"Beware the fury of a patient man" - John Dryden

First off its been almost a year since I've devoted a post to BTSC. I love this place, its filled with the most intelligent and humble analysis of the Steelers from all members and that's not me being a "homer" either.  I would rather see the complete breakdown of analysis on this site rather than listen to Trent Dilfer, Skip Bayless or any other overrated ESPN douchebag talk stats.  In the NFL, stats and style points do not matter to me, its the desire to win, the persistance, perseverance, and thats what the Steelers are made of.

With that said, the reason I decided to post this today is because I am still in shock at how we beat the Patriots yesterday.  Hence the title of the post, "that was the most complete game by the Steelers in awhile" is the truth. We played solid at all facets of the game.  YES, Suisham could've made that FG and YES, too many times we failed to put up TDs in the redzone and going for FG's instead.  But to be honest, the game was near flawless in my opinion.  Everytime we have had to deal with a weakness whether its the O-line, DB's, Bruce Arians. Coach Dad's inability to gameplan against an elite qb and a pass-heavy offense.  This game showed we didn't have a weakness for the other team to exploit and the fact that our development of the "Man-Coverage" can now stop a spread offense. But Im not here to talk about the defense because the rest of BTSC has covered that for the past 24 hours.

Looking at the beginning quote of my post, it deals with patience and yesterdays game against the Pats showed a new offense by the Steelers, a more "patient" offense.  I have been complaining, yelling at the TV, ranting on BTSC all last year about how the coaches can't utilize our fast WR core and adapt a gameplan that allows Ben to put up 300+ yards with spreading the field out, throwing multiple screens, dumping it off to Mendenhall, Redman, and Moore, and letting Ben pick apart the D with 4 or 5 wide all while mixing in some no-huddle.  Our passing game always consisted of the "Big play or bust."  To see Ben come of age yesterday and patiently take what the Patriots D were giving him was brilliant.  He didn't force it to Wallace long, and he didn't play for the quick TD.  He did what Brady has done to us for 7 years in the making.

This is the type of offense I wanted the Steelers to adopt and to see it in action yesterday was beautiful.  I knew all along we had the weapons to shut teams out and destroy them with our offense but BA never committed to it.  There would be games where there was a glimpse of this style of "passing to set up the run" but then BA would call something totally stupid to screw it all up.  It always frustrated me because we always played down to our competition even when we were ahead.  Yesterdays game was different, I felt like my prayers for the past year have been answered.  We killed the Pats and the score did not indicate the game as a whole.  The score should have been 38-17 but nonetheless, we controlled that game in flawless form.  That was the most beautiful display of football by the Steelers on both sides in a while. 

And to see Bill Belicheat without that smirk under that stone-faced scowl on the sidelines, and to watch Tom Brady look confused and not "robotic or machine-like" during drives was amazing. The Patriots have been trying to disguise their weak D for years by throwing up high scoring games from Brady and everyone said it would have to be a "shootout" to keep up with the Patriots.  Well, the Steelers exploited their weakness this year and gave the rest of the league the blueprint to beating them.  Unbelievable to watch.

Bring on Thug Suggs, Ray "REDRUM" Lewis and Joe "I didn't know unibrows went out of style" Flacco!  With patience,  I have a great feeling about our chances!

After the game last night I was pretty upset, not too much about the loss but because its a long season and the Steelers endured a lot to get to Dallas and we had the game in our hands in the second half and we just didn't execute. The fumble by Mendenhall was the nail in the coffin because the momentum was ours and we were knocking on the Packers door, but that was a freak play, 9 times out of 10 that doesn't happen.  A lot of what ifs, and could've should'ves but the main thing is that we didn't play 4 solid quarters this whole postseason and it hurt to see us look so vulnerable last night in the games most important moments.

