Last night, in an epic battle of the two greatest teams in the history of the universe, the Baltimore Ravens out awesomed the New York Jets, 10-9, and claimed the title as Champions of Super Bowl Infinity.
Asked how it felt to defeat the team that was considered one of the two greatest teams in the history of the universe, a team that impressively made the playoffs last year after the Colts decided to rest their starters, legendary Ravens' linebacker Ray Lewis said, "Anytime you challenge a warrior, a warrior is always going to respond."
The Jets awesome quarterback, Mark Sanchez, only produced 74 yards in the air, but as Ravens' defensive end Terrell Suggs put it, "We showed who the number 1 defense is." Therefore, you can't blame Sanchez for only putting up 74 yards. Playing against the most awesome defense in the history of the universe aint no day in the park.
On the offensive side for the Ravens, the awesome Joe Flacco was 20 for 38 with 238 yards and only two turnovers. Pretty impressive stats against the 2nd most awesome defense in the history of the universe.
And Ray Rice had a very impressive 43 yards on the ground against the very awesome Jets' run defense.
The Jets' trash-talking head coach, Rex Ryan, was put in his place by the Super Bowl Infinity Champion Ravens, who impressively made the playoffs last year as a wild card with a very awesome 9-7 record. Why, you ask? Well, as Suggs further suggests when speaking of Ryan, "I told him that the beast he created, he's got to deal with."
Yes, indeed.
So, there you have it. Super Bowl Infinity is complete. This puts an end to the competitive phase of the 2010 NFL season. Why they decided to hold such an epic battle in week 1 is beyond me. The rest of the season is just a formality.
The Baltimore Ravens: Your Super Bowl Infinity Champions
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Difference Between Last Year's Season-opening Overtime Victory And This Year's Overtime Victory
Right now, as I write this blog, I feel drained. First of all, work was a killer today. We were short-handed, as usual, and I was just on the go the entire day.
But it's more of an emotional drained than a physical one. The kind that one gets after their favorite team just participated in a thrilling overtime game. In this case, my favorite team won and I feel great about it.
Even though last year's season-opening victory over the Titan's was just as exciting and thrilling, I didn't feel this way.
You see, last year, the Steelers were coming off of a Super Bowl season. They were the defending champions and I had more of a cocky demeanor.
Thanks to my girlfriend, I got to attend the 2009 season-opener, but even while that game was going on and it was still anyone's contest, I didn't feel that anxious about things. Don't get me wrong, I wanted them to win, but everyone knows how overrated the first game of any regular season is, even in football. It's been 38 years since a team went undefeated so you have to expect at least a couple of losses a year. If it happens in the first game, no big deal. And besides, the Steelers were the champs.
But they did win last year and it only fed into my cocky attitude. But something happened in week 2 that changed all that. They blew a 4th quarter lead against the Bears and suffered the first of many such-losses last season.
By the end of the year, after one heartbreaking loss after another, I went from being cocky to feeling vulnerable.
And I couldn't help but feel that way today as I tried to catch as much of the game as I could while working.
It's amazing how things can change in just a short period of time.
The fact that Roethlisberger was out didn't help that feeling any. Dennis Dixon started the game at quarterback, and even though he didn't make any glaring mistakes, the team just couldn't complete a drive on offense. In the 4th quarter, after another promising drive came up a little short, Jeff Reed kicked a field goal to give the Steelers a 9-6 lead.
The Steeler defense, which uncharacteristically gave up numerous 4th quarter leads last season, was stellar today. They held Matt Ryan in check, and they shut down running back Michael Turner. Roddy White had over 100 yards receiving for the Falcons, but they weren't very damaging yards.
I wanted to see if the defense could hold this lead. They didn't. Atlanta marched down the field and tied the game with Matt Bryant's third field goal of the day.
I started to get a sinking feeling, and I thought to myself, "here we go again!" This felt all too familiar. They were going to lose another tight game.
And after Dixon was sacked on two consecuctive plays, I figured it was just a matter of time.
I thought Ryan would drive the Falcons down and put them in position to kick a game-winning field goal.
But much to my surprise, Superman in cleats, Troy Polamalu, came through with another clutch play and intercepted Ryan at the 30 yard line. With less than two minutes left, it was just a matter of Dixon taking some time off the clock and putting Skippy in position to kick a chip-shot field goal. After two running plays, it was 3rd and 1 and I was hoping they would convert so they could just wind the clock down and kick the game-winner with no time left. But Redman was stopped and I started to feel uneasy again.
Once again, the offensive line couldn't win the battle on a 3rd and short-yardage play.
With 43 seconds left, Reed missed from 39 yards out, and I thought, "here we go again!"
The Steelers were going to suffer another overtime loss, and this time to the Falcons, who always seem to have their number in close games. And wouldn't you know it, they won the toss. Ryan was just going to fling the ball down field, like all the qbs seemed to do last year, and Pittsburgh was going home with another heartbreaking loss.
But the defense came up big and forced the Falcons to punt near their own end zone. Randle El called for a fair catch near mid field, but was run into by his own teammate. Fortunately, the ball didn't hit anyone and Pittsburgh had the ball at the 50.
Was Dixon going to come through with a heroic drive? The Falcons didn't seem to be worried about Dixon. They had 8-men in the box. I thought, "Don't run it! Try a play-action pass. It could break wide open." Well, it did break wide-open, alright. Rashard Mendenhall took the hand-off and broke through the line and went untouched for the game-winning touchdown. He stumbled near the 20 and almost gave me a heart-attack, but he made it home, and my vulnerable feeling went away and turned to joy.
What a first game! Maybe we can win our share of thrilling contests this season.
It's games like today that are usually the difference between making the postseason and sitting at home.
But it's more of an emotional drained than a physical one. The kind that one gets after their favorite team just participated in a thrilling overtime game. In this case, my favorite team won and I feel great about it.
Even though last year's season-opening victory over the Titan's was just as exciting and thrilling, I didn't feel this way.
You see, last year, the Steelers were coming off of a Super Bowl season. They were the defending champions and I had more of a cocky demeanor.
Thanks to my girlfriend, I got to attend the 2009 season-opener, but even while that game was going on and it was still anyone's contest, I didn't feel that anxious about things. Don't get me wrong, I wanted them to win, but everyone knows how overrated the first game of any regular season is, even in football. It's been 38 years since a team went undefeated so you have to expect at least a couple of losses a year. If it happens in the first game, no big deal. And besides, the Steelers were the champs.
But they did win last year and it only fed into my cocky attitude. But something happened in week 2 that changed all that. They blew a 4th quarter lead against the Bears and suffered the first of many such-losses last season.
By the end of the year, after one heartbreaking loss after another, I went from being cocky to feeling vulnerable.
And I couldn't help but feel that way today as I tried to catch as much of the game as I could while working.
It's amazing how things can change in just a short period of time.
The fact that Roethlisberger was out didn't help that feeling any. Dennis Dixon started the game at quarterback, and even though he didn't make any glaring mistakes, the team just couldn't complete a drive on offense. In the 4th quarter, after another promising drive came up a little short, Jeff Reed kicked a field goal to give the Steelers a 9-6 lead.
The Steeler defense, which uncharacteristically gave up numerous 4th quarter leads last season, was stellar today. They held Matt Ryan in check, and they shut down running back Michael Turner. Roddy White had over 100 yards receiving for the Falcons, but they weren't very damaging yards.
I wanted to see if the defense could hold this lead. They didn't. Atlanta marched down the field and tied the game with Matt Bryant's third field goal of the day.
I started to get a sinking feeling, and I thought to myself, "here we go again!" This felt all too familiar. They were going to lose another tight game.
And after Dixon was sacked on two consecuctive plays, I figured it was just a matter of time.
I thought Ryan would drive the Falcons down and put them in position to kick a game-winning field goal.
But much to my surprise, Superman in cleats, Troy Polamalu, came through with another clutch play and intercepted Ryan at the 30 yard line. With less than two minutes left, it was just a matter of Dixon taking some time off the clock and putting Skippy in position to kick a chip-shot field goal. After two running plays, it was 3rd and 1 and I was hoping they would convert so they could just wind the clock down and kick the game-winner with no time left. But Redman was stopped and I started to feel uneasy again.
