National Football League

It's football the way it was meant

Published Jan. 18, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

Peter Schrager

Dear readers,

I apologize if I get a bit nostalgic during the playoff games this weekend.

After a recent string of late-January conference championship games played under a roof in Indianapolis, indoors and on a carpet in New Orleans, and in the 70 degree comfort of Glendale, Ariz., both of Sunday’s championship games will be played in frigid weather, outdoors and in stadiums without roofs.

It’s playoff football, in conditions that playoff football was meant to be played in.

And I couldn't be happier.

Now, I’m not necessarily the manliest of men. I’ve been to more Hall and Oates concerts than Metallica ones, I once caught myself watching (and enjoying) back-to-back episodes of “Sex and The City” on HBO and I’ve been known to order a vanilla skim latte from time to time. But when it comes to playoff football, call me a traditionalist. I like my games played in cold weather, with every breath visible, and the stronger team, not the flashiest or fastest, coming out on top.

John Facenda’s voice always sounded right when put to a Sam Spence score and the highlights of a game played in sub-zero temperatures at Lambeau Field or Memorial Stadium. Would it have been as moving set to clips of football played in a dome with sushi and martinis being served in luxury suites and the concession stands? Eh, probably not.

To be certain, this weekend’s matchups will have an old-school feel. The Bears and Packers have been playing against each other since 1921, have gone at it 181 times in total and feature 55 Pro Football Hall of Famers between them. The Jets and Steelers, meanwhile, have been AFC opponents since 1970. All four championship game participants already have Super Bowl trophies — the first time that’s happened since 1995, when the Cowboys and Packers squared off in the NFC Championship Game and the Steelers and Colts played for the AFC Championship in Three Rivers Stadium.

Four of the NFL’s most storied franchises, playing in late-January rematches of thrilling games from just a few weeks back, in 18- (Pittsburgh) and 12-degree (Chicago) temperatures? That sure sounds good to me.

Heck, who could ask for anything more?

Now, let’s get to the Championship Game edition of the Cheat Sheet:

Cheat Sheet Trivia Question of the Week:

How many Super Bowl starting quarterbacks played their college ball at Cal, USC, Miami of Ohio and Vanderbilt combined? Who are those quarterbacks?

Check below for the answer.

Statistic of the Week

In a six-week span during the 2010 regular season, the Patriots beat the four remaining NFL playoff teams by a combined score of 151-63.

Water Cooler Thought of the Week

If the Jets were to make it to the Super Bowl, which late-night talk-show host will send a man dressed in a human-sized foot costume to Media Day?

And on to this week’s picks . . .

Divisional Round Record: 2-2

Overall 2011 Postseason Record: 4-4

Green Bay at Chicago: There will be a lot of talk this week about the unlikely journeys the Jets, Steelers and Packers took to championship game weekend, but no team has defied more preseason critics and exceeded more expectations than the Bears. People forget this now, but Chicago went 0-4 in the preseason, looking downright heinous on both offense and defense in all four losses. The low point came in a nationally televised 14-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in the preseason in which Jay Cutler was sacked four times in the first half, intercepted twice and completely gun shy a week after the offensive line broke down against the Oakland Raiders.

They’ll likely deny it now, but after that loss there was legitimate chatter on the Chicago sports talk radio of Todd Collins — yes, that Todd Collins — potentially being better suited than Cutler to start under center in 2010. After those four preseason games, I compared the Martz-Cutler marriage to the one between Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt — fun for the tabloids to mock but a disaster waiting to happen.

Boy, was I wrong. Cutler’s cannon arm has proved to be perfectly suited for Martz’s timing passing offense, the five-year veteran has cut down the interceptions (and on-field sulking) considerably, and the line has gotten better with every week.

It’s been a nice story.

But that story ends Sunday.

Sure, there are reasons to like Chicago in this one: the home-field advantage, the superior special teams, a coaching staff that includes one current head coach and three former ones, to name a few.

But the Bears don’t have Aaron Rodgers. I know, I know, that’s awfully simplistic and certainly not the kind of analysis you pay good mouse clicks to read. But there’s no denying the absolute zone No. 12 is in right now. Rodgers is having a postseason like few we’ve seen before and for as foul as the weather might be, and for as good as that Chicago pass rush is I just can’t see him being toppled on Sunday. Through two games, the six-year veteran who didn’t make the NFC Pro Bowl roster this year, has completed 49 of 63 passes for 546 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions.

And that cold weather? It’s not like Rodgers hasn’t flourished in such elements. In the 11 outdoor games in which he’s played during December and January since taking over the starting gig in Green Bay, Rodgers has completed 237 of 372 passes for 3,278 yards, with 26 touchdown passes and just six interceptions.