In the aftermath, I woke up this morning holding my head high as a true Steeler fan for 18 years because I am proud of what our team accomplished this season.  Everyone counted us out, helI was surprised to even make the playoffs and on top of that, win our division.  The O-line deserves big credit because they played with so much heart last night.  I'm so proud to have Mike Tomlin as a HC because he did things with this team when we lost key players and made them contenders.  On top of that, he was a class act after the loss congratulating the Packers.......Belichik please take notes!

Hines Ward and Randle El played their ass off last night and my hat goes off to them, they came through for us when our back was against the wall.  Legurski gets my respect any day of the week, he held is own last night.  Big props to our D for not letting up and our O for making things happen to get back in the game.  It just seemed like we were not clicking on the same page most of the game, whenever our D made plays, our O did not and vice-versa. 

Just a few more things I would like to point out before I hybernate into the offseason:

1)Stop picking on Ben!  Ben didn't play his best yesterday and he made some mistakes.  He threw his passes offmark and high in the first half but man he pulled through the best he could.  That one pick 6 was just a fraction of a second away from a possible Mike Wallace TD, he burned Williams!  Also, the 2 minute-drill I put solely on the youth of our WR's, the communication was not good and I think the moment took a tole on Mike Wallaces nerves.  Big Ben played good in the second half and I would not trade him for any other QB in the league right now for all he has done for us.  He is solid, everyone talks about his superbowl performances but his season and post-season performances he is MONEY!!  Just stay out of trouble this offseason for christ sakes!!

2) Bruce Arians.........I don't know where to start, i bash this guy so often and today I feel like bashing him again but I'll let it rest.  I feel that he needs to go but everytime I do that, he does something to impress me.  But with guys like Hiines getting near the end of their career, I want to see a high-powered offense that puts up 27 average a game and I just don't think Arians does that, he keeps the game close even when we are smashing opponents.  I mean, why did you abandon the run when it was working, and then abandon the pass when it was working....leaves me speechless.

3) CB's, we need to draft some tall, shutdown corners!  I love our DB's but BMAC and Gay are getting burned in single coverage and it forces Troy to drop back and help more against passing teams instead of adding more pressure on the QB.  Troy didn't get to freelance that much yesterday because our CB's were getting torched and Aaron Rogers was playing laser tag with his WRs.  We need to draft or trade for some good DB's.

Overall I am proud of our team, we were one fumble and one Ike-taylor blocked pass on 3rd and 10 from possibly winning yesterday.  3 turnovers and still being in position to win the game says a lot about the mentality and heart of our team.  It was fun watching the Packers fans in the bar yesterday talk shit to us in the first half and then bite their fingernails in the second half especially when Big Ben had 2 mins left to score.   Great game, I love this game and hope for another season.

Like Chris Carter said (GET HIM IN THE HOF ALREADY!!)  "The unpredictability of team sports, especially football, is what keeps us coming back to this great game, its what keeps us turning on the TV, because there is no sure winner!" 

I love all you guys at BTSC, See you guys next season!!

We all know that this years Superbowl promises to be one of the best matchups in ages.  I consider this a "dream" Superbowl matchup because you have both teams that are very similar in many phases and aspects of the game.  With that said, I also believe that for a Steeler fan, this has to be one of the scariest matchups we have encountered this season and it just so happens to be during the Superbowl in Arlington, Texas.  5 things scary me the most about the Packers and I will rank them from last to first:

5. Packers Pass Rush:

I expect the Steelers to come out trying to establish the run in this game but will need a lot of 3rd down conversions through the air which will depend on Ben's ability to escape the amazing pass rush that the Packers have.  In the Steelers last meeting versus the Packers in 2009 with that crazy 37-36 finish, the Packers put a lot of pressure on Ben using different blitz packsges with Woodson and Mathews.  Steelers had a 3rd down efficiency of 7/16 43% compared to the Packers 10/16 62%.  This year, the Packers pass rush is better and has one sack less than the Steelers in the season 47 to 48.  Here is the "Sack Rate" data for this year between the teams.

