Who's The Boss?

"We're not good enough to win right now, and that's what I just told that football team."
- Mike Tomlin

I don't mind having to play from behind. I don't mind losing a game. I don't mind calling a pass play to a receiver who isn't beyond the 1st down marker on 4th down in a last ditch effort to tie the game. However, I DO mind getting out muscled, and ran over in our own house. The Jaguars played OUR game today and they played it better than we could, against the NFL's somehow still #1 rated Defense.

Fred Taylor ~ 25 carries, 147 yards
Maurice Jones-Drew ~ 12 carries, 69 yards
Total Rush Yards Allowed ~ 224
Total Pass Yards Allowed ~ 197
Total Yards Allowed ~ 421
Jaguars on 4th Down ~ 3/3
Jaguars Time of Possession ~ 37:39

I'm not sure I need to write much else. That pretty much sums up the game. The Jaguars ran it. We couldn't tackle them. The Jaguars threw it short. We continued to play 8 yards off.

But perhaps most frustrating was the Jaguars final scoring drive of the game (which by the way reeked of Week 7 against Denver). We had just tied the score in truly dramatic fashion. All we needed was to stop the Jaguars Offense, get the ball back and go for the win. But 8 plays, 73 yards and only 3 minutes 49 seconds later, they were putting 7 up on the board and the Steelers hopes came down to a 2 minute drill. I understand that by that point in the game, the Steelers Defense had played a lot of football, but en route to their deathblow, the Jaguars ran the ball 5 out of 8 plays, netting 52 (of the 73) yards and the score.

I'm reminded of that line from the movie Boiler Room, how's it go again? - Oh yeah, "Always be closing." The Steelers Defense let the Jaguars Offense run this game (pun intended) and close it out the same way they drew 1st blood. Plain and simple.

Bright spots? Sure there were some...

1. Willie Parker is Fast ~ FWP, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...all 1317 of them. Willie is holding firm as the categorical #1 among NFL backs. Now if only we could've given him the ball more...14 carries, 100 yards...that looks an awful lot like he was about 4 or 5 rushes away from breaking another big one. But alas...we like to throw the ball now...


2. The Hotrod Cashes In ~ Nate Washington caught a pass...a touchdown pass...go ahead, read that again, I still can't believe it either...


3. Some People Now Have Records They Did Not Have Before ~ Jeff Reed moved up to 3rd in Scoring All Time for the Steelers and Big Ben set the team record for Touchdowns in a season with 3 today and 29 on the year. As an also ran - Hines Ward inched 31 yards closer to the Steelers record for Receiving Yards All Time, and now only needs 42 more to reach that mark. Awesome... now, can the Steelers beat a playoff caliber team besides those named Cleveland or those from the NFC? Seriously...


4. The Dolphins Won Today ~ Congratulations. You guys suck, but at least you beat the Ravens (of all people). Too bad Brian Billick cannot be killed by conventional weapons...Yes, you are correct. That had nothing to do with Pittsburgh...


5. One Down, One Up ~ I think that phrase usually goes the other way...oh well. Anyways, we may have lost Aaron Smith this week, but getting Troy back proved to be so much more pivotal than any of us had imagined. He led the team with 10 tackles today (7 solo) and generally showed us why he's the highest paid Steeler in team history. Which leads me to believe he may have been hurt earlier in the season and just didn't say anything. Either way, this is solid news and gives this defense a much needed boost. Plus the Steelers again have one excellent head of hair in the secondary...et tu Al Harris!

So look, this is not the end of the world. We're all disappointed (especially me) by this loss. But a win in St. Louis on Thursday, and in Baltimore on the following Sunday, and we can still take the division by way of our dominance over the Browns. Of course, no game is certain. And you better bet that if it comes down to the final game of the season, the Ravens would like nothing more than to play spoiler to the Steelers, as we did to the Bengals last season. Even still, I'm staying positive. We still have a great shot at the playoffs and then the season will start anew. After all, we were a wild card in '05, and look how that turned out.

Now it's your turn. As usual, I want to know what you all thought. What did we learn today? What are your thoughts on the Fred Taylor show? How about the Steeler fans leaving the game in the 3rd Quarter? Does Bruce Arians know we have the #1 running back in the NFL?

PS - In case you missed it, we had some great discussion going on during the game today. I will continue to do this every week. So please, join us. I'll bring the beers...and Domski will bring the Bartles & James wine coolers...

GAME RECAPS:
[Behind The Steel Curtain]
[Blitzburgh Report]
[DC Steeler Nation]
[Die Hard Steel]
[Doubt About It]
[Football Braniac]
[Joey Porter's Pitbulls]
[Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies]

[Associated Press]
[ESPN]
[Post-Gazette]
[Tribune-Review]
[SteelCityInsider]

Congratulations, You've Made Gary Anderson Proud...

"My first game was Week 10 of 2002. At halftime, we had a steamroller roll it -- that was the only way to keep it firm. There was no grass left. It was all wet sand....Kris Brown played the first year here...He opted to go to the Texans."
- Jeff Reed

Just when you thought there weren't going to be ANY points scored, thank god for Jeff Reed and his 3/4 inch spikes...and I ain't talking about the ones on his head. The Steelers finally won out with just about 15 seconds left in the 4th quarter in what I was told approximately 6,395 times was the longest scoreless regular season game ever played. Or at least the longest since the 40's. Consequently, I'd like to thank ESPN for its expert statisticians. You guys are so good I wanna drop kick each and every one of you in the face...

Anyways guys, a 3-0 victory? A 3-0 victory? Under normal circumstances I'd go off about how embarrassing it was to watch the Steelers move the ball into, even start from, Miami territory and come away sans-points time after time. But these were NOT normal circumstances.

