Time For People To Bitch About Steelers Pro Bowl Snubs

Pro Bowl results came out yesterday, and the Steelers will be represented by 3 players. Jameses Harrison and Farrior will accompany Troy Polamalu to Hawaii to wear Steelers helmets with vomit-inducing jerseys in early February.

Ed Bouchette, Steelers writer for the Post Gazette, seemed a little pissed that the team only has 3 representatives. I mean, this IS the league's best defense, right? And the team in the hunt for the top seed in the tough AFC?

Here's Bouchette:


The team with the second-best record in the AFC and with the league's best defense placed just three players for the Pro Bowl. Free safety Troy Polamalu and linebacker James Harrison will start, and linebacker James Farrior is a reserve.

If that does not rile up the 11-3 AFC North Division champs, there's more. The New York Jets placed a league-high seven players on the AFC team, the Tennessee Titans have six and the Baltimore Ravens, who lost to the Steelers twice, have five.


To which I say...who cares how many representatives are on other teams? Who cares that the Steelers only have 3 guys going to Hawaii (likely more once every big name player pulls out with an undisclosed injury)?

Doesn't this speak more to the Steelers being a team rather than a collection of individuals? Our team isn't just a handful of stars with no depth. Go down the Steelers depth chart, and a high percentage of those guys have made plays this year.

And they've had to, because of injury! Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel have missed games. Aaron Smith is having arguably his best year, but he's a no-name. Ben's thrown his share of interceptions, and Willie's been trying to contribute whenever he can get on the field.

Look, I understand that good teams have good players, and those good players should be rewarded. Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing every Steeler starting at every position on the AFC Pro Bowl squad. Seriously, Pittsburgh versus the best the NFC has to offer, only we get to wear our regular Steelers unis rather than those awful get-ups they're supposed to wear. But it ain't gonna happen.

I'll take our 11-3 record, AFC North division title and the shot at home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Pro Bowl snubs SHOULD NOT motivate this team.

Because the Pro Bowl IS MEANINGLESS. So chill out for a sec, Ed.

Steelers Have 3 Pro Bowlers

The NFL announced the Pro Bowl rosters today. Your Pittsburgh Steelers have 3 representatives, all on the defensive side. They are:

James Harrison
James Farrior
Troy Polamalu

Harrison and Polamalu are starters. Farrior is a reserve. Each of these guys deserves strong consideration for NFL Defensive MVP.

In random news, Polamalu will be backed up by his former partner, Chris Hope.

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One of my biggest complaints about the Steelers is that we rarely finish teams off. Well...aside from Ben not rolling out of the pocket...and the O Line sucking...and Ben holding onto the ball too long...and...well, you get the point. Despite playing a better game than teams like last week's Giants, the Steelers allow the opposition to have a chance to get right back in it.

Not this week. 23 - 6 Steelers.

The defense more than accounted for an inadequate (and injured) Roethlisberger, and played the all-around game that we were hoping for last week. James Harrison, regularly playing on straight meth, must've given some to James Farrior, because dude was out of his mind.

And how good was it to have a guy like Willie Parker back?

Bah...don't let me spoil anything here. Wait for the rankings.

Ben. Outplayed by a 2-INT Campbell and Jacksonville and Atlanta castoff Byron Leftwich. Thanks for the sneak, but at what cost. Injuries suck, especially with the imminent schedule. Give it to your guys that are expecting to get hit. 2.75 of 5 helmets. 2.5 seemed too low, and I couldn't justify a 3.

Byron. Well that was refreshing. How, with the same O Line and Byron's 8 minute windup, did Leftwich appear to have more time to throw? Hell, big boy even rolled out a few times! Byron was an efficient asshole last night, only missing on 3 of 10 tosses with a TD somewhere in there.One helmet for every two seconds of that absurd windup. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Willie. As I said earlier, how nice was it to have him back? Notice how the offensive struggles happened in the 4 games that Parker missed. Having a guy like him on the field at all times really opens up the offense in ways we tried to dismiss. Big Ben needs Willie on the field more than he knows. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets for Willie for coming back from injury, outplaying Clinton Portis and reaching the endzone.

D. Who to laud? Farrior, for being a part of EVERY FREAKIN' PLAY? Wooderson, for a combined 4 sacks? Lawrence Timmons, ready to establish himself as an All-Pro (yeah, I said it)? Troy, playing for his newborn and knifing in to disrupt play after play? Deshea or T Carter's picks? That was just an amazing all-around performance. And don't think I didn't see your punt block, Andre Frazier. You get love, too. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets. The 'Skins did nothing after the two gimme FGs early.

Jeff Reed. Yeah, you're still 100% on the year for FGs, but don't think I won't rip you a new one for the missed extra point. That's just weak. 3 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Berger. How are we trotting this guy out there? How have we not had a backup plan? 25 yard punts won't cut it. Not even taking the time to give an appropriate ranking.

