This Colon Refuses To Be Cleansed...

Yep, you guessed it - like it or not, the Steelers have tendered an offer to everyone's favorite Colon, Willie.

And that's pretty much all there is to say about that.

I was really just excited because this gives me an excuse to post that Photoshop again.

Top 10 OFTOT Photoshop of all time?

I say yes.

Oh yeah, Sean McHugh and Anthony Madison also got offers.

Anthony Smith did not.

Burn!

Obligatory Footer - If you haven't already, become a fan of OFTOT on Facebook, join the blog network and follow me on Twitter. Or don't. Your choice, really.

Romance Is In The Air...

No it's not, I just wanted to use that as a title for this post.

Caption time. Give this one your best shot. I doubt it'll be too difficult for you. Looks like these two are either about to make out or Cowher's going to bite off Anthony Smith's ear (the "Mike Tyson" technique). Either way, we'd win.

Anyways, do yo' thing, friends...

PS - Still taking interested individuals for this week's Meeting People Is Easy panel...you know you want to, just give in to your primal urges...Why is it all about making out today? Jesus. Time to get my head checked. Or for me to get something else...

Obligatory Footer - If you haven't already, become a fan of OFTOT on Facebook, join the blog network and follow me on Twitter. Or don't. Your choice, really.

Ok, Which Steeler Is Smoking Crack?

"Some of his teammates privately raved about him [Leftwich] to me after a Dec. 7 game against the Cowboys. One even wondered if the team might be better off with Leftwich starting instead of Roethlisberger, quite surprising now after the way Roethlisberger played in the Super Bowl."

I'm sorry, come again? What was that you just said? One of the Steelers wondered if the team might be better off with Leftwich starting instead of Big Ben? Come on, Pete Prisco, Willie Colon doesn't count.

No, but seriously, I know some of y'all may have been thinking the same thing about Ben at that point in the season. Maybe with good reason, at least in your mind(s). But, in case you never gathered it implicitly, I'm a Big Ben fan.

When he threw those three picks against Indy and everyone got all up in arms, that next Saturday night, my friend's Mom told me that the Steelers should start Leftwich instead of Big Ben. To that, I replied that Ben was going to throw for 300 yards against the Chargers the next day. And low and behold, 308 yards (hooray for being self-righteous...gayness).

Anyways, the point is, don't make this into a Ben vs. Byron debate, which frankly should be moot at this juncture anyhow. Just go with the "joke," if you don't mind.

That said, it's time to play a little game called "Who's The Asshole?"

Below is my lineup of potential perps. And just so you know, these are obviously all jokes. So don't try and tell me I'm stupid for thinking it was, say, Willie Colon. Actually, Willie Colon might not be a bad guess. Anyways, let's do this...

1. Willie Colon

Just because. Maybe he was tired of getting shit on for what people perceive to be his inadequacy, when really the problem is just Ben rolling to his right all the time (not that Ben necessarily does that more than he rolls to his left).

Actually, this really could've been any of the Offensive lineman. A friend of mine told me last year that she knew someone that was one of our Offensive Lineman's housekeeper, and she (the friend) said whichever lineman it was always complained about Bruce Arians. Of course, I had to deduce that it was Bruce Arians because neither the housekeeper nor my friend knew who the lineman was talking about.

Where am I even going with this? I don't know. Let's just move on...

2. Carey Davis - He's more or less irrelevant, so I doubt he'd be too worried about voicing his opinion. I have no idea why you'd ever interview Carey Davis after a game, but sure, why not Carey Davis?

3. Anthony Smith

Only because saying dumb shit is his shtick...which means that every time someone on the Steelers makes a ridiculous statement, there's at least a 60% chance it was Anthony Smith.

4. Mitch Berger

Now that I can no longer blame Bruce Arians for everything, I'd like to redirect a lot of that blame to Mitch Berger. He's the low hanging fruit.

That's what she said.

Moving right along...

5. Steely McDevil

YES! I found another excuse to work him into a post. Perhaps no matter which Steeler said this, it really came from Steely McDevil, who whispered this sweet nonsense into his ear. Steely McDevil = clubhouse cancer?

Well anyways, if you feel like indulging, who do y'all think it might have been? I know I made a big joke out of this, which at this point is all the statement really is, but I'm still curious. Who would say that to the media???

