Tribune staff reporter John Mullin analyzes the coaching and special-teams matchups:
COACHING
The Steelers’ Bill Cowher and Seahawks’ Mike Holmgren became NFL head coaches in 1992 and rank near the top of active coaches with winning percentages of .629 and .616, respectively. It is a classic confrontation between one of the game’s best offensive coaches–Holmgren–and one of its top defensive practitioners–Cowher.
Holmgren is 4-1 in matchups against Cowher and has averaged 22.6 points per game against Cowher defenses while holding Steelers teams to 15 per game. Cowher’s teams have not scored more than 16 points against Seattle the last five times they have met. Both Cowher and Holmgren have built their careers on avoiding mistakes and coaching smart football.
Both coach strong defenses (Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is the guru of zone blitzes), but Holmgren’s teams score.
Edge: SEAHAWKS
KICKING GAME
Jeff Reed is 39-for-41 inside 40 yards the last two seasons, plus 3-for-3 in the playoffs, so if the Steelers get anywhere close, it means points. The Seahawks’ Josh Brown is not as accurate (72 percent for the season) but is 7-for-12 from beyond 50 in his career. He’s 4-for-5 overall this postseason. Reed gets greater depth on kickoffs.
Edge: STEELERS
PUNTING GAME
Pittsburgh’s Chris Gardocki and Seattle’s Tom Rouen have a combined 28 NFL seasons between them. They had nearly identical gross averages in ’05, Rouen had a slight edge on net for the season and both put one-third of their punts inside opposing 20-yard lines. Rouen placed five of nine playoff punts inside the 20 while Gardocki did that six of 12 times and never has had a punt blocked in his NFL career.
These veterans have playoff experience and know how to give their defenses field position and start opponents a long way from end zones.
Edge: STEELERS
COVERAGE AND RETURNS
Antwaan Randle El gives the Steelers 10.2 yards on every punt return, including two returned for TDs, a significant edge on either Peter Warrick or Jimmy Williams for Seattle. Randle El pressures coverage units; he returned 44 of 56 punts fielded while Williams returned 24 and fair-caught 22. The Steelers suffered a loss when Quincy Morgan’s season ended with an ankle injury in their playoff opener against Cincinnati, leaving Ricardo Colclough returning kicks at just 21.5 yards vs. Josh Scobey’s 22.5 for Seattle.
Neither teams’ coverage units are exceptional or even in the top 15, although neither allow more than 22 yards per kickoff return.
Edge: STEELERS
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