BEHIND ENEMY LINES: MORNING AFTER IN NEW ENGLAND

My son goes to school in Boston, right down the street from the area that Mayor Mumbles Menino had locked down last night in anticipation of post-Super Bowl celebratory hi-jinks. We told him to say put in his dorm if the Pats won. Local news showed Kenmore Square an hour after the Patriots went down in flames, and there was nary a soul in sight, save for a few young Giants fans, strutting their stuff and commandeering the Channel 5 cameras.

The apple not falling far from the tree, my boy on his Facebook posted something on the order of “The only thing close to a Steelers win is a Patriots loss.” To which, one of his swim buddies, posted, “I seriously hate you right now.” Another said, “Remember losing to the Packers in last year’s Super Bowl?” to which my kid responded, “Remember the Steelers WINNING six Super Bowls?”

Anyway, as I posted last week, part of my aging process is leaving the angst and negative energy to the younger generation and trying to not be consumed with the thoughts of the Patriots winning the Super Bowl. My in-laws, young and old would be happy. The guy that owns the gas station down the street, who is nice to me about the Steelers, would be happy. The local district court judge, who is nice to me about the Steelers, would be happy. But y’know what!! Hell with them!! I was rooting hard for the Giants last night, and when the final Hail Mary fell incomplete, I couldn’t suppress an ear-to-ear grin and catcalls directed toward Belichick, Brady, et al.

FWIW (and likely not much), some thoughts about last night’s Super Bowl:

*The Duct Tape Defense of the New England Patriots came home to roost late in last night’s 4th quarter. All year long, the redeeming quality of this 32nd ranked defense had been their middle-of-the-pack standing in points allowed. You can’t put that bunch of castoffs and misfits on the field with four minutes left, in a spot where a field goal beats them. THAT was too much to expect.

*Which leads to the impact of the Welker drop.I didn’t feel bad for The Pompous Robert Kraft, despite the attempts of NBC to cast him as the mourning widower post-game. Had one of the Rooney wives similarly passed (and for all we know, they might have), you would never see a national spectacle made of it. I certainly don’t feel bad for Brady & Belichick. I do feel bad for Wes Welka. He’s a tough little shit, and I’ll never forget, after he was laid out by Ryan Clark in ’08 and the New England media wanting to crucify Clark, Welker saying it was a good hit. If there’s such a thing as crying without tears, that was Wes Welker post-game last night. Had he made that catch though, worst-case scenario for the Pats is they’re running the clock down to the 2-minute warning, kicking a FG to go up 5 points, and Giants having two minutes, no timeouts, to drive the length of the field for a winning touchdown. Other irony? Welker was targeted 8 times…made 7 catches. He does catch what’s thrown his way…except for…

*In the same vein of the Patriots defense, it’s been widely stated on New England talk radio this morning that the pass to Manningham was an unstoppable perfect catch-throw by Giants, and was well-defended by the Patriots. Not so, says Herm Edwards, on Mike & Mike this morning. Herm was fired up, saying with trips on Manningham’s side, Scrap Heap Sterling Moore didn’t need to worry about a slant, and his only responsibility was not to allow Manningham to walk the rail (something about rail, meaning sideline). It was his top priority, said Edwards, to jam Manningham to the inside, not allowing him access to the sideline. Once Manningham had the sideline, safety help was about 14 yards away. Too far; too late!!

*More on the defense. Whither Julian Edelman? After all the pre-game hubbub, we didn’t see #11 on the defensive side. We hardly saw him, if at all, on the offensive side either.

*Give Belichick this. The standard intel has been that he will take away the one guy that he doesn’t want to have beat him. And to that effect, he more or less took away Victor Cruz (4 catches, 25 yards?).

*Much is being made of the Time of Possession difference of 37 minutes to 23 minutes. Almost all of that though, was the 1st quarter, and the impact of the Patriots initial one-play possession ending in a safety.

*Brady’s bomb to Gronk that was picked was reminiscent to Brady’s long pick in the AFCCG. He didn’t survive this one though. Speaking of Brady and the long-ball, I forget the standard exactly, but Brady down the field (maybe 13 yards, maybe 20 yards) in the last two Super Bowls now stands at ZERO for 13.

*Did Jason Pierre-Paul’s rush on the final Hail Mary remind anyone else of Lamarr Woodley’s rush on Warner in the same spot in SB XLIII, causing a Warner fumble to end the game?

There’s some advantage to being old and the boss of your work place (‘course, I’ve been in that spot since I was 30 years old), and one of them is my being able to keep my computer tuned to New England Talk Radio all day. First, there’s the twin douchebags Dennis & Callahan in the morning (Dennis is a Pittsburgh native), then Gresh & Zo midday (both Western Pa. natives), and then the morons Felga & Mazzerotti (I refuse to call him Maz) to end the day. I’m going to enjoy it.

Day After Behind Enemy Lines!!

PLAYOFF SBI (Steelers Best Interest)

The 2011 season of Roger Goodell’s kindler, gentler NFL, a year punctuated by a plethora of penalties for hitting too hard, a suspension for a football play between the whistles, and the general discouragement of anything approaching solid pass defense, is in the books. And the close of the post-lockout campaign ended with a pair of teams facing win/you’re in situations, losing, and still finding themselves in the tournament.

The Pittsburgh Steelers face the post-season attempting to be the first team in NFL history to twice win the Super Bowl from the Wild Card position. The Playoffs pose one overwhelmingly key question for the denizens of Steeler Nation:

*What’s SBI next Saturday?: What defines Steelers Best Interest in the leadoff game of next weekend’s quadruple-header. Should the Steelers make it out of Denver alive (see Joey Porter, “They SHOT me in Denver”), would the Black & Gold be best off traveling to Foxboro to square off with the Patriots, or heading off to Baltimore to face the Ravens? Do we want the track meet or the bloodbath? Do the Steelers challenge the team whom they’ve beaten this season but who has had the clear upper hand in playoff meetings, or are they better off going up against the team that’s beaten them twice this year, but never come playoff time?

Should the Bengals, they who failed us in Paul Brown Stadium but nevertheless secured a playoff spot, beat the Texans in Houston, then the Steelers will face the Ravens and still maintain some chance of hosting an AFC Championship Game should the Bengals then upset the Patriots. Should the Texans win, then the Steelers take on the Patriots in the Razor.

Personally, I’m leaning toward a Steelers-Ravens matchup for several reasons, one of which is relevant only to me, and perhaps a few others of our readership:

-In this quarterback-driven league, I still have a hard time knowingly electing to face Tom Brady instead of Joe Flacco. Yes, I know that there’s much more to a team than its quarterback, and the Ravens bring the defense. However, in addition to Brady being both imminently better than Flacco, and a proven clutch performer, fact is, I’m not sold on the Ravens defense. Don’t get me wrong, they’re nowhere near as soft as the Patriots, but it was just a few short weeks ago, that Philip Rivers sliced and diced this bunch every time he had the ball. Combine this the Brady/Flacco equation, and I’m leaning toward favoring a matchup with the Ravens.

Next, is the schedule. Perhaps I’m making too much of this, but I’m not liking the prospect of the Steelers playing in Denver next Sunday, then having a short week prior to a Saturday night matchup in Foxboro versus a team coming off of a bye. Seeking some history on the difficulty of this task, I searched for a record of a team winning the Sunday Wild Card game on the road, then repeating that trick the following Saturday. Oh….I didn’t have to look too hard. Packers did it last year, same time slots, first beating the Eagles at Lincoln Financial, then fairly well obliterating the Falcons in the Georgia Dome. Still….I don’t like it.

Lastly, and this is where it gets personal. I live in New England. I’ve sat through the longest day of my life as a sports fan in the Fog Bowl at Foxboro Stadium in ’96, having nothing to cheer about while Patriots idgits laughed in my face all day enroute to their first home playoff win ever, a 28-3 victory over the Steelers. I’ve twice been forced to fly back home from Pittsburgh with a planeful of celebratory, but decidedly knuckle-headed Patriots fans following Championship wins over the Steelers in Heinz Field. Simply put, I don’t know if I can take it again. I might go for that early retirement, put up the For Sale signs, pull up stakes should the Steelers fall again to the Patriots in the playoffs. Yes, a playoff win over the Patriots would be nirvana. I come down on the risk-averse side though, in the risk/reward rubric. I’ll acknowledge that there’s a ton of Steeler fans living in Ravens country who are feeling the opposite. However, you’ve had the joy of laughing at your acquaintances and neighbors in purple come playoff time. I’ve not done that in fourteen years, and have had heartbreak in between.

In closing, just a few words about the Steelers readiness for the playoffs:

*Be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about the Steelers offensive production. Since Thanksgiving, Steelers have managed 13, 3 & 13 points on the road. Keep in mind, Denver can’t win a game where its opponent scores some points. Let’s not let the Tebows hang around next weekend.

*The Mendenhall injury is significant, but it’s manageable. Face it, the Steelers running game is second fiddle to the passing offense, and I’m thinking it will be in good hands with Isaac Redman. Hopefully, Mewelde Moore returns as well, and John Clay maybe offers a few good carries.

*Steelers won’t miss Cortez Allen if he can’t go next weekend, but should they travel to Foxboro on January 14th, I sure hope that #28 is at the ready. We’ll need him, but I still wouldn’t be surprised to see the Steelers change things up a bit and have Ike cover Gronkowski rather than Welker.

*I’m still worried about our kicker. Sure hope this isn’t an off-season of teeth-gnashing over the Steelers failure to make a change in this department.

Best time of the year. The interference of the holidays are now behind us. May we have a long and productive Steeler January!!

OHIO NEW YEAR’S DAY: STEELERS/RAVENS INVASION

First a few thoughts on the Xmas Eve affair at Heinz Field. Steelers, for the first time since the ’02 season, won a home game following an away Monday nighter. That the Steelers were 0-6 in such contests going back to the ’05 season had me a bit concerned. Last time the Steelers managed to win in this spot was in the ’02 finale, beating Baltimore after having won a big one at Tampa the previous Monday night against the eventual Super Bowl champs.

My one and only thought on the game is that the Play of the Game, for my money, was Antonio Brown’s tackle on the fake punt, in Steeler territory, 3-0 margin at the time. If AB doesn’t make that play, things might have gotten a whole lot tighter.

Will the Steelers receive the help they need this weekend in order to win the AFC North and gain the first round bye. The Steelers have historically gotten the help they’ve needed to make the playoffs, this having been the case in ’76, ’77, ’89 & ’93, ironically at the expense of the Bengals in all but the ’93 season. However, when they’ve needed help to earn the bye, they’ve not been so lucky. I forget what fell into place for the Steelers to earn the #1 seed in ’92, but they might have been better finishing #2 and not facing the defending AFC Champion Buffalo Bills. In ’96 & ’02, they needed first the Patriots, and then the Raiders to lose their finales to gain the bye…didn’t happen.

One of the questions facing Steeler fans this weekend is how they’ll choose to handle their viewing responsibilities at 4:15pm New Year’s Day. Personally, I’m considering three different options:

*Travel to a local establishment, Nashua Garden, which serves $2.50 drafts and has five TVs tuned to Sunday Ticket. When I’ve frequented this joint, I’m the first person in the door, at Noon, when the place is still filled with Man U fans watching soccer (they drop more f-bombs per capita than the NFL crowed), and commander multiple TVs for the games I’m hoping to watch simultaneously. They draw a good Steeler crowd, probably as many as all the other fandoms combined. With the 4:15 start though, the early arrival advantage gets negated. Still might do this though.

*Stay at home, tune into Sunday Ticket….keep the clicker at the ready to switch often to Bengals-Raiders. This will be very unsatisfactory, as I want it all…want to see every play of both games, not miss a thing.

*Hopefully, one of the two games gets the network nod from the Boston CBS affiliate. Hopefully, they don’t give a shit about the Tebows and will find the Ravens-Bengals battle more compelling. One could make the case that this one is more relevant to the Patriots as well, should they stumble against Buffalo earlier in the day. If that’s the case, then I’ll be home, one TV tuned to Sunday ticket, another propped atop the satellite tube, tuned into Ravens-Bengals on my cable connection.

Questions for Steelers this week, one relevant and one not…

*What about Ben?

*Any chance Hines catches five balls to reach 1,000?

More importantly, what about the Bungals and beating the Ravens. They damn near beat a healthier Ravens team, in Baltimore, and they didn’t have the amazing rookie receiver, A.J. Green. On the downside, these are the Bengals. Throughout their moribund history, this is not the type of game that this franchise wins.

Let’s say a lot of Orange & Black prayers this week.

GO STEELERS!!!

GO BENGALS!!!

STEELERS: GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Lest you think this is another history lesson from one of this site’s old-timers, well…it is…but just for a bit. There are some historical parallels to be noted, one completely meaningless, the other potentially more relevant.

*The former is that the last time the NFL schedule included Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day matchups was the 2005 season. I was on vacation in the Florida Keys at the time, and watched both contests at the Shanna Key in Key West, a bar which looked more apropos to Pittsburgh than to Sunny Florida. The Steelers, then, as now, needed some help at this supposedly joyous time of year, and found it on Christmas Eve as the Chiefs victory over the Chargers paved the way for the Steelers to sneak into the playoffs as the #6 seed. Of course, the Steelers were on a good run of productive scoreboard watching that December as they need two losses apiece by both the Chiefs and Chargers in the season’s final four weeks in order to land a playoff berth. The rest of that season, as we know, is sweet history. Unfortunately, this parallel is completely irrelevant to the Pittsburgh Steelers, circa 2011.

