Buddha’s Game Balls – brought to you by Dan Bern’s Tiger Woods

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0CXOnJsM4o

Offensive Play of the game:  It’s the third Quarter.  All of us BTSC have spent half time gloating about how the Steelers simply dominate the third quarter.  (This was shortly after saying that Reed never misses and Heath never fumbles).  Instead of domination we watch the Steelers play on of their worst quarter of the season.  Everything goes wrong.  Our D gives up big plays – even in the run game. Our O goes in reverse. 

With three minutes left the Cowboys open a lead of 10.  We get the kickoff and return to the 26.  A bad sack on first down and incomplete pass make it 3 and 16 on the Steelers 20. 

With Mitch Berger punting we know that not getting a first down probably gives Dallas the ball back at midfield.  Ben drops back facing enormous pressure and slings the ball over yards in the air.  It drops right into the waiting arms of Santonio Holmes. 

What makes it all the more impressive is that Ben is throwing into a stiff head wind that has made both QBs look foolish most of the night.  Although we don’t end up scoring on that drive, it is the turning point of the game.  Our D stays on the sideline and rests up for a dominant 4th quarter.  We reverse the field position battle.  The offense finally finds its rhythm

Massive props to Ben for making that massive throw.

Defensive play of the game:  In a game with 4 turnovers forced by the D and a number of enormous tackles by both James Harrison and Troy Polamulu, it was an opportunistic pick by Deshea Townshend that sealed the deal. It wasn’t so much the interception – which was really a gift, but the heads up return. If he stops short of the goal – there are no guarantees considering the wind and Reed’s rough day that we come up with points.   

Defensive player of the game:  This is a toss up between Troy and Deebo.  How can you decide?  Each forced a turnover. Troy had 9 tackles. Harrison had 8. Each made several HUGE plays behind the line of scrimmage. 

Offensive player of the game: Ben. Hear me out. Yes he played a bad game most of the game. Yes he took some really bad sacks. But playing in terrible weather – against a pretty good defense and facing constant pressure – Ben threw for 200 plus yards a touchdown and no interceptions.

In comparison, Romo was picked three times.   Ben made countless big plays down the line – a huge run on 3-10 on the tying drive. A huge throw to Holmes while eluding four tacklers to keep a drive alive. And of course the 47 yard bomb to Santonio into a strong wind. He was the difference maker.

Top Mental Breakdown by the Cowboys:   In the first half TO took a play off for his birthday helping Troy pad his Interception total,  but it was Jason Witten or Romo who ended up as the real goat.  Not exactly sure what happened on the Deshea pick. Witten took credit for the mistake. But it was clearly a big one.   

Troll of the game: Quinnccccyyyy. I don’t know who he is, but after a week of talking incessant trash on our board he stopped by to gloat during the game – when things look good that is.

As the game played he disappeared like Cowboy with a stubbed toe.  I don’t know much about Cowboys fans – and I certainly won’t judge them by that guy.  But I do know I dislike the franchise.  TO and Pacman. These guys deserve to lose.

Quote of the post game: “Man what a beautiful game – you don’t play for style points – we displayed metal” Mike Tomlin

Quote of the game “We gonna hurt yo ass Pac man” picked up on the broadcast mike from the Steelers sideline as Pacman got absolutely crushed returning punts in the second. 

The Good:

Offense seems to be getting some rhythm.  Its still nothing to write home about, BUT it feels like they are beginning to find an identity. It may not be the identity that we all want, but you have a sense that they are getting to be on the same page.

Aaron Smith: The D-Line gave up 40 rushing yards. There was a 20 minutes stretch between the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter where we did not give up a first down. In the midst of it all was the churning heart and soul of our working class defense – a guy who is a big part of  the reason those two linebackers will get to go to Hawaii – a guy named Aaron Smith.  You usually have to look away from the ball to recognize how good Smith is.  Not today. Today you just had to watch it get deflected at the line of scrimmage. 3 pass defenses. Absolutely huge.

Running back by committee (or injury): We are beginning to see what I think would be really good ball distribution numbers for our running backs.  MM, GR and FWP all had touches this game. By the fourth quarter the grinding running game wore downt he Bengals.

Bruce Arians:  I can hear you all out there sputtering and chocking on your Permanti Bro’s.  “Buddha,” you say “did you not, just spend the first half of the season, disavowing your non-violent nature and calling for Bruce Arians head on a stick”. 

Perhaps, but, somewhat like Bruce Arians, I can admit when I am wrong and learn from my mistakes.  Our offense is not the greatest show on turf. It’s not the 07 Patriots. For crying out loud it’s not even the 05 Steelers, BUT its beginning to find an identity.  We may not love that identity yet, but I think that from a coaching perspective this was the best that BA did.  I really like that he is keeping Heath involved – the offense is using smart pass plays. It’s the second straight week without a turnover.  All in all kudos for a well coached game by BA.

