I was wrong. Not about Rush Limbaugh and not about too much else; but, the Packers did not win, and I said they would. I was correct that Donovan McNabb is one of the league’s best players. He proved this leading his team to a dramatic fourth quarter comeback last Monday night. I was also right that Ahman Green would torch the eagles.
He ran for 192 yards and got two touchdowns. Once again, I illustrated that I have my finger directly on the pulse of the parity laden NFL, but once again my prediction failed to pan out. Thank god I told all you gambling freaks to lay off the action. Ever since, my email account has been flooded with notes of gratitude from landlords and tenants alike.
This week, the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers at Candlestick Park. In a phone interview, Steelers offensive lineman Alan Faneca, who majored in English at LSU, told me he was excited to visit San Francisco.
“Do you think you’ll win,” I asked, “I’m really not sure,” he responded, adding that he was excited to visit City Light Books. “Gary Snyder is one of my favorite poets, and not too many people talk about him. Me and Amos (Steelers running back Amos Zereoue) are planning on heading over there. It should be great.”
Both the Steelers and 49ers are technically still alive in the playoff race, but at 3-6 the Steelers need assisted breathing and can ingest only liquid foods. The 49ers are coming off a bye-week and previously an impressive win against St. Louis. At 4-5 they may have been shocked back to life in time to make a playoff run, but they are on dialysis and could use a new gall bladder.
The Steelers are coming off a win against the Arizona Cardinals. Before that, they dropped five straight games and experienced their now perennial realization, that their quarterback would be much more successful as a used-car salesman. Kordell Stewart was run out of town after the team realized he was not very good. He had people fooled for some time. His replacement, Tommy Maddox, is not very good either, but thanks to savagely talented receivers Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress and Antaawn Randle-El, he also had people fooled. Now, though, the dog and pony show seems to have ended for Maddox, and soon he will find himself packing groceries at a Pittsburgh Safeway. The once vaunted Steelers defense is pretty bad and features a truly horrible secondary.
Also, the Steelers have not had a 100-yard rusher all season. I wonder if the Steelers’ players have grown tired of Bill Cowher’s angry tirades? I wonder if the Steelers have grown tired of living in Pittsburgh? The answer to the second question has to be yes, but the first is undetermined. The true question then, is whether or not I think a win against the Cardinals is the start of a resurgence. I do not.
Tommy Maddox is bad, and so is the Steelers secondary. The 49ers, on the other hand, could make the playoffs. Malcontent wide-reciever Terrell Owens is one of the most impressive athletes on the planet. He can truly dominate games, and I am sure 49er back-up quarterback Tim Raatay is too scared to do anything but throw to Owens. If mind-bending, pant-soiling fear has indeed been instilled in the heart of Raatay, that is a good thing. Before he got hurt, Garcia was thinking too much. The 49ers offense revolves around constant passing to Owens and nothing else.
If I were Dennis Erickson, the 49ers coach, I would kick Jeff Garcia in the ankle or slip ecstasy into his water bottle and then alert the NFL that he was in violation of its substance abuse policy. Raatay looked good against the Rams, and the 49ers looked bad with the ailing Garcia at quarterback. I will take the 49ers in this one. I think they will beat the Steelers but miss the playoffs.
Craig Giammona can be contacted at [email protected].