*More relevant, unfortunately so, is the Steelers record since the 2005 season when they return home to Heinz Field following a Monday Nighter on the road. The Steelers are zero for their past six in this circumstance. Additional complications to this historically dire situation is that this road trip happened to take place three time zones hence and the upcoming home game is on Saturday rather than Sunday, making the short work week even more abrupt.

Okay…thoughts on last night, none of them particularly original:

*The usual complaints, from the usual suspects:

-The line didn’t protect Ben well: Seems to me that the o-line rose to the occasion and protected the guy that always has their backs. Ben was sacked three times, all of them in the 4th quarter

-Steelers couldn’t produce on 3rd down: Steelers 3rd down production was stronger than at any point during the Steelers 4-game win skein. They were 8 for 14 on the night, including 6 for 7 in the first half.

-Arians, always Arians: No one runs on the 49ers, and Arians is being taken to task particularly for his calls for runs on 1st down. Steelers had 19 rushing attempts, 12 of them on first down. Mewelde Moore ran 21 yards on 1st down on the final drive of the 1st half, which ended as a debacle. A pair of 1st down runs produced 11 yards each. A 6-yard run was whistled back for holding on the left guard, a penalty that’s an automatic on this team at least once a game, and three more 1st down runs gained at least 3 yards.

Now, for the warts:

*Pre-game, word was one consequence of Ben’s injury was that his balls could sail on him, could be high. We certainly saw that on Ben’s 2nd pick of the night when he overshot an open Heath Miller.

*My eyes tell me that Mike Wallace could do a better job of fighting for the ball. Not that he would have been in that spot at this juncture in his career, but isn’t the endzone toss to Wallace in the 2nd quarter, a ball that Hines Ward comes up with? Speaking of Hines, I don’t think he’s getting his thousand. So what.

*The defense is taking some heat for once again allowing a long drive during their first appearance of the night. My bigger problem with the D is allowing San Francisco to answer with a touchdown drive right after the Steelers had narrowed the margin to 6-3.

*Speaking of that margin, I’m not going to kill our kicker as he did make a 51-yarder, but he really needed to make the 48-yarder as well, which makes it a one-score game.

Most importantly, going forward, we return to scoreboard-watching, as early as this Thursday night.

*I watched the entire Carolina-Houston game on Sunday afternoon, and the Texans rookie QB, T.J. Yates, played…well…like a rookie. The other rookie, Cam Newton, was impressive, but Houston, in my estimation, can be had, even by Indy in their Dome. Should the Texans drop this one, or their finale against a descending Tennessee club, and…

*Baltimore drops their finale in Paul Brown Stadium, and let’s not forget that regardless of this weekend’s results, the Bengals will still have playoff life on the first weekend of the New Year….

The Steelers can still win the AFC North and cop a first-round bye.

BELIEVE!!!

WHY THE COLLEGE GAME IS BETTER…

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t watch a whole lot of college football, primarily because this notion of deciding the national champion via the ballot box is anathema to me. Combine that with the related issues then of scheduling teams that powerhouses can beat up on, then in fact beating up on said opponents, and then a case being made for a higher ranking based on margin of victory, and it’s not a sport that I choose to follow closely.

The college game has it all over the NFL though in this regard. Simply put, they don’t mess with the essence of the game. Last night, for the first time, I heard a commentator identify the problem that I’ve noted for a number of years. Chris Collinsworth, after yet another illegal contact call on a 3rd down on which the New York Giants defense would have otherwise gotten off the field, noted that it’s particularly tough on rookies not to engage in illegal contact, as in the college game, you can “hit the receiver all the way down the field if you want.” Exactly!!

The NFL messes with the natural order of things in legislating out of the game risks that teams should be able to take if they so desire. To wit:

*If a team elects to bump the receiver all the way down the field, as long as the ball’s not in the air, they run the risk of getting beaten deep as a result of their tight coverage.

*If a team elects to release their punt coverage prior to the ball being kicked, they run an increased risk of the punt being blocked.

And lastly, when watching a college game, I’m really not worried about yellow flags dotting the landscape due to the hitting being simply too hard. In those rare instances where I have a rooting interest in a college game (Penn State), I’m fairly safe in letting loose with unbridled enthusiasm when my team registers a sack, or separates the intended receiver from the ball, without first checking to see if all of the zebras’ hankies are in place.

The College Game. They don’t mess with the natural order.

Once I exhaled following last night’s game, I got to thinking what the scene might have been like at the Rhine River VFW in Akron, Ohio. Was Mildred Harrison putting up her Dukes, willing to left hook any Browns fan that got in her grill? Was she about to administer a severe beatdown to anyone wearing Orange & Brown that dissed her Baby Boy, her young James who’d just knocked out his 3rd Brownie in their last two trips to the albatross of Heinz Field? Understand as well, that Stan Savran told me, last time I called his show, that last year, when James claimed the scalps of both Josh Cribbs and Mohammed Massaquoi, that he found Mildred in the concourse at halftime, directing a volley of vitriol at a TV screen, where the CBS studio boys, like Boomer Esiason, were criticizing her son. Mildred’s one badass Mama, has the rap sheet to prove it, and last showed us once again that the apple falls not far from the tree in the Harrison family.

Don’t get me wrong. Seven is arguably as tough an hombre as has every walked on a gridiron, and his performance last night, his mere ability to play the second half was heroism of epic proportions. But, for my money, the game ball goes to James Harrison. Think about the plays he made. He blows up the Browns 3rd down handoff to Peyton Hills within inches of the goalline on their 1st possession. He knocks their quarterback woozy, so young Colt McCoy doesn’t even remember throwing his ill-fated pick when he had a game-winning touchdown within his sights, and then he puts the rush on the little runt, forcing an intentional grounding call that knocks the Clowns from the Steelers five-yard line back to the 15. Doing the math, I’m figuring that Deebo kept 11 points off of the wrong end of the scoreboard.

As were likely most of you, I was a nervous wreck when the Browns reached the Steelers five. Unlike many of you though, I had faith that the Brownies wouldn’t find the endzone, but rather, particularly when they were knocked back to the fifteen, that they’d narrow the margin to 7-6, then their defense would get the ball back and we’d be sweating out a potential 9-7 loss on a game-winning field goal at the final gun. Don’t know about you, but to me, no worse way to lose than seeing a kick sail between the uprights to end the game, and there’s not a thing anyone can do about it. Trust me; I’ve been there to see the Browns beat the Steelers like this at the final gun. Was in ’99, and my brother Tony had scored tickets in the Auxiliary Press Box at Three Rivers. He told me I couldn’t get loud, couldn’t make noise, as this was a working venue. I abided by those rules, but see, the Auxiliary Press Box also had this spread that included all the beer you could drink. At any rate, that fucker Tim Coach drove the Browns the length of the field in the final two minutes, Don Cockroft kicked the game-winner as time expired, and as the Steelers left the field, I belted out, “I HATE you *#%&$ (expletives deleted)” As you might expect, Tony never scored those seats again….though he didn’t get fired from his job.

The only other thing I’ll touch on from last night’s game is Tomlin’s decision on 4th down at the goal line. The more I think about it, the more I’m okay with it. He had this little convo with LeBeau right before the 4th down play. My astute observational skills tell me that they had jointly decided that if they didn’t score on the 4th down play, that they would rather have the Browns backed up to their own 1, down four points, than down seven points, but having much better field position with which to begin a potentially game-tying drive. This actually played out alright since the Steelers did force a 3 & out, did take possession at the Browns 36, and did move into range where they could have made the field goal that they passed up, if weren’t for the ongoing antics of Chris Kemoeatu, the noted Honor Roll Student of Kahaku (Hawaii) High School. I guess we should feel fortunate that Mensa Kemo didn’t further complicate matters by spearing someone after the whistle.

Actually, a couple more things. Antonio Brown is an absolute delight. I had to laugh when Ed Hochuli jobbed him out of a catch and the very next play, AB made another superb grab, this time on 3rd down, for a first down. Then, seeing that dude on the NFLN put a ear-to-ear grin on my face. All those boys, with the exception of Smug Rich Eisen were obviously enjoying the hell out of him, and Irvin game him a prolonged hug as he left, “Receiver to Receiver,” in the words of The Playmaker.

Our major worry going forward, besides hoping like hell that the Ravens drop another one, is the health of our football team. Remaining injury-free as we near year-end is perhaps the greatest factor in playoff success. Steelers were rounding into shape, but know we’re plagued by these high ankle sprains and other assorted maladies. Well, let’s all drink to SGH (Steelers Good Health) and it’s on to Frisco to whip the Niners.

 

BYE WEEK BALONEY (aka, JAGOFF JUMBO): STEELERS-BENGALS

 

I hate the Bye Week.  In fact, in The Manifesto, I included the bye week in the chapter entitled Shit I Hate About the NFL.  Up until 1990, we didn’t need no freakin’ bye week.  Then, in ’93, we had to endure TWO bye weeks.

 

Only thing bye week is good for taking care of things like foliage rides, visiting your sister-in-law, or other dislikeable tasks, like raking leaves.  So next Sunday, I’ll get out the rake, get out the wheelbarrow, and clean up my yard. Wait a minute!! Bengals-Ravens is at 1 o’clock.  Okay…I’ll get to the leaf-raking afterwards, around 4:15.  Gets dark around 4:30…quittin’ time!!

 

The only thing worse than Bye Week is losing going into the bye week.  Two weeks to sit with a loss?  No thanks.  So, at least Steelers enter the Bye Week, not only riding high off of their win at Paul Brown Stadium in a tough AFC North battle, but also knowing that the Ravens blew another one, at Seattle. 

 

On Football:

*This Steeler team continues to impress me with their ability to answer following opponents scores.  This is the 4th consecutive game where the Steelers responded to their opponent putting the ball in the end zone with a touchdown drive of their own.  And yesterday, it was the Bengals tying the game, overcoming a 14-point deficit, which the Steelers had to answer.

 

*Big day for Willie Gay.  Four passes defensed, including the one that Timmons picked, as well as his own pick to save the day, with the Bengals 25 yards from tying it up.

 

*Hines: I was a little surprised, and encouraged, to see the Steelers start the game in a 2-wide receiver set, with one of those wides not being a reportedly healthy Hines Ward.  I was even a little more surprised, and even more encouraged, when Hines ceded to Cotchery in 3-wide sets.  Hines may not make it to 1000 catches.  Coach Tomlin needs to be resolute on making every effort to win ballgames, and right now that doesn’t include many appearances for one of the Steelers all-time greats.  My question is, once Manny Sanders and Arnez Battle return, whether Tomlin can still give a hat to the #5 wide who doesn’t play teams.  I think he does, but it’s a fair question.

 

*Shawn Suisham, for all of his shortcomings in his primary job, kicking field goals, does stick his Canadian nose in covering kicks.  He made the only kick that was asked of him yesterday, a 39-yarder.  Despite his limited range, and his having missed a number of kicks even within that range, he’s made all three of his kicks during the last two games.   Despite reports of Skippy having been seen on the SaSide, I’d be surprised if the Steelers made a change in this department….but I hope they do!

 

*The Wheel of Fortune came up big for the Steelers yesterday.  Consider:

-The injury to AJ Green sure helped.   I know that Troy & Clark misplayed the TD pass, but Green can play.  One of the most comforting images yesterday was every time the TV camera panned to Green on the stationary bike.  That’s where I wanted that dude to stay…stationary.

-Anyone else waiting for the flag to drop on the Steelers 1st TD of the game, when it sure looked like Ben was flirting with crossing the line of scrimmage before hitting Cotchery for the score.  I was more than a little surprised that Marvin Lewis didn’t drop the challenge flag, and way more surprised that he didn’t get a better look in his own house.  That said, the penalty that reversed Cotchery’s 2nd trip to the endzone was unmitigated bullshit.

-It was starting to look like déjà vu all over again, circa 2009.  Remember, the Maginot Line season, where on three consecutive weeks, the Steelers surrendered game-tying or winning drives after having their opponent backed up to the shadow of their own goalposts,  in the vicinity of their 10-yard line.  The wounds of last week’s 92-yard winning drive by the Ravens were still raw, when the Bengals took possession….92 yards away from tying the game, in the 4th quarter.  I’m sure we were all saying, “Aw shit,” when they smartly moved out to the 40 and were ready to break our respective TVs when they moved into Steeler territory.  Not so fast, the first Bengals penalty of the day effectively killed that drive.

 

*Going Forward, there’s no reason whatsoever that the Steelers shouldn’t be sitting at 10-3 when they take field in the Bay Area for a Monday Nighter before Christmas.  They play a limited KC Chiefs team at Arrowhead (no such thing as a gimme on the road in the NFL), then return home for consecutive contests against the Browns and Bengals.  Following the San Francisco Treat (…most of you young’uns may not remember Rice-a-Roni), in a scheduling quirk, the Steelers return home for a Saturday date against the Rams on Christmas Eve.  I know the Rams are bad, and they beat an arguably even worse Browns team yesterday that couldn’t manage a long snap for a chippy game-winning field goal, but….keep in mind that the last SIX times, dating back to 2005, that the Steelers came home following an away Monday Nighter, they lost.  Add in that this is a West Coast trip, and the short week is made even shorter and, well, I’m glad they’re not returning home to play the Bengals.

