Cowher may have been out-coached at times, but he was still a damn good coach. In 15 seasons he had a 62.3 winning percentage (I believe that is top 10 all time), won 8 divisional titles, took us to the AFC Championship game 6 times, SB twice, and won 1. If you made a list of coaches with similar accomplishments it would be a very short one. And very few great coaches ever win you the big one.

Some of Cowher’s decisions were questionable and may have cost us games, but more often than not that man won us games. You might not like him, but you have to respect what he did for us. Also, take a look at what the Steelers did in between the ‘79 SB and Cowher’s start in ‘92, it ain’t much. Cowher turned us around 180 from the crap 80s teams we had.

Lack of coaching (for lack of better words) was made up for by the talent he hired.

Gloves are off now! :]

You heard it from me first ;) Kinda like the SD game last year just a little weirder.

BTW, you guys are totally going to lose Sunday. Chiefs:122 Steelers: 4

They’ve know they are rebuilding but still have fervor for their team. And they like to joke around a lot like people here on our blog. So far I haven’t seen any bad exchanges.

If Ben wasn’t a QB, I’d put him in as a LB, TE or a weak-side O-lineman. The man is a giant, and tough as nails. Plus, Ben has the O-line (now) to let him have the 2 seconds more to make those extended plays happen.

I think the jury’s still out on how good Cassel really is. He benefited from playing behind NE’s tremendous O-line last year, so it’s reasonable to expect this to be a steep-learning-curve sort of season for him.

He’s an exceptional QB. Elite even. His abilities to scramble and be as accurate as he is while on the move is poetry. He holds the ball longer than most (I sound like a broken record on gamedays…“Throw it. Throw it! BEEEEEN!!! THROW IT!!!!”) His sack numbers are staggering. If he didn’t possess the sheer physical size he does; I venture to say he’d be injured much more often. He’s a mountain of a QB. His ability to extend the play has been pivotal to opening up a whole new playbook (uh-oh….here come the BA jokes…lol) He has a gift that few QB’s have. Ben is unique. He “just fits” with the Steelers and the Tomlin outline.

Ben has three skills that make him good at what he does: he is fairly agile, he has decent arm strength, and he has a good sense of what is happening around him.

Early in his career, guys coming in for the tackle would treat him like a big man – which he is. They would come in fast and try to lay on with a solid hit. Ben would dodge under or around them. He’s got good moves for such a big guy. He changes direction just fast enough that he gets bumped, not taken down.

Then, tacklers started going after his legs. Of course, Ben will make a throw even with the tackler wrapped around him. Ben’s bulk provides him with a solid foundation even when his feet aren’t set. His arm can whip the ball out even when his legs are hindered.

The plan after that was to tackle his arm, which is effective if Ben doesn’t sense that a tackle is coming. But that’s not easy. Ben has pretty good awareness inside the pocket.

These are all skills that Ben brought with him when he got signed by the Steelers. I don’t know where he learned them. Could Cassel learn, too? Sure. There’s nothing wrong with Cassel’s legs. He proved in NE last year that he has some toughness to him. But I don’t think the complete skill set is something Cassel would have learned working behind Brady in the NE offensive system. It’s something he might develop if your coaches work on it.