I took the time to post this because of a simliar post by you guys on our forum.  hope it clarifies issues and what I consider a bad officiating day for BOTH sides.

I've read Peter Kings commentary.  that guy gets almost everything wrong.  And rodney harrison is a dirty player.  And yes that is tripping.  tripping is defined as INTENTIONAL attempt to bring a defensive or offensive player to the ground by getting underneath his knees during a pass play(who does not have the ball or the ball is not yet in play).  At the time it happened, the football had not been released.  So yes, this is tripping.  I dont care what harrison(cheap player) Goose(cheap player) king thing.  I'm surprised Dungy didnt know more.  Anyway, even if you disagree, that wasnt the only thing that went AGAINST the steelers.  

I'm getting annoyed by all the unnecessary whining that the steelers got favorable officiating.  check after the jump.

Oh, and I was at the game..AWESOME

First, heath Miller had INCIDENTAL CONTACT.  and yes, the route of the DB was thrown off as he did fall down.  However, this was PRIOR TO THE TOUCHDOWN PASS.  And the official rulebook states:

Actions that do not constitute offensive pass interference include but are not limited to:

(a) Incidental contact by a receiver’s hands, arms, or body when both players are competing for the ball (this did not happen as neither heath miller nor the db were near the ball) or neither player is looking for the ball.

(b) Inadvertent touching of feet when both players are playing the ball or neither player is playing the ball(neither were playing the ball).

(c) Contact that would normally be considered pass interference, but the ball is clearly uncatchable by involved players. -even though the DB FALLS DOWN...HE WAS NOT CAPABLE OF GOING NEAR HOLMES AS AT THAT POINT HOLMES WAS OFF COVERAGE.   the db was not involved in Holmes pursuit!

Note 1: If there is any question whether player contact is incidental, the ruling should be no interference.

Ok, now to the second issue, TRIPPING.... The definition of tripping is if a offensive player attempts to trip a defensive player ON PURPOSE.  I was at the game, but I kept hearing afterwards how Goose was against the call.  let me first off say that dude was one of the cheapest players on the defensive side.  no wonder he sided with the vikings.  Anyway...lets see here, yes the tight end did actually INTEND TO GO DOWN.  It looks like it was an accident, as if he fell.  you watch carefully and you can see his intent was to trip him over.  that is not allowed.  just because you dont have your foot out(ahem dallas cowboys) doesnt mean its not tripping.  That CERTAINLY IS CONSIDERED.

now, contact.  there was NO contact.  but that is STILL TRIPPING.  the INTENT to trip someone constitutes as TRIPPING.

And finally, Kick return.  watch carefully for the hold.  there was considerable holding during the wedge formation(which is apparantly legal as long as its only 2 players) and there was an obvious block in the back.  neither of which were called. 

so in the end, this goes both ways.

I'm getting annoyed by all the unnecessary whining that the steelers got favorable officiating.  check after the jump.

Oh, and I was at the game..AWESOME

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I heard he was Indian and I was pretty excited to hear that and wanted to find out more about him...I'm half indian half black and just curious what kind of player he is.  I'm always for Indians doing well in non academic areas.  Too many indian doctors, engineers, professors, CEOs if you ask me.  I'd rather see more indians doing well in the media-Jay Sean any1?  LMFAO-no i dont like his music but its cool he's number 2 in the country right now.

I also heard about some sort of leaping sack he made recently and I thought perhaps he was coming into his own.  How good a player is this dude?  Is he up and coming?  how old is he? I think about 26 right?  He was picked up on free agency for 3 years and a few mill-seems pretty cheap but then again may be reflective of his ability.  What do you guys think of him?

So apparantly woodley will be writing articles...or at least he'll be giving his thoughts and someone else will or something like that.  anyway heres the link and check what i think after the jump

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/lamarr_woodley/10/08/diary/index.html

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A lot of steelers fans are concerned about the 'lack' of sacks by the steelers in 2009...so I figured I'd go ahead and do a little analysis.  check it out after the jump.

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I've been scouring for information regarding steelers/cincy matchups and i was surprised to find this information.

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Is this true?  The nytimes has a blurb about the steelers in a semi-humorous fashion..check it out after the jump.

From the NYTimes:

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so how good is he really?  he seems to have a pretty good run this year...but its suspect.  the broncos aren't known to have good offensive line...yea yea we dont either...

and  he was up against a backup guard against the packers.  any info on this guy?

I havn't heard of him much and he wasnt great last year nor was he much of a playmaker with the titans...hence left...

Good:

1.  A lot of naysayers about the fans of pittsburgh.  many complained about the Oline, the lack of addressing the issue, the weakness in pass protection and how the coaching staff is responsible.  Its only the second game but those with faith in the oline and coaches saw dividends sunday.  The game was played well.  the running game was improving.  thats what I liked about it.  

