SB Nation User Blog: BallsofSteel

Five more college prospects visit Steelers

BallsofSteel — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:28:14 -0000

Five more college prospects visit Steelers

Vote for the Greatest Draft Class of All Time.

BallsofSteel — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:11:27 -0000

Vote for the Greatest Draft Class of All Time.

ESPN has another retarded poll going. Who is the greatest NFL draft class of all time? Obviously the Steelers o' 75. Go set them straight.

AFC Championship 2009/2010: Steelers vs Patriots?

BallsofSteel — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:24:02 -0000

Woah! Hold on. That's right. I went there.

Okay guys, who are the two best teams in the AFC this past decade? If you picked the Steelers and the Patriots, pat yourself on the back.

Now, who was the best team in the league last year? Correct, we were.

So who was arguably the best team in the league, and most certainly the best team in the AFC the year before that? Yes, them.

And, who is the most improved team in the AFC and maybe the league this offseason? We'll have to see how things play out after the draft, but right now the Patriots are making better moves than anyone and they have a pantload of picks sitting under Belicheck's hoodie.

Taking that into account I think the possibilty emerges that we see the boys in black and gold battle it out with the Patriots next January.

"Great", you say. "Nice hypothetical, BoS. Can I have my money back now?"

Wait! We just got to the good part. Think of how awesome that game would be. Two dynasties battling it out for team of the decade status. The Patriots fighting to cement their legacy, capture their fourth title while the bitter taste of their last defeat is still fresh in their mouths. Tom Brady coming back from a huge injury to prove he still has it and leave his mark on the game. The Steelers, moving on to their seventh, playing their hated rival in the playoffs for the first time since spygate, for the first time with Tomlin. The Patriots, a team unto which we have been served bitter defeat after bitter defeat, until one day in 2008 when we brought the house down around their ears. The chance at last to erase all of those ugly memories, those tragic defeats that seemed inexplicable at the time. The Crabby Jawa vs Iron Mike. I don't know about you guys but the possibility of this gets me hot for teacher. It's a dream scenario, and if we're lucky it just might become a reality.

Hopefully a Wake Up Call for Agents

BallsofSteel — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:01:31 -0000

Cutler and Burress. What is the thread that ties these two tanking primadonnas together? Bad advice from bad agents.

Let's assume for a moment we believe everything we've been told in the press this week.

Cook basically destroyed any chance Cutler had of returning to the Broncos by putting a wall of communication between his client and his client's employer. It looks to me like classic tampering by the agent, playing his client against the GM. How else do you have one side saying they were denied contact over and over, and the other side saying they were never contacted? Sounds to me like the agent tried to pull a maneuver, screwed it up, and then had to backtrack with a trail of lies so that his client wouldn't know he had destroyed his chance at a future with his current team. In the meantime, Cook managed to out his client as a whiner and a QB that lacks the intangibles of leadership that would lead a team through difficulty. Now Cutler has to climb out of this hole in Chicago, for better or worse. Say what you will about Cutler, he had the Bronco's locker room in his pocket, a solid offensive system, a great O-line, and two genuine big play threats at wideout. Now he's entering a situation where he will have to overcome the foolishness of the past months and win over the Bear's locker room, all the while with an offense that isn't half as potent as what Denver had. Whoops.

The Burress situation is similarly interesting to me:

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/04/03/giants-offered-plaxico-a-new-deal-before-grievance-hearing/

We’re told that, if Burress had accepted the deal, the team likely would have kept him for 2009, despite the current uncertainty regarding his legal status.

Idiot.

Sounds like Rosenhaus was so intent on getting Burress traded that he didn't realize what a terrible situation his client was in. Now having played with fire with one of the better franchises in the league, Burress is now on the curb, where he will stay until the Bengals or Cowboys decide they need more primadonnas to destroy their ball club.

The point is that the shenanigans these agents are pulling should serve as a wake-up call. This only hurts your client, the team they play for, and ultimately you. We're entering into an era over the next two seasons of some really hardcore negotiating between the players and owners, and this kind of stupidity is only going to get worse.

What do you guys think?

Giants Ditch Burress

BallsofSteel — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:30:47 -0000

Giants Ditch Burress

I love the Rooneys and their wisdom.

Faneca Nets a 5th Compensatory Pick

BallsofSteel — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:09:41 -0000

http://www.profootballtalk.com/draft/draft-order-chart/

5-33-169 Pittsburgh (Compensatory Selection)

We of course get our 7th for Mahan. I know a lot of us were hoping for better than a 5th, some even a 3rd, but overall I'm ok with this. Yes, we lost a hell of a player in Faneca, but we also got his best years out of him. I haven't looked at values, but I'd like to see our FO make a smart deal or two to get the right player with our extra picks this year.

I still chuckle to think about how the Bengals used their franchise tag this offseason.

NFL Game Rewind

BallsofSteel — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 01:03:57 -0000

Did you guy see this? I'm signing up. :)

http://www.nfl.com/gamerewind

Get on-demand access to a library of every 2008
Regular Season and Playoff game, including Super Bowl XLIII:

All games are shown in their entirety, without commercials
HD-quality streaming video
Full DVR functionality (pause, rewind and fast-forward)
Simultaneous viewing of up to 4 games
Integrated team and player stats
Live chat with other NFL fans
Unlimited access during your subscription period

Game Rewind currently includes unlimited access to all 2008 Regular Season games completed on or before December 14, 2008 (Week 15). New games are published to Game Rewind on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Attention

BallsofSteel — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:25:11 -0000

This week everything has gone Steelers. Magazine covers, interviews, specials, talking heads, it's everywhere. It's gotten to the point where we are now the favorites to go in on the road against Tennessee and take the number one seed. The realistic among us are getting nervous. This is the beginning of hubris. We have gotten our attention. Forget about walking into the playoffs with a hot team considered underdgogs. Going forward, I hope this team can maintain it's humility and stay focused. Otherwise I fear we have a short and painful postseason ahead of us.

The Disputable Touchdown

BallsofSteel — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:05:05 -0000

Just now Collinsworth and the halftime crew opined that the touchdown should not have been allowed because there wasn't indisputable proof that he had the ball across the plane. From my understanding, possession of the ball with both feet in the endzone constitutes a touchdown, and that was indisputable. Whether the ball crossed the plane was definitely disputable but my understanding is that only matters in cases where the ballcarriers feet don't enter the endzone. Does anyone know the rules well enough to explain this one?

Secondly, what will it take for them to place a sensor on the goalline and inside the ball to determine this sort of thing? Seems like such a no brainer.

Off topic: We did get a very questionable first down off a run that was absolutely stuffed.

Week 14 Playbook: Solomon Wilcots with Max Starks

BallsofSteel — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:54:35 -0000

Week 14 Playbook: Solomon Wilcots with Max Starks

Max Starks walks us through a Steeler's run play.