Winning: Yes, I know, the Bengals aren’t a football team, they are a work release program for multiple offenders in Southern Ohio.  They call them the Bungles for a reason. They haven’t had a decent football team since we rolled over their chances in the 05 super bowl run. 

You know what, they are also the same team that almost beat the Giants, tied the Eagles and beat Jacksonville this season. They came in with passion and played hard in a game that could have gone their way early, but for a couple of breaks. 

But we ARE winning the easy ones this year. Remember the Jets game last year. That was the beginning of our great unraveling. Thankfully we stepped up big this time.

No Sacks: I don’t care that it’s the Bengals. I’ll take it.  

Luck: Ben should have had two or three interceptions at the beginning of the game.

Limas Sweed: Ok, I know the rook almost cost us a 10 point swing by sheer Anthony Smith like bone-headedness on special teams, but he caught two passes. I chalk it up as a win. Now is the time to start growing this young man’s confidence. We will want him around in the stretch. I like his stride and his hands have looked better. I would love to see us try some deep balls to him this season. 

The Bad:

Injuries: What the hell. When will this stop?  Still no news as of yet on FWP or Kiesel.  Looks like Tone has a concussion.

Pass Rush: Hard to gripe, but I think we were all hoping for a pad that stat sheet kind of game. Instead our pass rush yielded one sack and surprisingly little pressure. Hard to account for that considering that Bengals were using guys who play in the fourth quarter of preseason games against our best guys. 

The Verdict:

Hey what the heck, we won right? Hopefully we didn’t get too many injuries. The game showed a bit of development of  the offense. All in all its hard to complain - well not that hard we are football fans after all. I think we are learning that this team may be one of the elite teams IF it all comes together at the right time. At this point its just to hard to say if that will happen, but it sure is fun watching them grow. 

The good:

Ben - Ben looked sharp and SMART. He threw for three hundred plus on a bad field. He protected the hell out of the ball – while throwing over 40 times. It was the difference in a tight game.

Willie Parker – yens all remember a pro-bowl running back by the name of Willie Parker. Shoulder harness and all he looked like a guy with a LT sized chip on his shoulder.  He earned his yards, and the respect of football fans everywhere. Hats off to you Wille.

Hines Ward – Old? Washed up? Slow? Please people. 86 has not only been the heart and soul of this offense, he remains for better and worse the best receiver on this team. I am voting for him for the pro-bowl.  

via assets.espn.go.com 

(Holding? Holding?!?! 3 Holding calls on me?!? Somebody better hold me!) 

Gary Russel – It was only a couple weeks ago that Steelers fans were flinging stuff at the TV like caged monkeys every time Najeh "Dookie" Davenport lined up to receive a kick. Now I find myself feeling a strange unfamiliar tingly feeling of excitement to see what Russel can do back there. Even when he fumbles he looks good.  But that’s not where he earned his paycheck this week. Two short down  carries. Two huge first downs. Running with his shoulder down and pounding in to people. It almost reminds you of Steeler football. Note to Bruce Arians - this type of running play might actually work well if we ever have a lead again in the fourth quarter.

Deebo – For me THE moment of the game, in a game with many moments was Silverback bull-rushing two 350 pound offensive lineman right back into Rivers. The camera angle was great on that one. Each one of these guys has two hands on Deebo – one on his chest and one under his chin.  And all you can see as the two of them get pushed into the QB are Deebo’s crazy ass eyes grow bigger and bigger as he smells fresh meat. Oh yeah he also had a forced fumble/sack/safety and a nifty leaping pick (watch and learn Ike). Can you say defensive MVP?

via media3.steelers.com 

(Refs whistled Hines Ward for holding on this play) 

Troy – Did I say something about defensive MVP?   Whatever else happens to the Steelers this year. everyone of us should feel lucky to watch this guy play.  I am waiting for the poster of that interception.

via www.post-gazette.com

(Calm down people, I got this!) 

William Gay, Anthony Madison, and some dude named Fernando. – in a team that’s been absolutely savaged by injuries the back-ups keep making us proud. William Gay had a HUGE open field tackle.  Fernando Bryant did just enough to break up a touchdown in the endzone.

Woodley – even playing on a gimpy calf this guy is a force to be reckoned with. He had a huge PD 25 yards down the field. He hurdled the running back to force an early throw by Rivers.  And my second favorite moment of the game came when he and Deebo lined up on the same side.  The poor RT pretty much expelled on the spot.  I think he got a false start penalty because he was shaking too hard.   

Diesel Kiesel - Had to add this guy into the fanpost.  What does it say about your D when a guy leads the team in tackles, plays 3 yards into the backfield all day, has a sack and a huge pass deflection - and you don't immediately think of him as the defensive MVP of the game? 

via media3.steelers.com

The face have been removed from this photo to protect the player from recieving a serious fine by the NFL 

Kick coverage – how good have these guys gotten?