Once again, the offensive line couldn't win the battle on a 3rd and short-yardage play.
With 43 seconds left, Reed missed from 39 yards out, and I thought, "here we go again!"
The Steelers were going to suffer another overtime loss, and this time to the Falcons, who always seem to have their number in close games. And wouldn't you know it, they won the toss. Ryan was just going to fling the ball down field, like all the qbs seemed to do last year, and Pittsburgh was going home with another heartbreaking loss.
But the defense came up big and forced the Falcons to punt near their own end zone. Randle El called for a fair catch near mid field, but was run into by his own teammate. Fortunately, the ball didn't hit anyone and Pittsburgh had the ball at the 50.
Was Dixon going to come through with a heroic drive? The Falcons didn't seem to be worried about Dixon. They had 8-men in the box. I thought, "Don't run it! Try a play-action pass. It could break wide open." Well, it did break wide-open, alright. Rashard Mendenhall took the hand-off and broke through the line and went untouched for the game-winning touchdown. He stumbled near the 20 and almost gave me a heart-attack, but he made it home, and my vulnerable feeling went away and turned to joy.
What a first game! Maybe we can win our share of thrilling contests this season.
It's games like today that are usually the difference between making the postseason and sitting at home.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Greatest Nine Weeks Ever! (Part Two)
I was pretty pumped up for the Steelers wildcard playoff game against the Bengals at Cincinnati. More than anything, I wanted to beat the Bengals in their place and knock them out of the the playoffs. Let's face it, the Steelers were the 6th seed and no team seeded that low had ever made it to the Super Bowl, but if Pittsburgh could knock out the Bungals and shove that division title up their butts, that would be pretty sweet. That week, leading up to the game, I remember reading some article online about how teams that had to scratch and fight their way into the playoffs on the last day of the season never really did that well in the postseason and they provided statistics to back up those claims. It was pretty standard knowledge for most die-hard football fans such as myself, but still kind of sobering. Every now and then, wildcard playoff teams make runs, and a few have even gone all the way to the Super Bowl. And the '80 Raiders, the '97 Broncos, the 2000 Ravens, and the 2007 Giants actually won the championship coming out of the wildcard spot. But, mostly, wildcard teams take the early exit out of the postseason because, number one, they have to play against superior opponents, and two, it's very hard to win on the road in the NFL, especially in the postseason. The '85 New England Patriots were the only team (up until that point) to be the last seed in a conference and win all their games on the road and make it to the Super Bowl (back in '85, there were only 5 seeds from each conference), and they were slaughtered by the Super Bowl shufflin' Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX.
The Tuesday before the game, I went to yet another taping of the Joey Porter show. James Farrior was Joey's guest that week and my aunt's friend went nuts because James Farrior is just so damn hot. There was a local comedian/dj named "Freedom" that always sort of mc'd the show each week and was in charge of getting the crowd excited or telling them to be quiet. In-fact, he often held up a sign that said "quiet please" but on this particular night, the sign read "quite please" which I thought was pretty hilarious. During a break in taping, Freedom tried to get the crowd riled up for the playoffs, but the people weren't too excited. He said, "Doesn't sound like you're ready for the playoffs!" And he was right, my aunt and I were still able to get pretty decent seats in the Firehouse Lounge. It wasn't really crowded at all and Pittsburgh, in general, didn't seem too thrilled about the upcoming playoff matchup. Pittsburgh Steeler fans are generally pretty football savvy and, perhaps, they read the same online article that I did about wildcard teams. Although, from what I've seen over the years, fans usually temper their excitement when a team is seeded low, but then hop on board if the team starts to do well, which would be the case later on.........IN A BIG WAY!
Anyway, back to the show, Joey would often have non-Steeler guests on his show, and Pittsburgh's own Monte "Mason" Clay, the WBC, or WBA, or IBF Featherweight champion of the world made an appearance that night. When Clay and his entourage came through the crowd at the Lounge, there was a huge guy with a couple of belts on his shoulder and I thought he was Clay, but duh, featherweights are small, and Monte was the little guy walking in front shaking hands. He looked like he was 9 years old. After Clay's spot on the show, the night ended with a performance by some local musical duo. Apparently, Joey thought they were a hip-hop group because he tried to introduce them with this make-shift grill (or is it grille?) in his teeth. The mouthpiece kept falling out and Joey needed about five takes in-order to get it right. I just thought it was funny that Porter thought these guys were all about hip-hop because when they performed, it clearly wasn't hip-hop. In-fact, during the interview he had with them, one of them tried to point this out, but Joey didn't seem to catch-on.
Steelers vs. Bengals in the first round of the AFC playoffs.
As I've stated, the Steelers were the 6th seed in the AFC and the Bengals, the AFC North winners, were seeded 3rd and were the home team for this game.
I watched the game over my uncle's house which is usually the rule for me for Steelers games. A couple of his neighbors were there, as well, so it was one giant party.
The game started off in controversial fashion as Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer was knocked out after being hit in the knee by Steelers defensive lineman Kimo Von Oelhoffen during a long pass conversion to Chris Henry early in the first quarter. Palmer suffered a serious knee injury and would need the entire off-season for rehab. The scrappy, gutty Jon Kitna replaced Carson, and after Chris Henry also had to leave the game later in the drive with a serious injury, the Bengals settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead. I remember saying that it was probably the most costly field goal drive in the history of the postseason. Kitna was not done. He led Cincinnati on a touchdown drive later in the first quarter and the Bengals had a 10-0 lead. I was kind of worried at that point. I mean, the Steelers last playoff game was a beatdown by the Patriots in the AFC Championship game the season before and here they were getting outplayed again. However, the Steelers started to come to life at the end of the first quarter and eventually mounted a drive that ended with a screen pass to Willie Parker who took it in for the score. Pittsburgh was now down 10-7 and I was feeling pretty good about things. The Bengals drove down the field again and just when it looked like they were going to have to settle for a field goal attempt, Troy Polamalu was called for a personal foul and Cincy had new life. They eventually scored a touchdown and Pittsburgh was down by ten points once again. Late in the half, Roethlisberger hit Cedric Wilson on a long pass play and suddenly, Pittsburgh was threatening again. Jerome Bettis tried his patented running back option pass to tight end Jerame Tuman but threw it at his feet, but it was ok because Big Ben hit Hines Ward on a slant for the score and Pittsburgh was back in the game, again, 17-14 at the half.
Pittsburgh dominated the second half. Things started out ok for the Bengals as they took the second half kick-off and drove into Steelers' territory only to botch a field goal attempt and give the Steelers great field position. Pittsburgh immediately capitalized on the mistake when Ben threw deep to Antwaan Randle El for what appeared to be a touchdown. The officials called it incomplete (why Cowher didn't ask for a review is beyond me), but it didn't matter because the Bengals were called for defensive pass interference on the play and the Steelers had the ball at the five yard line. A play or two later, a couple of Bengals took a Bus ride as Bettis plowed into the endzone to give Pittsburgh its first lead of the game, 21-17; they would never trail again. When Jerome scored, I jumped up and screamed and looked over at my uncle's neighbors and said, "in-case you didn't know, that was my playoff scream."
Cincinnati continued to do nothing on offense and near the end of the 3rd quarter, the Steelers tried a gadget play. Near mid-field, Randle El took a hand-off on an end-around play only to stop and lateral it back to Roethlisberger, who then threw deep down field. Initially, I thought he was going to Hines and it appeared to be overthrown, but nope! Cedric Wilson was there, wide-open for the score and Pittsburgh was now up 28-17 and we all went nuts. It was funny seeing and hearing the Steelers fans cheering right there in the middle of all those quiet Bengals fans.
The Steelers continued to dominate in the fourth quarterback, and with the help of a James Farrior interception and a Bettis long run, they tacked on another three points for a 31-17 lead. Troy finished things off with an interception late in the game and scared the crap out of everyone by lateralling the ball back to Chris Hope instead of just taking a knee.
It was so sweet. It was Cincinnati's first playoff game in 15 years and Pittsburgh went in there, scored 24 unanswered points, and shut all those people up. Who dey? We dey!