 

AFC North title, 1st Round Bye, Home field throughout, all remain very real possibilities for the 2011 Picksburgh Steelers.  Root like hell for the Bengals on Bye Week!!  Then, and only then, go rake the leaves.

Bill Priatko, my coach at Swissvale High School in 1971, is an alumnus of North Braddock Scott High School and the University of Pittsburgh. He signed on with the Green Bay Packers in 1958, and proceeded to play for the Steelers under Buddy Parker, and then for the Browns, under the legendary Paul Brown. He is the subject of an article in the Maple Street Press Steelers Annual 2011 (<!-- w -->www.maplestreetpress.com<!-- w -->). Here's Bill's story of breaking his orbital bone, in the late 1940s.

I was a senior at Scott High School and in the third game against Munhall, I was making a tackle and the running back’s knee banged into my cheek/eye area. After the game while combing my hair, after a shower, I had a terrible black eye. MY mother was upset and said, no more football, she wasn’t going to let me play. On that Saturday night, the day after the game, my older brother took me to a drug store in Braddock purchased some leeches, put them on my eye and it took the ugly black from my eye. My mother couldn’t believe it, I told her it would be okay. ( she didn’t know about the leeches). Four days later, my cheekbone/eye area was paining me, it didn’t seem natural. I told my coach, Johnny Reed and he told me to go to Braddock Hospital and get it x-rayed. I walked two miles to the hospital and two miles back carrying the x-ray. The doctor at the hospital told me my playing days were over, that year, as he said I had a broken orbital bone under my eye. My coach, when I handed him the x-ray said, “ what did he say, Pratt?” I told him what he said and he said, “what does he know, you’ll be alright.” He said “we will put a nose guard on you”. ( nose guards were available, at that time but were not used) I never missed a practice that week. I played that week and the rest of the season. Nine years later while playing for Green Bay against the Washington Redskins, I broke my nose. ( in those days, you never said anything and didn’t leave the game) After the game, they x-rayed my nose and the doctor confirmed the break and said, “ do you know that you have a broken orbital bone that is an old injury and it is healed in a fragmented, broken manner. When did this happen?” I told him when and how it happened and he said that that should have been fixed when it happened. To this day, my orbital bone is in the same condition. It should have been surgically repaired when I broke it, 63 years ago.

“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” So might as well the denizens of Steeler Nation cried after Sunday’s Debacle in Baltimore at the hands of the hated Ravens. The Steelers were flat, they were complacent, they’re fat cats, high rollers, devoid of intensity. They think the remainder of the AFC North should roll over and “crown their asses.” So say Yinzers far and wide, in Pittsburgh, coast to coast, and worldwide.

Okay; let’s get a grip, Steeler brethren. Yes, the Black & Gold stunk up the joint yesterday. The line blocked at times as though they were the midget wrestlers, Fuzzy Cupid and Hi Lo Lo. Ben lofted balls that were reminiscent of Ed Brown in Yankee Stadium in the December ’63 tilt that cost the Steelers their first division title. The defensive stalwarts generally failed to make plays. Is such a performance unique, or does it harken to a familiar refrain? Let’s have a look at some other Chicken Little performances by our heroes:

*September 29, 1974: After filling the air with footballs, and rolling up 65 points, during their first two outings, the Steelers, with Joe Gilliam at the helm, put up a goose-egg, roll a gutter ball, against the Oakland Raiders. Yes, the Oakland Raiders, every bit as hated, actually moreso, during the 1970s, as are the Baltimore Ravens of the present era. Jefferson Street Joe completed hit on only 9 of 33 passes in that game, hoisting a trio of balls to the boys in Silver & Black. The Steelers hardly looked the part of Super Bowl contenders, losing 17-0 on their home turf. The Sky was Falling!

*September 28, 1975: “Miami’s got the Oranges,” the saying went, “but Buffalo’s got The Juice!” And O.J. Simpson ran over, around and through the Steelers defense for 227 yards during the Steelers home opener. Connelsville’s Jim Braxton added 80 more, and the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers, fresh off of a 37-0 road victory in San Diego the previous week, found themselves on the short end of a 30-21 score. The Sky was Falling!

*October 23, 1978: The undefeated Steelers fully expected to extend their record to 8-0 in a Monday night tilt against the Oilers, but Earl Campbell had other ideas. He ran for three scores, and the Oilers registered a 24-17 victory at Three Rivers Stadium. The Sky wasn’t exactly Falling after his one, but the night was sufficiently disappointing for Steeler fans.

*October 14, 1979: The 5-1 Steelers turned the ball over nine times against the winless Bengals, losing 34-10 at Riverfront Stadium. Chuck Noll suggested that the Steelers were more worried about the Pirates World Series matchup than they were about their own game. If the Sky wasn’t falling after this game, it certainly was later that same season, when Terry Bradshaw threw five interceptions during a 35-7 loss at San Diego.

*November 28, 2005: The Steelers were thoroughly dominated in a Monday Night affair in Indy, 26-7, during Ben Roethlisberger’s return from a 3-week hiatus due to injury. The passing-proficient Colts even registered a hundred-yard rusher against the Steelers as Edgerrin James ran for a buck-twenty-four. The Sky was opening up, and then was decidedly falling the following Sunday when the Steelers dropped a 38-31 decision at home to the Cincinnati Bengals, leaving them with a record of 7-5 and losing their tentative grasp on a playoff spot.

*September 21, 2008: Ben Roethlisberger was sacked nine times and the Steelers failed to pierce the endzone, falling 15-6 to the Iggles at Lincoln Financial. The offensive line was in disarray. The Sky was definitely falling!

The obvious commonality of all of the debacles cited here, and make no mistake, all of these games were Ug-Lee, is that the Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl in all six seasons.

So, dear friends, and Chicken Littles among you, worry not….or at least not so much. There’s plenty of season left to be played. There are plenty of opportunities for Steeler atonement. Pittsburgh’s Going to the Super Bowl.

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Notes:

The rout of the Browns on the shores of Lake Erie made for liberal substitutions in Sunday's game, reflected in the snap counts.  A popular topic of discussion though in Steeler Nation is the infusion of the "Young Money Crew" of rookie wides into the Steelers offense, and while the Steelers had four wides on the field for only eight plays against the Browns, five of these snaps were on the 10-play drive to the Steelers 2nd score, including four consecutive plays directly preceding the Mendy TD plunge.

Heath Miller was utilized as a wide on over one-third of his snaps, splitting or slotting out fifteen times (of 43 plays) serving most often as the de facto fourth wide.

Matt Spaeth was split or slotted on eight of his 34 snaps.   Three of these snaps involved both Spaeth and Miller serving as de facto wides.  Spaeth lined up as the third tight end on one snap.  Spaeth was the 4th wide, along with three of his fleeter afoot teammates on four more snaps.  In the final analysis, the Steelers on-field personnel gave them 3+-wide looks on six more snaps than is reflected in the table above.

Randle El did step in as the # 3 wide for a pair of plays when Wallace needed a brief respite following his 2nd catch of the day, the slant that he took for 41 yards.  El then served as the #5 wide for a pair of snaps, preceding his replacing Sanders in the lineup as the #3 wide on the play where he tossed a 3-yard scoring strike to Hines.   Along with Ben, Rashard Mendenhall was done for the day following this play, which closed the initial possession of the 2nd half.

On the defensive side, alot of the regulars knocked off early.  Farrior was done for the day prior to halftime, and Troy wisely never appeared after intermission.  Fat Casey Hampton was on the field for three snaps in the 3rd quarter.  BMac left the game with an abdominal injury during the Browns' initial possession, not to return.

Snap Counts (Offense-64 total):  (Defense-69 total):
Wallace-50                                       Hood-52
Ward-40                                           Kiesel-40
Sanders-36                                     Hampton-24
Brown-17                                           Hoke-29
El-16                                                 Eason-31
Miller-43                                           Harrison-58
Spaeth-34                                         Timmons-54
DJ-22                                               Woodley-43
Kemo, Scott, Foster-64                  Foote-41
Pouncey, Adams-49                      Sylvester-26
Legursky-17                                    Fox-26
Essex-15                                          Clark-43
Ben-46                                             Taylor-41
Leftwich-18                                      Polamalu-37
Mendenhall-27                                BMac-7
Redman-18                                     Gay-52
Dwyer-15                                          Madison-41
                                                            Mundy-32
                                                            Lewis-26
                                                            Allen-26

 

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times…
Being both an optimist, and sometimes a realist, in matters involving the Pittsburgh Steelers, I enter each season with both a primary goal of another Super Bowl victory for the Black & Gold, and in the absence therof, being able to watch my team play as far into January as is possible. I’ve always said that the January freeze isn’t nearly so cold as long as the Pittsburgh Steelers are still playing football.

It was the age of foolishness, it was the age of wisdom…
Now, playoff losses are excruciating and sometimes require long periods of recovery, convalescence and catharsis (like writing a 218-page book following the “3rd & ******’ 6” loss to the Jags in the ’07 playoffs), but seriously, we as Steelers fans have experienced some fun seasons that ended abruptly with playoff losses. Among these are the ’89 campaign, ending with Mark ******’ Stock, the ’95 season, ending with Neil O’******’ Donnel, and the ’97 odyssey, with the goat horns worn by Chan ******’ Gailey.

It was the epoch of incredulity, it was the epoch of belief…
Last January brought considerable angst; this January bring hope and anticipation. Think of the differences between where we sit now versus our position a year ago:

It was the season of Darkness, it was the season of Light…
*In the ’09 finale, we watched the Steelers register a joyless victory in Miami, while keeping one eye on the fate of the hated New England Patriots. Ironically, we needed a Patriot win over the Houston Texans to have a decent chance to advance to the playoffs. The Patsies blew a 2-score second half lead in losing that game, and when the Ravens beat the Raiders, our playoff hopes were dashed.

This year, we watched the Steelers thump the Cleveland Browns on the shores of Lake Erie, watched no other scoreboard, and secured a first-round bye in the process, along with the designation of “Kings of the AFC North.”

It was the winter of despair, it was the spring of hope…
*Last year, I wrote articles entitled, “The Arians Offense: Fact or Fiction,” as well as “Maginot Line and the Steelers Defense.” It was last year that the Steelers ceded 4th quarter leads or ties in six of their seven losses, including three weeks in a row where they allowed their opponent to drive 90 yards for the tying or winning score late in the 4th quarter.

This year, the Steelers defense six times got off the field with the game either tied or holding a narrow lead late in the 4th quarter or in overtime, going on to win all six games. They did cede a 4th quarter lead in their first loss of the season.

We had nothing before us, we had everything before us…
*In both the ’09 and ’10 seasons, the Steelers dropped a Sunday home game that followed a road victory on Monday night, to drop their record to 6-3. Last year, the Steelers followed this up with four more losses in consecutive weeks. This year, the Steelers followed this up with four straight wins.

*The ’09 season followed a season that brought a Super Bowl championship, with optimism reigning supreme. The ’10 season followed a non-playoff campaign, and evidenced a four-game suspension of our two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, and the dispatching of one of our top offensive threats to a conference rival.

We were all going direct the other way, we were all going direct to Super Bowl Heaven…

I'm re-running this piece to hopefully answer several questions raised in response to Chileburger's fine work.  He's pointed out some trends, and there were questions about last year.

 

 

<P>The average fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers (a contradiction, perhaps?) carries with him or her several pet theories about the Steelers’ offense under the tutelage of Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians.  With Pittsburgh’s #1 scapegoat having been retained, perhaps thrown a life preserver by his quarterback, for at least one more year, we’ll “go to the tape” to examine some popular hypotheses:

 

1. <p><b> Arians loves those double tight end sets; Matt Spaeth’s on the field for 90% of the plays: 

FICTION:</b> Whereas Matt Spaeth was on the field for just under 50% of all offensive plays in ’08 while starting one game, the double-tight set, never really the Steelers’ base, has diminished in usage in ’09, with Spaeth on the field for just over 36% of all offensive snaps. Excluding plays negated by penalties, and kneeldowns from Victory formation, the Steelers ran multiple tight ends on exactly 1/3 of all offensive plays (333 of 999). Conversely, the Steelers ran three or more wide receiver sets on 62.4% of all offensive plays (623 of 999) with #3 wide receiver Mike Wallace being on the field for over 59% of all snaps.

     

1. <p><b> Arians lovers those triple tight end sets; he runs them all the time:

FICTION:</b>  The Steelers ran 3 tight ends on 50 of 999 offensive plays during  the ’09 season.  Perhaps fueling this confusion is the Steelers usage of tight end D.J. Johnson as a fullback, thus having #83, #85 and #89 on the field at the same time. The Steelers did run a double tight-end with fullback on 68 additional offensive plays.

 

1. <p><b> The Steelers are simply awful on “yard-to-go” situations. They’re not able to ever run for the first down.

