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Articles from Steeler Maniacs

Steelers Win on Saturday: Why and How 2008-01-04 21:52:37 Today’s opponent cheerleader is Tiffany of the Roar, the Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleaders. I can’t tell you anything about her, because unlike almost every other team with cheerleaders, the Jaguars don’t include little biographies or quotes on the cheerleader section of their site. This is perhaps appropriate, because the Jaguars have made it to the AFC playoffs without a lot of media hoopla over their accomplishments. As a matter of fact, their quarterback David Garrard has the third best passer rating in the NFL this season, just behind Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady, a fact that has surprisingly failed to earn him almost any national press during the season. But Jacksonville and Garrard are certainly getting press now as they come to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in a playoff game on Saturday night, where they’re favored to win by the Vegas odds makers. Incidentally the reason the Pittsburgh game is at night while they southern California and the Florida playoff ga ...

Lackluster effort in season finale 2008-01-02 19:44:36 Here’s Pease’s Steelers vs. Ravens blog. Pease was my roommate for three years when I lived in Oakland near Pitt’s campus, and is one of the more knowledgeable sports fans I know. His guest-blog Pats game preview was omniscient. He sent this to me as an attachment with the request I tighten it up for him, as it was mostly a semi-sober rant. I think he sold himself short, I changed very little of what he sent in an attempt to capture the sense of inebriation that has come to define the Steelers late season swoon. Plus there’s some very apt metaphors in his writing. The tone was set for the game as Willie Reid proceeded to fumble the opening kickoff and spot the Ravens the ball inside the Steeler 35. Just didn’t show up to play. All phases of the game just seem indifferent to the outcome, with the division locked up, and only playoff seeding at stake. Ben did not play as he has been banged up due to the poor offensive line play all season, and today’s game was no diff ...

The Importance of Sports 2008-01-01 20:14:21 by John Cihon Happy New Year to all of you!  To get off-topic for a moment, if you guys didn’t watch the NHL Winter Classic outdoor game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres today, you missed out.  It was a game where the elements added excitement and both teams were close all the way through, only for Pittsburgh to pull out a shootout victory at the last second. 2007 has been a difficult year for our country, with the wars continuing in Iran and Afghanistan, as well as war and terrorism raging in other nations around the world.  The political process and politics in general has become more divisive than ever, as have conflicts between religion and atheism in our nation.  The economy is weak, and this will most certainly have an effect on the job market in 2008.  On a personal note, I have struggled with doubts when I have seen wicked individuals cause pain to others and profit by it, seemingly without consequence.  In the sporting world, we’ve seen Micha ...

All The Steelers Have To Do Is Stop The Damn Run! 2008-01-01 18:39:37 The Only bad thing about the 1st playoff game of the 2007 NFL season being played in Pittsburgh is that we can’t see the Jag’s cheerleaders during game breaks!                         I cringed when I learned that the Steelers would have to host the Jags in the 1st playoff game this weekend.  The Jags already beat us up at home on December 16th, 29-22.  In that game the Jags lit us up for 224 rushing yards.  I can understand giving up 100 yards late in the season, but 224 yards!  The following week we did a little better and only gave up 60 yards rushing against the Rams.  Even though we held the Rams to 60 yards, their yards per rush was 6.0.  It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that 2 6-yard runs = a first down.  In the final game of the season we played the Raven and we reverted back to horrible tackling and gave up 180 yards rushing!  If the Steeler’s fail to correct their late season tackling issues by Saturd ...

Will the Steelers tackle? 2007-12-31 14:01:35 My fantasy post-season, and the harsh reality. I didn’t get a chance to watch the Ravens game on Sunday, so I asked my buddy Pease to write a recap which I will post tonight or tomorrow. Judging from highlights and the radio broadcast, which I listened to while driving home from my parent’s house in NJ, tackling still seems to be an issue. Let’s hope the Steelers tackling improves greatly in the playoffs. Thanks to Steelers’ losses in Denver and New York, all San Diego had to do to secure a better conference record and thus clinch the 3rd seed in the AFC was beat the JaMarcus Russel-lead Oakland Raiders. Thanks to the Charger’s victory against Oakland the Steelers will play the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round. While the Steelers were knocked around like tackling dummies in the team’s prior meeting (remember, ‘out-physicalled’ is not a word.) the game was won on a Fred Taylor touchdown in the last three minuets of the game, hardly a blowout. Somewhat lost ...

