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Goodreads
Nov
9
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
It is a little hard sometimes to be critical of Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. Playing behind a sub-par offensive line he is often battered, bruised, and running for his life. And he frequently makes big plays by improvising. But he also has Bret Favre syndrome and can force things with disastrous results. And lately he has been doing just that.
Tonight’s loss against Indianapolis was one example. Ben threw two picks deep in his own territory that led to two Colts touchdowns; and that proved to be the margin of the game. Other than a tipped ball that fell into the hands of Reggie Wayne for a 77 yard touchdown, the Colts struggled to move the ball against the Steelers defense. But in both the second and fourth quarter Ben threw a pick that gave the ball to the Colts in great field position (the Pittsburgh 30 and 32 respectively). They turned them both into touchdowns and won the game.
The game swung on a couple of possessions in the fourth quarter. After an eight minute drive the Steelers had it first and goal on the five. But the Steelers couldn’t punch it in with three straight runs. After kicking the field goal the defense held and the Steelers had a chance to run out the clock. But Ben threw his second interception and the Colts capitalized and took the lead for the first time. The Steelers has a hail mary shot at the end but fittingly it was picked off.
Oct
15
Unintentionally Funny Bengal Video
Filed Under Sports: NFL | 1 Comment
Heading into the Cincinnati Bengals v. Pittsburgh Steelers game this weekend, I figured I would show this YouTube for laughs:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsmGGnxHJmI[/youtube]
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Oct
6
Ben escapes again
The Steelers, and their star QB Ben Roethlisberger, may be battered and bruised but when the game is on the line they seem to find a way to come up with the big play. They found a way to win in overtime last week against the hated Ravens and last night they found a way to beat a team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, that has been a thorn in their side for years.
Last year the Steelers lost two heartbreaking games to the Jags, one a playoff game. They were on a four game losing streak to this heated rival. Last night they finally stopped Jacksonville’s running game and Ben managed to make plays despite the physical beating he has been taking.
The Steelers are now 3-1, lead their division, and have a much needed bye week to rest and heal for the remainder of their grueling schedule.
The night sure didn’t start out that way. On the Steelers first drive Ben threw an interception which Rasheed Mathis promptly returned for a touchdown. You had to wonder if this was going be another one of those games where, under pressure, Ben tries to do too much and it backfires.
Nope. The argument has always been that if the Steelers have to throw too often they lose, but last night they showed that they can do more than run the ball and play tough defense. Using a lot of movement and quick passes the Steelers moved the ball on Jacksonville to the tune of 28 first downs and 415 yards.
A number of players were involved. Nate Washington caught six passes for 94 yards and a touchdown while the ever reliable Hines Ward had seven receptions for 90 yards and the winning touchdown. Mewelde Moore, filling in for the injured Willie Parker, quietly racked up 99 yards rushing.
But Roethlisberger was the hero. With people drapped all over him, and taking a beating with cruel regularity, he made the big plays when he needed to throwing for 309 yards and three touchdowns. And when the game was on the line on that last drive he found the open man and kept the drive alive. He converted three third downs, including a critical third and eight with 6-5 275 lb lineman Reggie Hayward hanging all over him. And on third and goal he lofted a beautiful fade route to Hines Ward in the endzone.
No matter what happens the rest of the season, and it might get ugly given the offensive line and the quality of their opponents, this is why Steeler fans are happy to have Big Ben leading the team. He simply makes plays under circumstances few others could handle.
Only time will tell if he can survive the rest of the season, but the fans and the team can savour this win for a while.
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Sep
22
Blitzkreig leads to bruised Ben
Filed Under Sports: NFL | 1 Comment
Well, if the previous game against the Cleveland Browns wasn’t enough to wake up Steeler fans Sunday’s game did the trick.
In the run up to the season fans were all wondering if the Steelers could really compete with the NFL elite
Sacked
with a makeshift offensive line. The opening day slaughter of the Houston Texans put the nervous thoughts out of mind for a while and the lack of firepower in the Cleveland game was blamed on the weather and Ben Roethlisberger’s bum shoulder.
There is simply no way to hide the fact, however, that on Sunday the Philadelphia Eagles defense demoralized and embarrassed the Steelers. Ben was running for his life from the start and didn’t stop until he left the game with a hand injury. The offense never got on track as a result. The Eagles blitzed to stop the run and blitzed to get to the QB. And they did both very well (nine sacks, a safety, three turnovers, 33 rushing yards, etc.).
