Steelers are good, true or false?
The halfway point of the 2011 NFL season is approaching. That means the Steelers are taking their midterm exams.
On Sunday, they passed the True-False portion of the exam.
Barely.
Here's a tip, kids. Most True-False tests have more true answers than false answers. So you probably can pass if you put down "True" for everything. It also helps if you know how to make the letter that looks like both a "T" and an "F."
It was with the same half-assed effort that the Steelers won Sunday's game over the Jaguars.
To fully restore their status as Super Bowl contenders, the Steelers (4-2) needed a convincing victory over the one-win Jaguars. But the Jaguars had a chance to win this game until the very last second. Thankfully, Blaine Gabbert's lame-assed Hail Mary found nothing but black shirts in the end zone.
The Steelers will take the multiple-choice portion of their midterms Sunday at Arizona. In the same way that multiple choice can be tricky (all of the above, none of the above, some of the above), weird shit tends to happen to the Steelers in Arizona. Although the game will be at University of Phoenix Stadium, the Steelers won't be able to take this test online. They have to show up.
Then the material goes from tricky to tough. The next phase of midterms will be essay questions, which the Steelers will have to answer in two weeks when the Patriots visit Heinz Field. That's going to require a lot of studying. The good news is that Bill Belichick will be proctoring the test, and he thinks cheating is OK.
Then, the Steelers will go from the classroom to the schoolyard for the last part of the exam -- the bully test. The Ravens bloodied the Steelers' nose in the season opener, and visit Heinz Field Nov. 6. To pass that part of the exam, the Steelers will have to win the fight with the bully, which is really all you need to learn in school to be ready for the real world.
What this midterm exam analogy means is that the Steelers have one more week to get their shit together before the Patriots and Ravens come to town.
Give and take
The Steelers nearly let a 17-0 lead slip away, at home, against a team with a rookie quarterback that had scored just five touchdowns heading into the game.
We can choose to be alarmed at all that, or we can choose to be encouraged that the Steelers have forced just two turnovers this season yet somehow are 4-2.
You know the only other team in the history of the NFL with just two takeaways in its first six games, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com? This year's Dolphins, who dropped to 0-5 Monday night.
At least the Steelers didn't turn the ball over Sunday. They've had just five giveaways since their seven-turnover debacle in Baltimore, Still, their turnover differential remains at minus-10. Only the 1960 Giants (4-1-1, minus-10) and the 1960 Bears (3-2-1, minus-11) had winning records with a turnover ratio of minus-10 or worse through six games, according to Pro-Football-Reference.
Another interception or two could have turned a loss into a win in Houston and made Sunday's win a little bit easier.
We can bellyache about how bad the Steelers' offense was in the second half Sunday or how the defense wasn't able to stop the run. But just one takeaway could have given the Steelers a short field to work with and maybe another score. That would have made the offense look better with more points on the scoreboard and it would have made the defense look better with fewer rushing yards for the Jaguars, who ran for 133 yards at a 4.4-yard-per-carry clip.
Turnovers aren't just window dressing for a defense, folks. They're a necessary tool for winning. Trying to win without getting turnovers on defense is like trying to bang nails into a wall with a baseball bat. Eventually you're going to need that hammer.
The Steelers' defense has to start taking the ball away at some point, right? The law of averages almost dictates it. In a way, it's comforting to think that winning should be easier when those takeaways start catching up to the giveaways.
But what if the turnovers don't come? Is the inability to grab fumbles and pickoffs a sign of the Steelers' age on defense? What makes this more confounding is the fact that Troy Polamalu has been healthy, despite Sunday's scare, and playing well. But he's usually good for an interception or two by this point in the season. He is 30 now. Are the hands the first thing to go?
One encouraging sign is that the Steelers had a similar shortage of sacks earlier in the season. Through the first four games, they had just seven. They've had eight in the last two games, including two Sunday by Brett Keisel. By the way, let's not underestimate how much he was missed in Indianapolis and Houston.
Sacks and turnovers have been signatures of the Steelers' defense since Bill Cowher rejuvenated the franchise nearly two decades ago. It took a while for the Steelers to get to the quarterback this season, but eventually they did. Hopefully one of these sacks will knock a ball loose and open the floodgates for turnovers.
Familiar script
There have been times this season when I didn't think I'd write the following words: The Steelers would not have won Sunday's game without Rashard Mendenhall.
Seeing the running game function without him last week seemed to spark Mendenhall the same way as his benching early in the 2009 season. He ran the ball 23 times for 146 yards and a touchdown that gave the Steelers a 7-0 lead. Mendenhall's 68-yard run set up a Shaun Suisham field goal and a 17-0 Steelers lead in the second quarter.
In between those scores was a 28-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace and a 48-yard completion to Wallace. The second of those receptions marked the fifth straight game in which Wallace has caught a pass of at least 40 yards, the longest such streak since Terrell Owens did it in 2004. If that streak doesn't end Sunday, something tells me the Patriots will end it in two weeks.
Alas, that bomb to Wallace, which put the ball on the Jacksonville 31, didn't lead to any points. The drive ended with Suisham missing a 46-yard field goal. Suisham has made just seven of his 11 field goal attempts this season. Am I the only one who's nervous about this?
The trajectory of Sunday's game was eerily similar to the AFC championship game in January. The Steelers build a big lead in the first half. The opponent gets a field goal to gain a little momentum before halftime. The Steelers go scoreless in the second half and have to hang on for dear life to get the win.
It's one thing to win in this fashion when a trip to the Super Bowl is at stake. It's quite another when the other team has no shot at getting to the Super Bowl. Or even the playoffs.
If they play like that on Sunday, the Steelers will flunk out of University of Phoenix Stadium.
Showing posts with label Mike Wallace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Wallace. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Super Bowl XLV:
Packers 31, Steelers 25
Not your father's Steelers
By Mike Batista
I've watched my last Steelers game.
My last Steelers game before turning 40, that is.
If you're a Steelers fan younger than 40, you probably didn't really get a chance to witness the Steelers' dynasty of the 1970s. Or if you did, you probably couldn't describe the difference between a free safety and a strong safety.
A win in Super Bowl XLV would have provided this generation of Steelers fans with an experience similar to the glory days of the 1970s. I gladly would have accepted three championships in six years as a feat comparable to four in six years.
But these aren't your father's Steelers. They just don't make Steelers Super Bowl teams like they used to. In the post-Steel Curtain era, the Steelers sometimes lose the Super Bowl.
Out of miracles
A lot has happened since Ben Roethlisberger threaded the eye of a needle for the game-winning touchdown to Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII. The Saints succeeded the Steelers as champions, and we learned (if we didn't know already) that Roethlisberger is not exactly a saint.
Even if Roethlisberger has changed his ways, here's why he still falls short of sainthood: You need two miracles to qualify as a saint. And there would be no second Super Bowl miracle for Roethlisberger.
Sure, it was great theater to see Roethlisberger again assigned the task of leading the Steelers the length of the field with two minutes left in the Super Bowl. But if you keep putting yourself in that spot, sometimes you're going to lose.
A lot has to go right for these epic, career-defining drives to come together. Like Thomas Edison's inventions, some of them just don't work out.
It wasn't a good sign when Mike Wallace, the Steelers' top receiver Sunday with nine catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, had no idea what he was supposed to do on second-and-five from the Steelers' 33. Roethlisberger had to throw the ball away. Then on third down Roethlisberger threw a ball that wasn't close to anyone. The grace of that winning drive in Tampa just wasn't there.
On fourth down, the Packers' sealed their championship when Tramon Williams broke up a pass to Wallace.
The final drive seemed doomed from the start when Keyaron Fox was called for a personal foul on the kickoff, dragging the Steelers from the 26 to their own 13.
Fox joined the Steelers in 2008 and contributed to their championship season as a special teams ace. Unfortunately, he seems to have gone bad. This wasn't the first time he's been flagged this season on a special teams play.
