Steelers Beat Packers; Still Alive!

In a wild game that was unbelievably entertaining, the Steelers beat the Packers yesterday, 38-31, and, amazingly, kept their playoff hopes alive as they head into the final weekend of the season next week.

This game had just about everything:

• another very good game by Ben Roethlisberger, who may well be having the best season of his career,
• a successful fake punt by the Steelers that resulted in a thirty yard gain,
• a 100 yard rushing game by Le'Veon Bell; it had been 22 games since the Steelers had a 100 yard rusher,
• an interception returned for a touchdown by Cortez Allen
• a blocked field goal,
• yet another fourth quarter lead that the Steelers defense could not hold, followed by...
• a fourth quarter TD by Bell that regained the lead,
• a Packer kick-off return and a Steelers penalty that almost allowed the Packers to tie the game,
• an incomplete pass into the end zone on the final play that would have forced the game into overtime,
• and, oh yeah, an apparently blown call by the officials following that blocked Packer FG attempt, that would have loomed REALLY large had the Steelers ended up losing that game.

Local media types have been trying to gin up a controversy over Mike Tomlin's decision not to eat up time on the clock by not having Roethlisberger kneel down for two plays and then kick a FG at the end of the game.  Instead, Bell scored the winning TD (and did the Packers let him score there?), and the Packers got the ball back with over a minute to play, and ended the game, thanks to that 70 yard kick return, inside the Steelers ten yard line with a chance to tie the game.

Sorry, but I'm with Tomlin on this one.  When you have a chance to score, you try to score on the very next play.  Plus, the idea of an Offense trying not to score, while the Defense tries to allow  you to score, just strikes me as wrong.  This happened in the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl two years ago, and it just didn't sit well with me.  Besides, how many times is a strategy like that going to work for you? One in ten times? A hundred times? A thousand times?  Yeah, it almost worked for Green Bay yesterday, but the key word there is almost.

Oh, and a word about Le'Veon Bell.  After a slow start, due to injuries, it is now apparent, Bell appears to be the real deal as an NFL running back.  Big, fast, strong and with an almost freakish ability to hurdle defenders.  One of the things I like most about him is his ability make what should be three or four yard losses into one or two yard gains.

As I have been saying for a few weeks now, whatever else the Steelers have been this year, their games, with one or two exceptions, have been tremendously entertaining, win or lose, and that game yesterday may have topped them all.

And you have to hand it to the NFL, they do know how to milk the playoff possibility game.  With a win next week and help from three other teams in three other games, the Steelers could find themselves with a seat at the table when the Playoffs begin the following week.  Probable? Not very, but still possible, and if it happens, I will remind you that all twelve playoff teams will start with a 0-0 record.  And to the Gloomy Guses who may root against this happening because it will "only spoil our draft position", get over it.

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Two other NFL observations:

The Seattle Seahawks, who may very well be the best team in the NFL, lost yesterday to the Arizona Cardinals.  The Cardinals are now 10-5, very much alive in the NFC playoff hunt, and are coached by Bruce Ariens, who was shoved into "retirement" by Art Rooney II two years ago.  Make your own judgements there.

In Detroit, Coach Jim Schwartz, a singularly annoying individual, with time on the clock and times out in his pocket, elected to play for a field goal to tie the game with the Giants yesterday rather than try to score a touchdown.  The fans at Ford Field made the displeasure with this strategy known, and Schwartz was seen turning towards the stands and jawing with the fans about it.  The Giants won the game in OT, and Schwartz is said to be on the ropes in Detroit.

Fish Fries and Other Random Thoughts for a Sunday Morning

Yes, we continue to explore the various Church Fish Fries each Friday night during Lent. So far this year we have visited St. Theresa of Avila in Perrysville and St. Alexis in McCandless,  Both parishes have been at the Fish Fry game for years and years and both put on a great event.  Good fish sandwiches and both also serve a mean bowl of clam chowder.   We have three Fridays remaining between now and Good Friday, and we have two "definites" penciled in:  Howard's Tavern in West View (not a Church, true, but owned and operated by fellow St. John Neumann parishioners), and the Serbian Club on the South Side.  This one benefits our neighbors and friends, George and Barb Topich's Serbian Orthodox Church.  That leaves one upcoming Friday in the "TBD" column.

A word of warning.  Our friends Fred and Susan Shugars had a not-so-great experience by opting for take-out at St. Alexis this past Friday, so you may want to consider eating in, which is what we did.  When it comes to take-out, always remember what Joe Pesci said about going through the drive-through (or, take-out window, in this case) in "Lethal Weapon 2".



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Congratulations to the Robert Morris University basketball team for their first place finish in the Northeast Conference this season.  This means home court advantage throughout the NEC Tournament.  It also means that March Madness begins this coming Wednesday night when RMU takes on St. Francis (NY) in the opening round game.  Survive and Advance.  Be there!

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The Pirates now stand at 2-7 in Grapefruit League play.  So, who cares, these are exhibition games.

On the other hand, Starling Marte is now hitting .417 in grapefruit League Play.  Now THAT is something to get excited about. 

This is what is great about Spring Training.  You get to pick-and-choose what's important.

Speaking of the Pirates, their game this past Friday was televised and it was great to watch some Pirates baseball.  Catching for the Bucs that night was Lucas May.  Now, I like to think that I keep close track on my favorite ball club, but I have to tell you, I had NEVER heard of Lucas May.