FICTION:</b> This was my belief as well, and I had a handy explanation, and sought the data to offer support. Guess what?  It really wasn’t there. I’ve postulated a number of times that the Steelers’ perceived difficulty on “yard-to-go” was due to their not having invested adequately in their offensive line, and no longer having a back with “lean” ala, Jerome Bettis. 

 

<p>Comparing “yard-to-go” situations from ’04 and ’05, with a line consisting of three #1 draft choices, one #2, and one #3 with that of the ’08 and ’09 seasons with an offensive line comprised of a #3 draft choice, a #4, a pair of #6’s, and an undrafted free agent yielded some results which were expected, and another that was surprising.

 

<p>In the ’04 season, the Steelers converted 71.7% of their “yard-to-go” challenges, moving the sticks on 33 out of 46 chances, running on 42 of those plays, 31 times (73.8%) successfully.  Three of the eleven stoppages came on consecutive 2nd, 3rd & 4th down carries by Jerome Bettis during a winning effort at Cleveland.

 

<p>In ’05, the success rate nearly identical, converting 40 out of 56 opportunities (71.4%), including 39 successful yard-to-go runs out of 53 attempts (73.5%). Again, a pair of the unsuccessful attempts were against the Browns, this time in Pittsburgh, on consecutive 3rd & 4th down attempts by Bettis and Charlie Batch.

 

            <p>In ’08, reputed to have the worst offensive line of any previous Super Bowl

           Champion, the Steelers struggled on yard-to-go.  They converted at a diminished

            rate of only 51.7% (30 out of 58), running successfully 57.4% of the time (27 out

            of 47). Notably, the Steelers attempted to gain the down by passing with yard-to-

            go eleven times in ’08, compared to only four times in ’04 and three times in ’05.

 

<p>There were memorable, though not fatal failures, in the championship season of 2008. The Steelers did not convert either yard-to-go opportunity in the Monday Nighter vs. the Ravens, but lived to tell about it. Mewelde Moore was stonewalled in consecutive attempts from the one-yard line against San Diego, but the Steelers won without scoring a touchdown. The following week, his failure to convert inside the Colts 5-yard line was key in a losing effort. The Steelers were stopped on the goal line against the Cowboys as well, and later during the Divisional Playoff game against the Chargers, but won both games.

 

<p>With my theory one step away from apparent validation, it fell flat on its face in examining the ’09 campaign. The Steelers, in this non-playoff year, converted 40 of 53 yard-to-go chances (75.4%), running successfully on 35 of 45 attempts (77.8%).  Both marks were the highest of the four-year period.

 

<p>There were certainly some notable failures this year as well though, some contributing to the Steelers spending January in front of their fireplaces rather than on the gridiron. Commencing with the opener vs. Tennessee, a 3rd & 1 handoff to Mewelde Moore late in the 4th quarter was unsuccessful, and the Steelers kicked to tie the game on 4th down. Fortunately, they converted a key 3rd & 1 in overtime on a slant to Santonio, and won the game. Perhaps the most damaging failure came at Paul Brown Stadium on the Steelers first possession, where a failed Willie Parker attempt on 3rd down from the Bengals’ 1 resulted in a field goal attempt, and an eventual loss. We all remember the failed 3rd and 4th down tries in the shadow of the goal line against Oakland, as well as the infamous sack on 3rd & 1 on the shores of Lake Erie on a frigid Thursday night.

 

1. <p><b> Those empty sets are awful, never work; Steelers always are sacked in the red zone

FACT and FICTION:</b> Steelers employed an empty set 81 times in the ’09 season. They threw 67 times, completing 44 for a completion percentage of 65.7% (compared to 66.6% total) , picked up 511 yards, 7.6 yards per attempt (compared to 8.6 total). Two passes were intercepted, 3.0% (compared to 2.3% total), and the Steelers suffered seven sacks (one for every 9.6 attempts, compared to one for every 10.7 attempts total). It’s fact that this set was largely ineffective in the red zone, completing only three of ten passes for 24 yards, one touchdown, with one pass intercepted and being sacked twice. Rounding out the numbers, the Steelers ran two reverses out of empty sets, and the results of five plays were negated by penalty.

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Notes:
*Seeming success running ouf of 3 wides mitigated by TALRT (Take Away Long Run Theory), in this case Redman's 23 yarder late 4Q
*Seeming success running out of 2 tights with fullback also mitigated by TALRT, in this case Mendy's 35 yarder on Steelers' first play from scrimmage
*Very successful throwing out of double-tights.....were 8 of 9 at one point, for 146 yards
*Both tight ends were lined up to same side on 15 of 23 plays where Steelers ran double tights
*Steelers 30 plays with 3 or more wides, included
-6 plays with 4 WRs on the field
-4 plays with 5 WRs on the field
-3 additonal plays with de facto 4 wides with Heath split/slotted
-1 additional plays with de facto 4 wide with Mendy slotted
-5 additional plays with de facto 5 wides with Heath & Moore split/slotted

Offense (75 total snaps):
*Wallace-71 (targeted 6 times, 4 catches)
*Hines-61 (targeted 8 times, 3 catches....lined up as tight end on 4 plays)
*Sanders-35 (targeted 5 times, 4 catches)
*Brown-10 (targeted twice, 2 catches.....6 plays in 4-wide sets, 4 plays in 5 wide sets)
*El-4 (all in 5-wide sets)
*Heath-65 (targed 6 times, caught 5...was 3rd wide on one play)
*Spaeth-36
*DJ-15 (8 as fullback)
*Moore-19
*Redman-17
*Mendy-38
*Pouncey/Foster-75
*Scott-73
*Kemo/Flozell-67
*Legurskky-12 (4 as goal-lijne FB; last 8 snaps of game subbing for Kemo
*Essex-10 (2 snaps when Scott sucked early; last 8 snaps subbing for Flozell)

Defense: 52 snaps (14 in nickel)

*Woodley, Harrison, Timmosns, Clark-52
*Ike, Mundy-51
*Farrior-37
*Foote-15 (subbing for Farrior)
*Madison-2 (1 for Ike, 1 for BMac in nickel)
*Allen-1 (for Mundy)
*Gay18 (14 in nickel, 4 for Bmac injury)
*Hampton-31
*Ziggy-48 (out for plays 9 thru 12 in Panthers first possession of 13 plays)
*Kiesel-43 (out for plays 9 thru 12 in Panthers first possession of 13 plays, gave way to Eason on some later plays)
*Hoke-11 (7 for Hampton, 4 at DE in on plays 9 thru 12 of Panthers 1st possession of 13 plays)
*Eason-9 (4 at DE on play s9 thru 12 on Panthers 1st possession of 13 plays, 4 for Kielsel later, one in nickel later)

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Notes:
*Steelers ran out of 3 or more wides on over 70% of all offensive snaps, and it wasn't due solely to the two hurry-up drives closing each half. Steelers closed their 16-play, 96 yard drive leading off the 2nd quarter with 13 consecutive plays from 3+-wide sets.
*Running stats from 3+-wide set was assisted by Ben's 22 yard scramble on the final possession
*Ben's passing percentage was compromised by 3 spikes

Snap Counts (Offense-74 snaps):
Wallace-73
Ward-71
Sanders-56
Brown-14 (all from 4 or 5 receiver sets)
El-12 (all from 5 receiver sets except for game's final play)
Spaeth-62 (lined up as 4th wide on 5 plays and 5th wide on 3 plays; 6 of these plays were on the final drive)
*Steelers also achieved 4 & 5 wide looks by all three running backs once each
DJ-18
Mendy-30
Mewelde-20 (kept into block 7 times, was in for 5 consecutive plays during 2Q TD drive, was 3rd down back, and was in for game's most infamous offensive play)
Redman-10 (short-yardage back, in for 4 consecutive plays on final drive of 1st half, in for 3 individual plays on game's final drive)

Jets nickel back, Coleman, saw 56 snaps. Their dime back, Cole, was in for 30 snaps. Jets lined up 7 DBs a fair amound with James Ihedigbo in for 14 snaps, and Kyle Wilson in for 10. Jets used 7 DBs for every snap of Steelers final possession, and also were in a 7-DB look on the Moore safety.

(Defense: 58 snaps)
*All LBs, Ike, Clark in for all 58 snaps
*BMac & Mundy out only for Sanchez TD run
*Foote in only for Sanchez TD run
*Gay-19 snaps
*Kiesel-56
*Hood-53
*Hampton-35
*Eason-7
*Hoke-5

Jets were opposite of Steelers re: offensive sets, lining up with 3 or more wides on 20 of 58 offensive plays. They ran a standard 2-back, 2-wide set on 18 plays, and ran with double-tights on 10. They alternate their wides liberally; Santonio had 45 snaps, Edwards 42 and Cotchery 30. Tomlinson had 32 snaps, Shonn Greene 25 & Tony Richardson 18.

[u]Notes:[/u]
*Steelers ran 3 or more wides on half of their offensive plays, but didn't break out this set until the game's 8th offensive snap

[b]Offense (68 total snaps):[/b]

Brown-9 snaps (all as 4th or 5th wide)
El-8 snaps (two as 4th for 5th wide, one as QB, four as subsitute for the injured Emmanuel Sanders; one as substitute for [i]uninjured[/i] Emmanuel Sanders)

[i]Thus we've unlocked part of the mystery to some as to why Randle El earns a hat on Sunday even though he's been reported to have sunk to 5th on the wide receiver depth chart.  Well, not really.  While it's the case that the Steelers 4-wide sets consist of Ward, Wallace & the two rookies, El is first man in on 3-wide sets if Ward, Wallace or Sanders can't go.  It was while subbing for Sanders in the 3-wide set that El made his remarkable catch in the final minute of the first half, setting up the Steelers go-ahead field goal, a lead that they enver relinquished.[/i] [i] Of course, El also came up big running the option, pitching to Wallace for a 12-yard gain, and continues to field punts inside the 20.  His value in this regard was illustrated by Brown's bonehead play of touching a bouncing punt while his team was up by 13 points with 9 minutes remaining.  Fortunately, the fumble was recovered by teammate Anthony Madison, who suffered an injury for his troubles.  A turnover in this spot could have endangered the seemingly safe lead.[/i]

[i]Brown continues to see plenty of activity when he's on the field, targeted four times in his 9 plays, making three catches.[/i]

Steelers, in addition to running four wides eight times with Brown, and five wides twice with Brown and El, achieved a four-wide look once by splitting Spaeth and three more times by splitting or slotting Moore.

Sanders-31 snaps
Hines-56 snaps; one in the fullback slot, one in the tight end spot
Wallace-all 68 snaps
DJ-31 snaps, nine as fullback
Spaeth-61
Mendenhall-35
Redman-9 (Was 2nd back on six plays)
Moore-26 (Mewelde's usage, particularl in the first half, far exceeded his usual role as 3rd down back; he did line up as sidecar on four plays, and was split or slotted wide on three others)
Essex-5 (all as a tight end)
No substitutions on the offensive line

[b]Defense:  (56 total snaps)[/b]

*All starting linebackers never left the field
*Troy, Clark, BMac all missed one snap, the Cinci TD from the 1
*Ike missed two snaps, the Cinci TD from the 1, and one after having his bell run
*Larry Foote saw one snap, the Cinci TD from the 1
*Ryan Mundy saw one snap, the Cinci TD from the 1
*Gay-39 snaps

On the D-line:
*Hampton-27 snaps
[i]*Doing the math, Fat Casey's 27 snaps and Gay's 39 snaps well exceed the total number of snaps, and in previous games, the participation was as simple as if Casey was on the field, Gay was not, and vice-versa.  Casey though, stayed in the game in the nickel on 8 plays as one of two down linemen)[/i]
*Hoke-10 snaps (6 as one of two down linemen)
*Eason-10 snaps ( 9 as one of two down linemen)
*Hood-38 snaps
*Kiesel-47 snaps
[i]Obviously, Steelers are mixing/matching their d-lineman when in nickel.[/i]

The Pittsburgh Steelers won in rather ugly, but distinctly '70s, fashion, in the unpleasant December conditions of Heinz Field.  While they vanquished a Cincinnati Bengals team who left town having lost their 10th straight game, one cannot underscore heavily enough the vital importance of this game, a divisional tilt, that left the Steelers in very good position to secure a first-round by for the NFL's Annual Tournament four weeks hence.

 

There were certainly things not to like about this game, both from a coaching and playing standpoint.  Here's a few:

*With first down at the Bengals 5-yard line, one timeout remaining, and 45 seconds remaining to half, the Steelers elected to clock the ball.  We've been down this road before with this team, and sadly, this appears to be their preferred method of managing the situation, their not doing so in SB XLIII now a seeming aberration due to Santonio Holmes having walked off with the ball.  By doing so though, one leaves oneself with but two shots at a touchdown instead of three, and the prospect of taking the timeout along to the locker room, to be dispensed of along with other useless material.  That's what happened yesterday.   The fear, of course, is having the clock expire without an opportunity for a field goal try, ala the '08 AFCCG.  But there were 30-some ticks left, not 16.   This team should be able to run three plays and still have enough time, if necessary, to trot out its kicker if unable to pierce the end zone.

