Please Start Getting Yourself Fired Up

I can't say I love the set-up for us this year. I was really hoping for the Colts, so that we could play a soft team that's even more beat-up than we are, and have the Ravens go and beat the Patriots (up?) this weekend. That will not happen. But, please remember the following:

And oh yeah, this. So, I still believe anything is possible.

It's Been Nigh-On 3 Months Since Anyone Posted Here

So, I'm relatively confident this well never get read, save the 3 people who have us in their Google reader, and won't be able to avoid this.

OK. So, I'll talk about the Steelers eventually, but I first want to talk about "Stu Hackel", who is apparently some kind of hockey "writer", although he writes for Sports Illustrated, which means that the majority of his time is spent complaining and bemoaning the fact that sports have "changed".

I also learned that he writes a "blog" for SI. I think what that means is that he gets to spew whatever horseshit pops into his brain without any kind of editorial oversight. His conclusions on the world are (1) the Winter Classic must die, because it was terrible and (2) Sidney Crosby whines too much.

Now, I'm going to address his concerns in inverse order. I'm sure you all saw David Steckel's hit on Crosby's head area the other night. It shook him, but he was OK. He subsequently said that he thought it was a dirty hit.

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Stu dedicated an entire article to it. So, let me be an apologist for the best hockey player in the world (I will hear arguments to the contrary, but no one reads this, so I expect to not get any) - he gets run at every night, on every play. Does he do the things everyone else does? Yeah, he slashes, he will grab, he'll occasionally give a slew foot here and there. But does complaining about a head shot make you a whiner? Maybe it was incidental contact. It was still a shoulder to the back of his head, when he was looking the other way. I thought this was something the entire NHL was upset about.

As for the Classic being past its time, it looks to me like the Classic gets the highest ratings of any NHL game, on a yearly basis. This year was no different, being a solid 10% better in the ratings than last year's game, despite last year's being played between two larger markets (Philly & Boston) and in a more historic and captivating venue.

So, there are two things I know. (1) Sidney Crosby is the best player in the world and people want to watch him and (2) people want to see hockey outdoors. Now, isn't the NHL's goal to bring people back to the game? Aren't these sports writers more valuable if their sport becomes more valuable? Isn't Stu Hackel formerly an NHL Director of Broadcasting??).

Hm.

Stu Hackel was NHL Director of Communications until 2006, the year before the first Winter Classic. Maybe some bitterness there? I dunno, but it seems like this probably would have been his idea, and, consequently, the NHL's biggest rating boom in the past 5 years (Pens/Sabres, Wings/Hawks, Bruins/Flyers and Pens/Caps have all been big draws).

Anyhow, everyone bitches. You just notice when Crosby does it. Impressive he doesn't do it more. And cancel the Winter Classic? Sure. Let's also get Apple to drop the iPod because some of the newer versions have bugs.

Monthly Steelers Update??

Wow, so, I just saw that it's been a month since I've written anything about the Steelers. Oh, and in other news, the Steelers somehow snuck (sneaked?) out of Miami with a win today.

So why no writing on this lovely blog? Part of it is that the last month has been super-hectic. But also, what is there to say about those 3 games since the Tennessee game? You HAVE to feel good about how the team has performed, coming into this morning. 38-13 over Tampa. We killed them. It was lovely. 17-14 loss to Baltimore? A bummer, but really, not a big deal. 28-10 over Cleveland? Exactly what we needed in Ben's first game back.

So, let's get to today. What did we learn? Well, let's start on the offense, and work our way through. At QB, Ben looks very good. He still has some of that sketchiness to him - his two fumbles were not OK. He was trying to do too much. But, with that said, he's throwing the ball as well as ever. He sailed a couple this week, but that's done from a half-dozen last week, so we're headed in the right direction. He looked excellent in the 2-minute drill, and so I think Ben is well on his way to being as effective as ever.

