Week 9, Champs travel to Denver to face the 6-1 Broncos

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:32:10 +0000

Steelers were able to get a chance for some healing & some R&R as week 8 was they BYE week. Prior to that they were able to beat the (at the time undefeated) Minnesota Vikings starting Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre & company. In a tight game, which was decided in the final few minutes, where the Steelers were able to secure a 27 – 17 victory when the defense caused & returned a fumble for a TD & an interception which was also returned for a TD.

Steelers tied for 1^st in their division with the startling Cincy Bengals at 5 - 2. Another surprise team this year is the Steelers week 9 opponent in Denver in the Broncos. Broncos had a tough off-season, trading starting QB Jay Cutler for Kyle Orton and having difficulties with All-Pro Wideout Brandon Marshall – which would lead to believe their Season wouldn’t be a good one. Boy were the NFL pundits incorrect here, new Broncos Coach McDaniel is off to a 6-1 record. Denver’s Defense is one of the best this year using speed linebackers & always great cornerback Champ Bailey & new hard hitting safety Brian Dawkins.

Playing in Denver’s high altitude should be a problem for most teams, but with the Steelers rested from their BYE week – we should be able to sneak thru with another victory by 27-20 score & end the 1^st half of their season to 6 – 2.

Below Broncos wideout Brandon Marshall.

Week 7, the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings travel to Pittsburgh

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:15:27 +0000

Steelers were able to cruise thru a breeze of a win when defeating the Cleveland Browns last week with a score of 27 to 14 & it wasn’t that close. Steelers were able to pound them for a total of 543 Yards, 403 thru the Air.

Ben Roethlisberger threw for 417 yards against the Browns (the most of any QB this season. Hines Ward caught 8 passes for 159 Yards & 1 TDS, Santonio Holmes caught 5 for 104 yards. Big Ben, Hines & Santonio are having superb years so far.

Big Ben completing 72.5% of passes, 1887 yards, 10 TD’s & 104.5 Rating

Hines Ward 41 catches for 599 yards & 2 TDs (Yardage leads all Receivers in the NFL)

Santonio Holmes 28 catches for 438 yards & 1 TD

Heath Miller 34 catches for 315 yards & 4 TDs

Rookie Mike Wallace coming on with 18 catches for 296 yards & 1 TD.

Defense, what can you say – for one they held the lead & for two held the Brownies to only 7 points (1 TD was on special teams).

This week, all aspects of the team will be needed to face the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings lead by All-Pro Running back Adrian Peterson & future Hall of Famer Brett Favre, & their Defense which is scoring points & giving up very few.

With the game being at home, we should be able to squeak out a tough fought victory – key will be holding down the NFL’s leading rusher in Peterson (618 Yards). Big Ben & the Offense will need to be on all cylinders to score some points & fend off the Vikes.

Steelers win a close one & go to 5-2.

Below Star QB Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings.

Week 6, Steelers will host the tasty Brownies

admin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:53:14 +0000

Once again, Steelers offense shows up by lighting up the sad sack Detroit Lions in the Steelers 28-20 triumph last week. Stars of that game were Big Ben who has now moved his Passer Rating above 100 for the season, as he throws for 3 more TD’s, on the receiving end of many of those passing yards last week was Hines Ward, let’s not forget the awesome play of last year’s Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison who had 3 sacks and a forced fumble. Honorable mention Rashard Mendenhall who ran for over 75 Yards & up & coming wide out – speedy Mike Wallace.

Football gods are again being kind to the Steelers as this week, we face the Cleveland Brownies. Not much to say about this team, other than the Steelers own them the last few years & this week 6 opponent has no chance – Steelers win an easy one & go to 4-2 for the year.

Below, Steelers rookie Mike Wallace who’s getting more & more playing time.

Week 5, Steelers travel to Mo Town to face the Detroit Lions

admin — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:11:06 +0000

Steelers pull off a great offensive showing (about time) in a shoot out against the San Diego Chargers which resulted in a Steeler win of 38 – 28. Props to the Steelers O-Line which finally created some holes. But overall super play by the entire Offense, Big Ben, receivers Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller & newly added sensation Mike Wallace, also can’t forget the new Running Back of Rashard Mendenhall who ran for 165 yards in his starting debut. Can’t say enough for we surely needed every point – as our Defense can’t stop anyone – they almost for a 3^rd week in a row let this game slip.

