A Weekend Of Football

Observations and comments from around the league and the world of football...

After the meltdown yesterday, I left the Pittsburgh CBS station on and due to no NFL game, they had their post game call in show on... and it turned out to be a glorious disaster. Even moreso than the game itself.

The popular opinion of callers around town seems to be:

1. The Steelers need a bruiser back
2. The Steelers are losing because Bill Cowher doesn't yell and scream enough
3. Ben Roethlisberger sucks

One of the final calls I heard before I threw my remote through the TV was a guy from Springdale calling in and saying, and I quote:

"Get rid of Ben because he's a loser and a bum. Just play Char....." He kept talking but they hung up on him before he could finish his thoughts.

I used to think this was just a Pittsburgh thing. But it's not. It's a league wide mindset. The same mindset that makes Joe Blow from Springdale want to run Ben Roethlisberger out of town because he's struggled for half a season, is the same type of mindset that wants to call Tony Romo the 2nd coming of Tom Brady after four NFL starts. It's the same type of mindset that calls Rex Grossman an MVP after 3 weeks, and then gives up on him as a starter 9 weeks later.

I eventually flipped over to the final minutes of the Bears-Patriots game and it was a magnificent display of sloppy football. Nine turnovers? There was one play I saw that featured two New England fumbles. Anyway, after clock killing Corey Dillon fumbled late the Bears took over with one last shot to win the game. On the Bears first play Rex Grossman heaved a pass about 50 yards down the field only to be picked off by Asante Samuel (for the 3rd time in the game).

Game over.

I can't remember if it was Joe Buck or Troy Aikman, but one of the guys made this comment as the final seconds were ticking off of the clock...

"And Bears fans are left to wonder how good their team might be if Brian Griese were the starting Quarterback."

Yeah, nine weeks ago this guy was where Tony Romo is today.

Before the games started I was rotating between countdown, FOX, and the CBS pre-game shows just to see what was going on around the league on this day.

On FOX, Pam Oliver was doing a story on black head coaches and how we need more of them and how there needs to be more high profile jobs offered to minority canidates. Thats fine. But while I was watching I kept getting this crazy, whacked out thought, that in todays world in the year 2006, that we might be getting to the point where we can stop looking at people as black head coaches and white head coaches - and black quarterbacks and white quarterbacks - and just start looking at them as head coaches and quarterbacks. It's a crazy thought and we're obviously not ready to get to that point. And thats sad. And I thought hiring somebody based on the color of their skin was something that we were trying to avoid?

When you're dealing with a multi-billion dollar business like pro sports, shouldn't you be more concerned about hiring the best possible person, regardless of whether or not he's black, white, orange, red or blue? Hell, forget pro sports and multi-billion dollar business, if you're trying to sell widgets out of your garage your goal should be to hire the best person for the job, regardless of whether or not he's black, white, orange, red or blue.

I then switched on over to the CBS pre-game show where flavor of the month Tony Romo was being interviewed by the crew. The topic of the discussion at that very moment? Jessica Simpson. Before Romo could answer I flipped back to countdown which was in a commercial break that just happened to be "This is our country."

This is why I watch the NFL. NAACP meeting on one channel, Jessisa Simpson on the other, and John Mellencamp selling trucks on the third.

Once football started being played...man...what a crazy day around the league:

- Michael Vick flipped his hometown fans. Twice. Once with each hand.

- Braylon Edwards flipped out on the sidelines in a TO like manner.

- The Saints completed a last second hail mary as the first half was coming to a close because Deangelo Hall went for the pick instead of, KNOCKING THE BALL DOWN!

- In the Oakland-San Diego game Vincent Jackson pulled a Plaxico as he caught a 4th and 2 pass and celebrated by jumping up and spinning the ball to the ground. After no one touched him. The Raiders fell on the loose ball and all seemed to be going well as they were giving the Chargers all they could handle and then some. Of course, because Vincent Jackson is amazing and because the Raiders are the Raiders, he managed to spin the ball forward making the play an illegal forward pass and not a fumble. Chargers keep the ball. Art Shell is speechless.

- The Giants had a 21-0 lead against the Titans with less than 10 minutes to play in the game and managed to complete one of the most amazing 4th quarter meltdowns in recent memory. Plaxico Burress quit on a route that ended up being intercepted..... and then made a half assed tackle attempt for the 2nd week in a row. Sadly for the Giants, Burress' half assed attempt was more assed than defensive end Mathias Kiawanuka who had Titans QB Vince Young wrapped up on a 4th down play...and he let him go. He simply let him go. Some people have speculated that Kiwi let him go because he thought Young threw the ball and he didn't want to get penalized for a roughing the passer penalty. At first I thought, "Bull. He just blew it." But you know what? Thats not that crazy of a thought. Young managed to turn the play into a first down and the comeback continued. After the Titans completed the rally and tied the game, the Giants took over with somewhere around 30 seconds to play and Eli Manning proceeds to throw to a wide open Pac Man Jones, who plays for the wrong team. Titans win.

- The most recent Madden video game commercial features a video game version of Colts tight end Dallas Clark getting "jacked up" by a video game version of the Eagles defense. Last night the real Dallas Clark suffered an ugly looking leg injury against the real Eagles defense. And they say the Madden curse doesn't exist.

- Troy Polamalu suffered what Bill called a "significant knee injury" at some point in yesterdays game. And that sucks. I'm hearing today it's an MCL sprain and he's out for atleast two weeks. I find it odd that this injury happened in Baltimore, who plays on Field Turf, after the Steelers have taken so much heat for the condition of Heinz Field and how ugly and unsafe it is. I don't think the turf had anything to do with Troy's injury, I just find it odd that it happened on the fake stuff as opposed to the Heinz dirt.

Long live the dirt.

On the college front I saw the best play of the season in the Georgia-Georgia tech game. I know nothing about either team so the names are lost on me right now, but Reggie Ball on a 3rd and long play was fighting for extra yardage and managed to fumble the football into a scrum. As the pile was being formed a Georgia linebacker pushed a teammate to the side, shoved a ref away, reached into the pile, yanked the ball out and took off running for the endzone. Touchdown Georgia.

The only thing that ruined this play was the fact he got flagged 15 yards for diving into the endzone, which remains one of the dumbest penalties in all of football. Pro or college. I could see flagging the guy if he pulled down his pants and mooned the Georgia Tech band, but is diving into the endzone really that big of a deal?

And how about Pitt! After starting 6-1 they managed to lose 5 straight games, including a 4th quarter collapse at UCONN and back to back home drubbings at the hands of West Virginia and Louisville. 6-6 for this team stinks and i'm really not sure how it happened. They remain bowl eligible but those hopes seem slim at best. A tip of the cap to future first round pick Darrelle Revis who when asked if he felt they were deserving of a bowl game came out and said he wasn't sure.