Indy next week, kids. They're aren't the same team from years past, but they're still capable of giving it to us. See you then.

AND GO VOTE!

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Despite the 38-10 win, I don't know if I agree with the use of the phrase "Steelers easily defeat Bengals." We were up 3 at half and the Bengals were within one score through 3 quarters. Without that 21-point 4th, we're looking at a headline along the lines of, "Steelers avoid letdown against Bengals."

Honestly, this bullshit is gonna catch up with us soon. We can't let inferior teams hang around with us even though we have the game dominated. The Bengals opened the game with 5 straight 3-and-outs. There's no reason that they should be within one score going into the final frame.

But on the bright side, the final frame happened. On paper, we have a 4-TD win going into a matchup with the Giants, who struggled with San Fran early. And really, if Byron Leftwich is in the game late, we're either way in front or way behind. And we were never behind yesterday.

So let's take a peek, shall we?

Ben. You know it's a good game when en doesn't really confuse you with his decisions. Sure, he tried to force a few throws, and his completion percentage wasn't pristine, but he took control of the middle of the field as well as the sidelines, and he went deep when it was given to him. However, defenses are going to catch on to the screens and passes to Mewelde in the flats real quick if you keep that up. 3.5 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Mewelde. Jeez, at the beginning of the year, I didn't think Mewelde Moore would be analyzed so much in this spot. And most of it has been positive! How 'bout that? He didn't crack the century mark last game, something I was hoping he'd do, but he more than made up for it this week. What did he put up, like a buck twenty with 2 rushing scores and a TD catch? Who needs Willie Parker? 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets!

WRs. I couldn't break these guys up. Nate (more on him coming later today), continues to impress with his newfound hands, Hines made some tough catches, Limas Sweed finally started representing for the '08 draft class, and Santonio had a monster game despite being held under 100 yards. This was the first game this year that I actually felt comfortable with the Ben-to-Santonio element. With the running game clicking, the WR corps took advantage of the weaker secondary. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Wooderson. I'm gonna look like a biased jerk with the good grades this week, but that's what you get with a 28 point win. Wooderson didn't miss a step during the bye, either. Both had 2 sacks (giving Wooderson a 4-sack-game), and Woodley forced and recovered the same fumble. Silverbback woulda had another sack, if not for a holding call on the Bengals O-Line. I'm at the point where I'm expecting multiple sacks by each guy every game. That's gonna suck when I'm disappointed by a 1.5 sack game outta Wooderson. 4.5 outta 5 helmets.

Farrior/Timmons. There were playing like they were the same age. Timmons looked like a vet, and Farrior was playing like a kid trying to impress. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

It sucks when you live in NYC, and the team you love is about to play the Giants. Blue everywhere. Time to keep the momentum, Pittsburgh!

Farrior Fined

James Farrior is a little lighter in the wallet, thanks to a $7,500 fine from the NFL.

What for, you may ask? How about giving Browns fans exactly what they deserve. After Safety Ryan Clark was injured on a play in last week's Gowns dismantling, Farrior flipped the bird at the crowd, who cheered the Steelers injury.

Again, stay classy, Cleveland.

Farrior was flagged for taunting on the play, so the fine was inevitable. I think he shoulda went double bird and gone for an even $15k. Put that extension money to good use, man!

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We won. Can't ask for much more than that. However, Ben and Fast Bill did little to impress, and the 24-10 win can be credited to Heath, Hines and the D.

Faced with less bog-like conditions than Monday, the Steelers still needed to overcome serious weather. I was pissed that I had to walk out tin the rain to get something outta my car. Playing a football game in that nasty stuff had to be awful.

Ben complained about the wet ball early, but was able to reverse his fortunes after throwing a costly interception in the first quarter. On the flip side, Carson Palmer started efficient, but then proceeded to stink up Heinz Field no matter which direction he was going.

Despite the shady offense, the team looked more like a team capable of bringing down the Patriots in a week. I wasn't ready to say that after the Jets and the Fins game. I'm ready now. Resiliency, baby. We fought through the conditions and the awful start to create a decent win.

Tale of the tape: A win is a win. Underlying theme: Our D is the (collective) man.

Ben and Bill won't be getting 4s and 5s this week.

Ben. Eh. I've seen better. I've seen worse. We can look a this performance either way. He sucked early, but turned things around throughout. Or...he blamed his struggles on the conditions, threw some awful passes and only completed as many passes as he did because Hines and Heath had glue on their hands. Ben was the winning QB, so I'll try to be positive. 3.5 of 5 motorcycle helmets. Yeah, I've been giving fractions of helmets lately, but Ben can't make these same mistakes next week. CANNOT. This won't be stressed enough.