Let's cover wide-out while we're at it. Hines looks as good as he's looked in years. Mike Wallace is the best deep threat in the league this year. Heath is a rock. Emmanuel Sanders has made some timely catches, and in a weird way reminds me of Santonio ALOT. A little undersized, but still lanky. And FAST. And great hands. And yeah, he fumbled today, but he followed it up with what seemed like 3 separate 40+ yard returns.

Let's then cover running back and o-line at the same time. Rashard didn't look great. But he looked worse as the game went on. The heat clearly had a major effect on the big guys, and it showed. I thought Mendy looked impatient, but I'm not sure how much of that had to do with him getting nailed in the backfield a few too many times, and as a result, feeling like he couldn't wait for his blocks to develop.

The play calling was a little bit curious. There were a few too many wide receiver screens. But it's clear to me that the heat really affected both sides of the game.

On defense, the d-line is starting to look pretty rough. I'm hearing that Aaron Smith may have a torn bicep (and is out for the season). I'm not going to lie, I'm not surprised. In the back of my mind, I assumed that we would be watching a Smith-less line at some point this year. What does that mean? Well, it certainly doesn't mean the end of our season. But Keisel needs to get healthy, and the Ziggy/Eason combo is going to need to elevate it's game. Which is most definitely doable. They're expecting to turn Smith's spot over to Hood at some point, so I'm excited to see what he can bring to the table.

With that said, we played with only 2 d-lineman at various times in the game, and that's when Miami's run game really started to heat up. It also hampered the offensive game. Early in the game, we were moving the ball almost at will. But it became clear that we were moving the ball TOO well, and the defense was wearing down as a result of it. Our ability to run the ball effectively is going to be key to our defense the rest of the way.

Linebacker. As usual, we have more talent they we know what to do with. LaMarr went out with an injury (unclear as to what's up with that), but I think that Jason Worilds has all the tools to step in and at least provide some pass-rush help. Woodley's pass-defense skills will be missed, though, and may limit what everybody else on the D can do blitz-wise.

The d-backs looked fine again. I really like how Ike Taylor's been playing, he is clearly the guy on that defense who felt most humiliated by their performance for much of last season, and it's showing in a positive way. He's playing tighter coverage, and is forcing throws into tighter spaces. Troy wasn't terribly involved today, but there was clearly concern over Brandon Marshall. He was not up near the line much today, and a lot of passes were underneath. Really, this defense will give up field goals all day long, and Miami took that all day long, essentially. And lost.

This team is going to be tough to beat, even without Smith. The defense just doesn't give up TDs, which means teams will be scoring 10-18 points most games. This offense will score 21 most games. And by my math, that translates into a lot of wins.

Big game in New Orleans next week, and I think it's unlikely that they throw 4 INTs next week. They'll be pissed, but it also won't be mid-to-upper 80s, which I think will allow us to open up both the offense and defense.

Steelers 19, Titans 11

I hate the Titans passionately.

I mean, they were the Oilers, which was bad enough, but Jeff Fisher. Man. When things aren't going his way, he pouts a lot. Which causes his team to pout. And it really is pathetic. I imagine he is the coach equivalent of Phillip Rivers.



So, what does one say about today's game? Well, 8 days ago, I was praying that we could find a way to be 2-2 when Ben comes back. Today, I'm thinking I don't care what happens the next two weeks. And I'm thinking that 4-0 is not out of the question.

There's not much to say about Dixon's performance. He didn't get a chance to do much, but I thought that he did well enough, creating offense even when he couldn't pass. He also made clear who is the best QB for the job (although if Leftwich gets healthy, he will get some snaps). But for all the people who were touting Charlie Batch, what can you say, except to note that he just wasn't getting the job done.

Actually, I'm going to reconsider that statement. The offense was 1000% predictable today. The computer on NCAA 11 does a better job of mixing things up. Now, I recognize that they were playing it safe, but the fact of the matter is that FGs don't win games.

So, as for the offense, you can't say much good, but I think it's as much on the play calling as anything else.

Let's talk about the defense. Lawrence Timmons - 15 tackles. Harrison - 11 tackes and 2 sacks. Troy with a pick and a leap over the defensive line for a tackle.