After the game, the Bengals players and fans cried that the only reason Pittsburgh won was because Kimo knocked Palmer out. Last time I checked, Carson didn't play defense and the reason the Steelers won that game was because they were more physical than the Bengals. Congratulations on winning the 2005 AFC North division, Cincinnati. Ha ha ha!
It was now onto Indianapolis for Pittsburgh where they would have to face the number one seeded Colts. The Colts won their first 13 games in 2005 and, naturally, there was talk of them going undefeated, and even though that didn't happen and even though Tony Dungy rested most of his starters over the last few weeks of the regular season, the Colts were still heavily favored to beat Pittsburgh and go on to win the Super Bowl. And if it wasn't the Colts, it was going to be the two-time defending champion New England Patriots. The Steelers weren't really considered much of a factor by anyone outside of Pittsburgh. In-fact, when all the so-called experts previewed the four playoff games during the week, most were conflicted on the Seahawks/Redskins, Bears/Panthers, and Patriots/Broncos, but just about everyone agreed that Peyton Manning and the Colts would have their way with Pittsburgh much like they did in week 12 of the regular season.
The Tuesday before the game, I went to another taping of the Joey Porter show. When I arrived at the Firehouse Lounge, my aunt asked me if the little black guy that Porter was interviewing was Alan Faneca, who was going to be one of Joey's special guest Steelers on the show. For those of you who do not know, Alan Faneca is not a little black man, he's a huge white guy. The little black dude turned out to be Steelers defensive back Tyrone Carter. It was a fun night in the Strip and the Lounge was a little more crowded than the week before as my aunt and I had to stand further back. You could see the excitement on the faces of everyone and I could tell they were really pumped about the upcoming game with the Colts.
No city supports its team like Pittsburgh supports the Steelers. My store deals with this baker in Baldwin and towards the end of the regular season when the Steelers went on their playoff run, we started ordering Steelers helmet cakes, Terrible Towel cakes, black and gold rye bread and other Steelers pastries. Right around the week of Steelers/Colts, people started calling in orders for special Steelers cakes for playoff parties they were having. The cakes kinda looked like birthday cakes but with player names and numbers and I could just see people standing around these cakes singing, "Happy Steelers playoff game to you. Happy Steelers playoff game to you. Happy Steelers playoff game to Steeler Nation. Happy Steeler playoff game to you!"
I'm sure most of you know of craigslist. My sister is obsessed with that site. I think about 94% of her furniture was purchased on craigs. I like Craigslist myself, but I mainly go on the "rants and raves" message boards where people talk and argue over just about any subject that you can think of. During playoff weeks, however, this board is invaded by smack talkers. The week leading up to the Colts playoff game, Indy fans would come over to the Pittsburgh boards and talk trash and we obnoxious Steelers fans would go to their boards and talk trash. Even the Patriots fans joined in and the most unreal thing was seeing Colts fans and Patriots fans arguing over who was going to win the AFC championship game the following week. Both had decided that their teams were going to win their "tune-up" divisional playoff games that week. I had never seen such brashness in all my days. The Indy fans were a little more gracious than the cocky New Englanders, but both had completely written off the Steelers and the Broncos. It didn't matter to the Pats fans that their team was a wildcard team heading into Denver, they were the defending champions and their boys could do no wrong.
If there is one fan-base I cannot stand, it's the Patriots fans. Before pretty boy Brady came along and before Belichick became this defensive genius (perhaps illegally), the Patriots were behind the marathon and the Strangler in terms of importance in the metro-Boston area and New England, in general, but after they won a few Super Bowls, suddenly they all jumped on the wagon and their team was the greatest ever.
Towards the end of the week, Roethlisberger and Porter both made remarks that had everyone talking. Big Ben said that the Colts were a great team and their B+ game was good enough to beat Pittsburgh's A game. I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that was basically what he said. I guess he was going out of his way to praise the other team much like Joe Paterno does when he acts worried about facing Central Carolina. Joey Porter, on the other hand, took the exact opposite approach by stating that the Colts were a finesse team that didn't like to play physical. This had the fans angry and the media members wondering why Joey would say such a thing and "wake the sleeping giant." It really irritates me when people say stuff like that. Not what Porter said, but how people think that words really matter that much. "Oh no, Joey's talking smack, the Colts might try now." Words mean absolutely nothing and if a player is looking for motivation via trask talk, he's in trouble. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm guessing the prospect of winning the Super Bowl was more than enough motivation for the Indy lockerroom.
Ok, that's part two. I'll post more at a later date.
The Tuesday before the game, I went to yet another taping of the Joey Porter show. James Farrior was Joey's guest that week and my aunt's friend went nuts because James Farrior is just so damn hot. There was a local comedian/dj named "Freedom" that always sort of mc'd the show each week and was in charge of getting the crowd excited or telling them to be quiet. In-fact, he often held up a sign that said "quiet please" but on this particular night, the sign read "quite please" which I thought was pretty hilarious. During a break in taping, Freedom tried to get the crowd riled up for the playoffs, but the people weren't too excited. He said, "Doesn't sound like you're ready for the playoffs!" And he was right, my aunt and I were still able to get pretty decent seats in the Firehouse Lounge. It wasn't really crowded at all and Pittsburgh, in general, didn't seem too thrilled about the upcoming playoff matchup. Pittsburgh Steeler fans are generally pretty football savvy and, perhaps, they read the same online article that I did about wildcard teams. Although, from what I've seen over the years, fans usually temper their excitement when a team is seeded low, but then hop on board if the team starts to do well, which would be the case later on.........IN A BIG WAY!
Anyway, back to the show, Joey would often have non-Steeler guests on his show, and Pittsburgh's own Monte "Mason" Clay, the WBC, or WBA, or IBF Featherweight champion of the world made an appearance that night. When Clay and his entourage came through the crowd at the Lounge, there was a huge guy with a couple of belts on his shoulder and I thought he was Clay, but duh, featherweights are small, and Monte was the little guy walking in front shaking hands. He looked like he was 9 years old. After Clay's spot on the show, the night ended with a performance by some local musical duo. Apparently, Joey thought they were a hip-hop group because he tried to introduce them with this make-shift grill (or is it grille?) in his teeth. The mouthpiece kept falling out and Joey needed about five takes in-order to get it right. I just thought it was funny that Porter thought these guys were all about hip-hop because when they performed, it clearly wasn't hip-hop. In-fact, during the interview he had with them, one of them tried to point this out, but Joey didn't seem to catch-on.
Steelers vs. Bengals in the first round of the AFC playoffs.
As I've stated, the Steelers were the 6th seed in the AFC and the Bengals, the AFC North winners, were seeded 3rd and were the home team for this game.
I watched the game over my uncle's house which is usually the rule for me for Steelers games. A couple of his neighbors were there, as well, so it was one giant party.
The game started off in controversial fashion as Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer was knocked out after being hit in the knee by Steelers defensive lineman Kimo Von Oelhoffen during a long pass conversion to Chris Henry early in the first quarter. Palmer suffered a serious knee injury and would need the entire off-season for rehab. The scrappy, gutty Jon Kitna replaced Carson, and after Chris Henry also had to leave the game later in the drive with a serious injury, the Bengals settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead. I remember saying that it was probably the most costly field goal drive in the history of the postseason. Kitna was not done. He led Cincinnati on a touchdown drive later in the first quarter and the Bengals had a 10-0 lead. I was kind of worried at that point. I mean, the Steelers last playoff game was a beatdown by the Patriots in the AFC Championship game the season before and here they were getting outplayed again. However, the Steelers started to come to life at the end of the first quarter and eventually mounted a drive that ended with a screen pass to Willie Parker who took it in for the score. Pittsburgh was now down 10-7 and I was feeling pretty good about things. The Bengals drove down the field again and just when it looked like they were going to have to settle for a field goal attempt, Troy Polamalu was called for a personal foul and Cincy had new life. They eventually scored a touchdown and Pittsburgh was down by ten points once again. Late in the half, Roethlisberger hit Cedric Wilson on a long pass play and suddenly, Pittsburgh was threatening again. Jerome Bettis tried his patented running back option pass to tight end Jerame Tuman but threw it at his feet, but it was ok because Big Ben hit Hines Ward on a slant for the score and Pittsburgh was back in the game, again, 17-14 at the half.
