Ultimate Super Bowl Tournament Elite 8

Were down to the final 8...anybody getting excited? Didn’t think so and yet I drone on...

1978 Steelers (14-2) vs. 1969 Chiefs (11-3): The 69 Chiefs have been the feel-good story of the tournament, pulling off one upset after another en route to the Elite 8. But now they run into one of the great teams in sports history. Everybody knows the Steelers were dominant on defense, but it was their offense in 78 that really started taking off. Terry Bradshaw threw for a career-high 28 touchdown passes while receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth had 20 touchdown catches. Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier made sure defenses couldn’t key on the pass, rushing for more than 1,600 yards and 13 touchdowns. In the playoffs, the offense scored 33, 34 and 35 points. Combine that with a Steel Curtain defense ranked No. 1 in the league that year and it was a handful just trying to compete with the Steelers. Another measure of their greatness is who they beat in the super bowl. They beat the defending world champion Cowboys, a team that had they won that game and equaled the Steelers for super bowls in the 70s, probably would have more Hall of Famers. But the Steelers won and they got the glory. The Steelers won almost every big game they played in the 70s and as solid as the Chiefs were they are overmatched in this game. The Steelers are the first team to really dent the Chiefs defense and Len Dawson and Co. are unable to rally when they have to abandon the running game.

OUTCOME: Too much Steelers power on both sides. Steelers 27, Chiefs 10.

2004 Patriots (14-2) vs. 1993 Cowboys (12-4): What a matchup this is. The Cowboys are the favorites entering this game but I don’t think it will sink in to a lot of people for about another 10 years how good this Patriots team was. This was the back end of the team that won an NFL record 20 straight games in the age of parity and they absolutely dismantled the league’s best offense that year, the Colts, even though their defense was ravaged by injuries in that game. The defense was underrated even though it ranked second in the league. But when you have warriors like Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest, Ty Law and Rodney Harrison playing for you, it’s going to be tough to move the ball against you. And as I have said before, this offense was a nightmare for defenses. They weren’t as flashy as a team like the Colts but they were deadly efficient, scoring at least 20 points in 18 of 19 games. There are not enough adjectives to describe Tom Brady’s outstanding play or leadership and when you combine that with Corey Dillon rushing for 1,600 yards and having his best season it’s easy to see why this team won the Super Bowl. But then you have the Cowboys who had one of the best offensive lines this generation has ever seen along with guys like Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman and Moose Johnston. The defense ranked second in the league like the Patriots did and featured speed all over the place. However, I do think the Patriots offensive line which was underrated could contain the Cowboys pass rush, leaving their somewhat suspect secondary vulnerable. Ultimately, I think as good as the defenses were, offense would dictate this game and it would go back and forth. I like the Cowboys up front and I like their star power but I like the Patriots depth. I think what it comes down since it’s going to be close in the final minutes is the quarterbacks. Now Aikman was a great quarterback but the one thing I never saw him do was lead his team from behind in the final minute when the chips were down in the biggest games. If you look back at his playoff games, the Cowboys won almost all of those games in somewhat convincing fashion so maybe it’s not fair to say he didn’t have that game-winning drive since he wasn’t in that position. But there were several times I saw him have chances to do that in the regular season when Dallas used to be on TV all the time and most of the times, he seemed to come up short. You contrast that with Brady who has become the Comeback King of this decade. Twice he’s lead his team on game-winning drives in the final minute of the Super Bowl and he also led the Patriots back from a 10-point fourth-quarter in his very first playoff game against the Raiders. During the 2003 season in a span of five games, Brady led the Patriots to three fourth-quarter comeback wins.

OUTCOME: This is a classic and I see it being capped by Brady marching the Patriots downfield in the last minute and hitting Daniel Graham for the game-winning touchdown pass. Patriots 34, Cowboys 31.

1985 Bears (15-1) vs. 1974 Steelers (10-3-1): Talk about a defensive showdown. I kind of analyzed the Steelers in the first matchup. However, this was the Steelers dynasty in its infancy and I would say its most vulnerable. Bradshaw did not open the season as a starter and was still quite erratic while Stallworth and Swann hardly were threats yet, meaning the Steelers were kind of one dimensional with their running game. And trying to pound the ball against the 46 defense of the 85 Bears is not going to get the job done. The Bears, though, too have some offensive deficiencies. While the running game was outstanding led by Walter Payton and a terrific offensive line, the passing game could struggle. The Bears ranked 22nd in passing yards and 23rd in touchdown passes. Their wide receivers caught just 10 touchdowns and Willie Gault led that unit with a paltry 33 catches. Gault could stretch the defense with his speed and the Bears could strike for the big play, but that so-so passing game is something to keep an eye on the rest of this tournament, especially against a Steel Curtain defense that could contain Payton.

OUTCOME: The Steelers defense limits the Bears effectiveness much like the 66 Packers did in the last round, but again the Bears defense carries the day and forces Bradshaw to make some costly mistakes that lead to two touchdowns. Bears 20, Steelers 6.

1989 49ERS (14-2) vs. 1984 49ERS (15-1): Wow, this is another classic. You gotta love a game where guys like Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig, Keena Turner and Mike Wilson get to play against themselves at Candlestick Park. The 89 Niners were a machine that decimated three straight playoff opponents 126-26 and humiliated the Broncos, 55-10 in the super bowl. The scary thing is that the Niners probably could have made a run at 70 in that game had George Seifert not pulled all the starters after they went up 55-10 in the fourth quarter’s opening minute. A solid offensive line gave Joe Montana time to connect with Jerry Rice and John Taylor, both who had 1,000-yard seasons, along with Brent Jones an emerging Pro Bowler at that time with Tom Rathman and Roger Craig combined for 122 catches out of the backfield. Craig also rushed for 1,000 yards although he averaged 3.9 yards per carry which was a dropoff from the previous year. The defense lacked a lot of big names other than Ronnie Lott and Charles Haley but nonetheless was terrific, allowing just two postseason touchdowns with both of them coming in garbage time. Somehow, it seems, though, that people forget how amazing the 84 Niners were. Not only did they come within a missed Ray Wersching field goal and a made Gary Anderson field goal of going undefeated, but they ranked No. 2 in offense and No. 2 in defense. The offense put up 475 points and the Niners beat teams by a staggering margin of more than 15 points per game. They topped 30 points in 10 regular-season games, held three playoff opponents to 26 points and held six regular-season teams to fewer than 10 points. The Niners sent 10 players to the Pro Bowl, including three offensive linemen and every member of the secondary, a truly astonishing feat. The offense featured Montana at his best as he threw 28 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. The Niners also had a powerful running game with Wendell Tyler gaining more than 1,200 yards and Roger Craig adding 649 yards along with 71 catches. Tyler was outstanding averaging an eye-popping 5.1 yards per carry. While the 89 Niners had the explosive Rice/Taylor duo the Niners had the less explosive but still effective Dwight Clark/Freddie Solomon duo combining for over 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns. This game would be a classic and since Montana is on the field whoever has the ball last likely would win. But when I look at these two teams I like the 84 Niners across the board a little bit more except for one aspect and that is that the 89 Niners had Jerry Rice. Still, while Rice might be the greatest football player ever, the 84 Niners were just too dominant for even this machine-like 89 team to overcome.

OUTCOME: The 84 Niners were a spectacular defensive team even if they don’t get the credit they deserve and that is the difference in this game. 84 49ERS 30, 89 49ERS 20....And then there were 4!


- posted by Chris @ 11:41 PM