My guess? The dude from Me and Domski's fantasy league two (three?) years ago, who said, and I quote - "Pig Ben is a bum and he's finally showing it."

Two Super Bowls in four years...

Bum, indeed.

Obligatory Footer - If you haven't already, become a fan of OFTOT on Facebook, join the blog network and follow me on Twitter. Or don't. Your choice, really.

Time To Put Your Kevin Colbert Hat On [Day 4]...

Alright, let yesterday's departure from order be stricken from the record. I guess y'all don't really much care about Nate Washington, Kemoeatu, Orpheus Roye or Sean McHugh. Hey, why would you? They're just Steelers and this IS a Steelers blog.

Kidding.

Ish.

The offseason always amazes me. I'm a big time Steelers fan, so I like to follow the team all year round. Plus, I'm not a huge basketball or baseball fan, so for me anything between February and August would be a wash without Steelers news and hockey. But I understand many people like to take the offseason, well, off. And that's cool. I mean, that's cool. I guess that's just like their opinion, man.

Anyways, like I said, today I've retained a method to my madness and chosen to highlight the free agent Defensive Backs.

By the way, I keep forgetting to mention, but some of these guys are Restricted Free Agents while others are Unrestricted. I guess if I wanted any kind of credibility on this topic I would've noted them as such throughout the past three days. Good thing I don't give much of a shit about that, or we could've had a real problem on our hands.

So without further ado, because let's be honest, it's Friday and your attention spans are probably about as short as Danny Devito, I give you the Steelers 2009 Free Agent Defensive Backs...

Anthony Smith - Why in God's name did I start here?

Seriously, no clue. In any case, Anthony Smith has certainly had his fair share of transgressions over the last couple of years. I think you know what I'm referring to. But despite his perpetual green-ness, he's still shown some promise. Particularly at the end of the 2006 season, which of course was two and some odd years ago. Nevertheless, we know he has SOME talent. No comment on whether or not he has a brain...

The question is, do you want to re-sign him this year or do you want to re-sign Ryan Clark next year? I think the answer is re-sign Smith this year. Clark's older, has had health problems and although he was hitting bitches like Chris Brown this past season, I think maybe it's time Anthony Smith grew up, found his balls and played like we know he can play. /done

Then there's...

Fernando Bryant - Yeah...

Probably not.

NEXT!

Bryant McFadden - Fo' Sho'.

Gotta see that goat back in Black and Gold next season. I think McFadden's play this year spoke for itself. He is the future. Deshea's a fantastic guy, and to his credit he played a lot better than his 33 years on this Earth might suggest, but he's a free agent after next season and I doubt we'd re-sign him unless he'd accept a one year tender at a severe hometown discount. And even then, we'd only use him as like a 4th Corner. McFadden is 27 and a beast. Do it, Colbert.

Anybody else out there?

2 Steelers Bloggers, 1 Amos Zereoue...

EDITOR'S NOTE: I recognize that the following post reads like War and Peace (yes, it's a marathon). But I urge you to do your best to read the whole thing anyway. After all, I mean, we did talk to Amos Zereoue. Your cooperation in the matter is much appreciated in advance! Now let's get on with it!...that's what she said...

If you watched this week's [Unnamed] Steelers Pregame Show, you'll remember how Tec and I rather weakly foreshadowed that we had some "awesome experience" last Thursday night. Well I believe the picture above is self-explanatory, but just for good measure - that experience was meeting and "interviewing" former Steelers RB, Amos Zereoue.

This all came about after a few weeks back I discovered the review of his restaurant, Zereoue, in Crain's New York Business. Not even had I posted the story and Tec had already fired off an email to the restaurant requesting an interview. Luckily for us, they obliged and we got our opportunity last Thursday.

Amos Zereoue is possibly one of the coolest dudes on this earth. But as you can imagine, with running his own restaurant and all, he's a pretty important and busy guy. Despite this, he found a good half hour to sit down with Tecmo and I to discuss everything from his days at West Virginia to his brief time in New England, and even a little about the Steelers current state of affairs.