If there was a bright spot it was that the defense settled down after a few series and played great. They gave the Eagles a little of their own medicine and harried Donovan McNabb and even forced him to exit the game for a short while (and when he came back in he wasn’t quite as sharp). They caused turnovers and forced the game into a field position battle when it could easily have gotten away.
In the end, the Eagles managed to score a touchdown and the Steelers didn’t. That was the game. The offensive line just couldn’t keep it together long enough to give the playmakers a real chance to do something. The defense kept it close.
It is also worth noting that the Eagle’s punter Save Bocca, a former Australian rules football player, played a key role with some booming punts that pinned the Steelers back near their own endzone (and resulted in the safety).
The Steelers have a tough schedule which means that if they are to be competitive they had better find a way to handle the blitz. Because you know their opponent will be studying this game film for strategies. Baltimore and Jacksonville may or may not be in the elite this year but they both play tough defense and love to come after the Steelers. These next two games will show whether this was just a bad game or an ongoing problem.
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Sep
8
FFL: I survived Carson Palmer
Filed Under Sports: NFL | Leave a Comment
Image via Wikipedia
(Cross Posted at UFSL)
Watching the Bengals-Ravens game on Sunday I was starting to worry. I mean Carson Palmer and the Bungle offense looked atrocious. And sure enough, Palmer ended up with 3 measly points. (Maurice Jones-Drew was disappointing as well with only 4). That should teach me to pick a Bengal (I am a life long Steeler fan).
But as fate would have it, I still won (87-68). Plaxico Burress, Hines Ward, and Lee Evans all had good games; exceeding their projected point levels. And of course the Purple Jesus Adrian Peterson kicked in double digits even in a losing cause.
But I have to admit what really helped was that Brad had Kevin Curtis and Willis McGahee neither of whom saw action. Toss in a terrible day for Braylon Edwards, in a ugly loss for Cleveland, and he couldn’t win despite a nice game by Drew Brees.
I will take the 87 points and the win. That point total would have been good enough to win all but two games in our league. But I am not going trust Carson Palmer again until I have some concrete evidence that the Bengals can score some points. Sunday they could barely make first downs.
At least unlike Ben I didn’t lose a critical player for the season. But I will have to get better at QB to compete with the top teams given that a couple of you topped 120 points.
I won’t tease Brad to hard about the zeros from Curtis and McGahee as I am apt to pull the same thing myself at least once this season.
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Nov
18
When it rains it pours
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After Ohio State rips my heart out and leaves me for dead, the Jets kick me in the junk. Sometimes I hate football.
Sep
23
Steelers 3-0
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While Michigan started off with shocking loses, the Pittsburgh Steelers have played consistently well for three weeks. They started off with a shellacking of the Browns and followed that up with a nice win against Buffalo. Today they pulled away from a quality San Fransisco team.
The Steelers have their typical hard hitting and tough defense and they run the ball like always. But they also have a balanced passing attack with good receivers and play-making tight ends. They have speed with “Fast Willie” Parker and a bruiser with Najeh Davenport. They have the rock steady Hines Ward and their up-and-coming youngster in Santonio Holmes plus reliable Cedric Wilson (and talented but sometimes inconsistent Nate Washington). They not only have Heath Miller as a quality pass catching tight end but rookie Matt Spaeth is a great athlete as well. And their old school, and Michigan grad, TE Jerame Tuman caught a TD today. Ben Roethlisberger looks in sync and more in control of the offense. He continues to use his athletic abilities to keep plays alive and make something happen down field.
They even look good on special teams; a critical problem last year. The addition of Allen Rossum has paid dividends. He had a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown today and has been running well all year. Jeff Reed has been nails.
All of this adds up to a solid football team. Balanced and tough but capable of putting up points. They scored in all facets of the game today: special teams, offense, and defense. They kept plugging away and made the big plays when they needed to and put the opponent away.
They now head on the road to face former coaches at Arizona Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm. Then they have Seattle at home before a bye week. Being 5-0 or 4-1 would be important because they then face back to back road games against Denver and Cincinnati .
