50 Sense

Big Ben is back. And thank you Coach Cowher for an absolutely great interview at halftime. It was the first time I saw Ben look into the camera and express humility and ask for forgiveness and redemption. I'm with him all the way, transgressions or not. Welcome home Bennie!

* James Harrison is a beast. I think the Brownies may send drunken fans back out onto the field in Cleveland to deal with him so the real Browns don't have to. As good as Woodley is, Harrison is still Wyatt Earp to Woodley's Doc Holiday.

* As much as BA is an idiot I love the handcuffs placed on him by Ben's absence and the Rooney's preseason edict. When you run the ball and play good defense, good things happen. The conservative approach let's you take a lead and makes the other team (being worn down) force the play. If you need to open up late (we didn't yesterday) then you have Ben at work.

* Colt McCoy looked like the real McCoy. The kid was unflappable and accurate as well as mobile around the pocket. I don't think I'm going to enjoy watching him play the next decade against Pittsburgh. He is a better player than Couch, Quinn or any of the other stiffs Cleveland has had at QB the last few years.

* Wallace has great vertical speed but doesn't have the other skills that Holmes had, like the ability to catch the slant and the ability to break tackles weaving through traffic. Hoping Sanders is that kind of guy and I think the Steelers hope so too. Why else sit A Brown and hinder the return game?

* It was nice to hear Ben say "nothing happened in GA." We had only heard the police reports, TMZ and talking head pundits. I still think Ben was stupid for being in a college town, in a VIP room surrounded by under age drinkers. But at least I now have faith in him that he didn't "rape" anybody and was harassed by an overzealous DA and a bunch of drunken jealous frat girls that forced their friend into saying something might have happened that she didn't want  in a dark bathroom.

* James Harrison is a beast. Did I say that?

* Going to be on a plane on Sunday to Tampa and going to miss my first Steeler regular season game in about 5 years. It was a beautiful Sunday in September that I spent in Maui with no satellite or sports bar on the island. It was pure hell! Bring home a winner guys! Every W we get during the next 4 games makes the loss to Baltimore that much less important and takes away the sting a little more.