AFC North Headline Of The Day...

Oh yeah? I didn't even know this was a question.

Damn, so even a Defense who statistically and physically dominates the regular season isn't the best until it wins an AFC Championship? Methinks them's some high standards. But hey, I'm a total homer. So my opinion can't really be relied upon. For anything.

Anyways, good to know that now we're bonafide in the eyes of whoever wrote this one (didn't even bother reading it).

But either way, SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And with it, some Super Bowl links...

The MMCNY [PSaMP]

And how does one celebrate a Steelers AFC Championship? At the Great Wall, of course [PSaMP]

MJD's five most valuable players from this weekend. Sweed with the honorable mention! [Shutdown Corner]

MJD's five lease valuable players from this weekend. Sweed with the honorable mention [insert grumble] [Shutdown Corner]

Update on Hines [Trib]

JetBlue adding flights from Pittsburgh to Tampa for the big one [Post-Gazette]

Rex Ryan to the Jets! It may not affect the Ravens all that much but any chance I get to jab them, I'm gonna take it [NBC Sports]

You'd think I'd have more links after what happened last night. Well, frankly, I'm already tired of the Whis/Grimm vs. their old team talk. So that knocked out approximately 85% of today's news stories. Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow.

Oh well, happy Martin Luther King day!

Can't. Stop. Smiling.

Now someone please explain to the rest of the internets that OFTOT is all over the Steelers Super Bowl run. Seriously.

It's Good to Have Priorities...

I can't help but smile when I look at the results of that poll.

Check it out, the Chargers #1 concern is not that one of their star running backs, one of their best pass catchers, and their kicker are all nursing broken nails injuries, but rather, the Steelers Defense. Apparently it's a "ball-hawking defense" that could "wreak havoc" on Sunday. Good word, choice, San Diego Union-Tribune. I couldn't have described it better myself. You know, you did that so easily, it sounds almost as you've written it before.

Weird.

And I don't say that because I think it should be their ailing stars. I say that because normally, going into a game, if LT, Gates and Kaeding were hurt, I might imagine that that WOULD be their biggest concern. For San Diego to say that it's actually the Steelers Defense is just another testament to this unit's nastiness.

So, what are the Steelers biggest concerns? That, I cannot say. But I'll tell you one thing...there's an awful lot of Steelers fans walkin' around, thinkin' that we're gonna roll right over them Chargers. That's kind of scary.

A lot of people are going to want to say that the concern is Roethlisberger. I heard it last night on Sportscenter, "Big Ben is coming off his third concussion in 30 months." Right, so he had two within like six months and didn't have one for like two years, but technically, if you count from the first one, he's had three in 30 months, which is supposed to create the illusion that he's had a whole bunch of concussions in succession that would make this latest one seem worse than it is...whatever. I think Domski summed it up best in the comments somewhere. Big Ben isn't blind to his critics. If people wanna doubt him, that's just going to make him want it more. To show everyone that they've wasted their breath. Still, there's always a chance he could come out and throw like six picks. So, while I don't think that'll be the case, I'm reluctant to count our chickens just yet.

Beyond that, I'm not really sure what else I'm supposed to talk about this morning? We already played these Clowns once. And I think I may have wasted all the funny back then...not that there was much to begin with.

I did make this photoshop of a tea party between Norv Turner and Phillip Rivers...

Which easily represents the worst work I've ever done in Photoshop.

Also, here are some hot Chargers cheerleaders...



Doubt they'll be making the trip east.

And just for good measure, here's a picture of Philip Rivers looking like a douche...


That guy is a certified...

Fruit salad.

And look at this picture of Norv Turner...

This must be from his days on Miami Vice...?

And then finally, here's Silverback visualizing the kill...


I feel like there's something I'm forgetting...oh yeah, I suppose we could talk about how the Chargers are hot right now, being the winners of five straight, and their Defense is playing well, thus, they have momentum. And it's hard to beat a team twice in one season, etc. etc.

So feel free to engage us all in a discussion of that fact.

Also, I feel compelled to mention that should the Chargers win on Sunday, they would be only the second 8-8 team to ever win more than one playoff game.

Now, let's discuss.

AFC North Headline Of The Day...

Wow, that's an interesting Defensive strategy. So the Ravens are trying to create turnovers, are they? What a novel and shocking approach to the game of football. Certainly they are innovators in purveying this kind of thinking. Oh, that Rex Ryan - what a genius!

I mean, Dick LeBeau would never come up with anything like this. Rex Ryan and the Ravens are clearly a cut above. Well, at least according to Michael David Smith of the Fanhouse (among others).

