| | Pats' unknown soldiers have big-battle experience
By Mark Cannizzaro
ESPN.com
FOXBORO, Mass. -- Their statistics aren't flashy, but they keep winning games on guile and seemingly with mirrors.
|  | | Unheralded Patriots cornerback Otis Smith, a 12-year veteran, intercepted five passes this season. |
Their ages vary but mostly fall into the category of over-the-hill. Still, they keep making game-turning plays like Pro Bowlers in their prime.
Their names are not household, but they're in the NFL playoffs' Elite Eight.
They are Bill Belichick's Band of Brothers, a rag-tag unit made up of
bargain-basement, supposed over-the-hill veterans who just keep coming and
making plays like the Energizer Bunny.
And they are primed for Saturday's home AFC divisional playoff game against
the offense-powered Oakland Raiders in what should be one of the most
entertaining postseason games this season.
The Patriots' defense, ranked 24th overall in the NFL, allows an average of
334.5 yards per game. Yet in eight of their last nine games, they have not
allowed more than 17 points in a game.
The one game they allowed an opponent to break the 20-point barrier in that
stretch? The St. Louis Rams, who scored 24 points in a 24-17 win at Foxboro and flew
home thinking they'd been mugged. For the Rams, of course, scoring 24 points is like forgetting to show up for one of the halves.
So go ahead, name the Patriots' defensive depth chart. This ought to be fun.
One of the starting defensive ends, Bobby Hamilton, cut his teeth playing in
the World League of American Football before being given a charity job with the Jets because he was cheap, he hustled, he could play special teams (a
rarity for defensive lineman) and he was cheap.
Oh, we already mentioned cheap? Sorry.
Hamilton had seven sacks this season to go with 52 tackles and five batted
passes.
The Patriots' other starting defensive end is Anthony Pleasant, who turns 34
on Jan, 27 and looks more like your 54-year-old uncle hanging out at a backyard summer barbeque playing with his grandkids. Pleasant has six sacks, two interceptions, four batted passes and a forced fumble to go along with his 43 tackles.
Several of the linebackers are recycled veterans who've found a home in New
England. Roman Phifer left the Rams to become a Jet and spent two years in New York
playing so anonymously you'd have thought he was part of the witness protection program. Translation: He had little to no impact, though he is one of the nice guys in the league.
All Phifer has done this year is record 92 tackles (second on the team), two sacks, an interception, five batted passes, two forced fumbles and two fumble
recoveries. "This is the best I've seen Roman play in the last three or four years,"
Belichick said.
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There is an old saying about the strength of the wolf being the pack. I think there's a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it's not the stength of individual players. It is the strength of the unit and how they function together.' ” |
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— Bill Belichick, Patriots head coach |
Mike Vrabel, a former Steeler, has 60 tackles, three sacks, two
interceptions and nine passes defensed. It was Vrabel's interception of a Vinny Testaverde pass in the third quarter of the Patriots' 17-16 win over the Jets on Dec. 2 that might have catapulted New England to the heights it finds itself at today.
Bryan Cox, another veteran linebacker, is an inspirational leader on the
team, willing himself to play with broken bones and returning from a broken leg after missing only four games.
In the secondary, who do you think is the Patriots' leader in interceptions? Has to be Pro Bowl-bound safety Lawyer Milloy, right? No. What about highly regarded cornerback Ty Law? No.
Try 12-year veteran Otis Smith, who's had more younger, more talented
corners thrown at him to take his job from him than he can count. Smith has picked off five passes this season for New England, returning two for touchdowns.
The man is ageless. He, too, is around the ball more than most receivers. The last Boston athlete to clean up more garbage on opposing teams' mistakes was Phil Esposito, who used to camp out at the goal crease and wait for tap-in goals.
"Otis is a savvy ball hawk and if the ball is thrown inaccurately around him, most of the time he's going to come up with it," Belichick said.
Smith is a symbol of this New England defense. He's not highly regarded in terms of pedigree, but he keeps making plays and making them when it counts
most.
For example, the Patriots' defense has been a terror in the red zone, allowing teams to score only 19 touchdowns in 49 trips inside the 20-yard line. In their last five games, the Patriots have allowed their opponents to get inside the 20 only 10 times, allowing merely one touchdown and seven field goals. Twice, they got the ball back with turnovers.
During the Patriots' six-game winning streak to end the regular season, they had a plus-11 turnover ratio. What the Patriots play is winning team defense, and they're hot at the right time -- with their postseason set to begin Saturday.
"When you look at them individually they may not be impressive, but this is a team game, not an individual game," Buffalo Bills general manager Tom Donahoe said in what might be the most succinctly accurate compliment the Patriots can be given.
"There is an old saying about the strength of the wolf being the pack," Belichick said. "I think there's a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it's not the stength of individual players. It is the strength of the unit and how they function together."
Is Bettis ready for Steelers' Super Bowl drive?
When the Pittsburgh Steelers finally return to the field on Sunday for their AFC divisional playoff game against the rival Baltimore Ravens, they'll be welcoming back "The Bus," running back Jerome Bettis.
Bettis' absence for the better part of the last five games with hip and groin ailments has been difficult for the Steelers, though to their credit, it hasn't been debilitating. Pittsburgh won four of five games without him.
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| Bettis |
At the time of his injury on Dec. 2, Bettis was leading the NFL with 1,072
yards rushing.
"We've been winning without him; just imagine once he gets back," Steelers safety Lee Flowers said. "There's going to be some flying around. He just really gets everybody pumped up on the field. We missed that a little bit."
"We miss his emotion," Flowers went on. "There's nothing like seeing him run the ball, getting up and getting the crowd pumped up and getting us pumped up.
"He's one of the best backs to play this game. Jerome knows what's at stake. This is his first opportunity. I actually expect a different Jerome, a much faster Jerome, a more pumped-up Jerome. He's been in the league nine years now and never been to a Super Bowl. He's definitely going to be pumped up."
Steelers coach Bill Cowher said he's noticed "a lot of bounce" in Bettis' step right now, which might be bad news for the Ravens' cocky defense.
"Whenever you can get your main horse back, it sure makes you go faster," Steelers tackle Wayne Gandy said. "It gives you an established guy, a guy who has had big days, who has been in these situations. Our other tailbacks, as good as they've been filling in, they don't know the pressure of third-and-one in a playoff game like he would. It gives the defense someone else to have to concentrate on.
"It also gives you someone who doesn't fumble the ball, someone who can pick up the blitz, a smart, heady player. Give him two more years of what he's
done this year, you ride him to Canton."
Ravens hope Kordell's success comes to pass
One thing Bettis' absence has done is make the Steelers' passing game better.
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| Stewart |
With Bettis in the lineup, the Steelers averaged 179.5 yards passing. With Bettis out, the Steelers averaged 227.6 passing yards, meaning they've had to rely a lot more on quarterback Kordell Stewart.
In the last meeting against the Ravens, Stewart was at his best, completing 20 of 31 passes for 333 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in leading the Steelers to a 26-21 win in Baltimore.
"We've got to do something to disrupt him," Ravens coach Brian Billick said of Stewart. "We have to put more pressure on him. We have to be more physical with those receivers. We have to do some things to make him pause."
Stewart earned his first Pro Bowl trip this season. In throwing for 3,109 yards, he completed a team-record 60.2 percent of his passes.
"If we let (Stewart) get into a rhythm and get comfortable, it could be a long day for us," Billick said.
Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post writes an AFC notebook every week for ESPN.com.
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