Steelers News and Notes

by Blitzburgh on Nov 25, 2008 1:18 AM EST Comment 3 comments

A rare link dump from me.

* Hmm, when I clicked on the headline of this story, I thought I was in for an interesting read. Instead, I'm not sure where the complaints come from. Oooh, Steelers fans heckle opposing fans and give soft old overly nostalgic frumps a hard time for leaving early. Big deal, right?

* One For The Other Thumb has its always creative and funny weekly injury report, replete with his world famous Photoshop skills on display.

* Matt Cassel just a product of New England's 'brilliant offensive system?' So says this article, who contends that even a guy like Cassel who hadn't started a game since high school is able to make plays and put up numbers in New England. Hmm. First of all, the Patriots have had multiple 'systems' since Tom Brady arrived on the scene in 2001. Secondly, I think having a fantastic offensive line and arguably the greatest playmaker in the game at WR helps more so than anything that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels does or does not do.

* Here's SBN's Pats blog Pats Pulpit's recap of the Patriots 48-28 victory over the previously surging Miami Dolphins.

* Last year's New England game was truly the game where we learned that our defense, despite being very good, was not truly elite. At least not elite enough to trump the shortcomings we had on offense. This year our top ranked defense will again have a chance to make a statement against a New England offense that is still potent. Pressuring the QB will be imperative, and something tells me that they won't be able to exploit a LB with Wes Welker like they were able to do for the entire second half of last year's affair, but still, at the end of the day, our secondary is going to have to come up big. Ike Taylor is up for the challenge, and in his own words, he's tired of the secondary not getting any credit for its solid play:

"Our secondary doesn't get the credit it deserves," said cornerback Ike Taylor. "It's usually all about our linebackers. That's two years in a row we've been No. 1 and we still don't get the credit."

No time like the present Ike to make people take notice.

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Thanks for the links Blitz. Much better than reading the news from the financial sector.

Re; fans at Heinz, I was at the SD game and had a completely different experience. Maybe it depends on where you sit and who you sit next to. I don’t think it’s Heinz or Steelers fans and an experience like the one reported by Amen could happen anywhere in any stadium. Perhaps Amen should take his kids to a Disney movie instead of Heinz on a Thursday night when people had all day to drink? Maybe he needs to check his own parenting skills before lambasting the Steelers Nation.

Re; injury report at “one for the other thumb” that was freaking hilarious and I can’t wait to tune into that site in the future. What is it with Pre Law students and Steelers blogs?

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Nov 25, 2008 9:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

fans at Heinz Field

While my friend and I were disappointed by the fans streaming out of the stadium during the Bengals’ last drive (shame on them for missing a second consecutive end-of-game play by Polamalu), I didn’t hear anything close to abusive at the game. There was one Bengals fan that I spotted in my section, but he was pretty low-key and everyone left him alone (to wallow in his misery).

I’ve only been to Heinz Field twice before — the other two times were the crushing games last season against Jacksonville — and it seemed to me the crowd was less into the game, perhaps because the game never felt tight even when we were behind or the score was close, or perhaps it’s just where I happened to sit. I’m willing to believe that, based on small sample sizes, someone else and I could have entirely different experiences being there.

by Alba on Nov 25, 2008 11:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Our whole defense deserves a lot of credit, but the secondary certainly gets the least of it. And Ike is right, they should.

Our defensive line? Solid. You don’t run on the steelers, and they get push and grab flushed out quarterbacks.
Our linebackers? Solid. They drop into coverage for INTs, put immense pressure on QBs, and tackle quickly. Oh yeah, you don’t run on the steelers.

Our secondary? Most casual observers think our secondary is helped out by our great pash rush. Hell, they’re right. But every game there are many plays where we don’t get good pressure on the QB and he has plenty of time. How many of those balls do you see completed? Not many. I still cringe from last year because QBs always seemed to find the open man. That has not happened very often this year. Our coverage has been really incredible. And oh yeah, they help let us say you do not run on the steelers.

Kudos to you face me ike for me almost never having heard your name called this year.
If McFadden is back, not only solid coverage but I call an interception this game.
Townsend is a bit slow, but could start at CB for a few teams I know. Can certainly play nickelback.
Gay? What a surprise, he has been playing some inspired football given his “pedigree”. He has stepped all the way up to #2 CB in the past, I have faith in him covering the #3/#4
Bryant? Man does he not seem very good at his age. But I can’t imagine there’s a better #5 CB out there. I expect we’ll hold on to him through the NE game, I wonder about after that?

The help for the secondary underneath is great. Timmons can follow TEs and Woodley/Harrison have both snagged themselves INTs by dropping back to the underneath routes.

The help over the top is fantastic. Clark and Troy when he’s back there always seem to flow to the ball and breathe on the receiver at just the right time.

It’s not our defensive line. It’s not our LBs. It’s not our secondary. It’s our whole goddamn defense – but if the secondary wants respect they need to shine this week in NE.

by steelguy99 on Nov 25, 2008 9:50 AM EST reply actions 0 recs