The best Pitt can hope for now is probably the International Bowl in Toronto. Which would be horrible. I can't think of a major Division 1-A college football program that travels worse than Pitt, giving them a bowl game in another country would be a disaster. If 14 people showed up it would be a success.

It Was Fun While It Lasted

Last season was great and it was nice to hold onto a little bit of hope the last couple of weeks, but this one is over.

Baltimore is a lot better than I thought and that really makes me ill inside. I still think it's a little easier to see them on top as opposed to the Bengals, so it could be worse. Which is amazing, because it's hard to feel worse than you do after getting mauled by an NFL team that has their own marching band.

Bill Cowher should be held for major psychological evaluation if he allows any member of the offensive line (or offensive line coach Russ Grimm) onto the team plane after todays game. Futulity in action is how I would describe the play up front in this one. Most of the season actually... I can't think of one guy up there that deserves to keep his starting job next season.

The fact Ben Roethlisberger is still able to walk after today is a major accomplishment in itself. Way to protect your franchise fellas. It's like buying a brand new Corvette and then washing it with acid.

All thats left now is the hope that we can salvage the final five games and not finish with a losing record. It sucks, but thats where we are.

All of that being said...

I still feel lucky to be a Steelers fan. It's still better than being a sports fan in Cleveland. Or a lot of other sports towns for that matter. Right? In my lifetime i've been lucky enough to see my sports teams win three championships (and play for four) and take part in countless playoff games. Sometimes very deep into the playoffs.

I've seen a who's who of legendary players play parts (or all) of their careers in Pittsburgh. Mario Lemiuex. Jaromir Jagr. Barry Bonds. Rod Woodson. Jerome Bettis. Just to name a few.

I think sometimes we as Steelers fans (me included of course) tend to get spoiled by that and tend to head for that first ledge in a down year. And even the down years aren't all that horrible. A down year for the Steelers is a rare 6-10 or 7-9. We never have to suffer through the 2-14 or 4-12 disaster. Even this season with as bad as we've played and as many holes as we seem to ahve right now we'll still probably win 3 or maybe even 4 more games.

If I would have been born in Cleveland and grown up a Cleveland fan I would have seen zero Championships and Bernie Kosar. I would have seen my football team have one winnning season since 1999...which is how many losing seasons i've had to watch since then for the Steelers.

Yeah, this years sucks. But it still could be worse.

The Price Of Mediocrity

Just days after the Chicago Cubs threw 130 million dollars at Alfonso Soriano and the LA Dodgers signed 45 million over to Juan Pierre, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California United States, decided to top all of them by signing the alarmingly average (at best) Gary Mathews Jr to a 55 million dollar contract over five years.

I think Rotoworld put it best.

So many contracts already with the potential to be the biggest busts of the offseason and the starting pitchers haven't even begun to sign yet. Matthews' huge deal is almost entirely the result of his 2006 performance. Entering the year, the 32-year-old had never batted 500 times in a season, and his only other year with an 800 OPS also came for the Rangers, who play in one of the game's best parks for hitters. Matthews will play quality defense for the Angels, but it's doubtful that he'll be a solid regular by the end of the deal. He could easily lose 50 points off his 2006 average of .313 next year.

The first sentence sums it up nicely.

I don't usually agree with ESPN's Buster Olney, but he brought up an excellent point when discussing the insanity around the Soriano deal. Olney pointed out that when the other mega deals were signed (Jeter, Manny, and A-rod) all three guys were under the age of 28...Jeter was 26, Manny was 27, and Alex Rodriguez was a strapping 25.

Soriano? He's going to be 31 at the start of this season, which of course means he'll be making 17 million dollars when he is 38. I don't know, but Soriano doesn't strike me as the type of guy that has a skillset thats going to allow him to be productive when he's 34 or 35, much less 37 or 38. It's debatable as to how productive he really is right now.

Todays signing of Gary Mathews Jr. is just crazy. He's actually a year older than Soriano and has done relatively little in his Major League career.

Some facts on Gary Mathews Jr.

- Prior to this season Mathews had never had 500 at-bats in a single season.
- Only twice had he topped 450.
- His career OPS+ is 96. Only Twice has he been over 100. Never over 119 - which was his career year this past season.

Clearly the stuff 55 million dollar contracts are made of.

A Weekend Of Football

Lets just say that the number '7' owns the city of Cleveland. After watching John Elway break the hearts of Cleveland fans year after year, Browns fans had to sit and watch another #7 crush their hopes and dreams in a rather Elway like fashion on Sunday afternooon.


20-25, 224 yards and 2 touchdowns....in the 4th quarter. You can't get much better than that.

And they have to face this number 7 twice a year.

Fun times.

What They're Saying In Cleveland:

- Pittsburgh Still Sucks

- “I want to cry right now. It hurts because you know how hard we worked for this game. - Browns Wide Reciever, Joshua Cribbs

- “We really didn’t make any. They just made plays.” - Linebacker Andre Davis, talking about 2nd half defensive adjustments by the Browns coaching staff.

-“I am not a moral victory kind of guy. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. They’re the ones that came up with the win today. The good thing is we get another shot at them on Dec 7th.” - Running back, Jason Wright.

- I took this clip from the PG's "blog & Gold" who took it from youtube (the internet is great)...Supposedly it's of a Browns Backer bar in Chicago during the final minute of yesterdays game. You really have to feel for these people. Right? RIGHT?!?!?!?!?

Oddly enough, I was actually in this bar during my summer trip to Chicago. It's a place called the Cubby Bear and it's about 82 Chicago blocks from Wrigley Field (Chicago blocks are far bigger than your average city block). I had no idea it was a "Browns Backers Bar"at the time because there was absolutely no sign of the Cleveland Browns anywhere in the place. Had I known it was a "Browns Backers Bar" I would have left an anonymous floor turd on the bathroom floor with a sign pointing to it that read, "Kellen Winslow Jr. was here."

Live and learn I suppose.

I wonder if the Browns learned anything from this? GM Phil Savage and a number of Browns players kept focussing on this Steelers game and talking about how their entire off-season and draft was built around "building a team to beat the Steelers." Part of Braylon Edwards pre-game talk last week was about how "you don't beat a team 41-0 in their house, we don't ever want to let that happen again."

Thats fine and all, the Steelers are a team in the division and you should try to beat them. But should you invest almost every ounce of effort and resources into beating ONE TEAM on your schedule? Even if you do beat the Steelers twice thats still only two games out of a 16 game schedule, and just because you're constructed to beat one team doesn't mean you're constructed to beat every team.

The Steelers are obviously all the Browns think about, and it seems to be hurting them.




No Love For Ben?

I think it's safe to say that I may be a Ben Roethlisberger apologist. I love ben. All Ben. All the time. Ben. Ben. Ben. I'm not afraid to proclaim my manlove for #7. He's great.

Nobody else seems to share my love.

Earlier this season Eli Manning had two football games where he was horrific for three and a half quarters of play, only to rally the troops in the 4th quarter and lead his team back and snap victory from the jaws of defeat.

