What a wild weekend the divisional round of the playoffs have been. The incoming Super Bowl favorite Patriots were knocked out by the smash mouth Jets. While the other number one seed, Atlanta, fell to the extremely hot Packers at home. As expected the Bears pulled through at home in convincing fashion to the overachieving Seahawks. Lastly, Big Ben Roethlisberger came through in the waning moments of the game to dismantle a strong effort from the hardnosed Ravens. As blazing as the Packers are right now, it's hard to see them go down against the Bears but then again we all know the saying, "any given Sunday." Not many people expected the AFC Championship game to be played without the Patriots but it's going to be one heck of a show down between the Jets and the Steelers.
AFC Championship Game:
Let's start with the home team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After trailing 21-7 in the first half to the Ravens at home last Saturday it looked like the Steeler's offensive line had finally been exposed and they were heading for an early playoff exit. Little did we know that in the second half the traditional Steelers defense would step up and send the Raven's offense cold just like the weather was. The whole team stepped up to the challenge while riding the shoulders of Big Ben for the last drive and the eventual win. Now onto next week with their matchup against the Jets. We all know that the offensive line is soft, but with the superb play of Roethlisberger they are ALWAYS in the game for he can perform in the toughest situations possible. With Troy Polamalu back at safety, cradling the Steelers D it's hard to imagine them giving any big plays to the Jets. Look for them to harass Mark Sanchez and shut down the efficient running game of the Jets.
Now, as for the Jets are concerned they are coming off of two huge wins against arguably the two best quarterbacks in the league. Beginning with the Wild Card round, Jets QB Mark Sanchez has shown no signs of the infamous sophomore slump. He continues to come up big in the right moments and is managing the offense better than ever with all the offensive weapons he has to play with. Who doesn't know that the Jets defense is good? But it seems they are getting better and better. To stop Tom Brady and the seventh highest scoring offense in NFL history last Sunday was no small task. Not only did they hold the Patriots to 21 points in the game, New England didn't have more than 3 points at halftime. Pittsburgh is certainly no offensive machine, so we know this battle will be won in the trenches. To be mentioned here is that the Jets have already handed the Steelers a loss in Heinz Field so the game really can go either way.
With the Steelers at home and the clutch play of Ben Roethlisberger I don't see how the Jets come out with this win. Steelers will represent the AFC in the 2011 Super Bowl.
