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.

******

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.

The Tomlin Affair

Nothing seems to have dominated the sports news as much as Mike Tomlin's inadvertent (I believe) interference on Jacoby Jones' kick return in the game with the Ravens on Thanksgiving night.

Tomlin has apologized - and it was not the typical jock apology written by some PR hack - profusely and sincerely and has said he will accept without protest or appeal any discipline that the NFL metes out.  So, let it happen and let it be done.  Unfortunately, this is something that will follow Tomlin forever.  That may not be fair, but that is the world in which we live these days.

My own opinion is that I simply do not believe that this was done intentionally by Tomlin.  As Michael Wilbon pointed out on PTI on Monday, there is nothing in Tomlin's history to suggest any pattern of behaviour that would lead one to think he would intentionally interfere with the game in progress.   As to the actual interference, in continued viewings of the play, nothing suggests to me that Tomlin's actions caused Jones to NOT go all the way with that return.  It appears to me that Jones would have been tackled, regardless of where Tomlin was on the sideline.  Still, Tomlin was wrong and deserves some punishment, which he has acknowledged.

Also, in one perspective, it's a good thing that Baltimore actually won this game, for had they not, the actions of Tomlin would have no doubt led to his being drawn and quartered by the NFL. suits on Park Avenue.

What is more disturbing to me is the extremely negative reaction to Tomlin by Steelers fans themselves.  If you read some of the online comments being made by these purported fans, well, one can only draw one conclusion as to why there is so much negativity towards Tomlin.  I would also refer you to Ron Cook today, who makes an excellent case for Mike Tomlin.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/2013/12/04/Finest-moment-for-coach/stories/201312040049

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?

Why Don't They Just Go Back to the Single Wing?

Another story in the Post-Gazette this morning about how the Steelers have recommitted to the running game under new OC Todd Hailey and at the urging (meddling insistence?) of team Prez Art Rooney II.  All kinds of stats cited about how there have been more running plays called in the two practice games so far and blah blah blah.  

Here's what I think...

In Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers employ one of the Top Five QB's in all of football.  That's my opinion, of course, and some will argue that he may not be a "Top 5" guy, but I don't think that anyone would place him outside of the Top Ten.  And he HAS led the team to three Super Bowls in his tenure over center.

In Wallace (when he shows up, and he will, eventually), Brown, Sanders, and Miller the team employs, maybe not an elite corps of receivers, but certainly a good to very good corps of receivers.

Their best running back, Rashard Mendenhall, is coming off major knee surgery, and who knows when, or even if, he'll be able to play.  The RB next in line, Isaac Redman, is also hurt (and I wasn't convinced that he would be able to do the job on a full time basis anyway).  The rest of the running backs are all pretty much untested and/or unknown.  Even at full strength, no one was going to confuse the current RB's with Jerome Bettis or Franco Harris.

When you put all that together, why the insistence on shifting the offensive emphasis on "running the football"?  The nearest that I have been able to tell, the answer to that question is some combination of "because that's Steelers football", "because that's what western PA football is all about", "because that's how the Steelers have always done it", "because that's what the fans want" (I thought the fans wanted Steelers wins), and "because that's what Art II wants".  I'm just a fan and not an expert, but I don't think that that is how the NFL game is being played these days.

I will admit to not paying the strictest attention to the two practice games so far, but in each game, I did see the Steelers come up with first and goal situations, whereupon the "new Steelers offense" ran three straight plays in both such possessions and produced negative yardage in both possessions, and settled for field goals.  I know, I know...they are exhibition games, you try things out in those games, who cares if you win or lose.  I get that, but I also know that there will be plenty of times this season, when the games DO count, that there will be first and goal situations when the Steelers will need to score touchdowns, and right now, I don't have a lot of faith that three straight hand offs to Isaac Redman up the middle will get the job done.  

We'll see where it goes from here, and I have a lot of faith in Mike Tomlin to coach this team as he sees best.  As for Art II, I have a lot of faith in his ability to squeeze every last buck from every available revenue stream, and very little faith in his calling plays from the owner's box.