If he couldn't walk on water before those games, he could soon after. Atleast thats what I heard from ESPN (They love ELI).

Yesterday, Ben (and the Steelers entire team) played 3 horrific quarters of football only to have a 4th quarter where they fought like dogs and took the game right out from under Clevelands nose and marched off the field with an improbable 24-20 victory.

Any "props" on the networks? Nope. Any love for Bens "clutchness?" HA! Blasphemy.

After all, Ben is just "a game manager that can't win when he has to throw over 30 times a game."

Thats something else I learned from ESPN.

Any mention that the Steelers have now won two consecutive games where they passed the ball more than they ran it? No.

Special Teams Insanity

1. We need more Sean Morey

2. We also need more advice like this from Ed Bouchettes question and answer session today:


Ed: Why not suggest that the Steelers intentionally kick every kickoff and punt out of bounds? Giving the opponents starting position at the 40 is a lot better than watching the futility of the coverage teams. Don Stewart, Apollo, Pa.

BOUCHETTE: You must sit next to me in the press box. I've said that any number of times. They've tried pooch kicking it a few times and that hasn't worked and it looks as though Bill Cowher just really does not want to kick off deep and watch his coverage team give up another long return. I asked special teams co-captain Sean Morey after the game in Cleveland why they don't try just kicking it out of bounds, not risk a return and get a guaranteed start at the 40. He said it's been suggested, although he did not tell my by whom. I think ego is a big reason they don't do it. It's something that's just not done.

Fantastic.

Sticking with special teams and kickoff strategy, I turn my attention to last nights San Diego-Denver game which included the most amazing finish to any game that i've seen in recent memory. Absurd penalties by the boatload, Jake Plummer being JAke Plummer, and Tom Nalen pulling more Denver Broncos thuggery along the offensive line.

It was all there.

Late in the game San Diego (following a Jake Plummer interception) was driving down the field to yet another Ladanian Tomlinson touchdown (if he stays healthy he scores 30 this year) and eventually punched it in for the score. San Diego 35. Denver 27.

Following the San Diego extra point, the Broncos were hit with not one, but two personal foul penalties allowing the Chargers to kick off from the Denver 40 yard line. A number of thoughts kept popping into my mind:

1. Don't kick it out of the endzone for a touchback.

2. ONSIDE KICK! Why not? If you get the ball, the game is over. If you don't get the ball Denver has to start inside their own 30 yard line with zero timeouts, down by 8, less than a minute to play and Jake Plummer taking the snaps. The game is over.

3. Kick the ball out of bounds. If you kick the ball out of bounds you get flagged for an illegal procedure penalty and Denver starts on their own 40 yard line, right? Wrong. They start 30 yards from where you kick the ball off, which in this situation would have been their own 10 yard line.

90 yards to go, zero timeouts, down by 8 and Jake Plummer taking snaps. Game. Over.

Granted, the Chargers did none of these things and instead elected to send a high pooch kick down inside the 5.......the Broncos return man ran out to field it, slipped and fell, and was touched down at the 3.

I guess this is why i'm not an NFL coach.

After the kickoff, Denver was stuck with a 4th and 7 inside the 10 with no timeouts...and Mike Shanahan calls a playaction fake...as if ANYONE on the San Diego defense was going to bite on the fake in that situation...Denver ended up converting, again proving why i'm not an NFL coach (I guess) ...but whats the point?

GO ELI!

It pains me to root for the previously mentioned nancyboy Eli Manning, but with the Steelers winning yesterday (WE MIGHT STILL HAVE A CHANCE!) every team ahead of us that losses is a good thing...and tonight, that team ahead of us is the Jacksonville Jaguars.

My disdain for Eli goes back to the 2004 draft when he refused to play for the San Diego Chargers and demanded they not take him, because, well....because i'm not sure why. Old man Manning got involved or something like that and the Chargers laughed in their faces and took Eli anyway. Which of course resulted in a chorous of boos from the Madison Square Garden Crowd and Eli standing on the stage looking like he was ready to cry.

But then the CHargers got smart. They traded Eli to the Giants for a boatload of draft picks that ended up being used on:

Phillip Rivers
Shawn Merriman
Roman Oben
Nate Kaeding

Great move by the Chargers.Historically bad move by the Giants. Manning is a good QB, he'll probably get better...but he's not Peyton. And he's not more valuable than Phillip Rivers (who is already better than Elle) and Shawn Merriman (who is among the best defensive players in the league when he's not injecting himself with steroids).

All that being said. GO ELI! We need you big guy and lets hope you have plenty of reasons to celebrate tonight....

















- During my nightly search of youtube for the absurd and pointless, I stumbled across this video of old Sportscenter clips. It reminded me of the glory days of ESPN. The days when highlights were the show and not up to second updates of when Terrell Owens dropped the Browns off at the Super Bowl. It was the days of Keith Olberman and Dan Patrick teaming up to perform the greatest dynamic duo in the history of dynamic duo's. It was before Dan Patrick turned into Alan Alda in those final episodes of M*A*S*H and started preaching to us instead of making us laugh. IT WAS CHARLIE STEINER!

Oblongotta over at MGS said it best of this clip:

and watching that makes me depressed.

It's that feeling that there was a time in my life when things were pure and beautiful and I will never be able to recapture that ever again.

I think I'm going to go listen to some old Cure now.

Amen buddy. A-freakin'-men.

Thanks a lot ESPN. I never thought i'd be here, breaking apart my pictures of you.

A Win Is A Win Is A Win

Another first half interception by Ben that was run back for a touchdown helped put the Steelers in another early hole, but there isn't any other QB on the team (or that played on the team in a long ass time) that would have brought them back for that 4th quarter win. His ability to make plays on the run, avoid pressure, make plays when there isn't a play to be made and take an all around beating from Kameron Wimbley and keep on fighting was on display in the 4th quarter today.

I've joked before that he might be safer on his bike than he is dropping back to pass behind this pass blocking offensive line...that joke almost became reality today.

It wasn't pretty. But we'll take it. I don't know what the old time Steelers-Browns rivalry was like, but I imagine it was something like this. And if my guess on that is true, then i'm glad I missed out on those because right now I need a drink.

I admit that I gave up hope when Joshua Cribbs went untouched 98 yards for a touchdown right after the Steelers crawled back into it. I didn't quit watching, but the idea of victory was out the window.

Thank God the Steelers have more faith than me.

Hope began to creep back into my brain when late in the 4th quarter CBS kept showing shots of the Browns sidelines and every single guy sitting there had his head down, almost as if to say "Here we go again."

And away we went.

Down goes Cleveland. Down goes Cleveland.

I'd write more. But right now I really need that drink.

But They Let Me Sign Checks With A Stamp

So what happens when a bunch of old gazillionaires have nothing better to do with their money? They purchase Major League Baseball teams and blindly sign over checks to some combination of old, broken down, unproven, never-was, has-been ball players.