Bill. Gross. Stupid Jerome Bettis elbow condoms. Why didn't he take those bitches off? I'm not going to place the blame solely on those, however. Bill was trying to cut down on fumbles this season, and for the most part, he succeeded to this point. Fact of the matter is...Bill put the ball on the turf too much...overturned fumble or not. He somehow found a way to get 87 yards, which nearly redeemed him. Still...dude needs to find the endzone. Soon. 3 of 5 motorcycle helmets. Score, brother.

Hines. Round of applause, everyone. The record (64 receiving TDs) is his. No more looking towards Stallworth. Hines has cemented his legacy in the 'Burgh on more than one occasion, and this record was merely the icing on the cake. Sure, Stallworth and Swann took catches and touchdowns away from each other, but Hines has had to deal with Kordell, Kent, Tommy, etc. And he hauled in 11 damn catches a week after snagging 9. Well done. He gets 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Heath. Needs the ball more. He isn't a safety blanket. He's a game changer. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

D. Just like Ben, they faltered early, but found a way to completely turn around their performance. The D rallied after allowing an early TD, and each guy stepped up big time. Look at those stats. 2 guys with 8 tackles, one with 7, three with 6. Farrior, Foote and Carter were absolute beasts all game. This is the second straight game in which that trio belittled the opposition. That early TD damaged the ego a bit, but the D still allowed less points (10) than their prior season average (13.2). They're now allowing 12.9 a game. Ridiculous. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets. No 5 here because of that first drive Cincy TD.

If you don't know who we play next week, you are stupid. We'll win. Write that down.

Browns Fans Have Selective Memories

Many a Browns fan are calling for Hines Ward's head on a platter, referring to Ward's hit on Daven Holly in week 1. Ward was penalized and fined for the hit, as seen in this Ludacris-laced video:



Also, Browns fans were quick to criticize James Farrior (on this post) and his recent comments about Kellen Winslow, in which he said,

"[Winslow] better have his head on a swivel every time we go up against those guys because I’ll be looking for him."

For those of you with short memories, here is the hit on Farrior by Winslow from last season.



But its only the Steelers who do this kinda thing, right?

Right?

Anyone?

Ike Taylor = Defensive Player of the Week

Somewhere, Bill Cowher is scowling.

Hey, baby. Hey, baby.

The tipsy fool (if you can trust Webshots) between these two gorgeous mark ass tricks, also known as Bill Cowher's scapegoat (other than Ricardo Colclough), was named Defensive Player of the Week.

Ike's 5 tackles, four passes defended and one goal line pick secured his spot as the best defensive player in the league last week.

Even though James Farrior had a monster game, it was fitting that the honor went to a DB. The win was the first-ever shutout at Heinz Field, primarily due to the blanket coverage provided by Pittsburgh's secondary.

Applause to you, Ike. See if Coach Tomlin wants to bench you as quickly as Cowher did.

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I don't care if you liked them...I thought those throwbacks were pretty fly. That outlined stripe running down the leg...awesome. And the gold helmets were a badass change. The Bills shoulda wore their throwbacks, which are also pretty cool.

That man in the above picture is nuts. In past seasons, Fast Bill's home run shot would come after 10-12 really short gains. I'm talking 1-yard gains and the like. Today, Bill came out the gate firing. He displayed his skillz early and often, and the combination of Fast Bill and Roethlisberger's underneath tosses eventually wore out the overmatched team from Buffalo. 26-3, give the credit to the throwbacks.

Tale of the tape: Consistent Steelers offense. Underlying theme: 3rd downs converted early in the game allowed Ben to gain confidence in passing to the underneath routes.

Ben Roethlisberger. The Bills didn't want to give up the long pass, so Ben took what he was given, and allowed the receivers to do the rest. Ben was coming off a stud performance against the Browns, but played a team that wouldn't allow a repeat performance (in terms of touchdowns thrown). He finished 21-34 for 242 yards, with a touchdown and a pick. The pick is what concerned me. To this point in the young season, Ben has made perfect decisions, and accepted the short passes to check-down receivers that he could manage. However, there's always been that I-wanna-be-a-gunslinger-mentality in Large Ben, and his interceptions come when he gets over-confident. I can see tossing a bomb downfield immediately following a turnover, to catch the team off guard. He didn't need to force a downfield pass today when the short stuff was working. More yards than last week, less touchdowns and his first pick of the season results in Ben getting 3 of 5 motorcycle helmets. He got 4 helmets last week, so I couldn't give him the same because of the pick. He played well, though.