*In position to kick a field goal and make it a 2-score game early in the 4th quarter, the Steelers elected to drop Ben Roethlisberger back to pass on 3rd & 15, and ceded a field goal attempt when he was sacked.  In that situation, looking at a 41-yard attempt, and a low percentage of picking up the first down, given down & distance, run the ball, pick up a few more yards, kick the field goal and extend the margin to nine points.  That was the absolute priority in that situation.  All's well that ends well though, and following a Steelers punt, Lamarr Woodley extended the lead to 13 points with yet another pick-six.

*Again, why not opt for a two-point try, up 12 points with 12 minutes remaining, and extend the lead to 14 points rather than 13?  I know.  Don't chase points, so this is another matter of "how we do things."

*Offensive line still struggles mightily in affording Ben adequate protection.  Seven-stop drops?  Forget about it.  The Max Starks injury yields the most significant personnel loss of the year.  Jonathan Scott leads the league in holding calls, in only five games as a starter?  What to do about it?  Probably nothing.  The populace is raising up Trai Essex, villified on these pages a few short weeks ago, as the heir apparent.  Tony Hills?  Who's he?  Oh yeah, the guy in street clothes on the sideline every week.  I don't know that it gets any better in this spot.  Sure disliked four more holding calls.

 

Having disposed of that necessary evil, here's what's to like about win #10:

*Let's start with the offense.  Yes, the offense, on a day where they managed to put but 9 points on the board, in the form of a trio of Shaun Suisham field goals.

-They did pound out 123 rushing yards on an afternoon of tough sledding

-They controlled the clock, especially in the 2nd half where they held the ball for 22 minutes.  Their scoring drives were

      ^13 plays, 75 yards, 2:00 elapsed (prior to half)

      ^10 plays, 54 yards, 6:26 elapsed

      ^7 plays, 45 yards, 4:16 elapsed

And perhaps their most impressive drive was the one previously noted where they ceded field goal range.  The Steelers possessed the ball for 15 plays in that drive that linked the 3rd & 4th quarters, gained 50 net yards and took 9:22 off the clock (was nearly 70 before they started working backward...was nearly 100 if one adds in the yardage used to overcome the three holding penalties on that drive).

 

*The opportunistic defense.  Let's remember that early in the 2nd quarter, holding a 7-0 lead, the Bengals were poised to make it a 2-score game, set up with a first down at the Steelers 27.  Woodley though, sacked Palmer on1st down, Timmons dropped Benson for a loss on 2nd down, and a 3rd down pass attempt to regain field goal range was defended by Ryan Clark.  Then, of course, there's the heroics of both Troy and Woodley on pick-sixes in big spots.

 

*Ben:  Simply put, he gets his ass kicked every week, stays in the game, and makes plays.  Dude has a broken nose, eschews sliding with a broken field at his disposal, removes his protective shield at halftime. He finds a way to get it done in back of this ragtag o-line, never afforded the comfort of sitting in the pocked and surveying the field, as is his New England counterpart.

 

*The rookie wides:  Emmanuel Sanders was held without a catch yesterday, but he's not afraid to stick his nose in blocking.  It was good to see him return to action after limping from the field.  Antonio Brown is a threat on the bubble screens, and makes the most of his appearances in four-wide sets.

*Other wides:  Hines, every time we're ready to put him out to pasture....10 targets, 8 grabs, over a buck receiving yards.  Randle El, every time we're ready to remove his hat on gameday....what a catch to put his team into FG range before half
 

*Suisham:  Props for the kicker, who remains perfect in nine field goal attempts as a Steeler, and passed his first Heinz Field test with flying colors.

 

*Kapinos:  Feeling charitable, we'll extend props to the punter as well, who put three of his five kicks inside the 20, including the one directly preceding the Woodley pick-six.  His long on the day was 53 yards...not a bad first game in black & gold.

 

 

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Multiple-wide look dominated both sides of the ball

Notes (offense) (69 total snaps)
*Steelers run with 3 or more wides on 75% of offensive plays
* Antwaan Randle El has one offensive snap (the displacement by the young guys appears complete)
* Emmanuel Sanders: 52 snaps
* Antonio Brown: 6 snaps (targeted four times, made three receptions....making the most of his appearances)
*Heath: 48 snaps
*DJ: 35 snaps (targed three times; made 3 catches)
*Redman: 14 snaps
*Mewelde: 5 snaps
*Mendy: 48 snaps

*Hines lined up as tight end 3 times, Mendy once (Steelers used three tight ends for three snaps; it involved these players)
*Mendy lined up split or slot 5 times; Redman once (the touchdown)

Notes: (defense) (63 snaps)
*Ravens went with 3 or more wides on 50 of 63 snaps
*Ravens lined up one of their tights as fullback on 4 snaps
*All Steeler linebackers; both safetys were on the field for all 63 snaps
*Ike missed first two snaps of the game
*Kiesel: 56 snaps
*Hood: 55 snaps
*Eason: 11 snaps
*Hampton: 20 snaps
*Hoke: 3 snaps
*Madison: 3 snaps (was nickel for 2nd play of game...missed by Ike...and for 2nd & 3rd down subbing for injured BMac on Ravens final possession)
*Gay: 45 snaps

Fat Casey's 20 snaps would hae been even less had Steelers beein in nickel for every play in which Ravens had 3 wides. Steelers ran base for 5 of those 50 plays. Casey also had a snap where he was one of two d-linemen

Steeler Nation last night once again directed their prayers, even those from the heathens among us, to Saint Jude Thaddeus in order to defeat the Baltimore Ravens.  The Patron Saint of Lost Causes though has a special Steelers section, one that requires the defense to pull the game out of the fire, and in their opponents building.   Thus, last night's affair at M &T Bank Stadium joins two similar contests in recent memory:
*The Immaculate Interception Game of 1996 when Kevin Henry's interception and return with a bit over two minutes remaining paved the way for an overtime victory in Foxboro.
*The Kemo/Vinny T Game of 2004 when the Steelers defensive lineman returned a Vinny Testaverde fumble into scoring range with 2+ minutes remaining, as the Steelers came from 10 point down to defeat the Cowboy in a Texas Stadium that had fallen into the hands of the Steeler faithful.

Last night's win certainly had its share of Monday Morning Quarterback moments, none bigger than the decision of Ravens Coach John Harbaurgh to run a play on 4th & 2 from the Steelers 31-yard-line with 37 seconds remaining rather than send out his kicker to attempt a game-tying 49-yarder into the considerable wind.  For my money, Harbaugh made the right call, but quarterback Joe Fucco, not always up to the big moments, threw a one-hopper to an open receiver and victory was ours.  And what of Baltimore going with a pass on 2nd & 5 from their own 40, up 4 points with less than 4 minutes remaining.  They were skewered for this call by ex-Ravens SB-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer, thinking had the Ravens not picked up the first down on the ground, that it would have been a tall order for the Steelers to drive the length of the field for the go-ahead score.  However, convert the 2nd down pass and Cam Cameron looks the genius.

But what about some of Mike Tomlin's decisions on this bitter cold night at M & T:
*Punting on 4th & 1 from the Ravens 36 in the first quarter?  This one pinned the Ravens back and seemed to work out until they hit a 60+ yarder on 3rd & 18 to set up their only touchdown.
*Going for it on 4th & 2 just past midfield with a little better than 2 minutes to half.  This one surprised me, as it seemed inconsistent with Tomlin's initial 4th down call.  Fortunately, the Steelers converted.  Even though this gamble yielded no points, the Ravens were not set up to extend their lead to two scores had the decision failed
*Kicking a field goal on 4th down inside the Baltimore 2, down 7 points early in the 4th quarter.  This was one reminiscent of the infamous Cowher field-goal call down 14 points in the '04 AFCCG, and the initial response from many was one of similar outrage.  After all, the Steelers would still need a touchdown, right?  Yes, but in this instance the eventual touchdown would put the Steelers ahead rather than forge a tie.

Joe Fucco, the strong-armed Pitt transfer has proven he can beat the Steelers in a bit spot, but also has compiled a troubling list of not taking care of the football with the game on the line.  Last night's fumble on the sack & strip bore an eerie resemblance to the Heinz Field Monday Nighter of '08, also returned by Lamar Woodley, that time for a touchdown.  His fumble late in the game in the return engagement in Baltimore that season knocked the Ravens out of field goal range late in the game.   And then there was Troy's pick-six off of the arm of Fucco in the '08 AFCCG with the Steelers clining to a 2-point lead and 4 minutes to play.  Add in the one-hopper at the end, and Fucco wears the goat horns in the Inner Harbor today.

These '10 Pittsburgh Steelers now seem to be on a magical ride.   Where last year's debacle of a season was marked by their ceding leads late in contests, the Steelers last 4 road victories have been by margins of 1, 6, 3 & 3 points with the Steelers either coming from behind late, clinging tenaciously to a narrow margin, or pulling a rabbit out of a hat when all seemed lost....and sometimes a combination of these factors, as was the case last night in Baltimore.

As Pittsburghers, we like Baltimore awight.  First it was the Pirates paving the way by winning World Series 7th games in both '71 & '79.  And now it's the Steelers, first winning on a Sunday night in '01 under similar circumstances as last night.  Then there was the win on the referee's reversal that brought the Steelers the AFC Crown and first round bye in '08.  And now, add last night's thriller.

Thank you Saint Jude.  Thank you Isaac Redman.  And Ben Roethlisberger.....you are one tough sonofabitch!!

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Snap Counts:
Defense (67 snaps)
Hoke-17
Hampton-22 (only 3 snaps in 1st half, Buffalo only had 13 snaps 1st half)
Timmons-55 (came out in the dime in favor of Madison)
Madison-42
*Commentary: Lawrence Timmons off the field in favor of Anthony Madison?? Just ain't right!!

Offense (94 snaps)
Wallace-91
El-10 (only 2 snaps as #3 wide...remaining in 4-wide sets)
Ward-82 (lined up twice as tight end)
Sanders-56
Johnson-39 (10 at fullback, remaining at tight end)
Essex-9 (all at tight end)
Mendy-55
Moore-29 (split on 6 plays, 5 of these as 4th wide, once as 5th wide)
Heath-split 7 times
Redman-10

No, it wasn't luck that caused the Pittsburgh Steelers to make the plays needed to win in Buffalo yesterday.

No, it can't be considered lucky once again win when being once again targeted by the men in the striped shirts.

But...lest there be any doubt that there are no road gimmes in the NFL, consider the three road wins of the Pittsburgh Steelers since Ben Roethlisberger resumed his duties under center:
*Steelers come from behind to beat the Dolphins by a point on their final possession with the assistance of a fortuitious call on the field and subsequent replay interpretation
*Steelers fritter away a 20-point, 4th quarter lead in Cincinnati, highlighted by the Bengals 50-yard TD drive in which they gained one non-penalty yard. Steelers make a stand at their own 12-yard line in the final minute to beat the hapless Bengals
*Steelers survive certain death in Ralph Wilson Stadium, first needing to punt from inside thier own 1-yard line in overtime, then benefitting from a clean drop of a touchdown pass by Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson

Still, while the joy of some is tempered by yesterday's win in Western New York, I exult in the victory. Simply put, there's no road gimmes in the NFL, and escaping Ralph Wilson Stadium with another addition to the "W" column sure as hell beats losing, and puts the Steelers in great shape for a playoff spot.

For my money, here's yesterdays's game balls:
*To Ben Roethlisberger for his effort in running for a first-down on 3rd & 17, on the Steelers go-ahead drive in the 4th quarter. Steelers had ceded their lead and needed something to happen offensively in that spot. Ben's coach has previously described him as a "ridiculous competitor," and it showed right there.
*To Isaac Redman, who made the most of this 5 carries, converting first downs all four times he was called upon in short-yardage situations, three times in the game-winning drive.
*Rashard Mendenhall, who excels in gaining every bit of yardage available to him, and tied Jerome Bettis for 4th on the all-time Steelers list with 36 carries in a single game, exceeded by only Willie Parker & Amos Zeroue (37 carries...both also in overtime) and Franco Harris (41 carries).
*Hines Ward for showing he's still got game, when some, self-included, are ready to write him off
*James Harrison, for continuing to play the game in the manner in which he was taught as a boy. I can tolerate little no-nothing geeks like Mike Greenburg decrying Harrison's play. It's when football people spew bullshit of which they should know better that makes me insane.
*Defense generally.  They twice in overtime shut the door when ceding one more first down puts the Bills in field goal range.
*Shaun Suisham, perfect under pressure in this first field goal attempts as a Pittsburgh Steeler.

Count me in among those who felt as though the performance of the offensive line yesterday wasn't awful. The Steelers moved the ball on the ground, it wasn't exactly a jailbreak on passing downs, and if only the holds against James Harrison were called as tightly as the four violations on Chris Kemoeatu yesterday. Granted, Kemo had a tough day at the office yesterday, and Jonathan Scott struggled as well. And yes, there work will be cut out for them next week against the front of the Baltimore Ravens.

Barring a collapse of epic proportions, these Pittsburgh Steelers will qualify for the NFL's post-season tourney. With three of their remaining five games at home, with three of their remaming five games against teams with a combined won-lost record of 7-26, three wins and a record of 11-5 will qualify for a wild-card entry. A 10-6 record might do it as well, but the Steelers would need some things to break their way, things in the form of another couple Kansas City or San Diego losses, another couple Indianapolis or Jacksonville losses, that certainly could happen. Each pair of these teams has a game remaining against each other.