You know, I'm not going to say anything more about this game. The defense looked like they were playing a high school team. The Titans & Falcons are averaging 39.5 PPG against anyone but us. We've given up 10 PPG (and that TD for Tennessee was a gift after we started playing prevent). So, it was frustrating to see this game be close but the defense is perfect. End of story. Best in the league, bar none. I defy anyone to find a better a group.

The Latest NFL Poll

So, I was thinking, as I'm sometimes prone to do, why is there no national poll for the best NFL team at any given time? The original college football ranking system was created so that a national champion could be crowned, without having everyone play each other. But then, college basketball got in on the fun, and then created a national championship tournament on top of it.

So, the ultimate answer is that there is no good answer. And that is precisely why we are here today.

Everybody and their uncle is doing a "NFL Power Ranking", so I thought that it would be interesting to see how that all pans out, on a week-by-week basis, pretending that each individual was voting in a national poll. Additionally, since being "ranked" should be somewhat exclusive, I thought it only fair to include the top 15 teams as being ranked. So, I compiled a list of people who do weekly power rankings, who rankings I will use to create a weekly poll regarding the top 15 teams in the country at professional, American rules, outdoor football.

So, let's look at who will be on our panel for the year (the panel is primarily comprised of who I could find keeping up-to-date power rankings, and not so much their actual national reputation for being either informed or incisive):

Mike Sando, John Clayton, Paul Kuharsky and James Walker of ESPN
Don Banks and Peter King of SI
Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline
Adam Caplan of Fox Sports
USA Today
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk
Pro Football Weekly
Pete Moran of Buffalo Sports Daily
Jeff (?) Zarbano of WEEI in Boston
Mike (?) Vensel of the Baltimore Sun
Adam (?) Fentress of The Oregonian
Bill (?) Ciskie of AOL Fan House
The Sporting News
Gary (?) Matzek of WTMJ in Milwaukee
DC Pro Sports Report Blog
National Football Post
SB Nation.com
ColdHardFootballFacts.com
Gil Braindt, Mike Lombardi, Joe Theismann, Pat Kirwan, Sam Wyche, Vic Carucci, Jason (?) LaCanfora and Bill (?) Brooks of NFL.com

If there's a "?" after their first name, it's because I don't really remember their first name, guessed, and may have been wrong.

So, that's 30 people who are either relatively reputable writers for national publications, or write for a variety of local "outlets". I did my best to be geographically neutral, and ended up with Boston, Buffalo, Washington, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Oregon. So, it didn't work out all that well, but it's other people's fault for not posting fucking power rankings.

Ok. So, here are the rankings for after Week 1 (first place votes in parens), total points, win-loss, last week:
1. New Orleans Saints (22) 440 pts, 1-0, 1
2. Green Bay Packers (6) 404 pts, 1-0, 4
3. Baltimore Ravens (2) 379 pts, 1-0, 5
4. New England Patriots 361 pts, 1-0, 9
5. Houston Texans, 272 pts, 1-0, NR
6. Indianapolis Colts, 260 pts, 0-1, 2
7. Minnesota Vikings, 224 pts, 0-1, 6
8. Pittsburgh Steelers, 214 pts, 1-0, 13
9-t. New York Jets, 159 pts, 0-1, 7
9-t. Tennessee Titans, 167 pts, 1-0, NR
11. Dallas Cowboys, 165 pts, 0-1, 3
12. New York Giants, 157 pts, 1-0, NR
13. San Diego Chargers, 114 pts, 0-1, 8
14-t. Miami Dolphins, 82 pts, 1-0, 15
14-t. Washington Redskins, 82 pts, 1-0, NR

Others receiving votes: Atlanta 37, Cincinnati 35, Seattle 18, Philadelphia 17, Kansas City 3, Arizona 1, Jacksonville 1

So, I think that it ends up being kind of interesting. Sure, after so many well-received teams lost, and the Saints won, it's easy for them to be at the top. But, I think that will change once they lose a game. Plus, someone, somewhere, thinks that Jags are the 15th best team in the league, and a lot of people think Seattle is better than Philly. If not for these composite rankings, you'd never know.

