Monday Morning Chrysler New Yorker

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!

Pittsburgh Steelers > Washington Native Americans

Black and Golddust doesn't take too well to losses. Time for a little NFC East redemption.

Go Steelers!

Monday Morning Chrysler New Yorker

"The offense was terrible in the first half."

I'm probably paraphrasing a bit, but I believe Ben said something along these lines in his post-game interview. You won't hear any objection from me, Ben.

23-20. OT. Win.

I'm really just biding my time until I can rip Bruce Arians a new one in my ratings. The team sucked hard, but luckily showed that they could make the appropriate adjustments to make the game competitive. As I said in the pregame show...pressure Flacco and good things will happen. Silverback and Woodley listened, and a defensive touchdown changed the attitude in the stadium.

So yeah, now we need to deal with several season-ending injuries, but those aren't excuses for losing. Its time to show who we are in this league and step up despite the adversity. But that's for another time. On to last night's ratings...don't expect blindly high ratings just because we won. There was a lot of suck:

Ben. A tale of two Bens? Who was that dude in the first half? His expressions and demeanor were not conducive to a competitive nature, and it looked like he was frustrated and confused...two things you don't want to see in your franchise quarterback. I hope Mike Tomlin punched Ben in the face at halftime, because Ben deserved that for the shitty play and defeatist attitude. However, he adopted the no-huddle and quick two/three step drops that we've been asking for this whole year so far. And guess what...IT WORKED! I know that INT slipped outta your hands, but that's another side effect of holding the ball too long, man. 3.5 of 5 helmets.

Bruce Arians. I'm gonna be painfully honest here. Any time I see Ben talking to Arians on the sideline, I immediately say, "Ben, do the complete opposite of what Bruce is saying right now." I don't understand his offense one bit and why he makes 95% of the decisions that he does. Why he was riding Carey Davis up the middle when a fresh Mewelde Moore was on the bench is beyond me. Just because he's a third-down back, it doesn't mean he can't play on first or second. Look at how well it paid off at the end of the game! I think Tomlin's been getting too much flak for the ineptitude of the play-caller. 1 of 5 helmets. Getting down early like that will bite us more often than not, dude.

Rashard. Don't wanna add insult to injury, but I was hoping for more. He showed flashes, but was stuffed on too many runs. It was something that he'd be able to work on if he wasn't injured now, but that isn't the case. Sucks that he'll basically be a rookie next year, too. 2.5 of 5 helmets.

Moore. See? Yeah, I'm the biggest Carey Davis supporter that you'll see, but Mewelde Moore is a much better option running the ball and catching out of the backfield. He came up with several huge plays late and put us in a position to win. Can't ask for much more from a guy who hasn't really been used this year. Look for Mewelde to get more touches with Willie hurt up and Beetlejuice gone. 4 of 5 helmets. Big time.

LBs. Dirty. Cotter predicted 1.5 sacks from Wood and 2 from Silverback. They finished with 1.5 and 2.5 respectively. Pretty damn good night, if you ask me. There was some stat that Silverback's last two MNF games included 5.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. Both games were in the throwbacks, do we have a jersey controversy? Go to the golden oldies all season! Wood and Silverback were huge all game, but Timmons' sack nearly impressed me the most. Dude was on a mission to end that Ravens drive, and nothing was going to get in his way. How sick is he going to be in the coming years? And how sick will Tomlin look for taking Timmons and Woodley 1-2 in his first draft as head coach? A perfect 5 of 5 for the LBs.

Jeff Reed. He's making good on me 'n Cotter's prediction of a 100% FG kicking season. One helmet for each made FG, one for making the practice one in OT and one for winning the game. 5 of 5 helmets. Where would we be this season without him?

As Cotter said, I guess this can be used as a celebratory gesture. Don't ask...we were taping the opening song for the pregame show.



Jacksonville in Jacksonville next week. Time to put this win behind us and get ready for playoff redemption.

He's Back and Pissed That We Lost Last Week

Go Steelers!

Monday Morning Chrysler New Yorker

No hockey score jokes. No ripping on the offenses. No historical analysis of how low-scoring the game was.

You're not getting any of that in this Tuesday afternoon edition of Monday Morning Chrysler New Yorker.

At the end of 60 minutes, the Steelers finished with 3 more points than the opposition. That equals a win, no matter who the opponent was. The 3-0 shutout moved the record to 8-3.

Tale of the tape: Persevering the elements. Underlying theme: Ridiculous defensive game.

The stats weren't gaudy, but the team weathered the storm (literally and figuratively), kept the dolphins at bay and did just enough to win.

One more thing before I get into specific performances. What was up with ESPN rooting for marine mammals? Were they trying to side with the winless Dolphins? I mean, they kept playing that ridiculous Seal song at every commercial break. Seals...Dolphins...conspiracy?

Bennifer. Aside from the early interception, Ben did everything right given the poor weather and turf conditions. He didn't force long passes, which was critical without San Antonio in the lineup. Ben repeatedly threw 3-5 yard passes, which resulted in high percentage receptions that slowly moved the sticks. Sure, nearly every drive stalled, but that can be contributed to the potholes and standing water on the field. Ben reprised his "Game Manager" role, and let the game come to him. When he absolutely needed a drive to win the game, he produced. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets for the conservative play.

RBs. I was a little confused by the RB system we used against the fish. With the awful weather, I was expecting to see more of Najeh early, letting Willie benefit from a worn-down defense. No knock on Willie, who put up solid numbers on a less-that-desirable field of play. However, when Najeh finally was used, he sputtered on a drive-ending 3rd down, and finished with 3 carries for 2 yards. Willie picked p the RB corps with 24 carries for 81 yards. Willie played well, Najeh did nothing. I'll give 3.75 out of 5 motorcycle helmets since Willie went over 1,000 rush yards for the 3rd consecutive season.

Hines. #86 played out of his mind all game. He was catching everything thrown his way, and on a sloppy night, caught 9 passes for 88 yards. That's huge in a game like this. Had this been a typical, 24-21 game, Hines' stats would've been something like 10 catches for 160 yards. There was no breaking long gains in the rain, and every catch was critical. He extended a few drives that should've resulted in a punt, and was clearly the go-to-guy. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets. Couldn't ask for more out of Hines.

D. For those doubters who love to complain about the 3-0 win, the Steelers D pitched their 2nd shutout of the season. Add that to 3 other games in which the opposition scored a touchdown or less. All Miami needed was one drive for a score in order to win the game or at least force overtime. The D didn't allow that much. Tyrone Carter subbed for Troy perfectly, and he, James Farrior and Larry Foote were on acid all night. James Harrison continued his Monday night dominance with another sack in front of his predecessor, Joey Porter. Sure, Jeff Reed recorded the game's only points, but the D won the game. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets. Sick game.

Bengals next week. We are Dey.

Love and prayers to Sean Taylor and his family. My buddy lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland and is a huge 'Skins/Sean Taylor fan. The news made me sick, and the mainstream media's reports about this has turned my stomach. I'll dedicate a post to this later.

Mel Blount Rules

Did you see Mel Blount's sideline interview with Michelle Tafoya? I did. Luckily for us, some random Youtube uploader did as well (it seems it was uploaded by the site Sportaphile, so I'll toss 'em a link and a compliment).

If I'm correct, Tafoya used the adjective surprising to describe Baltimore's offense. Blount laid out the truth by using the terms embarrassing and pathetic.

Mel Blount rules. As does his cowboy hat.