But it wasn't just Fox. Penalties were a problem all season for the Steelers, and they were a problem again Sunday. A blocking-above-the-waist infraction on Ryan Mundy set the stage for the Packers to take control of the game in the first quarter.
That penalty came on the kickoff after the Packers took a 7-0 lead on Aaron Rodgers' 29-yard pass to Jordy Nelson. It put the Steelers on their own 7. Roethlisberger threw the ball on the first play of the drive, but was hit, causing the ball to wobble in the air. It looked like Nick Collins was catching a fly ball in center field for the Brewers as he easily picked the ball off and ran it in 37 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 Packers lead.
Mistakes, they had a few
Every Steeler is to blame for this mistake-riddled performance. But the penalties by the special teams muckers ultimately will be forgotten. Super Bowl XLV will be remembered by Steelers fans for Roethlisberger's two interceptions and Rashard Mendenhall's fumble.
Roethlisberger's second pick was a throw into double coverage. Jarrett Bush came up with it.
Troy Polamalu then tried to keep the Steelers in the game with his biggest hit of the night. Unfortunately, it didn't do much good because it came in the end zone after Rodgers completed a 21-yard TD pass to Greg Jennings for a 21-3 Packers lead.
I was obviously way off on my prediction of Polamalu being the MVP.
Polamalu hasn't done much in any of the three Super Bowls he's played in, even though the Steelers have won two of them.
The Steelers probably don't get anywhere near the Super Bowl without Polamalu's heist in Baltimore nine weeks earlier. The 2010 Steelers season hinged on that play. The Steelers needed a similar rescue in the Super Bowl.
But it never came.
Troy a hair out of place
With the Steelers down by 18, I started to worry that this would turn into one of those vintage 1980s and early 1990s Super Bores, when the Goliaths of the NFC annually dominated the AFC's best offering. There hadn't really been a Super Bowl blowout in eight years. Were we due for one?
The Steelers didn't allow that to happen.
When facing a big deficit in the first half, the first thing you want to do is get points on the board before halftime. The Steelers did just that. A 37-yard pass to Antwaan Randle-El put the ball on the Packers 40 and sparked a touchdown drive that culminated in an 8-yard TD pass to Hines Ward.
That made the Steelers' halftime deficit a manageable 21-10.
Then in the second half the officials decided to start calling penalties on the Packers. Five of their seven penalties came in the third quarter, including a face mask on a punt that gave the Steelers the ball at midfield.
From there they ran the ball five times, Mendenhall twice, Isaac Redman twice and Roethlisberger once. Mendenhall took it in through traffic from the 8 for a touchdown, cutting the Packers' lead to 21-17 with more than 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
The Steelers made it a game again.
I would rather have not seen the Steelers burn two timeouts in the third quarter, having more than one timeout might have come in handy on the final drive. It was also hard to watch Shaun Suisham attempt a 52-yard field goal. Did anyone really think Suisham was going to make that?
Polamalu looked like he could have had an interception with about two and a half minutes left in the third quarter. Had he been a couple of steps to his left, he might have picked off a third-down incompletion right around the Steelers' 20 with room to run. Even though the Packers were forced to punt, Polamalu had his head in his hands at the end of that play. Like most of the night, he was out of position.
Despite all that, the Steelers' defensive muscle in the third quarter forged a field-position advantage.
With the Packers pinned at their own 13 late in the period, the Steelers forced a three-and-out. On the punt, the Packers were penalized and had to re-kick from their 8. The Steelers were in business at the Packers' 41, and Mendenhall ended the third quarter by picking up eight yards.
Fourth-quarter flop
Many Steelers players participated in the universal football ritual of holding up four fingers at the start of the fourth quarter, a signal that if you want to win the game, this is the time to do it.
Mendenhall didn't get the message. He got the ball again to open the final quarter, and Clay Matthews popped it loose. Desmond Bishop (not Bishop Desmond) recovered the fumble.
The Packers, who didn't turn the ball over in the game, scored for the third time off a Steelers turnover. Rodgers threw an 8-yard TD pass to Jennings, making it 28-17 with 12 minutes left.
Starting with the AFC championship game, Mendenhall played like a top-tier running back for seven quarters. He ran for just 63 yards in the Super Bowl, but at a clip of 4.5 yards a carry. Finally it seemed that Mendenhall would be the guy to provide the Steelers with a productive, clock-grinding ground game in the coming years. But that fumble again planted some seeds of doubt.
So it was back to disaster recovery for the Steelers. And recover they did. They got to within a field goal halfway through the fourth quarter when Roethlisberger threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Wallace and followed that with a pretty option pitch to Randle-El on the two-point conversion.
Ziggy Hood sacked Rodgers to start the ensuing possession, and the Packers eventually were staring at a third-and-10 from their own 25.
Momentum once again belonged to the Steelers.
That's when Rodgers showed why he's the Super Bowl MVP.
He threw to Jennings up the middle for 31 yards. Polamalu might have made his biggest impact of the night when he got his hand on Jennings' leg to stop him. It likely prevented a touchdown.
The Packers ran the clock down and got to the Steelers' 5. But the Steelers defense had enough fight left to hold them to a field goal and give Roethlisberger a chance to win it.
But as a new generation of Steelers fans has learned, you can't win 'em all.
Packers 31, Steelers 25
Not your father's Steelers
By Mike Batista
I've watched my last Steelers game.
My last Steelers game before turning 40, that is.
If you're a Steelers fan younger than 40, you probably didn't really get a chance to witness the Steelers' dynasty of the 1970s. Or if you did, you probably couldn't describe the difference between a free safety and a strong safety.
A win in Super Bowl XLV would have provided this generation of Steelers fans with an experience similar to the glory days of the 1970s. I gladly would have accepted three championships in six years as a feat comparable to four in six years.
But these aren't your father's Steelers. They just don't make Steelers Super Bowl teams like they used to. In the post-Steel Curtain era, the Steelers sometimes lose the Super Bowl.
Out of miracles
A lot has happened since Ben Roethlisberger threaded the eye of a needle for the game-winning touchdown to Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII. The Saints succeeded the Steelers as champions, and we learned (if we didn't know already) that Roethlisberger is not exactly a saint.
Even if Roethlisberger has changed his ways, here's why he still falls short of sainthood: You need two miracles to qualify as a saint. And there would be no second Super Bowl miracle for Roethlisberger.
Sure, it was great theater to see Roethlisberger again assigned the task of leading the Steelers the length of the field with two minutes left in the Super Bowl. But if you keep putting yourself in that spot, sometimes you're going to lose.
A lot has to go right for these epic, career-defining drives to come together. Like Thomas Edison's inventions, some of them just don't work out.
It wasn't a good sign when Mike Wallace, the Steelers' top receiver Sunday with nine catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, had no idea what he was supposed to do on second-and-five from the Steelers' 33. Roethlisberger had to throw the ball away. Then on third down Roethlisberger threw a ball that wasn't close to anyone. The grace of that winning drive in Tampa just wasn't there.
On fourth down, the Packers' sealed their championship when Tramon Williams broke up a pass to Wallace.
The final drive seemed doomed from the start when Keyaron Fox was called for a personal foul on the kickoff, dragging the Steelers from the 26 to their own 13.
Fox joined the Steelers in 2008 and contributed to their championship season as a special teams ace. Unfortunately, he seems to have gone bad. This wasn't the first time he's been flagged this season on a special teams play.
But it wasn't just Fox. Penalties were a problem all season for the Steelers, and they were a problem again Sunday. A blocking-above-the-waist infraction on Ryan Mundy set the stage for the Packers to take control of the game in the first quarter.
