The Steelers roll into Foxboro with a chip on their collective shoulder. Let’s face it, the Pats have owned the Steelers this decade. But this week that all changes. Last season when they met the Patriots easily rolled to a 34-13 victory against an injury ridden team. This season both teams suffer from the injury bug but the Steelers defense will feature a healthy Aaron Smith up front and Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark solidifying…
He still wears a jersey with “Johnson” stitched across the back. But this isn’t the same brash and productive wide out of years past. His numbers are down across the board. Instead of 15 yards per catch he’s slipped below ten. Instead of 90+ catches and 1300+ yards it’s looking more like a 60 catch sub 600 yard season. He’s even stopped posting a list of opponents who didn’t cover him the previous game. This…
Ha ha! When the Bengals play at Heinz field on Thursday night, it will have been about one month since Ward broke the jaw of linebacker Keith Rivers with a crushing but legal block. Rivers, only halfway through his eight week jaw-wired-shut sentence, will not suit up for the contest but looks forward to their next meeting. “Wrrmph gomphs armph cmphs armph,” he growled through clenched teeth.
How about “Steelers Buzz Bolts?” “Chargers Drained at Heinz?” “Steelers 11, Chargers 10, Refs $$$$$$?” How does a team have a 300 yard passer, 100 yard receiver and 100 yard rusher, own TOP by a 13:02 margin, win the turnover battle +2 with zero of their own, run 23 more offensive plays than their opponent, score on a safety and still win by only one point? It helps to also win the penalty game by…
On a day that saw snow and on a field of muck Fast Willie Parker showed why the Steelers’ running game had floundered over the last several games: He wasn’t there. Back from injuries but still nicked, Parker pounded out a tough 115 on 25 clock eating carries. He showed that extra burst that had been missing from the running game, even though his backup Mewelde Moore filled in admirably during Parker’s absence. Provided he…
Willie Parker continues to rehab and expects to play against the San Diego Chargers this coming Sunday. While Mewelde Moore has posted impressive (better) numbers in Parker’s absence, the Steelers lack of depth at the position is a concern. Having Parker back will allow Moore to focus on his return and 3rd down duties, hopefully keeping him fresh for the remainder of the season. Perhaps the fall off in Parker’s production this season can be…
The home loss to the Colts finds the Steelers sitting (barely) atop the AFCN with a 6-3 record. The next two games are at home versus the struggling Chargers of San Diego and the ever-hapless Cincinnati Bengals. These are games the Steelers simply must win if they harbor thoughts of playing deep into the playoffs in the new year. After these two relative cream puffs the going gets tougher with 3 of the final 5…
With a 17-7 Steelers lead and the defense turning in yet another stingy performance, it appeared little more was needed than a couple of first downs to run out the clock and head into halftime with momentum and high hopes of continuing the beating on the other side. Whoah, nelly! The Colts would have none of that. After their fourth straight punt ended their 5th drive, the Colts had the Steelers start from their own…
Heresy! Heresy! Burn him at the stake! OK, I get it, don’t mess with the 27 million dollar man. Ah, screw it. The Steelers have to sit Big Ben to save him from himself and from the offensive line and frankly, the Steelers playoff hopes from him. What if the Colts game played out like the Redskins game of the prior week? Ben sits after the half and Lefty comes in to rally the troops…
It should be a good game Sunday afternoon. How will Peyton Manning and his blockers handle the deadly duo of James Harrison and Lamar Woodly? Will Big Ben finish the game or will it be up to Byron Leftwich to rally the troops for a win? But most importantly, will the Steelers get back to the ground game, their identity? Pounding the football will go futher than any other tactic towards the goal of winning…
The Jacksonville Jaguars have fallen hard and fast after their suprising success in 2007. Last year they sacked Byron Leftwich and promoted long time backup David Garrard to the starting QB position. He made Jack Del Rio look like a genius. This year they’ve had to scratch and claw just to attain a 3-5 record. The Bengals, on the other hand, have continued their long tradition of suckitude. They dove straight to the bottom of…
After the Jets beat the Bills, my local CBS affiliate switched to the final three minutes of the Ratbirds at the Brownstains. Balty was leading 30-27 but Cleveland had the ball with plenty of time for the go ahead score. Since Baltimore is a game ahead of Cleveland but only one game behind Pittsburgh, my rooting interests were obvious: Cleveland must win to throw both teams into a 4-4 tie behind the Steelers. On the…
Head coach Mike Tomlin suspended San Antonio Holmes for the Giants game. The player will start in Washington this coming Monday night. Everything is all hunky-dory now, correct? Not by a long shot. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that punitive actions taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers organization will have no bearing on any decision he passes down. Since there were charges filed against Holmes by the Pittsburgh police, one can expect some action from the…
Coming out of the Bye Week most Steelers fans eyed the Bengals game as a nice warm up for what would surely be a challenging four game run against the NY Giants, @Washington, Indianapolis and San Diego. The warm up proved a challenge for the first three quarters of a the game which ended in a 38-10 blowout victory for the visiting Steelers. The defense remained strong, the offense put up points and Bruce Arians…
The Big Target is back. Oh, we wanted to believe it wasn’t so. We crossed our fingers and closed our eyes. We stuffed fingers in our ears and yelled, “No! No! No! No! No! No! No!” whenever somebody said that allowing zero sacks against the Bengals was meaningless. It didn’t take long for the Giants to bust our bubble and harass Big Ben. They got maximum effort from their front four and made it a…
Kudos are in order for the defense. How many straight times did they stand strong when the Giants had first and goal? Then again when the Giants had inches to go? Time after time they stood strong and time after time the offense shat their pants in return. The offense snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It’s hard to pick where to begin on this one. May have to let it sit for another…
So the Browns manage to knock off the Jags. I’m not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, it makes the Steelers win against Cleveland look a tad more meaningful. On the other, it makes the win against the Jags appear less so. At the end of the day how the wins appear doesn’t really matter. What does is that a division foe just moved a game closer by beating what many…
