[Chief Rum]

Conference Championships

AFC Championship: Oakland at Pittsburgh

Two weeks ago, this field was covered with snow. The Raiders lucked out, though, and merely have to deal with the cold (37 degrees). The first quarter started slow, as the teams traded field goals for a 3-3 tie. The Steelers got their first lead just after the beginning of the second quarter when Tommy Maddox completed a four-yard scoring pass to Hines Ward. The Raiders didn't take long to respond, though, scoring a game-tying touchdown just four minutes later, on a nice 33-yard strike from Rich Gannon to Jerry Porter. They then took the lead with an end of second quarter field goal. The Raiders kept the Steelers quiet for most of the second quarter and more than half of the third before the Steelers finally got back into action. Maddox completed a 16-yard touchdown to tight end Jay Riemersma at the six minute mark of the third quarter to take back the lead, 17-13, for the Steelers. They locked down on the Raiders and kept them out of the zone after that. It was never out of the question until Maddox hit Freddie Milons for a 5-yard scoring pass int he last two minutes of the game. By then, the Steelers had added a field goal, but were still within a touchdown. This one put it out of reach. The Steelers are the AFC champions! Final, 27-13, Steelers.

The Steelers had the advantage in yards gained, 356-299, although it was relatively slight in comparison to the score. Both teams turned the ball over just once. In the end, this one came down to playmakers. For teh Steelers, that player was still none other than Maddox (22-33, 250 yd, 3 td, 1 int). He has continued his regular season success better than perhaps anyone else in the league right now. Jerome Bettis (88 yd) and the Steelers had three different receivers with at least four catches and 53 yards receiving. Gannon (22-44, 231 yd, 1 td, 0 int) had his moments, but it wasn't enough in the end. Garner (104 all-purpose yd) had another solid playoff game.

NFC Championship: Tampa Bay at St. Louis

The trend has been for slow starts in the early going of playoff games this year. Not this time. The Rams came out on fire. Inside of the first five minutes of the game, Kurt Warner connected with tight end Cameron Cleeland on a seven-yard touchdown pass, and then the Rams got a field goal as well to take a 10-0 lead. The Buccs grabbed a followup field goal in the next few minutes, but that ended up being the high point for Tampa Bay in the first half. The Rams just exploded in the second quarter. Marshall Faulk ran in a 3-yard jaunt for a score, then the Rams got another field goal, and then they finished off their first half scoring with a 54-yard bomb from Warner to Torry Holt. In the blink of an eye, the score was a shocking 27-3. It pretty much went from there. There was very little the Rams could do wrong in this one, even running a kick back on the kickoff following Tampa Bay's last touchdown (kind of an insult to injury thing). Boy, I had this one pegged wrong. 44-18, Rams.

The yardage totals carried a similar story, with the Rams outgaining Tampa Bay, 453-330, and also forcing two turnovers while giving up none themselves. Like Maddox for Pittsburgh, Warner (26-37, 343 yd, 2 td, 0 int) has played very well in the playoffs so far. He got good performances from both Holt (6 rec, 145, 1 td) and Isaac Bruce (7 rec, 90 yd)--who also was the one who got the kickoff return touchdown. Faulk finished with 53 rushing yards and his backup Lamar Gordon with 31 yd. For a team that lost pretty badly, the Buccs had a couple of strong plays this week. Brad Johnson (20-33, 292 yd, 2 td, 1 int) was effective, and Keenan McCardell (9 rec, 160 yd) had a great day catching the ball. The Rams will be meeting the Steelers in the 2004 Super Bowl.

CR