Well I believe I said something like 28-10. But Tec bested that with 35-14. And Doug trumped all, predicting the exact score of 38-17. Wow. How?...I mean...alright then.
Who could have asked for a better start to the season? A convincing 38-17 win. Tom Brady out, possibly for the season. Week 2 against the so-called "formidable" Browns (who lost yesterday, by the way). I'm tied for tops in the pick 'em pool. Texas Arizona has approximately 40 or 50 of my hard earned dollars. I think it's safe to say at no turn did the universe let me down yesterday (though I am getting my ass handed to me by Mondesi's House in the Steelers Thunderdome league...Maurice Jones-Drew, Chris Cooley and Laveraneus Coles, I'm lookin' at you).
As for the individuals who made this happen, I'd like to thank...
1. Master Fly W. Large
AKA the fast one, Willie Parker. On Friday, I mentioned that I was hoping to see a big game from Willie. Well he must have gotten that message, because he lit the Texans "vaunted" defense up for 138 yards on 25 carries, with THREE touchdowns, one more than he had all of last season. Broken leg? What broken leg. Willie looks ready to roll on any and all takers. Next up, Cleveland Brownies and defensive savior, Shaun Rogers. How do I think Willie will do? Let's see, ummm, how about 176 yards on 23 carries. Sound fair?
2. LaMarr Woodley
This man needs a badass nickname. And fast. Woodley was the yin to Silverback's yang, providing an equally imposing presence on the other side of the linebacking corps. A sack and a BIG time interception. What else do you want me to say? He was awesome.
3. Silverback
The only reason I put Woodley above him on the list is because Woodley's a kid. But that doesn't take anything away from Silverback's THREE sacks and nine total tackles, including seven solo. Once again, he played out of his mind. I guess they must have told him before the game that Matt Schaub doesn't believe in baptizing children.
4. Big Ben
Come on, how could I leave Bennie out? Here's what I liked - he did what he had to do. All of the throws he did make, looked like they were well planned and well placed. 13/14, 138 yards, 2 TDs. A 147 passer rating. Take that Carson Palmer, Drew Brees and Tony Romo (ahem, Peter King)! By the way, Homo Romo racked up 320 yards against the Browns secondary yesterday. Imagine what Big Ben's gonna do next Sunday...I know I will be...
5. Hines Ward
Ok, I freely admit that one of the topics we pondered for the pregame show was - Is Hines Ward getting too old? I wasn't saying yes or no either way. But thankfully we didn't even bother discussing it. Because if we did, I would've had to post a retraction today. 6 catches, 76 yards, 2 TDs and a number of key blocks and immeasurable plays we don't even need to mention here. Hines Ward is still a force. Better wake up, Cleveland. Hines is coming for you!
Now this all said, I was really hoping we'd get the ball to Santonio more. But listen, I'm not gonna get pissed about that when we won 38-17. I mean, the less we use him now, the more we can use him later, right?
Anyways, I did also like getting Heath Miller into the mix. And Troy looked like the Troy of old, flying all over the field, even nabbing an INT. Let's hope he continues that for the rest of the season. Because we now look poised to do a lot better than anyone thought. I'd love for everyone who questioned the Steelers potential success based on our assholish schedule to eat their words. But I say that aspirationally, 'cause, you know, it's ummm, Week 2.
Bring on the Browns!!! I can't [redacted] wait!
What'd you guys think? Were you going out of your minds during that whole game? Who impressed you the most? And how do you feel about next Sunday against the Brown stains?
Also, I'd like to thank Tobiathan again for doing an awesome job liveblogging the game in the comments yesterday. I don't know how he does it. Liveblogging is about as easy as deciphering a Rubik's Cube. But Steelbiathan has it down to a science. Excellent work man! I gotta get you a liveblogging plug-in so we can get you liveblogging on an actual post.
Ah football, how I love thee. Happy Friggin' Monday!
September 8, 2008
Ladies and Gents, I Give You, Willie Parker...
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18 comments:
I loved the coming out party for Woodley the most. He had the F'in LB cycle! Sack (I basically screamed my head off after that one), INT, and a fumble recovery. Awesome. Also, I'm glad the O-line pulled through for the most part on protecting Big Ben. Even though we knew Mario was gonna get his, and he did. Overall, couldn't ask for a better start. Bring on the Browns.
about that badass nickname thing:
1. Big Wood
2. Woodchuck
3. Lamarr 'Hoodlum' Woodley
Yeah, I suck, but that's all I got.
That was amazing, I was yelling like an idiot the whole game. I was suprised we didn't see more mendenhall, but like you said you can't complain when you win big. Also, our schedule got a lot easier yesterday.
How Bout
LW
At Michigan he was known as "The Wood." Check it out on YouTube.
i have to add...timmons was a beast!
he was flying all over the field...good luck throwing a screen play because this guy closes extremely quick.
also, ike taylor contained Andre Johnson pretty well and had a few body rocking hits.
finally, i gotta throw some respect ryan clark's way. he looked solid.
good start to the season. cant wait for the brownies
The Wood...