Major League Baseballs hot stove has barely been lit, and already the offers, contracts and bids put up this off-season are enough to make any fan in Pittsburgh want to vomit in pure terror.

Lets start with Boston Red Sox who were the winning bidders in the - hang on I have to look up this guys name- ah, here it is...Daisuke Matsuzaka sweepstakes.

The winning bid? $50,000,000.

And thats without actually signing him to a contract. This is just for the rights to work out a contract with him.

The two Cy Younger winners in Major League Baseball this past season (Brandon Webb and Johan Santana) combined to make just over $10,000,000 dollars. Next season the two will combine to make roughly $16,000,000.

Yeah. The Boston Redsox spent double (DOUBLE!) the amount of money two Cy Young award winners will make in two seasons - combined - just for the rights to negotiate a contract with a guy who has never thrown a meaningful pitch in the western hemisphere. And no, the World Baseball Classic does not count as meaningful baseball.

This continues to be the biggest glaring problem with todays Major League Baseball. In any other sport, in any other league, Matsuzaka would be subject to the draft and every team would have a shot at him. But because Major League Baseball dares to be different (and because they're run by a bunch of neantherdals) guys like Matsuzaka are free to go where they want simply because they were born in a certain country.

Imagine if it were like this in the NHL. You think Evgeni Malkin would be playing for the Penguins? Thats a negative good buddy. He'd be playing for the Rangers. Or Kings. Or Red Wings. And make no mistake about it, he eventually may end up in one of those places, but atleast Pittsburgh gets four or so years of him. That of course is far better that the alternative.

Which would have been zero years.

From now on my only rooting interest in the career of Daisuke Matsuzaka is that he becomes the next Hideki Irabu and allows Red Sox fans to continue to wallow in their own self pity that you'd think would have gone away when they finally won that damned world series.

Over on the other coast, the San Jose Mercury is reporting that the San Francisco Giants have made three year offers worth 30 million apiece to Juan Pierre and Gary Mathews Jr. Supposedly, they only want one of the guys (and thank God for that) and if one accepts, they will withdraw the other offer.

This bit of absurdity is actually good news for baseball fans around the country, especially those in Pittsburgh, as it all but assures Pirates fans that they will not be the worst team in baseball this upcoming season. With the possible losses of Jason Schmidt, Barry Bonds and perhaps Ray Durham - plus the fantastic offers to these two guys - the Giants have the potential to be a hilariously funny travesty in 2007.

Pierre, as described by Rotoworld, is "Baseballs premier outmaker." Mathews Jr. is looking to parlay his career year in 2006 into a nice fat pay check. Not that I blame him. If someone is dumb enough to give him that (and someone probably will be dumb enough) then more power to him.

If it happens to be the Giants, Mathews will be moving from one of baseballs best hitters parks to one of it's worst. Combine that with the fact that Sarge Jr. has been in the league for 8 seasons and only twice has he finished with an OPS+ over 100. Meaning 6 of those 8 years he has been a below average hitter in the league. What would make Peter Magowan and Brian Sabean come to the conclusion that this guy is now suddenly worth a 10 million dollar a year contract offer is beyond comprehension. Did we learn nothing from Jeffory Hammonds?

North of the border, the Toronto Blue Jays have finalized a 2 year, 18 million dollar contract with DH Frank Thomas. Thomas is going to the hall of fame when his career ends. He had a fantastic season last year and was one of the main reasons the A's returned to the playoffs.

But. There is always a but.

He is going to be 39 years old this off-season.
Since 2001 he has played in more than 140 games in a season...once.
Three times he has played in less than 80 games.
He is going to be 39 years old.

He may be worth it. He may play 30 games. Thats a pretty expensive gamble.

The Pirates are going to pay Jason Kendall six million dollars this season to play for the Oakland A's. It's starting to look like a bargain.

Then there is the premier position free agent on this years free agent market. Alfonso Soriano, who is also one of baseballs premier out makers. Some of the numbers being tossed around with Sorianos name are "6," 80," and "90."

When I first started noticing that, it started to become even clearer to me that Jason Bay has not only replaced Brian Giles as one of the most underated players in baseball, but as one of the biggest economic bargains as well.

Bay is set to make 18 million dollars over the next 3 seasons. He is 4 years younger than Soriano. And has been a superior hitter (sometimes by a wide margain) over the past three seasons.

Year - Bay - Soriano
2006-136-132
2005-148-110
2004-135-98

Soriano has a little more power and steals more bases (but not always at a higher success rate) but he doesn't get on base...and he doesn't really have a position because he's bad at 2nd base...and he's bad in left field.

Pirates get Bay at 18 over 3.
Some team gets Soriano at....possibly 80 or 90 over 5 or 6?

The only discouraging thing about Bay is the Pirates only control him for three more years, and then he hits the free agent market where he will probably be worth...well...a lot. The Pirates should really think about another extension...not three years from now. Not two years from now. Now.

I'm not sure what is worse. An owner like we have here in Pittsburgh who does nothing. Or an owner that is splurging money on guys like Gary Mathews. Do I want Bill Bidwell? Or do I want Dan Snyder?

Tough call. Seriously. Tough call.

Patriots Wuss Out; Install Field Turf

I have to admit, I expected more from an orginization whose head coach roams the sidelines looking like he just wrestled his wardrobe away from a homeless man. I expected more from Tedy Bruschi. I expected more from a team who every week lists 87 guys as "questionable with a foot." I expected more from a great football franchise.

The New England Patriots, one of the last remaining teams in the NFL to play on an actual football field (and one of the absolute BEST football fields mind you) have decided to rip it up and lay down a pretty little rug to play their games on.

Whats next? Bill Belichick wearing a suit on the sidelines? Disgusting.

It's bad enough the NFL keeps altering the rules to take every ounce of contact out of the sport - leaving us with a bunch of 49-41 arena style shootouts - but now we're removing the elements as well.

Why not just mold every team after the Colts and let them play two hand touch in the RCA Dome every week?

A Weekend Of Football

I went into Heinz Field today expecting a sparce crowd with little interest in the game, mainly because were 2-6 and going nowhere fast. The walk through town and across the Clemente Bridge was strangely calm...few people, no traffic, empty stadium parking lot. This game was going to suck

Only it didn't. 61,000 and change in attendance...very vocal for a 2-6 team...and someone in our section spent the entire 2nd quarter smoking a joint...... and everyone noticed it at the exact same time, leading one guy to scream out, "pass it around."

He didn't. Whoever he was.

With perhaps their best offensive showing of the season and five teams ahead of them losing (including those pesky Cincinnati Bengals) I can head into another week holding onto hope that WE MIGHT STILL BE IN IT!

Okay, maybe thats crazy...unhealthy might be a better word...but thats fine. Until we're mathematically eliminated there is still a chance and thats the way I approach it.

Onto the game........

