and home-field advantage. That includes a bye this weekend before their divisional playoff game Jan. 10.
"A veteran quarterback that's been around like Kerry has, they've seen everything," center Kevin Mawae said. "They stay cool under pressure, and guys believe in them. ... Kerry's been fun to play with. He's a great field leader. He knows what's going on, and he never gets rattled. I think that's one thing in common with great veteran quarterbacks."
Only Indianapolis (9) and Philadelphia (7) have reached the playoffs more over the past 10 years than the Titans, making their sixth appearance this season.
Young did his part in helping the rebuilding Titans get within one loss of a playoff berth as a rookie in 2006. He started as they went 10-6 in 2007 and earned the AFC's sixth playoff seed by winning their final game. But the Titans lost that first-round game 17-6 in San Diego when the offense couldn't find the end zone.
Fixing that scoring problem was a top priority in the offseason.
Coach Jeff Fisher fired offensive coordinator Norm Chow and brought back Mike Heimerdinger, who was so key in deep playoff runs in 2002 and 2003. They signed veteran tight end Alge Crumpler and used the No. 24 pick overall in the draft on speedy running back Chris Johnson.
But Young sprained his left knee in the season opener against Jacksonville, and Fisher turned to Collins. The veteran guided the Titans to the winning touchdown in a 17-10 victory that was the first in a 10-0 start.
The 14-year veteran isn't known for his mobility, but he did more than his part. He was sacked only eight times and was intercepted seven. He threw 12 touchdown passes, three better than the team totaled in 2007.
"He's winning games for us because of his experience," Fisher said of Collins. "We're doing a good job protecting. We're running the football, and he knows what to do with the football. If for some reason it's not there, he's not going to take any chances. He's just going to throw the ball away and give us a chance to fight again."
When defenses tried to stack the line of scrimmage to stop Johnson and LenDale White, Collins showed off his still strong arm by connecting with 10 different Titans on plays of 15 yards or longer. Justin Gage became his favorite target, and Collins rallied them to road wins at Baltimore, Chicago and Jacksonville and from home deficits to Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.
Mawae said Collins isn't a big talker and just plays hard, which teammates respect.
"When he does say something, people listen because he is a guy of few words. When he does have something to say, his actions have spoken for him. Guys are willing to follow him," Mawae said.
The Titans scored 13 more TDs than last season with White and Johnson combining for 24, a nice change for a team that outscored opponents 301-297 in 2007. They didn't have to sweat out games, not with the defense finishing second in the NFL in points allowed per game with 14.6.
Only Pittsburgh (21) allowed fewer touchdowns than Tennessee (25).
If the Titans win their divisional playoff game, Collins would become the first NFL quarterback in history to win at least one postseason game with three teams. He led the Carolina Panthers to the NFC championship game and the 2000 New York Giants to a Super Bowl appearance.
"There's something to be said for that as a player," Houston Texans [team stats] coach Gary Kubiak said of playing in a Super Bowl.
"So, nothing rattles him. He's surrounded by a football team that can help him a lot from a defensive standpoint, a running game that can help him a lot. He's being coached extremely well. So, all of those things add up to a veteran being successful, and he's taking advantage of it."
Collins, who turned 36 on Tuesday, understands how special this is for a quarterback with his fifth team.
"The chances that I'm going to get another opportunity like this are probably pretty small. I realize that. I'm going to take full advantage of it. I'm going to prepare well, try and get better this week and whoever we play next week, just get ready," he said.
Not that Collins will spend time worrying about who that opponent will be. He planned to spend part of the bye sitting in a tree stand hunting deer eight years after he last guided a team with the No. 1 seed - the Giants - into the playoffs.
"I definitely have a better appreciation for where we're at right now," he said.
(c) Copyright 2009 Associated Press.
Big Ben gets concussion, Steelers rout Browns 31-0
PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger gave the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Steelers a major scare by sustaining a concussion during an essentially meaningless game, a 31-0 victory over the embarrassed Browns on Sunday that likely was Romeo Crennel's last as Cleveland's coach.
Roethlisberger, expected to play a half to stay sharp before a two-week break, lay on the turf for nearly 15 minutes after being leveled by Willie McGinest and D'Qwell Jackson while delivering a pass late in the second quarter.
Despite the long delay, Roethlisberger's teammates did not react as if he had been seriously hurt and the quarterback flashed a thumbs-up while being driven off the field. Unless follow-up tests unexpectedly reveal additional problems, the injury probably won't sideline Roethlisberger for the No. 2-seeded Steelers' AFC playoff game Jan. 10 or 11.
Roethlisberger's injury highlights the risk NFL coaches take by playing regulars once their team's playoff positioning has been determined. But Mike Tomlin didn't want his key players sitting for three weeks and used many for three quarters.
For the Browns (4-12), it wasn't supposed to end this way in a season that began with so much hope after they went 10-6 in 2007, causing owner Randy Lerner to give Crennel a $12 million extension through 2011. Now, Lerner will meet with Crennel in Cleveland on Monday, almost certainly to fire him, and general manager Phil Savage's fate is equally cloudy.
Crennel, the only full-time coach in Browns history to never beat Pittsburgh, could be retained in another position, though it is unclear if he would be comfortable in such an arrangement or if the new coach would want his predecessor on his staff.
The Browns didn't offer much reason to bring back Crennel following their third 4-12 record in five seasons, finishing an already bad season with one of the worst finishes, at least offensively, by any team in NFL history.
Starting their fourth quarterback in Bruce Gradkowski, or one for every victory, the Browns -- 13-0 losers to Cincinnati last week -- were shut out in successive games for the first time in franchise history. They didn't score a touchdown on offense while losing their final six, setting an NFL record by going 24 consecutive quarters without an offensive touchdown. The 1974 Bears' streak lasted 22 quarters.
Cleveland, outgained 372-126 while failing to gain 200 yards during the losing streak, probably could have played a lot longer without scoring against a Pittsburgh defense that gave up the fewest yards and points in the NFL.
After driving to the Steelers' 36 before Phil Dawson's miss of a 53-yard field goal try in the first quarter, the Browns gained no more than 18 yards on any possession. Gradkowski (5-of-16, 18 yards, two interceptions) didn't complete a pass for nearly 27 minutes, except for Tyrone Carter's 32-yard interception return for a score for Pittsburgh midway through the fourth quarter.
About all the Steelers (12-4) got out of the game -- besides their big scare and their first sweep of the AFC North since 2002 -- was Willie Parker's 116-yard performance, his sixth consecutive 100-yard game against Cleveland but only his second since running for 105 yards in Cleveland on Sept. 14.
Hines Ward's six catches for 70 yards gave him his fifth career 1,000-yard season, his first since 2004, and a team-record 800 career receptions.
Parker's 34-yard touchdown run with 4:07 left in the second quarter broke a scoreless tie and was Pittsburgh's longest run this season. After Roethlisberger (9-of-14, 110 yards, one interception) was lifted, backup Byron Leftwich finished off a 52-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run on a third-and-goal play to make it 14-0 with 40 seconds left in the half.
The Steelers won their 11th in a row and 17th in 18 against the Browns, who haven't beaten their rivals since 2003. Jamal Lewis gained 94 yards for Cleveland, giving him 1,002 for the season.
(c)2008 NY Times Co
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