Fast Bill. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets. I couldn't wait any longer to spit that one out. Willie is showing a level of maturity that probably makes the University of North Carolina football coaches want to smack themselves. Common consensus says that Bill is a home run hitter. Adding to that, I'm prepared to call him Albert Pujols or something (he once called himself a line drive hitter with power). He'll get you the home runs, but he's also sprinkling in a bunch of 2-RBI doubles. The Bills had no chance when Fast Bill turned the corner. He consistently threw down 10+ yard gains, and even took his show up the middle. No fumbles this week with 23 carries for 126 yards and a score. That's 5.5 yards per carry. He deserves all 5 of the helmets I gave him.

Nate Washington. Big Nate looked more like the guy who was providing key receptions during the playoff run to the Super Bowl rather than the shadow who took his place during last season and this current preseason. He had one drop, but that was overshadowed by his 3 receptions. How can 3 receptions mean anything? Um...when you average 20 yards per catch. He's gonna drop some balls. We need to just accept that fact. However, he is only needed to provide third or fourth WR-quality depth, and he did more than that with 60 yards receiving. I'll give a helmet per reception, which provides Nate with 3 of 5 motorcycle helmets. Without the one drop, which was clearly Nate's fault, he could have made his MMCNY debut with 4 helmets. Alas.

Jeff Reed. If Jeff keeps making MMCNY appearances, it means the offense isn't clicking like it should. Shaft opened the game with 4 unanswered FGs, before Matt Spaeth caught a touchdown in his second consecutive game. I'm gonna invade Jeff's space here for a moment, but the emergence or Spaeth makes the Steelers O ridiculously stacked when it gets into the red zone. Its early, so the offense hasn't reached its full potential, but later in the season, Spaeth could make it impossible for opposing defenses to cover all the weapons on the Pittsburgh O. Back to Shaft...he finished 4 of 4. I could give him a perfect 5 of 5 helmets for the perfect FG completion percentage, but I'll give him one for each made FG. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets. I expect him to hit every FG. Sorry if that's just me.

D. Last week, they had 6 sacks and 5 turnovers...albeit against an awful team. Only 4 sacks today with no turnovers. The O was on the field for an incredible amount of time (35 and a half minutes compared to Buffalo's 24 and a half minutes), so a consistent O was the defense's best friend. Woodley got his first sack, Deshea always seemed to be around the ball, and young guys like McFadden and Anthony Smith were involved in a bunch of plays. Captain James Farrior finished with 10 tackles, and the defense didn't allow a touchdown. I couldn't give them a repeat 5 of 5, but I will give the D 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets. Job well done.

Next up, Alex Smith and the 49ers. The Steelers are gonna liquefy them.

Steelers Name Captains

The Steelers have a long tradition of having the players vote on potential team captains. When Mike Tomlin was hired as head coach, one of the first things I wondered was whether he would continue this tradition, or rather pick the captains himself. For awhile, I thought he was going to do the latter, but I was wrong.

The players voted for captains, and their choices were announced after Monday's practice (as a bonus, read Allen Rossum's thoughts about coming to play in Pittsburgh at the bottom of the article. Badass).

Offense - Hines Ward.

Really, there should be no other offensive captain. Roethlisberger had a legitimate chance, but Ward has shown he can lead by example though his fearless blocking, committed receiving and "do-anything-for-the-team" attitude. I'm glad the players recognized Ward for what he brings to the team each and every week. He would be a leader with or without the title of captain, but the recognition of his peers just adds to his repertoire. This is the third straight honor for Hines.

Defense - James Farrior.

Again...Best. Selection. Possible. James is always around the ball, and can be counted on for 100+ tackles a year. In his time in Pittsburgh, no other player say that they've made as many tackles as Farrior. With the release of Joey Porter's mouth, the team showed the fans that they would be going in a quieter, "lead by example" direction. There are other guys, Polamalu, Foote, who would also be decent picks, but Farrior gives everything on every down. He's consistently been one of my favorite players, simply because he plays the game how its supposed to be played. Its fun to listen to the trash-talkers and to watch the showboaters, but every now and then, its better to watch the football players. James Farrior is a football player. He is also a defensive captain. For the fourth straight year. I applaud the team for their selection.

Special Teams - Clint Kriewaldt and James Harrison.

This is Kriewaldt's second straight year as special teams captain. Its the first honor for Harrison. I would like to see the name Iwuoma on this list, but that's another story. Aside from Chidi, James and Clint are the baddest guys on special teams. Yes, they can both play typical defense, as evident in Kriewaldt's interception in the Carolina game and the fact that Harrison will be stepping in as outside linebacker. However, on special teams, you can practically tally Harrison or Kriewaldt for the tackle on each and every kick. Us normal people wonder how guys can always be around the ball. Its nearly impossible to understand. Kriewaldt and Harrison are those guys...always in on the tackle. Its no coincidence that the other guys on the team picked Kriewaldt and Harrison to represent for the special teams. They are the best possible choices, and will hopefully be the reason that the Steelers' special teams rebounds after a less-than-stellar '06.