That misguided logic aside, the Ravens D is looking pretty nasty, even without half of their starting secondary (or is it 3/4?). The unfortunate truth is, they're right on our tails. And, in fact, as takeaways go, they've got three more than us (20 fumble recoveries and 3 INTs to our 13 fumble recoveries and 7 INTs).

So I guess they're not so much LOOKING to take the football away as they actually HAVE BEEN taking the ball away.

Damn, I really wanted to shit on the Ravens today, not realize how hot on our tail they are. Eh, screw it. Ray Lewis is a murderer, Terrell Suggs' gums appear to be eating his teeth, Bart Scott's nickname is the weakest, and the Steelers pretty much OWN Ed Reed.

/FIXED!

Feel free to let these links take away your attention from doing actual work (not for too long, of course)...

Now, that's how you smack that ass [PSaMP]

Charles is one talented pug, and he's in the holiday spirit [Superhero.]

Marion Barber doubtful for Sunday [Dallas Morning News]

And while we're at it, Ryan Clark would welcome a shot at TO. God, I hope this happens [Dallas Morning News]

Big Ben on Romo - "I don't mean this to sound rude: He is asking for it. Dating the high profile, doing all the stuff he wants to do. That's the life he chooses to live off the football field. That's his choice and that's why. It's what he chooses to do." [Post-Gazette]

#1 current NFL feud - Hines Ward vs. Bart Scott. I'm ok with that [Yahoo! Sports]

Steelers getting healthy at the right time? I'm not sure I'm totally confident that they're all healthy, but ok [Associated Press]

Understatement of the year [Post-Gazette]

Add a Steelers belt buckle to my holiday wish list! [MJD]

"Sid The Kid's Putting on A Show" [SI.com]

Santonio Holmes gets busted for weed and gets promptly suspended by the Steelers. Sean Ellis gets busted for weed, speeding, being a dick and failing to produce a valid insurance card, and he plays the next day, while the Jets conceal the news for a solid week. Jesus [Sports Crackle Pop]

You may have seen Baby Mangino...Well, here's baby JoePa! [Deadspin]

Lastly, sweet hat, Wade Philips. I've worn so many better hats than that hat. In fact, Tec and I both wore three hats each on last week's [Unnamed] Steelers Pregame Show that were better than that hat...

The Steelers Defense Will Make You Bleed...

Recently, I read and reported that this 2007 Steelers defense has given up less points through 5 games than both the 1975 and 1978 Super Bowl winning Steel Curtain defenses. If you didn't read it - 47 points in 5 games vs. 48 and 51 points for the dynasty squads respectively. Of course, as Steeler fans, we all kind of expect dominating defense, and when we're anything less than oppressive, we all have a good cry about it.

So it's not surprising that NOW, all anyone wants to talk about is how spotless our defensive performance has been. When I sat down to post last night, I took a look around the interwebs to get some inspiration, and everywhere I looked I found articles about the DEFENSE. And not just all about the same aspects of the defense, but at least a few distinct facets that intrigued me.

Anyways, I'm just gonna throw these out one by one and give you a [relatively] quick commentary for each (because let's face it, I'd hate to stretch you on a Monday).

Let the fun begin:

#1 ~ Post-Gazette - "Defense '07 -- Shades of steel, shades of history"
As if the name doesn't say it all, this Ed Bouchette gem was my main inspiration for this post. It highlights the stat mentioned above, and adds some other awe-inspiring numbers. Check it --

1. The Steelers lead the NFL in fewest points allowed per game (9.4)
2. They have also allowed the fewest yards per game (235.6) and fewest yards per play (4.2)
3. They have allowed no pass completion longer than 38 yards and only 4 of 25 yards or longer
4. They are tied for 1st in team sacks, with 17
5. They have allowed no touchdowns in the first half of games, only the two field goals by the 49ers

Pretty, pretty good I'd say. Still, at the risk of sounding like a black cloud, we have yet to play a team anyone thinks is a contender. Particularly, after watching the Seahawks last night against the previously underwhelming Saints, I'm not so convinced that it was predominantly our Defensive acumen that won that game. That offense looked pretty terrible for most of that game, and the Saints defense isn't exactly top notch. Just something to keep in the back of your mind.

