Eric Heise dot Com ~ The Monday Analysis 23 January 2006 ~ A Writer's March

We've got out Super Bowl teams. And much to the pundits, they are a surprise. It's just, well, they're not Jakes going to the big game.

Don't tell the Steelers that it's Defense that wins. Plain and simple for Pittsburgh, it is just playing on the road with the hostility at an all time high.

And the Steelers win their third straight road game 34-17 over the Denver Broncos.

Jerome Bettis held on to the ball tighter, got a pair of touchdowns, and is headed home for quite possibility his final professional game in Detroit for Super Bowl XL.

Ben Roethlisberger, 21-29 for 275 yards, 2 TDs, 124.9 rating, played like a veteran. Forget the deer-in-the-headlights act of last season. He seemed to learn a wealth of experience since then. Today nothing bugged him, as no road crowd has bugged him all month.

Jake Plummer resorted back to the Arizona Plummer, the Snake who was more like the Mistake, the guy you just waited to make that bad throw. We've waiting all season for it, and it finally showed up on Sunday. Plummer was 18-30 for 223 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs with a 66.4 rating.

At 1:55 left in the first half, Phil Simms of CBS said, "The first thing you have to do is be careful." Plummer then threw twenty yards to Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor. So much for being careful.

The Steelers had complete control at the half, leading 24-3. It stayed with them right through to the end.

''It feels great today, I'll tell you that,'' said owner Dan Rooney, an original owner in the AFL. ''The coach already told me we're going to the Super Bowl to win it, not just to be there.''

The Broncos, instead of planning Super Bowl events, were handed their first home loss of the season.

''It's tough,'' Plummer said. ''They were getting after it and when they got a lead, we get one dimensional.''

The Steelers certainly know what it is like to go undefeated at home and then lose it in the AFC Championship game. That happened to them last season. This year they were the sixth seed instead of the one seed, and were handed three road games on the way to Detroit.

''It's amazing, especially to have done it all on the road,'' Steelers receiver Antwaan Randle-El said.

This is head coach Bill Cowher's second trip to the Super Bowl in his 14 seasons as head coach with the Steelers. He went in 1996 for Super Bowl XXX with a 27-17 loss to Dallas. In that game, Neil O'Donnell threw two interceptions for Cowboy touchdowns. Both were to MVP Larry Brown who scored twice.

This is also Cowher's sixth AFC Championship game since 1994. They've lost four of them, all at home.

One more road game, and career finale for the Bus. The Steelers are off to the big game.

In September, there were seven teams who had never been to a Super Bowl: Arizona, Detroit, Cleveland, Houston, Jacksonville, New Orleans, and Seattle.

It took seven long rebuilding years, some stripped duties and near dismissals, but Mike Holmgren has the Seahawks going to the Super Bowl.

Matt Hasselbeck was completely in control, 20-28 for 219 yards, 2 TDs, 118 rating. Hasselbeck's father, Don, was a tight end for the Patriots, and the family grew up in Westwood.

Rookie linebacker Lofa Tatupu is another son of a former Patriot, Mosi of the great Patriots teams in the 1970s and 1980s, and also grew up locally. Tatupu had an interception, one of Jake Delhomme's three on the day.

The time of possession was a huge factor. Seattle held the ball for 41:51 compared to Carolina's 18:09. Steve Smith was triple and quadrupled teamed all night, held in check. On the sideline, Smith was frustrated, insisted he go out for a punt return, which ended up in Carolina's first touchdown on the night. He had 5 catches for 33 yards on the night.

One more late game touchdown out of desperation would give the Panthers a narrower gap, but it was well over by then.

''We have an unbelievable team, an unbelievable group of fans,'' Shaun Alexander said of the 12th Man.

Mike Holmgren becomes the fifth coach to take two teams to the Super Bowl. He took Green Bay to back-to-back games in Super Bowl XXXI and XXXII. John Fox was looking for his second trip in three seasons, but it didn't turn out that way for him.

"I don't know if we ran out of gas," John Fox said. "I'm not sure what the problem was. Their defense played tremendous. We knew we'd have our hands full with their offense. We didn't play well enough in all three phases to win."

And out of gas is what Carolina is all about now. They go home. Seattle goes to Detroit.

The Monday Analysis POWER Rankings

The Playoff ranks shove the pretenders to the bottom.

1. Seattle (15-3). One observation. That Seattle crowd. They poise themselves as the 12th Player, even have "12" flags flying all over the stands. Since when did Seattle fans become so rabid. Bravo!

The Playoff ranks shove the pretenders to the bottom.

1. Seattle (15-3). One observation. That Seattle crowd. They poise themselves as the 12th Player, even have "12" flags flying all over the stands. Since when did Seattle fans become so rabid. Bravo!

2. Pittsburgh (14-5). Nice job again Steelers. Three road games in hostile environments. Three wins. On to Detroit.

4. (tie) Carolina (13-6). They played so well, and then tripped and fell on Sunday. Sad.

4. (tie) Denver (14-4). 9-0 at home. Oops. That would 9-1 now.

5. Chicago (11-6). More Offense, Lovie. More Offense.

6. Indy (14-3). This was possibly the best Colts team ever. Now what will happen?

7. New England (11-7). Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.

8. Washington (11-7). Joe Gibbs caught a whiff of the playoffs this year, but will it be enough to more on in 2006?

9. Cincinnati (11-6). Here's hoping Carson Palmer returns, Marvin Lewis.

10. Tampa Bay (11-6). For Jon Gruden, 2005 is the start.

11. Jacksonville (12-5). The Jags need more maturing.

12. NJ Giants (11-6). It's a long road up for the Giants.