I'm not going to lie to you, we were both pretty nervous going to meet Famous Amos. It wasn't really until Tec and I boarded the 6 train headed for 34th St. that I really started to feel it, though. And by the time we emerged from the Subway, I was honestly short of breath. Sure, that sounds pretty gay. Hell, maybe it is. But for me, not only meeting Amos Zereoue, but getting to speak to him candidly, was possibly the coolest thing I'd ever been privileged to do. When I started OFTOT approximately two years ago, I never in my wildest dreams thought that someday it'd afford me an opportunity to sit next to Amos Zereoue and probe him about his former days in Pittsburgh.

We entered the bar around 6:10 or 6:15 after composing ourselves outside for a good 15 minutes. But still, my nerves were kind of running full speed (pun intended). When Tec told the guy at the bar we were there to talk to Amos, he said, "oh, you're the blogspot guys?," which I thought was pretty funny. We replied, "yeah," and he told us Amos would be there any minute. Sure enough, a few minutes later, a dark SUV rolled up with what seemed to be a truncated entourage inside and out came Amos Zereoue. He strided past us at the bar, and only catching a quick glance at his face, I wasn't sure if it was him. But it was, and soon enough he came over and introduced himself, shook our hands and told us to have a seat. I think this was the point where I may have pissed and/or shit myself. And let me just say, for the record, while I was a good five or six inches taller than him, his hands were proportionately the size of catchers mitts. I literally thought that as I stood there shaking his bear claw of a right hand.

Anyways, in true blogger fashion, we wanted to keep the "interview" informal and conversational. We had plans to record all of our question and answer, but in all of our excitement, that pretty much went right out the window and we probably both at once started to barrage Amos with questions. Unfortunately, though, having departed from our well thought out plan of preserving the conversation for posterity, I am only able to summarize Amos' responses to our many questions here. And to be honest with you, I can hardly remember what I did yesterday, let alone last Thursday night when we actually interviewed Amos. But I'll do my best, and you can read more over at PSaMP.

We started out talking about what it was like for him to get drafted by the Steelers after coming out of WVU. Amos said he thought to himself, "Why do they want me?," acknowledging to himself that the Steelers traditionally preferred the physical running game to the speed and finesse for which he was "famous" (pun also intended). But he said he loved the time he spent in Pittsburgh, and obviously it didn't work out so bad since he had a fair amount of success. I kind of hinted that maybe the combination of him and The Bus was a precursor to what is now commonplace in the NFL - the one-two punch of power and speed. As I remember he kind of tacitly agreed. But he probably didn't really care much either way, as he did his job regardless.

We then asked him about Hines Ward. Specifically, what he thought about the ever-popular assertion that Hines is a "dirty" player. Not even had we finished our question before he jumped right in and said it was bullshit (my words, not his). He expressed a great respect for Hines both on and off the field and said that it's important to distinguish between the two personas. The way I kind of parroted his response back to him was - when you're on the field, you've gotta get fired up and be ready to do what's needed of you to help your team win. You gotta compete as hard as you can. Amos echoed what many commentators and us Steelers homers have always said of Hines - that he's the best blocking receiver in the game. In fact, I seem to remember Amos thinking that Hines was one of only a few receivers left that even make a real effort to block. And he said, as a Running Back, he really appreciated that, knowing that when he made it to the second level, he had a guy out there who could and WOULD clear the way for him.

He also said Hines is just a very caring person. Not that this is anything new to us. But to hear it from a guy who had significantly more intimate contact with Hines just further legitimized it in my mind. And while we didn't really get into it, Amos seemed to insinuate that Plaxico Burress was actually a pretty good guy too. I found that rather interesting, given Plax's reputation and general public persona. But since Amos obviously knows him better than we do, and in light of some of the other astute observations he made, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Eventually we got on to the subject of how playing the one season he played in New England compared with his experience in Pittsburgh. He immediately explained to us that it was pretty different, adding that "Coach Belichick has a great football mind," or something to that effect. We didn't really press much further about that but just kind of agreed, and I mentioned that any Coach who can post a winning record in Cleveland's gotta know his stuff to a certain extent (I'm looking at you, Romeo Crennel).