Should the Steelers beat Baltimore next week, the path will be clear for a run at a first-round bye, which by virtue of last night's Indy loss, would accrue to the Steelers even if they stumble against the New York Jets on December 19th (or Carolina at home....but please). So long as the Steelers don't drop a division game, they'll hold the tiebreaker vs. Baltimore, and quite possibly would also win out if the AFC North crown comes down to the Strength of Victory tiebreaker. The Steelers currently lead in this derby.

Could the Steelers qualify as the AFC's #1 seed? Sure, by winning out, having the Jets win in Foxboro next Monday night, then not lose any ground to New England in the three remaining games on their schedule not filled by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Could be quite the prime-time weekend coming up, Steelers-Ravens Sunday night followed by Jets-Pats on Monday. Here's hoping for a repeat of 2001 in whch they went into Baltimore on Sunday night, December 16th, after losing to the Ravens in Pittsburgh in the wake of mulitple missed field goals, and came away with a victory and a Division Championship.

This week's chart is a bit misleading. I just got the info, and I'm rushing through it on this Thanksgiving Eve.

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Here's the thing though. It indicates the personnel on the field, and not necessarily where those personnel ended up. Specifically, this means that the Steelers were in three or more wides ten more plays than was indicated, as both Heath & Spaeth were split or slotted wide.

Snap counts:
El-8 plays: On half of these plays, El was one of four or 5 wides on the field. He was one of three wides on two plays, one of two wides on one play, and lined up as fullback on one play (I believe that was the flea-flicker).

Brown-5 plays: He was one of 5 wides on the field on 4 of these 5 plays, one of 4 wides on 1 play

Sanders-30 plays: It appears that Manny Sanders has finally been installed s the 3rd wide

Spaeth-41 plays: Spaeth was split or slotted wide on 9 plays, doing this in tandem with Heath on all but one of these plays

Heath--62 snaps: Was split or slotted wide on 22 of 62 snaps

Moore-13snap: Split wide on two of these snaps

Redman-5 snaps

DJ-20 snaps: DJ's high for the year, and lined up as fullback for all 20 of these snaps

 

Mendy-46 snaps

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Defense: 65 total snaps
*Steelers were in nickel for 55 of 63 non goal-line snaps, 3 d-linemen in for only 8 of 63 non goal-line snaps, thus:
-William Gay (55 snaps)
-Chris Hoke-8 snaps (paired with Casey Hampton in the nickel for 5 snaps; goal-line for 2 others)
-Casey Hampton-27 snaps
-Brett Kiesel-7 snaps
-Nick Eason-51 snaps
-Ziggy Hood-49 snaps
-Larry Foote-2 goal-line snaps
-Ike, BMac-63 snaps (all but goal-line)
-all starting LBs, Troy, Clark (all snaps)
NOTE that Bengals ran for only 54 yards on 18 carries despite Steelers being in nickel for more than 87% of the non goal-line snaps

Offense: 62 snaps
-El-20 (14 as 3rd WR, 6 in 4 WR set....El continues to get roughly twice as many snaps as Sander as #3 WR)
-Sanders-14 (8 snaps were as 3rd WR, 6 in 4 WR set)
-Spaeth-32
DJ-11
Moore-12
Redman-11
Mendy-41

Heath stayed in to block on 5 passing plays, 3 as sidecar; Spaeth stayed into block on 4 passing plays

STEELERS AT MID-SEASON: DEJA VU? BUT WHICH ONE? These 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers and their coach, Mike Tomlin, are in familiar territory. In this, his 4th season at the helm of the Black & Gold, Tomlin finds his charges with a record of 6 wins, 2 losses. For the 4th consecutive year, his team has reached the season’s midpoint with a victory on Monday Night football. But which path will this squad follow as it seeks the historic franchise’s 7th Lombardi Trophy? In 2007, after beating the Baltimore Ravens at home in a Monday Night deluge, the Steelers won again the following week, before dropping four of their final seven contests and then being ousted in the first round of the NFL’s post-season tournament. In each of the past two seasons, the Steelers won a Monday night road game to complete the season’s first half, only to lose at home the following Sunday. The ’08 squad, of course, went on to win Super Bowl XLIII. But it was the ’09 edition that showed so much promise, seeming to be a team clearly on the rise, having won their 5th game consecutively, and having beaten a previously undefeated Minnesota Vikings team, and their hot quarterback, Brett Favre, then going west and dropping the hammer on a once-beaten Denver Broncos squad. They returned home to face the Bengals and so began a season-killing five-game losing streak. Last year’s 28-10 thumping of the Denver Broncos at Mile High and the previous year’s Election Night Eve, 23-6 massacre of the Redskins, on a night noted for the invasion of FedEx Field by Steeler Nation, seemed to be repeating itself last night at Paul Brown Stadium as the Steelers opened a 27-7 margin on the bedraggled Bengals at the opening of the 4th quarter. After Antwaan Randle El’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace, we were reminded of the words of former Steelers linebacker Joey Porter to the Bengals faithful during the 2005 Wild Card Playoff, in a game that also featured a gadget play for a touchdown involving Randle El. “Y’all make me tired,” Peezy called to those tiger stripes remaining in the crowd, “tired of kickin’ y’all asses.” These Bengals, last night though, fought back, and with some assistance from Steelers’ miscues, fell but 12 yards short of an unprecedented comeback victory. Game notes: *Apropos for James Harrison to seal the victory by separating man (rookie receiver Jordan Shipley) from ball at the two-yard line to end the game, with his nemesis, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in the stands. *Was anyone else worried that Goodell himself would enter the field and flag Troy Polamalu for hitting too hard on the pass to Terrell Owens that brought the ball to the Steelers 17 on that final drive? *Steelers played a fair amount of four-man fronts last night, with both Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke inside simultaneously. Fat Casey was also paired with either Ziggy Hood or Nick Eason as Brett Kiesel’s hammy was seemingly not up to the task. *Steelers seemed to go with their nickel package for just about the game’s entirety, and the Bengals weren’t able to make them pay on the ground, limited to 54 yards on 18 Cedric Benson carries. It seemed that William Gay was on the field for most defensive snaps. Gay, although beaten for the Bengals’ initial touchdown, singled up on Owens, has acquitted himself well throughout the year, covering and tackling well, making his presence known on blitz packages, and last night also contributing a blocked punt. *Jeff Reed: I’ve had the kicker’s back throughout, but must now cede that Skippy, formerly aptly described by his coach with the phrase, “You can’t freeze a psychopath,” is no longer money. All was seemingly well when Reed nailed a 53-yarder to close out the half, but he then missed a 46-yarder late that would have iced the game, setting up the theatrics of the game’s final minutes. Some thought the Steelers should have been passing on 3rd & 6 from the Cinci 29 with four minutes remaining. But all too often, the Steelers have ceded solid field goal range via a 3rd down sack, and one can understand the coach’s confidence in his kicker given his previous connection from long-range. The best we can say is that on this night, Reed at least made two more kicks, and missed one less, than his counterpart on the Bengals’ sideline. Before we embark on vigilante justice, tar & feather Reed and send him on the first boxcar out of Pittsburgh, let’s ask ourselves who else would be brought in. Kris Brown might be looking for work again, once Nate Kaeding heals in San Diego Do we want to go there again? Brownie was last seen missing a last-second kick with the game on the line against the Patriots. No, Skippy’s our kicker for this season. We’ll simply need to sweat out every big kick. *Speaking of the 3rd & 6 call, it seemed like Rashard Mendenhall was looking for a break, but guess what, there were no healthy backs to replace him, as both Mewelde Moore and Isaac Redman had gone down with injuries. Instead, a tired Mendy was called upon to tote the rock for the 7th play in a row. *For our weekly exercise in second-guessing game management, what about the final drive of the first half, ending, fortunately, with Reed’s 53-yarder? Taking over after the Bengals’ missed field goal, on their own 41-yard line, with 45 seconds remaining and two time-outs in their pocket, Roethlisberger hit Wallace with a 24-yarder to the Bengals’ 35, but rather than expend a timeout with about 35 seconds left, the Steelers squandered 11 seconds, and a down, by spiking the ball. After a pair of incompletions, the Steelers faced 4th down, and still were holding the pair of timeouts. *And, any thoughts on altering the book that NFL coaches consult which emphasizes that they not chase points. Is there not an argument to be made for attempting a two-point conversion after the final Steelers touchdown gave them a lead of 26-7, which if successful, would have extended the margin to 21 points? I understand the arguments against it. If unsuccessful, the 19-point lead could be overcome with a pair of touchdowns, a pair of two-point conversions, and a field goal. If unsuccessful, perhaps an eventual 26-21 lead could not have become a safe two-score game had Reed made his 46-yard attempt. But if successful, we may have avoided some wear & tear on our respective hearts, knowing that a Bengals touchdown in the final minute would have tied the game, not defeated our beloved Steelers. That said, I know that book’s not undergoing a revision any time soon. *Anyone still wandering why Antwaan Randle El gets a hat? Boy still throws a nice ball; doesn’t he? Going Forward: There are some notable differences between this 6-2 mark at the midway point and those of the past seasons previously noted. *Steelers have reached this point in the season minus their two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback for half the schedule thus far. *Steelers are 6-2 while playing only 3 games in the friendly confines of Heinz Field. *Steelers have successfully completed a difficult, and rare, three-game road trip by taking two of three, the lone loss being of the less critical non-conference variety. Now the task is to reverse the ominous trend, extending back to 2005, of having followed up their previous five Monday Night road affairs, with losses at home the following Sunday. The New England Patriots are 6-2, but most recently suffered a pounding at the hands of the Cleveland Browns on the shores of Lake Erie, and hopefully the Steelers offense can lay a similar ass-whipping on the young Patriots defense. Offensively for the Patriots, guess what? It seems that they miss Randy Moss. Now his dear friend Cris Carter had two criticisms of his former protégé, one being his treatment of the Vikings buffet provider, the other being Moss’s lack of effort while being double-teamed. However, even if Moss, he of the “I play when I want to” quip isn’t going full-speed, the opponent is still deploying two players to cover him. Suffering without this downfield threat is Patriots receiver Wes Welker. He didn’t seem to miss Moss in the first game post-Randy, but in the last three games, Welker has caught a total of 11 balls for 85 yards, having been targeted 17 times by quarterback Tom Brady. Contrast this to the season’s first five games, where Welker was targeted 45 times and accrued 33 catches. Sunday Night: Steelers-Patriots. Should be a doozie to begin the season’s 2nd half.

