well said.  I'd be embarassed if my coaches were saying crap like that.  that's sad.  I don't think Tony Dungy would be caught dead saying 'we beat ourselves, we didn't get beat.'

And for BigBlueShoe to crticize Foote for responding is equally weak.

This is sour grapes from a sad franchise.  Inferiority complexes abound from both the fans and the organization.

And yes, it is good to be a Steelers fan right now.

If you'd like to red the article where Mudd was quoted, check it out here:

http://www.stampedeblue.com/story/2006/8/15/105911/392

Outcoaches, outplayed, beaten, defeated by your own team or the other team, these are all just descriptions of the same thing. If a line coach admits that he couldn't get his team prepared for the game, and that his unit stunk, than that should be included in his measure as a coach. Thus, in that particular aspect, the Colts were outcoached.

Regardless of how costly the Colts' internal mistakes were, a loser requires someone to lose to, and this instance that team was the Steelers. When a team beats you, as a result of your own errors or theirs, it is proper form to recognize that they beat them. Prefacing the exact opposite sentiment with "but I respect them" doesn't change the substance of your message one bit. The coach straight up said that the Steelers failed to defeat the Colts. That's historically inaccurate.

As for what the player said, he's a player. Fans could reasonably hold coaches to different standards than players. In any event, nothing Foote said is remarkably offensive, but what Mudd said is slightly confused. "Let's go play again. Right now."? Where is the "respectful" tone?

"The Pittsburgh Steelers did not beat the Colts." Again, in what sense is this respectful just because it is prefaced by the blatant lie "I have respect for the Steelers"? If the Steelers did not beat the Colts, than they were miraculously the first team in NFL history to win the Superbowl without beating all their opponents.

There's a world of difference between saying "We could've played better" and saying "The other team did not play well enough to beat us." The former is a neutral yet evaluative statement about your own team, the latter is an insult to someone else. That's how I would take it.

And anyways, the Colts line collapsed by their own admission in the most important game of their season last year. The Pittsburgh Steelers did not experience a similar meltdown, or at least one that resulted in a loss. So didn't the Steelers beat the Colts in virtue of the fact that they didn't choke? Shouldn't we use a team's proclivity for choking at least in part when measuring that team relative to its opponents?

that this Mudd guy's an O-Line coach and not an offensive coordinator or head coach, and it probably has something to do with how he handles himself.  

Get your ass to law school already Skin Patrol.  I'm assuming that's where you're headed by the way you write, no?