Pittsburgh dominated the second half. Things started out ok for the Bengals as they took the second half kick-off and drove into Steelers' territory only to botch a field goal attempt and give the Steelers great field position. Pittsburgh immediately capitalized on the mistake when Ben threw deep to Antwaan Randle El for what appeared to be a touchdown. The officials called it incomplete (why Cowher didn't ask for a review is beyond me), but it didn't matter because the Bengals were called for defensive pass interference on the play and the Steelers had the ball at the five yard line. A play or two later, a couple of Bengals took a Bus ride as Bettis plowed into the endzone to give Pittsburgh its first lead of the game, 21-17; they would never trail again. When Jerome scored, I jumped up and screamed and looked over at my uncle's neighbors and said, "in-case you didn't know, that was my playoff scream."
Cincinnati continued to do nothing on offense and near the end of the 3rd quarter, the Steelers tried a gadget play. Near mid-field, Randle El took a hand-off on an end-around play only to stop and lateral it back to Roethlisberger, who then threw deep down field. Initially, I thought he was going to Hines and it appeared to be overthrown, but nope! Cedric Wilson was there, wide-open for the score and Pittsburgh was now up 28-17 and we all went nuts. It was funny seeing and hearing the Steelers fans cheering right there in the middle of all those quiet Bengals fans.
The Steelers continued to dominate in the fourth quarterback, and with the help of a James Farrior interception and a Bettis long run, they tacked on another three points for a 31-17 lead. Troy finished things off with an interception late in the game and scared the crap out of everyone by lateralling the ball back to Chris Hope instead of just taking a knee.
It was so sweet. It was Cincinnati's first playoff game in 15 years and Pittsburgh went in there, scored 24 unanswered points, and shut all those people up. Who dey? We dey!
After the game, the Bengals players and fans cried that the only reason Pittsburgh won was because Kimo knocked Palmer out. Last time I checked, Carson didn't play defense and the reason the Steelers won that game was because they were more physical than the Bengals. Congratulations on winning the 2005 AFC North division, Cincinnati. Ha ha ha!
It was now onto Indianapolis for Pittsburgh where they would have to face the number one seeded Colts. The Colts won their first 13 games in 2005 and, naturally, there was talk of them going undefeated, and even though that didn't happen and even though Tony Dungy rested most of his starters over the last few weeks of the regular season, the Colts were still heavily favored to beat Pittsburgh and go on to win the Super Bowl. And if it wasn't the Colts, it was going to be the two-time defending champion New England Patriots. The Steelers weren't really considered much of a factor by anyone outside of Pittsburgh. In-fact, when all the so-called experts previewed the four playoff games during the week, most were conflicted on the Seahawks/Redskins, Bears/Panthers, and Patriots/Broncos, but just about everyone agreed that Peyton Manning and the Colts would have their way with Pittsburgh much like they did in week 12 of the regular season.
The Tuesday before the game, I went to another taping of the Joey Porter show. When I arrived at the Firehouse Lounge, my aunt asked me if the little black guy that Porter was interviewing was Alan Faneca, who was going to be one of Joey's special guest Steelers on the show. For those of you who do not know, Alan Faneca is not a little black man, he's a huge white guy. The little black dude turned out to be Steelers defensive back Tyrone Carter. It was a fun night in the Strip and the Lounge was a little more crowded than the week before as my aunt and I had to stand further back. You could see the excitement on the faces of everyone and I could tell they were really pumped about the upcoming game with the Colts.
No city supports its team like Pittsburgh supports the Steelers. My store deals with this baker in Baldwin and towards the end of the regular season when the Steelers went on their playoff run, we started ordering Steelers helmet cakes, Terrible Towel cakes, black and gold rye bread and other Steelers pastries. Right around the week of Steelers/Colts, people started calling in orders for special Steelers cakes for playoff parties they were having. The cakes kinda looked like birthday cakes but with player names and numbers and I could just see people standing around these cakes singing, "Happy Steelers playoff game to you. Happy Steelers playoff game to you. Happy Steelers playoff game to Steeler Nation. Happy Steeler playoff game to you!"
I'm sure most of you know of craigslist. My sister is obsessed with that site. I think about 94% of her furniture was purchased on craigs. I like Craigslist myself, but I mainly go on the "rants and raves" message boards where people talk and argue over just about any subject that you can think of. During playoff weeks, however, this board is invaded by smack talkers. The week leading up to the Colts playoff game, Indy fans would come over to the Pittsburgh boards and talk trash and we obnoxious Steelers fans would go to their boards and talk trash. Even the Patriots fans joined in and the most unreal thing was seeing Colts fans and Patriots fans arguing over who was going to win the AFC championship game the following week. Both had decided that their teams were going to win their "tune-up" divisional playoff games that week. I had never seen such brashness in all my days. The Indy fans were a little more gracious than the cocky New Englanders, but both had completely written off the Steelers and the Broncos. It didn't matter to the Pats fans that their team was a wildcard team heading into Denver, they were the defending champions and their boys could do no wrong.
If there is one fan-base I cannot stand, it's the Patriots fans. Before pretty boy Brady came along and before Belichick became this defensive genius (perhaps illegally), the Patriots were behind the marathon and the Strangler in terms of importance in the metro-Boston area and New England, in general, but after they won a few Super Bowls, suddenly they all jumped on the wagon and their team was the greatest ever.
Towards the end of the week, Roethlisberger and Porter both made remarks that had everyone talking. Big Ben said that the Colts were a great team and their B+ game was good enough to beat Pittsburgh's A game. I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that was basically what he said. I guess he was going out of his way to praise the other team much like Joe Paterno does when he acts worried about facing Central Carolina. Joey Porter, on the other hand, took the exact opposite approach by stating that the Colts were a finesse team that didn't like to play physical. This had the fans angry and the media members wondering why Joey would say such a thing and "wake the sleeping giant." It really irritates me when people say stuff like that. Not what Porter said, but how people think that words really matter that much. "Oh no, Joey's talking smack, the Colts might try now." Words mean absolutely nothing and if a player is looking for motivation via trask talk, he's in trouble. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm guessing the prospect of winning the Super Bowl was more than enough motivation for the Indy lockerroom.
Ok, that's part two. I'll post more at a later date.
Working during the game against the Falcons. Anyone else?
I will be working this Sunday during the Steelers' big week one matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. It's sad because the first week of the NFL season is like an unofficial holiday for hardcore football fans such as myself. But I'll get over it. I generally work one Sunday a month, so on average, I miss about two or three games a season. No big deal since I usually listen to it on the radio while working. Recently, my bosses installed a television complete with a cable hook-up. I still haven't figured out why they have a tv because there usually isn't time to partake, but if they're expecting me not to tune into the game on Sunday, well, they're crazy. It would be like taping a bottle of Jack Daniels to an alcoholic's arm and telling him not to drink it. They better put some kind of "Steeler block" on the Fox channel because I will at least turn it on from time-to-time. I probably won't swear and jump around as that may be frowned upon, but I will see some of that game. Oh yes!
Of course, there could be a power-outage and I might miss everything, but as long as they win, I'll be happy.
And that brings me to my main point: As long as the Steelers win, does it matter if you have to miss the entire game for whatever reason?
I bring this up because, last hockey season during the Stanley Cup playoffs, my girflriend, who is a HUGE Penguins fan, was upset because she missed a playoff game due to a power outage at her home.
The Penguins won this particular contest, but that didn't matter. My girlfriend was still pretty upset about it.
This isn't uncommon. I would much rather see the game than not, obviously, but I've always been of the mindset that as long as my team wins, I don't care if I have to miss the entire game.
Heck, I've missed parts of Steelers playoff games because of work, and I've even turned games off because I just couldn't take the stress, but I was still happy if they won.
The only time I don't want to miss one single play is if the Steelers make it to the Super Bowl. Let's face it, as much as we love the Steelers and want them to get to the Big Game every season, that's obviously not realistic. There have been 44 Super Bowls played and Pittsburgh has made it 7 times. So, at that rate, if there are 56 more Super Bowls, the Black and Gold will appear in about 8 of them. You bet your ass I'm watching every single play. If my future wife ever goes into labor on Super Bowl Sunday and the Steelers happen to be in it, well........we'll discuss it when it happens.
