Who Would You Rather Be?

Almost 20 years ago, an inconsolable city of Pittsburgh watched their Super Bowl dreams disintegrate on the Three Rivers Stadium turf.  The visiting San Diego Chargers, with little momentum from the previous week's defeat of the Dolphins, tip-toed through 59 minutes of well-played football and punctuated their efforts with a goal-line stand, stamping their ticket to Super Bowl twenty-nine.  The San Diego Chargers with Natrone Means, Stan Humphies and the mighty Alfred Pupunu.

One year earlier, the underdog Steelers played a classic Wild Card match-up against Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs.  Playing as well as they had all season, Pittsburgh was doomed by a fourth quarter blocked punt and failing to capitalize on their defense holding the Chiefs to a three-and-out in their first OT possession.  The Chiefs would move-on to beat the Oilers the next week before falling to the Bills in the AFC Title game.

Those memories are still very fresh for me.  I can remember going to my friend Joe's house for the Charger loss.  Our whole eighth grade class of guys (all 10 of us) packed into his living room with our Terrible Towels and the feeling the Super Bowl trip was ours, something we had never experienced in our lifetime.   For the entirety of the game, we were all waiting for the Steelers to do something on offense.  They listlessly stalled time and time again, wracking-up yards but eventually punting.  The offense never came and neither did the sunshine for about two weeks.

I remember going to Nanny and Grand's the previous year for the Chiefs loss.  If entitlement reigned while watching the Charger game, the opposite was on display for the Chiefs game that Saturday afternoon...a feeling more of a hope that we could fight the favored home team and capitalize at the end.  As fate would have, we had that chance but lost at the end in painful fashion.

That was 20 years ago and a lot has happened to these three cities since those NFL playoff games.  Since those losses, Pittsburgh has hoisted two Super Bowl trophies, a Stanley Cup, been to the finals of those respective league on three other occasions and seen a revival of our beloved Pirates.  I feel very fortunate to be a Pittsburgh fan in all facets, even though I still live-and-die with every win and loss and haven't experienced a title since all the way back on June 9, 2009.  (Click the link, see Rule #12.)

But San Diego and Kansas City?  As a sports culture, Buffalo, Detroit, Minneapolis and, of course, Cleveland, are often referred as the cities starving most for pro sports success.  Sometimes you can throw-in Cincinnati or the occasional Philadelphia, but San Diego and Kansas City are pretty much tied at the hip regarding expectations, results and perception from most fans outside of those metropolises.  Two cities with a football and baseball team, occasionally knocking at the door for relevance but, inevitable, leaving our sports conscience in due time.

Nationally, a picture is painted that Kansas City has "midwest values" and having "hometown support" and claiming their sports are "all we have."  For that standpoint, I can relate.  Along with many baseball fans, I was excited for the Royals when they dominated the postseason on their way to the World Series.  Those seven games were terrific.  Come football season, I'm behind my team 100%.  Same with baseball.  Looks like KC is the same way, right?  I mean, how many times do we hear the Pirates and Royals mentioned in the same breath?  Sometimes the Steelers and Chiefs are mentioned together with their running attacks, loud crowds and iconic ownerships.  Heck, the Penguins were going to move to Kansas City if Lemieux didn't save the day for the third time.  There's a lot to relate to.

San Diego, I'm told, has beautiful weather, a world-class zoo and surfing.  This can also be described as "not Pittsburgh."  In recent memory (and I'm talking about these last eight months,) the Padres have made a ton of free agent moves, honored the passing of Tony Gwynn, and fallen in and out of memory from even their own fan base with their on-field play.  The Chargers, to me, are like a firefly.  When they come around, you think, "that's nice...look at that ... isn't that neat."  Philip Rivers might throw for 500 yards, or they might get a big win when they weren't supposed to.  In due time, though, there isn't a relevance to their glow and they fade into night.  Last season, the Chargers snuck-in the back door to the playoffs and manhandled the Bengals in Cincinnati before falling to the Broncos seven days later.  That's nice... look at that ... oh, I guess they've left ... moving on...

Fast forward to this week; the Chargers and Chiefs face-off this Sunday in Kansas City.  If the Chargers win, they go to the playoffs, probably as the sixth seed.  If the Chiefs win, they need help but could also enter the playoffs as the sixth seed.  Should either of these scenarios happen, will it register with their fan bases ... or nationally ... or in Vegas?  They could make a Cinderella run to the title and be the talk of the town forever.  Or they can retread a similar chorus they've sung for these last two decades.  A hurdle ... a welcomed threat ... a nice story for the preseason to discuss.

I mean this in a very objective, inquisitive manner: what's the best sports memory for these cities in the last twenty years?  The Padres ('98) and Royals ('14) making the World Series? The Chargers coming 8 points from beating the undefeated Patriots?  The Chiefs Dante Hall returning every punt for a touchdown?  And while I don't know any San Diego or Kansas City fans, I feel like one group gets over losses quicker (SD) than the other (KC.)  The question is, if given the choice, who would I rather be?

