Banks:Unveven effort wont be enough against pats

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/don_banks/01/06/jaguars.steelers.ap/index.html

i didnt watch the game so this was interesting to read his observation.Was jones drew that effective against the steelers ?

For about three quarters of this one, I was convincing myself that Jacksonville superback Maurice Jones-Drew was going to give New England's aging inside linebackers Ted Bruschi and Junior Seau a nightmare in pursuit next Saturday night in Foxboro. I was thinking Garrard was one cool customer in the pocket who could handle the pressure, and make enough plays to maybe even take the Gillette crowd out of the game. And I found myself starting to think that the Jacksonville pass rush (six sacks of Ben Roethlisberger by six different Jaguars) might give NFL MVP Tom Brady a very long night.

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not at all. the jags sucked. i welcome them. they barely beat a turnover happy pitt team, and needed bad play calling and zebra help to beat them.

BRING EM ON!

ShrewBeer said:

not at all. the jags sucked. i welcome them. they barely beat a turnover happy pitt team, and needed bad play calling and zebra help to beat them.

BRING EM ON!

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I kinda have to agree with you. Big Ben gave that game away. 3 INTs. IMO none of them should have been thrown by Big Ben. Jags capitalized on the INT's and good for them, but I didn't see that the Jags were unstoppable. Definitely not the team "the media" has been making them of late.

I'm not sure which "three quarters" of the game he was watching.

Jones-Drew wasn't a factor running the ball at all, and I don't remember Garrard looking like a "cool customer" on a single play (perhaps the 4th down play) let alone for "three quarters of this one".

That's right you biiiitches.. That's NFL MVP Tom Brady... I like the way that sounds..

even colts fans over at IndyStar think the Pats will crush the Jags

ShrewBeer said:

not at all. the jags sucked. i welcome them. they barely beat a turnover happy pitt team, and needed bad play calling and zebra help to beat them.

BRING EM ON!

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The refs actually helped Pittsburgh. On the fourth down where pittsburgh went ahead, Hines Ward clearly had his hand in the DBs face mask. But instead of him getting called for the face mask, the DB got called for pass interference, when he couldn't do anything because Ward's hand was in his helmet the entire time. That was a game changing judgment call by the ref that was way off.

But all the same, I was hoping for the Jags to win. That way we have no doubt that the Pats are the best team, if we go 19-0. If we ended up playing someone other than Jacksonville, the announcers would have all been saying, "well, I think the Pats got lucky they didn't have to face the Jags."

Lampshade said:

and I don't remember Garrard looking like a "cool customer" on a single play (perhaps the 4th down play) let alone for "three quarters of this one".

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I'll take that. If Garrard plays 3 quarters of good football the Pats will win. As the Pats have proven this year, you need to play a full 4 quarters (all 60 minutes) if you're going to have a shot against Brady and Co.

Somewhere between the fanboys and Banks lies the truth. Taken out of context of who Ben is vs. what Brady is, and not knowing what was to come in the 4th, Banks saw a tough matchup. MJD is a load and a half on ST, on the ground and out of the backfield. But he's just one guy to cover. Jacksonville dominated Pittsburgh for three quarters save the first Pittsburgh drive which was itself a cakewalk. If we fall apart on offense and ST like the Steelers did, we'll be in a little trouble. Will we, I don't think anyone believes that.

As even the Countdown crew concluded just now, the JAGS will have to double their run production and Garrard will have to complete more than 9 passes with 2 picks to have any shot at beating us. So you play to win and risk losing or play not to lose and face the same end result. The JAGS have taken a step, they've won a playoff game. But they played down the stretch like a team who had their hands full accomplishing that, against a team that truly wasn't on our level this season. And the closest team to our level still ownes them.

BB_dynasty said:

The refs actually helped Pittsburgh. On the fourth down where pittsburgh went ahead, Hines Ward clearly had his hand in the DBs face mask. But instead of him getting called for the face mask, the DB got called for pass interference, when he couldn't do anything because Ward's hand was in his helmet the entire time. That was a game changing judgment call by the ref that was way off.

But all the same, I was hoping for the Jags to win. That way we have no doubt that the Pats are the best team, if we go 19-0. If we ended up playing someone other than Jacksonville, the announcers would have all been saying, "well, I think the Pats got lucky they didn't have to face the Jags."

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Kind of a chicken and egg argument on that call, though. And a ref can only call what he sees. The PI was blatant, the PF was secondary and tough to see except with replay. While the still unseen even after relay hold that cost Pittsburgh that first 2 point conversion was in fact the Steeler killing zebra call.

People here need to quit careing so much about what announcers say...

Absent a running game or legit returner and the way Ben's playing when it's all on him, that was the easier matchup. I'll always prefer the easier matchup because I don't care what the mediots say as long as we win.