Of course, there could be a power-outage and I might miss everything, but as long as they win, I'll be happy.
And that brings me to my main point: As long as the Steelers win, does it matter if you have to miss the entire game for whatever reason?
I bring this up because, last hockey season during the Stanley Cup playoffs, my girflriend, who is a HUGE Penguins fan, was upset because she missed a playoff game due to a power outage at her home.
The Penguins won this particular contest, but that didn't matter. My girlfriend was still pretty upset about it.
This isn't uncommon. I would much rather see the game than not, obviously, but I've always been of the mindset that as long as my team wins, I don't care if I have to miss the entire game.
Heck, I've missed parts of Steelers playoff games because of work, and I've even turned games off because I just couldn't take the stress, but I was still happy if they won.
The only time I don't want to miss one single play is if the Steelers make it to the Super Bowl. Let's face it, as much as we love the Steelers and want them to get to the Big Game every season, that's obviously not realistic. There have been 44 Super Bowls played and Pittsburgh has made it 7 times. So, at that rate, if there are 56 more Super Bowls, the Black and Gold will appear in about 8 of them. You bet your ass I'm watching every single play. If my future wife ever goes into labor on Super Bowl Sunday and the Steelers happen to be in it, well........we'll discuss it when it happens.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Comparing The Steelers Of The Early 80's To The Steelers Of Today. Could We be In the Beginnings Of A Down.....Nah, That's Crazy, Right?
I've always thought it was kind of neat that there have only been two teams with 9-7 regular season records that went on to appear in the Super Bowl(the Los Angeles Rams in 1979 and the Arizona Cardinals in 2008)and the Steelers were the opponent in each contest. And the fact that the Steelers struggled to win each game despite being huge favorites only added to the intrigue.
But witnessing how last year's season imploded, I'm beginning to wonder if we may be repeating history. The history of the 1980's.
In 1980, the Steelers were trying to win a 5th Lombardi trophy, but their team was aging rapidly, especially their legendary defense which had 7 members over the age of 30.
The 1980 season marked the first time the team failed to make the postseason since 1971. They missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record. Seven losses that included some very un-Steeler-like 4th quarter collapses to the likes of the Bengals and Browns.
Last season, the Steelers were trying to repeat, and win their 3rd Lombardi trophy in 5 seasons. They could never truly get over the hump, however, and finished out of the playoffs with a 9-7 record. They, too, saw 4th quarter leads vanish time and time again, most notably against the likes of Cincinnati, Kansas City and Oakland.
The only reason why I bring up this comparison is because, much like the early 80's, the Steelers' defense is also aging pretty fast with 8 members that are at least 30 years old.
I know physical fitness is way more advanced today than it was 30 years ago, and this defense was the best in the league two seasons ago, but the teams of the late 70's were also pretty dominant despite their age and the new rules, but once their age caught up to them in the early 80's, it caught up to them big time.
The one great thing about the NFL is players can come in right out of college and make an immediate impact.
Chuck Noll was no dummy and knew the hand-writing was on the wall and tried to replenish that defense with the likes of Robin Cole and Keith Gary. Unfortunately, he didn't find nearly the same success with those players that he did in the 70's.
The offense wasn't aging as fast as the defense, but unfortunately, Lynn Swann retired early, and Terry Bradshaw was also forced into retirement by his ailing elbow. Had Bradshaw been able to play a few more years, who knows? Maybe he matches Marino pass-for-pass in the 1984 AFC title game and the Steelers go on and get that "One for the thumb."
Instead, by the mid-80's, the Steelers had evolved into quite a mediocre football team and would remain in that state for many years.
Today, the team is trying to restock that great defense and get younger. In recent seasons, they've drafted Lawrence Timmons, Lamarr Woodley, and Evander "Ziggy" Hood.
Woodley is an all-world outside linebacker and Timmons looks to be finally coming into his own. The jury is still out on Hood, and it remains to be seen whether or not the franchise can survive the inevitable retirements of James Farrior, Aaron Smith, Chris Hoke and Casey Hampton. Ike Taylor will be a free agent after this year and may be in his last season here, and Polamalu? Let's hope that Troy has five or six great years left in him, but he's also approaching the 30 year milestone, and you never know with him. He strikes me as the kind of guy who could give it all up in a heartbeat and not think twice.
Fortunately, the team is fairly young on offense. Other than Hines, there isn't another starter over the age of 30 with the exception of The Hotel, who is just filling in for one season.
Roethlisberger, Miller, Mendenhall, Wallace, and Pouncey are either in their primes or still a few years away from reaching that point. Maybe the offense can be the strength of this team until the defense can reload.
Another thing in the Steelers favor is the structure of the NFL today compared to the early 80's. With a salary cap and free agency, teams are conditioned to turn over their roster at a quicker pace than in Noll's heyday.
The Steelers of the late 90's saw their six year playoff window close, but Cowher was able to revamp the roster in just three years and turned them into a perennial Super Bowl contender once again.
Here's hoping this current regime can do the same thing and the 10's won't resemble the 80's.
But witnessing how last year's season imploded, I'm beginning to wonder if we may be repeating history. The history of the 1980's.
In 1980, the Steelers were trying to win a 5th Lombardi trophy, but their team was aging rapidly, especially their legendary defense which had 7 members over the age of 30.
The 1980 season marked the first time the team failed to make the postseason since 1971. They missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record. Seven losses that included some very un-Steeler-like 4th quarter collapses to the likes of the Bengals and Browns.
Last season, the Steelers were trying to repeat, and win their 3rd Lombardi trophy in 5 seasons. They could never truly get over the hump, however, and finished out of the playoffs with a 9-7 record. They, too, saw 4th quarter leads vanish time and time again, most notably against the likes of Cincinnati, Kansas City and Oakland.
The only reason why I bring up this comparison is because, much like the early 80's, the Steelers' defense is also aging pretty fast with 8 members that are at least 30 years old.
I know physical fitness is way more advanced today than it was 30 years ago, and this defense was the best in the league two seasons ago, but the teams of the late 70's were also pretty dominant despite their age and the new rules, but once their age caught up to them in the early 80's, it caught up to them big time.
The one great thing about the NFL is players can come in right out of college and make an immediate impact.
Chuck Noll was no dummy and knew the hand-writing was on the wall and tried to replenish that defense with the likes of Robin Cole and Keith Gary. Unfortunately, he didn't find nearly the same success with those players that he did in the 70's.
The offense wasn't aging as fast as the defense, but unfortunately, Lynn Swann retired early, and Terry Bradshaw was also forced into retirement by his ailing elbow. Had Bradshaw been able to play a few more years, who knows? Maybe he matches Marino pass-for-pass in the 1984 AFC title game and the Steelers go on and get that "One for the thumb."
Instead, by the mid-80's, the Steelers had evolved into quite a mediocre football team and would remain in that state for many years.
Today, the team is trying to restock that great defense and get younger. In recent seasons, they've drafted Lawrence Timmons, Lamarr Woodley, and Evander "Ziggy" Hood.
Woodley is an all-world outside linebacker and Timmons looks to be finally coming into his own. The jury is still out on Hood, and it remains to be seen whether or not the franchise can survive the inevitable retirements of James Farrior, Aaron Smith, Chris Hoke and Casey Hampton. Ike Taylor will be a free agent after this year and may be in his last season here, and Polamalu? Let's hope that Troy has five or six great years left in him, but he's also approaching the 30 year milestone, and you never know with him. He strikes me as the kind of guy who could give it all up in a heartbeat and not think twice.
Fortunately, the team is fairly young on offense. Other than Hines, there isn't another starter over the age of 30 with the exception of The Hotel, who is just filling in for one season.
Roethlisberger, Miller, Mendenhall, Wallace, and Pouncey are either in their primes or still a few years away from reaching that point. Maybe the offense can be the strength of this team until the defense can reload.
Another thing in the Steelers favor is the structure of the NFL today compared to the early 80's. With a salary cap and free agency, teams are conditioned to turn over their roster at a quicker pace than in Noll's heyday.
