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WOW!!!!!!!! 2007-11-06 14:12:56 If you’re a Baltimore Ravens fan then you don’t want to read this blog.  Your team was embarrassed last night by the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I’m actually being polite by saying that the Ravens were embarrassed; it would be more accurate to say that the Ravens were pulverized or demolished.  NFL regulations require a game to last four quarters, but this game was over before half-time.  Final score 38-7 Steelers. James Harrison looked immortal yesterday.  Harrison finished the game with 10 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 interception, and 2 forced fumbles.  Harrison spent more time in the Ravens backfield than Willis McGahee did last night.  Ironically Harrison had the best game of his career against a team that had cut him before he was a Steeler. Ben Roethlisberger also had a stellar performance against the Ravens.  Big Ben finished the game nearly flawless going 13 of 16 for 209 yards.  By the way Roethlisberger threw five touchdown passes.  Santonio Holmes and Nasty Nate Washingt ...

4 minutes to go in the first half 2007-11-05 20:56:26 Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly… Wow. This is going to start more “We can hang with the Pats” talk.  It might actually be warranted In 20 years of watching the Steelers I have not seen an outside linebacker have as good a first half as James Harrison is having. 4td’s by Ben. This is domination. I hope the Steelers run up the score. ...

Risk vs Reward - Week 9 2007-11-04 10:31:15 After two weeks of getting hammered, it’s still lookin’ grim. The wire is about tapped, it might be time to start looking at some match-ups. If your extremely thin at running back you might want to look at a couple of these guys. Samkon Gado was picked up by the Miami Dolphins and there is a possibility he could win the starting job off of Jesse Chatman. If you have extra space, pick him up for a couple weeks and see if he gets any carries. Another guy to watch is the new starter in Green Bay, Ryan Grant. I don’t trust any Packers RB enough to start him right now, but when the weather turns for the worst in Green Bay they’ll start running the ball more. Justin Fargas will be the primary carrier in Oakland. Look for the Raiders to continue to run the ball quite a bit but expect modest numbers. Adimchinobe Echamandu will be the back up to Ahman Green in Houston, a nice gig for a bench player considering the struggles Green has in staying healthy. Look for A.E. to get a starting s ...

Can I still drink 30 IC Lights on Sunday? 2007-11-03 13:54:05 The Steelers will wear their throwback uni’s against the Ravens this Monday night. I like the Steeler’s yellow helmets, but something about the not-quite-black jerseys bugs me. I think it would be great if the Ravens wore Browns Jerseys’ from the 1960’s in accordance with the retro-themed 75th anniversary celebration. Pitt is beating Syracuse 10-3, in one of the most boring games I’ve ever watched. It’s been amusing to hear the announcers try to sound serious when they talk about the “tough” Big East, while adding technically true but misleading quips like, “every team in the Big East could wind up in a bowl game”. Where have you gone Larry Fitzgerald? Crap, the Orange scored, it’s 10-10. It’s too bad there isn’t some kind of rule awarding extra scholarships to bad college teams to even the playing field. With the Steelers playing Monday night, we of the black and gold fandom will have a stress-free football watching experience on Sunday. I think the Colts ...

Unpatriotic 2007-11-03 10:44:31 I might be the only person unconcerned with the Steelers’ match-up against the Patriots. True, the Patriots boast the top-ranked pass game in the league. They average 41.4 points a game, nine more than the Dallas Cowboys. Tom Brady has been virtually unstoppable, throwing for 30 touchdowns with only two interceptions. Their running game is ranked eighth in the league at 135.8 yards per game. They dominate the clock, averaging 34:15 in time of possession. Their defense is almost as formidable. They have the #3 ranked defense in yards per game. They allow a measly 15.9 points per game and are tied for second place with 11 interceptions. Despite all this, I still think the Steelers can overcome the odds and take this one on the road. While I may be looking ahead, as the Steelers have five more weeks to prepare for their toughest test, the Black-and-Gold appeals to me more than the Red, White, and Blue. Yes, the offense doesn’t pile on the points like the Pats, but they own the ...