That penalty came on the kickoff after the Packers took a 7-0 lead on Aaron Rodgers' 29-yard pass to Jordy Nelson. It put the Steelers on their own 7. Roethlisberger threw the ball on the first play of the drive, but was hit, causing the ball to wobble in the air. It looked like Nick Collins was catching a fly ball in center field for the Brewers as he easily picked the ball off and ran it in 37 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 Packers lead.
Mistakes, they had a few
Every Steeler is to blame for this mistake-riddled performance. But the penalties by the special teams muckers ultimately will be forgotten. Super Bowl XLV will be remembered by Steelers fans for Roethlisberger's two interceptions and Rashard Mendenhall's fumble.
Roethlisberger's second pick was a throw into double coverage. Jarrett Bush came up with it.
Troy Polamalu then tried to keep the Steelers in the game with his biggest hit of the night. Unfortunately, it didn't do much good because it came in the end zone after Rodgers completed a 21-yard TD pass to Greg Jennings for a 21-3 Packers lead.
I was obviously way off on my prediction of Polamalu being the MVP.
Polamalu hasn't done much in any of the three Super Bowls he's played in, even though the Steelers have won two of them.
The Steelers probably don't get anywhere near the Super Bowl without Polamalu's heist in Baltimore nine weeks earlier. The 2010 Steelers season hinged on that play. The Steelers needed a similar rescue in the Super Bowl.
But it never came.
Troy a hair out of place
With the Steelers down by 18, I started to worry that this would turn into one of those vintage 1980s and early 1990s Super Bores, when the Goliaths of the NFC annually dominated the AFC's best offering. There hadn't really been a Super Bowl blowout in eight years. Were we due for one?
The Steelers didn't allow that to happen.
When facing a big deficit in the first half, the first thing you want to do is get points on the board before halftime. The Steelers did just that. A 37-yard pass to Antwaan Randle-El put the ball on the Packers 40 and sparked a touchdown drive that culminated in an 8-yard TD pass to Hines Ward.
That made the Steelers' halftime deficit a manageable 21-10.
Then in the second half the officials decided to start calling penalties on the Packers. Five of their seven penalties came in the third quarter, including a face mask on a punt that gave the Steelers the ball at midfield.
From there they ran the ball five times, Mendenhall twice, Isaac Redman twice and Roethlisberger once. Mendenhall took it in through traffic from the 8 for a touchdown, cutting the Packers' lead to 21-17 with more than 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
The Steelers made it a game again.
I would rather have not seen the Steelers burn two timeouts in the third quarter, having more than one timeout might have come in handy on the final drive. It was also hard to watch Shaun Suisham attempt a 52-yard field goal. Did anyone really think Suisham was going to make that?
Polamalu looked like he could have had an interception with about two and a half minutes left in the third quarter. Had he been a couple of steps to his left, he might have picked off a third-down incompletion right around the Steelers' 20 with room to run. Even though the Packers were forced to punt, Polamalu had his head in his hands at the end of that play. Like most of the night, he was out of position.
Despite all that, the Steelers' defensive muscle in the third quarter forged a field-position advantage.
With the Packers pinned at their own 13 late in the period, the Steelers forced a three-and-out. On the punt, the Packers were penalized and had to re-kick from their 8. The Steelers were in business at the Packers' 41, and Mendenhall ended the third quarter by picking up eight yards.
Fourth-quarter flop
Many Steelers players participated in the universal football ritual of holding up four fingers at the start of the fourth quarter, a signal that if you want to win the game, this is the time to do it.
Mendenhall didn't get the message. He got the ball again to open the final quarter, and Clay Matthews popped it loose. Desmond Bishop (not Bishop Desmond) recovered the fumble.
The Packers, who didn't turn the ball over in the game, scored for the third time off a Steelers turnover. Rodgers threw an 8-yard TD pass to Jennings, making it 28-17 with 12 minutes left.
Starting with the AFC championship game, Mendenhall played like a top-tier running back for seven quarters. He ran for just 63 yards in the Super Bowl, but at a clip of 4.5 yards a carry. Finally it seemed that Mendenhall would be the guy to provide the Steelers with a productive, clock-grinding ground game in the coming years. But that fumble again planted some seeds of doubt.
So it was back to disaster recovery for the Steelers. And recover they did. They got to within a field goal halfway through the fourth quarter when Roethlisberger threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Wallace and followed that with a pretty option pitch to Randle-El on the two-point conversion.
Ziggy Hood sacked Rodgers to start the ensuing possession, and the Packers eventually were staring at a third-and-10 from their own 25.
Momentum once again belonged to the Steelers.
That's when Rodgers showed why he's the Super Bowl MVP.
He threw to Jennings up the middle for 31 yards. Polamalu might have made his biggest impact of the night when he got his hand on Jennings' leg to stop him. It likely prevented a touchdown.
The Packers ran the clock down and got to the Steelers' 5. But the Steelers defense had enough fight left to hold them to a field goal and give Roethlisberger a chance to win it.
But as a new generation of Steelers fans has learned, you can't win 'em all.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Blind eye
By Mike Batista
CBS missed a major opportunity here.
The Ravens and Steelers kick off the divisional round of the NFL playoffs today at 4:30 in Pittsburgh. Tomorrow, the Jets play the Patriots in the late game on CBS.
If I'm CBS, I'm putting the Steelers game at 4:30 on Sunday in case Steelers receiver Mike Wallace has a big game. What better way to lead into "60 Minutes?"
Unfortunately, the network symbolized by the eye logo didn't have that kind of vision. This kind of puts a different spin on my favorite sports weekend of the year.
With four games, two on Saturday and two on Sunday, it's the last NFL weekend of wall-to-wall football. Every team playing is Super Bowl-caliber. With the notable exception of the Seahawks this season, the riff-raff is usually weeded out on wild-card weekend. That makes for four intriguing matchups.
Two years ago, before they drafted the younger, faster version of the "60 Minutes" anchor, the Steelers played the late Sunday game. So the first three games of divisional playoff weekend served as a dramatic buildup to the Steelers game.
This year, the tone of the weekend will depend on the outcome of the Ravens-Steelers game.
If the Steelers win, I'll watch tonight's Packers-Falcons game if I'm not too drunk. Then tomorrow, I'll watch Seahawks-Bears only because it's such a snoozer it seems like a good game to watch hung over. Then I'll meticulously scout the Jets-Patriots game and have a report on Mike Tomlin's desk Monday morning.
If the Steelers lose, however, the person below is going to be me
I won't be ignored.
Go Steelers!
By Mike Batista
CBS missed a major opportunity here.
The Ravens and Steelers kick off the divisional round of the NFL playoffs today at 4:30 in Pittsburgh. Tomorrow, the Jets play the Patriots in the late game on CBS.
If I'm CBS, I'm putting the Steelers game at 4:30 on Sunday in case Steelers receiver Mike Wallace has a big game. What better way to lead into "60 Minutes?"
Unfortunately, the network symbolized by the eye logo didn't have that kind of vision. This kind of puts a different spin on my favorite sports weekend of the year.
With four games, two on Saturday and two on Sunday, it's the last NFL weekend of wall-to-wall football. Every team playing is Super Bowl-caliber. With the notable exception of the Seahawks this season, the riff-raff is usually weeded out on wild-card weekend. That makes for four intriguing matchups.
Two years ago, before they drafted the younger, faster version of the "60 Minutes" anchor, the Steelers played the late Sunday game. So the first three games of divisional playoff weekend served as a dramatic buildup to the Steelers game.
This year, the tone of the weekend will depend on the outcome of the Ravens-Steelers game.
If the Steelers win, I'll watch tonight's Packers-Falcons game if I'm not too drunk. Then tomorrow, I'll watch Seahawks-Bears only because it's such a snoozer it seems like a good game to watch hung over. Then I'll meticulously scout the Jets-Patriots game and have a report on Mike Tomlin's desk Monday morning.