It’s Deja Vu All Over Again 2007-12-31 03:54:23 So, once again the Steelers will play host to Jacksonville at Heinz Field in a do or die game. Didn’t we just do this? I realize I’ve been away for a few weeks (more later), but I seem to remember that team coming into town and “out-Steelering” the Steelers. I say it’s time we turn the tables on them. Or at least show up to play a full four quarters of football. Now, the reason I haven’t been writing for the last several weeks. I’ve been sick. I finally wore myself down so much from helping my parents out that I got sick enough that sitting at a computer and writing about the Steelers was too much trouble for me. I am currently under doctor’s orders to stay at home. That means no after-Christmas sales, no playing the organ for church, no visiting Mom and Dad or helping them with their laundry, no New Year’s Eve parties (not that there were any in my date book anyway). Turns out that the cold I caught around Thanksgiving has turned i ...

Naughty and Nice Pro Bowlers 2007-12-28 21:46:04 by John Cihon Okay, I know it’s a little bit late, but I came across Santa Clause’s naughty and nice list for all of the Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowlers, and I’m reprinting it, even though I might end up on the naughty list for doing so. Ben Roethlisberger – Nice With one last regular season game to go, he’s already beaten Terry Bradshaw’s previous record for the most Steelers touchdowns in one season, and his quarterback passer rating (104.1) is second only to Tom Brady. And if you need any more evidence, just watch the games. Ben has lifted Pittsburgh up on his back and dragged them to a win more than a couple times this season, and without him at quarterback, I can’t imagine this team in the playoffs. For that matter, I don’t think the Steelers will get very deep in the playoffs this year, but if they do, it will be on Ben Roethlisberger’s back. Incidentally, some national writers were saying that Derek Anderson of the Cleveland ...

Willie, Parked for post season. 2007-12-23 20:43:15 I don’t think the Steelers will lose because Davenport has to take Willie’s place as the starting running back. If Pittsburgh is one-and-done in the playoffs the offensive line and the defense will be most accountable. With Willie Parker’s leg broken, the Steelers’ playoff hopes now rest on the right shoulder of Ben Roethlisberger. Somewhere in Georgia, Verron Haynes is sitting by his telephone waiting for the Steelers to offer him a contract. I was a relieved when Parker’s injury was revealed and the news was a broken bone rather than some kind of ligament damage. Parker will be fine next year. Before we start a petition to get Najeh Davenport’s head carved into Mt. Rushmore, let’s remember the Rams are terrible. Here are a few other backs who have scalded the Rams for big rushing games: Deshaun Foster, 17 carries for 94 yards Frank Gore, 20 carries 82 yards, 2 tds Tampa Bay’s duo of Graham and Pittman combined for 136 yards on 15 carries Dallas’ Jo ...

Rams are terrible, Steelers win 2007-12-22 14:34:16 The Steelers beat the St. Louis Rams 41-24 on Thursday night, but lost running back Willie Parker for the rest of the season with a broken leg. On the Steelers first offensive play of the game, after a punt pinned the Steelers inside their 5 yard line, Ben Roethlisberger threw long to Santonio Holmes who made a nifty one handed catch and ran for an 83 yard gain. On the Steelers next play Willie Parker ran off tackle right, lost one yard, and broke one fibula. After a 3 yard loss by Najeh Davenport, Roethlisberger threw his first of two td passes to Nate Washington, this one for 13 yards, to put the Steelers up 7-0. Roethlisberger finished the game with a perfect 158.3 passer rating, completing 16 of 20 passes for 261 yards and 3 tds. Najeh Davenport filled in admirably for his fallen teammate, rushing for 123 yards and a td on 24 carries, he also scored on a swing pass from Roethlisberger. Bulger rallied his decimated troops to tie the game at 7, but that was as close as St. Louis wou ...

The Najeh Davenport Show 2007-12-22 13:39:11 Willie parker was the league’s rushing leader when he went down with a season ending leg inujury thursday night during the St.Louis game.  I was in shock when I heard that his leg was broken and he was done for the year.  Parker is the Steeler’s most lethal weapon with blazing speed that keeps opposing defenses on their toes.  I thought to myself “what will we do now with Parker out for the remainder of the season”  As I continued watching the game thursday night I started seeing the answer to my question.  Najeh Davenport was runnig the ball against the Rams like a mack truck on steroids.  At 6′1 and weighing 247 pounds, he is a load to bring down and once he gets into the 2nd level of the defense the smaller defensive players are no match for his size and power.  The Steelers began to look like the team when we had Bettis running the ball.  Davenport wore down the Rams defense who did not have the answers to stopping him.              ...