STEELERS AT MID-SEASON: DEJA VU? BUT WHICH ONE? These 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers and their coach, Mike Tomlin, are in familiar territory. In this, his 4th season at the helm of the Black & Gold, Tomlin finds his charges with a record of 6 wins, 2 losses. For the 4th consecutive year, his team has reached the season’s midpoint with a victory on Monday Night football. But which path will this squad follow as it seeks the historic franchise’s 7th Lombardi Trophy? In 2007, after beating the Baltimore Ravens at home in a Monday Night deluge, the Steelers won again the following week, before dropping four of their final seven contests and then being ousted in the first round of the NFL’s post-season tournament. In each of the past two seasons, the Steelers won a Monday night road game to complete the season’s first half, only to lose at home the following Sunday. The ’08 squad, of course, went on to win Super Bowl XLIII. But it was the ’09 edition that showed so much promise, seeming to be a team clearly on the rise, having won their 5th game consecutively, and having beaten a previously undefeated Minnesota Vikings team, and their hot quarterback, Brett Favre, then going west and dropping the hammer on a once-beaten Denver Broncos squad. They returned home to face the Bengals and so began a season-killing five-game losing streak. Last year’s 28-10 thumping of the Denver Broncos at Mile High and the previous year’s Election Night Eve, 23-6 massacre of the Redskins, on a night noted for the invasion of FedEx Field by Steeler Nation, seemed to be repeating itself last night at Paul Brown Stadium as the Steelers opened a 27-7 margin on the bedraggled Bengals at the opening of the 4th quarter. After Antwaan Randle El’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace, we were reminded of the words of former Steelers linebacker Joey Porter to the Bengals faithful during the 2005 Wild Card Playoff, in a game that also featured a gadget play for a touchdown involving Randle El. “Y’all make me tired,” Peezy called to those tiger stripes remaining in the crowd, “tired of kickin’ y’all asses.” These Bengals, last night though, fought back, and with some assistance from Steelers’ miscues, fell but 12 yards short of an unprecedented comeback victory. Game notes: *Apropos for James Harrison to seal the victory by separating man (rookie receiver Jordan Shipley) from ball at the two-yard line to end the game, with his nemesis, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in the stands. *Was anyone else worried that Goodell himself would enter the field and flag Troy Polamalu for hitting too hard on the pass to Terrell Owens that brought the ball to the Steelers 17 on that final drive? *Steelers played a fair amount of four-man fronts last night, with both Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke inside simultaneously. Fat Casey was also paired with either Ziggy Hood or Nick Eason as Brett Kiesel’s hammy was seemingly not up to the task. *Steelers seemed to go with their nickel package for just about the game’s entirety, and the Bengals weren’t able to make them pay on the ground, limited to 54 yards on 18 Cedric Benson carries. It seemed that William Gay was on the field for most defensive snaps. Gay, although beaten for the Bengals’ initial touchdown, singled up on Owens, has acquitted himself well throughout the year, covering and tackling well, making his presence known on blitz packages, and last night also contributing a blocked punt. *Jeff Reed: I’ve had the kicker’s back throughout, but must now cede that Skippy, formerly aptly described by his coach with the phrase, “You can’t freeze a psychopath,” is no longer money. All was seemingly well when Reed nailed a 53-yarder to close out the half, but he then missed a 46-yarder late that would have iced the game, setting up the theatrics of the game’s final minutes. Some thought the Steelers should have been passing on 3rd & 6 from the Cinci 29 with four minutes remaining. But all too often, the Steelers have ceded solid field goal range via a 3rd down sack, and one can understand the coach’s confidence in his kicker given his previous connection from long-range. The best we can say is that on this night, Reed at least made two more kicks, and missed one less, than his counterpart on the Bengals’ sideline. Before we embark on vigilante justice, tar & feather Reed and send him on the first boxcar out of Pittsburgh, let’s ask ourselves who else would be brought in. Kris Brown might be looking for work again, once Nate Kaeding heals in San Diego Do we want to go there again? Brownie was last seen missing a last-second kick with the game on the line against the Patriots. No, Skippy’s our kicker for this season. We’ll simply need to sweat out every big kick. *Speaking of the 3rd & 6 call, it seemed like Rashard Mendenhall was looking for a break, but guess what, there were no healthy backs to replace him, as both Mewelde Moore and Isaac Redman had gone down with injuries. Instead, a tired Mendy was called upon to tote the rock for the 7th play in a row. *For our weekly exercise in second-guessing game management, what about the final drive of the first half, ending, fortunately, with Reed’s 53-yarder? Taking over after the Bengals’ missed field goal, on their own 41-yard line, with 45 seconds remaining and two time-outs in their pocket, Roethlisberger hit Wallace with a 24-yarder to the Bengals’ 35, but rather than expend a timeout with about 35 seconds left, the Steelers squandered 11 seconds, and a down, by spiking the ball. After a pair of incompletions, the Steelers faced 4th down, and still were holding the pair of timeouts. *And, any thoughts on altering the book that NFL coaches consult which emphasizes that they not chase points. Is there not an argument to be made for attempting a two-point conversion after the final Steelers touchdown gave them a lead of 26-7, which if successful, would have extended the margin to 21 points? I understand the arguments against it. If unsuccessful, the 19-point lead could be overcome with a pair of touchdowns, a pair of two-point conversions, and a field goal. If unsuccessful, perhaps an eventual 26-21 lead could not have become a safe two-score game had Reed made his 46-yard attempt. But if successful, we may have avoided some wear & tear on our respective hearts, knowing that a Bengals touchdown in the final minute would have tied the game, not defeated our beloved Steelers. That said, I know that book’s not undergoing a revision any time soon. *Anyone still wandering why Antwaan Randle El gets a hat? Boy still throws a nice ball; doesn’t he? Going Forward: There are some notable differences between this 6-2 mark at the midway point and those of the past seasons previously noted. *Steelers have reached this point in the season minus their two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback for half the schedule thus far. *Steelers are 6-2 while playing only 3 games in the friendly confines of Heinz Field. *Steelers have successfully completed a difficult, and rare, three-game road trip by taking two of three, the lone loss being of the less critical non-conference variety. Now the task is to reverse the ominous trend, extending back to 2005, of having followed up their previous five Monday Night road affairs, with losses at home the following Sunday. The New England Patriots are 6-2, but most recently suffered a pounding at the hands of the Cleveland Browns on the shores of Lake Erie, and hopefully the Steelers offense can lay a similar ass-whipping on the young Patriots defense. Offensively for the Patriots, guess what? It seems that they miss Randy Moss. Now his dear friend Cris Carter had two criticisms of his former protégé, one being his treatment of the Vikings buffet provider, the other being Moss’s lack of effort while being double-teamed. However, even if Moss, he of the “I play when I want to” quip isn’t going full-speed, the opponent is still deploying two players to cover him. Suffering without this downfield threat is Patriots receiver Wes Welker. He didn’t seem to miss Moss in the first game post-Randy, but in the last three games, Welker has caught a total of 11 balls for 85 yards, having been targeted 17 times by quarterback Tom Brady. Contrast this to the season’s first five games, where Welker was targeted 45 times and accrued 33 catches. Sunday Night: Steelers-Patriots. Should be a doozie to begin the season’s 2nd half.

Continue reading this post »

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*Steelers were much more effective throwing the ball out of two wide reciever sets, going 6 for 6 when paired with multiple tights, 3 for 4 out of Pro
*Out of 3 wides, Steelers were 2 for 9 in the first half, with two sacks.
*Running out of two tights/two wides, Steelers picked up 48 yards, 38 of those coming on Mendy's TD run

*Snap Counts (Offense)
-El...19
-Sanders...10 (notably 6 of these snaps were as the 3rd wide, one as one of only two wides on the field)
-Spaeth...17
-DJ.....10 (3 at tight end, including two of three snaps on the ill-fated goal line series, one snap in kneeldown)
-Moore...15
-Redman...9 (one snap split wide, one as lone back on a 3rd & 1, in which he gained 5 yards, 1 in kneeldown, 6 as fullback)

*Snap Counts (Defense) (Very little subbing on d-line)
-McClendon...ZERO (though Gibson was waived to create room)
-Hoke...11
-Eason...67 (out of 69 snaps)
-Hood...62
-Hampton...30
-Foote....2 (on goal-line)
-Gay...39
-All starting LBs played every snap

 

November 1st:  ALL SAINTS DAY

 

The Game: The worst part of Halloween, growing up as a kid in Swissvale, was needing to rise early the next day and go to church before school for a holy day of obligation, All Saints Day.  I'm not going to church today, but perhaps I should.  More importantly, perhaps the Steelers should, to atone for their sins in last night's Superdome Debacle, against the team for whom the holy day honors.

 

There's already been much teeth-gnashing over the Heath Miller fumble, deflating the hopes of Steeler Nation, but for my money, this game turned on the announcement made by Peter Morelli when a flag flew with less than two minutes until halftime.  Ike Taylor had made a remarkable interception (for Ike), the Steelers had first down on the 23, Steeler fans worldwide were anticipating a 10-0 halftime lead, and when a flag flew on a post route to Hines Ward on the next play, we expected the call to against the Saints for pass interference (thought we saw none), or for a helmet-to-helmet hit (there was one).  When Hines was flagged for offensive interference, things unraveled, and the game was knotted 3-3 at the half.  In the 2nd half, the Saints truly, came marching in.

 

Any remaining doubt as to whether the Steelers did the right thing by kicking the go-ahead field goal from 18 inches away for a one-point lead last week in Miami should have been permanently erased by the debacle from perhaps one-third that distance on 1st down last night.  A head-scratching, slow-developing handoff lost more than a yard, and two more ground entries could not pierce the endzone.  Is the quarterback sneak gone from the Steelers repertoire?

 

Before we leave last night's said Halloween affair, let's hope that Emmanuel Sanders is emerging as the #3 wide receiver.  He was on the field for the first 3-wide look of the night, though slow-afoot Antwaan Randle El saw his share of the action.  If Sanders was in the wrong place on the 4th & 4 toss to Hines Ward, perhaps that offers us some explanation....if.

 

LookingAhead:  But first a look back...I, for one, am not buying, "at least we're 5-2," but if there was a game to lose on the schedule, it was the one that the Steelers have just lost, the lone remaining road game to an out-of-conference foe.  

 

Going forward, the next two prime-time affairs are obviously key matchups.  There's no such thing as a road gimme in the NFL, and next week's Monday Nighter in Cincy, a divisional match cannot be one in which the Steelers play down to their competition and come up on the short end.  Let's remember that one of Baltimore's two losses this year was at Paul Brown Stadium, and keeping the record ultimately clean in the division could be the tiebreaker that the Steelers need vs. the Ravens at year's end.

 

Looking beyond, the despicable New England Patriots own the NFL's best record, sitting alone in that perch at 6-1.  They had their share of good luck yesterday, having one seeming interception go through the defender's hands, only to be caught by a fortunate Pat at the Minnie 10, leading to their tying score.  Then, with the Vikes down four points, a near-perfect throw to Percy Harvin, went off his mitts, into that of a waiting Pat, setting up the 3rd New England touchdown of the afternoon.

 

Yes, the Steelers-Pats mathcup is in the friendly confines of Heinz Field, but here's the forboding.  The last five times the Steelers have played a Monday nighter on the road, they've followed up with a home loss six days hence.  Three of these five losses were to the Bengals, and the first one of this five-pack was the Tommy Maddox Jax Debacle of '05, but it's a notable, and ominous trend, no less.

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After using multiple tight ends on 42 of 63 snaps last week (63%), Steelers went with double tights on only 13 of 53 snaps (excluding penalties & kneeldowns), 24%. Conversely, Steelers ran out of 3 or more wides on 39 of 53 plays (74%). Heath Miller was one of the wides on 6 snaps, lining up as the 3rd wide on half of these. Manny (Colonel) Sanders was in for 9 snaps, 4 in relief of Antwaan Randle El, 5 snaps as the 4th wide. Mewelde Moore lined up as the 3rd wide & and split wide once more in a 5-wide look.

Other snap counts:
DJ-only 6 snaps, all at fullback
Spaeth-19 snaps, including the 3 from Victory Formation.
Ramon Foster-14 snaps in relief of Legursky, subbing for the drive following Legursky's double-hold drive, and also on the initial drive of the 3rd quarter
Mewelde Moore-22 snaps, including the 3 from Victory Formation
Isaac Redman-10 snaps
Mendy-30 snaps
On the defensive side, Jason Worilds saw 25 snaps; Larry Foote...18.

 

Steelers:  Lucky and Good

 

Today's victory by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Miami Dolphins reinforced at least one old adage, and raised a new question.

 

It was a pyrrhic victory, given the apparent season-ending injury to Aaron Smith, but that certainly beats a pyrrhic defeat.  In this instance though, the Steelers were "better lucky than good" as they benefitted from an errant on-field referee's call combined with continuing uncertainty on the part of the zebras who simply couldn't determine who had recovered Ben Roethlisberger's fumble, one it was ruled a fumble.  The question raised, though hopefully not seriously, is whether Washington, Pa. and referee Gene Steratore would have suffered a lawn strewn with garbage and possible moving signs had he awarded the fumble to the Dolphins.

 

After the Steelers were awarded life, some Steeler Nation haunts, still traumatized by the surrendering of 4th quarter leads last season and three weeks ago against Baltimore, were of the opinion that the Steelers should go for the touchdown on 4th down.  It's true that a touchdown here would have forced the Dolphins to score a touchdown to win, and even a failure to score would have backed the Dolphins up to the 1, and left the Steelers with all three timeouts with which to get the ball back.  Coach Mike Tomlin played it by the book though, took the sure points, the narrow lead, and turned the game over to his wounded defense, by that time missing a trio of starters.  

 

There were a number of coaching decisions, some of which defied the chalk approach, other which did not, affecting games in the NFL today.  While it created no buzz, I always think it a bit unusual, though consistent with not "chasing points' when a team scores a touchdown to trail by two points, and then kicks the extra point, leaving them with a one-point deficit.  The Dolphins did just this following their lone TD of the game, and now one can't help but note that had they attempted a deuce, successfully, a Steeler field goal at the end merely ties the matter.  

 

And what about Sporano calling his final timeout prior to the Steelers winning field goal attempt?  Had he not done so, the Steelers could not have simply knelt three times to end the game.  They would have needed to execute running plays, and likely would have kicked the ball back to Miami with about 30 tics remaining.

 

A few notables from today's South Beach tussle:

*Good thing Coach Tomlin has some patience.  One certainly wandered if Manny (Colonel) Sanders would be called upon to return the 2nd Dolphins kickoff after fumbling away the first.  Sanders rewarded his coach's confidence by returning one kickoff 37 yards, followed by a 53-yard TD to Mike Wallace, and then a kickoff back 48 yards following Miami's taking their only lead of the day, putting the Steelers in good position to begin their winning drive.

*Speaking of The Colonel, let's talk about Antwaan Randle El.  El was targeted three times today, making one catch for 13 yards, and dropping a big 3rd down pass at the onset of the 4th quarter with the Steelers clinging to a 1-point lead.  Dead-horse time: the major impact of the Steelers dealing Santonio Holmes for a bucket of mud is in the #3 wide slot.   Colonel Sanders had one ball thrown his way, which he caught for an 18-yard gain.  Here's hoping Sanders is installed as the #3 wide before too long.  I won't even get into El's punt returning.

*Jason Worilds saw alot of action with mixed results, but when a rookie makes a play on 4th down with the game on the line, essentially clinching victory for his team, he's done awight.

*Give a game ball to Willie Gay.  He may not have done a whole lot prior to the next to last defensive snap of the game, but he made a sure open field tackle on 3rd & 8 on the Fins final possession, keeping the clock moving and forcing the Dolphins to rush their 4th down attempt.