As for the current state of affairs in Pittsburgh, Amos made two pretty on-point observations. The first was, and I recognize this isn't exactly novel, that the Steelers have a problem in the Offensive Line. As a former Running Back, clearly he knows a thing or two about the value of a good Offensive Line. And he talked about how the line the Steelers had back at the tail end of his time, basically the same one that was in place for the Steelers Super Bowl run, was perhaps a little underrated.

The second observation he made was about Anthony Smith. What was funny to me was that, while he really has no reason to follow the team anymore other than nostalgia, he knew about the legend of Anthony Smith and his mouth (of course, I guess unless you're living under a rock you know about this, but it was the context that made it interesting). Like the rest of us, Amos felt that if Smith really wants his chance, he'd be better off keeping his mouth shut and letting his effort do his talking. I brought up how Anthony Smith's biggest headlines since starting his career with a bang had been the victory "guarantee" last season and a couple of stories during the last two training camps about how he's maybe a little more physical with his own teammates than some of his Steelers brethren. Amos didn't really comment on that but the whole discussion evinced a feeling that he valued effort over talent.

As we wound down our conversation, and after we had thanked him gratuitously for spending the time with us, Amos told us to come back anytime. As owner/chef/host/general proprietor of the restaurant, he spends a fair amount of time there. So much so that at least one of the regulars we talked to at the bar knew him by name (and not because of his football career). And all I can say is - I hope he meant it. Because you can't say that kind of thing to two rabid Steelers fans/bloggers and get away with it. You better bet we'll be frequenting Zereoue as often as possible. I'm even thinking about setting up a weekly or bi-weekly happy hour there for Steelers fans in the NY area.

The restaurant itself had a great vibe. The front half was the bar, which included ample bar stools but also a couple of couches in the front, right next to the window (behind us in the picture above). And the back half was the dining room, separated from the bar by a draped curtain. The whole place just kind of exuded culture and it felt really welcoming. That could easily have been because we had just met AMOS EFFING ZEREOUE. But nevertheless, I'm looking forward to eventually getting back to sample some of the West African and French influenced cuisine.

All in all, I gotta say once again, this was easily the coolest thing I've done since I've lived here in the Manhattan area, and high up on the list of coolest things I've done all time. I want to thank Amos and the restaurant for being so awesome! If you are in the area, definitely check it out - on 37th St. between Madison and 5th Avenues (13 E. 37th St.).

Oh, and in case you've forgotten how fast Amos was, I'd urge you to watch these clips of him in HIGH SCHOOL! The dude had some jets for sure.

Here's a couple of other pics for good measure...

[Unnamed] Steelers Pregame Show - Week 9...

Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls. Children of all ages. In the immortal words of a wise man some asshole from Dallas - Get your popcorn ready! Here it is in all it's glory...The [Unnamed] Steelers Pregame Show - Episode 8.

It's a little longer this week, because for some unknown reason we tried to get serious and keep our A.D.D. to a minimum. But we think it's better, nonetheless. This week we covered - Willie Parker's life, Sansmokio's Excellent Adventure, Aaron Smith's beastliness, Anthony Smith's bitchiness, and of course, pulled Predictions completely out of our respective asses.

And as for the Outtake Reel, well, that's pretty much business as usual. This also appears to be a hair longer than normal, but that's because we interspersed clips of us playing 007 for N64. So keep your eyes peeled for that. Oh, and if anyone knows what the name of Uncle Joey's puppet was on Full House, please let us know.

We sincerely hope you enjoy!


Bonus footage - here's us discussing the current state of the NHL...


One more time at PSaMP for good measure?

Troy Polamalu Needs to Wear Two Helmets...

Troy Polamalu is out of his damn mind. I mean, that's not really any big secret. He's the good kind of crazy. The kind that makes you go - "He's going to do WHAT? I didn't even know he owned a Santa suit!"

But dude, he just suffered the 7th concussion of his career and he's talking about playing on Sunday? Jesus. One concussion and I'd probably be thinking twice before getting back on the field at all. Of course, there's a huge difference between me and Troy Polamalu. Namely, I'm a pussy and he's, well, not. But that's neither here nor there.

First thing I want to know is - How effective are you one week after suffering your 7th concussion? I know Troy is a soldier (and I don't mean in the Kellen Winslow sense). But I'm just saying, what if he finds himself out there on the field, disoriented for even a second and something or someone slips by him that he might've stopped if he had his full wits about him?

