Tuesday, January 25, 2005

TMQ is predictable, but still worth reading

During the AFC championship game, down 31-17, the Steelers kicked a field goal on 4th & goal instead of going for the touchdown. With the score 31-20, I accurately predicted what Gregg Easterbrook would write in today's Tuesday Morning Quarterback column. I said, among other things, he would write "you can't dance with the champ, you've got to knock him down," and "TMQ writes 'game over' in his notebook." I was half right. Scroll down to the item just below the "Literary Cheerleader of the Week" for TMQ's opinion of the field goal call. I'm not saying the Steelers would have won had they scored the touchdown (which was no gimme against the Patriots' defense), but 31-24 with the 4th quarter to go looks a lot better than 31-20. And if they hadn't made it, the Patriots would have been pinned deep in their own end. But what's done is done. From my years watching football and reading TMQ, I know better than to expect Bill Cowher (or most other coaches) from going for it in that situation, so I'm really not surprised or even disappointed at that outcome. As my mother says occasionally: if you lower your expectations, you won't be disappointed.

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