Against the Bears - September 20, 2009

Hmmm. Irritating loss to what looked to be a weaker team coming in. General media consensus will point to the obvious theories: wet, slippery players' fingers and of course, Reed's missed field goals. It IS ironic that we were buoyed by Reed's two successful field goals in last week's game, only to lose by Reed's toe this week. But I feel Skippy can be excused for having a rare bad performance when there were other bad puppy slipups to be newspapered in this frustrating outing. There were silly defensive penalties to go round (Harrison's roughing the passer penalty and Timmons' defensive holding penalties for one and two, which allowed Chicago's first go ahead score...), dropped passes by our receivers in the second half (Did Holmes ever speak directly and responsibly to that "tipped pass"?), and of course, our old foe, the ever inconsistent running game. Ben and Co. started out efficiently, showing flashes of brilliance in the first drive. Parker broke a few when the defense overpursued. Miller remained his steadfast, battering ram self. But how is it that we then sputtered throughout the rest of the game against a vulnerable, Urlacher-less defense? Whereas the Bears upped the blitzes and adjusted, we seemed to wince. And I am already quickly tiring of the "absence of Polamalu" chatter. Clearly our D is going through a process of reorganization internally, like it or not. But ultimately note that this was not a high scoring game on either side and the Bears were held in check on the scoreboard. I would raise a wary eyebrow more to the fact that we could remain a one dimensional offense this season if we fail to put those points on the board in later quarters. A win which slipped easily through our fingers and a failure to pad our numbers in the early season? I give you Happy to his golf ball a la Happy Gilmore: "You little son of a bitch ball! Why don't you just go HOME? That's your HOME! Are you too good for your HOME?? ANSWER ME! SUCK MY WHITE ASS, BALL!"

Against the Titans - September 10, 2009

In the weeks leading up to this opener, there was a lot of general ESPN hype directed towards the fact that the Steelers have 20 out of 22 starters returning this year to the field. Yes, we have our star players returning and yes, game plans shouldn't largely deviate. However, I believed this also means that our old 2008 Achilles' heels will also return in 2009. And this proved so in a frustrating overtime win (I'm sorry, it's never a truly satisfying win when it's all based on winning a coin toss and quickly bumping in a short FG - I hate NFL overtime rules, but thank you, Jeff Skippy Reed). To quote Phil Connors from that cinematic fluff-piece Groundhog Day: "I'm reliving the same day over and over." Hmmm, Willie Parker held to 19 yards (yes, nineTEEN) and continuously stuffed in the backfield with inconsistent blocking from the offensive line: sound familiar? I was deeply concerned about the fact that we were continuously turning to passing plays when faced with 3rd and 2's, 3rd and 1's? Really?? Still haven't replaced Jerome's thighs I'm afraid, Mr. Mendenhall and Mr. Moore. Hats off to the performance of the special teams: Logan delivered as anticipated and Sepulvida has thankfully returned from the injury list with thundering punts. Ben Roe, Ward, Miller and Holmes once again engineered a slick 4th quarter drive, but how often can we miss scoring opportunities and leave it to the final two minutes? Not with higher-powered offenses we can't. Troy had a wonderful game but I'm hesistant to pass judgement on how his injury will reverberate within the D in the weeks ahead; I tend to trust LeBeau's adjustments so I'm hoping holes can be plugged and others like Farrior and Harrison will answer the call.

Against the Cards - Superbowl

Maybe I will write more analysis about the Superbowl and draft picks, after I get over my emotional trauma. Suffice it to say that I was crying into my Terrible Towel with 3 minutes to go and by the end, I was screaming for joy and hugging random people next to me in the bar. Un. f$#%ing. believable game. Come to think of it (I can't resist), I think we need some beef on the offensive line; the Cards did NOT have a good defense despite how they played in the second half. It might be a good time to make that reassessment of the o line; there were some holding penalties in there that should not have happened and Big Ben produced despite them. I also think we need to make an acquisition, surely, on short offensive situations with the running back, so we can punch it into the end zone with no questions asked. Big Ben is a worry; we need an ego check because he's already accomplished a good deal. We need to put him in more exciting, big passing situations, to give him more pastures to conquer. I am telling you, we need to save salary cap for keeping Miller (Ben Roe's favorite unannounced target) in the future or a more playful big money receiver...just some random thoughts...