Of course, I'm no Doctor. My shortcomings in understanding science are well documented. Just ask my High School Biology teacher, Mrs. Young. So what the hell do I know about concussions? Plus, I've never met Troy Polamalu. Never talked to him. Never apprised myself of his medical history, beyond his history of concussions, that is. So I don't know HIM either. It's entirely possible that this whole point is moot. But it's certainly something to think about.

Also, as far as I understand it, concussions can put the kibosh on any kind of career longevity real quick. Wouldn't he rather not risk it for one game that may not even mean anything when it's all said and done? I know what you're going to say - every game means something. Ok, sure. I think that too. But not when you're talking about my future livelihood. I don't know. I just keep thinking - any way you slice it, the man has got some gigantic cojones.

That all said, I love Troy Polamalu. I love watching him hurdle offensive lineman, make circus catches for interceptions, and absolutely murder opponents. There are only a few other players I love watching as much as Troy Polamalu. I'd probably watch Troy Polamalu attack a Primanti Brothers sandwich if you put that shit on TV. And listen, who am I to question Troy Polamalu? Over the summer, people were wondering - what the hell is Troy doing out in Southern California with Todd Marinovich's Dad? Not me. If Troy wants to do some crazy workout routine with the father of a former 1st round bust, hey, that's just like, his opinion, man. He's Troy Polamalu. So if Troy wants to play after a concussion, ok. I mean, he obviously knows a thing or SEVEN about it.

But let's talk about this...For the sake of conversation, if Anthony Smith were to play in Troy's place for some reason, do you think we would get...

A. Anthony Smith, The Sandman

OR

B. Anthony Smith, The Prophet


What say you?

Oh, and by the way - I found it rather disturbing that when I searched "Troy Polamalu" on Google images, I got an inordinate amount of pictures of Sanjaya from American Idol. Somebody call Al Gore. The internets are broken.

Say Goodnight! - Anthony Smith Is The Sandman...

"Receivers better account for him. His name is getting out there. The film being put out there in the league, receivers see it and they know they better be thinking about it when they go across the middle."
- Larry Foote

Morning Stiller fans! Since we have the luxury of a Sunday off, I thought I'd give yinz something fun to chew on in the form of a profile of the hottest Steeler this side of the Allegheny, Anthony "Sandman" Smith (hey, Merriman already has "lights out," what do you want...). In just one and a half short years with the Steelers, the Free Safety out of Syracuse has made his impact more than felt. Just ask any receiver who has faced him...most recently the glitz and glamour tandem of Ocho Cinco and TJ Howsmyponytail...er Houshmanzadeh (see below for visuals¹). But where did this monster come from?

Oddly enough, Smith is product of Ohio, just like a couple of other young Steelers we know. Hailing from Hubbard, a town just east of Youngstown and not far from the Pennsylvania border, Smith attended Hubbard High School, where he gathered All State honors his Junior year, and All Midwest Region honors his Senior year as a standout offensive/defensive back. From there, he departed for Syracuse, to become one of the best football players the school had ever seen (²).

At Syracuse, Smith was originally a back up running back, but not long into his freshman season, the coaching staff realized his true calling and moved him to free safety. Beginning with his sophomore season, Smith became a starter, and the rest is school history. In his 3 years as a starting Safety, Smith was responsible for 293 tackles and 14 interceptions, putting him 3rd in line among the school's all-time leaders. Plus, he nabbed a school record six blocked kicks and recorded 3 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries (1 returned for a touchdown), and 2 kicks returned for touchdowns. Basically, the man did it all and more in 46 games (³).

Smith was then drafted by the Steelers with their 2nd overall pick, in the 3rd round of the 2006 NFL draft, behind fellow native Ohioan Santonio Holmes. Smith played in all 16 games in 2006, recording a total of 15 tackles (a number he's already eclipsed through 7 games this season) and 2 interceptions. In his first career start last December against Cleveland, Smith recorded 2 solo tackles, 2 passes defended and his 1st career INT, merely foreshadowing his ability. Over the next 3 games as a starter, he recorded 9 more solo tackles, 2 passes defended, 3 Special Teams tackles, and yet another INT. So naturally, we all kind of assumed he'd be the starter come 2007. But then, September rolled around, and he was not.