Now, I went back and went through all the pre-season rankings, but couldn't find them for the NFL people or a couple others in the group. Either way, here's how things looked before last week:

1. New Orleans (12), 282 pts
2. Indianapolis (5), 273 pts
3. Dallas, 230 pts
4. Green Bay (1), 222 pts
5. Baltimore (1), 204 pts
6. Minnesota, 201 pts
7. New York Jets (1), 181 pts
8. San Diego, 170 pts
9. New England, 143 pts
10. Atlanta, 107 pts
11. Cincinnati, 104 pts
12. Philadelphia, 53 pts
13-t. Pittsburgh, 45 pts
13-t. San Francisco 45 pts
15. Miami, 42 pts

Others receiving votes: Houston 36, New York Giants 21, Tennessee 19, Arizona 17, Carolina 3, Washington 2

So, there you go. An interesting list, I think, and one that gives some interesting indications about how people are feeling. I think I'll keep doing it each week, simply out of curiosity, but I will say that, in my opinion, no one has the right to rank Jacksonville in the top-15 for beating fucking Denver.

OK. That's all. I don't have a better way to close out this post, so, goodbye.

Steelers 15, Falcons 9

Yesssssssssssssss.

I feel that way for a number of reasons. Primarily, I feel that way because the magic number really is 2. If this team can get Ben back with at least a 2-2 record, we will be in prime position to make a playoff run. Looking at the schedule last week, it seemed realistic. Tampa should be a win. Beyond that, you have to think that this team could go 1-2 with 2 home games, even though it would be against good competition. To get that first win under the belt, 1-2 looks very doable.

Beyond that, though, I saw a lot of things to be happy about.

But first, let's hit the few things that were not good. Primarily, D-squared looked a little shaky. Amongst Jim Mora Jr's ramblings about the bravery of Matt Ryan, he made some very apt comments about Dixon's (un)willingness to turn his arm loose. He short-armed at 3, if not 4, sure-thing third down passes. He had open receivers, and all he had to do was toss it just a little bit harder, and the drives would continue. So, that was a little disappointing. I also thought that the interior line didn't get as much push on the Falcons' line as I would have liked. Pouncey can move guys, but there just wasn't the running room inside that I would have liked.

But a large part of that is confidence, and I think Dixon will get there. The throw to Mike Wallace was picture perfect, and it wouldn't surprise me if we see that 2-3 times next game.

But that's all the bad I saw.

What did I like? Well, the o-line did not take many penalties, despite a lot of blitzes from Atlanta (or a lot of formations with Atlanta showing blitz). And that hole for Mendy in OT? A thing of beauty. He got a hole like that one other time, in the first quarter, and Atlanta's SS stepped up and wrapped up Mendy's legs. He has 4.3 speed, and if he can get 2 of those a game, he'll break one, guaranteed.

Hines looks like Hines always does. For someone so slow, he sure seems to have a lot of time before anyone gets to him after a catch. Mike looked good on his two catches (he needs the ball more). Cousin Heath is Cousin Heath.

And the defense. Jesus. I wish I had something constructive to say, but they were simply awesome. The line was rock solid (especially while The Snack was in the game). Harrison and Woodley were as good as ever. Ike was getting his head around on every play, and looks like the CB we all know he can be (although, I'll eat my hat if he actually catches more than one a season). B-Mac was on Roddy White all day long. The result? Matt Ryan threw to Roddy White 23 times, and only completed 13. And for only 111 yards. FYI - that's a 69.3 rating throwing to your #1 target. Not how that's supposed to go, and a lot of that was thanks to McFadden. And lest we forget, Troy's back. Remember all of those late-game collapses last year? Yeah, that's not happening any more.

But let's not forget the real star of the day. Lawrence Timmons. He was everywhere. He was rushing up the middle, he was filling holes, he was making plays in coverage. He has safety speed, and linebacker size. And he's starting to play with a discipline we have not yet seen. So, watch out world, Lawrence Timmons might be the best linebacker on this team, and with Woodley, Farrior and Harrison out there, that means a lot.