Against the Ravens - January 18, 2009

I found the Ravens game to be entertaining enough to watch; it, thankfully, ended up being a higher scoring outing than expected. However, I couldn't resist drawing comparisons between our offense and that of the Titans the week before: we somehow allowed the Ravens' more inefficient offense (Flacco's poor QB rating evinced that he might not be the rookie phenom people were making him out to be and clearly needs more experience, I believe) to remain within reach in the race to put up points on the board. Thank goodness our D stepped up to the turf again when the offense was failing to produce easy field goals on every possession; hats off to Polamalu's well-timed INT, of course. I have a nervous feeling about the Cards matchup; the sports media and Vegas oddmakers seem to be placing the Cards in quite the underdog position. I feel leery that Whisenhunt and Grimm will be quite prepared for our offensive playcalling or at least could make pretty accurate predictions. Rest assured they will certainly feel the fire in the belly to show up their former employer. I expect that Tomlin will avoid trick play-calling in favor of more direct smash-mouth play from the offense in light of a few plays which did not turn out so well during the Ravens game. An intriguing match-up, I'm expecting...and we're lucky that the Ravens were not quite the offensive powerhouse of a team that I believe the Cards might prove to be...

To quote from "This Is Spinal Tap":
Derek Smalls: We're lucky.
David St. Hubbins: Yeah.
Derek Smalls: I mean, people should be envying us, you know.
David St. Hubbins: I envy us.
Derek Smalls: Yeah.
David St. Hubbins: I do.
Derek Smalls: Me too.

Here we go Stillers! :)

Against San Diego - January 11, 2009

To quote Venkman in Ghostbusters: "We came. We saw. We kicked its ass!" A slow start, but it was a pleasant surprise to see the o-line hunkering down in the trenches and giving a more consistent performance, wasn't it? They certainly provided a healthy Parker with the time to hit the corners speedily and glide through holes. I think Parker, of course, was the definitive x factor for this game; Big Ben was simply left with more play options and breathing room. Good to see that Ben-Roe was well-rested and mentally relaxed from the bye week and appeared able to calmly assess the field. I think we all were breathing a collective sigh of relief that he wasn't acting like he was playing cross-eyed and throwing picks. I particularly enjoyed that Ben participated in a few blocks on plays. He's already playing with questionable brain reserve from past injuries and could have used his head as a battering ram at this point. ;) The D played with their usual menace and fervor. I will caution that this was a shaky opponent; clearly, the Tomlinson injury was affecting the team chemistry and the choice in play-calling for the Chargers more than they let on. The idea will be to keep the players' egos in check during the week of media hype before the Ravens game. It's up for debate, but I'm glad that we don't have Porter around anymore to begin the taunting parade. Probably best to treat Ray "Should Have Been in Jail" Lewis with silence this week. Let's just put our head into the books.

Against the Brownies - December 28, 2008

What was scarier than Big Ben's head cracking off the turf? The uninspired play of the offense leading up to that injury, which will be largely overlooked by the sports media in the days ahead, I'm pretty sure. To be brutally honest (and I guess I am), they were not playing with the exuberance and chemistry that a playoff-bound team should coming down the homestretch against a vulnerable Browns organization. I'm pleased that the D we know and love returned to carry along the game; particular kudos to Tyrone Carter's INT and runback. Byron filled in seamlessly, I must say. It will sound weird to say, but perhaps Ben's concussion will provide the necessary fear and fuel to motivate the team through the bye week. Certainly there was a high degree of laziness exhibited with all the penalties; I believe the team did not play to its potential and needed this wakeup call. I'm going to take aim at the team with a cautionary quote from Xavier 'X' in Roll Bounce: "No, see I’m just trying to help you save face! Cuz I would hate to see you get spanked in front of all your fans!"

Against the Titans - December 21, 2008

I'll start with the obvious statement: it seems the wheels came off the wagon this past week. We've already been traveling through our schedule with a spotty offensive line and special teams, and with a quarterback who gambles, Vegas-style, with each of his throws when flushed out of the pocket. But at least we had the consistent D to keep the other team's offensive numbers in check, no? It appeared to me that our D did not prepare well for the game and became a little too reliant on the media hype...and we watched the result. Suddenly team confidence begins faltering: Ben is throwing INT's and fumbling behind the line, the unflappable Reed is missing a FG and penalties are racking up. I have to hand it to the Titans: they played a tidy game and Collins stayed cool under pressure; we were thrown off our game. Anytime you see Roethlisberger with over 300 passing yards and a handful of lost fumbles, you know we're in trouble. I am hoping this dismantling of the defense will prove to be a good wakeup call to Tomlin about discipline in the home stretch. I'm channeling my dismay at this game using Wayne a la Wayne's World: "What the hell's going on? I lost my show, I lost my best friend, I lost my girl. I'm being sh*ton, that's right, sh*ton, and you know what really pisses me off....wait, where are you goin'? OK, things aren't that great, but I'll get 'em back, OK?"