- The Ike Taylor saga appeared to be a massive fuss about nothing. I think Bill just got bored and decided to cause a little ruckus. Of course Taylor struggled again as did the entire defense for a large portion of the game. They did force five fumbles and Ryan Clark played Johnny on the spot to recover two of them, so that was a good thing. But the Brees to Colston/Copper connection seemed to be clicking...and this was without Joe Horn. And how does Aaron freakin' Stecker of all people get open and beat Ike Taylor for a 50 yard passing play?

But you know what? Who gives a shit. We won. Take it where you can get it, and worry about that stuff later.

- BEN... 127 passer rating...three TD's....no turnovers...and a lot of smart throws. I noticed a couple of times today he was willilng to just throw the ball away instead of trying to force something and he looked like the QB we were used to seeing his first two seasons.

- Nate Washington dropped two more passes, but the rest of the offense seemed to click today. Santonio Holmes may be struggling as a return man, but he's showing a lot as a reciever. And how wide open was Cedric Wilson? As soon as Ben play faked to Willie you could see the play was going to work to perfection as Wilson just blew past everyone...great call, great throw, great catch.

Free Stan Savran

I've talked about this before, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why Stan Savran lost his post game radio show for Tim Benz and Joe Bendel. Sweet jumping Jesus are these guys awful. Maybe Stan wasn't "hip" enough...perhaps he's not edgy...maybe he isn't in touch with the MTV generation...but holy shit he's better than Joe freakin' Bendel and Tim Benz.

Tonight following the game they spent 30 minutes....30 MINUTES...talking about the pre-game meeting where a couple members of the Steelers were given the oppurtunity to speak their peace on the goings on in the first half of the season. To say they made to big of a deal about this would be an understatement to call it the understatement of all understatements.

It's not so much that they spent 30 damn minutes on it...it's the fact that it was completely irrelevant to the outcome of the game. You could put 53 buddies in a locker room, slap some uniforms on them, and let one of them give an emotional tear jerking speech...and it won't give them a chance in hell at winning the game.

The Steelers won because they played turnover free football and forced three on defense. Ben and Willie had a little something to do with it as well.

After spending 30 minutes trying to overanalyze what was said by who that made so and so cry, they finally started taking phone calls, which have also taken a drastic hit in terms of quality since Stan was given his walking papers for reasons that escape me.

The very first call was as follows, and this is a direct quote:

"Whats the deal with Duce Staley and why isn't he playing?"

Outstanding. This call would be difficult to top, but....

Very next caller, and this is also a direct quote:

"Willie Parker is a good back and all, but they still need that big back hammer for down around the goal line."

We topped it.

I'd be willing to put my last penny on the line when I say this, but if you went back maybe...I don't know, five years? You could replay those old call in shows and find guys that said something along the lines of - Jerome Bettis is a great back and all, but they just need that guy that can break the big long run and make big plays.

Now that we have that back, it's not what we need, because after all he only breaks off those 60 or 70 yard runs every now and then. Waste.

Of course, just because the guy isn't built like a bowling ball doesn't mean he can't be the guy.
How many times have the Steelers called on him inside the 5 (or 10) where he HASN'T gotten the job done? I don't know, thats why i'm asking...but he scored two from inside the 5 today (after he ran 70+ yards to set them up).

He's got 9 total touchdowns on the season.

Sooner or later he's going to start getting the "props" he deserves. He always runs hard, has surprising power and strength for a supposed "small back" and he of course has that big play ability that can just blow it open at anytime. With 150 yards next week (unlikely, but it could happen) he'll alreadly pass the 1,000 yard mark on the season (he didn't top that until week 16 last year) running behind an offensive line that has been inconsistant to put it politely.

But he's not big. He's not a hammer. He's not what we need.

Idiots.

Despite Parkers career day, it still wasn't good enough to warrant consideration for the player of the day award on NBC...not that I care, but it's the principal of the thing. Two of the canidates? Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson...in a losing effort.

But I noticed something about Johnson on his screen shot.

He wasn't listed as Chad Johnson. He was listed as, "Ocho Cinco."

I can't stress this enough, the only thing that is getting me through 3-6 with any ounce of sanity is the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals are once again becoming the Bungles. This team is so close to an absolute freefall it's hilarious, and I can't think of anything better than blowing a 28-7 halftime lead at home to start it.

How's that new color TV working out for you Ocho? What a disaster. Keep drinking that Marvin Lewis kool-aid...he might have another winning season one day. Maybe.

The Legend Of Tyrone Carter Lives

On the Saints final play, Drew Brees completed a pass down the seam to Marques Colston which appeared to put New Orleans in a prime position to even up the score....only to have Tyrone Carter come flying out of nowhere and jar the ball lose for Ryan Clark to pounce on it.

Carter smacked his head pretty hard and lay motionless on the field for several minutes which prompted my dad to comment to me, "I think he died."

Eventually Bill came out, and the offense and defense gathered around the fallen Steeler and you start to hear the crowd cheer as Carter sits up. Roethlisberger urges the crowd to cheer, Carter stands up, stumbles for a second, shakes his hair around, and then runs to the sidelines and chest bumps a teammate 2 or 3 times as he walks off the field.

Tyrone Carter laughs at your concussions.

The Steelers defense took a couple of shots to the head today as Troy and Deshea both left early with concussions, which left the Steelers grabbing people out of the stands to play DB...Carter was playing Polamalus strong safety position and Anthony Madison had to play Corner for a large portion of the 2nd half. He held his own I suppose...he didn't give up any fade TD's so I guess that can be looked at as a positive.

Drew Brees meanwhile wears a dress. Or he should anyway. I go back to last week when I commented on how you can't hit QB's above the shoulder, below the knee, or any more than .0000000004 seconds after they release the football. As it turns out, it's even more strict than that as Aaron Smith got flagged for without question the worst roughing the passer call I have ever seen.

When the ref through the flag everyone around us assumed it was a hold on New Orleans....after all, it was in that general area and Brees never hit the ground...he actually never even got hit.

Personel foul. Roughing the passer. 91. Defense.

They showed the replay on the jumbotron and it literally made me want to poop in my hat. Smith basically touched Drew Brees on his shoe and got flagged for roughing the passer. This stupid rule is in effect because the NFL is reactive instead of proactive. It's why we have the horsecollar rule...it's why we can't tug on Drew Brees shoestring....somebody got hurt...so we have to run out and change the rule. Stupid.

Speaking of the horsecollar, what is the difference between pulling a guy down that way, and pulling a guy down by his hair? Is there a difference? Will the hair no longer be considered a part of the uniform because one guy was dragged down by it?

The Ike Taylor Demotion

Last season Ike Taylor became quite a story around the Steelers, drawing comparisons to a Steelers cornerback from the past who will one day be calling Canton his home. Premature comparisons? At best. Nine weeks into the following season - and following a nice big contract extension - Ike Taylor now finds himself demoted to the #3 corner role. A demotion that has a lot of Steelers fans scratching their heads and asking why Deshea Townsend, who has also been victim of craptacular play this season( although Deshea says it's the system, not him) isn't the one being dropped.