So, what should you take away from this game? This team can win 3 games with Dennis Dixon. But more importantly, I want everyone to remember that Ben Roethlisberger (at least as of Week 4 of the pre-season) was in the best shape of his career, and playing as well as he ever has. If he means what he says - that he's newly committed to being a good teammate, a hard-worker, and a decent member of society - and comes back in Week 5 in great shape, and with a focus we have not seen during his young but illustrious career, I'll be damned if you can find a better team in this league.

But until then, I'm just hoping we can find one win in the next 3. Anything more than that will just be gravy.

Name the Asshat

So, this whole LeBron thing was kind of a big deal. You hear about it? Well, it really has been the gift that keeps on giving.

LeBron was a dick first. If I were any non-Jamesian actor in this whole fiasco, and we were actually a group of 5th graders, that would be my defense. So, look - can you hate James for going to Miami? I dunno. Not really. Personally, I think it's super-weak. I think a lot of people saw the LeBron free agency and hoped beyond hope that he would make a move that would give him the chance to create his legacy as one of the great players of all time (and at the same time make the Eastern Conference really interesting). Instead, he signed up to be the Scotty Pippen to someone else's MJ. No matter how good this team is, it will always be Wade's team. He robbed himself of a legacy, and robbed the league of some potentially awesome match-ups. But that doesn't make him an ass.

No, the hour-long special makes him an ass. He got some cash for a charity. A lot of cash. And I'll give him props for that. But that's the coldest moment of his life. Which is not a good thing (compare:

But yeah. He did Cleveland wrong with that whole thing. Not that they didn't deserve it. Just that it was a tough way to do it, busting them down on national TV like that.

So, now, let's talk about the city of Cleveland and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert.

So, Dan, Comic Sans, eh? Nothing says "I'm fucking pissed" like Comic Sans. But looking to the content of the letter, it's basically Dan Gilbert whining about how he's been "betrayed". What the letter really evidences, though, is the precise attitude that's keeping Cleveland down. The only good decision the Cavs have made in the last 10 years was to draft LeBron James, and there was really no choice there. Everything else, they fucked up. And now he's gone. And I can't blame him a bit, because if I'm that good a player, I don't want to entrust my fate to such a bunch of yutzes.

As for the city of Cleveland, get the fuck over it. You should have been pissed long ago that your owner and the management of your one modestly successful sports franchises was fucking things up so royally. You can be pissed, but can you really blame him for going? He didn't owe you anything, and if he did, he repaid it by sticking around that shitty franchise for 6 years.

But, worse still, we have Jesse Jackson.

So, is he really a reverend? Does it matter? Did you just insert the word "slave" into this whole discussion. Look, Dan Gilbert may be pathetic and whiner, but LeBron's skin color did have a fucking thing to do with how Gilbert felt. How does anyone care what this guy says anymore? The worst part is that I don't even think Jesse Jackson could think something that fucking stupid.

And that's when David Stern stepped in, to say that he thought everyone handled it poorly.

So, what does all this tell us? It tells us that everyone involved was dysfunctional. LeBron needs to mind himself a little bit better. Maybe he doesn't have the maturity to have his own team, which I would believe, after this past week's fiasco. Dan Gilbert, although perfectly willing to do things himself, appears to be incompetent and petty. You can pick which you'd rather be. Amongst all of this, David Stern has to wonder who was doing his job last week, because it's clear that it wasn't David Stern. He's the goddamn commissioner, and despite thinking that the LeBron "Decision" was not the right way to handle things, he did jack shit. Ultimately, it's his job to keep things like this from embarrassing the league, and he did nothing.

I know this probably wasn't my best piece, but I feel like I've been beaten over the head so thoroughly with all this shit, that I can't keep my thoughts straight while trying to write them down. So, with that, the dynasty is formed, Cleveland's resurgence is quelled, and Jesse Jackson showed he's more Rusch Limbaugh than anything else.

But maybe the LeBron-DWade pairing was a match made in heaven: