As the mastermind of two Super Bowl victories, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick doesn't faze the Pittsburgh Steelers going into their AFC championship game on Sunday.
Neither do the Philadelphia Eagles feel any pressure to win the NFC championship on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons after losing the last three title matches.
PHOTO: AFP
"We lost. It's time to move on," Eagles defensive tackle Corey Simon said on Thursday. "Thinking about last year and the year before that will get you beat this week. We have to focus on this game."
The prize is a trip to the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida on Feb. 6.
Belichick, trying to win a third Super Bowl in four seasons, is considered a great NFL coach but to the Steelers he became a much better coach when he got much better players in New England than he had while going 3-8 against Pittsburgh as the Cleveland Browns' coach from 1991-1995. His overall record against the Steelers is still only 5-9.
Belichick "isn't playing," Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress said. "All he does is call the plays, and he puts his players in good position to make plays. That's why they've been so successful and been able to win so consistently."
Steelers coach Bill Cowher praised Belichick's style and system, even acknowledging that he's borrowed from it. But Cowher dismissed talk that Belichick can design a game plan to outwit rookie Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, just like the imaginative schemes which bewildered NFL MVP Peyton Manning in New England's 20-3 divisional-round victory over the Indianapolis Colts last weekend.
Roethlisberger said he'd learned from the mistakes which almost cost his team last weekend, before beating the New York Jets 20-17 in overtime.
No matter how exotic the Patriots become in their blitzing or pass coverage schemes to confuse the unbeaten Roethlisberger, the Steelers still plan to pound twin power backs Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley repeatedly, just as they did in beating New England 34-20 in October. Staley ran for 125 yards and Bettis 65, while the Patriots managed only 5 yards rushing without injured star Corey Dillon.
The Steelers are in much better shape than they were for their 24-17 upset loss to New England in the January 2002 AFC championship game, when Bettis' serious groin injury effectively left them without a running game.
Still, they aren't making a big deal about being underdogs at home, despite having a better record than New England (15-1 during the season to 14-2), a higher-ranked defense (No. 1 to No. 9) and a 9-0 home record.
"We don't know what they're going to do, but they don't know what we're going to do, either," linebacker Joey Porter said. "They've still got to play us in our backyard. We're undefeated at home, and we like our chances."
Playing in the past three NFC championship games gives Philadelphia a significant edge in big-game experience over Atlanta. However, losing all three of those games puts all the pressure on the Eagles to get to the Super Bowl for the first time in 24 years.
The Falcons have far less to lose. A year ago, they were 5-11. Now they're a win away from the second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
"We're just going to go up there and play loose and let it roll," Falcons rookie coach Jim Mora said. "We don't feel any pressure. It's house money we're gambling with. So we're just going to go up there and fling it around and see if we can't stay on the field with them for a little while."
The Eagles are all too familiar with this position: Playing at home, against an underdog from a city with a warmer climate, an opponent that has trouble winning on the road and in cold weather.
It could be downright freezing when the Eagles host the Falcons on Sunday afternoon, with forecasters calling for snow.
Last year, Carolina came to Philadelphia, ignored the elements and stunned the Eagles 14-3. Two years ago, Tampa Bay left 27-10 winners, and in 2002, the Eagles lost at St. Louis 29-24.
"It's unfortunate what happened to us the last three years, but it's just a different feeling this year," Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "We've had a special season. Things have really been moving in a positive direction. We're a fresher team. We have guys that have been anticipating this opportunity."
The Eagles (14-3) can't afford to be uptight this time. They realize another loss would be devastating for a city that is starved for a winner. Philly hasn't celebrated a major championship since the 76ers won the NBA title in 1983, and the city hasn't had an NFL title since 1960.
The Falcons (12-5), upset the Vikings in Minnesota to reach the 1999 Super Bowl, before losing to Denver 34-19.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but