If the Steelers lose, however, the person below is going to be me
I won't be ignored.
Go Steelers!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Star power
Steelers 41, Browns 9
By Mike Batista
It was up to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin whether Troy Polamalu would play Sunday.
If he sat Polamalu, who had been sidelined with an Achilles injury, the hope would have been to give the defensive difference maker five full weeks of rest if the Steelers could beat the Browns without him and clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs.
If he played Polamalu, he would have risked a re-injury and losing him for the playoffs. What good would a first-round bye be in that case?
I don't think any of this had to factor into Tomlin's decision. He could have been swayed by astrology, because it seemed the stars were aligned for Polamalu to play in this game.
How else do you explain Polamalu, No. 43, intercepting a pass to set up a Steelers' touchdown 43 seconds into the game? Or that Mike Wallace, No. 17, scored that touchdown with 14:17 left in the first quarter after catching a Ben Roethlisberger pass?
Furthermore, the uniform numbers of Wallace and Polamalu add up to 60, as in "Steelers football is 60 minutes," which Tomlin gushed after the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII (that's 43) two years ago. Or as in "60 Minutes," the show hosted by a Mike Wallace almost four times the age of the Steelers receiver.
The Steelers, who by the way allowed 43 rushing yards on 17 carries, didn't need 60 minutes to finish off the Browns and secure the AFC North title and a first-round bye. They scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and got tough in short-yardage situations for a change.
Rashard Mendenhall punched in the first of his two 1-yard touchdown runs to give the Steelers (12-4) a 14-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first quarter.
The Browns (5-11) seemed poised to make it a game on their next possession, moving the ball to the Steelers' 2. But on second down, Polamalu showed that he really is healthy again by dusting off one of his trademark spectacles: The Line of Scrimmage Leap.
On the first play of the second quarter, Polamalu timed the snap and vaulted the line of scrimmage like a missile. Browns' quarterback Colt McCoy rolled to his right, almost back to the 20, after getting out of Polamalu's flight path and threw an incomplete pass. After another incomplete pass, the Browns settled for a field goal.
Polamalu's work was pretty much done. The Steelers only needed him for a half, thanks in part to fellow defensive backs Ryan Clark and Anthony Madison, whose interceptions set up 10 points. Clark's pick led to a 4-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller to increase the Steelers' lead to 28-3. Madison set up Shaun Suisham's 41-yard field goal to make the Steelers' halftime lead 31-3.
And Polamalu could start washing his hair.
The offense didn't earn its rest until it put together a clock-churning drive to start the second half. The 13-play, 77-yard march ended with a little flair. Antwan Randle-El took a pitch from Roethlisberger and threw a 3-yard TD pass to Hines Ward. The play popped the cork on some vintage 2005, when Randle-El connected with Ward in the Super Bowl and the Steelers won big in Cleveland during the holiday season.
With the Steelers up 38-3, most of their key offensive players were done for the day. Unfortunately, Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey wasn't one of them. He left the game with a neck stinger and is the only new health concern that came out of this game.
Speaking of Pouncey and the offensive line that the 21-year-old rookie pretty much runs, Roethlisberger was unsacked for the first time since the Steelers' first meeting against the Browns. Roethlisberger was sacked 32 times in 12 games this season. That's a pace of about 43 sacks over a full season. That would have been the fewest times he's been sacked since 2005.
It was oddly comical, then, when Byron Leftwich was sacked on his first play. Leftwich was brought down twice, but did a good job minding the store along with the likes of running back Jonathan Dwyer, linebackers Stevenson Sylvester, Keyaron Fox and Larry Foote and defensive backs Will Allen and Keenan Lewis.
The Steelers put three more points on the board to hang 40 on an opponent for the first time since 2007. This was after becoming the first team to score 30 on the improved Browns this season.
What the Steelers do to teams like the Browns and Panthers, however, won't matter a whole lot in two weeks.
As Tomlin would say, it's time for "January Football."
Steelers 41, Browns 9
By Mike Batista
It was up to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin whether Troy Polamalu would play Sunday.
If he sat Polamalu, who had been sidelined with an Achilles injury, the hope would have been to give the defensive difference maker five full weeks of rest if the Steelers could beat the Browns without him and clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs.
If he played Polamalu, he would have risked a re-injury and losing him for the playoffs. What good would a first-round bye be in that case?
I don't think any of this had to factor into Tomlin's decision. He could have been swayed by astrology, because it seemed the stars were aligned for Polamalu to play in this game.
How else do you explain Polamalu, No. 43, intercepting a pass to set up a Steelers' touchdown 43 seconds into the game? Or that Mike Wallace, No. 17, scored that touchdown with 14:17 left in the first quarter after catching a Ben Roethlisberger pass?
Furthermore, the uniform numbers of Wallace and Polamalu add up to 60, as in "Steelers football is 60 minutes," which Tomlin gushed after the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII (that's 43) two years ago. Or as in "60 Minutes," the show hosted by a Mike Wallace almost four times the age of the Steelers receiver.
The Steelers, who by the way allowed 43 rushing yards on 17 carries, didn't need 60 minutes to finish off the Browns and secure the AFC North title and a first-round bye. They scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and got tough in short-yardage situations for a change.
Rashard Mendenhall punched in the first of his two 1-yard touchdown runs to give the Steelers (12-4) a 14-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first quarter.
The Browns (5-11) seemed poised to make it a game on their next possession, moving the ball to the Steelers' 2. But on second down, Polamalu showed that he really is healthy again by dusting off one of his trademark spectacles: The Line of Scrimmage Leap.
On the first play of the second quarter, Polamalu timed the snap and vaulted the line of scrimmage like a missile. Browns' quarterback Colt McCoy rolled to his right, almost back to the 20, after getting out of Polamalu's flight path and threw an incomplete pass. After another incomplete pass, the Browns settled for a field goal.
Polamalu's work was pretty much done. The Steelers only needed him for a half, thanks in part to fellow defensive backs Ryan Clark and Anthony Madison, whose interceptions set up 10 points. Clark's pick led to a 4-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller to increase the Steelers' lead to 28-3. Madison set up Shaun Suisham's 41-yard field goal to make the Steelers' halftime lead 31-3.
And Polamalu could start washing his hair.
The offense didn't earn its rest until it put together a clock-churning drive to start the second half. The 13-play, 77-yard march ended with a little flair. Antwan Randle-El took a pitch from Roethlisberger and threw a 3-yard TD pass to Hines Ward. The play popped the cork on some vintage 2005, when Randle-El connected with Ward in the Super Bowl and the Steelers won big in Cleveland during the holiday season.
With the Steelers up 38-3, most of their key offensive players were done for the day. Unfortunately, Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey wasn't one of them. He left the game with a neck stinger and is the only new health concern that came out of this game.
Speaking of Pouncey and the offensive line that the 21-year-old rookie pretty much runs, Roethlisberger was unsacked for the first time since the Steelers' first meeting against the Browns. Roethlisberger was sacked 32 times in 12 games this season. That's a pace of about 43 sacks over a full season. That would have been the fewest times he's been sacked since 2005.
It was oddly comical, then, when Byron Leftwich was sacked on his first play. Leftwich was brought down twice, but did a good job minding the store along with the likes of running back Jonathan Dwyer, linebackers Stevenson Sylvester, Keyaron Fox and Larry Foote and defensive backs Will Allen and Keenan Lewis.
The Steelers put three more points on the board to hang 40 on an opponent for the first time since 2007. This was after becoming the first team to score 30 on the improved Browns this season.
What the Steelers do to teams like the Browns and Panthers, however, won't matter a whole lot in two weeks.
As Tomlin would say, it's time for "January Football."
Friday, December 24, 2010
'Twas two nights
before Christmas ...
Steelers 27, Panthers 3
By Mike Batista
Whether it's last-minute shopping, wrapping presents or cooking, just about everyone is taking care of business in the final days before Christmas.
