NFL Briefing

23.1.06

Championship games - verdict

Seahawks 34-14 Panthers

NFL Most Valuable Player Shaun Alexander gained the plaudits for a 132-yard game with two touchdowns, but it was quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and the Seattle defense who deserved them after ensuring the Seahawks make their first ever trip to the last game of the season, while Carolina are denied their second visit in three years.

Hasselbeck was perfect in the first two drives of the game, completing all nine of his passes, culminating in a score over the middle to tight end Jerramy Stevens, set up by a cheeky hook to back-up QB Seneca Wallace, who was lined up wide. Hasselback kept his head in the face of a fearsome effort from the Panthers' front seven, and muscular receivers Stevens and Darrell Jackson helped by hauling in 12 passes between them.

Meanwhile the Hawks' defense held Carolina to 68 yards total offense in the first half, by which time they were 20-7 up. Rookie linebacker Lofa Tatupu was outstanding in coverage, although the headlines are likely to centre on the tackle that knocked third-choice back Nick Goings out of the game and took Carolina's chances of running the ball with it. Honestly, though, Goings had managed two yards on five attempts until that jarring collision, and it was more the Carolina offensive line that was to blame for not making any forward progress against the Seattle front four.

Carolina's hopes rested on Steve Smith but they finally came up against a side that knew how to deal with him, loading different coverage schemes in his direction all the time and also putting pressure on QB Jake Delhomme. Naturally, the Panthers' only score with the game still in the balance came from Smith, brought in as a punt returner in a desperate attempt to spark something on the visitors' behalf. With Stephen Davis' career apparently on the decline and DeShaun Foster looking like a career back-up, Carolina may have to have a serious shake-up before they reach this stage again. Smith was outstanding all season but he can't be over-used as he has been without suffering physically. Right now, he is not the only Panther suffering.

Steelers 34-17 Broncos

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was brilliant and Pittsburgh's defense wonderfully unpredictable, their rushing game was woeful but they're going all the way to Detroit while Denver look for the missing piece of the puzzle.

The billed battle between the running games saw Denver come out on top, emphatically. Pittsburgh ran 33 times for 90 yards at a miserable average of 2.7, compared to the Broncos' 21 for 97 at 4.6. The home side came out running and could have really established their dominance had quarterback Jake Plummer just done what he had all season, fill in the gaps and not make mistakes. Instead, two first-half Plummer turnovers left the Broncos in a hole that no running game in the world could get them out of.

The proverbial short field after those turnovers helped Pittsburgh no end. They took over on the Denver 39 after Plummer's fumble and the 38 after Ike Taylor's interception - 79 yards for 14 points is a massive bargain. Roethlisberger was made to work by an aggressive Denver defense. There were no big plays on offer but he found the right people at the right times, often taking advantage of receivers' athletic ability to make runs after the catch. He dealt with six of seven third-down situations in the first half. Of that crucial 80-yard seven-and-a-half-minute drive towards the end of the first half, just 11 yards came on the ground, including a dash for six by Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis' three-yard TD plunge to put them 24-3 up at the intermission. Game over.

Pittsburgh will have to work out how to get "Fast" Willie Parker into the game in a fortnight, and know they will have a tougher opposing QB to deal with, but they will rest easy after Big Ben's show in particular, as well the display by Cedrick Wilson, the third receiver who stepped up for five catches when his more illustrious team-mates were covered.

On the sideline as the clock ran out, coach Mike Shanahan was running his hands through his hair, desperate for a solution to his side's failure to reach the big game since those back-to-back championships in 1997 and '98. The answer still lies with the quarterback. Several teams, including Carolina with Jake Delhomme, go for a high-percentage QB who thrives on not making mistakes, but players like Delhomme have the ability to step up with the pressure on. It's an ability Plummer lacks. The rest of the pieces are in place for the Broncos – there is just a massive hole in the middle.

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