SB Nation User Blog: MarkJoel66

I Think We All Owe Jerome Bettis an apology

MarkJoel66 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:00:26 -0000

Way back on September 14th, Jerome Bettis made a comment that ruffled a lot of feathers, and seemed pretty stupid at the time... I dismissed it as Jerome trying to show he can be objective by taking a shot at his former team. (And as much as I hate that -- including what Cowher did the year he started broadcasting -- watching Tedy "I'm really still a Patriot" Bruschi trying to pass himself off as an unbiased sportscaster shows why it is neccessary)

However... Jerome wasn't just taking a shot. He was being a prophet that we ignored at our own peril.

Turns out, he was completely right...

First the quote, in case anyone missed it: (This was after Troy went down with the FIRST knee injury...)

...The Steelers went from being a great defense to merely a good defense in just one play against the Titans. You simply can't replace a player like Troy Polamalu, and we all saw the Steelers give up some big plays right away after he left with a knee injury. When he's healthy, Troy's all over the field. Before he left that game it seemed his name was being called every play: Troy on a tackle, Troy on an interception, Troy with a penalty. Whatever happened, he was involved. But without him in the game, the field becomes a lot bigger and more exposed.

People will say, "Well, they still have James Harrison and Casey Hamptonand so on..." Irrelevant... Without Troy, this becomes a good defense with a very ordinary secondary.

Well, I don't know about you, but last Sunday evening, I was struck by the thought that I was watching "a good (not great) defense with a very ordinary secondary."

Does Troy make that much difference?

I believe so...

I got a text from my brother during the game: "What's up with the Steelers defense? We suck this year!"

I replied: "Well, Troy is out."

He texted back: "We shouldn't count on one guy. Not if we are a great defense - like we were last year."

And that' when it hit me: Wait a minute... we'll never know. We didn't have to play without Troy last year. What if the difference between a great Steelers defense and an average Steelers defense comes down to whether 43 is playing?

Maybe that Jerome knows something we don't after all...

The Difference between being a Winner and Being a Champion

MarkJoel66 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:40:19 -0000

The Pittsburgh Steelers are no longer Champions. Not after two pathetic efforts in two must win games. No one can argue that these Pittsburgh Steelers have the right to call themselves Champions, in any true sense of the word.

This does not mean that they might not end up as winners come February...

In boxing, the Challenger vs. Champ was the thing that drove the sport. You had beloved Champions, such as Joe Louis, and polarizing Champions such as Mohammed Ali... but every fight, the question was: Can the young challenger upset the Champion. And, make no mistake, when the Challenger won, it was an upset. Because a Champion just isn't expected to lose.

There was a time when the NFL had champions.

The Packers were Champions. So were the Cowboys. The Dolphins. The Steelers. Each year started with people wondering if there was any challenger capable of beating the Champ.

And then... Parity struck.

Pete Rozell decided that it was better for football if every year ANY team could win. His desire was every team to go 8 and 8, and have the playoffs decided by tie-breakers. Hall of Fame Pete Rozell reasoned that no one would want to cheer for a team that never won. It would be better if every season, all across the country, every fan thought that this might be the year that his team could win the Super Bowl.

Despite the NFL's best efforts, though, sometimes Champions do arise. Sometimes there is a team who is just so supremely talented that they are simply better than everybody else. This team still will tower over the NFL like George Foreman towering over a fallen Joe Frazier.

The Cowboys of 93... the 49ers of 95... The Bucs of 2003... and, yes, the Steelers of 2009. Who was going to beat those teams? They stood above the crowd... for one brief shining moment...

But, fortunately for the NFL's slavish devotion to mediocrity, there is always free agency. Nothing, not even the draft, balances the power in the NFL like the ability for teams to buy proven talent, and weaken great teams. Buying talent rarely makes a champion... but at least it will wreck the old champion, so it accomplishes the same thing for the NFL. All hail the great musical chairs of mediocrity known as Free Agency.

So, even if a team rises up, it will not stay there. This is today's NFL.

And, in this world that celebrates average, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers.

This is not a champion. This is a "slightly better than most" team.

The good news is, from all indications, there is no other true champion this year, either.

Tell me, what team do you think is a definite lock to beat the Steelers? The Vikings? The Steelers already showed them to be mortal. The Patriots? Even Belichek is looking average these days. The Saints? The Colts? All of these teams have struggled at times to beat teams. So have the Steelers, yes. And yet, if the Steelers don't allow any runbacks for touchdowns, they could just as easily be undefeated right now. That is, actually, a very small margin of victory (or defeat).