That's exactly what the Steelers did Thursday. The Carolina Panthers were nothing more than a tree to be watered, lights to be strung up or reindeer to be fed.
The Steelers (11-4) had a job to do. A win over the Panthers (2-13) wasn't going to make any pundit anoint the Steelers the Flavor of the Week in the NFL. But a loss would have expedited them to the top of Santa Claus' naughty list and a lump of coal would have gone straight from a western Pennsylvania mine to their stocking.
The Steelers ensured a Merry Christmas by doing what they were supposed to do, which is dominate the Panthers. They had a 20-0 lead at halftime, allowing Pittsburgh sports fans to get to the stores before they close or watch the Penguins beat the Capitals.
And so in the spirit of Christmas, everybody is happy and life is artificially great for the Steelers. Any cares and concerns are put aside for the time being while the Steelers attempt to sing Christmas carols and Brett Keisel models his Santa-like beard for the NFL Network.
... And all through the house ...
The Steelers have to wait an extra day to open their presents this year. On the morning after Christmas, they'll be jumping out of bed, running down the stairs in their footed pajamas hoping to see a Browns win over the Ravens under their tree.
With a Browns win, the Steelers will clinch the AFC North and a first-round bye in the playoffs, which means their Christmas break from needing to win football games will extend to mid-January.
The Browns will be torn between two lovers, or at least two teams they love to hate. They could beat the Ravens and knock them out of the AFC North race, but that would give Troy Polamalu an extra week of rest (he won't play in Cleveland if the Steelers don't need that game) and help the Steelers in the playoffs.
Since the Browns still suck, however, it's probably not going to be up to them. The Ravens will probably beat them and the Steelers will be back to work the day after New Year's needing to beat the Browns. The Ravens host the Bengals Jan. 2, so let's just say the Steelers will need to beat the Browns if the Ravens win Sunday.
If that's the case, all this Christmas cheer will be a distant memory. With bare Christmas trees strewn all over sidewalks, the reality of the Steelers' ramshackle offensive line and red zone inefficiency, as well as Polamalu's health (whether it's his ankle, calf, nose hairs or toe nails), will once again be in the Steelers' face.
But let's not think about January drudgery right now. Let's just sit by the fireplace, admire the tree and look back on the Steelers' Christmas story that was on TV Thursday night.
... Not a Panther was stirring ...
The Steelers allowed just 119 yards of offense and gobbled up rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen as if he were Claussen pickle, sacking him four times and intercepting him once. Clausen completed just 10 of 23 passes for 72 yards. He didn't get off the hook like Colt McCoy did earlier this year (the Steelers have a chance to make up for that).
Meanwhile, the Steelers generated 408 yards of offense. Their ground game was productive with Rashard Mendenhall running for 65 yards and Isaac Redman adding 43. Ben Roethlisberger threw for a career-high 259 first-half yards.
This game wasn't without a few anxious early moments. The Steelers had a little trouble tackling Jonathan Stewart, who came into the game averaging 115 yards rushing over the past four weeks. But the Panthers handed the Steelers a few presents. They gave the gift of ineptitude.
Carolina reached the Steelers' 35 on the game's opening drive, but stalled with two straight false start penalties.
After a Steelers field goal, Carolina mounted another drive and got to the Steelers' 29. Then on third-and-2, they went to the wildcat. Panthers and wildcat added up to a feline failure. Mike Goodson lost three yards, then on fourth down Clausen got sacked to yank the Panthers out of field goal range.
A 43-yard hot-route pass to Mike Wallace gave the Steelers a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. A 12-yard pass to Heath Miller, who can enjoy some egg nog now that his noggin is healthy, got that drive going. He led the Steelers with five catches for 73 yards.
The Steelers' other two touchdowns came on 1-yard runs with Mendenhall scoring before halftime and Roethlisberger making it 27-0 in the third quarter. Big Ben's dive squashed the only second-half drama. The Steelers had a first-and-goal on the 1, and on third down the Panthers were halfway to what would have been an embarrassing goal-line stand.
... On Wallace, on Sanders, on Heath and Antonio
A 35-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders set up Mendenhall's touchdown. Sanders caught four balls for 54 yards. Am I the only one who thinks that it's Hines Ward catching the ball a lot of the time when Sanders catches the ball?
I know I'm opening up a can of worms here (anybody want that for Christmas?). Much of the reason for not being able to tell Sanders from Ward is their uniform numbers. The number "88" looks a lot like "86." There was a lot of Pittsburgh talk radio chatter about Ward, who had three catches for 38 yards, being done. I think the 13-year veteran is just gracefully passing the baton to a new generation of receivers.
Wallace is fifth in the league with 1,152 receiving yards and is averaging 20.2 yards per catch, second only to the Eagles' DeSean Jackson in that category among receivers with at least 15 catches. His emergence, as well as that of Antonio Brown, gives Roethlisberger a lot of toys at his disposal.
You might say Big Ben got his Christmas presents early when he returned to action in October. By that time, it wasn't hard to see a Christmas display somewhere or hear a Christmas carol.
Hang in there, Christmas is almost over. Then, as Mike Tomlin would say, it will be time for "January Football."
before Christmas ...
Steelers 27, Panthers 3
By Mike Batista
Whether it's last-minute shopping, wrapping presents or cooking, just about everyone is taking care of business in the final days before Christmas.
That's exactly what the Steelers did Thursday. The Carolina Panthers were nothing more than a tree to be watered, lights to be strung up or reindeer to be fed.
The Steelers (11-4) had a job to do. A win over the Panthers (2-13) wasn't going to make any pundit anoint the Steelers the Flavor of the Week in the NFL. But a loss would have expedited them to the top of Santa Claus' naughty list and a lump of coal would have gone straight from a western Pennsylvania mine to their stocking.
The Steelers ensured a Merry Christmas by doing what they were supposed to do, which is dominate the Panthers. They had a 20-0 lead at halftime, allowing Pittsburgh sports fans to get to the stores before they close or watch the Penguins beat the Capitals.
And so in the spirit of Christmas, everybody is happy and life is artificially great for the Steelers. Any cares and concerns are put aside for the time being while the Steelers attempt to sing Christmas carols and Brett Keisel models his Santa-like beard for the NFL Network.
... And all through the house ...
The Steelers have to wait an extra day to open their presents this year. On the morning after Christmas, they'll be jumping out of bed, running down the stairs in their footed pajamas hoping to see a Browns win over the Ravens under their tree.
With a Browns win, the Steelers will clinch the AFC North and a first-round bye in the playoffs, which means their Christmas break from needing to win football games will extend to mid-January.
The Browns will be torn between two lovers, or at least two teams they love to hate. They could beat the Ravens and knock them out of the AFC North race, but that would give Troy Polamalu an extra week of rest (he won't play in Cleveland if the Steelers don't need that game) and help the Steelers in the playoffs.
Since the Browns still suck, however, it's probably not going to be up to them. The Ravens will probably beat them and the Steelers will be back to work the day after New Year's needing to beat the Browns. The Ravens host the Bengals Jan. 2, so let's just say the Steelers will need to beat the Browns if the Ravens win Sunday.
If that's the case, all this Christmas cheer will be a distant memory. With bare Christmas trees strewn all over sidewalks, the reality of the Steelers' ramshackle offensive line and red zone inefficiency, as well as Polamalu's health (whether it's his ankle, calf, nose hairs or toe nails), will once again be in the Steelers' face.
But let's not think about January drudgery right now. Let's just sit by the fireplace, admire the tree and look back on the Steelers' Christmas story that was on TV Thursday night.
... Not a Panther was stirring ...
The Steelers allowed just 119 yards of offense and gobbled up rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen as if he were Claussen pickle, sacking him four times and intercepting him once. Clausen completed just 10 of 23 passes for 72 yards. He didn't get off the hook like Colt McCoy did earlier this year (the Steelers have a chance to make up for that).
