BTSC Steelers Daily Six Pack- 2008 vs 1979 Edition?

by drinkyourmilkshake on Jun 4, 2009 10:36 AM EDT Comment 23 comments

IX- As many of you may or may not have heard Ben Roethlisberger injured his knee e in practice yesterday and has not been able to walk without a limp since the injury according to various media reports. Many are reporting it is nothing serious, but of course nobody will know for sure with Mike Tomlin and Ben both declining to comment on the injury after practice. Ben's biggest challenge right now isn't throwing a football or dodging defenders, it is trying to break 100 on the site of the 2009 U.S. Open next week. Roethlisberger, who says he has a 3 handicap, and other celebrities including Michael Jordan will be competing in the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge.

UPDATE:- Ben seemed OK today in Practice this morning and participated with the first team, according to the Post Gazette.

X- Wow is this site ever a really cool. I initially caught wind of it through Bust a Bucket, a Portland Trail-Blazers blog. The blog did a fantasy draft of every player that passed through their franchise and then matched them up in some fantasy games through a site called "What-If Sports". I didn't have time to use the site in quite the manner that the Bust a Bucket crew did, but I did have a chance to match-up the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers against 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers with the 79' Steelers getting Home Field advantage at the now defunct Three Rivers Stadium. Well Guess what old timers? The yet to be named 2008 Steelers defense held strong and only allowed 10 points, while Ben and boys rammed 27 points on Jack Lambert and company. That's right 2008 Steelers 27, 1979 Steelers 10. Make sure to check out "What-if Sports" as I am sure we could come up with some other really cool match ups.

XIII-How cute; ~~T-rex~~ A.Q. Shipley and Kraig Urbik study the playbook together every night before they go to bed. After reading that article all I could picture was the two of them cuddled up together reading plays and thankfully Cotter at One for the Other Thumb is a photo shop genius and concocted the most hilarious photoshop on earth.

XIV-Also from One for the Other Thumb is a quality reflection on the career of Rodney Harrison formerly of the Patriots and Chargers. Not only is Harrison a jerk, a steroid abuser, and dirty player, but he also stole the job of future Hall of Famer and Steeler Legend Jerome Bettis. Maybe Jerome will run over Harrison with this bus and get his job back.

XL- Lawrence Timmons seems to be making an impression on everyone going into his first year as a starter. Scout's Inc., Matt Williamson, is confident that Timmons will be a play-maker this season especially with his pass rushing skills. He was quoted as saying:

"Timmons could be special. LeBeau is going to have a lot of things at his disposal to do with Timmons whether it's blitzing or in coverage. He can open his hips and run down the deep middle if they want to play a Tampa 2 system, which is where Mike Tomlin comes from, and I think he can stay with any tight end in the AFC North division for sure. So LeBeau is going to have a new toy."

XLIII-Last but not least, I have to mention the Penguins in the Six-Pack as it appears to be a good luck charm. So remember to stop by our friends at Pensburgh and check out their live chat for game four tonight where the Penguins look to tie up the best of seven series.

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Big Ben returns to morning practice, other OTA notes

Guys, good news for all that Ben returned to practice this morning and ran the first team offense with no signs of a limp, reported by Ed Bouchette.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09155/975066-100.stm

Here are some highlights from the Steelers OTA on June 3, courtesy of D. Lolley:

- The culprit for stepping on the foot of our $100M franchise player was our soon-to-be star Lawrence Timmons. Lolley said he believes Timmons might have been pushed into Big Ben, but that sometimes iisshhtt happens. Let’s hope this is the last we hear of Ben even being brushed in practice. Man, this OL can’t even protect Ben during OTA’s.

- The team did have some good news on Wednesday with Ward participating in position drills. Up until then, he had pretty much been a bystander/coach on the field.

- With Woodley and Harrison both out, the two starting OLBs were Arnold Harrison and A. Frazier. I know a couple of you are asking, “What about Bruce Davis?” Well, what about him? I think this is Tomlin deferring to the other two veteran guys who have at least made plays while in a Steelers uniform. Davis, who hasn’t done anything yet, will have to show something on special teams and the base defense to win a roster spot and make it on the field.

