Author: John Paulsen (Page 907 of 937)

Hines Ward caught five passes for 123 yards and the game changing touchdown. Other than “Fast” Willie Parker’s 75-yard run, no other skill players for the Steelers showed up to play. QB Ben Roethlisberger had an awful game, completing only nine passes for 123 yards and two interceptions. Jerome Bettis, for all the hype, had only 43 yards on 14 carries. But the Steelers are a team and that’s why they won the game. And Hines Ward is the best player on that team.

Ward made a couple of great catches – one was a shoestring grab that kept a Pittsburgh drive alive. Another put the Steelers in position to score the go ahead touchdown at the end of the first half. He is Pittsburgh’s MVP, without a doubt.

I don’t mean to paraphrase myself but I wrote the following in a previous post.

Everyone thinks that it is RB Shaun Alexander that makes the Seahawks go. But Seattle’s passing game is so important, especially against a stout rush defense like Pittsburgh. Seattle will not win if Hasselbeck doesn’t play well, and the quarterback from the other team isn’t in quite the same situation. Ben Roethlisberger can play poorly and the Steelers, with their outstanding running game and defense, can still get a win. Seattle’s offense is their strength and the pressure is really on Hasselbeck to play well.

Roethlisberger’s line: 9/21, 123 yards, 2 INTs

Ugh.

Hasselbeck’s line: 26/49, 273 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

But it’s that last stat that turned the game. With the Steelers leading 14-10, and the momentum definitely in Seattle’s favor, the Seahawks had a third-and-18 on Pittsburgh’s 27-yard line. Hasselbeck overshot his receiver and Ike Taylor intercepted the ball. Had he just thrown the ball away, Seattle would have had a chance at another field goal to pull within one. (Keep in mind that the Seahawks were only in this position because of a very questionable holding call three plays earlier on a pass to Jerramy Stevens that would have given the ball to Seattle inside the two yard line.)

After a horrible unnecessary roughness penalty on Hasselbeck’s tackle of Taylor on the interception return, Pittsburgh took over near midfield and eventually scored on the gadget play from Antwan Randle El to Hines Ward, which put them ahead to stay, 21-10.

Hasselbeck had to play perfect and he didn’t – Steelers win.

Maybe there’s more support for Seattle than we give them credit for. It’s less than six hours before kickoff and Pittsburgh is still favored by 4. Many pundits believed that the spread might get bigger on gameday, but at World Sports Exchange, the money is coming in slightly in favor of the Seahawks. Last night the spread was +4 (-105) for Seattle, meaning that you’d have to bet $105 on the Seahawks to get a payout of $100. Now the line is +4 (-110) which means it pays out at a $110 / $100 ratio.

The over/under has continued to be rock solid at 47.0.

At the beginning of the season, when Chris Berman asked ESPN analyst Tom Jackson which quarterback in the league will lose his job first, Jackson replied, “Matt Hasselbeck.” He admitted that he is a big Seneca Wallace fan, but his response surprised me a little, considering I drafted Hasselbeck in four of my five fantasy leagues and was expecting a big season from him. What did Hasselbeck do? He was fourth in the league with a passer rating of 98.2 and threw for 3459 yards and 24 touchdowns against only nine interceptions, putting together the most efficient season of his career.

When Mike Holmgren left Green Bay to take over the head coaching and general manager duties in Seattle, he immediately traded for Hasselbeck, giving up just a third round pick and moving down seven spots in the first round. The Packers had to get something for Hasselbeck as he was due to become a free agent at the end of the season, but with the draft picks, the trade ended up being Hasselbeck and G Steve Hutchinson for DE Jamal Reynolds and MLB Torrance Marshall. It turned out to be a great trade for the Seahawks.

But it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the quarterback in Seattle. He and Holmgren butted heads several times over his first few seasons and it wasn’t until 2003 that the light really went on in Hasselbeck’s head. Now it seems that the coach and the quarterback are on the same page and the result is the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.

Everyone thinks that it is RB Shaun Alexander that makes the Seahawks go. But Seattle’s passing game is so important, especially against a stout rush defense like Pittsburgh. Seattle will not win if Hasselbeck doesn’t play well, and the quarterback from the other team isn’t in quite the same situation. Ben Roethlisberger can play poorly and the Steelers, with their outstanding running game and defense, can still get a win. Seattle’s offense is their strength and the pressure is really on Hasselbeck to play well.