"What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is Going On....?"

The title of this post is dedicated to my breakfast companions of yesterday morning.


Some sporting thoughts on a Sunday morning.....

• It is frustrating to see the Pirates just eaking out wins over the Astros, a team that they should be hammering into submission, this weekend, but, hey, they ARE winning those games, right?  Just a sign, I suppose, about how far the Pirates have come this season.
• Those Astros, by the way, are really a bad ball club.  As bad a team as I've seen since, oh, the 2010 Pirates.   I'm watching these games, and I am unfamiliar with just about every player on that team.  And is it a coincidence that Brad Mills makes you think of John Russell as he stands expressionless in the Houston dugout?
• For the record, I liked the trade for Wandy Rodriguez.  Nolan Ryan, he ain't, but he will be an improvement over Kevin Correia, I think, in the long run, despite the fact that Correia has won his last six decisions.
• It should also be noted that Rodriguez is under contract, and not an inexpensive one, for, I believe, two more seasons after this one, so kudos to Nutting/Coonelly/Huntington for pulling the trigger on this one.
• If Colton Cain wins 20 games for the Astros in 2017, this will still have been a good deal, if the Pirates get to the post-season this year, or even if they stay in the hunt deep into September.
• I also like that Starling Marte is now here in Pittsburgh, and how can you not after that spectacular debut?  True, he is hitless in his last two games, but I do believe he will be an improvement over what Pirates left fielders/lead off batters have given the team so far.
• Now the big question:  Does GM Neal swing a deal to bring a hitter, or "a bat" as is now the lingo, to PNC Park for the stretch?  I will not pay attention to anything Neal might say on the subject between now and Tuesday - he will never say anything significant on such a subject - but I anxiously await that July deadline.
• In case no one noticed, and it is definitely a secondary story line in Pittsburgh this summer - the Steelers opened training camp  this week.  The highlight for me was hearing my first Mike Tomlin soundbite of the season.  I LOVE hearing those, and I am not being sarcastic.
• Mike Wallace learned a hard lesson this week: When you get into a contract hassle with the Steelers, you will lose.  Every time.  You think these guys would know that by now.
• One thing that guys like Wallace and their agents absolutely, positively need to remember:  the Steelers released Franco Harris in a contract dispute back in 1983.  They do that to one of the pre-eminent figures in franchise history, then guys like Wallace will never have a chance.
• It amazes me to hear that there are some folks in Pitt fandom who think that the Panthers should now forget about ever playing Penn State, even to the point of canceling the two games scheduled for '16 and '17.  "Who needs THEM now?", they sniff.  This makes those elements at Pitt guilty of the same arrogance and hubris that they have accused (and not without some justification, it should be noted) Penn State and Joe Paterno of having had ever since the series ended.
• My friend Dan Bonk, a major Pitt fan and supporter, has taken the opposite tack:  AD Steve Pederson should be on the phone RIGHT NOW to whoever is in charge at Penn State these days negotiating a long term home-and-home deal with Penn State. 
• Penn State has always been able to find a way to schedule teams like Ohio University.  Pitt has always found a way to schedule teams like the University of Buffalo.  They can find a way to make this happen, and don't forget, the one person who always prevented  this series from continuing, is no longer on the scene.
• The NCAA and other college "spokesmen" have talked very loftily about how the College football culture needs to change after it was allowed to run amok at Penn State.  Yet there were reports this week, the ink on the consent decree not even dry, of rival schools' coaches on the PSU campus recruiting the Lions' current scholarship athletes.  Do you REALLY think that that culture is going to change?
• In spite of all that has fallen upon Penn State, I find myself really rooting for Bill O'Brien and those kids who will choose to stay at Penn State this coming season.
• I learned very quickly this week, that if you want to watch the Olympics and not know the results of a given event, stay off of Facebook, Twitter, or the entire Internet itself over the course of the next two weeks.