I'm in a celebratory mood, and I keep reading that the Steelers have "the inside track" and control of their own destiny this morning, but I wondered just how much of an edge we have, and discovered that we're in a much more precarious state than I thought regarding the playoff picture.  One slip and the Steelers could be right back to the 5 seed.

Continue reading this post »

If Harrison's demeanor and hard hits remind you of Joe Greene, there's probably a good reason.  In 1974 before any Super Bowls, but already holding an 8-2 record, the Steelers had their butts kicked by the Houston Oilers.  Joe Greene was disgusted by the loss, and grew infuriated after watching the Dolphins man-handle the Bengals the next night on Monday night football.  So upset in fact that he almost quit the team the next day.  Quoting "Mean" Joe: "That's what I want us to be like.  I came into our team meeting on Tuesday, and I really didn't like what I was hearing, so I went and cleaned out my locker and walked to my car."

Continue reading this post »

subtitle: BA tries to admit he has a problem: fails.

I think we can agree that we want an OC that's "greedy."  Greedy for wins foremost, and of course greedy for points.  What actually happened was that Arians "got a little ineffective"  Greed would have dictated using Rashard *more* in the 4th quarter when he's likely to be even more effective than the 5.1 ypa that he's already accomplished.  Stuffing the ball down the throats of ones opponent in the 4th quarter is not somehow ceding offense, as Bruce seems to imply.  It's the safest and most effective way of winding down the clock AND scoring.

Hopefully he was just trying to make a self-deprecating joke, and the comment doesn't betray any insights towards his thinking at all.  What I'm afraid of is that it's indicative of an attitude that pounding the ball (with the lead, in the 4th) is somehow the opposite of being greedy.  In my mind it's the very definition of it.

By the way: Long time lurker; go gentle on me!