 

Backing into the Saddle

By now you are aware of the epic battle for the NFC South crown with the champion of the division having the privilege of hosting a playoff game.  My beloved 8-5 Steelers head to Atlanta to face the 5-8 Falcons, both thirsting for victories for the exact reason.  Understand this article is not about the Steelers as I fully expect them to struggle in a dome against Matty Ice.  The Steelers, too, haven't won two road games in two weeks since 1953.  (I actually think is the 2010 season when they won in Tennessee and Tampa Bay, but I may be wrong.)

At this point, I'm not certain any of the NFC South teams want to win the division.  Really.  Let's say the Saints or Falcons win the division ... at 6-10!  Do you realize they would most likely have a top-10 draft pick AND a home playoff game?  Going into Week 15, there are already 19 teams in the NFL with seven wins. Quick math ... 32 - 19 = 13 worse teams with the higher draft order.  And most people would say the Rams and Vikings (and maybe the Bears) could end-up tallying seven or more wins with a stronger roster.

The thought of having a high draft pick and hosting a superior NFC foe is embarrassing.  When the 7-9 Seahawks hosted the 11-5 Saints in January 2011, most of the country not displaced in the Northwest thought the Saints would win.  First, never bet on a road favorite playing outdoors that makes their home in a dome.  Second, because it was already an black eye for the NFL to have this imbalance of rewards, how silly does the league look when the home field advantage IS the deciding factor ... along with the best run in the last 10 years.  Third, even with the Seahawks victory, there was no realistic hope for a Super Bowl run with Atlanta, Chicago and Super Bowl champion Green Bay moving forward in the playoffs that season.  Every player in the Seahawks locker room believed they could win, but do you think the league was happy when one of it's marquee, successful teams - not to mention the defending Super Bowl Champions - were bounced from the first game of the first day of the tournament, basically because of archaic rules?

I don't want to hear the playoff system works and this season, the NFC South champion's losing record is an anomaly.  It also happened five years ago, and when that occurred, those 2010 Seahawks were also called an anomaly.  The 10-6 Giants and the 10-6 Buccaneers did not go to the playoffs in 2010, and that will seem like less of a robbery if  three superior NFC teams are three games better than the mighty Falcons or devastating Saints here in 2014.  Don't forget, the Panthers have a super flyweight puncher's chance to the win the division at the heels of their impressive tie against the Bengals.  While we marvel at the playoff runs by the Steelers, Giants and Packers in recent years ... seizing victory on the road in three playoff contests before winning the Lombardi Trophy on neutral ground, those teams had earned their postseason birth and caught fire at the right time.  Can you imagine if the Saints make the Super Bowl, entering the postseason four games below .500, and, even with three playoff wins, only muster nine wins in five months?

So what do we do about this?  First, if I could run the League, all teams in the NFL postseason tournament would have 9 wins or more.  (That's right; they can't be 8-7-1.  Nine wins.)  Second, teams are seeded in order of record, regardless of division champion.  Third, head-to-head match-ups are ultimate tiebreakers.  This year, if the Saints, Falcons and Panthers don't have nine wins (and they won't,) they are disqualified from the playoffs and there would then be three Wild Card teams instead of two.  Since they are not going to the playoffs under this format, they could be guaranteed a top-10 draft pick for their efforts.

Now for this week's winners:

Did you know there are 10 divisional rematches on the Sunday menu?  Arizona already beat St. Louis on Thursday night and I would argue that  sweeping any division opponent is rare, even if there is a chasm in the division standings.  The Rams were on a roll defensively, and they continued that roll against the Cards.  Problem was Shaun Hill reminded us why he's Shaun Hill and, in the end, the Cardinals left town with a sweep of their division opponent.  

Here's the shakedown of showdowns, with the lines and the team that won the first match-up of the season underlined:

* Tampa Bay at Carolina (-3)

* Cincinnati at Cleveland (-1)

* Houston at Indianapolis (-6.5)

* Oakland at Kansas City (-10)

* Miami at New England (-7.5)

* Washington at NY Giants (-6.5)

* Denver at San Diego (+4.5)

* Minnesota at Detroit (-7.5)

* San Francisco at Seattle (-10)

* Dallas at Philadelphia (-3.5)

Now ask yourself, as I look at the menu above, how many of those teams do I see sweeping the season series?

Here's who I'm taking, with a small footnote:

* Tampa Bay +3 ... Derek Anderson is starting.  Two wins in a row for Carolina is one too many.

* Cincinnati +1 ... I can't see the series sweep for the Brownies.

* Houston +6.5 ... This is the Texans' Super Bowl ... they may lose, but they'll cover by forcing turnovers.

* Kansas City -10 ... REVENGE!!!

* New England -7.5 ... I hear Miami plays awesome in the cold weather.

* Washington +6.5 ... I'd like to think the road team will have a better record than last year's 3-13 squad.

* San Diego +4.5 ... Eight in the box forces Manning to throw two costly interceptions.

* Minnesota +7.5 ... Vikings defense is tougher than advertised; if they can contain Johnson and Tate, they have a shot.

* San Francisco +10 ... I mean, how many consecutive weeks can the Niners not cover?

* Dallas +3.5 ... I feel like Sanchez fooled us on Thanksgiving.  His other games against the Packers and Seahawks are what we are used to enjoying.

In summary, if the team lost the first meeting, I'm taking their side to cover the number.  Analysis of the logic to come next week.  Good luck to you all.