Enjoy your Turkey Day friends. Be it with family or friends. I didn't get to make the trek home to be with my family this year for the first time maybe ever actually (hey Mom! No way you're reading on Thanksgiving!). But I'll be showing some people what Thanksgiving in America is all about for the first time for them. Will be different and fun.

And we're not getting together until later out here on the West Coast, which means I may just be around watching some football to start my day for all those who might also be similarly stranded :)

Be well and let us all give thanks for family, friends, health...and why not, Steelers football!

The biggest addition to the New England Patriots defense this year, outside of Richard Seymour perhaps from injury, has been rookie LB Jerod Mayo. For those of you who participated in the first ever BehindtheSteelCurtain Mock Draft, you may remember that I was extremely high on Mayo. I had him going #8 to Baltimore in our little draft.   Turns out the Ravens wisely traded out of the #8 hole with Jacksonville, only to get their guy later in the first round with Joe Flacco.  New England was also able to trade down out of #7 to the #10 hole. They got some extra picks and still got their guy, even though most people had him projected about 8-12 spots lower than that. I do bring that up proudly because I definitely did see something out of Mayo when I watched him in college that couldn't quite be measured by a 40 time. But I'm happy to admit that not 2 sentences into my selection, I claimed I'm not sold on Matt Ryan! Whoops.

Anyway, from all accounts, Mayo has lived up to his billing. I could dig up numerous articles, but I'm hoping some Pats fans will just jump in and fill in the gaps when I say that guys like Tedy Bruschi have been very impressed with Mayo's work ethic and hunger to learn everything he can while his more veteran teammates are still out there succeeding largely on intelligence and experience.

But forget the intangibles, Mayo's productivity has spoken for itself. Mayo is 6th in the league in total tackles (89), 3rd in the league in solo tackles (70), and 1st in the league by a wide margin amongst rookies in total and solo tackles.  You can basically engrave his name on the Defensive Rookie Of The Year award right now.

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We've all talked about the unique dynamic of the NFL in that it changes dramatically during the course of a season.  The idea is to survive through December and peak through January.  Looking back at the first third of the season, one would think it was actually three seasons ago.  The undefeated Patriots from a year ago got crushed at home by a team who almost didn't win a game a year ago.  Brett Favre and the Jets were downed by the Oakland Raiders.  The Colts were losing regularly and I swore the Eagles were not going to allow another first down after the Steelers debacle.

Now, a guy who never started a football game in pro or college is looking like the legend he suddenly replaced, the Jets look like the team to beat in the AFC, the Colts have not lost in a month and the Eagles look completely dismantled.  Only in the NFL.  The Steelers have morphed in their own right.  After seeing that the make-up of the offensive line was not compatible with the style of our quarterback, the offensive braintrust changed the way we did business.  It was a major transition to make.  We went from an extreme team, one who either pounded the clock or had our quarterback break a tackle and make a big play, to an equator team, one that chips downfield and takes what the defense gives us.

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I'm going to kick off my coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots matchup with just a couple quick thoughts, before opening it up to hear how some of you interpret the significance of this matchup. I'm curious because the NFL is interesting in that way. Winning is all that matters of course, and there will be several outliers each year that can skew things, but basically you find out things about your favorite team each week based partly on how they stack up against the various levels of competition in the league. You hang with the NYG, you feel good about yourself. You lose to a dumpy New York Jets and Cardinals team on the road, you realize your team has issues.

Anyway, I get the feeling that many people are viewing this game like last year's Patriots matchup. I don't really, even though we will have had similar records heading into both games (9-3 last year, 8-3 this year). New England is not necessarily who we must measure ourselves against though in the AFC. That was definitely the case last year, and we were essentially humiliated, particularly in the second half. This year? New England's just another team really, albeit one with great coaching, the best WR in the game, and other formidable play makers on both sides of the ball. We've seen though that we have what it takes to go punch for punch with the creme de la creme in this year's league. So I'm not viewing this game as a measuring stick for the team's overall potential moving forward.

Winning on the road is hard in this league. I wouldn't be devastated if we came up short on Sunday provided Ben Roethlisberger didn't play unintelligent football and the offensive line didn't have another Eagles-like meltdown. If it's merely a close, well-played game that we come up short in,  I'll just be disappointed we didn't get it done.  Not ready to nuke our chances for any sort of playoff run.

EXCEPT if...