As a result, I'm sure the steelers will cope with this loss just as well as any.  they'll take it in stride, not panick because they're veterans, and cover their weaknesses.

2. Offensive line played really well.  I mean very well.  Both sacks were because Ben either held the ball to long or did not audible out of an obvious loaded pass rush.

3.  Rashard Mendenhall: he's very young and showed he can run decisively.  What I Liked about the run around wasn't his speed or his yardage but his willingness to move the chain.  I doubt willie parker would have done that.  he has confidence in himself even with limited NFL appearances.

4. Ben is making better decisions.  I like the way ben is throwing.  he wasnt perfect, but at least with the time he's given he's throwing well and not interception/risky throw prone.

5. This is only the second game.  If I were to lose a game I'd definately lose this one so we can figure out what mistakes we're making and get a severe reality check.  This was one of those games.

6. Deshea Townsend is a veteran.  Put him in play for Carter.

The BAD:

1. For Holmes to be clutch and considered pro bowl level he needs to keep his head in the game.  he has to catch all kinds of balls.  good passes, bad passes, ugly passes.  most of the dropped passes were good.  rain and incidental deflections do not count as excuses.  as a future #1 receiver he needs to grab them all.  ward was 7/8 passes for comparison. 

2. Reed missed field goals: 2.  This isn't on him.  Why are we dependent on him in the first place?

3. Ben's decision making/throwing.  For the most part, he's thrown well.  but some of his passes were not as accurate.  the announcers said it was because of the rain.  again...no excuses.  he's getting paid elite level money.  i'd like to see it more. Also, ben needs to know when taking sacks is BAD.  he cannot be taking stupid sacks when they're within field goal range.  thats not good.

4. Tyrone carter looks awful in coverage.  He's responsible for both touchdowns and let it happen.  Abosultely bad.  He needs to be replaced or needs to do a better job quickly.

5. William Gay needs to play better-FAST.  I'm not putting too much blame on him...bryant took a few years to come along and did his best in contract year..but gay based on the coaches seems to have come along fine.  im hoping he comes along fine faster so that he can contribute quickly.  or we're in for a long season.

THE UGLY

1. steelers were exploited on defense.  And it showed.  The best way to hurt us is by throwing to the flats.  we all know that.  it forces our lbs in coverage and then we depend only on 3 man pressure.  not something that we can depend on over and over again. 

pretty soon cutler was throwing to the middle because there wasnt as much pressure.  thats where we got burned.  our corners were mediocre.  taylor was decent but his penalties on special teams hurt.  gay was abused by knox all day and carter wasnt good at all.  the play was bad.  i'd much rather have townsend and im sure that the quality of play would improve dramatically.  he knows how to cover, is smart, and knows the playbook well.  a veteran is needed in the back. 

2. if this is isnt fixed quickly a lot of teams will be able to hurt us in the back.  even the bengals.  andthey're not as bad as before.  i'm not particularly happy with the next game.  things could get a lot worse before they get better.

3. this is where our running game needs to step in.  we need to keep the ball on offense.  we need to chew up the time.  in the first half the steelers owned pretty much the entire game.  the time of possesion was good in the first half with the steelers holding the ball for 20 of 30 minutes.  in the fourth quarter- less than 5. that cannot happen.  by holding the ball longer the steelers force the other team to throw deeper and be less dependant on the short pass.  by holding the ball longer our defense doesn't tire out.  this is really the only way we can fix our problems.  Our corners are lacking and our safeties cannot be depended on for every play.

4. My biggest fear about this game was the way our defense was exploited.  thats dangerous.  last year we lost games.  but we lost games because of collosal failures on offense.  i cant blame the oline or even the players that badly for this loss.  our defense was exploited and it shows that we cannot depend on close games to win everytime. we need touchdowns where field goals are...

i know reed missed twice.  but that doesnt mean its his fault.  he's not perfect.  he's clutch 80% of the time.  that other 20% will show up and it will show up when it counts most if we keep having close games.  why should we depend on him?  why cant we get the touchdowns when we need to?  This is when holmes needs to step up as do the rest of the team, including ben's miscued throws and unwarranted sacks.  its cool he can extend plays but as someone we consider elite he needs to absolutely KNOW when to throw the ball away/when to change play.  thats his fault.  absolutely his fault.  to be championship caliber he needs to get to the next level which is moving out of his COMFORT ZONE and taking the risk of the loss.

After the jump: what we can learn:

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I'm not an expert by any means but my predictions these past few years have panned out fairly well.  I predicted the 05 bowl and the 08 after the first game...

ok so i predicted last year after brady went down, but still...check out my top 10 after the jump

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