Luckily for us we get to face the sad sack Detroit Lions for week 5 game, with our without Rookie QB Matt Stafford this should be an easy victory. Their lone star on Offense is Calvin Johnson, double him & their Offense sputters. Steelers start a win streak & take it to 2 in a row by defeating the Lions & going to 3-2.

Below new Steelers starting Running Back who rushed for 165 Yards in last weeks win against the San Diego Chargers.

Week 4, San Diego’s potent Offense comes to Steel city

admin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:52:24 +0000

If I was very disappointed in the week 2 loss to the Bears after holding a 4^th Quarter lead – I’m kinda speechless having it occur again, Blowing a big 4^th Quarter lead this time against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Somehow the defense has turned to Butter & every team they face in the 4^th Quarter is a hot knife – as they seem to carve/cut them up pretty easily. Like if we lose aggression out there.

Coach Mike Tomlin is the boss & I think he’s not pushing the Defense to stay aggressive & close out games – if we lose to week’s 4 San Diego Chargers who are playing with many non-projected starters at the beginning of the year – this would be a trend that is too too hard to ignore. Man, can’t wait for the big Troy Polamalu to come back – we sure miss his presence in the secondary.

Nonetheless, I have faith in Tomlin & his Defensive Co-Coordinator Dick LeBeau. They will make the necessary adjustments to close out games. San Diego Chargers even though they have many injuries, they still possess a very potent Offensive Game. They have Star QB Phil Rivers, super lighting bug Darren Sproles, super Tight End Antonio Gates,& big Wide outs in Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd. Luckily (near washed up future Hall of Famer) LaDainian Tomlinson might miss the game. This is definitely not the same Defensive Team they’ve been in the past. I figure a game in the mid 20’s.

Steelers, unlike previous 2 weeks in which they held a very good grip in the game & sizeable lead in the 4^th Quarter – will close the deal & finish off the game by beating the Chargers & even their record to 2-2 for the year.

Below, Super Star QB for the San Diego Chargers, he’ll try to lead them to a road victory in Pittsburgh this Sunday.

Week 3, Disappointed Steelers travel to Cincy to play the Bengals

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:09:50 +0000

Very Very Very disappointed in this team’s inability to score more points, but 1 person in particular really didn’t show up against the Bears – that being the place kicker Jeff Reed. F!@$%^ kickers, it seems like all they do is F@#$% up. He gets to do his thing 2 times against the Bears, & chokes on both, simple Un-F@#$-believable. Still seems as if only the Defense & Steelers Wide outs of Hines Ward & Santonio Holmes are showing up to play every game, Big Ben is gonna have to scoring some touchdowns with his arm or his feet – but no more leaving it up to Reed or the so-called running game. Steeler’s top 2 rushers have a combined after 2 games less than 115 yards – that is no way to finish off games in the NFL, no way. Awful loss to the BEARS last week, as it was basically Jay Cutler & 1 wide out for the BEARS – yet we still couldn’t pull it off.

New week, brings new hope. Hoping the old Bungles are still the old Bungles, but let’s don’t kid ourselves – these Bengals should really be 2-0 as they lost on a last play fluke play to the Broncos in week 1. I initially thought this would be a breeze when the schedules came out. But now, seeing this pedestrian offense-running game that the Steelers are trotting out there week after week – I’m not too sure beating the Bengals & Browns will be easy anymore. Thank GOD the Steelers still have a Great Defense that is keeping us in every game – definitely not our Offense (it’s been Offensive to Steeler Fans).

Traveling to Cincy won’t be the cake walk it has been the last few years. Even though the #s don’t indicate such – QB Carson Palmer seems to doing well, & OchoCinco is near what he used to be. Add to that resurgence in RB Cedric Benson (200+ yards rushing so far) – they bring a pretty good offense to the game. Their Defense has some players that are up n coming, such as Keith Rivers, AnTwan Odom, and Rey Maualuga. This should be a close game, probably in the high teens low twenties. Still I think the Steelers D, can bring them a Victory. Making them 2-1 for the year.