We get demonstrably outcoached. That goes for both sides of the ball. There's no bigger fan and idolizer of Dick LeBeau than me, but last year was ugly. Granted, we were forced to put a LB on Wes Welker in the slot due to an injury ravaged secondary. But still, New England was literally able to toy with us for nearly 30 straight minutes, and that was after delivering a couple of huge plays in the first half.

I feel silly even bringing up anything related to our defense, so moving on to my more important concern.

Our offense. New England's defense can be had. Even in defeate, the Miami Dolphins put up 28 points, and Chad Pennington found soft spots in the Patriots secondary all day. They're giving up over 20 points per game, and are ranked 13th and 18th against the run and pass respectively. Again, I'm not asking for an offensive explosion, but I sure would like to see Bruce Arians and our offense keep the Patriots defense on their toes for at least part of the game on Sunday.

It won't be easy, and I think Arians can do it. He's had some ups and some downs this past two years. But for him personally, this is as big a moment as any to prove that he's capable of carrying his weight in the team's quest to add a 6th Lombardi Trophy to the case. Bill Bellicheck will be waiting. At least one step ahead.

Other than that one particular matchup in the coaching department, I just hope for good fortune in the injury department and an enjoyably entertaining game watching the Black and Gold. Go Steelers!

A rare link dump from me.

* Hmm, when I clicked on the headline of this story, I thought I was in for an interesting read. Instead, I'm not sure where the complaints come from. Oooh, Steelers fans heckle opposing fans and give soft old overly nostalgic frumps a hard time for leaving early. Big deal, right?

* One For The Other Thumb has its always creative and funny weekly injury report, replete with his world famous Photoshop skills on display.

* Matt Cassel just a product of New England's 'brilliant offensive system?' So says this article, who contends that even a guy like Cassel who hadn't started a game since high school is able to make plays and put up numbers in New England. Hmm. First of all, the Patriots have had multiple 'systems' since Tom Brady arrived on the scene in 2001. Secondly, I think having a fantastic offensive line and arguably the greatest playmaker in the game at WR helps more so than anything that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels does or does not do.

* Here's SBN's Pats blog Pats Pulpit's recap of the Patriots 48-28 victory over the previously surging Miami Dolphins.

* Last year's New England game was truly the game where we learned that our defense, despite being very good, was not truly elite. At least not elite enough to trump the shortcomings we had on offense. This year our top ranked defense will again have a chance to make a statement against a New England offense that is still potent. Pressuring the QB will be imperative, and something tells me that they won't be able to exploit a LB with Wes Welker like they were able to do for the entire second half of last year's affair, but still, at the end of the day, our secondary is going to have to come up big. Ike Taylor is up for the challenge, and in his own words, he's tired of the secondary not getting any credit for its solid play:

"Our secondary doesn't get the credit it deserves," said cornerback Ike Taylor. "It's usually all about our linebackers. That's two years in a row we've been No. 1 and we still don't get the credit."

No time like the present Ike to make people take notice.

Ignoring the obvious example of interchangable running backs in Baltimore and Oakland, and reference to the Cardinals humorous attempt at the wishbone in Week 12, clearly the moving trend in the NFL is no longer a two-back set. Many teams are using three now, and Pittsburgh can be said they were among the leaders of this.

After signing Mewelde Moore and drafting Rashard Mendenhall to help Pro Bowl back Willie Parker shoulder (no pun intended) the load, the Steelers were equipped to complete the metamorphasis to the NEW Steelers football - have multiple backs handle carries throughout the game.

That plan got railroaded early in the year, largely when Ravens LB Ray Lewis ended Mendenhall's season, and Parker nursing knee, shoulder and hamstring injuries.

The Steelers had to rely on the grit of (injured) quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to lock down a very winnable game against the hapless Bengals in Week 11. This was mostly because they could not run the clock out for the entire second half.

If you think the Steelers will be able to get wins over the teeth of their schedule - at New England, vs. Dallas, at Tennessee and at Baltimore - running the way they did against the Bengals, you're crazy. That's why it's time to take the Governor off second-year back Gary Russell and see what the hard-nosed kid from Columbus can do.

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 I had to investigate the Pittsburgh Steelers tendencies on 3rd and short yardage situations. It seemed to me that we threw the ball ALL the time on 3rd and short, but I wasn't entirely positive. So it was a bit tedious, but I went through the play-by-plays of every game this season and charted what we did each time we faced a 3rd down with 2-4 yards to go. Why did I selected 2-4 yards? Well, I thought it was the appropriate range. Even the most passy happy teams run on 3rd and 1 first of all. And while I think an occassional run should be sprinkled in on 3rd and 5-6 type situations, I think we all generally agree that that's a passing down.