These Steelers do not suck. They are just average, that's all. Just like everyone else.

The NFL grades on a curve, and everyone gets a "C".

I'm not saying the Steelers will win the Super Bowl this year, or even that they deserve to. I am only saying it wouldn't surprise me if they did. Frankly, they are probably just as likely at this point as any other slightly better than average team.

This is the Grand Design of the NFL.

They don't want a dominating team marching through the playoffs and ending up in the Super Bowl as the prohibitive favorite (like the Steelers did last year.)

They want a bunch of equally matched teams clawing it out to the very end.

And that's what they have.

In theory, it makes every game more exciting, because "On any given Sunday, any team can win..."

For fans who have cheered the true Champions of the past, these impostors wearing the hallowed Black and Gold make us sick.

But this is exactly what the NFL wants.

The Steelers are not out of this race.

But, to paraphrase Senator Benson:

"I knew the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. I cheered for, lived for, and woke up every Sunday waiting for the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers... and, believe me, these guys are no World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers."

House is a Steelers Fan

MarkJoel66 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:57:49 -0000

Amongst the horrible after-effects of watching the Steelers lose to one of the worst teams in the NFL, I had at least one chuckle.

It happened tonight on House. Finally

For those who don't know, Omar Epps is pretty much a dead ringer for Mike Tomlin.

Anyway, House walks into the room tonight and says: "Hey, ready to save some guy's life?"

Dr. Chase asks him: "Why are you so happy?"

House replies: "Why shouldn't I be? I have most of the old team back plus a bunch of new draft picks. I feel like Mike Tomlin."

Close up on Dr. Foreman (Omar Epps) reacting. House looks at him carefully and adds:

"Well, probably not as much as you, but you get the point..."

I almost fell off of my couch laughing...

UPDATED: HERE IS THE VIDEO- DYM

Stephen Logan needs to go

MarkJoel66 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:48:33 -0000

This is not a post exhorting that we bring back Redman.

And, Logan is a great story. Seems like a god kid. But we need to face facts: He is taking up a roster spot to return kickoffs, and he just isn't that good. Not that he isn't good returning kickoffs -- he is an upgrade (albeit a slight one) from last year. He just isn't good enough to warrant a full roster spot.

It's like keeping a guy on the Penguins just because he can score in a shootout. (They had a guy like that, and they wisely traded him...)

Yeah, Logan also is on the kick coverage team -- and how is that working out? He left his lane in the kick off return on Sunday. He wasn't alone in that... but the point is he is no Special teams ace.

Meanwhile, one thing that has killed the Steelers has been their kickoff return coverage.

We would be better off having two kickers: Jeff Reed for accuracy, and another guy whose only job would be to kick the ball out of the end zone. Imagine what the Steelers would look like if every kickoff meant the other team had to start on the 20?

If I am going to devote a full roster spot to one Special Teams player... let him be a kicker with a super leg. I don't care if he can kick an extra point or a field goal. I'll keep Skippy for that. But give me a guy who can boom it out of the end zone on kickoffs. They are out there...

Doom and Gloom?

MarkJoel66 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:10:23 -0000

I'm not burning my Terrible Towel, nor am I buying a Peyton Manning jersey so I can feel like a winner... but I am very concerned.

I was worried, honestly, after we lost to Cincy the first time around. A couple of weeks ago, I was saying that the Steelers had to win the 4 game stretch, and I was worried that they couldn't do it: Vikings, Broncos, Bengals, and Chiefs...

I said at the time that if we failed to win the next four that we would probably not repeat as champions. I was called crazy (and a bunch of other things...) After we beat the Vikings with our Defense, and dominated the Broncos with a combination of defense and running game, I was feeling a lot better about things... But after this past Sunday, the future seems a lot more black and a lot less gold...

When the game was over, and my remote had settled on the floor after being hurled at the TV in disgust (and, oh by the way, I'm pretty sure it traveled further than Ben's last lame pass...) my first thought was: There goes the Super Bowl.

I hope I am wrong (and I will discuss some faint glimmer of hopes...) but things look bad, Steelers fans...

With the Bengals remaining games and the Steelers remaining games, I think we will be very unlucky to end the season with the same record... and since they hold the tie-breaker, that gives them the division.