Meanwhile, the Steelers generated 408 yards of offense. Their ground game was productive with Rashard Mendenhall running for 65 yards and Isaac Redman adding 43. Ben Roethlisberger threw for a career-high 259 first-half yards.
This game wasn't without a few anxious early moments. The Steelers had a little trouble tackling Jonathan Stewart, who came into the game averaging 115 yards rushing over the past four weeks. But the Panthers handed the Steelers a few presents. They gave the gift of ineptitude.
Carolina reached the Steelers' 35 on the game's opening drive, but stalled with two straight false start penalties.
After a Steelers field goal, Carolina mounted another drive and got to the Steelers' 29. Then on third-and-2, they went to the wildcat. Panthers and wildcat added up to a feline failure. Mike Goodson lost three yards, then on fourth down Clausen got sacked to yank the Panthers out of field goal range.
A 43-yard hot-route pass to Mike Wallace gave the Steelers a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. A 12-yard pass to Heath Miller, who can enjoy some egg nog now that his noggin is healthy, got that drive going. He led the Steelers with five catches for 73 yards.
The Steelers' other two touchdowns came on 1-yard runs with Mendenhall scoring before halftime and Roethlisberger making it 27-0 in the third quarter. Big Ben's dive squashed the only second-half drama. The Steelers had a first-and-goal on the 1, and on third down the Panthers were halfway to what would have been an embarrassing goal-line stand.
... On Wallace, on Sanders, on Heath and Antonio
A 35-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders set up Mendenhall's touchdown. Sanders caught four balls for 54 yards. Am I the only one who thinks that it's Hines Ward catching the ball a lot of the time when Sanders catches the ball?
I know I'm opening up a can of worms here (anybody want that for Christmas?). Much of the reason for not being able to tell Sanders from Ward is their uniform numbers. The number "88" looks a lot like "86." There was a lot of Pittsburgh talk radio chatter about Ward, who had three catches for 38 yards, being done. I think the 13-year veteran is just gracefully passing the baton to a new generation of receivers.
Wallace is fifth in the league with 1,152 receiving yards and is averaging 20.2 yards per catch, second only to the Eagles' DeSean Jackson in that category among receivers with at least 15 catches. His emergence, as well as that of Antonio Brown, gives Roethlisberger a lot of toys at his disposal.
You might say Big Ben got his Christmas presents early when he returned to action in October. By that time, it wasn't hard to see a Christmas display somewhere or hear a Christmas carol.
Hang in there, Christmas is almost over. Then, as Mike Tomlin would say, it will be time for "January Football."
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Happy Mondays
Steelers 27, Bengals 21
By Mike Batista
Now the season can finally start.
For the fourth straight year, the Steelers won on a Monday night to complete the first half of the season with a 6-2 record.
It's the fifth time in the last six seasons the Steelers have been 6-2 at the turn.
In 2005, they recovered from a three-game losing streak in the second half and won the Super Bowl.
In 2007, they experienced a slow, steady decline in November and December and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
In 2008, they went 6-2 again in the second half and won the Super Bowl.
In 2009, they completely collapsed.
That covers all the possibilities, right? I've just described every way the second half of an NFL season can unfold. There's no way the Steelers can show us anything we haven't seen before, right?
Well, they tried their hardest to do just that Monday night.
Just like old times
The Steelers were on the verge of blowing the first 20-point lead in franchise history. Not even those horribly dressed, laughable Steelers teams of the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s managed to blow a 20-point lead.
With 40 seconds left in Monday's game, the Steelers were 12 yards away from not only blowing a 20-point lead, but blowing it all in the fourth quarter. They'd have been the first team to do that since the Giants in November of 2006.
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer threw to Jordan Shipley on fourth down. Had Shipley held onto the ball, the Bengals, trailing by six, would have had a first-and-goal at the 5.
But Ike Taylor and James Harrison did the Malachi Crunch on the rookie, the ball popped out of his hands, and it was Happy Days for the Steelers.
To give the Steelers their 20-point lead, Antwan Randle-El didn't quite turn the clock back to the days of the Fonz, but he did make like it was 2005 again when he took the ball from Ben Roethlisberger on an end around and fired a 39-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace to open the fourth quarter, making the score 27-7.
Unfortunately, the defense took its foot off the gas pedal, letting the Bengals back into the game with Terrell Owens' second touchdown just 98 seconds later.
Then Roethlisberger threw a lollipop to Heath Miller that was intercepted by Robert L. Williams, and the Steelers entered full collapse mode.
On a day in which the incompetence of the Cowboys was highlighted with the firing of Wade Phillips, Flozell Adams paid tribute to how much his former team sucks by getting called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the interception, giving the Bengals the ball at the Steelers' 36.
The officials then got into the spirit of 2005 when they flagged Casey Hampton for roughing the passer. Hampton approached Palmer's knee much the same way Kimo von Oelhoffen did five years ago, but he just grabbed his calves and flipped him down. Palmer's knees were not in danger. Nonetheless, a five-year-old makeup call was issued, putting the ball on the Steelers' 21.
Next was a pass interference penalty on Ike Taylor in the end zone. The flag came late after Terrell Owens bitched and moaned for it. What a diva wants, a diva gets.
The penalty moved the ball to the 1. A drive that featured more flags than the United Nations ended with Cedric Benson's touchdown, pulling the Bengals to within 27-21 with 9:21 to go.
The Steelers appeared to restore order by going back to their smashmouth roots and handing off to Rashard Mendenhall seven straight times. Mendenhall gained 43 of his 99 yards on the clock-chomping drive. But Jeff Reed, despite looking like Big Foot with his monstrous beard, came up very small with his foot, missing a 46-yard field goal and keeping the Bengals in the game.
Damage control
This whole scene was reminiscent of the Steelers' inability to put teams away last season, when they didn't have Troy Polamalu. The Steelers do have Polamalu this season, but even with his flowing locks, he's been invisible at times. After performing at a Pro Bowl trajectory in the first two games of the season, there's been a curious lack of "splash" plays from Polamalu.
Monday night was no different. However, Polamalu was in position to prevent further damage on the biggest play of the Bengals' final drive. Like a one-man stone wall, he whacked Terrell Owens right after he caught the ball at the 17 after a 20-yard pass from Palmer with 1:01 left.
That stop seemed to stall the Bengals' momentum just enough. A holding call on the next play dragged them back to the 27, and three of Palmer's final four passes fell incomplete.
Dick LeBeau, the Steelers defensive coordinator who 40 years ago Monday was on the Lions team that was beaten by the Saints and Tom Dempsey's record 63-yard field goal, raised his arms over his head in relieved celebration when Taylor and Harrison broke up Palmer's final pass.
A way with words
In the grand scheme of things, however, there isn't much to celebrate. We now know that a Steelers season is far from over after their standard 6-2 start. The season really begins -- and ends -- Sunday night.
Huh?
You see, the Steelers host the Patriots in The Game You Must Not Lose. The Steelers have the upper hand -- kind of -- in this rivalry right now, having won two Super Bowls since the Patriots' last championship, and beating them in New England the last time the teams met. But the Steelers' only win over a Tom Brady-led Patriots team came on Halloween in 2004.
This is the third straight time the Steelers face the Patriots after beating the Bengals in prime time. In 2007, they were home on a Sunday night before going to Foxboro, Massachusetts the following Sunday. In 2008, it was a Thursday-night game, giving them a 10-day break before facing the Patriots.
This time, the prime time win over the Bengals costs the Steelers a day of preparation. When the weary Steelers got back to Pittsburgh in the wee hours Tuesday morning, Cranky Pants Belichick already had been at work for a full day, thumbing through a dozen dictionaries trying to find a meaning for the word "scalded" that might make good bulletin board material.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin labeled the Patriots as "scalded" Monday night, alluding to their 34-14 loss in Cleveland on Sunday. Tomlin might be too articulate for his own good.
