By pushing back the Super Bowl another week, the NFL has inevitably created one of the biggest media circuses in all of sports. From now until February 5, you will be bombarded from all sides with commentary, opinions, analysis, and interviews. The following paragraphs, however, will be an escape from that craziness for they have been written before the conference championship games and are therefore immune from the awful effects of the Zone. Being outside the Zone, however, means I do not know who will actually be playing in the Super Bowl, but don’t throw this paper down on the bathroom floor just yet.
Reproduced below are scouting reports previously available only to ESPN Insider members but now available to you, the GW law student, for free. Why are there reports for four teams instead of just the two Super Bowl teams? Because ESPN Insider is so in-depth that they scouted for match-ups that won’t even happen.
Seahawks Scouting Report
Despite playing the easiest schedule in NFL history, the Seahawks have exorcised their demons by making it to their first Super Bowl. With two weeks off, Shaun Alexander should have had plenty of time to recover from his concussion from the Redskins game. While the media hounded him for sitting out the NFC championship game, Alexander has responded with an amazing three days of practice, wowing his offensive line and quarterback. On the defensive side of the ball, rookie linebacker Lota Tatupu spent the last week complaining about not getting Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and looked sluggish against the Panthers, managing only to call out Panthers WR Steve Smith three times.
The Seahawks’s obvious weakness is Shaun Alexander’s lack of toughness. Getting a concussion after being hit for the first time this season against the Redskins was a bad sign, and defenses will be putting 11 men in the box to try to tackle him in the Super Bowl.
Panthers Scouting Report
The Seahawks had trouble containing WR Steve Smith, as he caught 57 catches for 526 yards and 1 TD in the championship game. In the ultimate display of trickery, RB DeShaun Foster- -broken ankle and all--limped onto the field on crutches for the Panthers’ first play. QB Jake Delhomme played - faked to Foster, and the entire defense bit, leaving Smith wide open for a 96- yard TD.
After that, the Panthers got a little uncreative in their play-calling, calling a hitch to Steve Smith for 32 straight plays. They’ll obviously need to mix it up if they expect Smith to repeat his NFC championship game performance, and Coach John Fox has told the media that they also plan on lining up Smith in the backfield.
Defensively, the Panthers’s corners have become a little cocky over the past few weeks thanks to their media recognition, giving the Seahawk receivers a 50-yard cushion on each play. Not impressed by the AFC crop of receivers, Chris Gamble and co. plan on starting each play on the sideline.
Broncos Scouting Report
Jake Plummer is one of the best game-manager quarterbacks in the NFL, which is a polite way of saying his coaches think he stinks. Nevertheless, he has gained the respect of his teammates for his excellent facial hair grooming throughout the season. I really don’t have anything else to add as the rest of the Broncos are quite boring, so I’ll end this report with some old stand-bys: if the Broncos run the ball more than 55 times, they will win the game.
Steelers Scouting Report
Safety Troy Polamalu seemed incredibly affected by the controversial interception call against the Colts. Although he picked off Plummer four times on Sunday, Polamalu dropped to the ground immediately after each and refused to get up for 5 minutes. RB Jerome Bettis was forced by Bill Cowher to carry around a football everywhere for the past week, reminiscent of that classic college football movie “The Program,” starring Halle Berry and James Caan. This tactic seemed to work as Bettis carried the ball (and the one from practice) 3 times for -2 yards and 4 TDs against a puzzled Broncos defensive line.
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