Can we expect a Steelers team, who is already beat up, with a #43 whose knee cannot seem to shake the Madden Curse, to make an almost impossible run through the playoffs.

Even should we beat Cincy, I am not liking our chances of going on the road all of the way to the Super Bowl. Yes, the 2005 team did it, but they were very lucky... they caught Indy by surprise, and the Broncos over-achieved until they crashed back to earth.

Let's say that the Bengals don't implode, and they win the division. OK... so, let us say that the Steelers finish strong and end up 11-5. So, how do the playoffs look?

It's fair to assume that Indy takes the South and New England takes The East. I believe the Broncos will hold on for the west, and Cincy will win the North.

That leaves Pittsburgh fighting San Diego for the top wild card spot, and fortunately they hold the tie-breaker. So, the way things look right now, the final rankings will be (and this is only a guess.. but...)

1. Indy

2. Cincy

3. New England

4. Denver

5. Pittsburgh

6. San Diego

That means that Pittsburgh would play Denver in the wild card game... We beat them once, and we'd have to play there... but I still think Pittsburgh wins that. (If they fold and the Chargers win the west, we have to play the Chargers, but I still like our chances... the Charges fold in the December almost as badly as the Cowboys...)

Who knows what happens in the other games, but coming out of the Wild Card, we would have to go in to Cincinnati if the rankings break down the way things look now. I don't know if Marvin Lewis subscribes to the hocus pocus theory about beating a team three times in a season... but I am wondering why anyone would predict that Pittsburgh can suddenly do in the playoffs what they couldn't do all year...?

But even if we can somehow beat the pesky Bengals... for the Steelers, that is not enough. (I mean, the Bengals have already had a successful season -- the Steelers have to win the Super Bowl for that...) If the Steelers somehow beat the Bengals, now they have to go into Indy or Foxboro and win again... that is asking a lot.

Frankly, I could easily see Pittsburgh not even making it to the AFC Championship game if it enters the playoffs as a Wild Card team...

So... what can change?

Pittsburgh's best bet is to hope on a Cincy Collapse. We've been waiting for it all season long. They are certainly capable of it. Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't... Losing Cedric Benson is huge. Yes, they beat the Steelers without him, but they also didn't score a touchdown. If the Steelers don't give up six gift points, the game is tied in the 4th, and I believe the outcome is much different.

Other teams are going to see what Pittsburgh saw: They no longer need to fear the running game... that means the Defenses will adjust and start making Carson Palmer beat them -- and that could be a huge difference coming down the stretch. You get a sense that CIncy has a bubble of invincibility about them... but they are one prick away from having it burst ... could that prick's name be Larry Johnson?

Face it, the Bengals are not exactly scary -- they have won a lot of close games And the Texans aren't that good, and they beat them. Take away the threat of a run, and this team is more than mortal.

Honestly, the Bengals could very well go out to Oakland and lose this week. As crazy as that sounds, this week's game is a bit of a trap game for the Bengals. Ask the Eagles. They also have three road games they could pretty easily lose: The Vikings, the Chargers and the Jets. The Vikings will be at home, and unless Brett Favre is falling apart (and he may be, who knows...) that will be a tough game for the Bengals to win. The Chargers will be fighting for their lives, and the Jets will probably be playing spoiler by year's end... but Rex Ryan is not the kind of guy to let his team finish early... he will want the spotlight of beating a playoff caliber team.

The Bengals will probably lose two more games. they could lose four. Pray they lose four...

The Steelers have to play Baltimore twice -- which is never easy, since they genuinely hate us, and will play hard against the Steelers just to try to knock them out of contention. But even if they split with Baltimore, they probably win the rest. MAYBE they lose against Green Bay, but since that game is at home, probably not. They play in Miami, but that team is looking like to will be vying for draft pick by week 17. The only two away games are against the Ravens, against the Browns and against Miami. None of those scare me except for the Ravens.

If Pittsburgh can manage to win out, or just lose one, I think they still win the division. If they lose two games, they better hope that Cincy self-destructs.

Because I don't think the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers can win as a Wild Card team...

Best Quote of the Day

MarkJoel66 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:50:10 -0000

One thing I hate about playing the Monday night game is that we get the second-tier team to analyze the game results on the NFL network.

But, anyway, there was a great moment today from Smiling Charles Davis.

They showed the Troy Polomalu interception -- how he was 15 yards back, and started breaking before the ball was even thrown. Fran asked: "How did he know where the ball was going to be, Charles?"

