The Stretch Run

Momentum meter

Who’s hot and who’s not

As published in print Dec. 24, 2001

Steelers QB Kordell Stewart

These playoff contenders are so hot, you need sunscreen to be around them:

Pittsburgh Steelers — The Steelers have won seven straight games and now are starting to do it with style. Earlier in the season, Pittsburgh looked like a good team that kept on winning. Now it looks like a great team. Last week Pittsburgh annihilated the Lions. The week before, the Steelers went on the road and dominated the Ravens, even though the final score was deceptively close. QB Kordell Stewart has gone from an exciting player who was asked not to lose games to a spectacular player who can win games. Keep in mind that RB Jerome Bettis, the heart and soul of the offense, has not played the last three games. WR Plaxico Burress has gone from disappointment to playmaker. An already tough defense is peaking, holding its last three opponents to a puny 192.7 total yards per game.

New England Patriots — The Patriots, nobody’s pick to do anything this season, are raging hot. They’ve won five straight games and clobbered Miami last week in a game with major AFC East implications. The Patriots don’t look terribly impressive on paper. They don’t fare terribly well in most team rankings. But they’re raging hot because of the totally unexpected play of QB Tom Brady, an avalanche of low-profile offseason pickups that have paid off handsomely and the fact that Bill Belichick’s defense always seems to play well. One of those offseason pickups was RB Antowain Smith, who has rushed for 95 yards or more in five of his last eight games.

St. Louis Rams — The Rams have won four straight games and have the inside track on home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. That’s key since the speedy Rams are so tough to beat on turf. Although the final score against Carolina last week was close, keep in mind that it was a trap game since the Rams had played on the road the previous Monday night before having to play the Panthers on the road. Prior to the Carolina game, St. Louis had three straight double-digit wins against quality opponents. Perhaps the biggest plus for the Rams is the fact that they are healthy again.

Chicago Bears — The Bears have won only two games in a row, but they definitely belong in the hot, hot, hot category. The reason is, they’d be the NFC’s No. 2 seed if the season ended today, meaning they’d get a bye and then at least one game in Chicago where it will be cold, cold, cold — Bears weather. The Bears have won five of their last six games, and their remaining schedule is not imposing (at Detroit, vs. Jacksonville). But there is no margin for error with the Packers hot on the Bears’ tracks.

These playoff contenders are so cold they need a winter jacket:

Miami Dolphins — The Dolphins have lost two straight since clobbering the Colts. In those two losses, Miami got hammered by San Francisco and blown out for three quarters by New England before 10 fourth-quarter points made the final score look respectable. RB Lamar Smith rushed for only 55 yards combined in those two losses. For comparison purposes, QB Jay Fiedler rushed for 46 yards in that span. The Dolphins also were a miserable minus-7 in turnover differential in those two games.

Oakland Raiders — The Raiders, once the odds-on favorite to be the AFC’s No. 1 seed, have lost two of their last four games. When you consider the current records of those four opponents are 6-8, 5-9, 5-10 and 7-7 and three of those games were at home, the Raiders should have feasted during the stretch, not struggled. But the Raiders still control their own destiny for a first-round bye. In those four games, the Raiders allowed more than 100 yards rushing three times while surpassing the century mark just once themselves.

For an expanded look at the race for the postseason, see the PFW print edition's page, "The Stretch Run," including these additional features: "The hot topic: Playoff contenders' featured RBs"; "Spotlight on: Philadelphia Eagles," which is a Q&A with Joel Buchsbaum on the Eagles; and "If the season ended today," how the contenders in each conference would rank if playoff seedings were determined now. All this and more is in the current print edition (Vol. XVI, No. 25) of Pro Football Weekly, dated Dec. 31, 2001, on sale at newsstands and bookstores across the country. Or you can subscribe online to PFW's print edition, or subscribe by calling 1-800-FOOTBALL (366-8225) and charging your subscription to a major credit card.

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2001 - 2002 Season