Below, a happy Jeff Reed - who cost the Steelers a week 2 win against the Chicago Bears.

Week 2, Steelers travel to Windy City of Chicago to face the Bears

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:07:39 +0000

No surprise of the outcome nor the difficulty in obtaining such a hard fought victory of 13-10 over the Tennessee Titans. Shame on the Steelers OLine for not being able to get a running game going (36 Total Rush yards), that just won’t cut it in the long run – without a running game, Steelers won’t be able to close games in which running out the clock is a must. Vet star wide out Hines Ward, making a rookie mistake & not securing the ball towards the end of the 4^th Quarter, a fumble being forced & lost to the Titans inside the Titans Red zone. Props to the Steelers D, all of them & on the Offensive side – stars were: Santonio Holmes who caught 9 passes for 131 yards & 1 TD (almost identical to that of the Super Bowl game victory vs. the Cardinals), & Big Ben – even though the Passer Rating of 89.6 doesn’t seem very high – keep in mind Rating dropped quite a bit due to that end of half hail-mary pass that was intercepted. Overall Big Ben Roethlisberger had a very very productive opening night, 33 completions on 43 attempts, 76.7% pass completion ratio (awesome), 363 Yards, 1 TD & 2 INTS – but most importantly coming thru in the clutch just like Santonio & he did in the Super Bowl win last year. One injury that occurred could change win-loss record for the men of Steel – Troy Polamalu – who’s to be out 4-8 weeks (hoping it’s the prior).

Steelers get quite a few breaks in the Schedule (hell the whole season’s schedule is a cake walk), when they get to travel to the windy city of Chicago to face the Bears & struggling QB Jay Cutler, who has no wide outs to pass to & can’t even throw to last year’s leading pass catcher Matt Forte. Chicago Defense has always been their strength, against the Pack in last week’s loss – they didn’t play bad, but by losing Star linebacker Brian Urlacher for the year – it’s not the same feared D that it used to be.

Eventually Jay Cutler will improve their passing game & get in a groove with his still learning chemistry wideouts – but it won’t be against the Steelers. Steelers crush the Bears to start the season 2-0.

Below Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher, who is out for the season after injuring his arm in the week 1 game against the Packers.

Week 1, Ring Day cometh, oh yeah, Titans show up too

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:55:22 +0000

Finally the Steelers get a chance to Defend their throne. It’s been close to 7 months since the Steelers won their 6th Super Bowl. The Draft has come & gone, the crud of each team has been cut/waived letting the future have its day now.

Steelers open up against the tough Tennessee Titans, who last year had the best record in the NFL. They return their aging QB Kerry Collins, who did well last year but not expected to play as well or last the whole year. With no star wide outs, the Steelers shouldn’t be concerned with any long pass plays. So shutting the running game should be key. Key on RB’s LenDale White & Super Sophomore Chris Johnson & you can stop their offense, which is rush dominating.

On Defense the Titans, are very very tough – but that was last year when they had that Monster in the middle of the Line in Albert Haynesworth – he’s gonzo, so the Steelers should be able to create some room for the duo of Willie Parker & 2^nd year man Rashard Mendenhall to do some damage on the ground. Add to that the upcoming passing game with Super Bowl sensation of Santonio Holmes & still productive Heath Miller & Hines Ward. Steelers should be able to score on the Titans & hold off their dual threat on the Ground.

Steelers Defense should be almost as good as they were last year, which is a hard feat to accomplish as they finished near the top in all the Defensive stats – hard to duplicate that again. Returning studs are all back – a who’s who of Defensive studs: James Farrior, Casey Hampton, James Harrison (League Defensive Player of the year), Troy Polamalu, Lawrence Timmons, LaMarr Woodley. Should be another fabulous year for Steelers trashing & crushing opponents week after week after week.

Steelers win their 1^st game of the year to start off 1 – 0, what a way to defend your title, at home & collecting that nice bling bling. #7 is coming, Feb 2010 is not too far.

Below, Titans best player - RB Chris Johnson - someone the Steelers will have to trip up to win their opener.