I spent a lot of time last year (and this offseason) arguing that Taylor, while a good player who was having a very good season, was not the shutdown corner, Rod Woodson 2.0 that a lot of people thought he was. I know media types around town beat this drum quite a bit... sometimes heavily.

His success last season, and the success of his fellow corners as well, was due in large part to the fact that the Steelers front 7 (or pass rush in general, considering that it comes from everyone and everywhere at any given time) was harrassing opposing QB's and disrupting their passing games.

It's a lot easier to "shutdown" Chad Johnson, Marvin Harrison, and Rod Smith when Jon Kitna, Peyton Manning, and Jake Plummer are spending a lot of time on their backs courtesy of Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith. Thats not a knock on Ike Taylor (or Deshea Towsend, or Bryant Mcfadden)...thats just fact.

This year, thats not happening quite as much. The pass rush hasn't been as effective, the blitzes are getting picked up and the overall pressure isn't there. As a result, the secondary has to do a little more work...and so far...the results aren't pretty.

I decided to check out my game charting results for FO...this does not include every play this season. The following information is from one half (each) of the following games: Jacksonville. Cincy. KC. Atlanta. Small sample sizes? Perhaps. 100% Accurate? Not really. But it's what I have to go off of.

Ike Taylor

We can all agree that Taylor played terribly on Sunday. I didn't chart the Miami game, but my memory of him in that game was a solid first half, followed by a 2nd half that saw Miami throw just about every pass and run every play at his side of the field (or so it seemed)...as I remember he missed a number of tackles, gave up a number of completions, and had one play where Ronnie Brown made him look like Chris Hope trying to tackle Ruben Droughns...and if you remember that game from last season then you know thats not a good thing.

But thats all my personal observations...very subjective.

My results from those games listed above show 12 passes at Ike Taylor:

8 Completions (67%)
7 first downs
0 Touchdowns

The recievers I have him covering on those passes:

Reggie Williams (1)
Matt Jones (3)
Ernest Wilford (1)
Sammie Parker (1)
Eddie Kennison (2)
Jason Dunn (1)
Jason Webb (2)
Roddy White (1)

Of the 4 incompletions I have 3 overthrows and one Roddy White drop. The White drop came on Atlantas 2nd play from scrimmage and he was fairly open on what seemed to be a quick hitch route, he just simply dropped the ball. Taylor didn't hit him and no one had a hand on the ball...it was all on White.

I did chart an Ike Taylor INT in the Bengals game but I do not list that pass above because Taylor was not the closest defender on the play, he was actually about 15 yards down field while Ryan Clark was the closest defender in coverage on reciever Chris Henry. That was the play where Clark put his helmet into Chris Henry's chest and sent the football flying 400 feet into the air for Ike Taylor to snatch for the pick. He gets the pick, but the pass wasn't thrown at him and he wasn't the guy covering the intended reciever, Ryan Clark was. Therefore, I don't list it.

Deshea Townsend

14 passes at Townsend
10 Completions (71%)
3 First downs
3 Touchdowns


The recievers I have him covering on those passes:

Reggie Williams (3)
Matt Jones (1)
Ernest Wilford (1)
George Wrighster (1)
Chris Henry (1)
TJ Houshmanzadeh (4)
Sammie Parker (1)
Micheal Jenkins (1)
Tony Gonzalez (1)

Townsend, like Taylor, had a horrific game on Sunday and you can add another TD onto that total above and give him a big old negative mark for that whiff on Javon Walkers 74 yard touchdown run.

Two of those TD's went to Houshmanzadeh and Michael Jenkins and both catches were highlight film juggling catches. The Jenkins catch was the one handed over the shoulder grab in the endzone where Townsend also got flagged for Pass Interference...so he not only got beat for the TD, he also got flagged for a penalty and still let the guy hold onto the ball. Thats bad both ways.

Bryant Mcfadden

14 passes at Mcfadden
6 completions (43%)
5 first downs
1 TD

The Recievers I Have Him Covering On Those Passes

Reggie Williams (1)
George Wrighster (1)
Sammie Parker (1)
Eddie Kennison (2)
Rod Gardner (3)
Jason Webb (2)
R. Cruz (1)
Alge Crumpler (1)
Michael Jenkins (1)
Roddy White (1)

When teams complete the ball on Mcfadden something generally good happens for them - every completion has been for a First down or TD - but that seems to rarely happen.

I remember this preview before Super Bowl XL and I point out these lines:

Whether quarterbacks were testing Taylor or just trying to get the ball to their favorite receivers is unknown, but receivers he covered accounted for 22 percent of all the passes we charted — double that of right cornerback Deshea Townsend. Although he is praised as one on the best young cornerbacks in the game, Taylor is not exactly a shutdown corner. Receivers caught 63 percent of the balls thrown against him, and 42 percent went for a first down or a touchdown. Taylor can be beaten.

And.....

Townsend gave up very few long balls. In our new project, Football Outsiders has charted 75 percent of the passing plays against Pittsburgh. Not a single play where Townsend was listed as the defender went for a touchdown, despite the fact that close to 16 percent of passes against him were in the red zone.

Although he had his fair share of star-receiver matchups, Townsend was more often than not relegated to covering a team’s number two and three receivers. Overall, slightly more than 11 percent of all passes against the Steelers were thrown his way. His coverage led to a 51 percent reception rate by those he was defending, and only 21 percent of passes thrown against him were for a first down. His conversion rate solely on third down was not as good, but respectable.

Also likely to see a bit of action at the right corner spot is rookie Bryant McFadden, who will play as the team’s main nickel back as well. The Steelers went to the defensive back trough for a third year in a row when they picked up McFadden in 2005 draft. In three wide receiver sets, a formation we expect to see quite often from Seattle on Sunday, McFadden plays the outside receiver and Townsend moves into the slot.

During the regular season, McFadden’s role was often limited to nickel and dime packages. That didn’t stop him from getting playing time, and when he was on the field he may have been the best of the cornerbacks out there. Although his completion rate was even with the other backs, his percentage of balls defended (incompletes as a direct result of the action of the defensive back) was the highest on the team at 15 percent. Based on recent performance, including his play in the recent playoff game, many expect he will be the right cornerback of the future, swapping roles with Townsend.

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My opinion is both Townsend and Taylor have wet the sheets this season and demoting either one for Mcfadden is justified in my view...would they be better with Mcfadden and Taylor playing instead of Mcfadden and Townsend? Maybe, but it's not like either guy has stood out in a positive way. It's a shame theres not a way to sit both of them down right now.

Of course, the Steelers could also fix a lot of this by simply getting more pressure on the QB, kind of like they did the last two years. The Steelers defense isn't about corners who lock down on people 1 on 1. It's a lot of zone coverage, pressure on the QB and all out confusion for the QB. It's about Deshea Townsend and Troy Polamalu blitzing while Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith drop into coverage.

