The NFL race hots up...
Tom Driscoll
Posted on: 29 December 2008 - 10:49
American Football
If you believe everything you hear on television, then you'll know its beginning to look a lot like Christmas. So, as this season of symbolic sharing ever-nears, lets take the time to give thanks and praise to our brothers and sisters across the Atlantic for their sporting gift to the world: the gaudy world of gridiron or, to those good ol' fashion'd folk; Play-off American Football.
Looking forward to the endless repeats and obligatory film 'classics' you'll be forced to endure this festive season? Fear not for the NFL and its merry band of the outrageous and down-right crazy are hear to save you with a chaotic ending to the 2008-9 regular season and the thrilling prospect of the forthcoming play-off series.
Crazy off-field season leads to intense on-field finale
This final month of the American Football calender marks the culmination of a year in which the NFL has hogged the headlines through a veritable list of player misdemeanours that make those committed by the Premier League's pampered pansies look positively pathetic.
Drug violations, firearm charges, players' union-led revolts and illegal dog fighting circles have all tarnished the name of 'America's Game' in recent months.
Yet, the action on the field has been as been just as thrilling and the scheduling gods have smiled down favourably on the millions of gridiron fans this weekend. A huge pair of matches take place in the NFL's very own 'Super Sunday' which will determine who secures the top seeding position of both the AFC and NFC championships and, with it, emerge as favourites for Super Bowl glory in February.
Defence vs Offence in AFC battle for top billing
In the AFC Championship, The Tennessee Titans, who currently hold a 12-2 record and top seeding in the division, host the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-3), led by quarterback 'big' Ben Roeslithberger.
A clash of style is inevitable as the Steelers and their number one ranked defence head to the LP Field stadium, where The Titans, boasting the number one ranked offensive line, have suffered only one defeat this season, to the reigning Super bowl champions, the New York Giants.
The Titans have been a dominant force in the NFL this season, building on a period of structured development of their squad to explode into form this year, racking up ten straight victories and up until the visit of the Giants a few weeks ago, on course for a perfect season (16-0).
But their form has since been patchy, including a sloppy 13-12 defeat to the lowly Houston Texans' last weekend. They face the prospect of a tough Pittsburgh side buoyed by five successive victories and well aware that the winners of this showdown in Elvis country will almost guarantee not only a first round bye, but also home field advantage throughout the course play-off series, clearing a path to sunny Tampa Bay and the Super Bowl.
NFC gun fight in the Big Apple
Meanwhile in the NFC, Division east winners and reigning world champions the Giants face the season's surprise side and Division south leaders the Carolina Panthers in a match-up in the big apple which, like the AFC showdown, will have an enormous outcome on the play-off's with the winner clinching the coveted No. 1 seed in the NFC and the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs that comes with it.
Its a scenario all the more startling given the backdrop to the match itself, for both sides. The Panthers are a testament to the virtues of the equality of the NFL draft system, since their dismal 2007-08 record, 7-9, last season has been transformed through the acquisitions made in the draft as a result of their low placed finish last season. In American football, also-rans came become challengers in just a short space of time.
Yet, despite the resurgence of the Panthers, it is remarkable that they have still have the opportunity to snatch the number one NFC seeding from the Giants, who up until two recent defeats appeared cruising towards home field advantage and a first round play-off bye.
It would appear to be cliché to suggest that the Giant have shot themselves in the foot, but given that their loss in form has coincided with start wide receiver Plaxico Burress' arrest for possession of a firearm in a New York nightclub and accidentally shooting himself in the leg in the process, this is one that has a bizarre justification. I couldn't see Ashley Cole doing that, could you? Merry Christmas