New Season, Same Results - on the Road to another Title

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:35:57 +0000

Prediction for the Season last year went well, I was off slightly – but once the playoffs started – I did predict the Steelers would win it all. Let’s see what the magic ball has in store for the Steelers this year.

Wk	Date	Chump	Result	Comment	Season Record
1	Thu Sept 10	Titans	W	Tough Bruising Battle	1 - 0
2	Sun Sept 20	at Bears	W	Will Stop Cutler & Forte	2 - 0
3	Sun Sept 27	at Bengals	W	Cakewalk City	3 - 0
4	Sun Oct 4	Chargers	L	Bolts are Loaded	3 - 1
5	Sun Oct 11	at Lions	W	Cakewalk City	4 -1
6	Sun Oct 18	Brownies	W	Cakewalk City	5 -1
7	Sun Oct 25	Vikes	L	Favre/Peterson combo too much	5 -2
8	Sun Nov 1	Bye
9	Mon Nov 9	at Broncos	W	Cakewalk City	6 -2
10	Sun Nov 15	Bengals	W	Cakewalk City	7 - 2
11	Sun Nov 22	at Chiefs	W	Cakewalk City	8 - 2
12	Sun Nov 29	at Ravens	L	Ravens at home are something	8 - 3
13	Sun Dec 6	Raiders	W	Cakewalk City	9 - 3
14	Thu Dec 10	at Brownies	W	Cakewalk City	10 - 3
15	Sun Dec 20	Pack	L	Have to lose a 4th right?	10 - 4
16	Sun Dec 27	Ravens	W	Payback for W12	11 - 4
17	Sun Jan 3	at Fins	W	Deep sea fishing	12 - 4

It’s only fair that the Football gods give us such a patsy/cakewalk schedule, after testing us heavy last year with the toughest schedule. Thank god for our division, facing the so called pro teams from the state of OH – the Brownies & Bungles (4 easy W’s). Big Ben & other Steelers celebrating their Super Bowl win against the Cards last year, title #6 - title #7 coming soon.

Steeler Draft Needs

admin — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 22:30:56 +0000

Steelers Draft Needs for this season

Hard to predict what a Super Bowl winning team needs to maintain it’s dominance. Steelers were number 1 ranked Defense in the NFL – there is usually only one way to go from here & that is down. As long as we keep replenishing the Defensive ranks with standouts who after 1 or 2 years of developing can come in & start – I don’t think we’ll have a problem here. 2 key players they have to retain are cornerback Bryant McFadden & Office tackle Max Starks. Steelers placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on Starks takes care of one of the needs, who is a powerful type of tackle suited well for a power run game. McFadden plays well in the Steeler schemes at Corner, he hits hard, covers quite a bit of ground & more importantly can make plays. We need to resign him.

On offense last year’s picks didn’t play well their 1^st year. WR Limas Sweed needs to pick up his game (missed a huge open TD catch against the Ravens - lack of concentration) if he wants to play more & take some snaps from aging Hines Ward. Rashard Mendenhall (injured most of last year) should continue to develop - & lessen the work load of Willie Parker who seems to be breaking down quite a bit lately. I would be shocked if they took a RB or WR high.

I think they will probably draft an O-Lineman in the 1^st round, for future years not necessarily this upcoming year. Their current O-Line of Colon, Starks, Hartwig, Kemo & Stapleton are very very young & will continue to improve their game as they play more together & have continuity. Also, a need to draft on the D-Line as their studs there are aging a bit & need to find a suitable replacement in a few more years (Aaron Smith & Casey Hampton). Our linebacker positions seem to be set for a long time with the emergence of Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley, oh & yes the reigning NFL Defensive player of the year James Harrison.

Let’s hope Steeler brass can continue to make great picks in middle 2-4 rounds. Being champs, doesn’t allow for many high round picks – but that hasn’t prevented the Steelers from finding diamonds in the rough.

below Limas Sweed, who didn’t play so well for the Steelers last year as a rookied WR. His most memorable play (positive one) was the below block he had against the Ravens in the AFC championship game.

below LaMarr Woodley who in his 3rd year emerged as a playmaker for the Steelers, stripping the ball from Kurt Warner & sealing the Steelers 27-23 Super Bowl 43 victory against the Cardinals