#2 ~ Tribune-Review - "Cover-2 helps Steelers' defense flourish"
As this article points out, if you thought you saw more Cover 2 on the field against Seattle, you weren't crazy. It seems that Tomlin and LeBeau dialed up the Cover 2 more last week to quell the Seattle west coast passing attack. Guess that worked. But what's more interesting is that Ike Taylor seems to think we always played a Cover 2. As he puts it -

"We always ran it...I guess ya'll looking at Coach Tomlin as a Cover-2 guy. But (defensive coordinator Dick) LeBeau always ran a little bit of Cover-2."

The other astute observation this article makes is that - while we played more Cover 2, we still stopped the run. Even without Casey Hampton, and with all that speed on the field to prevent the big pass play, we were able to contain Shaun Alexander to an anemic 25 yards rushing. Now, once they got down a couple scores they had to abandon the run, and as I mentioned above, it was the Seahawks, so I'm not entirely convinced this was a good test of our big game abilities. Nonetheless, it's good to know that we can incorporate elements of different styles of defense to combat different offenses each week.

#3 ~ Post-Gazette - "LeBeau's linebackers keep opposing QBs guessing"
While the name suggests an egalitarian discussion of our linebacking corps, this article is really about James Farrior. Sure, we've got a bunch of noteworthy guys in that category, but the one who's throwing his weight around most is the 32 year old, 11 year vet, Farrior. As the article points out, Farrior's team leading 4 sacks have come via rushing the QB from the outside, despite that he's an ILB. It also notes that of the league's sack leaders, the only interior linebackers are Farrior and the Bear's freak of nature, Brian Urlacher. This successful outside rush is best summed up by an envious Clark Haggans, who said -

"He's very lucky because he's running free off the edge and everybody else gets murdered running up in the line...He kind of creeps around the side. He's the clean-up guy. Wherever there's a little gap or a hole he needs to fill, he does it."

And that's the point - he does it. Farrior has been more than I think any of us would have expected, and his success rushing the QB just makes opposing offenses more weary of him, opening opportunities for the other 10 guys that could be blitzing on any down.

#4 ~ Observer-Reporter - "Age not slowing Steelers' Farrior "
James Farrior is a star this week. Bet he didn't think at this point in the season he'd be getting so much love. Or maybe he did. Who knows. Either way, this article again highlights the Super-Steeler, but in a different light. The excellent article, written by Steeler beat writer Dale Lolley, shows the leadership Farrior brings to the team. Since there's no Peezy around anymore to stir things up before games, Farrior has taken over the role of Defensive leader. But as Lolley points out, Farrior's style is disparately different from Porter's (obviously). Farrior lets his play do the talking, and when he addresses the team, he "speaks from the heart." Sort of jabbing at Porter (and why not, he's such an easy target these days...an overpaid easy target at that), Farrior says of his pre-game speech:

"It's nothing special. I'm not asking anybody to ride with me or anything like that. I'm just speaking from the heart."

Whatever he's doing, it seems to be working. It's nice to know that the guy leading this team spiritually is a guy who also leads by example. We can only hope his leadership continues to have the positive effect it has had during the 1st five weeks, for the rest of this season.

Phew, wow, still with me? Good.

Bottom line = The Steelers defense has been great, and the prospect of watching them against teams like Cincinnati, Baltimore, Denver and New England, while a bit daunting, is exciting. These games will prove to be the true test of how strong this group is. If they're able to get it done against the AFC power houses they would presumably face should they make the playoffs, then perhaps I will feel 100% comfortable saying this is one of the best defensive units I've ever seen. But hey, what do I know, I just blog this shit.

They Call Him The Wanderer...

Well, that's not entirely true. I think the technical term used was "Rover."

Anyways, for those of you who don't scan the Post-Gazette Steeler coverage regularly (and shame on you if you don't), it seems that Defensive mastermind Dick LeBeau has devised a new and improved role for Brett Keisel.

Due to the lack of effective pass rush last year, Keisel's first as starting right end, LeBeau thought the defense needed some retooling, including converting Keisel into the "Troy Polamalu" of the front 7.

In this new defensive scheme, dubbed the "99", according to LeBeau (via the Post-Gazette)- Keisel is "...just technically a roving linebacker...He's moving around, depending on where we put him and tell him where to end up. He won't always be just rushing as he is as a defensive lineman. We think he can cause some offenses some problems."

A+ on this one. LeBeau continues to innovate and throw out some of the nastiest defenses the world has ever seen (at least on paper).

Though I gotta say, maybe if we could just get an effective rush out of our base 3-4, we might not have this problem. Oh well, hope it works cause I love the thinking.

Plus I'm really digging the Keisel "mountain man" beard...dude, where can I get one of those?

Cheers and Happy Wednesday!