Ravens Seize Control of 1st Place in AFC with Thrilling 23-20 Win over Steelers

just like the super bowl…dumb ass has no idea where he is…

He built a team in the offseason that can beat the Steelers. Now, it’s time for Kevin Colbert to go back to the drawing board and build a Steelers team that can get this division back. Other quick thoughts:

- The Steelers are a family organization but they will have to make some hard decisions in the offseason to be better than the Ravens going forward, and that means cutting a lot of veterans who have contributed to the team’s success over the years – Hines Ward, Farrior, Ryan Clark. Bryant McFadden is an easy cut and they might have to cut Casey Hampton or ask him to take a pay cut at the least. Gotta prepare for this next window of opportunity as Big Ben is in his prime.

- There are lies, damn lies and statistics. The statistic that the STeelers have the no. 1 pass defense in the league is a statistic that lies. The no. 1 pass D in the league does not let a team go 92 yards through the air with 2 and a half minutes left to lose a critical game. Ike and Gay really struggled on that drive and throughout most of the game. Bottom line, this game was lost by the Steelers defense on third downs. Gotta get off the field.

- On the flip side, can our offensive line play much better than it did against the Ravens? When is the last time this team has given up one sack against the Ravens, opened up running room for Mendy and consistently gave Big Ben time to throw? Starks showed why the Steelers need to sign him to a two-year contract at the end of the season. He did a fantastic job on Suggs all night.

- If you are the Steelers, you better get a CB in there that can run with Torrey Smith. I think that Keenan Lewis and Cortez Allen can, but will they be ready to do that as a starter if the two teams meet for a third time this year? Gay has played better this year but his play and that of Ike was below the line today, as was the whole D’s 3rd down D.

- Deebo played like Deebo. What a game! A healthy Deebo and Lamarr Woodley are game changers on the pass rush. I still think the Steelers need to draft Deebo’s replacement early this year if not in the first round because we all see the drop off when either is not on the field. Our CB’s get exposed.

- I have no problem leaving Larry Foote in the starting lineup over James Farrior. He is playing good football and Farrior has lost two steps. Lawrence Timmons has been disappointing this year. There are a quite a good ILB’s coming out this year, so the Steelers might address this area in the first round.

- I’ve seen where a lot of people are giving Tomlin hell for not kicking a 47-yard field goal at the end of the game with Suan Suisham. Are you kidding me? I thought the 5-yard penalty forcing the Steelers out of field goal range was going to SAVE the game for the Steelers. I want to see a show of hands for everyone who thought Suisham was going to make that. Yep, that is what I thought.

- I don’t blame the Steelers for trying to use the passing game to run out the clock at the end. That ball was right in David Johnson’s hands. He HAS to make that catch. Still, I’d take having to make Flacco go 92 yards with a little more than 2 minutes left to score a TD. Like the whole game, the D couldn’t get off the field.

- There is still a lot of football left and a lot to like about this team. The young WR corps is exciting, Ben is playing well, the OL is gelling, our young DB’s offer some hope for the future and hopefully the team will be able to put a healthy Lamarr Woodley and Deebo on the field at the same time. You just have to tip your hat to Ozzie 4 building a team that made all of that moot for the regular season. Kevin Colbert, it’s your move next.

And the worst part was, ,the raisens didnt even have to use a timeout. a minute something in the game, 92 yards to go and they score. That is pitiful. Good teams loose games like today, great teams finish when they have too. The Steelers could of put the game away on the last drive and THEY DIDNT!!!. The last drive the steelers had the ball was completely unexcuseable.

And yes, if Lewis doesnt get fined this week, there is a major conspiracy. Did anyone notice Collinsworth not say a word about the hit Lewis had, like ……well that should of been a penalty, But when Clark had the hit………..Collinsworth……Ah, yeah, your going to get called for that everytime now in this league. Where was he when Lewis took of Ward’s head?

Same thing happened last year if people remember. Cant remember who it was, but it was on Heath Miller, initially, no penalty, but during the week, the person did get fined. Was it suggs? Not sure. We lost Miller for several games due to that concussion.