The previous two seasons the Steelers went 31-7 with Chad Scott, Willie Williams, Ike Taylor, Deshea Townsend, and Bryant Mcfadden all getting starts at corner. In the '04 season the Steelers starting corners were Chad Scott and Deshea Townsend, and when Scott was injured in week 6 at Dallas, it was old man Willie Williams that took over, not Ike Taylor...the Steelers didn't lose until the AFC title game. The following season, Williams actually came into camp as the starter (and scored a touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage when he picked off Donovan Mcnabb) ...Of course, all of that goes back to what i've been saying the past 6 weeks: "it's a teamwide effort."

A Weekend Of Football: Part Two

I haven't found many people who agree with me on this, but I thought Wisconsins intentional offsides strategy at the end of the first half on Saturday was nothing short of brilliant. Was it a bush league move? Maybe. Did it expose a massive loophole in the idiotic rule? You bet. Did the NCAA have something like this coming? Absolutely.

We're changing the outcome of games and allowing offbeat tomfoolery like this all in the name of...get ready for it...SHORTENING THE GAME! Insane. As a ticket buying loudmouth, there is nothing I hate more than paying 50 dollars for a great seat to a game and seeing it end in two hours. I want my moneys worth, and the longer the game, the better chance I have getting value for my buck. I went to a Pirates game a few years ago that started at 7:05...it ended before the sun was down....and I am fully against anything that halts the sale of Beer before 8:30 at night. To make matters worse, we lost the stinkin' game.

Aside from allowing Wisconsin to display their brilliance on Saturday, these new rules of fantastical idiocy helped cost the University of Illinois a decent shot at upsetting #1 Ohio State...or atleast a better shot at evening up the score late in the game. Instead of taking over with around a minute or so to play late in a 17-10 game, the clock started to run at the change of possesion and 30 seconds ran off before the Buckeyes even snapped the ball for the first time. By the time Illinois' defense forced the 3 and out and took over after the punt, there were 4 seconds left on the clock. Maybe Illinois wouldn't have done anything with those extra 30-40 seconds.

But maybe they would have.

I really don't understand the current rage that is shortening the game. Every league, every sport, every level is on this mad dash to cut down the time of games...WHY? You'd think teams, schools, advertisers, vendors and well...just about everyone would like a longer game.

If i'm in the stadium longer, thats more cold hot dogs and watered down beer that i'm going to purchase. If the game is on TV longer, thats 30 more times that i'm going to see John Mellancamp telling us that this our country and that we should buy CHevy...or Ford....or whatever.

And if I am in the stadium longer or watching the game on TV longer...then I am happy.

Sports = Fun

SOMEBODY IS READING!

I don't know who is in charge of this "Blog '&' Gold" thing over at the Post Gazettes website, but this is already the 3rd or 4th time they've referenced this very blog and linked it up.

Thats pretty rad if I may say so myself.

Adam Gretz at the Black & Gold Blog pokes fun at the holes poked through the Steelers line: "I give you the last two weeks: Max Starks - 6'8, 340 pounds vs. Derrick Burgess - 6'2, 260; Elvis Dumervil - 5'10, 250. End Result: 4 sacks ... and countless hurries and pressures ... Honestly, it's getting to the point where I think Ben is actually safer on his motorcycle than he is dropping back to pass behind this line."

But I assure you Mr and/or Mrs. Blog & Gold....there is absolutely nothing fun or comical about the Steelers offensive line play this season. Terrifying maybe. Fun and Comical? Never.


I Don't Care If Monday's Blue...

Watching the Monday night game last night I kept having the same thoughts over and over and over and over and over and over:

- How did the Oakland Raiders get two Monday Night Football games?
- HOW DID WE LOSE TO THE OAKLAND RAIDERS?
- How is Andrew Walter still walking?
- How long until Randy Moss just stops playing all together?
- Has Randy Moss already stopped playing all together?

Perhaps the most comical thing about the Raiders, aside from the play of their offensive line, is head coach Art Shell. I've actually watched four Raiders game this season (The opener, the Sunday night game they had - THREE PRIMETIME NIGHT GAMES?!?!? - the Steelers game, and last nights game) and I can say with a great deal of confidence that I have seen Art Shell talk.....zero times.

He never talks to a coach.
He never talks to a player.
He never talks to a ref.
He never talks into his headset.

Is the headset even plugged in? If so, where does it go? Is there anyone on the other end?

Michelle Tafoya forever became my hero when after halftime she gave the following report:

"I spoke with Oakland Raiders coach Art Shell, and he was at a loss for words."

Honestly. You can't make that stuff up.

The Monday Night broadcasts are starting to become more enjoyable than the former Sunday Night Broadcasts, mainly because Tony Kornheiser constantly calls Joe Theisman out onto the rug, the celebrity interviews are a bigger trainwreck than the broadcast itself, and Mike Tirico really gets annoyed with Tony Kornheiser.

I know i've heard of Christian Slater, but I can't name a single movie he was in. Didn't matter. There he was on Monday Night Football, and you knew things were going to go fantastic due to his answer to the first question he was asked:

Mike Tirico: "So Christian, are you a big football fan?"

Christian Slater: "I have friends that are huge football fans."

Translation: I don't like football and I have no idea what i'm doing here.

Brian Bosworth(!) and Kornheisers PTI partner Michael Wilbon also made cameo's in the booth and cemented the fact that this game sucked.

I actually feel bad due to all the nasty things i've said about the Steelers offensive line the past couple of weeks because they actually look pretty damn solid compared to the five guys the Raiders are running out there. It is almost impossible to tell if Andrew Walter is as hopelessly bad as his numbers look every week because everytime he drops back to pass there are 11 guys putting him in the sleeper hold......sometimes 11 guys all at once.

And I feel as if I should appologize to loyal reader Toni...he loves the Raiders.

Also of hilarious note were the 4 references to Justin Fargas as "being the son of the guy who played Huggy Bear on TV." I could have sworn that a few years ago the Simpsons used a joke in an episode where they introduced someone as, "The son of the guy who played Huggy Bear."

And thanks to Calig23 of MGS and FO discussion board fame...I was right. And right again......

At the Ace Awards, Dick Cavett stands at the podium.

Dick: Well, my time’s almost up here, so, uh, I’d just like to
say…I know Woody Allen.

[a couple of people clap halfheartedly]

Homer: And now the winner for the most promising new series on
cable: “Old Starsky and Hutches”.

[funky music starts]

Announcer: Accepting the award is the son of the guy who played Huggy Bear.

This of course means that Justin Fargas, in a completely unintentional and indirect way, was a character on the Simpsons. I would consider this a far bigger accomplishment and honor than playing in the NFL.

Finally, Tyler Brayton made it all worth it for us masochists who decided to actually watch every snap of this game when he introduced his kneecap to Jerramy Stevens Peas and Carrot. Of course, what Jerramy Stevens proved to everyone, much like he did in Super Bowl XL, is that he has absolutely nothing down there as he took the direct hit and instantly laughed about it.