Sure, the Browns bitchslapped the Patriots Sunday, but they did the same thing to the Saints two weeks ago and the Steelers couldn't beat them.
That puts another layer of importance on Sunday's game. A loss to the Patriots would suck not only because it's the Patriots, but also because it would hint that the Steelers aren't even as good as the Browns.
Yep, 6-2 means nothing.
Steelers 27, Bengals 21
By Mike Batista
Now the season can finally start.
For the fourth straight year, the Steelers won on a Monday night to complete the first half of the season with a 6-2 record.
It's the fifth time in the last six seasons the Steelers have been 6-2 at the turn.
In 2005, they recovered from a three-game losing streak in the second half and won the Super Bowl.
In 2007, they experienced a slow, steady decline in November and December and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
In 2008, they went 6-2 again in the second half and won the Super Bowl.
In 2009, they completely collapsed.
That covers all the possibilities, right? I've just described every way the second half of an NFL season can unfold. There's no way the Steelers can show us anything we haven't seen before, right?
Well, they tried their hardest to do just that Monday night.
Just like old times
The Steelers were on the verge of blowing the first 20-point lead in franchise history. Not even those horribly dressed, laughable Steelers teams of the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s managed to blow a 20-point lead.
With 40 seconds left in Monday's game, the Steelers were 12 yards away from not only blowing a 20-point lead, but blowing it all in the fourth quarter. They'd have been the first team to do that since the Giants in November of 2006.
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer threw to Jordan Shipley on fourth down. Had Shipley held onto the ball, the Bengals, trailing by six, would have had a first-and-goal at the 5.
But Ike Taylor and James Harrison did the Malachi Crunch on the rookie, the ball popped out of his hands, and it was Happy Days for the Steelers.
To give the Steelers their 20-point lead, Antwan Randle-El didn't quite turn the clock back to the days of the Fonz, but he did make like it was 2005 again when he took the ball from Ben Roethlisberger on an end around and fired a 39-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace to open the fourth quarter, making the score 27-7.
Unfortunately, the defense took its foot off the gas pedal, letting the Bengals back into the game with Terrell Owens' second touchdown just 98 seconds later.
Then Roethlisberger threw a lollipop to Heath Miller that was intercepted by Robert L. Williams, and the Steelers entered full collapse mode.
On a day in which the incompetence of the Cowboys was highlighted with the firing of Wade Phillips, Flozell Adams paid tribute to how much his former team sucks by getting called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the interception, giving the Bengals the ball at the Steelers' 36.
The officials then got into the spirit of 2005 when they flagged Casey Hampton for roughing the passer. Hampton approached Palmer's knee much the same way Kimo von Oelhoffen did five years ago, but he just grabbed his calves and flipped him down. Palmer's knees were not in danger. Nonetheless, a five-year-old makeup call was issued, putting the ball on the Steelers' 21.
Next was a pass interference penalty on Ike Taylor in the end zone. The flag came late after Terrell Owens bitched and moaned for it. What a diva wants, a diva gets.
The penalty moved the ball to the 1. A drive that featured more flags than the United Nations ended with Cedric Benson's touchdown, pulling the Bengals to within 27-21 with 9:21 to go.
The Steelers appeared to restore order by going back to their smashmouth roots and handing off to Rashard Mendenhall seven straight times. Mendenhall gained 43 of his 99 yards on the clock-chomping drive. But Jeff Reed, despite looking like Big Foot with his monstrous beard, came up very small with his foot, missing a 46-yard field goal and keeping the Bengals in the game.
Damage control
This whole scene was reminiscent of the Steelers' inability to put teams away last season, when they didn't have Troy Polamalu. The Steelers do have Polamalu this season, but even with his flowing locks, he's been invisible at times. After performing at a Pro Bowl trajectory in the first two games of the season, there's been a curious lack of "splash" plays from Polamalu.
Monday night was no different. However, Polamalu was in position to prevent further damage on the biggest play of the Bengals' final drive. Like a one-man stone wall, he whacked Terrell Owens right after he caught the ball at the 17 after a 20-yard pass from Palmer with 1:01 left.
That stop seemed to stall the Bengals' momentum just enough. A holding call on the next play dragged them back to the 27, and three of Palmer's final four passes fell incomplete.
Dick LeBeau, the Steelers defensive coordinator who 40 years ago Monday was on the Lions team that was beaten by the Saints and Tom Dempsey's record 63-yard field goal, raised his arms over his head in relieved celebration when Taylor and Harrison broke up Palmer's final pass.
A way with words
In the grand scheme of things, however, there isn't much to celebrate. We now know that a Steelers season is far from over after their standard 6-2 start. The season really begins -- and ends -- Sunday night.
Huh?
You see, the Steelers host the Patriots in The Game You Must Not Lose. The Steelers have the upper hand -- kind of -- in this rivalry right now, having won two Super Bowls since the Patriots' last championship, and beating them in New England the last time the teams met. But the Steelers' only win over a Tom Brady-led Patriots team came on Halloween in 2004.
This is the third straight time the Steelers face the Patriots after beating the Bengals in prime time. In 2007, they were home on a Sunday night before going to Foxboro, Massachusetts the following Sunday. In 2008, it was a Thursday-night game, giving them a 10-day break before facing the Patriots.
This time, the prime time win over the Bengals costs the Steelers a day of preparation. When the weary Steelers got back to Pittsburgh in the wee hours Tuesday morning, Cranky Pants Belichick already had been at work for a full day, thumbing through a dozen dictionaries trying to find a meaning for the word "scalded" that might make good bulletin board material.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin labeled the Patriots as "scalded" Monday night, alluding to their 34-14 loss in Cleveland on Sunday. Tomlin might be too articulate for his own good.
Sure, the Browns bitchslapped the Patriots Sunday, but they did the same thing to the Saints two weeks ago and the Steelers couldn't beat them.
That puts another layer of importance on Sunday's game. A loss to the Patriots would suck not only because it's the Patriots, but also because it would hint that the Steelers aren't even as good as the Browns.
Yep, 6-2 means nothing.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Jolly good fun
Steelers 38, Buccaneers 13
By Mike Batista
The Steelers' September Sweatfest Tour took them from the heat of Tennessee last week to the heat of Tampa Bay on Sunday.
If Tennessee had been a House of Horrors for the Steelers before they punched the Titans in the mouth last week, Raymond James Stadium has been a Fun House for the franchise over the past decade.
The Steelers' last two visits to the home of the Jolly Roger included a Super Bowl victory two years ago and an electrifying Monday-night mugging of the Super Bowl-champions-to-be Buccaneers in 2002.
On Sunday, the Steelers returned to their favorite Florida getaway and came back with more cherished memories for the scrapbook.
Charlie Batch will be able to tell his grandkids (and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually was a grandfather) about the game he had Sunday. In his first start since the meaningless regular-season finale in 2007, Batch completed 12 of 17 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. It was one of the best games of his workmanlike, 13-year career.
Batch overcame an interception on his first throw with TD passes to Mike Wallace for 46 and 41 yards.
In between those touchdowns, Batch highlighted a drive by scrambling 24 yards to the Bucs' 24. Then, as if to prove he didn't need an oxygen mask after the longest run of his career, the 35-year-old Batch threw 21 yards to Heath Miller on the next play, setting up Rashard Mendenhall's 3-yard touchdown run and a 14-6 Steelers lead.
Playing behind an offensive line that had Max Starks back at left tackle and Doug (The Big) Legursky replacing injured Trai Essex at right guard, Batch wasn't sacked. It was the Steelers' first sack-free game since their Week 12 loss in Baltimore last season. Of course, they were protecting lightning-quick Dennis Dixon in that game. While Batch obviously doesn't have the mobility of Dixon, "slippery" might be a good word to describe his presence in the pocket.
