Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

Thumbs Up To:

1.  Big Ben.  He's a game winner, no doubt.  Could easily have been MVP.

2. 'Tone-He was MVP and rightfully so. 

3. The TE screen pass to Heath.  We've been terrible at RB screens (see one of the thumbs down) but this was a thing of beauty.  Slows down the outside rushers when they realize that Heath can release that quick.  Hadn't seen that play all year and it was a good wrinkle introduced by BA and the offense.

4.  Hines Ward.  He may not have been ultra productive in his catches, but he drew coverage and blocked as well as ever.  Good for him coming back 3 weeks earlier than most players could from that injury.

5.  Mike Tomlin's victory speech.  I was ready to follow that man after that speech.  Turns out he has no use for me, but still.

6.  The Cards play call on Fitz's second TD.  Credit is due here.  The route combination was fantastic.  We're in a two deep and we're expecting throws to the sidelines to maintain the clock.  Two outside receivers run the same out routes just past the 1st down marker.  Troy and Clark bite hard on these two routes leaving the center wide open.  Ike is a step behind and the ball is placed perfectly so that Fitz can grab it and run.  It was a beautiful thing that made me want to puke.

7.  The Wookie.  Lamar just looks unstoppable at times.  He collapses his side of the pocket every time he bullrushes.  All it takes is a little extra pressure either up the middle or from Harrison on the other side and the QB has no escapes.  I can't wait to continue watching this player for years to come. 

8.  The quick slants to Holmes.  I mentioned this elsewhere, but DRC was ridiculously good at coverage yesterday.  On one play Ben pumped, DRC bit hard on the pump, Ben threw a good ball to Holmes and DRC regained his footing ran hard on the ball and deflected it into Holmes' helmet.  And on the long one to Nate that Ben under threw slightly DRC was way behind and he made up ground ridiculously fast.  But... He's a rookie and makes mistakes and is not the most sound tackler.  This made the quick hits to Holmes a brilliant piece of the game plan.  Again good work by BA.

9. James Harrison.  I don't think much needs to be said.  Lock this man up on a 4-5 year extension this off-season. 

10.  Obama on the pregame.  Not a political statement, I just like that he was up for talking sports and wasn't afraid of alienating people by picking a favorite.  And he's totally right that college football needs a playoff system.

11.  My girlfriend.  After dating 10 months this was the first time she was with me during a Steelers game.  Amazingly she did not break up with me.  I was less than pleasant to be with last night until the end.

Thumbs Down:

1.  BA in the second half...  What the hell happened?  The TE screen was replaced by a RB screen which we have not run well all damn year.  The quick slants to Holmes were replaced by 5 wides slow developing play resulting in sacks. And a QB draw from the 5 yard line?  Really Arians?  Let's just run the QB sweep like in last years playoffs?

2.  The Refs were WAY to involved this game.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to finally see some holding calls when Harrison is being hugged, but there were a lot of flags.  I'm not sold that there was conclusive evidence that Ben's knee was down on the first drive.  I didn't see anything that disproved it.  And I know Hartwig carried him in, but that is not reviewable.  And while I think the first Warner fumble was a correct ruling, I think it's a dumb one.  I know it's on the books as such, but you can't tell me that Warner was truly "Attempting a pass" there.  He was pushing foward to try to avoid the sack.  Anyone watching sees that and thinks, "Wow that's a fumble", but because of silly interpretations it's taken away.   The holding on Hartwig?  Really?  He was getting knocked over and the player came with him.  It did not look bad enough to call.  The roughing called on the Cards was terrible too. The holding against the Cards on the missed Hines catch looked off as well.  Just didn't like it.  Refs should be nearly invisible in big games.

3.  John Madden.  I hate listening to that man.

4.  Troy P. tackling the wrong guy.  What the F happened there?

5.  Matt Spaeth and Stapleton.  Both picked a bad day to have terrible games.  Spaeth was getting blown up on every running play I saw him in on.  The Stapler was whiffing on Dockett left and right.  Seldom do I wish for Simmons to be healthy again.

Oops, quitting time at work.  Better finish up.  Thanks for being a big part of the season BTSC.