The four teams remaining in the NFL playoffs this weekend each have outstanding defenses but their offenses aren’t as impressive, so there aren’t as many offensive “Difference-Makers” playing in these games as there defensive “Difference-Makers”.
Last week in front of the nation, Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers showed us all what Packers Executive Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson saw when he said good-bye to Brett Favre. Rodgers has the smoothest delivery in the league and receivers say his ball has a hum accompanying it when it’s on the way because the spin on it is so tight.
He’s a remarkable athlete with great feet and instincts. He is probably the best all around athlete playing quarterback in the league next to Michael Vick and it’s no coincidence that he’s second only to Vick in rushing from the quarterback position.
He was 31 of 35 against the Falcons for 366 yards with three touchdown passes and one TD run. Rodgers spun out blitz pressure, extended plays by avoiding free blitzers and made perfect throws from the pocket, while rolling to his right and while rolling to his left.
On a number of plays versus the Falcons, he went into his Peyton Manning imitation at the line of scrimmage with his pre-snap reads, audibles, gestures and communications with his teammates before the snap of the football. Rodgers then showed why he’s got the best quarterback rating in the league versus the blitz by making pinpoint throws to receivers who were open and ones who were covered. He did all of this and didn’t look like he was even working up a sweat.
Rodgers showed that there’s a good reason why right now he’s the highest rated regular season quarterback and highest rated post season quarterback in NFL history. It’s starting to look like any teams wanting to get to the Super Bowl from the NFC must go through Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood for the next decade.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a “Difference-Maker” but he performs best amongst chaos and trauma. Many times Roethlisberger will start a game with inaccurate throws and interceptions, but when it’s all on the line, his game sharpens up.
Big Ben makes life nearly impossible for good defenses because he can extend a play to give his receivers six and seven seconds to get open. Ben is as strong as an ox and able to fight off pass rushers, then throw a bullet of a pass on target that totally discourages the opposing defense that thought they had him.
His game isn’t pretty and most of the time it doesn’t work out the way it was drawn up. Roethlisberger rarely throws the ball on time, in fact he’s at his best when he holds onto it and finds himself under pressure.
Big Ben doesn’t duck from blitzers he fights them off breaks contain, rolls out as if he’s going to run, then he pulls it down and it’s bombs away.
Roethlisberger has a quiet arrogance that says the Steelers can always win regardless of the circumstance, if he gets the ball in his hands with time left on the clock. He walks around like he can make any throw that’s needed with the game on the line.
All the Steelers receivers know he will throw the ball to them at any time and expect them to make a play, as we saw last week with the throw to Antonio Brown on 3rd and 19 with the game on the line. Roethlisberger carries the torch of past Steelers championship teams, he expects to make the plays down the stretch to win the football games and championships.
Teams try to construct strategies to stop Chicago Bears kick returner Devin Hester but if you kick the ball to him he will make you pay. Hester has great vision and an unexplainable feel for where the defenders are, so he sees gaps in the coverages before the defenders realize what has hit them.
The Bears blockers are told if you’re not sure about getting a penalty on a block, let the guy go because Hester will make sure he doesn’t make the tackle. Coverage guys have said that he looks like a blur when he goes by them. Kicking to him one time can turn a game around in an instant.
The special thing about Hester as a punt or kick off returner isn’t just his speed which is amazing, it’s the fact that Hester can get to top speed in three steps and explode through a crack in the coverage, then after ten yards, the play is over. Hester is going to score and nobody on the opposing team can do anything to stop it. He should be endorsing Porches or Lamborghini’s because he can accellerrate from zero to 100 MPH in 2.5 seconds flat.
You know a player is extremely fast when they go into the end zone with nobody else in the screen. Hester does it all the time. He has already broken the All-Time kick and punt return record for touchdowns and he’s only in his fifth season.