But in the 2-4 yard range, we're basically just needing to get our very modest season average of about 3.5 yards per carry to get a new fresh set of downs.  I tried to summarize all the data both in the headers and in a table below so no need to make any sort of calculations for yourself. I did that, and when you see what Bruce Arians has been up to on 3rd and short this year, you may just grow some even stronger opinions about the way our offense has been managed in certain regards and at certain times this year.

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Well Steelers fans, we've got the day off tomorrow after beating the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night. I doubt all of you will take the day off alltogether from football, so let's take a look at some the games of interest in the AFC.

PHILADELPHIA (5-4-1) at BALTIMORE (6-4)

It's do-or-die for both of these teams in a way. Baltimore wouldn't necessarily be eliminated from anything of course if they were to lose, but they would fall 2 games back of Pittsburgh in the AFC North and would find themselves at the bottom end of a log jam of Wild Card contenders. Batlimore does sport a very solid 6-3 AFC record, so perhaps I shouldn't be so willing to write them off if they were to lose in this inter-conference matchup.  GO EAGLES!

INDIANAPOLIS (6-4) at SAN DIEGO (4-6)

The Colts and the Chargers appear to be heading in opposite directions. The Colts have 3 in a row, looking better and better each week. The Chargers on the other hand sit two games below .500 (4-6) and two games behind Denver in the moribound AFC West. With the Broncos hosting Oakland, the Chargers absolutely have to have this one. If I'm correct in my assesment that the Colts are going to continue playing well and ascending the ranks in the AFC, it is very possible that the Steelers and Colts are fighting each other for home field advantage down the stretch. Because they hold the head-to-head  against us, we'd need to clear their final record by at least a game to be seeded higher. GO CHARGERS!

NEW YORK JETS (7-3) at TENNESSEE (10-0)

We're getting into fairly unimportant speculation as it relates to the Steelers, but I suppose it'd be preferable for the Titans to keep the Jets 1 game behind the Steelers by extending their underappreciated winning streak to 11. Each week, people proclaim this is the week the other shoe drops for the Titans, but I'm not so sure it happens in this spot. We'll see. Two good teams squaring off. As good as the Jets have been, they're not home free whatsoever. Either the Dolphins or the Patriots will be 7-4 after tomorrow. Big stakes tomorrow for all the AFC East teams, including Buffalo who's on life support after 4 straight losses. GO _____? (I'll say Titans)

**********

Lots of football left to help sort things out. I think this particular Steelers team is going to just handle their business and secure a #2 seed without needing to look at scoreboards, but what the heck, never hurts to remind yourself to cheer against the Ravens. Judgment type game for them - an impressive home victory over the Eagles and you'd have to tip your cap to first year head coach John Harbaugh and the team. A loss to a clearly suspect Eagles team and Pittsburgh's squarely in the driver seat over the final five games.

Another week, another win for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Outstanding defense in the middle part of the game, just enough late offense, and admirable job ball security wise throughout all helped Pittsburgh escape Week 12 with a 27-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Some thoughts on the game:

* Although we didn't learn much about the team tonight necessarily, I would contend  that when Pittsburgh has faced inferior opponents this season, the team has demonstrated it is not so fatally flawed as to fall flat on its face at any given moment, regardless of the opponent. What am I talking about? Well, last year we stumbled against the Jets and the Cardinals in games where our opponents did not play overwhelmingly solid.

* It'd be hard to hand out a grade of A+ or even A to our offensive line, but I don't see how you could ding them too badly for their efforts tonight either. 0 sacks allowed, and 121 yards rushing. Mind you, those 121 rushing yards came on 37 carries, good for just a 3.3 ypc average. But the second half rushing figures were substantially better than the 1st half numbers.

* # of 3 and outs for Pittsburgh offense: 3.

# of 3 and outs for Cincinnati Offense: 7! Including 6 straight at one point!

* I didn't think it was possible for our defensive numbers to improve too much tonight. They did. The Bengals accumulated just 208 total yards on 58 plays. The 3.6 ypp is lower than our already historically impressive 3.8 ypp. WOW.