- With Palomula, Clark and Ty Carter missing practice, the 1st team safety spots were held down by Ryan Mundy and Roy Lewis, who have gotten plenty of work during these sessions. With RG Darnell Stapleton missing, Trai Essex moved into his spot.

- The catch of the day belonged to Shaun McDonald, who hauled in a long, one-handed diving catch of a bomb from Charlie Batch. Beautiful pass and even more spectacular catch, Lolley said.

- For all the Bruce Arians bashers, the team did a lot of work today on its screen game and the coaches had to have liked what they saw, according to Lolley. Near the end of practice, Jeff Reed hit a 60-yard field goal with room to spare while the other place kicker , Piotr Czech, missed his kick after receiving a high snap from the rookie long-snapper Mark Estermyer.

- Tomlin talked to Czech afterward saying there would be a time in training camp where he’d be able to save his teammates a whole lot of grief if he makes that kick. And that’s all, folks.

“I don’t want to hear about injuries. The standard of expectation does not change.”

by datruth4life on Jun 4, 2009 12:37 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

I have't even read this 6pack yet...

because I was just listening to the ESPN Football Today podcast. And guess who they had on…Len Pasquarelli. He was asked about why he is an idiot and ranked the Steelers at 9th. He said he thinks we are going to have trouble in our division this year, especially against the Baltimore Ravens. That guys an ass and I’d love to slap him. How the heck does he figure Baltimore is going to be miraculously better than us this year?

by Johnny_S on Jun 4, 2009 2:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I didn't hear Len...

But based on what you said he said (we’d have more trouble in division) I don’t think that qualifies as them being better than us. They’ll be better than they were last year (thus a more difficult match up), but he didn’t rank them above us to my knowledge at least. I haven’t looked at the rankings, I think they’re all BS, but I think if he had ranked them above us I’d of heard that by now.

by NYSteelersFan4 on Jun 5, 2009 9:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

How do you figure they will be better?

They define themselves on defense and they lost their defensive coordinator and a player in Scott. And Ray is a year older.

Anyway, that makes my point. He didn’t rank them above us, yet when asked why he ranked the Steelers so low he said because they are going to have trouble with the Ravens. Yeah, we did last year, beat them 3 times, and won the superbowl. Dipshit has no idea how to form a logical point.

by Johnny_S on Jun 5, 2009 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't personally...

I’m simply giving my interpretation of Len’s quote you gave. And as most people know, teams change from year to year. Yes, we beat them 3 times last year, and it was great… was. Insert quote about small rearview mirror, big windshield. If Len thinks they’ll be better, that would make the two games we play them more difficult than last year, at least in his mind, right? It is a fairly logical point, not to start an arguement about it, we’re on the same side on this one, I believe your interpretation was a bit off.

The Ravens have lost D coordinator’s a plenty in the past, as I’m sure one of the purple Browns fans will be quick to point out. They’ve also lost LB’ers pretty regularly. They still show up and play every game. We lost an ILB, and Farrior is a year older, we’re still pretty damn good. Why? Because we have decent talent waiting in the wings. So do the Ravens.

by NYSteelersFan4 on Jun 5, 2009 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No I understood his quote...

I just don’t think he is right. And I agree, the past is the past. Although I will rub in the fact that we have won 2 superbowls since the ravens won one for a long time.

Anyway, assuming the games will be harder because the ravens got better assumes that the we stay at exactly the same skill level or got worse. Neither of these ideas are right at all. Just look at our running game, its going to be completely different this year, better, a lot better where it was non-existent last year.

Also, IMO I believe our back-up to replace the lost LB is much much more ample than the Raven’s back up. Also, Farrior, although a key part, is not the center point of our defense like Lewis is to the Ravens.

Lastly, when the Ravens lost D-coordinators in the past they still had Billick who had been there long enough to know the ins and outs of their system. Now with Harbaugh only being there for a year, I wonder if that defense will carry over as well. It will be interesting to see. I suppose, only time will tell.

by Johnny_S on Jun 5, 2009 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

nice 6 pack

the photo was a lil disturbing tho lol

& of course Let Go Pens

by t1mmy10 on Jun 4, 2009 3:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ain't happening...