Did anyone also question the two calls on the catches Boldin made or didnt make. The first, before the half that was called back as a no catch. He juggled it and then going to the ground the ball hit the ground. The second, was the second half where he dove for the ball and same type of catch bascially trapping and the ball hitting the ground, and that was a catch. I just dont see how? these were two of the same non catches and they called one a catch and one not? Unreal. Makes you wonder if Goodell made the halftime phone call?

i’m looking for anything right now…
i would play halo..but if i “Steeler” it…i might break my tv

oh well, guess i will have to wait to get a PS3 and then play it. It does come out on PS3, right?

How many times does he run a delayed shotgun draw on 2nd or 3rd and short and have the run play start 5 yds in the backfield? Dumb.

it was Ben that called the bubble screen out of the no-huddle, not arians…anyway, ya lets take that play out of the playbook. It just doesnt work against teams with athletic 3-4 OLBs

i know you are riding high right now…
he still sucks..no matter what happens (unless he delivers in the playoffs)

bad qb’s have been doing that for years…
he’s any bad qb’s ticket to looking good.

Seriously…get someone to cover anyone.

Its just pure frustration and torture to watch our DB’s, and yes, back to the same old thing. Just had that discussion with a friend on the phone. To be GREAT, you have to be consistant. Last week was a fluke.

alright man, you lost any credibility you had with that statement. this guy has repeatedly shut down opposing receivers all year. hell, at the beginning of the season he was the only guy actually doing his job on the whole defense ffs.

took it a little too far there bud, no need to try and trash an opposing teams city…..especially when your from baltimore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb76AobIgcU

the o-line was certainly not the problem…they held Benjamin Buford Blue almost silent…
except he’s smart enough to see that stupid screen that everyone on Earth knows is coming..
i’m surprised it took this long to get one of those picked off.

ridiculous call made…

that interception was a long time coming…they call that stupid play so much, it never works…but they keep calling it..he’s throwing it no matter what, i don’t think ben gets the blame

He questioned why Lewis was not called for a helmet to helmet – and Clark was called for the hit that he made to the shoulders of the Raven’s receiver. I want to see if Lewis gets fined. Sanders is very “pro” Big Ben. Also it really irks me that the played who broke Harrison’s orbital bone was not fined. I am just ticked at how easy it is for the refs to penalize us and let other players do the exact thing that we get fined for. Just had to add my “two cents”. Am too ticked to comment on much else at this time.

You HAVE to win your division, otherwise you are hoping for a wildcard. To me, this was a must win game, I dont see the ravens loosing the rest of the season and even if they do and tie the steelers, we are a wildcard hopeful. Also, the bengals are still in the hunch.

I think most of the frustration or what you call overreactions are legit and true and it comes from this basically being a must win game. Yah, anything can happen, etc, etc. But, you MUST win divisional games and win your division outright so you can control your destination. So far, we are 0-2 in our division and have 4 more divisional games left, not good.

Our Offensive line played a very good game – especially Starks. Did you notice that Ngata’s name was rarely if at all mentioned. Also Starks handled Suggs very well. And Mendy was passable when he had the opportunity to run the ball. We had a few dropped passes that hurt us on offense and Ben’s “bad” interception. What really hurt us was that we were not getting the pressure up the middle from our defense. Harrison and Keisel played very well. The left side played decent also. Coverage on the short passes on third down hurt us. I am always nervous when Suisham kicks a field goal. The kicker from University of Wisconsin (don’t remember his name) is probably the best out there. I am not sure if he is a senior or not.

The Steelers had the opportunity to win it at the end and they got outplayed, but it’s still frustrating to see a player knocked out of the game with a helmet to helmet hit with no call, then Ryan Clark gets called for helmet to helmet contact just a few plays later. Then McClain initiates a helmet to helmet hit in the 4th quarter with no whistle. Clearly, that was no more than Carter being penalized for being Carter.

There were a lot of blown calls that hurt the Steelers, though. Dickson’s “catch” where the ball was moving around like crazy when hit the ground, Wallace was tackled at least twice when he didn’t even have the ball. Oh, and that game winning TD should’ve been an offsetting penalty at least since Smith clearly pushed off.