I Jinxed The Steelers On Sunday

Sorry for going all Paul Lukas on you, but I have a plethora of links to make my point. And I don't want to dwell on the Steelers regular season, because the playoffs are coming. This is the last mention of the regular season.

I'm not a very superstitious person outside the sports world. My birthday is on the 13th (here's my Ode to the 13th...which is one of my favorite PSaMP posts, by the way), which means it regularly falls on a Friday. I usually have decent luck on Friday the 13th, except for one time in Vermont where I kinda got kicked outta the state. Actually, I brought that up before, when I had a MPotD on a Friday the 13th. I promise I'll tell that whole story some day.

However, when it comes to sports I get superstitious as hell. I jinxed MAF and the Penguins before. I'm ridiculously superstitious for the Steelers. When the Steelers are on a win streak, I can't change anything that I wore the week prior. And I always end up wearing the same getup for all games, with minor alterations to hopefully change fortunes after a loss.

My getup consists of my Hines Ward replica jersey (seen here), Steelers socks, my Terrible Towel, Jerome Bettis Foundation wristbands (one on each wrist) and my official Steelers cup. For the Rams game, I even broke out my Big Ben cap to reverse the fortunes from the Jags game (in which I did not wear it). I didn't wear it all last year either. I wore it for every game of the Super Bowl XL year, and it proved worthy. However, I took it off when we kept losing last season.

After Sunday's loss, I tried to find what I did wrong. Turns out, one of my Bettis wristbands was on upside-down. I didn't even notice. Stupid left wrist.

This might seem like nothing to you, but it rocked my world. I had that wristband on correctly all season. I killed our chance at a comeback.

I'm a tool.

Billick getting canned made everything better, though.

Regular season over. Time to focus on Jacksonville...again.

Monday Morning Chrysler New Yorker

Ouch.

Uncool win.

Sure, we won, but losing Willie Parker for the season really hurts. Tons of love goes to Najeh for holding it down last night, but Willie broke his leg? I'm sick for the guy.

The D let up way too many points again, but held when they had to, allowing the O (and a timely interception) seal the win. It felt good to snap that thar little losing streak.

Tale of the tape: Offense is clicking. Underlying theme: Big ups to backups who stepped up (which is what we'll need come playoff time).

P.S. Steven Jackson is a freak of nature. He's bigger than our linebackers. I don't know if I've ever seen a guy with his combination of size and speed. Unreal. I thought he was going to go for 200+ on us. Completely honest.

Now...who did what?

Ben. Despite the past two losses, Ben played well in each game. He didn't bring that losing mentality to St. Louis, though. With only a few days to prepare, Ben looked ridiculously sharp, connecting on 3 touchdown passes and 261 yards on 80% accuracy. Plus, it was his 2nd game this season with a perfect passer rating. I'm trying to find something to pick at, but Ben averaged over 13 yards per completion. That's 5 of 5 motorcycle helmet territory.

Fast Wil...er...Najeh. Prayers go out to Willie. Its gotta suck to break your leg right after taking the outright league lead in rushing with only 2 games to play. If we make the playoffs, its going to be extremely hard without him. At least for one night, though, Najeh was looking solid. 24 carries? Over 5 yards per? A rushing touchdown? 123 yards? Wow. I don't care who you are...you didn't see that coming. When Najeh went to the sideline to tape up his ankle, I was nearly ready to throw the towel in for the season. Verron isn't in Black and Gold. Gary Russell has 1 attempt for 1 yard this season...and wasn't even on the sideline anyway. Najeh gets a perfect 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets. Oh...and Carey Davis, my preseason darkhorse, gets 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

WRs. Just in case you were wondering, the Steelers had 3 WRs average over 22 yards per catch against the Rams. San Antonio (4 catches/133 yards/dirty 83 yard catch early), Najeh (2 catches/44 yards/no WR routes to the endzone this game) and Nate Washington (2 catches/50 yards/both for scores). Oh...and Hines and Heath averaged a lowly 9.8 and 7 yards per catch respectively. Lowly. Willie was down, but Najeh's workload (I said load) on the ground allowed Ben to find the open guy. The WR corps performed all game. That's going to be critical in a few weeks. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Ike and Ike. Glad Eye-sac Bruce decided to show the world he stills plays in the NFL. In all honesty, Bruce has been one of my favorite non-Steeler receivers over the course of his career. Don't know why, but he's always been a player I've respected that doesn't wear the Black and Gold. Even with superstud Tory Holt in the game, Marc Bulger was intent on getting the ball to Bruce. Dude had 87 yards receiving and was the go-to-guy. Our Ike, despite letting a few sure-fire ints through his hands early, sealed the win with the 51 yard pick-6. Eye-sac gets 3.75 out of 5 motorcycle helmets out of respect. Taylor gets 4.5 out of 5.

Baltimore to close out the season. Silverback is foaming at the mouth.