*Must note that Mewelde Moore, who had seen only 11 combined snaps in the last two games, saw more extensive action today, and while he didn't exactly demonstrate blazing speed, he did take a short pass 28 yards on the final drive, putting the Steelers in position to retake the lead.

 

Around the League:  Today's probably not the day to whine, even a little bit, about no SBI (Steelers Best Interest) particularly if it involves complaints about officiating.  I'll bitch anyway.

-Ravens over Bills:  Ravens benefitted from two replay reversals on consecutive plays before halftime, and parlayed those calls into a touchdown.  The first call reversed a Bills end-zone interception.  The second awarded a completion to the Ravens on a key 3rd down, keeping their scoring drive alive.  Then, in overtime, the Bills were driving when the Ravens were awarded a fumble recovery after forward progress had been stopped for about an hour-and-a-half.  This was worsened considerably by the knuckle-headed Bills center incurring a personal foul for taking off his helmet and slamming it on the ground.  Ravens were instantly in winning field goal range.

-Patriots over Chargers:  Bill Belichick went against the book, going for the first down on 4th & 1 at midfield with a 3-point lead and 2 minutes remaining.  He didn't make it, but he makes these calls all the time.  Norv Turner goes by the book, and send out his FG team on 4th & 1 from the Pats 28, with about a minute left, trailing by 3.  This ordinarily would be the right call, except that Turner's kicker is Kris Brown, the all-time choke artist.  Maybe Turner never checked Brown's resume, thinking that no kicker could be worse with the game on the line than Nate Kaeding.  Did any Steeler fan out there have any doubt that Brownie would miss this kick?  Additionally, no surprise that the Chargers lead the league in offense and defense, but stand at 2-5.  On consecutive possessions, Charger rookie receiver makes his first NFL catch, hit the ground, and ala Plaxico, circa Jacksonville 2000, places the ball on the ground, whereupon the Patriots recover.  Then, Rivers throws a swing pass which falls to the ground and the intended receiver looks at the ball while a Patriot picks it up and returns in to the 8-yard line.   Guess he didn't know that the swing pass was a lateral.

 

Going Forward:  Steelers visit the Superdome on Halloween Night.  Hopefully, the team masquerading as the New Orleans Saints will leave their costumes on.

 

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Few items of note:
*Many had wondered if Steelers would use three wides more extensively once Ben's suspension ran its course. If the first week back is a barometer, answer is "no" (however, I don't think it's a barometer). Through the first quarter of the season, Steelers ran three or more wides on 41% of offensive plays and multiple tight ends on 45% of all plays. On Sunday, it was 3 or more wides on 30% of snaps, multiple tight ends on 65%. Note that each of the past two seasons, Steelers ran 3 or more wides on over 60% of all offensive plays.
*Toward that end, Spaeth was on the field for 42 of 64 snaps (including the one play negated by penalty), DJ saw 16 snaps. Randle El...just 20 snaps. Manny (Colonel) Sanders was the good luck charm. He saw only 3 offensive snaps, all in 4-wide sets. He caught two balls, and was on the field for HInes' TD.
*Steelers four TDs all came out of unusual sets:
-29 yarder to Wallace came out of a three-wide, double tight-end set, with Mendy split.
-8 yarder to Hines out of 4-wides
-2 yard Mendy run out of double tight-end, double fullback set, one of those fullbacks being Doug Legursky
-13 yarder to Heath came out of a three tight-end set
*All of the angst about Mewelde Moore is understood, but the process is evolving. Isaac Redman played 18 offensive snaps on Sunday; Moore was on the field for 6 snaps.

Hadn't intended on posting this, but seemed apropos, given the conversation of the day.

Excerpted from We're From the Town with the Great Football Team: A Pittsburgh Steelers Manifesto, written in March '08 (since edited for the Brady injury)

ROOTING FOR INJURIES

One might think that given my history of knee injuries, I would have more compassion, not be so cavalier about rooting for injuries to opponents of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Actually, I take the opposite tact; my injury history affords me license to root for injury with a clear conscience. It’s insufficient to suggest that one simply root for injury. It’s a more complex situation than that, hence the following analysis:

The Competitive Advantage Injury: The lone cardinal rule of rooting for injuries is to always, always, always, without exception, root for injuries to give the Pittsburgh Steelers a competitive advantage. There’s nothing personal; in fact, it’s the ultimate sign of respect. For example, I like Tom Brady, I have the ultimate respect for Tom Brady…and every single week, I root for Tom Brady to break his fuckin’ leg. I was convinced it would never happen. Then, last September, first quarter of the season’s first game….down goes Brady! It simply demonstrates the old axiom that if we’re diligent, consistent with our efforts, pray about it, that our hard work and prayers are rewarded in the end. Not only is it okay to root for injuries to give our Steelers a competitive advantage; I postulate that it’s required. You are less of a fan if you don’t do it.

And, please spare us the bullshit of not wanting to give the other team and their fans any excuses, any legitimacy to their whining. They can whine all they want, who cares, let ‘em cry. In fact, I rather enjoy it. The only thing that matters are Steelers victories.

Classic rooting for injuries:
The Brady injury…the Pittsburgh t-shirt magnate, Father George, took a lot of grief from the national media on his “Bernard Pollard Fan Club” t-shirts, but he’s a hero amongst Steelers fans. The vitriol undoubtedly helped Father George’s sales as well. Father George sent me a complimentary dozen….very popular items.

The Carson Palmer injury in the ’05 WC Playoff….I was on the ceiling, howling with delight. I knew when he went down, no way were the Steelers losing that game. In his case, I’d like to see it happen to him again…..wimp-ass leaves the stadium before halftime, with his team still in the lead. When I read that account in SI; I had to re-read it, then re-read it again. Way to be a leader, Carson… watch the game from the La-Z-Boy.

The Rodney Harrison injury in ‘05…..Cedric Wilson earned his year’s pay with that one, his best moment ever as a Pittsburgh Steeler. His TD catch in the AFCCG vs. Denver, and his TD against Cinci in the playoffs were close, but for my money, his ending Rodney Harrison’s season stands out.

The expatriate injury:
It was March or so, of ’98. I was watching ESPN report the signing of Yancey Thigpen by the Tennessee Titans. I was filling my living room with invective & vitriol. My then 8-year old daughter, says, “Daddy, what’s wrong?” I say,”That idiot just left the Steelers to sign with the Stupid Tennessee Titans.” She says, “Daddy, do you hope he breaks his leg?” Of course, I denied it, had to lie to my kid, said, “No Honey, and if I ever say that, I don’t really mean it.” But I do mean it….wholeheartedly!!!

I remember Chad Brown being injured….loved it!! Rod Woodson, Carnell Lake…..wished broken legs on them constantly. Neil O’ Donnell…..cast several spells on his sorry ass….’course his sorry ass was mostly on the bench after leaving Pittsburgh, so it didn’t much matter.

Leave Pittsburgh for more dough, better sushi……I don’t give a shit. Fuck you…and I hope you break your fuckin’ leg (you may have sensed that I have a preference for broken legs as the injury of choice).

The expatriate waiver:
Those Steelers that helped us win a Super Bowl, and then left for more dough…..Kimo, Randle El, Chris Hope, Peezy (even though we cut him, it was based on more dough), Clark Haggens, now Nate Washington, BMac. I don’t wish a broken leg on those guys. I do wish that they toil in obscurity for the balance of their careers though….ala Thigpen, ala O’Donnell, et al.

The waiver to the expatriate waiver:
When injury to our ex-Steelers who helped us win One for the Thumb gives us a competitive advantage, then I’m all for it. Honestly, I’m starting to get sick with all the fuss over Peezy. Understand, I’m not big on favorite players…and Peezy was my favorite. But, all this bullshit about people continuing to root for Peezy, cheering for him at Heinz during the ’07 quagmire…bull-shit on that!!

Tell you what I’ll do though. If Peezy again comes to Pittsburgh, and is announced in the starting lineup…if I’m there, I’ll cheer for him….I will!! He buckles up first play, I’m rooting for him to break his fuckin’ leg…..not contradictory at all.

My lone hesitation with that though is that I do want Peezy to break Tom Brady’s fuckin’ leg during his twice yearly tilts with the Pats. He can’t break Brady’s fuckin’ leg if his own leg’s in two.

The asshole injury:
Probably everyone roots for injuries to assholes. Nobody felt bad when Terrell Owens broke his leg. Not much more to be said on that topic.

Limits to rooting for injuries:
Some maniacal fans that I’ve encountered, particularly on the internet, feel differently about this, but I never root for a life-threatening, or a disabling injury. I bordered on saying that I don’t root for career-ending injuries…..I really don’t….but neither do I care if they happen. If Rodney Harrison had never played again, I wouldn’t much care. Matter of fact, when he does play, I have to expend energy rooting for him to be re-injured. It would be more efficient, economize on my energy supply if he just remained on the shelf.

Anyway, to demonstrate my compassion, please consider this. I hate Tedy Bruschi, abhor him, can’t stand the guy and his bullshit Papa Gino ads. He does make plays, at least he used to me, which made me hate him more. I loved when he got put on his ass during the Addai TD run to win the ’06 AFCCG. I can’t even accuse Brushchi of being an illegal from Arizona, of wading across the Rio Grande. I know he’s a Dago like me.

Oh…my compassion…almost forgot. When Bruschi came back from his stroke midway through the ’05 season, I specifically rooted for a non-stroke related injury. Some were rooting for his “heart to explode.” Not me….I was rooting for the standard broken leg on his first play back. It would’ve been great….Tedy walks onto the field to a thunderous standing ovation from the Foxboro nitwits (sports most pronounced assholes…the Pats fan, many of whom I know and am supposed to love), seconds later, he’s on the field, his leg busted in two. I even argued that a broken leg would spare him from the potentially life-threatening injury.

So….there ya have it folks, free yourself, don’t feel guilty about rooting for injuries. As a Steelers fan…..it’s more than okay, it’s your right, it’s your obligation….it’s your duty!!

 

Easter Sunday at Heinz Field

 

The Prelude:

The Messiah has returned to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Just as Moses led the Israelites out of the desert, in which they had wandered for 40 years, Ben Roethlisberger, Moses in Black & Gold, led the Steelers out of their 26 year sojourn through the NFL wasteland, searching aimlessly for "One for the Thumb."  Two Lombardi trophies later, Ben found himself banished from the league for a quarter of the season, victim of a dalliance between King Herod, aka Roger Goodell, and "y tu Brute," Steelers President Art Rooney II.

 

Ben's return to Pittsburgh's Jerusalem on the North Side began this October morning though, with a protestation of his return by two dozen protestors, who fittingly commenced their march, along with other like-minded birdbrains, at the National Aviary.  I was amused by one of their signs though, containing Pittsburgh vernacular, "Big Ben's a Jagoff."  Amid thunderous ovations, there were eyewitness reports of Ben being booed by a few misguided yinzers.  Had I been in the stands, I would have been tempted to visit violence upon these miscreants.  Their booing #7 should be sufficient cause for revocation of their season tickets, but given the symbiotic relationship that exists between Art II, and Pittsburghers who want Ben's head on a platter, they'll probably be awarded coupons for a fried jumbo sandwich at Primanti's.

 

The Game:

After keeping the game close for the better part of three quarters, the Steelers rolled in the fourth quarter, and bested the Brownies, 28-10.  The official offensive set information will be brought to you later this week, but for those of us who thought that Ben's return would result in a resurgence of the 3 and 4 wide receiver sets, formations that accounted for over 60% of all offensive plays during the past two seasons....well, Steelers aren't there, at least not just yet.

 

In fact, a common gripe of Steeler Nation has been the reliance on multiple tight-end sets, even though multiple wides easily exceeded multiple tights during the past two campaigns.  Today though, the perception of multiple tights was valid as the Steelers ran with at least a pair of tight ends on 40 of 63 offensive plays, easily the most extensive usage of multiple tight ends this season.  Many of the multiple tight looks resulted in an unbalanced line, as Steelers often lined up both tights to the same side.  The Steelers ran with but a single wide receiver on a full-third of offensive snaps, lining up with a pair of tight ends and a fullback.  The 50-yarder to Mike Wallace from the shade of the Steeler goalposts came from this formation, leaving many re-visiting the loss to the Ravens, wishing Ben's suspension had ended three game minutes earlier.

 

It sure was nice to see the emergence of Manny (Colonel) Sanders this afternoon, making some big catches for the first time this season. 

 

Around the League:

There were four games involving AFC contenders where there was no doubt where SBI (Steelers Best Interest) was best-served.   The bad news?   The Dolphins, Jets and Colts all win.  However, the good news?  Ravens lost!!  In a rare moment, where Steeler Nation damn well should have been rooting for the New England Patriots, Deion Branch caught nine balls in his return to New England, and the Patriots won in overtime.  Next week, we return to hoping and praying that Tom Brady breaks his fuckin' leg!!  For now though...Steelers are in first place in the AFC North.

 

Going Forward

The Steelers now won't see the friendly confines of Heinz Field for a month, next home against those Patriots on November 14th, the fourth of four straight nationally televised games.  The Steelers hit the road for the next trio of games, none of them soft touches.  Steelers visit Miami next Sunday afternoon, followed by the Halloween Night encounter in New Orleans, and then visit Paul Brown Stadium and the hated Bungals, on Monday night, November 8th.