The Steelers of the late 90's saw their six year playoff window close, but Cowher was able to revamp the roster in just three years and turned them into a perennial Super Bowl contender once again.
Here's hoping this current regime can do the same thing and the 10's won't resemble the 80's.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
PITT Loses. So What?
The Pitt Panthers lost their much hyped season-opener in Utah Thursday night. It was a pretty tough loss as the Panthers fell, 27-24, in overtime after Tino Sunseri was picked off on the first play in ot and the Utes kicked a game-winning 21 yard field goal for the win.
I'm not that upset by the loss since it was on the road to a ranked team that hasn't lost a home game since 2007. The Panthers were 3-point underdogs and they lost by 3 points. Nothing much to be ashamed of.
Of course, a lot of Panthers fans are already jumping off the bandwagon because of Wannstedt's conservative philosophy. I do agree that Wannstedt can be a bit too conservative, but if there ever was a time to play it close to the vest, opening on the road with a freshman quarterback making his first ever start against a ranked opponent would be a good time.
I guess most people are angry that Sunseri didn't attempt a pass to Jon Baldwin with a 1st and 10 at the 14 yard line with less than a minute to play and a chance to win the game. After two-incomplete passes, they ran the ball up the middle to set up a slightly easier field goal attempt that sent the game into overtime.
I admire the fact that PITT fought so hard to come back after trailing 24-13 and looking completely dead mid-way through the 4th quarter. If there ever was a "baptism by fire," Tino Sunseri experienced it Thursday night, but he stayed with it and led them into overtime even if he did throw the pick that led to the loss.
Aside from starting a freshman quarterback, the Panthers were also starting three new offensive linemen. I think that, more than anything, contributed greatly to PITT's struggles on offense. The defense and special teams forced 4 turnovers and all the Panthers could muster was 10 points. They had to do better than that. Dion Lewis didn't do much and Baldwin wasn't much of a factor until the end of game.
The thing that really disappointed me was the play of the defense. It appears that their weakness is defending the pass as they were shredded for 380plus yards through the air. That tells me that PITT needs to disrupt the quarterback in-order to be really successful on defense. I'm not worried about that because they have one of the most talented defensive lines in the country.
I awoke yesterday to a text from my aunt that said, "hahahahahaha!" in refernce to the heartbreaking PITT loss. She's a Penn State fan and I would expect nothing less. In-fact so many PSU fans are basking in the glow of PITT's disappointment. It was PITT's time to shine and they came up short.
I would laugh, too, if I was in their shoes. As a matter of fact, I will next week when the Nittany Lions get smacked around in Alabama by the topped ranked team in the country.
The PSU fans better enjoy today's rather unimpressive 44-14 season-opening win against Youngstown St. because they'll be in for a rude-awakening next week.
While we're on that subject, I was listening to sports talk radio while driving home from work, and some PSU moron texted into the show and said PITT had no excuses because Penn State also had a freshman quarterback making his first start and he did just fine.
Oh brother.
That's just another case of someone either seeing only what they want to see or being a complete moron. Since it was a Penn State fan, I'm guessing it was a combination of both.
By that logic, PITT fans should be feeling pretty good about themselves after Sunseri more than likely has an impressive showing against New Hampshire next week, and Penn State fans should just crawl in a hole and give up on the season after more than likely getting trounced in 'Bama.
Anyway, I digress.
PITT fans, relax. To quote Beano Cook, "It's just so hard to win on the road." Did you think the Panthers were going to go undefeated this year? That would have been nice but not realistic. The goal for PITT this season is to get over the hump and earn a BCS berth.
Whether they do that by winning the Big East or with an at-large berth really doesn't matter to me. Although, they are favored by many to win the conference and that's probably a little more tangible.
Not to repeat an annoying cliche, but there are no preseason games in college football and you just don't know how well young college kids are going to react to the bright lights. Both teams were really sloppy the other night.
I think PITT deserves a lot of credit for opening up against such a tough opponent. Fact is, if this loss would have occured in week 4 or 5, people wouldn't have been as disappointed.
PITT will be fine.
I'm not that upset by the loss since it was on the road to a ranked team that hasn't lost a home game since 2007. The Panthers were 3-point underdogs and they lost by 3 points. Nothing much to be ashamed of.
Of course, a lot of Panthers fans are already jumping off the bandwagon because of Wannstedt's conservative philosophy. I do agree that Wannstedt can be a bit too conservative, but if there ever was a time to play it close to the vest, opening on the road with a freshman quarterback making his first ever start against a ranked opponent would be a good time.
I guess most people are angry that Sunseri didn't attempt a pass to Jon Baldwin with a 1st and 10 at the 14 yard line with less than a minute to play and a chance to win the game. After two-incomplete passes, they ran the ball up the middle to set up a slightly easier field goal attempt that sent the game into overtime.
I admire the fact that PITT fought so hard to come back after trailing 24-13 and looking completely dead mid-way through the 4th quarter. If there ever was a "baptism by fire," Tino Sunseri experienced it Thursday night, but he stayed with it and led them into overtime even if he did throw the pick that led to the loss.
Aside from starting a freshman quarterback, the Panthers were also starting three new offensive linemen. I think that, more than anything, contributed greatly to PITT's struggles on offense. The defense and special teams forced 4 turnovers and all the Panthers could muster was 10 points. They had to do better than that. Dion Lewis didn't do much and Baldwin wasn't much of a factor until the end of game.
The thing that really disappointed me was the play of the defense. It appears that their weakness is defending the pass as they were shredded for 380plus yards through the air. That tells me that PITT needs to disrupt the quarterback in-order to be really successful on defense. I'm not worried about that because they have one of the most talented defensive lines in the country.
I awoke yesterday to a text from my aunt that said, "hahahahahaha!" in refernce to the heartbreaking PITT loss. She's a Penn State fan and I would expect nothing less. In-fact so many PSU fans are basking in the glow of PITT's disappointment. It was PITT's time to shine and they came up short.
I would laugh, too, if I was in their shoes. As a matter of fact, I will next week when the Nittany Lions get smacked around in Alabama by the topped ranked team in the country.
The PSU fans better enjoy today's rather unimpressive 44-14 season-opening win against Youngstown St. because they'll be in for a rude-awakening next week.
While we're on that subject, I was listening to sports talk radio while driving home from work, and some PSU moron texted into the show and said PITT had no excuses because Penn State also had a freshman quarterback making his first start and he did just fine.
Oh brother.
That's just another case of someone either seeing only what they want to see or being a complete moron. Since it was a Penn State fan, I'm guessing it was a combination of both.
By that logic, PITT fans should be feeling pretty good about themselves after Sunseri more than likely has an impressive showing against New Hampshire next week, and Penn State fans should just crawl in a hole and give up on the season after more than likely getting trounced in 'Bama.
Anyway, I digress.
PITT fans, relax. To quote Beano Cook, "It's just so hard to win on the road." Did you think the Panthers were going to go undefeated this year? That would have been nice but not realistic. The goal for PITT this season is to get over the hump and earn a BCS berth.
Whether they do that by winning the Big East or with an at-large berth really doesn't matter to me. Although, they are favored by many to win the conference and that's probably a little more tangible.
Not to repeat an annoying cliche, but there are no preseason games in college football and you just don't know how well young college kids are going to react to the bright lights. Both teams were really sloppy the other night.
I think PITT deserves a lot of credit for opening up against such a tough opponent. Fact is, if this loss would have occured in week 4 or 5, people wouldn't have been as disappointed.
PITT will be fine.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The Greatest Nine Weeks Ever! (Part One)
This is something I started to write a couple of years ago as a celebration of probably the most fun I've ever had following sports: December 11th, 2005-February 5th, 2006. It culminated in the Steelers finally winning that "One For The Thumb" when they defeated the Seattle Seahawks and captured their 5th Super Bowl title and first Lombardi trophy since the 1979 season.
I never finished it, but since posting on various blogs, especially Behind the Steel Curtain, has invigorated my love for writing about all things sports, I've decided to re-post it here and hopefully finish it in the very near future.
