AFC Divisional Playoffs – Steelers host the Chargers

Not too many weeks ago while playing in horrendous weather, the men of Steel barely won a tough fought 11-10 game vs. the San Diego Chargers (Even though it was later learned, that the score should have been 18-10, as Troy Polamalu scored late in the game but the Refs ruled it not a touchdown, keeping the score 11-10 incorrectly – killing a lot of people who picked the Steelers to cover the spread that week – I was one of them who got burned by the bumbling NFL refs) . The 2 teams meet again, with winner hosting the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Despite what happened on Saturday with Ravens winning away vs. the Titans & the Cardinals also winning away vs. the Panthers – I see the 2 week hiatus for the Steelers being a good thing (rest for many players who needed the extra healing time, specifically Big Ben – concussion & Fast Willie Parker lingering leg problems). The added rest, home field cooking & the Chargers unfortunately (want to beat the teams with all their best guns in it) without LaDalian Tomlinson (groin injury) should be enough for the Steelers to win this one. Hopefully their last game of 31-0 vs. the Brownies, was an indicator that their Offense will open up on the Chargers too – I do understand that the Bolts are way better than the offensively challenged Brownies, but this has to be a nice spark that can turn into a flame that can become a fiery offense that is gonna light teams up.

Steelers win their division with a 12 – 4 record & with victory come the spoils. In particular, a very deserving All-Pro selection for 2 Steeler defensive players. On Friday the 2008 NFL All-Pro team was announced & representing the Steelers were: safety Troy Polamalu, making his second All-Pro squad & for the 1^st time outside linebacker James Harrison. For James Harrison the awards didn’t end there – he was voted the AP Defensive Player of the Year – quite a feat as he broke the Steelers sack record with 16 sacks. He also forced 7 fumbles, had 1 interception, and 1 safety. If they do end up hosting the Ravens, it’ll be something for him – as you already know by now that, Pittsburgh and Baltimore both released him early in his career, before finally finding a home with the Steelers. Playing a team that released you should be extra motivation for him to play harder – which I have no doubt he will.

Overall for the regular season, Big Ben had a dramatic falloff in play from last year. He passed for 3,301 yards, threw only 17 TD’s but an alarming 15 picks – for a passer rating of 80.1 – ugly. Willie Parker ran for 791 yards, while missing 5 games. Had he played all 16 healthy, no doubt he’d run for 1,000 + yards. Receiving, well Hines Ward – like a fine wine, had a great year. He caught 81 passes for 1,043 yards – giving him for his career 800 receptions & just shy of 10,000 receiving yards of 9,780. The defense, well they practically tore the league up – as they finished the 2008 regular season as the stingiest overall defense (237.2 yards per game) since the 1991 Eagles. 2^nd year in a row that the Steeler Defense was 1. They were #1 in passing yards allowed, surrendering 156.9 passing yards per game & #2 against the run, giving up 80.2 per game (Steelers didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher all year). Steeler defense has been good for many years now, as it’s the fourth time since 2001 they’ve finished the regular season as the league’s top-ranked defense - that’s more than any other team over that stretch. They finished in the top five in five of those years (2008, 2007, 2005, 2004 and 2001).   But that wasn’t enough for them; they also led the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 13.9 points per game & finished 2^nd with 51 sacks. Steelers became the first team since 1971 to go 14 consecutive games without giving up 300 or more yards to its opponent.

That being said, Steelers beat the Chargers for the 2^nd time this year. Can’t wait to face the Baltimore Ravens to go to Super bowl – yes, we’ll be ready to beat them for the 3^rd time this year.

Representing the Steelers in the 2008 NFL All-Pro team are (top) Troy Polamalu & (bottom) James Harrison.  Harrison also won the NFL Defensive player of the year award. Congrats to both for a tremendous 2008 campaign.