Batch's third TD pass came with 19 seconds left in the first half, a 9-yard connection with Hines Ward to give the Steelers a 28-6 lead.
When watching the game at Public House, a Steelers bar in Manhattan, I saw Batch going into the locker room before the end of the half. I thought maybe he was hurt, but was relieved to find out he apparently just wanted to get an extra minute or two out of the brutal Florida sun.
You know things are going well for the Steelers when you worry about Charlie Batch going into the locker room.
Batch isn't the only Steeler who had a once-in-a-lifetime game.
Brett Keisel, a 285-pound defensive end, 315 pounds if you count the beard, opened the fourth quarter by intercepting a tipped pass and returning it 79 yards for a touchdown and a 38-6 Steelers lead.
The Steelers entered the game with an NFL-high eight forced turnovers and added two on Sunday. This is what was missing last season. Turnovers aren't just window dressing for a defense, they are a necessary element of winning. In the vast majority of NFL victories, the winning offense gets to work with a short field at least once or twice. Making teams punt the ball away is nice, but it's too passive of an approach for a championship defense.
Ryan Clark grabbed the Steelers' other turnover Sunday, recovering a fumble that was forced by James Farrior. It set up Wallace's second touchdown.
Troy Polamalu, who had an interception in each of the first two games, had an interception Sunday, too. It just didn't count.
Polamalu got off work early in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand when Bucs' quarterback Josh Freeman threw the ball out of bounds. Polamalu, with his helmet off and the Head & Shoulders locks in full regalia, caught the ball.
Not that the Steelers needed to provide any other form of entertainment for their fans on this afternoon, but Polamalu's off-duty catch added a few laughs to the show.
Along with the surprises of a clean game by the O-Line, Old Man Batch's scramble and Diesel Keisel's ramble, there was also the standard fare of Dancing With Rashard, and for once Mendenhall's steps were not just fancy but also functional.
Three plays before Batch's run, another 35-year-old figured prominently when Bucs' cornerback Ronde Barber tried to close in on Mendenhall. The running back spun his way into a different route, avoiding any contact with Barber, and completed a 15-yard run.
Mendenhall ran for 143 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown, a big reason why the Steelers finally found a way to put some real points on the board without Ben Roethlisberger, who will be back in the locker room a week from today.
More games like that will be expected from Mendenhall long after Roethlisberger comes back. Batch's body of work in Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is nearly complete. After almost being cut before the start of the season, Sunday's performance was an Abe Vigoda-like resurrection of his distinguished seven-year career as the Steelers' backup quarterback.
All he has to do is mind the store on offense for another week. If the Steelers can beat the Ravens at home on Sunday, it will give them their first 4-0 start since 1979. Regardless of the outcome, another game as the starter (and I think we'll be spared any hemming and hawing this week about who will start) will enhance Batch's role as sideline counselor to Roethlisberger.
If Roethlisberger hadn't already learned his lesson, hopefully he learned it Sunday. Like the one kid who couldn't go on the class trip, he missed out on a fun day for the Steelers.
Steelers 38, Buccaneers 13
By Mike Batista
The Steelers' September Sweatfest Tour took them from the heat of Tennessee last week to the heat of Tampa Bay on Sunday.
If Tennessee had been a House of Horrors for the Steelers before they punched the Titans in the mouth last week, Raymond James Stadium has been a Fun House for the franchise over the past decade.
The Steelers' last two visits to the home of the Jolly Roger included a Super Bowl victory two years ago and an electrifying Monday-night mugging of the Super Bowl-champions-to-be Buccaneers in 2002.
On Sunday, the Steelers returned to their favorite Florida getaway and came back with more cherished memories for the scrapbook.
Charlie Batch will be able to tell his grandkids (and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually was a grandfather) about the game he had Sunday. In his first start since the meaningless regular-season finale in 2007, Batch completed 12 of 17 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. It was one of the best games of his workmanlike, 13-year career.
Batch overcame an interception on his first throw with TD passes to Mike Wallace for 46 and 41 yards.
In between those touchdowns, Batch highlighted a drive by scrambling 24 yards to the Bucs' 24. Then, as if to prove he didn't need an oxygen mask after the longest run of his career, the 35-year-old Batch threw 21 yards to Heath Miller on the next play, setting up Rashard Mendenhall's 3-yard touchdown run and a 14-6 Steelers lead.
Playing behind an offensive line that had Max Starks back at left tackle and Doug (The Big) Legursky replacing injured Trai Essex at right guard, Batch wasn't sacked. It was the Steelers' first sack-free game since their Week 12 loss in Baltimore last season. Of course, they were protecting lightning-quick Dennis Dixon in that game. While Batch obviously doesn't have the mobility of Dixon, "slippery" might be a good word to describe his presence in the pocket.
Batch's third TD pass came with 19 seconds left in the first half, a 9-yard connection with Hines Ward to give the Steelers a 28-6 lead.
When watching the game at Public House, a Steelers bar in Manhattan, I saw Batch going into the locker room before the end of the half. I thought maybe he was hurt, but was relieved to find out he apparently just wanted to get an extra minute or two out of the brutal Florida sun.
You know things are going well for the Steelers when you worry about Charlie Batch going into the locker room.
Batch isn't the only Steeler who had a once-in-a-lifetime game.
Brett Keisel, a 285-pound defensive end, 315 pounds if you count the beard, opened the fourth quarter by intercepting a tipped pass and returning it 79 yards for a touchdown and a 38-6 Steelers lead.
The Steelers entered the game with an NFL-high eight forced turnovers and added two on Sunday. This is what was missing last season. Turnovers aren't just window dressing for a defense, they are a necessary element of winning. In the vast majority of NFL victories, the winning offense gets to work with a short field at least once or twice. Making teams punt the ball away is nice, but it's too passive of an approach for a championship defense.
Ryan Clark grabbed the Steelers' other turnover Sunday, recovering a fumble that was forced by James Farrior. It set up Wallace's second touchdown.
Troy Polamalu, who had an interception in each of the first two games, had an interception Sunday, too. It just didn't count.
Polamalu got off work early in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand when Bucs' quarterback Josh Freeman threw the ball out of bounds. Polamalu, with his helmet off and the Head & Shoulders locks in full regalia, caught the ball.
Not that the Steelers needed to provide any other form of entertainment for their fans on this afternoon, but Polamalu's off-duty catch added a few laughs to the show.
Along with the surprises of a clean game by the O-Line, Old Man Batch's scramble and Diesel Keisel's ramble, there was also the standard fare of Dancing With Rashard, and for once Mendenhall's steps were not just fancy but also functional.
Three plays before Batch's run, another 35-year-old figured prominently when Bucs' cornerback Ronde Barber tried to close in on Mendenhall. The running back spun his way into a different route, avoiding any contact with Barber, and completed a 15-yard run.
Mendenhall ran for 143 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown, a big reason why the Steelers finally found a way to put some real points on the board without Ben Roethlisberger, who will be back in the locker room a week from today.
More games like that will be expected from Mendenhall long after Roethlisberger comes back. Batch's body of work in Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is nearly complete. After almost being cut before the start of the season, Sunday's performance was an Abe Vigoda-like resurrection of his distinguished seven-year career as the Steelers' backup quarterback.
All he has to do is mind the store on offense for another week. If the Steelers can beat the Ravens at home on Sunday, it will give them their first 4-0 start since 1979. Regardless of the outcome, another game as the starter (and I think we'll be spared any hemming and hawing this week about who will start) will enhance Batch's role as sideline counselor to Roethlisberger.
If Roethlisberger hadn't already learned his lesson, hopefully he learned it Sunday. Like the one kid who couldn't go on the class trip, he missed out on a fun day for the Steelers.
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