"Orton told him with his eyes, Fran, he told him with his eyes..."

Packers vs Steelers - Inches Count

MarkJoel66 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:22:09 -0000

I am not sure if everyone had a chance to watch the Green Bay versus Minnesota game, but I was struck by two plays that happened as Green Bay was staging a comeback, that defined the difference between Green Bay and the Pittsburgh Steelers in a nutshell.

I don't have the game recorded, so I will have to go off of memory... this was after Green Bay scored two touchdownds to bring the game within reach. Momentum had donned Green and Gold, and things were looking up.

On the next defensive possession (Minn had the ball) a blitzing lineman gets around behind Brett, and closes in on his blind side as Brett starts to throw. It looks familiar -- EXCEPT -- this time, the rusher is a half a second slow. Instead of stripping the ball (as Woodley did) Brett starts his throw. The ball pops up in the air and Green Bay watches as it falls in the middle of three defensemen. Incomplete pass. Vikings ball.

Later in the drive, a pass goes off the hands of a Vikings receiver and pops into the air... falling harmlessly between two Green Bay defenders. Incomplete pass. Vikings ball... the Vikings would later score, putting the game out of reach.

The week before, simlar plays happened... but the ball was stripped and returned for a touchdown in one instance, and it was intercepted and returned for a touchdown in the other.

A half a step... a dropped interception... inches separated the Packers last week from what the Steelers did the week before.

But, the great teams make those plays, and the pretty good teams don't.

Football may be a game of inches... but those inches separate also-rans from champions... And the distance measured is the distance between good and great.

Was anyone surprised by any game in week one?

MarkJoel66 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:00:03 -0000

OK, everyone is happy to have the NFL back... me too.. but after the Monday games are in the books, I am feeling kind of deflated.

Yes... I was surprised to see KC put up a fight against Baltimore. I was hoping for a Raiders and/or Bills victory, but they hung in just enough to get your hopes up, and then reverted to their losing ways...

Anyway... When the dust clears, and I look at every team that won, and every team that lost... was anyone surprised by any of it? Take the spread out of the picture... just wins and losses.

Did any team's loss (or victory) surprise anyone? That was about as predictible a week as I have ever seen...

Damn! Someone broke the code

MarkJoel66 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:00:55 -0000

You can usually count on the idiot sportwriters to make stupid predictions and then back it up with wishful thinking.

I like that, because it let's the Pittsburgh Steelers -- incredibly -- fly under the radar.

Unfortunately, Peter Schrager of Fox News didn't buy the head fake.

His story is here:

Fox Sports Guy

Among his predictions are that the 2009 Steeler defense will be better than last years's model... and that Big Ben will hoist the Lombardi.

-Gulp!-

Let's hope this doesn't catch on! The last thing I want is the Steelers to feel like they can win by showing up... (I'm sure everyone remembers 2006... When the coach sleep walked through the season, and Ben had one medical emergency after another?)

I prefer the Peter Kings of the world waxing on and on about how San Diego and New England are the teams to beat... I really do...

SHOCKER: Peter King picks PATS for SB XLIV

MarkJoel66 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:23:26 -0000

[Sarcasm] I am shocked... shocked I tell you to find that Peter King thinks the Patriots will win Super Bowl XLIV [/Sarcasm]

OK, maybe not. But is is shocking to find that Brett Favre isn't picked to make it as a Viking, I suppose...

For those of you who haven't seen it, PK and CNNSI have decided it will be the Patriots over the Bears in the next Super Bowl.

I actually think this is a good thing, since the Steelers play better with a chip on their shoulder.

The only thing that grates on me a little is PK somehow has it figured that the Chargers are coming into Heinz field, and WINNING.

Hmmm... when was the last time that happened???

How is it that the Chargers get picked EVERY freakin year for good things? This is the most under-achieving football franchise of all time... The writers just don't get it. The fans are getting it -- they are facing some blackouts this year because the can't sell tickets... but somehow, every year, the Chargers are gonna be contenders...

I don't get it. OK, Merriman is back. That helps. But LT is fading, and the one thing the playoff game against Pittsburgh showed was that Sproles is no feature back. Without LT being a threat, Rivers (aka The Jackanape) is not going to have the year he had last year...

Anyway... if yu want to see how the geniuses at SI have it figured, the link is: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/09/01/main/index.html?eref=T1