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The stories about the "fractured" Steelers locker room this past season that are now coming out are sort of interesting, but, to be honest, I'm not putting a lot of credence in them, nor am I paying too much attention.  However, one item that did catch my eye was the retired Hines Ward talking about too much "finger pointing" taking place among the team this year, a team, by the way, that, lest we forget, Ward was not a part of.  This is coming from the same Hines Ward who a few years back accused Ben Roethlisberger of dogging it for not playing when he had a concussion.

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It's High School Musical season.  We took in Seneca Valley's production of "Annie" last Friday.  In two weeks, it'll be North Allegheny doing "Footloose", and next month it will be "Legally Blonde" at Montour.  Few things make you feel better than seeing the energy, talent, and just plain fun of these kids - cast, orchestra, and crew - putting on a show.

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So Mayor Luke has decided not to seek re-election as Mayor of Pittsburgh.  In his column today, John Mehno talked about the "frat-boy sensibility" that the Boy Mayor has brought to the office, and that was certainly reinforced when you read Luke's Mayoral "timeline" in the PG the other day, and saw about Luke's Seven Springs birthday party, crashing a party to meet Tiger Woods, attending concerts at Star Lake in city vehicles, airplane rides with Mario Lemieux, appearance in the Batman movie, and you could go on and on..

Davey Lawrence, he wasn't.

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A DVR Alert for tonight, Sunday:  "Annie Hall" is on TCM at 8:00 PM.  One of Woody Allen's very best.  Oscars for Best Picture, Actress (Dianne Keaton), and Director and Screenplay (Allen).  Terrific movie.

Steelers Overpower RG3, Redskins

Some quick thoughts immediately after Steelers 27 - Redskins 13....

• I think we can all agree that today was the best game the Steelers have put together this season on both sides of the ball, as the coaches say, or if you will as Mike Tomlin would say.
• I think Ben Roethlisberger was making a point as to exactly who the best quarterback at Heinz Field was today.
• I think the Steelers should stick with Jonathon Dwyer for the foreseeable future.
• RG3 was pretty much neutralized today, and maybe more so by his own receivers, who dropped ten passes, than by the Steelers defense.
• This might be considered a mortal sin by some, by I kind of liked Brian Billick as color analyst on the telecast.
• Didn't hear Ike Taylor's name called once today.  I'm guessing that means he was playing a pretty nice game.
• Again, I'll say that that was the Steelers best played game of the season.  Maybe it was the uniforms.  Maybe they should keep wearing them?

Bradshaw vs. Roethlisberger

As Steelers fans are no doubt aware, in last week's game against the Titans, Ben Roethlisberger surpassed Terry Bradshaw's Steeler team record for career passing yards.  The number is over 27,000 yards.

This made for lots of fun debate on the talk shows and in the papers as to who is/was the better quarterback, Terry or Ben.  As you might expect, much of this broke down on generational lines with, ahem, older Steelers fans favoring Bradshaw over Roethlisberger.  A strong case can be made for either one of them.  Comparing statistics might not be fair either because, and this was pointed out by many, the game played in the NFL in the 2010's is quite different than the one played in the 1970's.

Personally, I think that either player could switch eras and excel at the position.   Someone stated that if Roethlisberger played in the 1970's with his size and strength and with the Steelers defense to complement him, he would never lose a game.  Could very well be, but people forget that Bradshaw was a big guy at the time he played, and while he looks small compared to Ben, I have no doubt that if a 29 year old Terry Bradshaw was playing in the NFL today, he would be right up there with the Mannings, Rodgers, Bradys, and, yes, Roethlisbergers of today.  Personally, I'd have loved to see what Bradshaw could have done throwing it 40 time a game.

People will always point to Super Bowl Rings and give Terry with four an edge over Ben, who has two.  True enough, but we often forget that Super Bowls are won by teams, not individuals, so I don;t think this is a totally fair point of judgement.  

If forced to choose only one of them, my vote goes to Roethlisberger by a narrow margin, and here's why.  If you can remember, if Bradshaw started a game poorly, threw an interception or two, he almost never was able to turn it around in mid-game and change a poor start into a good game.  Roethlisberger has shown the ability over time to be able to shrug off a bad play or a poor start and turn what looked like a bad game into a good one, often resulting in a Steelers win.  That is completely subjective and intangible, but that's how I'm going.

Steelers Win Another Practice Game

Circumstances prevented me from seeing much of last night's Steelers 38-7 win over the Buff Bills.  In fact, I only saw one sequence of plays in that game, but what an enlightening sequence it was.

I switched between innings of the Pirates game to the Steelers game, only to see that the score was 7-7, and that the Steelers had just taken possession on their own two yard line with a little over one minute remaining in the first half.  Two straight running plays by the New Steelers Offense netted -1 yard, and in fact, the Bills called time out after each play in hopes of getting another possession before halftime.  At that point, Ben Roethlisberger, probably to the consternation of Art II and Todd Hailey began to pass the football.  The Steelers offense -  as opposed to the New Steelers Offense - led by Roethlisberger, then passed their way downfield and capped it off with one of the prettiest Ben-to-Antonio Brown passes and catches you will see with :13 remaining in the half.  Johnny Unitas in his prime could not have conjured up a better two-minute drill.  In reading the paper this morning, I found it interesting that Ben's quote was "I just started calling my own plays out there".

I'm just a fan.  I'm no coach, and heavy X's-and-O's talk bores me to tears, and I watched that series of plays in a vacuum (saw nothing before that series, and nothing after it), but how smart do you have to be to realize that when the best player on your team is your quarterback, who is also one of the half-dozen or so best QB's in the League, and you have a bunch of pretty good receivers, you should THROW THE BALL.