Hope you enjoy:
The first half of the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers regular season was going along much like the previous season when they finished 15-1 with rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger before losing to those forkin New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. They were sitting at 7-2, and even though Big Ben was out a few weeks after having minor knee surgery, Charlie Batch filled in just fine in beating a pretty mediocre Green Bay Packers team and the crappy Browns on Sunday Night Football. Things began to take a turn for the worse in week 10 when Charlie Batch was unable to go and Tommy Maddox had to take the helm at qb against the very ordinary Baltimore Ravens. I don't know if any of you remember, but '05 wasn't the greatest year for Tommy Gun. Earlier in the year, he had to fill in for Roethlisberger against the Jacksonville Jaguars and proceeded to throw three interceptions, including the back-breaker in overtime as the Steelers lost and Tommy may or may not have had garbage thrown on his lawn. He didn't fair much better against the Ravens and the Steelers lost in overtime with some help from a fluky interception off of Hines Ward's cleats near mid-field. The following week, the Steelers traveled to Indianapolis to play the then undefeated Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football. Big Ben was just coming back from his surgery but neither he nor the Steelers defense had an answer for the Colts as Peyton and the boys had their way with our Black and Gold. The Steelers were 7-4 and one game behind the Cincinnati Bengals heading into their week 12 match up at Heinz Field. The Steelers whipped up on the Bungals earlier in the season at Cincinnati and I figured they'd do the same thing at Heinz field and tie the Bengals for the lead in the division which essentially would put them one game ahead because of the head-to-head tiebreaker they would hold. Didn't happen. It was a pretty good game, but the Bengals eventually won by a touchdown and held a two-game lead with just four to go, all-but clinching the AFC North. Not only did Pittsburgh's chances at the division look pretty weak, but because of a very poor record in the AFC, their chances at a wildcard looked bleak at best. Things weren't looking good at all for Steeler Nation.
Then.........the fun began! There was no doubt the Steelers had to win their last four games to have a chance to make the playoffs, but they were in a dog-fight for the last two spots with the Jaguars, Titans, Chiefs and Chargers. The only tiebreaker advantage the Steelers held was over the Chargers because of their last-second victory earlier in the year. The rest of the teams had the Steelers dead-to-rights, and the Chargers were still one-game up on Pittsburgh, tiebreaker or not. I'm always pretty optimistic about my Steelers, but even I had very big doubts about them getting into the postseason.
The week leading up to their March To Greatness, my aunt asked me if I wanted to join her at the Firehouse Lounge in the Strip for the weekly taping of the Joey Porter show. In-fact, she called me the Tuesday night of the taping and asked if I was coming down. I could actually hear the audience applaud in the background as the show was just starting. I turned her down, though. I wasn't in the mood for any Steelers celebrating. I mean, heck, they were pretty much done. They were dead in the water.
Onto the game against the Bears. The Steelers played their best game in weeks as they manhandled the supposed toughest team in the NFC. The game was most noteable for a play in which the Bus, Jerome Bettis, ran over Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher during a short-yardage run in the snow at Heinz Field. It was fun to see the Steelers win, but their playoff hopes were still pretty sad. Later that evening, I was shocked to hear that the San Diego Chargers lost to the horrible Oakland Raiders. "Wow, a piece of the puzzle." I thought as I watched the Chiefs go up against the Dallas Cowboys. I haven't been a Cowboys fan in years, but you better believe I was that day. Trailing, the Cowboys had the ball first and goal late in the game. They didn't get anywhere on the first three downs and after their fourth down pass fell incomplete in the end zone, I thought, "oh well, at least the Chargers lost and the Steelers gained a little bit of ground in the playoff picture." Wait a second! There was a flag for holding against the Chiefs and the Cowboys had new life. They eventually scored and went on to win. Wow! Not only did the Steelers win and break their three game losing streak, but the Chargers and Chiefs both lost and suddenly, within a span of six hours, the Steelers playoff hopes went from last rights to looking pretty good.
A couple of days later, I did join my aunt at the Lounge for another taping of the Joey Porter show. The Joey Porter show was hosted by Peezee himself along with former Steeler Chris Hope and Jon Burton of Channel 4 Action Sports acting as co-hosts. The show was taped on Tuesdays and aired on Friday or Saturday nights on WBGN. It was like a poor man's Jerome Bettis show with subpar production values, but being at the tapings was a ton of fun. The place wasn't too crowded my first night there. I was able to sit right behind the cameras beside my aunt and her friend. Joey always had at least one special guest Steeler each show and Antwaan Randle El was the guest that night. Afterwards, the fans all gathered around the guys for autographs and pictures. In-fact, my aunt's main purpose for attending these tapings was to get as many autographs as she could on a Steelers shirt that she would eventually give my uncle. I've never been an autograph seeker, but it's like a knee-jerk reaction when you're around a celebrity of any kind. For some reason, you feel compelled to ask them to sign something. Randle El disappointed most of the crowd by skirting out of there pretty fast after the show ended, but Porter and Hope stuck around to sign stuff and have their pictures taken. When Hope finally came my way, I said, "hey man, could you sign my hat?" As I shoved it in his face. And he said, "where?" My hat was this Steelers tossle cap and the only place to sign it was the logo so that's what he did. The night was pretty cool.
The Steelers were in even better shape the following week after they dominated the Vikings in Minnesota and the Chiefs and Chargers both lost again. Well, maybe the Chargers won, I can't remember. But as I said, the Steelers owned the tiebreaker over them so the more important loss was the Chiefs.
I went to another taping of the Joey Porter show that following Tuesday and the crowd was still pretty small despite the Steelers' playoff chances looking a lot better. The thing I remember most about that night was Joey Porter, the crazy but loveable linebacker, recounting an argument he had with someone from the Vikings and describing it with the help of the f-word before catching himself and apologizing to the audience. Joey's guest that night was fellow Steelers linebacker Larry Foote.
Heading into week 15, the Steelers were now one-game up on both the Chargers and the Chiefs. Pittsburgh was in Cleveland on Christmas eve to play the Browns and the Chiefs and Chargers were playing eachother. Either way, if the Steelers won, they'd be in the driver's seat and win they did as they simply pounded the Browns 41-0. I didn't get to see the game because I was working but I did have it taped for me and I've probably watched that beat-down a dozen times and it's sweeter each time I see it. I'm not positive, but I think the Chiefs beat San Diego effectively eliminating them from the playoffs. The Jaguars were basically in with the 5th seed so now it was down to the Chiefs and the Steelers for the last seed in the AFC. On a side note, I didn't go to the Joey Porter show that week. I don't remember why, but it was the only one I missed after they started their 8-game run better known as the March To Greatness. I've never heard it called that, I just decided to call it that after I started writing this blog.
The Steelers were 10-5 and the Chiefs were 9-6 heading into the final week but if Pittsburgh lost and Kansas city won, KC would get into the playoffs because of the AFC tiebreaker edge that they had. The night before the last game, San Diego played Denver in a meaningless game for the Broncos who already had the AFC Western division clinched as well as the 2nd seed in the playoffs, and if San Diego would have somehow won that game, Pittsburgh would have clinched that last playoff spot before Sunday's games were even played based on some weird threeway tiebreaker. It didn't happen, though, the Chargers lost and after celebrating New Year's eve the night before, I sat down with my uncle to sweat out the Steelers season finale against the Lions at Heinz field. The Chiefs played the Bengals in a meaningless game for Cincy and beat the beejeezus out of them 37-3. It didn't matter, though. Despite a scary first half, the Steelers pulled away from the Lions and clinched that final playoff berth. During halftime of that game, my uncle was watching Tommy Boy with Chris Farley and I, being a nervous wreck, was off to the side doing karate moves and wound up catching my foot on the back of his chair and fell on my ass. The thing I remember most is looking up and seeing my uncle and little cousin laughing their asses off. You talk about bringing Farley back from the dead.
Anyway, that game turned out to be the last home game for the Bus and he finished it off in style by scoring three touchdowns. The Steelers were in the playoffs and I was relieved.
Ok, this concludes the first part of "The Greatest Nine Weeks Ever." I hope to post more in the near future.
I never finished it, but since posting on various blogs, especially Behind the Steel Curtain, has invigorated my love for writing about all things sports, I've decided to re-post it here and hopefully finish it in the very near future.
