A Look At NFL Playoffs, Upcoming Labor Dispute
This Sunday, four football teams play for the right to go to the Super Bowl. Host Robert Siegel talks with sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about this weekend's playoff games and the labor dispute that threatens to disrupt the next NFL season.
ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
Welcome to the program.
STEFAN FATSIS: Hey, Robert.
SIEGEL: And let's go back to 1969, Stefan. Joe Namath famously guaranteed a win for his Jets and the upstart American Football League, over the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League.
FATSIS: Yeah, but you rarely hear the full story, Robert, which is documented very nicely in Michael MacCambridge's history of NFL, "America's Game." Namath made that boast at a dinner three days before the Super Bowl - Super Bowl III in Miami - where he was receiving an award as the best player of year.
H: Namath, we're going to kick your bleep. And that's when Namath said: Hey, I've got news for you. We're going to win the game. I guarantee it. And the Jets did, 16 to 7.
SIEGEL: So it was a very well thought out, analytical statement by Namath.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
FATSIS: Yeah, exactly.
SIEGEL: But today's handsome, young Jets quarterback is named Mark Sanchez. He has not guaranteed a win on Sunday though, has he?
FATSIS: This week, Ryan must be taking a subtler approach, maybe because NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has warned everyone to quit trash-talking.
SIEGEL: Okay, let's talk about the two big playoff games this weekend. If the Jets win, they will have beaten the three dominant American Football Conference franchises in a row on the road.
FATSIS: First, it was the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning, then the Patriots and Tom Brady and now the Steelers with Ben Roethlisberger. And, by the way, no team other than the Patriots, the Colts or the Steelers has represented the AFC in the Super Bowl since the 2002 season.
SIEGEL: Can the Jets defensive backfield again shut down the passing attack of another fantastic quarterback? This season, the stat I got from Mike Tanier of Football Outsiders and the New York Times: the Jets secondary has allowed just 14 passes of longer than 25 yards all season in 79 attempts. And that's real good.
NFL: the Steelers defense. It's allowed just 63 rushing yards per game this season, the third best in the NFL since it went to a 16-game schedule in 1978. If it can stop the Jets running game and force Mark Sanchez to pass the ball more, edge Steelers.
SIEGEL: Okay, let's move on to the National Football Conference championship: The Chicago Bears, da Bears, are hosting the Green Bay Packers.
FATSIS: This year, the Bears won in Chicago in September, 20 to 17. The Packers won in Green Bay in the final game of regular season, 10 to seven. Low-scoring games, a testament to the stout defenses of both of these teams, the Bears particularly against the run, the Packers against the pass.
SIEGEL: wind chill in the single digits.
SIEGEL: Wow. Now, there's also some real concern that these two games and the Super Bowl could be the last NFL football of the year because the labor situation is looking pretty bleak right now.
FATSIS: The influential Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who is now the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, just back in Pittsburg, and according to a tweet this afternoon from a New York Times reporter, said the two sides need to get it together.
SIEGEL: Thank you, Stefan.
FATSIS: Thanks, Robert.
SIEGEL: Stefan Fatsis joins us most Fridays to talk about sports and about the business of sports.
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