That “What If…” site sounds cool, but I’m sorry, unless 21 of those points were the result of special teams and defensive touchdowns, there’s no way the ’08 Steelers are beating the ’79 Steelers 27-10. For that to happen, Darnell Stapleton would have to have his way with Joe Greene, Willie Colon would have to dominate L.C Greenwood, Bruce Arians would have to outfox Bud Carson, etc… MAYBE you can argue that because the players today are so much bigger the ’08 team would have been able to push the ’79 team around (I can certainly see 260 pound Mike Webster trying in vain to budge Big Snack). But if this game disregards that sort of evolution and is just about talent, the ’79 Steelers win…

by cliff harris is still a punk! on Jun 4, 2009 3:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Reality is

a good friend that always speaks the truth even if it hurts. Sorry, just ruffling your feathers.

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Jun 5, 2009 8:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've been messign around with this What If thing at work for a bit now...

EVERY game I match up the 2008 Steelers against Woodley gets a sack. The man is a digital statistical beast.

by Johnny_S on Jun 4, 2009 3:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

the same thing happens during the playoffs, it's uncanny

"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."

by showtime on Jun 4, 2009 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Comment from today's OTA

Wexell said the following:

“Watching the DBs work on their ball skills, it’s obvious that both Lewis and Burnett have great hands. Lewis’s are quieter.”

Assuming he was talking about Keenan, not Roy, is there a chance that the scouts were wrong about Lewis’ stone hands? Wex also said Lewis had the eye to level McDonald coming over the middle (who dropped the ball), but unlike former DB’s (cough, Anthony Smith) he was nice enough to let up.

If he can catch the ball and hit hard and isn’t a hot head, I could really see him being a long term safety for us. Good to hear that 2 of our dreaded 3rd rounders are standing out a bit early.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Jun 4, 2009 4:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

why dreaded?

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Jun 5, 2009 8:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just cause all our recent third rounders haven’t amounted to anything.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Jun 5, 2009 9:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe we'll go back to the days of

Mike Vrabel, Hines Ward, Joey Porter and Chris Hope. Also history says if we have multiple 3rds at least 1 of the will be decent. Now my definition of decent may be a little different than yours though. I’m a little more forgiving than most.

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Jun 5, 2009 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What about Willie Reid and Anthony Smith?

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Jun 5, 2009 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What about them?

I said maybe we’ll go back to the days of….then named Vrabel and others. Also they weren’t part of a multiple 3rd rounder draft. I’m trying to see where your going with naming them.

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Jun 5, 2009 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was referring to “Also history says if we have multiple 3rds at least 1 of the will be decent”. Reid and Smith were both drafted in the 3rd in 2007, and neither of them turned out.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Jun 5, 2009 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Understood

however the jury may still be out on Smith.

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Jun 10, 2009 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lewis has "quiet" hands?

I know that’s a compliment… it’s just I’ve never heard someone’s hands described as “quiet.” I assume he means they’re soft.

If that’s the case, does Ike Taylor have obnoxiously loud hands? Like so loud the neighbors have to call the cops on them because it’s three a.m. and they’re keeping everyone awake?

Sorry, Ike. Keep Swaggin’…

by cliff harris is still a punk! on Jun 4, 2009 5:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ike's hands

have been label a noise hazzard by OSHA.

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Jun 5, 2009 8:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

By the way

before they leveled 3 Rivers Stadium, did they ever find Woodson’s ACL that Barry Sanders made him leave on the turf?

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Jun 5, 2009 9:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

rodney harrison

what can you say about nbc they probably just want someone to compete with shannon (I can’t talk ) sharp and after seeing how versus actually let pens fans watch outside the igloo when they could have made them go home so there ratings would be better I really wish I could watch the pens sat on another channel just to screw nbc I hate that network

by billsteelcity on Jun 5, 2009 1:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs