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Rest of the 2001 Postseason*

*Note: The NFL playoffs for each year take place in January/February, but the NFL names them after the year before when the regular season takes place. So the 2001 Postseason takes place in January/Feb 2002, the 2002 Postseason takes place in Jan/Feb of 2003, etc.

Sunday, January 20 was a cold day in Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t cold enough to slow down the Steelers. They were hosting their divisional rivals (and defending Super Bowl champs) Baltimore Ravens. Each team won on the other’s field during the regular season, two one-score games that were hard-hitting and well-played by each side.

Baltimore, having already won at Heinz Field, was confident they could win again. But Pittsburgh was better on that day. Neither quarterback did a whole lot against two hellacious defenses, but Pittsburgh’s Kordell Steward was a little bit better than Baltimore’s Elvis Grbac as the Steelers won 23-10. This was the third time under Bill Cowher Pittsburgh would host the AFC Championship game. He was 0-2 so far. Steelers fans prayed that the third time would be the charm.

The other playoff game that Sunday wasn’t anywhere near as dramatic. The juggernaut St. Louis Rams rolled over the Green Bay Packers, with Aeneas Williams scoring two defensive touchdowns as Packers quarterback Brett Favre had five interceptions on the day. Williams was picked up that off-season from Arizona and continued his stellar play under first-year defensive coordinator Lovie Smith. Smith seemed to be the missing ingredient for the Rams, who took a huge step forward on defense under his leadership.

The third time wasn’t the charm for Cowher and the Steelers as the Raiders, fresh off their victory the week before in New England, narrowly beat them 24-21. Charles Woodson was the man of the hour once again as he intercepted Kordell Stewart late in the game to seal the deal. The Raiders were going to the Super Bowl.

Rich Gannon was just good enough to win and Kordell Steward was just good enough to lose. That fourth quarter pick off his back foot will haunt Steelers fans all off-season. Steve Young on ESPN after the game.

After Charles picked that ball off, I said a silent prayer thanking God for the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. That’s what you dream of as a player. All the off-season workouts and the aches and the pains were for this – I was going to the Super Bowl! “Know When to Walk Away” by Rich Gannon

Over in the NFC Championship the Philadelphia Eagles weren’t overawed by the moment. They went into the locker room with a 17-10 lead and were flying high. But football games are 60 minute affairs and a few clutch passes from Rams QB Kurt Warner (one to Marshall Faulk for the go-ahead touchdown late) and St. Louis was back to the Big Game for the second time in three years with a 27-24 win.

Wow what a game! All glory to God and all praise to the Eagles – those guys will be back, but we never gave up, even when things looked bleak in the third quarter. We’re looking forward to New Orleans and playing the Raiders. Kurt Warner to Pam Oliver on the field after the game.

The Super Bowl was in the party city of New Orleans but the teams were all business that week. Due to the 9/11 attacks, the NFL postponed a week of regular season games and pushed the playoffs back. As a result there was only one week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl instead of the normal two weeks.

The game itself mirrored the NFC Championship in some ways. The Raiders came out hot and took an early lead. Williams and Raiders wideout Tim Brown played each other to a draw but Gannon found Charlie Gardner early and often as Jon Gruden’s offense was humming. Oakland went into the locker room up 21-7 and it looked like a blowout in the making.

Much like the week before Saint Louis came out of the locker room a different team. Smith made some schematic adjustments and kept Williams glued on one side of the field instead of having him trail Brown on every play. With Williams good enough to cover one side, Smith started rolling his safeties and even linebackers over to the other side of the field and the Raiders high-powered offense started to stagnate as they were facing a coverage they hadn’t seen on tape.

I gotta say Pat, Lovie Smith is doing a GREAT job this half. He’s keeping this Raiders offense off-balance and dialing up some good blitzes and coverages. Right now he’s my MVP! John Madden during the broadcast.

Some of the stuff Coach Smith called, we’d never seen before. The coverages he dialed up were tough to figure out, and when you have a guy as good as Aeneas Williams anchoring your secondary, well, it just worked to shut us down the second half. “Know When to Walk Away” by Rich Gannon.

The Rams offense came to life as well. Warner found Faulk over and over, a few yards at a time, as St. Louis slowly but surely marched down the field and eventually tied it up midway through the fourth quarter 21-21.

For the first time all half the Raiders offense showed signs of life. A good kick return helped and a few first downs by Gannon (including a circus catch by Jerry Rice on the sideline) lead to a Sebastian Janikowski 47-yard field goal with 3:12 left in the game.

But Warner and the Rams would not be denied. They promptly marched down the field as Isaac Bruce converted a huge fourth-and-9 at midfield that seemed to break the back of the Raiders defense. Faulk would run in the go-ahead touchdown on a perfectly timed draw play that caught the Raiders defense off balance.

Down four with only one timeout and 1:45 left on the clock, Gannon and the Raiders had a chance to win the game. The drive started promisingly but ended with disaster.

It was third-and-3 from the Rams 42 yard line with about a minute left and I dropped back to pass. I saw Jerry over the middle on a post pattern and threw it. The pass was perfect. But London Fletcher jumped and got a hand on the ball, knocking it up in the air where Aeneas Williams (who else?) picked it off for the victory. I fell to the turf in equal parts shock and disbelief. “Know When to Walk Away” by Rich Gannon.

It was a beautiful day for the Rams as they won Super Bowl XXXVI 28-24.