I Like it, basic and simple!
noah ~ Thanks for the comments! Yeah, I totally forgot about the fumble recovery!! And while I didn't mention it in the post, the O line was definitely light years better than the picture painted by just about everyone from the AP to ESPN.com. Excellent observations!
marc ~ I sincerely hope so! But, I'm going to reserve my enthusiasm until I see a little more. You never know what can happen and it's still just Week 1. Who knows? Matt Cassell could be the next Tom Brady?...errr...I mean, anything's possible, right? Point being, we have a TON to be excited about and it seems like the schedule won't be as bad as we thought. BUT, nothing is certain...and we do play the Colts, Chargers, Patriots and Cowboys in November/December (when we faltered last year). So, yeah, let's dominate...but keep ourselves tempered.
rj ~ Thanks for the comment! I can almost guarantee that I'll use that one at some point this season!
cincisteelerrob ~ Thanks for the comment...and the tip!! I believe this is the clip you're referring to? The Wood...nice!
domski ~ Thanks for mentioning Timmons! I totally forgot about him too! That tackle he made on Slaton (was it?) was sick - he was there a split second after the ball. You could see he watched the ball the whole way and MURDERED Slaton on the play! Beautiful!
I meant having Brady out, if nothing else that helps out just a little bit.
How about 'The Woodshed"?
I was impressed by each phase...it was however, the Texans, so we will see if we can keep the level of play up.
Happy to see Troy get involved - Woodley will be a force!
I wish it was Sunday night already!! I'm pretty much hoarse from yelling the whole game. I think I need the 6 days to rest.
I was going out of my mind. I just love Silverback to death because his fundamental tackling is so impressive. Woodley is not a human being. And our d-line was insane. Not only was everyone making plays but they looked EMOTIONAL and CONFIDENT. They looked like winners. The play-calling was spot-on (quick passes, lots of runs to get FWP outside) and special teams looked like a different team from last two years. Tomlin's troops were amazingly prepared. I'll bet there is more than a few dog-pounders losing sleep. This will be a long week for brown-town!
marc ~ Def, helps a lot! I'm just saying, for all we know Matt Cassel could be the second coming of, well, Tom Brady.
anon 1 ~ Thanks for the comment! I'm feeling it. We're def getting some good variations here.
matt ~ You and me both, brotha. Tecmo and I were yelling, full force all day. And it was awesome. I missed Steelers football so much.
anon 2 ~ Thanks for the comment! Excellent points! I loved how confident, emotional and PHYSICAL they looked. Even the Offensive Line!
HI, I´M FROM MÉXICO CITY AND WANT TO SHARE WITH ALL OF YOU, THE ULTIMATE NICKNAME FOR WOODLY. HE WILL BE KNOW AS: La MARR "GOD OF WAR" WOODLEY. HEY, DON´T THANK ME, HE DESERVES IT. AND PLEASE DON´T FORGET MÉXICO CITY I´TS STEELER NATION TOO.
I hate to say it guys but the Steelers have another player who might fight for the right to be called "The Wood" he is none other then, the rookie FA hold over OLB, Donovan Woods.
I don't know if I am the only one who noticed but this kid has the makings of a special teams ace. He seemed to be in on every tackle on both KR and PR's.
I was like "Who the hell is #95" the first few smackdowns he laid on the returners. This kid looks special, another Colbert rookie FA gem possibly.
Anyhoot back to Mr. Woodley. I was the first person I knew that saw this guys talent (First of friends and fellow fans that is).
Everytime he got on the field last year I was like "Damn that kids a BEAST", thus I have been calling him Beasty Boy as his nick name since early last season.
So I offically toss that title into the hat and nominate Woodley as "The Beasty Boy" and humbley request we allow Donovan Woods to carry the moniker of "The Wood".
As for the rest of the game. WILLY, WILLY, WILLY........Shall no longer be known as "fast" Willy Parker but from this day forward, it's "Speedy TD" Willy Parker...lol.
Also Big Ben is the real deal, he may not be as perty as Brady or chatty as Manning but he is slowy becoming a better QB then either of them.
Also hats off the the OL too. I was never sad to see Faneca go because he was part of the problem not the solution and by the end of this season he will be a liability to the Jets, mark my words. Kemo is the real deal.
To our reigning MVP, "Silverback" all I gotta say is come on man, save a peice of the QB for "Beasty Boy".
Damn that game was awsome, now lets get ready to roll up the Cleve Brownies and smoke them into cinderalla oblivion.
Crap, forgot to make my prediction for week 2. I was close week 1 with a 35-10 preminision.
So without further delay and being the cause of blogger zzzz's syndrom......
I annoint the score to be 42-13 and Cinderalla to be booted from the ball.
I said it to all my friends before and will repeat it to the world now.......
The Cleve Brownies two fat ass lazy DT pick ups won't help their crappy ass secondary or fill the whole in the equally crappy LB corp's.
Giving up a nice young talent in L. Bodden for S. Rogers fat lazy booty will come back to haunt them I promise.
No DB's no LB's (other then Wimbley) and a Derrick "Crazy Legs" Anderson at QB = 7-9 at best NOT 10-6 and no way, no how, the Division Champs.
By week 5 Quinn will be the starter and on his way to being the next Tim Couch. It's over before the ball even starts for ya Cinderalla sorry..........NOT.
I just thought I'd let everyone know I got my Woodley Jersey custom made in Octboer of 2007. I followed The Wood back at UofM, and he wreaked havoc there too! Check out his accolades below. (From wikipedia)
National awards
2005 Co-MVP of Rose Bowl (split with Vince Young)
2006 Lombardi Award winner
2006 Ted Hendricks Award winner
2006 Chuck Bednarik Award finalist
2006 Lott Trophy quarterfinalist
2006 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlist[3]
2006 Outland Trophy watchlist
2006 First Team All-American
Conference honors
2004 All-Big Ten Conference Second Team (coaches) and Honorable Mention (media)
2005 All-Big Ten Conference Honorable Mention (coaches and media)
2006 All-Big Ten Conference First Team (coaches and media, both unanimous)
2006 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
2006 Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year
How about "Woodpile"?
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