Monday Morning Chrysler New Yorker

Every win from here on out will probably be coupled with some sort of exclamation like, "What a win!" There are no shitty wins in the playoffs, and each victory is special in its own way.

Yesterday, the Steelers made it clear that they wanted no part of another 11-10 pissfest. The 35-24 final was actually a lot closer than the story of the game. We let the same thing happen as the last time we played San Diego...an early touchdown allowed followed by defensive dominance. Since it is the playoffs, you don't think about things like allowing the opposing QB to pass for over 300 yards when we allowed one TEAM to accumulate 300 in an entire game...you just take the win however you can get it.

I hope this win doesn't inflate the egos of the fans as the early season win against the Texans did. Everyone lauded our brilliance as a complete team, something that was again evident against the Chargers on Sunday night. But it takes one iffy game, especially now in the playoffs, to destroy any delusions of grandeur.

We're finishing up with the final few MMCNYs, so let's just get to the rankings.

Sasso. The critics have been officially silenced. Ben played like he's never been concussed, or the concussion gave him some superhero abilities. As in, Ben's concussion = Spider Man's radioactive spiderbite. I haven't seen Ben's passes so crisp in...well, ever. He's put together good passing performances before, but opposing fans are always quick to point to his lower-level play come playoffs. He let Willie run the ball about 700 times before he even threw a pass, and after a weak start, finished with respectable numbers and no turnovers. Ben executed the gameplan to perfection, so he gets a perfect 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Willie. But Ben couldn't do everything that he did without Willie. 146 rush yards, 2 TDs and a 5.4 yard average. Willie looked like he was tired of all the Sproles-love from the past week, and wanted to remind the NFL that when healthy, he's one of the supreme ground talents in the game. Maybe I'm too awestruck by the win, or blinded by the fact that it's the playoffs, but I ave to open with 2 perfects. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets. Now do that to Baltimore!

Santonio/Hines. Showed up! You look at Santonio's line and see 2 catches and a reverse. But then you remember that his punt return TD was our only offense for almost half of the game. After the O came to life, Hines made clutch grab after clutch grab, destroying third downs like they were nothing. Together, they had less than 100 yards combined receiving and no touchdown receptions, but their combined efforts really meant something in this game. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Berger. Yeah. That was a 48 yard average. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Defense. In the weirdest stat of all time, the D let Philip Rivers pass for over 300 yards, but kept the Chargers to only 290 yards of total offense. I guess that can be classified as a push...and the house wins on a push in Pittsburgh. Sproles did what he was going to do, and padded his stats with a nice long touchdown catch and run after the game was nearly decided. I'll look at holding the Chargers O to 1 offensive play in the third quarter, and the fact that we created turnovers when I'm relating this to our game for next week. The final word is that the D, while allowing a few yards, really limited the Chargers after the initial and potentially devastating scoring drive. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Home field advantage. We'll see you in Pittsburgh again, Baltimore!

Steelers Win!

Movin' on to the AFC Championship game!

Video is of Santonio's touchdown.

Go Steelers!

[Unnamed] Steelers Pregame Show. Postseason Game 1

Finally.

We haven't had a show in awhile...the postseason hopefully brought out the best (worst?) in us.

Go Steelers.

Watch it again at OFTOT.

Sunday is Coming

Time to wake Black and Golddust from his slumber.

Chargers suck!

Go Steelers!

Wiener Dogs Are So Much Cooler Than Chargers Fans

Wow, I really don't know what to do with myself now that the Steelers have a game this weekend. Last weekend had me all sorts of pumped up for football, only to remember that we had a bye. I watched some football, found out who we were going to play, and immediately started thinking of Steelers/Chargers scenarios. But now the game is almost here. We could count down in hours if we really wanted to.

I'm out of the loop, though. It seems like it's been awhile since we saw the Steelers play, probably because all we've had to survive on is Ben Roethlisberger's concussion and why the hell he was bowling after the injury.