Ranked 3rd

Green Bay Packers
Passes Attempted Against Packers: 527
Sacks Accumulated: 47
Sack Rate: 11.21
DYPA: 6.5

Ranked 6th

Pittsburgh Steelers
Passes Attempted against Steelers: 593
Sacks Accumulated: 48
Sack Rate: 12.35
DYPA: 6.3

The Cure:

We all know that Big Ben has the skills to escape this pass rush but I think that the key to getting quick releases for Ben in the passing game against the Packers Pass Rush is to target the middle of the field with quick slants.  Dialing up the quick slants, options, and cross-routes in the middle with Brown, Sanders, Miller, and Ward will expose the weakness in the Packers defense much like it did in 2009.  The scary part is our O-line and how it will perform, but we will wait and see.

4. Packers Coverage:

The Packers Defense ranks 5th in this years Opponents Passing Yards with 194.2yds while the Steelers rank 12th with 214.1yds. The Packer DB's have only allowed 3 recievers all season long to total over 100 yds a game & only 3 times have QB's thrown for over 300 yds a game. McNabb threw 49 times for 357 yds, Manning threw 33 times for 301 yds & Hill threw 54 times to get 331 yds. In this years playoffs the CB's have became a huge strength for the Packers with numerous interceptions.  Most notable is Tramon Williams who has come up big for the Packers.  He will probably end up covering Wallace and Sanders switching off with Sam Shields who can definately keep up with the Steeler WR's. 

Compared to last year, this year will be a lot tougher for the Steelers because the Packers have different talent in Shields and Williams.  These guys are good at their position and they will be able to keep up with our WR's with safety help over the top.  Big Ben threw for over 500 yds in 2009 versus the Packers with no interceptions only to win by one point. That was without Williams and Shields! 

The Cure: 

This will come down to Big Ben extending plays and taking what the defense gives him.  He will need to escape the pass rush and let the play break down to take advantage of this pass coverage.  Ben needs to watch for CB and safety blitzes so he can target Wallace or Brown in the midfield while they are in stride.  Turnovers must be kept to a minimum and Ben can't force his throws into too many tight spots.

3. Dom Capers

Dick LeBeau is known to many as the "Master of the 3-4 Zone Blitz Scheme" and has built the Steeler defense on the strength of confusion.  Dom Capers is cut from the same clothe due to him being the Steelers Defensive Coordinator under Cowher.  Capers is one that tries to take the credit for the evolution of the zone blitz scheme and uses it in Green Bay's newly implemented 3-4.  Green Bay's defense mirrors Pittsburgh with CB's blitzing while Defensive Tackles and Linebackers drop back into coverage.  Capers likes to use Woodson off the edge with Mathews because he has Williams and Shields in the backfield. 

The scary part is wondering who knows who.  Does Dom Capers know LeBeau better than LeBeau knows Capers?  It's going to be a chessmatch and it's going to come down to which offense moves the ball better and puts up points first.  If Green Bay gets ad early lead, expect Capers to let the dogs loose with many exotic blitze packages to fluster Big Ben.

The Cure:

I feel good about this one because the Steelers have played against more teams with 3-4 fronts than the Packers and have had more success than the Packers.  The Steelers boast a 8-3 record (.727%) against 3-4 defenses while the Packers have a mediocre 4-3 record (.571%)  Big Ben is pretty comfortable against the 3-4 due to his escapibility and rolling right out of the pocket to break down the coverage. 

2. The Packers WR Core

The Packers are known this year to have the best WR core in the NFL.  Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, and James Jones are big-time threats that can spread and stretch the field.  The 4 and 5 WR sets that Green Bay runs are dangerous and can eat up the field in a hurry, just look how quick they scored on their first drive against the Bears last Sunday.  This provides many problems against the Steeler D who ranks 12th against the pass all season.  The Steelers DB coverage is the weakest part of its defense and expect Aaron Rodgers to attack this with various sets that will spread the field.  The Steelers CB's need to be physical at the line of scrimmage and make the Packers WR's work for their routes. 

The Cure

It's going to come down to the Steelers defensive front to rattle Aaron Rodgers.  One big hit can do the job and slow Aaron Rodgers down just like it did after Peppers hit Rodgers in the NFC Championship game.  I think the defense should throw in some cover 2 mixes that will confuse Rodgers because he plays average against the Cover 2.  Also, Polumalu will need to have a big game and hurry Rodgers into throwing or taking Rodgers off of his first reads after the snap.  This will be one of the Steelers biggest problems to prepare for, and I think it will come down to the Defense stopping the pass offense by the Packers.

1. Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers has simply been a beast in this years playoffs.  The game against the Falcons showcased how dangerous he is when he is comfortable, he makes the game look easy.  The other thing that makes him good and similar to Big Ben is that he is "mobile."  He is going to make a lot of Steeler pass rushers miss and he is dead accurate while throwing on the run.  He boasts the third best QB Passer Rating this season and he will present a constant threat to the Steeler D this Superbowl.  Not only will his deep passing be a problem, his legs will be too because he will constantly run when given the chance and the field opens up.

The Cure

#1 is Rashard Mendenhall.  He needs an even bigger game than he had against the NY Jets.  He needs to keep the ball on the ground for the Steeler Offense so they can eat up clock and take away 4 or 5 more possessions from Aaron Rodgers.  If the Steelers win the time possession battle, their chances are good. 

#2 Steeler Middle Linebackers Farrior and Timmons need to drop back on passing downs while James Harrison and hopefully Polumalu can blitz in seperate packages. Bringing the house the certain downs when Green Bay spreads the WR's is plain stupid.  They need to help take away the easy dinks and dunks while the CB's and safeys can take away the deep threat.  Make Rodgers uncomfortable and make him work for small yards and expect turnovers on downs.

#3 Steelers DB's need to take away the seams in the middle from the Packers WR's because Aaron rodgers has a knack for throwing to those seams.  The CB's need to play agressive at the line of scrimmage and jam the recievers early to slow the timiing on the routes.  This will be a big task. 

Someone on the Steelers D will need to become the momentum shifter, whether its Polumalu, Harrison, Clark, etc.  They need big hits on Rogers, or turnovers to make Rodgers think twice about decisions and force him out of the zone.  Experience plays a big part too, hopefully Rodgers and crew have a hard time controlling their Superbowl nerves come gametime.

A lot of people are picking the Packers already to win, except us and of course.....this guy!

GO STEELERS!!!!!

I just wanted to say thanks to Mr. Malor for the post on BTSC congratulating us. I don't post a lot of comments but I felt I had to after reading Mr. malors post.  It takes a lot of class to do that and I have total respect for good sportsmanship because I am the same way when my team loses.   To all the other Raven fans that hate the Steelers but show a mutual level of respect, I just want to say this-- Baltimore is one hell of a team. I always feel like there are 3 Superbowls in the season- one in the postseason and the other two come from the "bloddy" matchups we face each other two times out of the season.  

I can look around the league and the only two teams whose playing style reflects the grit, the hustle, the grind and the toughness of the city they reside in are The Ravens and the Steelers.  I grew up in Washington DC and my family is from Pittsburgh and NY.  I've been a Steeler fan my whole life but I have visited Baltimore numerous times and that Ravens team is well constructed and is made to represent the toughness of that city.  I can only look ahead and appreciate the Raven/Steeler games for giving us a great show of the "dying artform" of smashmouth football in frigid conditions that Roger Goodell and his puppets are trying so hard to do away with. 

As we move forward to the Bullsh** CBA, we are moving towards the illegality of hits on players, more roughing the passer calls, the new "PBM" Laws (Protect Brady and Manning Laws), more dome stadiums with overpriced tickets and pizzas (Cowboy Stadium?), and more yellow flags on the field than Terrible Towels being waved at Heinz field....I could only cherish the two magnificent games the Ravens and The Steelers play in the season and fortunate enough to see another in the postseason.  These games are the only reflection of the rough- hard-hitting football of the past that we all grew up to love. 

Thanks for all your support Mr. Malor and the rest of Baltimore Beatdown, we at BTSC have fun talking trash to you guys every season.  I know you guys had a tough year but the scary thing is that I can only see you guys getting better!  As much as I hate the Ravens, I have respect for them and I always root for you guys to beat those cheating Patriots and that douchebag Bellichick.  I hope you guys can work out the wrinkles in the offseason and score in the draft.  Best of luck to you guys and we will see ya next season!

I have been reading a lot of comments here after the game on sunday and I agree with some individuals that said "Mike Tomlin needs to take a page out of Chuck Nolls strategy and let the QB call the plays."  When Big Ben is in the no huddle, we march down the field fast and it allows Big Ben to use his imagination to improvise and connect on the BIG PLAY!  My frustration from last sundays game came not only from the fact that we outplayed the Jets offensively and we could have run up the score high on them, but the frustration comes from OC Bruce Arians. This guy is blessed with the keys to a "lamborghini" offense but he drives it below the speed limit. 

When we got a top receiver core, A powerful QB with an arm, TE’s and a RB that can play in the slot efficiently and we can’t put up 3 touchdowns, THAT KILLS ME!! Arians is horrible and I am sick of a bunch of Steeler fans cutting him slack saying “The offense played pretty good, look at the stats” NO!! This game does not come down to the stats, it comes down to the plays called and made in certain situations.

The 3rd and 2 in the first quarter shoud have been a draw by Mende or Redman, why is Ben throwing it deep on that play? We were only 5 yeards from FG range, at least pund it with Mende or Redman twice.  The routes the receivers were running were weak considering the mismatch that Wallace had on Cromartie and how Sanders was burning the other half of the field. The shotgun draw in the endzone with Moore gives me the biggest headache of the week, WTF WAS THAT??

It’s just terrible, I would understand our playcalling if we had an average team at best that wasn’t deep with WR’s and had an average QB. But we got a SB contending team that is EXTREMELY CAPABLE of running up the score early in games and putting teams away, but the offensive play-calling just keeps the opposing team in the game and eventually that ends up in some losses.

We can’t keep relying on Big Ben to pull another trick out of his sleeve to win the game, the odds won’t be in our favor for long. We need to throw some streak and high post routes to Wallace and Sanders, get the screen to Ward going again, mix it up with some runs by Mendenhall once we our closing in on mid-field and past that, and use some trick plays with Randle El.

When Whisenhunt was the OC, he was relentless with the play-calling and he utilized our weapons to the best of his ability. He still kept it traditional smashmouth football but that was back when we had Bettis and PArker. Now our Offense is strong in its WR core and so we need to adopt a gameplan much similar to the Pats where we can just destroy teams in the first half of games and run up the score to put pressure on the opposing teams offense. This would give our D the advantage of capatilizing on the mistakes by the opposing teams offense because they will be biting the bullet from being behind in the game. Just my opinion, we can’t play conservative like this when we are gifted with these weapons. Arians is holding this team back from its potential.

We have the offense that can take control of the game without relying on our defense to come up with the big play.  Arians isn't calling the right plays to push this offense to its potential, this is a 30 PPG average offense and we fail to put up 3 touchdowns a game.  It just frustrates me, he has to go after this season!

Ok fellow BTSC fans, I'm usually not the one to post fanposts often but after seeing the unfair calls against the Steelers, especially James Harrison I have come to the conclusion that Roger Goodell is turning this league into a 100% hard-hitting proof, QB league.   After having the pleasure of reading Michael Beans post about James Harrisons quote about his mistreatment in the league, I agreed with a lot of Harrisons points and he made it very clear that the league has been unjust with their rulings. 

The guy is doing his job and when you're close to 300 lbs and you are running at full speed to tackle someone "that is moving" you are not thinking about where to lower your helmet and how to tackle the person.  The LB on a blitz has limited time to force the QB out of the pocket and get the sack especially when the QB has a quick release.  Late hits back in the day were 2-4 seconds after the ball was released from the QB, the 4 seconds ones were obviously intentional.  Now, they are calling late "roughing the passer" hits 0.5 - 1 second after the ball is released and it is nearly impossible to calculate that when you are closing in on a QB a few feet away, going full speed and moving with all that weight...it is physically impossible!

The reason why I called my post "Brady's League" is because this guy and his team has gotten away with everything in the book.  From the infamous "Tuck Rule" that changed the game in so many bad ways, to getting late "roughing the passer calls" after he gets tackled to the ground and lands on his ass.  If you look at it, Brady gets all the calls in his favor and the history of those calls are used to justify the modern rule of the NFL Protecting The QB.  After Brady got injured last season, the NFL has made it a point to protect the star QB's more.  It has got to the point wear Qb's can hardly be touched without a flag and it makes me question why these guys even wear pads?  Oh, and the spygate scandal is just ridiculous how Bellichek and his staff were not suspended.  This just proves to me that it must be damn good to be a Patriot in this league.

I have faith in the Steelers this season and I think that we can patch up the holes in our D and our O but I unfortunately I have to agree with Hines Wards recent statements, one of these games are going to be ruined by a horrible call and it probably will be a playoff game, lets just hope not. It's us against the world now and our boys have to play like rebels.

Is it me or does ESPN hate on the Steelers.  I mean, everytime I watch ESPN, they never cover Steelers highlights and when they do, its very little coverage and its usually something that is negatively affecting the team (Roethlisbergers injury, Ben holding onto the ball too long, running game not working, etc.)  Also, they always make a big deal over the controversial calls happening in our games like that Holmes TD catch in the Ravens game...They can't quit talking about it,  ITS OVER, WE WON!! And even though Madden isn't on ESPN, he can't quit crying about the "Immaculate Reception"...John Madden, Just be thankful that you got to see that beuatiful event happen right before your eyes, it only comes once in a lifetime!

I often give credit to Mike Ditka and of course, Merril Hoge for respectively describing the Steelers strenghts and not being afraid to talk about how good of a team the Steelers are but Deon Sanders always has something negative to say, he's an idiot and I never see any of the Steelers in his stupid Primetime picks.  Chris Mortenson and Chris Berman are both flip-floppers, always going for the most publicized team to win...Whats it going to be this week guys..Titans or Ravens?   They all pick the Ravens now after saying the Titans were going all the way during the season.  Mariucci is cool, he usually tells it like it is but the rest of those guys suck.

I may be venting but I get sick of ESPN putting the Steelers on the backburner and never really spending time to cover a lot of aspects of our game.  We don't have a complete team but we have a good team with a great defense.  Show us somelove ESPN!!!

I wanted San Diego the whole time and even though it would be better to get the Dolphins, you have to look at the scenario. 

We can take out San Diego if Big Ben is good with his decision-making and utilizes the screen pass.  Our defense will shine and Sproles/Tomlinson will not have a big game like they did to the Colts because if you look at the Colts defense and then you look at ours, its night and day.  The Colts D was too simple, they let Sproles run all over them and gave Rivers too many passes under.  We play a lot like the Ravens D, very aggressive and as many of you saw, the Ravens defense gave the Dolphins a headache.

Now for the great news about Baltimore, they will face the Titans and will probably win in a hard fought battle.  My thoughts on this...let them scrap it out and by the time the winner advances to see us, they will be all banged up and there will possibly be a few injuries.  San Diego is already playing hurt, and we already had a week of rest so by the time we get to the AFC Championship, and if the Ravens win, we get home field advantage against a banged-up Ravens team.

As far as the matchup with San Diego, it will be our Special Teams against the Chargers Special Teams.  Their punter wil give us bad field position but it is up to Big Ben to get us out of it.  The defense will do their job but the offense needs to get a spark and score early.

Can't wait until the game....