Hope you enjoy:
The first half of the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers regular season was going along much like the previous season when they finished 15-1 with rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger before losing to those forkin New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. They were sitting at 7-2, and even though Big Ben was out a few weeks after having minor knee surgery, Charlie Batch filled in just fine in beating a pretty mediocre Green Bay Packers team and the crappy Browns on Sunday Night Football. Things began to take a turn for the worse in week 10 when Charlie Batch was unable to go and Tommy Maddox had to take the helm at qb against the very ordinary Baltimore Ravens. I don't know if any of you remember, but '05 wasn't the greatest year for Tommy Gun. Earlier in the year, he had to fill in for Roethlisberger against the Jacksonville Jaguars and proceeded to throw three interceptions, including the back-breaker in overtime as the Steelers lost and Tommy may or may not have had garbage thrown on his lawn. He didn't fair much better against the Ravens and the Steelers lost in overtime with some help from a fluky interception off of Hines Ward's cleats near mid-field. The following week, the Steelers traveled to Indianapolis to play the then undefeated Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football. Big Ben was just coming back from his surgery but neither he nor the Steelers defense had an answer for the Colts as Peyton and the boys had their way with our Black and Gold. The Steelers were 7-4 and one game behind the Cincinnati Bengals heading into their week 12 match up at Heinz Field. The Steelers whipped up on the Bungals earlier in the season at Cincinnati and I figured they'd do the same thing at Heinz field and tie the Bengals for the lead in the division which essentially would put them one game ahead because of the head-to-head tiebreaker they would hold. Didn't happen. It was a pretty good game, but the Bengals eventually won by a touchdown and held a two-game lead with just four to go, all-but clinching the AFC North. Not only did Pittsburgh's chances at the division look pretty weak, but because of a very poor record in the AFC, their chances at a wildcard looked bleak at best. Things weren't looking good at all for Steeler Nation.
Then.........the fun began! There was no doubt the Steelers had to win their last four games to have a chance to make the playoffs, but they were in a dog-fight for the last two spots with the Jaguars, Titans, Chiefs and Chargers. The only tiebreaker advantage the Steelers held was over the Chargers because of their last-second victory earlier in the year. The rest of the teams had the Steelers dead-to-rights, and the Chargers were still one-game up on Pittsburgh, tiebreaker or not. I'm always pretty optimistic about my Steelers, but even I had very big doubts about them getting into the postseason.
The week leading up to their March To Greatness, my aunt asked me if I wanted to join her at the Firehouse Lounge in the Strip for the weekly taping of the Joey Porter show. In-fact, she called me the Tuesday night of the taping and asked if I was coming down. I could actually hear the audience applaud in the background as the show was just starting. I turned her down, though. I wasn't in the mood for any Steelers celebrating. I mean, heck, they were pretty much done. They were dead in the water.
Onto the game against the Bears. The Steelers played their best game in weeks as they manhandled the supposed toughest team in the NFC. The game was most noteable for a play in which the Bus, Jerome Bettis, ran over Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher during a short-yardage run in the snow at Heinz Field. It was fun to see the Steelers win, but their playoff hopes were still pretty sad. Later that evening, I was shocked to hear that the San Diego Chargers lost to the horrible Oakland Raiders. "Wow, a piece of the puzzle." I thought as I watched the Chiefs go up against the Dallas Cowboys. I haven't been a Cowboys fan in years, but you better believe I was that day. Trailing, the Cowboys had the ball first and goal late in the game. They didn't get anywhere on the first three downs and after their fourth down pass fell incomplete in the end zone, I thought, "oh well, at least the Chargers lost and the Steelers gained a little bit of ground in the playoff picture." Wait a second! There was a flag for holding against the Chiefs and the Cowboys had new life. They eventually scored and went on to win. Wow! Not only did the Steelers win and break their three game losing streak, but the Chargers and Chiefs both lost and suddenly, within a span of six hours, the Steelers playoff hopes went from last rights to looking pretty good.
A couple of days later, I did join my aunt at the Lounge for another taping of the Joey Porter show. The Joey Porter show was hosted by Peezee himself along with former Steeler Chris Hope and Jon Burton of Channel 4 Action Sports acting as co-hosts. The show was taped on Tuesdays and aired on Friday or Saturday nights on WBGN. It was like a poor man's Jerome Bettis show with subpar production values, but being at the tapings was a ton of fun. The place wasn't too crowded my first night there. I was able to sit right behind the cameras beside my aunt and her friend. Joey always had at least one special guest Steeler each show and Antwaan Randle El was the guest that night. Afterwards, the fans all gathered around the guys for autographs and pictures. In-fact, my aunt's main purpose for attending these tapings was to get as many autographs as she could on a Steelers shirt that she would eventually give my uncle. I've never been an autograph seeker, but it's like a knee-jerk reaction when you're around a celebrity of any kind. For some reason, you feel compelled to ask them to sign something. Randle El disappointed most of the crowd by skirting out of there pretty fast after the show ended, but Porter and Hope stuck around to sign stuff and have their pictures taken. When Hope finally came my way, I said, "hey man, could you sign my hat?" As I shoved it in his face. And he said, "where?" My hat was this Steelers tossle cap and the only place to sign it was the logo so that's what he did. The night was pretty cool.
The Steelers were in even better shape the following week after they dominated the Vikings in Minnesota and the Chiefs and Chargers both lost again. Well, maybe the Chargers won, I can't remember. But as I said, the Steelers owned the tiebreaker over them so the more important loss was the Chiefs.
I went to another taping of the Joey Porter show that following Tuesday and the crowd was still pretty small despite the Steelers' playoff chances looking a lot better. The thing I remember most about that night was Joey Porter, the crazy but loveable linebacker, recounting an argument he had with someone from the Vikings and describing it with the help of the f-word before catching himself and apologizing to the audience. Joey's guest that night was fellow Steelers linebacker Larry Foote.
Heading into week 15, the Steelers were now one-game up on both the Chargers and the Chiefs. Pittsburgh was in Cleveland on Christmas eve to play the Browns and the Chiefs and Chargers were playing eachother. Either way, if the Steelers won, they'd be in the driver's seat and win they did as they simply pounded the Browns 41-0. I didn't get to see the game because I was working but I did have it taped for me and I've probably watched that beat-down a dozen times and it's sweeter each time I see it. I'm not positive, but I think the Chiefs beat San Diego effectively eliminating them from the playoffs. The Jaguars were basically in with the 5th seed so now it was down to the Chiefs and the Steelers for the last seed in the AFC. On a side note, I didn't go to the Joey Porter show that week. I don't remember why, but it was the only one I missed after they started their 8-game run better known as the March To Greatness. I've never heard it called that, I just decided to call it that after I started writing this blog.
The Steelers were 10-5 and the Chiefs were 9-6 heading into the final week but if Pittsburgh lost and Kansas city won, KC would get into the playoffs because of the AFC tiebreaker edge that they had. The night before the last game, San Diego played Denver in a meaningless game for the Broncos who already had the AFC Western division clinched as well as the 2nd seed in the playoffs, and if San Diego would have somehow won that game, Pittsburgh would have clinched that last playoff spot before Sunday's games were even played based on some weird threeway tiebreaker. It didn't happen, though, the Chargers lost and after celebrating New Year's eve the night before, I sat down with my uncle to sweat out the Steelers season finale against the Lions at Heinz field. The Chiefs played the Bengals in a meaningless game for Cincy and beat the beejeezus out of them 37-3. It didn't matter, though. Despite a scary first half, the Steelers pulled away from the Lions and clinched that final playoff berth. During halftime of that game, my uncle was watching Tommy Boy with Chris Farley and I, being a nervous wreck, was off to the side doing karate moves and wound up catching my foot on the back of his chair and fell on my ass. The thing I remember most is looking up and seeing my uncle and little cousin laughing their asses off. You talk about bringing Farley back from the dead.
Anyway, that game turned out to be the last home game for the Bus and he finished it off in style by scoring three touchdowns. The Steelers were in the playoffs and I was relieved.
Ok, this concludes the first part of "The Greatest Nine Weeks Ever." I hope to post more in the near future.
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