Undiscouraged, Smith started this season as a backup, but still saw a decent amount of playing time over the first 4 games. And while he has only started TWO games this season (Week 5 against the Seachickens for an injured Polamalu and Week 8 against the Bungles, for injured Ryan Clark), he is impressively 5th in total tackles with 23 solo and just 3 assisted. The guys ahead of him in tackles: James Harrison, Ike Taylor, James Farrior, and Larry Foote. All full time starters. In fact, if you notice, Smith has more tackles than Polamalu (1 more that is), though Polamalu did miss a game and a half. But guys, Smith has only started TWO GAMES! PLUS, oh yeah, he's got a forced fumble and interception under his belt as well...

Like Troy Polamalu - soft spoken off the field, an untamed beast on, at only 5'11" and 192 pounds, Smith packs a punch with Greg Lloyd-esque force. The man plays to win, and plays with intensity, making no qualms about his physical style. When asked recently about said physicality, Smith asserted:

"Once I get on the field you can't tell me anything. I'm trying to hit everything."

So Derrick Mason, Demetrious Williams, Todd Heap, Steve McNair - watch your backs and say your prayers, 'cause the Sandman is coming.

Good. Night.

REFERENCE MATERIALS
¹Make 'em say uuuuuggggghhhhhhh...


Show me that greeeelllll now Chad...



²Anthony Smith Bio [Steelers.com]
³Anthony Smith College Bio [SUathletics.com]

Smith's style of play makes receivers pay [Post-Gazette]
Steelers' Smith showcases intensity [Tribune-Review]
Steelers Anthony Smith might be hard to bench [Beaver County Times]

Big Ben - 9 | Ohio - 0

"That's why they're 5-2 and we're 2-5. Good teams put it in the end zone. Teams like us kick field goals."
- TJ Houshmanzadeh

Whine all you want, Cincinnati. Had you gone for it on 4th down instead of kicking a field goal, A- there's a good chance you would've gotten ZERO points off that drive and B- the 2nd guessing would be even worse than it is already. So I'd just take your loss like men, and deal with the fact that you've fallen way behind in the division and probably won't even make the playoffs. That ought to occupy you for a while...Oh yeah, and Anthony Smith slept with all your mothers...

But Steeler fans - Guess what? - we needed a win and we got a win! We took an embarrassing loss on the chin and shrugged it off this week to put down our not-so-worthy division rivals, the Bengals, and reaffirm our position atop the AFC North...for now. The bad news, if there is any at all, is the Browns (!) beat the Rams this afternoon 27-20, which means they're still just a game back, moving into 2nd place ahead of the Ravens. So the division is quite unsettled right now. But let's not go there. We won today. Let's just revel in that. Bask in the glory of beating a team whose city wanted a win so bad that elephants in their zoo were crushing pumpkins with Big Ben's picture on them. What a bunch of assholes.

The final score was 24-13, but it might as well have been 42-13 the way we controlled that game. Big Ben, FWP, Hines Ward and company took care of the ball today, mixed it up, and played the balance game we needed to stand victorious, while Farrior, Ike Taylor and Anthony Smith kept a lid on the Bengals so-called "electrifying" offense, holding their big three - Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmanzadeh to a respectable 205 yards through the air and only 1 TD. Pretty, pretty, pretty good, I'd say.

Now that we've won, let's take a look back at my thoughts from Friday and how the Steelers followed or did not follow what I thought we should do:

• Run the god damn ball: Check! Run it, then run it some more, we sure did. FWP carried exactly 22 times (whoa...prophetic...) for 126 yards and 1 score and Najeh added 8 carries for 23 yards. I'd say that's pretty successful indeed.


• Deploy a balanced offensive attack: Check! In addition to the 30 rushes by FWP and Deuce Davenport, the Steelers threw the ball 26 times, with Ben completing 19 passes for 230 yards and 2 TDs. Sure, he threw a pick...in the red zone...and that's pretty bush league. But I'm going to let it slide since he played a pretty decent game otherwise. I will say this though - Ben needs to get his passes down. There were too many balls above Hines and Santonio's heads that could have gotten them hit hard had the Bengals played any defense today. Watch out for those guys Ben, they're your lifeblood right now. Still, as I mentioned we needed to do on Friday, the Steelers mixed it up well, and were able to control the game with sustained, efficient drives. In fact, 3 out of 8 Steeler drives lasted 6 minutes or longer and 2 of those 3 were scoring drives (the 3rd would've been another score had Ben not thrown that pick). Can you say efficiency?