A Weekend Of Football

Five minutes into the game Sunday and you could already tell the type of craptacular day it was going to be. A 3 and out, a 70 yard drive aided by two defensive holding penalties, a fumbled kickoff, and another touchdown on the exact same type of play as the first touchdown and you're already down 14-0.

Exciting.

When it's not one thing with this team, it's the other. When the offense doesn't score, the defense is playing lights out. When the offense drives down the field and scores a touchdown to bring you back into the game, the defense gets torched for a 60 yard play. When the offense and defense are clicking together, the special teams is allowing 80 yard returns, and when the special teams pins them inside the 20, the defense gives them a free ticket out of the hole.

All of that happened yesterday. And then some.

In the end, there is not one guy that can stand up, look in the mirror, and say to himself: "It's not my fault that we're 2-6."

Fumbles
Interceptions
Redzone turnovers
Missed tackles
Getting beat on the same pass into the endzone every single time
A big play defense...going the wrong direction
A pourous offensive line
Dropped passes

It's all there.

And add two more deadball personal fouls onto the pile as well.

Add it all up and you've got one bad football team.

- One of the biggest glaring weaknesses on this team is their overall lack of pass protection skills along the offensive line. Even when guys like Alan Faneca and Marvell Smith were at the top of their games they were best known for their run blocking skills and the ability to maul defensive lineman and wear them down...not straight out pass protection. Really, the only guy on the line that came out of college and was considered a "pass blocker" is Max Starks...and he stinks...and he actually seems to be getting worse. The knock on him, as I recall, was that he sometimes tended to play "soft." Or "Small" or "not up to his size" or whatever cliche you want to use to say "he lacks grapes."

I give you the last two weeks:

Max Starks - 6'8, 340 pounds

Vs.

Derrick Burgess - 6'2, 260
Elvis Dumervil - 5'10, 250

End Result: 4 sacks against...and countless hurries and pressures. Burgess in particular had a dominating performance against Starks. Honestly, it's getting to the point where I think Ben is actually safer on his motorcycle than he is dropping back to pass behind this line.

Going into April the offensive line has got to be the number 1 priority.

Ike Taylor meanwhile, has discovered that it's a lot harder to cover recievers when your front 7 isn't harrassing opposing QB's on every single pass, much like they did last season when Taylor was considered to be "a lockdown corner" and "The next Rod Woodson." Actually, all of the Steelers DB' s are finding that out, but Taylor seems to be struggling the most. Double moves, not looking for the ball, getting outjumped...he's done it all.

Perhaps it's time to get Bryant Mcfadden on the field a little more?

- As for Ben...if he'd just stop having those random brain farts where he for no reason puts the ball in the other teams hands he'd really be on to something this year. His completion percentage is right where it needs to be (65%! - which is amazing when you consider some of the drops this team has had this year), he's close to 8 yards per pass attempt (The general area where he was his first two years, when he ranked 1st and 2nd in the league), and he's making some of those plays where he avoids the rush, buys time, and makes a throw that just makes you say "wow."

But then he has that one where just sails it to the wrong guy.


They Said it

Sundays best from the NFL's talking heads -

"The officials in this game really need to be protecing Carson Palmer more."

- Randy Cross, in the 2nd half of the Ravens-Bengals game on Sunday.

Apperantly keeping defenders from hitting Quarterbacks above the shoulder, below the knee, and any later than .00000004 seconds after they release the football isn't enough. We need more. And not on all QB's, just Carson Palmer.

"Mark Brunell brought out the fastball on that play when he threw it into coverage."

- Troy Aikman, 2nd quarter of the Cowboys-Redskins game.

When I think of:

Mark Brunell
Fastball
Coverage

I think of Jamie Moyer pitching to Albert Pujols.


"Houshmanzadeh is the quiet one."

-Dick Enberg

Quiet one? Compared to Chad Johnson? I suppose. But what made the comment really good was the fact that Houshmanzadeh absolutely flipped his lid and went psycho when he didn't get a borderline pass interference call to end the game. Quiet.

"AND RAY LEWIS HAS MADE HIS RETURN TO THE GAME."

- Dick Enbergs emotional call as Ray Lewis returned from sitting out one play after his 4th quarter collision with Safety Ed Reed. On the play, the Bengals ran Rudi Johnson RIGHT AT RAY LEWIS...it was simply man on man, Johnson Vs. Lewis. No big men in front of him. No jumping on the pile after the play is over. Just a one on one battle of manhood at the goal line.

And Johnson clobbered him.

He pushed him back, trampled him to the ground, and stepped over him for the touchdown. During the replay, Randy Cross put the entire play into it' s proper perspective:

"Right here he just gets the Rudi Johnson facial."

Nothing more needs to be said.

But of course, Cross had to say something else. And instead of pointing out how Rudi Johnson castrated Ray Lewis at the goalline, Cross proceeded to put the blame for the touchdown not on Ray Lewis for getting blown up....but on Bart Scott.

If I understand this correctly:

Bart Scott makes a play, Ray Lewis jumps on the pile....Ray Lewis made the play.
Ray Lewis gets beat...It's Bart Scotts fault.

The Reggie Bush Watch

Bush yesterday dazzled NFL fans with an 11 carry -5 yard rushing performance and added 4 catches for 22 yards, giving him a grand total of 15 offensive touches and 17 yards from scrimmage. He's currently averaging less than 3 yards per carry.

Mario Williams by the way, racked up his 5th sack of the season for the Houston Texans.

- The only positive thing about this season is the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals are starting to meltdown in much the same way that we are. Marvin Lewis continues to have that terrified look on his face while he's standing on the sidelines (although, if I were surrounded by that many criminals at any one time i'd be a little terrified as well) and Chad Johnson still looks like he's trying to run the show.

"4 balls? That sucks," Said Johnson in his post game press conference.

Of course, even that silver lining makes you want to hurl something through the wall. The Bengals look like they're heading for another mediocre season after last seasons climax, and the Ravens, while sitting at an impressive 6-2 are a questionable team. Atleast to me. Steve Mcnair has been the talk of the NFL, but he's been very Kyle Boller like in his play. Right now he's under 60% in his complete percentage, only averaging 5 yards per pass attempt, and he's thrown some interceptions at really bad times....and he really tried to throw the game away yesterday.

Late in the 4th quarter he threw a floater across the field that Jonathan Joseph was all over... Joseph went to make the pick only to be thrown to the ground by Derek Mason who had to become a DB on the play. Had Mason not grabbed Joseph by his shoulder as he went to catch the ball, it would have been a 90 yard jog and a Bengals lead.

On the very next Ravens drive, again as they tried to kill the clock, Mcnair dropped back on a 3rd and 7 and put one right into the hands of a Bengals DB who simply dropped it.

They're the same old Ravens...strong defensively, very "meh" offensively.