AFC Championship Recap

The first and second halves were like two completely different games. In the first, Mendenhall could have been mistaken for Usain Bolt and Roethlisberger was hitting receivers all over the field to keep the Jets offence from getting any sort of opportunity to score. The Steelers dominated in every way, capitalising on turnovers and excellent coverage.

In the second half, however, the Jets began to soar. Shonn Greene and L.T did their thing, with Mark Sanchez finally finding Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes for big gains using play-action. Dustin Keller found himself to be reliable on third down once again and the Jets put 19 unanswered points on the board.

I love watching a game that has everything. This game had everything. Interceptions, long touchdown passes, huge hits, challenges, sacks, fumbles and even a safety. What made this situation even more interesting as the game reached its climax was New York’s record when it comes to squeezing out wins. We saw Philadelphia come back from a similar deficit of 24-3 and if there was a team that were looking to add another upset to their resume, it was the Jets.

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It was not to be. Sanchez took the scoreline to 19-24 after a touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery and left it up to the defence to make a stop, which they were unable to make. Pittsburgh just played clever football, as we would expect from a quarterback who is now headed to his third Superbowl. He did not have a great game, throwing 2 interceptions, but when your running game is so consistent and affective, a defence will struggle to cope. It is worth noting that Aaron Rogers threw the same amount of interceptions against Chicago, Pittsburgh’s defence were able to save those last few points and that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

I feel sorry for the Jets. They talked tough throughout the season and came up short again, but they had to play three of the best teams in the NFL to get this far. They neutralised Peyton manning and Tom Brady, something that not many teams have done and fell at the third hurdle.

So Pittsburgh are headed to their seventh Superbowl. Do I even need to tell you who my pick is? Green Bay of course. If Roethlisberger plays how he did this weekend, and Aaron Rogers does the same, I have no doubt that Green Bay will be lifting the Lombardi trophy.

All the best from the UK!

By: Tom Greenhalgh
Pro Football Fans Staff Writer