Then, my friend TheStarterWife reminded me about something totally sweet.

Only fairies cheer for the Chargers!

Come on now...we have some ridiculous characters at Heinz Field, but you wouldn't make it past the main gate without getting a royal beatdown if you wore fairy wings to the game.

So I trekked over to Youtube to find at least one thing that was cooler than fairy Chargers fans. The end result...wiener dogs are way cooler than fairy Chargers fans. Evidence is below.



Go Steelers.

Monday Morning Chrysler New Yorker

It's getting tougher and tougher trying to put these games into words. We either play so bad that its impossible to write anything substantial, or we put together the most polarizing offense so that it mystifies the mind.

11-10 Steelers. Yeah, that about sums it up.

It was another day at the office for the league's top defense, but the O is what should've blown everyone's minds. We had a QB go for over 300 with no picks, a century WR and RB, but no touchdowns. I didn't even think that was possible before yesterday.

During that final, game-winning drive, I had to keep reminding myself that we were STILL LOSING! Ben was looking better than he had in weeks, the team was destroying San Diego in all meaningful categories, and somehow we weren't up in the scoreboard. Story of the season so far.

Were the numbers warranted, or did we get lucky on that final drive? How confident can you be in a team that is losing with less than a minute left in the game, but has the other team lapped in all stats. Or do we look at the comeback win as inspiration? Beats me.

Sasso the Giant. I was biting my fingernails when I saw that Sasso already had 25 pass attempts sometime in the third quarter. I knew he was on pace for the 40-some that he ended up throwing, which is enough to make any Steelers fan nervous. But Ben made some clutch, high percentage throws, which was reflected in his zero interceptions and 75% passing efficiency. 300+ yards is great, but he set up no offensive touchdowns, and basically let the D win the game. I can't shit on his game too much seeing that we won, but that doesn't mean I'm not perplexed. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets for Sasso.

Willie. Glad to have you back. Late in the game, I was pleased to see Arians giving the ball to Willie. Again. And again. One of the reasons we struggled offensively the first half of the years was because Willie wasn't on the field, which removes an entire dynamic from this offense. Still, he comes back and puts up nice numbers, but the offense still isn't in a rhythm. Hopefully, we remember how to put together complete drives now that Willie's back, and the offensive woes die off. 4.5 of 5 helmets. He's the only one that sniffed the endzone.

Hines. If the theme of this win was "PERPLEXING," then Hines embodies this entirely. Cool 125 receiving yards, but how many penalties did the guy have to take? Two rough holding calls and something else (can't remember what that third penalty was...somebody help me out) really starts to overshadow the yards. However, Hines stepped up after that third penalty, single-handedly making up all the yards lost on his way to making the first down. That's grit. But the penalties could've killed us. 3.5 of 5 helmets. I know you'll make up for it, Hines.

D. Aside from that early touchdown, I never believed the Chargers were going to score when they made it into Steelers territory. Like, the entire game. That's how well the D was playing. Pass rusher Woodley made a terrific play batting down a pass in coverage, Ike made a few, and Keisel got to the QB. And Silverback? He needs to be in Defensive Player of the Year discussions. Right away. A sack, safety AND interception. There's really no one that can stop him. 5 of 5 motorcycle helmets for the D. And that's before I even mentioned Troy's amazing pick.

Jeff Reed. Sucks that the perfect season that Cotter and I predicted is gone, but he's killer late in the game. 4 of 5 motorcycle helmets.

Bengals like, tomorrow or something. Do we even get a rest?

Troy Polamalu's Interception Against the Chargers

What a pick. And it wasn't even Troy's best this year. Remember the one he had in the Eagles game?

Troy missed a few that hit him directly in the hands the past coupla weeks. I guess he just has a flair for the dramatic.

Speechless.

Ike Taylor Got Kicked in the Balls

Cool. Win.

Ike Taylor's nuts do not agree.

Charge This

Carefully watch my bulge as I hurdle Tomlinson a la Silverback.

Go Steelers!