And if that pass rush does break through the rejuvenated Packers offensive line? James Starks — the guy who went from an absolute unknown two weeks ago into a second-round pick in your next fantasy draft — can carry the burden in the running game.

Furthermore, the Packers defense has had great success against Cutler and Martz this season. In two games, the Chicago offense has scored just one touchdown on Dom Capers’ defense in 21 possessions. In the 10-3 Week 17 clash at Lambeau, Cutler struggled, getting sacked six times and tossing two ill-timed interceptions. If Clay Matthews doesn’t get to Cutler on Sunday, you'd better believe Erik Walden and the rest of those Packers edge rushers will. Cutler will be under heat all afternoon.

In the end, I think it’s Rodgers’ year and the rest of us just happen to be living in it. Six days after Brett Favre officially retires — for good, this time — Rodgers will end up just one win away from matching ol’ No. 4's Super Bowl rings total.

I’m fairly certain he’ll take that over all the Pro Bowls in the world.

The Pick: Packers 31, Bears 16

New York Jets at Pittsburgh: For all the love and publicity the league and its media partners give young gunslingers Sam Bradford, Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford, Matt Schaub, Tony Romo and Rodgers, oft-criticized Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez currently has more career playoff victories than all of those guys . . . combined.

Sanchez, though prone to the occasional overthrown pass or aesthetically unpleasing scramble or slide, has saved his best football for January for the second straight season. He’ll be up against his toughest test yet Sunday.

When the Jets beat the Steelers 22-17 at Heinz Field on Dec. 19, Sanchez did nothing special (he rarely does), but he had no turnovers against the league’s top-rated overall defense. That experience — an actual 'W' in December in Pittsburgh — should aid the second-year quarterback this weekend.

"That's where my mind is at already," Sanchez said when asked about the Steelers this week. "It's going to be in a tough environment again and it's good that we have the experience of playing there because we're going to need that."

There’s more at play here than just Sanchez. Santonio Holmes, two years after winning a Super Bowl MVP award with the Steelers, returns to Pittsburgh to play the team that traded him for a fifth-round pick last offseason. There’s Jason Taylor, LaDainian Tomlinson and Tony Richardson, too — three Jets veterans who have a combined 40 years of NFL experience and 15 Pro Bowl selections — all just one win away from the first Super Bowl appearances of their collective careers. There’s the swagger and spunk of the Jets team, as well. This bandwagon, though initially a bit tough to jump aboard, has an oddly contagious quality to it.

The home-field advantage and the postseason experience in the home locker room can’t be underestimated in this one, though. For the fourth consecutive time the Steelers have been the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, the No. 1 seed has been knocked out in the divisional round, giving Pittsburgh the home field for the AFC Championship Game.

This particular squad is seasoned, and though Ben Roethlisberger lost as a rookie to Tom Brady and the Patriots in the ’05 AFC Championship Game, he’s 2-0 in such games since. Roethlisberger is 8-1 in playoff games, including two Super Bowl rings, since his rookie year.

Something that might sound odd on the surface that could actually play a role in foul weather on Sunday? Big Ben’s comfort in bad conditions and his ability to play in gloves. The Jets rush defense may very well bottle up Rashard Mendenhall, but will New York be able to stop Roethlisberger and the passing game? His mobility in the pocket — surprisingly far better than Tom Brady’s — and his flair for the dramatic could be too much for the Jets defense to withstand down the stretch. New York was successful in stopping Roethlisberger on a fourth-quarter, last-minute drive in the win back in December. Can they be so lucky twice in the span of 30 days?

The last time New York came to Pittsburgh in January, Jets kicker Doug Brien missed two field goals and Gang Green fell short in a 20-17 overtime thriller in 2005.

For the second straight year, I see New York’s Super Bowl dreams coming just one step short.

As for the Jets, their coach and their tendency to well, run their mouths a bit?

“You know, they had story lines in the other places,” Steelers safety Ryan Clark said this week, referring to the Jets’ first two opponents. “We don’t. There’s just not good story lines between us. The only story line we have is six (Lombardi) trophies. And we’re trying to get another one. That’s all we’re working towards.”

They’ll get that opportunity.

The Pick: Steelers 20, Jets 13

Cheat Sheet Trivia Answer of the Week

There have been three Super Bowl starting quarterbacks from those four schools: Joe Kapp (Cal and the 1970 Vikings), Craig Morton (Cal and the 1971 Cowboys, 1978 Broncos) and Ben Roethlisberger (Miami of Ohio and the 2005 and '08 Steelers). No USC or Vanderbilt quarterback has ever started a Super Bowl.