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?"

Against the Ravens - December 14, 2008

As advertised, it was a real slug-fest in the trenches for the two defenses and painfully low-scoring. Knowing that M&T Stadium was going to be loud and hostile, I am still not sure why we did not utilize a no-huddle offense (Remember the Colts game in 2006?) and avoid those frustrating false start penalties early on. The defense, of course, to the end, played with heart and steel. I believe our special teams showed their warts, as evidenced by the muffed punt and the Ravens' favorable starting field position, time and again; this definitely has to be addressed before the playoffs. I am pleased that Ben Roe, Ward, Holmes and the O-line all engineered that final nail-biting drive to the endzone, but hope they know, for all of the fans' sanities, that it IS possible to score touchdowns during ALL four quarters of the football game within the playoffs?? ;) I will say that it was all worth it to see Ray "I Should Be in Jail" Lewis angry on the sidelines at the end. For that, I'll quote Tony Montana in Scarface: "Now you're talking to me baby! That I like! Keep it coming!"

Against the Cowboys - December 7, 2008

Another amazing defensive performance, shoe-stringing together a win when the offense was (no surprise there) sputtering. The offensive performance was so patchy and it certainly was not a play-off caliber performance either. It's always dangerous (and frustrating for team morale) to fail to convert scores from turnovers; we will face better teams than Dallas that will be able to handle the cold weather and not cough up the ball so easily. Nice of Nate Washington to show up to the dance and make some clutch catches; we will certainly need those types of plays since Ward is getting double-teamed more and more by those who want to draw more fines out of him. My larger opinion is that we should consider putting Leftwich in for those plays where we need a quarterback sneak into the endzone or for deep passing plays; Ben's injury is clearly holding him back in the short yardage situations. He seems too leery to scramble these days. To quote the NASA flight director in Apollo 13: "Let's work the problem people. Let's not make things worse by guessing."

Against the Pats - November 30, 2008

I have to say that there was some promising improvement in the o-line's play this week, despite the inclimate conditions, and the defense and special teams, like always, showed up to play a spirited four full quarters. Gotta love Harrison and Polumalu week in and week out. But I'm not altogether sure if it was that we were so good or whether the Pats just handed over the game: I would specifically finger Moss's dropped passes and Cassel's "uncharacteristic" (I hadn't bought into the Cassel = John Elway talk anyhow) skittishness around the pocket as pretty big culprits. Once again, Ben treated us to a stupidly thrown INT on the second play of the game: what was that all about??? I'm going to reserve judgment on this team, until I see another big road win. To quote Wooderson in "Dazed and Confused": "Patience, darlin', patience."

As a sidenote, in the wake of Plaxico Burress's suspension during the crucial final weeks of the season, quite more than 100 bucks says the Rooneys are privately thinking that, although we can't afford "premier" receivers under our particular salary cap, we unloaded one big loose ego grenade before it exploded.