St. Steven in the dome… 2007-12-20 17:34:48 It is technically accurate to say the Steelers would benefit from out-ramming the Rams, but not to say they need to “out-Ram” them to win. That’s enough of that. Will the Steelers be able to contain, “Saint” Steven Jackson? The Steelers need to take advantage of St. Louis’ banged up offensive line, if there was ever a remedy for a defense having trouble getting off of blocks and getting to the quarterback, it’s playing the Steelers, I mean the Rams, sorry. Lamar Woodley will play in place of the injured Clark Haggans. Let’s hope the rookie can add some energy and intensity to the lethargic defense. Tyrone Carter is playing for Anthony Smith who has been benched after getting beat deep several times in the last two games. Carter should help sure up the pass defense, normally Polamalu’s backup at strong safety, Carter has played free safety with Minnesota. I expect him to play a solid if unspectacular game, he’s not the risk taker Smith is which makes him ...

For argument’s sake 2007-12-19 23:42:36 It’s a cop-out to blame the coaches for the Steelers play of late. They are 9-5 and likely on their way to an 11-5 finish. Tomlin is doing, and has at least done something right. That being said, since the NY Jets loss, I take nothing for granted with this bi-polar squad whose quality of play fluctuates more than the mood of a schizophrenic teenage girl. No one was criticizing the halftime adjustments that the staff made in the second Browns game, when the Steelers rallied from 15 down at halftime. The first half of the season was decorated with games in which the Steelers let teams hang around in the first half before pulling away in the last 30 minutes. The game plan is not being executed. Maybe the coaches are asking too much from the players? I guess that could be it. The line can’t block, and the defense hasn’t tackled well since the Baltimore game. You can’t scheme around bad tackling and poor line play. I hate the phrase “out-Steelered”. The phrase has been w ...

Steelers in the Pro Bowl 2007-12-19 11:47:57 Steelers in the Pro Bowl Alan Faneca Ben Roethlisberger Willie Parker Troy Polamalu James Harrison There are three parts to Pro Bowl voting; the fans players and coaches all account for one third of the election process. I’m not sure how Polamalu made the Pro Bowl, he’s missed several games to injury this year. Roethlisberger is clearly the third best QB in the AFC, possibly in the NFL, and in time could rise to the Brady-Favre-Manning level, especially if the Rooney’s shell out some cash for a few linemen who can block, and another wide receiver who can catch. Harrison is making good on the teams decision to let Joey Porter walk. He’s been somewhat quiet lately, but then again so has the defense as a whole. I’m somewhat amazed Faneca made the team, as the O-line has been porous at best this season. It’s clear many players make the team based on reputation, but to give Faneca the benefit of the doubt, I’ll conclude he’s probably had to cover for Mahan a lot this s ...

At least the kick coverage was good 2007-12-19 00:53:44 The Steelers (9-5) lost their second straight game 29-22 to the Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4). Jacksonville is the first team to beat the Steelers at home this season, bludgeoning the Steelers for over 200 rushing yards en route to a thrilling 29-22 victory, which was capped by a 12 yard td run by Fred Taylor with just under 2 minutes to play. The game ended when TE Heath Miller came up a yard short on fourth and 7 on the Steeler’s final drive. Pittsburgh led 7-3 late in the first half. Facing 2nd and 12 from inside their 35, Roethlisberger hit Hines Ward in the chest with a pass that would have given the Steelers a first down, and Ward let the ball bounce off his shoulder pads onto the snowy Heinz Field turf. The Steelers ended up punting, and the jags scored on the ensuing possession to go into half time with a 10-7 lead. In the second half the Steelers defense, playing without Pro-Bowl defensive end Aaron Smith, was dominated. The Jaguars had a 20 play drive that consumed 9 minut ...

Jacksonville Out-Steelers the Steelers 2007-12-16 22:31:29 by John Cihon The Pittsburgh Steelers got completely out-physicaled today in their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who successfully ran through the former steel curtain like it was tissue paper, as well as succeeded in putting a constant stream of pressure on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Did anyone else watching this game feel like the teams may have accidentally switched uniforms on the way onto the field? The Jaguars out-Steelered the Steelers, just as they did in their meeting last year. In Coach Mike Tomlin’s post-game conference, he was forthright in saying that the team simply did not play well in all areas and needed to improve. And he was largely right, but he failed to publicly place blame in one area where it is sorely needed. Himself. Fortunately, guys on the internet like me exist to do that. When Tomlin started this season with early success the fans were ready to embrace him as the savior of the Pittsburgh Steelers after last year’s post-Super Bowl meltdo ...