AN ELITE FINAL FOUR
Marquee QBs headline NFL conference finals
The dominant defence of the Denver Broncos carried them to the NFL’s biggest prize last season, giving Peyton Manning the generous retirement gift of a second career Super Bowl triumph. Manning is an all-time great quarterback, but he wasn’t able to play that way in his final season after age and injuries had taken their toll.
The Broncos’ victory demonstrated it remained possible, even in the most passing-friendly era in league history, for a defencefirst team to win a championship without top-shelf production by its quarterback.
The theme is far different in this post-season.
In a quarterback-first league, it is back to being all about the quarterbacks entering Sunday’s conference championship games. It will be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger against the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady in Foxborough, Mass., in the AFC title game, and the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers versus the Falcons’ Matt Ryan in Atlanta in the NFC championship game.
Overpowering defences? It’s nice to have one but completely unnecessary this time around. Extremely productive running backs and high-level wide receivers? They’re in greater supply among the teams still playing. But having them wasn’t a prerequisite to advance far into these playoffs.
Having the right quarterback was.
“These are four fantastic quarterbacks,” former NFL coach Dan Reeves said. “They’re not just good quarterbacks. They’re great quarterbacks. There’s no question you have to have the quarterback.”
Of the teams that will play this weekend, only the Patriots were ranked in the NFL’s top 10 in total defence during the regular season. They were eighth; the Steelers were 12th. The defences of the Packers, who were 22nd, and the Falcons, who were 25th, were even less imposing. The Patriots led the NFL in scoring defence while the Steelers were 10th, the Packers 21st and the Falcons 27th.
Three of the four teams had a top-10 rusher. The Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing yards, while the Patriots’ LeGarrette Blount was eighth and the Falcons’ Devonta Freeman ninth. But the Packers’ rushing leader, Ty Montgomery, ranked only 41st in the league. Green Bay, as a team, ranked 20th in rushing offence.
Three of the four had a wideout among the league’s top 10 in receiving yards. Atlanta’s Julio Jones was second. Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown was fifth. Green Bay’s Jordy Nelson, who missed last Sunday’s win at Dallas in an NFC semifinal because of injured ribs and could remain sidelined this weekend, was sixth. The best that the share the-receiving-wealth Patriots
It’s never just one thing. There are always other ingredients. You have to have the quarterback. But I’ve never seen a great quarterback without a really good offensive line. ... I don’t know that you can win a championship without a good, solid defence. DAN REEVES, former NFL coach
could do was 13th by Julian Edelman. Certainly the quarterbacks have help.
“It’s never just one thing,” Reeves said in a phone interview. “There are always other ingredients. You have to have the quarterback. But I’ve never seen a great quarterback without a really good offensive line. You have that here. I don’t know that you can win a championship without a good, solid defence. These are solid defences. I wouldn’t say they’re great defences.”
Roethlisberger said it shouldn’t be all about him against Brady.
“I think it’s two old guys playing this game for a long time,” he said at a mid-week news conference. “I think that’s what a lot of the talk is. He deserves all the credit that he gets. It’s obviously bigger than the two of us. I know he’s used to it ... the Peyton and Tom thing. But this is two football teams that have won championships that are going against each other. It’s more than just one man. We’re not playing tennis, you know.”
Even so, he said he understands the focus being where it is.
“At the quarterback position, you get used to that,” Roethlisberger said. “When you play games, whether it’s the AFC Championship Game or not, you hear a lot of talk (about) quarterback versus quarterback just because that’s the sexy way to talk about the game, I guess. But really I know and I’m sure if you ask him he knows it’s way bigger than just the two of us.”
Yet in this case, the attention on the quarterback play is justified. These are not, as those numbers suggest, overwhelmingly great all-around teams. The Patriots probably are the closest thing to one. But they are without their injured game-changing tight end, Rob Gronkowski. Protecting Brady remains an issue at times, although far less so than last season. No pass-rusher on the defence had more than seven sacks during the regular season.
What all of these teams do have is superb quarterback play.
Ryan was the league’s top-rated passer, with Brady second and Rodgers fourth; Roethlisberger was 11th. All three were in the league’s top 10 in passing yards per game and touchdown passes. Only Roethlisberger threw more than seven interceptions. Brady, Ryan and Rodgers are prominent in the league MVP conversation.
Rodgers’ quarterbacking wizardry has been on full display already during these playoffs. He was at his improvisational best this past Sunday as the Packers ousted the NFC’s No. 1 seed, the Cowboys, from the post-season.
“He’s an incredible quarterback,” Dallas rookie quarterback Dak Prescott said after the game. “Ninety per cent of his throws are him getting out the pocket and making things happen. It was incredible watching him. I hate, obviously, ( being) in this circumstance. But he’s a hell of a quarterback.”
Prescott failed to become the first rookie quarterback to start a Super Bowl. The teams that entered these playoffs without an accomplished quarterback — the Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans — are done.
All that’s left are truly great quarterbacks, all still playing at an elite level. Brady is playing in his 11th AFC Championship Game, including the last six in a row. He seeks his seventh Super Bowl appearance and fifth Super Bowl victory. Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl winner. Rodgers has a Super Bowl triumph and two league MVP awards. Ryan is actually the least decorated of the group. Yet many regard him as this season’s MVP front-runner.
Each will be expected to deliver, if given the chance, in the biggest moments Sunday. Rodgers provided the play of this post-season so far when he ran to his left in the final seconds against the Cowboys and somehow delivered a strike on a dart of a throw along the sideline to tight end Jared Cook for a 36yard, third-and-20 gain that set up a winning field goal as time expired.
“He’s an incredible player,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “He’s an incredible talent. He can do it when it’s all on the line like that. That’s what great players do.”
Is there more of the same to come, not only from Rodgers but from all of the remaining quarterbacks, this Sunday?
If so, the one-upsmanship will be something to behold.