What kind of team is named after birds that eat road kill? 2007-11-02 06:38:30 I used to live in Maryland, half way between Baltimore and Washington, on the I-95 corridor. I’d moved there in the mid-70s, missing the Super Steelers years, for work. I moved back this way a little over 3 years ago and have to tell you what a relief it is to be back in Steelers country. Back when I first began my exile, the Colts were playing at Memorial Stadium, same as the Orioles. I even got to see the Steelers play there and to sit in a section with lots of other DPs (displaced Pittsburgers). My fondest memory of that game was yelling at Myron Cope who turned around and waved at all of us. The Colts snuck out of town in the middle of the night and headed to the mid-west. Suddenly, I was able to watch the Steelers on TV a lot more often. And, with their continued Super Bowl wins, coverage of the team was pretty much assured. Then, the same town that cried and cried and cried about having their team spirited away in the middle of the night did the same thing to Cleveland. Su ...

Colclough trips over the waiver wire and winds up in Cleveland 2007-11-01 14:25:40 Ricardo Colclough was cut by Pittsburgh, and picked up by Cleveland. Hopefully he returns punts for the Browns Reprise.  I’m glad I will no longer have to look up the correct spelling of his last name, then use it in sentences with phrases like, “is once again inactive” or “got beat by Chad Johnson,” and especially, “will hopefully never return a punt for Pittsburgh again”.   Ricardo’s spot was filled by Anthony Madison. The Steeler way The Steelers do a great job of building through the draft, however, this season a second round pick has been the asking price for a solid receiver, one significantly better than Nate Washington.  Colclough was a second round pick.  God forbid the Steelers give up a potential Ricardo Colcough for a receiver like Chris Chambers, Wes Welker, or a certain disgruntled ex-Viking/Raider.  I know this is only one example, but it is evidence that the draft can be a crap shoot, and sometimes acquiring a sure thing for an obvious need is wor ...

Ray Lewis guarantees Ravens will use 11 men on defense 2007-11-01 13:55:19 Is it too late to write about the Cincinnati game? Pittsburgh beat the Bengals 24-13 in Cincinnati, polarizing the two teams in the AFC North.  The Bengals (2-5) and the Steelers (5-2) now bookend the Browns Reprise (4-3) and the We-Used-to-Play-in-Cleveland Ravens (4-3).  With a chance to pull within a game of the division lead, and reign in the Steelers, CInci came up short.  Much is being made of the Bengal’s decision to kick a field goal on fourth and 1 while trailing 14-3 late in the first half.   The field goal made the score 14-6 with just over two minutes to play in the first half.  Ben Roethlisberger responded by leading the Steelers on a touchdown drive to end the half, extending the Pittsburgh lead to 21-6 at halftime.  Parker rushed for 124 yards, and a TD on 22 carries, Ward had two touchdown catches, and the defense kept the Bengals out of the end zone for the most part.  This was exactly the kind of game I wanted to see after the Steelers self-destructed in Den ...

Still The Better Team… 2007-10-29 15:04:05 Before the season started I thought that Cincinnati would be our toughest opponent in the division. Apparently I was wrong. The Bungles lost for the 5th time in seven games at the hands of The Steelers. Final Score 24-13 Good Guys. Offensively we looked pretty good. Hines Ward put in another solid performance on Sunday. Ward caught 8 passes for 88 yards with 2 TD’s. Ward was especially wide open on his first touchdown catch of 21 yards. Except for one forced pass which even Roethlisberger described as “a stupid throw”, Ben played well. He finished the day 19 of 26 for 230 yards. Willie P ran for over 100 yards again. Parker finished with 126 yards and a touchdown. It was just another typical day at the office for Not Slow Willie. The Steelers D looked much improved after last week’s loss to Denver. Chad Johnson was not really a factor for Cincinnati on Sunday. Johnson looked rattled early in the game. He did finish with 51 yards on 5 receptions, but it was a modes ...

WooHoo! 2007-10-29 09:55:22 Trick or Treat!  Sunday afternoon was definitely a treat!   Now that’s more like it!  5-2 is looking very nice! Interceptions are up to 6 but I really wasn’t that worried when it happened.  True, Cincy did eventually get points out of it, but it took a while and to me it wasn’t anything to panic over.  Ben realizes it was just a dumb moment of not really thinking clearly.  He’s human, he makes mistakes.  He knows and he’ll learn from it.  That what mistakes are for.  Too bad when he threw the ball away, and it went through the uprights, we couldn’t have gotten any points out of it.  That could have been funny.  It was good seeing Hines making plays and getting touchdowns.  Somehow I wasn’t aware that he didn’t have one yet.  I missed the first touchdown.  I had to be at a meeting and brought a radio with me to listen to the game, but the battery died right after our first punt.  I wasn’t able to get to my car unti ...