* Sure, the sack numbers weren't what we thought they might be, but really, matters not. It was obvious that Bengals QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was going to get rid of the ball before the Steelers pass rushers could make 'game-changing' type plays with their pressure. The result was throws made out of rhythm and before WRs had found much separation. Fitzpatrick finished the night 20/37 for just 165 yards.

* Aaron Smith is good at football. You know what? He's really underappreciated as a sick athlete too. He's not just a savvy blue-collar, bring your lunch pail to work player. He's both. Awesome.

* So is Jeff Reed. No, no. Not the crazy good athlete part. Just good at what he's paid a hefty salary to do out there. Missing FGs like the ones he made can change the complexion of games, particularly at home when it's best not to give the visitors any extra reason to think they have a shot. Not long kicks or anything, but in the snow, I'm just pleased he's cash so often.

* 37 runs, 30 passes. That's the kind of balance and distribution I think most of us would prefer to see. Let's take a step back though. The temptation to abandon the run in the 2nd half was VERY real for Bruce Arians. We were really struggling to run it in the first half which told me that it was clear Arians had every intention of being patient with the run this evening.  But after an entire first half of general futility, it could have been very easy to not stick with it in the third and early fourth quarters.

* We'll see what 10 days does for Willie Parker and his sprained knee. You have to admire his toughness last week rushing for 100+ yards with a throbbing shoulder. But knee sprains are an entirely different animal.  He's such a competitor but it's just nearly impossible to make an impact with that kind of lingering issue. I think we can get some things done with Mewelde Moore and Gary Russel, but I sure hope FWP gets healthy enough down the line to make a few more critical contributions to our team.

* Speaking of Moore. Just when we're about ready to write him off as somebody who's valuable but not quite capable of being relied upon consistently, he comes through with a tremendous second half to help propel us to 17 2nd half points and the victory. He finished with 56 yards on 14 carries, and something like 44 yards on a 60+ yard TD drive in the 2nd half.

* William Gay may not look like Champ Bailey or Bryant McFadden physically, but he's got a nice little football mind. Other than the 4th and 1 play along the sideline by Amani Toomer in the NYG game, I'm having a hard time thinking of an instance where Gay's been out of position out there. I hope his dropped INT though was not a sign that he's got a little bit of Face Me Ike in him.

* Again, beating the Bengals 27-10 doesn't really tell us much about how much we may be improving, but like I said, I think it's a sign we're certainly not heading backwards.  Just thought I'd say that again. And yes, I agree, that should be the case as a year progresses, but it's not always so for a myriad potential reasons. Just look at last year.

* I wasn't thrilled about the design of the running attack we deployed for most of the first half. Between Parker's ailments and the slippery track out there, I thought it wasn't too wise to try some of those slower developing 'stretch' runs off guard or tackle. It was clear to me that it was a touch too difficult for both RBs and OL to firmly entrench their feet to either make cuts or stay on balance enough to seal off linemen. Better job in the 2nd half, though I guess Moore deserves some of the credit springing some positive plays on similarly designed calls.

* Anybody else remember how teammates and coaches said Limas Sweed was too hard on himself this offseason? Anybody catch how digusted with himself he looked on the sideline following his mistake on special teams that turned the ball back over to the Bengals? He'll learn. He's trying. I'm glad he got a chance to make a couple of plays in the 2nd half.

* It was meaningless in the outcome, and there's no question about whether or not Polamalu is heading to Honolulu, but it's always nice to see such an amazing player and teammate garner a bit more attention due to personal statistics.

* Of the 11 times the Steelers have played, opposing fanbases have had to hang their heads and discuss a defeat. I'm glad we have less practice feeling that way.

* More later, including an update on the always dynamic injury situation. Thoughts?

* P.S. NFL Network's simulcasts online are a joke. If their intention was to make me want to purchase the network, they failed.

* P.S.S. Snow be damned, our punting was sad tonight. For those scoring at home, we averaged 28.4 yards per punt. Might we be welcoming in our 4th punter of the year by the time we take the field next in 10 days?

As I suspected, we're in for a fight. I think we have the upper hand, but another mistake or two (Limas! Cmon rook!) and the Bengals will be right there until the end. Ben's had some good moments, completing 10/17 with a TD in the first half. No surprise, Santonio finds himself having a nice game against the Bengals, and credit Arians for getting Heath involved a bit. The running game's been a joke though, with too many of our runs coming on slow-developing plays on the slippery track.

Let's go Steelers! 1 half from 8-3...