• Stop the Bengals passing machine: Check! Carson "I like wieners" Palmer - 23 for 31, 205 yards and only 1 TD. Chad "I just gotta be me" Johnson - 5 catches, 51 yards, 0 TDs. TJ "I'd like some cheese with my whine" Houshmanzadeh - 7 catches, 81 yards, 1 TD. Ok, that last stat wasn't exactly ideal. But neither of the twin towers broke 100 yards or had more than 1 score. So I consider that a success. Although, at the risk of being a wet blanket - we did not register a single sack, and I really didn't see us in the backfield often enough to make Carson Palmer sweat. That was unfortunate. Plus, the other thing I would have liked to have seen that I didn't see from a defensive scheme POV was pressing the receivers a little more. We kept giving them the 8-10 yard cushion we gave the Denver receivers and for at least the beginning of the game, they took it. We just can't continue to allow this. What more can I say? Good receivers will take that cushion and exploit it. We need to move up to the line and knock them off their routes. Get on their case a bit. Don't make it easy on them. Sort it out.


• More facetime for Woodley: Fail! I hardly saw Woodley at all. I guess when you're winning it's the ol' "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra. And I can respect that. Nonetheless, I'm not sure Woodley saw the field at all today, and he certainly didn't make any tackles. So just another thing to think about in the future. One man we did see a lot of today though, was Anthony Smith. And thank god for that. I don't think I have to say much more about him than his hit on Houshmanzadeh said for itself. The team's leading tackler this week - Smith made 10 tackles, 9 solo - Fear the wrath of Anthony Smith. Maybe Ryan Clark should get injured more often? (kidding...sort of)


• No stupid penalties: Check! 3 penalties for 30 yards but none at crucial moments in the game. Though just about anything (and everything) Kendall Simmons does right now is stupid. Thanks for the false start asshole. Way to make a positive contribution to the game.


• Put some breathing room between us and the Ravens: See above...Check!

Some other moments to cherish, not mentioned above:

• Silverback stripping the ball from Kenny Watson in dramatic fashion. Looked like Harrison brought the friggin' hammer down on that ball. I don't blame Watson for coughing it up. Bravo Silverback!


• Marvin Lewis' post-game quotables - "We are not overmatched. We were outplayed, outexecuted, and I was outcoached." Sounds like a personal problem to me...


• Big Ben hooking up with Santonio for 42 yards on the Steelers 2nd drive. Funny how much easier it is to throw the home run ball when your offense is rolling...


• Remember Hines Ward? He's not dead yet. Ok, he's not that old. But considering how much of a non-factor he has been this season, today was a pleasant surprise. Obviously we should be looking his way more often in the coming weeks. Bonus.


• Hope you didn't adjust your TV set. The Bengals did only have 10 players on the field for that last Pittsburgh TD. Sucks for them. I don't know what else to tell you.

One way or another, I'd say I'm very please with the way things went on the field today. We played our game, plain, simple and disciplined (for the most part). But again, coming in, we regarded this as a winnable game. The kind you need to have to gain momentum. This coming week we've got another big division game against the dirty birds of Baltimore, the Ravens. Another big MONDAY NIGHT game at that, in which I hear we'll be celebrating the Steelers 75th anniversary. Yellow helmets, great. Consider me psyched...

With that, it's 11:00PM and I'm beat. So that'll be all for today. Feel free to comment and tell me your thoughts on the game. Good, bad, outlandish. Any and all are encouraged. Let's have 'em!

Post-game coverage:
[DC Steeler Nation]
[Joey Porter's Pitbulls]
[Behind The Steel Curtain]
[Non-Stop Steelers]
[Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies]
[Blitzburgh Report]
[The Steel Tradition]
[Die Hard Steel]
[Fanhouse]

[KDKA]
[Associated Press]
[Post-Gazette]
[SteelCityInsider]
[CBS Sportsline]
[Tribune-Review]
[Steelers.com]

Riding The Pine: Week 8 Injury Update...