Sep
10
Steelers Sack Browns
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Ahh, there is nothing like reviving your sagging football spirits quite like a trip to Cleveland. The Pittsburgh Steelers gave me a boost by demolishing the Browns yet again.
The defense harassed the QB - no matter who it was - and the offense looked good. Ben Roethlisberger had four touchdown throws, including a beautiful deep ball to Santonio Holmes, and Willie Parker had a hundred yard rushing. Work for me.
The Steelers did look a little out of sync in the second quarter, but came out after half-time and put the game away for good. Of course it helped that the Browns were their usual hapless selves. They simply couldn’t protect the QB long enough to get an offense working or hang on to the ball and force the Steelers to put together long drives.
I know Browns fans want Brady Quinn but it would be foolish to put him back there right now and force him to run for his life. Better to suffer and let him learn the offense and get a handle on the speed of the NFL game. Rushing a franchise QB into an ugly season isn’t going to help in the long run
Next up for the Steelers: the Buffalo Bills who gave Denver everything they could handle. Should be a better test of this team. For once this year, I am looking forward to a football game.
Feb
5
Congrats to the Colts
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A belated congrats to the Indianapolis Colts on winning the Super Bowl. I was glad that at least a couple of good friends of mine from high school and college were happy last night. Having suffered through many years of bad Colt teams, and good teams that couldn’t finish, that had to be a great feeling. I remember the Steelers Super Bowl victory very well.
The Colts proved to be much tougher than I imagined them to be. I guess Tony Dungy’s hard work and toughness paid off. Peyton Manning - as overexposed and annoying as he can be - played well and won the big game. I was surprised at how he was able to shake off rocky starts in post-season games and play big when everything was on the line. But the real stars of the game were the offensive and defensive lines. They played physical and allowed the Colts to run the ball which allowed Peyton to run the offense. It is hard to think of a team that looked more vulnerable heading into post-season but who turned it around in such remarkable fashion.
The Bears executed their game plan in many ways. They got a big special teams play and the defense held the Colts to field goals on a couple of key occasions. They were very much in the game in the fourth quarter. But Rex Grossman - Sexy Rexy as he is known on the Internets - just couldn’t manage to hit his open receivers. When his mechanics are bad - happy feet and throwing off his back foot - his throws are highly inaccurate and have a tendency to sail on him. Against the Saints he put together a key drive or two and this allowed the running game to get going. Last night Grossman couldn’t hit his receivers to save his life. One a couple of key plays he had open targets for potential big plays but his throws were jump balls. When the Colts got the pick-six in the fourth quarter it was over. If Grossman could have found a way to hold on to the ball or complete a decent pass downfield, the Bears were positioned to win the game much like they had won their last couple. But it was not to be. The soggy wet ball just hung in the air like some kind of sick duck and came down in the hands of the Colts defender. Grossman’ stats might like half decent but he gave the game away.
Peyton gets the MVP even though it looked pretty clear to me that Dominic Rhodes deserved it (if not Rexy). Grossman has to be on the shakiest ground a super bowl QB has been on heading into the next season. Despite Lovie Smith, and his teammates, faith in him I find it hard to be confident about his job prospects
So congrats to the Colts and the Indy fans. They found a way to keep winning and that is really what it is all about.
Jan
22
Colts Bears Headed to Miami
Filed Under Sports: NFL | 3 Comments
Congrats to the Colts and Bears on impressive wins yesterday. Interesting Super Bowl for me in that I have lived in both team’s city/state at one point; and have thus cheered for them in some capacity.
Having spent some time in Chicago, Da Bears have allays been my favorite team in the NFC. I predicted they would win yesterday and was surprised that none of the so called experts questioned whether a dome team could win outside in January (no one has done it since 1970). I have to admit I was nervous when the Bears settled for field goals instead of touchdowns early on. Grossman’s mechanics seemed off and his passes were sailing on him. On the key drive of the game, however, he found a rhythm and connected with his receivers. When Berrian made that amazing catch for the touchdown, that seemed to break the game open. The Bears cruised after that.
As I mentioned above, I went to high school and college and Indiana and considered myself something of a casual Colts fan for many years. But something funny happened after college, I grew annoyed with Peyton Manning. I was tired of his seeming endless commercials, the constant attention his family gets, and his poor play when it mattered.
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