In fact, given the morass that was Heinz Field, I'd say we did a really good job. The Defense looked and played extremely hungry - racking up 4 sacks, 2 forced/recovered fumbles, and holding the Dolphins to just 159 total yards.

The Offense, while frustrating, at times did a relatively good job moving the ball. Willie contributed 81 yards on the ground, almost twice the amount of his Week 10 performance against the Ravens and Ben was extremely efficient (most accurate performance in team history, seriously), completing 18 out of 21 passes for 165 yards - half of those to Hines Ward (for half the total passing yards as well). Plus, as an added bonus, the line actually played rather well, comparatively that is...even without Marvel Smith, who was replaced by the all-but-worthless Max Starks.

"Special" Teams blocked a kick and Daniel Sepulveda got 5 well placed punts for 173 net yards, pinning the Dolphins deep at every turn. Oh, and Rossum had 3 returns for an average of just under 20 yards per...yeah I don't care either.

I mean we won the game. Should we have dominated? Yes. But did we win? HELL F'ING YES. In an era in which fantasy has ruined our appreciation for close games, most of us (myself included) would have hoped for a blow out, even in the Heinz Field swamp. But if the rule is that close games build character, then this team has more than enough to choke a horse (but not a mini horse Tec...if you're reading this).

I took some notes during the game, mostly in the 1st half (can you imagine why?). So let's talk about some of the good and bad from tonight's debacle.

BUENO:

• Most Reliable Receiver In The NFL ~ Hines Ward. 9 catches, 88 yards. Ben to Hines was 1/2 of the offense tonight. The former Super Bowl MVP continues to show us how much he means to this team. Hines Ward, tough as nails.


• Block Of The Night ~ Carey Davis on J Peezy at some point during the 1st half. I swore I saw this, though I don't have time to go back and pin point exactly when right now. But if you watch the game again (thanks to the power of god's magical gift to beer drinking lazy assholes like me, DVR) look for Peezy coming off the right end and getting Stonewall Jackson'd by Davis. And I thought he was just a novelty...


• And..."Da Boot" Award Goes To ~ Larry Foote and James Farrior. Out booting Peezy himself significantly, these two combined for approximately 1/3 of the Steelers total tackles - 18, not to mention a sack and a forced fumble. Who ride?


• Head Enforcer Tonight ~ I'd be remiss if I didn't give props to Tyrone Carter (!), who was the Steelers top tackler this evening, with 12 total tackles, 11 of which were SOLO! Depth is key, friends. Key. It's gotta be the visor...


• A Long Overdue Contribution ~ Lawrence Timmons recovering the Farrior forced fumble in the 1st Quarter. Finally, welcome to the team Larry. Now, let's work on increasing that contribution to include maybe a sack, or an interception, or even a forced fumble you can call your own. I give him shit, but hey, you gotta start somewhere...


• The Ape Attacks! ~ You didn't think we could get through a whole game recap without throwing some man love to Silverback, did you? HUGE sack and forced fumble on 4th down in the 4th quarter. Clutch as usual...I smell a pro bowl bid...


• Good Hands, Diesel ~ Brett Keisel, knocking down a pass for the 2nd time in three weeks. You know, when I played hockey, my coach always used to tell us to keep our sticks on the ice, because you never knew when you'd get a puck on your stick. Same idea here. Great awareness Brett.

NO BUENO:

• Plays That Would Make Your High School Coach Proud ~ Did you notice the Dolphins try and get cute with a little Statue of Liberty play there? Trying to mimic the embarrassing way the Jets executed their 1st drive last Sunday, eh? Cam Cam, you dirty bitch. Not tonight my friend. Sorry.


• Tonight's Bed Shitter ~ Sean Mahan. He's too small to block the big guys and too slow to block the linebackers. So I wonder, what is he contributing?


• Things We Shall Hit On Quickly And Never Speak Of Again ~ Ben throwing an interception to J Peezy on Pittsburgh's 1st drive...prompting the mouth to scream "You know you love me" at the Steelers sidelines...moving on.


• Tonight's Plea ~ And finally, my plea for this evening -- No more costly penalties, please. There were at least two in the 1st half that negated 1st downs for us. We cannot blow offensive progress by committing penalties...done.

So while I was not exactly blown away by the fashion in which we pulled this one out. I am happy to have at least come away with the win. I'm sure this Monday Nighter is bound to go down in history. So at least we didn't lose it to the 0-10 Dolphins. Plus, I don't think any of us wanted to listen to the Browns fans talk about how we were tied with Cleveland for the division lead should we have lost that game. Simply put, we just cannot let Cleveland have that satisfaction. At any point this season. Or ever for that matter. Ever. Get it, Tomlin?

Anyhow, as much as it pains me to say - this was a must win, and we won it. So let's try and forget the sloppiness, and ride our 8-3 record into Cincy next Sunday for another prime time matchup. This time with Ocho Cinco and the Bungles.

So now it's your turn. What did you guys think of the game? Any memorable moments I didn't capture here? Did you guys also think Ricky Williams faked that injury so he could get some medicinal marijuana? Let me hear it.

Oh and PS (because I always have to end with a post script) - I seriously can't stand Tony Kornheiser. If they don't get his ass off of Monday Night coverage, I'm gonna have to start watching with the sound off...maybe it's time to invest in Sirius...

GAME RECAPS:
[Behind The Steel Curtain]
[Blitzburgh Report]
[DC Steeler Nation]
[Die Hard Steel]
[Joey Porter's Pit Bulls]
[NonStop Steelers]
[Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies]

[ESPN]
[Post-Gazette]
[SteelCityInsider]
[Tribune-Review]