Man, this has been a year to remember (er...forget) in terms of injuries. The league has been plagued by them, the Steelers included, and the trend just seems to continue. Remember, this is only WEEK 8!

Our latest casualties are Aaron Smith and Ryan Clark. Smith with a sprained MCL sustained in Sunday's loss and Clark with a friggin' inflamed spleen!

Tomlin thinks the chances of Smith playing Sunday are "doubtful at best," and with Big Snack still recovering, this could mean bad things for both our run defense and pass rush. Smith has been as instrumental for us this year as he has always been, and if anything, hasn't been given enough credit for our defensive success. So this is a big blow.

As for Clark, it's unknown whether he will be able to go or not. He didn't travel back from Denver with the team, instead staying "for observation", so I guess that's a "we'll see." From what I read, this spleen thing is a blood condition brought on by the Denver altitude and dehydration. God damn altitude...guess that crazy blood machine Tomlin was talking about last week couldn't help us...I love technology, don't you? Since Anthony Smith has seen a good amount of time this year anyway, Clark's injury may not be a huge deal. Nonetheless, Clark is the starter, and any injured starter in our secondary is one less reliable guy to defend against the Cincinnati pass attack.

Less than ideal sitch...

Steelers Aaron Smith Likely Out for Sunday's Game [Post-Gazette]
Tomlin: Clark Injured Spleen In Broncos Game [KDKA]

Notes and What Not - Steelers v. 'Skins...

Tomorrow night. At FedEx Field. Everyone. Gets. Laid.

Ok so that's a line from PCU (if you haven't seen it you're either only 19 or you are severely deprived), but it does look like the Steelers first team offense and defense are going to get a little more work this weekend than they have the past couple preseason games. At this point, Tomlin is obviously getting close to his final evaluations, trying differnt options at different positions and in different capacities, so we can expect to see some unusual things. Positive unusual things? Who knows. But potentially yes.

Here's a few notes I got from this morning's Post-Gazette report, some related to tomorrow's game, some of just general preseason relevance:

• Possibilities on the O-line:
  • Trai Essex at Left Tackle
  • Willie Colon at Right Tackle
  • Marvin Philip, still has a long way to go to even be included in conversation with Chukky Okobi and Sean Mahan
  • Max Starks winning the One For The Other Thumb "Weakest Link" Poll, so far garnering all votes (though only 3 votes have been logged...jagoffs)
  
  
• Willie Parker and James "Silverback" Harrison to play...finally. Still no Timmons though.


• Ryan Clark will probably start at Free Safety for the injured Anthony Smith. Also may be holding his ground amidst Smith's bid to overthrow him in the starting role...mixed feelings on that.


• Gary Russell's blocking and maybe pass catching skills will likely be tested, as Tomlin evaluates him for the final roster.


• Walter Young, this one's anybody's guess but Tomlin loves his determination (it's his 4th camp with the Steelers).


• Nate Washington, dropped a couple passes, nothing to lose sleep over and it's certainly not due to lack of confidence.


• Brian St. Pierre, "some teams keep two quarterbacks, some teams keep three...what Brian has done to this point has not been disappointing"...Straight from the horse's mouth.

Plus, here's some other random shit to write home about...sarcasm is thick today:

• Everyone's favorite Sports Illustrated Columnist, Peter King, has posted his "All-Future" team for 2012. Steelers players included - Zero, Steelers Coaches included - One. Yep, King (catching us all by surprise, since he overlooks the Steelers pretty readily) noted Mike Tomlin to be the Dream Team Head Coach of the future. Guess it's not all cobwebs in that noggin' Peter.


• FoxSports.com's Steelers Team Report focuses on the Steelers moving away from Dan Kreider into a non-fullback offense. In doing so, they point out the Carey Davis/John Kuhn factor -- that one or the other will likely make the cut as a tailback/fullback. Guess the end may really be near for Kreider and the Steelers...I'm fighting back my tears...seriously.


• Even the Baltimore Sun is getting in on The Smoking Gun's outing of the Steelers hotel demands the other day...


• More bad news for Cincy...not like I care, we'd beat 'em with Hines Ward playing DE!

That's all for now, have a great weekend dudes and dudettes!