Steelers are great 2007-10-29 09:24:12 Hey, I am so happy about the Steeler win yesterday. Couldn’t watch all of the game cause we went trick-or-treating, but was able to listen as we drove along. Next week is a Monday nighter…what will we do on Sunday? LOL JP ...

Risk vs Reward - Week 8 2007-10-28 11:32:39 Last week was rough. That’s all I can say. If you started Andre Davis, he rallied for ya late in the game for a touchdown. Jackson and Leonard forgot to show up. Lookin’ at the wire this week there isn’t much out there. Let’s see if I can still find something for you to use in a big bye week. Ike Hilliard - WR Tampa Bay Buccaneers The best thing that happened to the Bucs offense this week is the Jags losing David Garrard. Without Garrard Jacksonville will have a tough time moving the football and that will give Garcia plenty of snaps to work with. Hilliard has been playing well the last couple of games and I look for that to continue this week. If you need a receiver for a one week gap stop, go with Ike. Reuben Droughns - RB New York Giants If you’ve been riding the Kenny Watson bandwagon, this is your stop. Watson will have a tough day against Pittsburgh. Reuben on the other hand should see some touches later in the game as the Giants put the boots to the Dolphins. Miami’s ...

Just about over it 2007-10-25 06:56:10 It’s Thursday, four days after the disaster that was Denver and I’m just about over it. Of course, I had a bad feeling going into the Mile High City. Seems like every time we are picked as winners in an away game, we get beat. Like many, I’m wondering why we went with a passing game against one of the worst run defenses in the league. I’m also wondering how a team that looked so good against Seattle could look so bad against Denver. At least the team that played Seattle came out of the locker room after the half. That helped, but not enough to prevent the outcome. I’ve been scanning through the other bloggers’ entries and found some interesting stuff about Ward and Burress written by bengwin4 (”The Steelers are 18 million under the salary cap”). I liked Burress. He was exciting to watch. Still is. Did you see that catch he made while en pointe? That’s what we’d be seeing if he were still wearing Black and Gold. Like bengwin4, ...

2007 Miami Dolphins 2007-10-25 00:03:19 What can you say about the 2007 Miami Dolphins? Not much. It looks like the Dolphins have a real chance of going 0-16. If you look at their schedule, they face the Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Steelers, Ravens and Bengals. The only real shots they might have at winning are against Buffalo and the New York Jets. But even that might be a stretch considering the Bills have almost defeated the Cowboys and Broncos. The Jets can score as well, and have put up decent numbers against lack luster defenses. The real reason for the ‘fins’ lack of success is due to the front office continually making bad personnel moves.   In fact, the only players that have gone to Pro Bowls that are still with the team are Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor. Both of whom were brought in by Jimmy Johnson before he retired (1996-1999). They added a Pro Bowler in Joey Porter, but nobody they play against has noticed. When you look at the successful teams around the league they all have certain fundamental systems when ...

Paper, rock, scissors 2007-10-23 15:38:11 Aaron Smith will be out vs. Cincinnati with an MCL sprain. That’s’ not good, however, CB Bryant McFadden will probably be listed as probable. This game against the Bengals is huge. Should the Steelers lose the AFC North picture will become even more muddled, while a win will all but bury the Bengals, and keep the Steelers undefeated in the division.The Steelers have played significantly worse on the road than at home this year, but the trip to Cinci isn’t quite the same trek as going to Phoenix or Denver. Safety Ryan Clark has an inflamed spleen. That sounds terrible. I think we know who would win if Mike Tomlin played Mike Shanahan in a game of paper, rock scissors. To further this semi-clever analogy, it was as if Tomlin and O-coordinator Bruce Arians were thinking, “OK, they have gone with paper all year, so they think we are going to go with scissors, however, since they know this, they will probably go with rock to beat our scissors, so we should go with rock. Then The Bro ...