The Bad:

Running the Wheels of Willie:  Enough already!  Please somebody make this stop. There is no reason any NFL running back not named Clinton Portis should carry the ball more than 20 times a game at this point.  25 carries is tooooo much.  Especially when we have a stable of capable back-ups who really bring different skills.  Note to Bruce Arians – watch Giants games. Take notes.  

Missing Person Report – anybody remember that guy we picked in the first round of the draft last year. What the hell was his name?  Is he still on the team?  He seemed like he would be really promising.

The Ugly

The 0-Line:  Pop Quiz – can you name the only three teams who have given up more sacks this year then the Steelers.  Detroit Lions , San Francisco 49rs and Cincinnati Bengals.  Elite company we are keeping there. 

In the three games prior to meeting the fearsome Steelers 0-line, the chargers accumulated a total of 1 sack.   They sacked Ben 4 times and had repeated pressure.  I think that half the DE’s in the league owe the Steeler 0-linemen gift baskets for the bonus money they are getting from all those easy sacks. If there is one thing that will kill the Steelers chances this year its pass protection.

Penalties: 13 for 115 yards. 115 yards is the same amount that Willie picked up. Now in all fairness half of those were directly due to refs with gambling on the game (the phantom pass interference call on Ike, the non-call when Jammer did a little dancing with stars move on Santonio to keep from getting beat deep, the strange imbalance in holding calls, the 7 points the refs admitted to stealing from us at the end of the game) even with all of that bad reffing, we still gave up to many penalty yards, including three or four false starts in crucial situations.

Overall summary:

We dominated both sides of the ball and I still chewed my nails to the bone. That’s not a good sign. Yes, it all comes down to W’s and L’s. Yes we ended up on the right side of that equation. Yes there was a ton to be pleased about in this game.  But this team is not going past the first round unless it can fix some issues on offense.  This game helped. But only up to a point.  We need to find an identity on offense. Unfortunately for us it seems that identity is a scrambling Ben with our future fully on his banged up shoulders.  

We outplayed the Colts in most phases of the game, but at the end we lost a close one at home. Here are the moments that we will regret for a long time on this one.

1. Ben's first Pick - horrible throw for a huge momentum swing before the half. No excuses, no good explanation, just a veteran QB playing like a confused rookie.

2. Ben's Second Pick - Holmes inexplicably gives up on a tight route. Another 7 points given up by the offense.

3. Ike - two hands on the ball and it goes for 6 - hard to blame him, but on the other hand the great ones pick that one and we are dominating the game at the half.

4. Ben taking a sack with one timeout left and losing 17 yards effectively giving up on the chance for a winning drive - poor recognition of the situation by Ben

5. Max Starks with a costly holding penalty right at the end of the game

6. Goal line attack - three runs, three stuffs proving to be the margin of victory. Hard to call it differently, but we left those points on the field

7. Colts last touchdown - only defensive breakdown of the day - Wayne was literally uncovered.

8. Troy lets a picks six slide through his hands - you can't really lay this game on Troy. He played a truley inspired game, but you sure do wish he takes that one to the promised land.

What can I say, this was just a frustrating lesson. Ben promised a better offense. In the end the offense and Ben himself played well at moments - but were ultimately directly responsible for most of the Colts points. Ben's stats are very unimpressive so far this year. I have to say that watching this game they reflect the way that he played.  Of course this is not all on him - as I pointed out above, much of the offense shares the blame.

The frustrating thing about watching this team play is that they are good. They have the potential to be great. . Their defense is - at this point - is in the top 10 defenses of all time.

The offense - well the offense is just a mystery. We have all the tools (except a great offensive line) but we seem to find a way to just take ourselves out of it. I can't get too upset, but it would seem a shame for this team to not live up to its potential. I will write more about the positives later on.... but for now I just needed to purge the negatives.

Hi All, I know somebody else posted about this a while back, but I thought it was worth celebrating again.   

My buddy who was at the Redskins game last night, sent me two articles from the Washington Post about how we our fans dominated FedEx field on Monday night.  Its worth reading to hear the confusion among the Redskin players who said they weren't sure if there was some type of promotion going on for yellow towels. Apparently the place was so loud when our D was on the field that they had to go to a silent count. 

My friend said his personal favorite moment of the evening was a crucial 3rd down in the third quarter. Woodley stood up and started waiving his arms to the Steelers fans to get loud and the place just errupted. Talk about Chutzpa.  How unbelievable is that?

I think we can allow ourselves a collective pat on the back.  

We may struggle with his first name, but there is no question that Mewelde Moore has been a hero and big reason that we are 5-1 and not 3-3. Without his stellar play in the Baltimore and Jacksonville games, there is a good chance that we would have lost both.

Moore's play looks even more impressive considering how badly the Steelers struggled last season when Parker was replaced by Najeh Davenport. Without our power run game, our offense sputtered and we struggled. In the playoff game against Jacksonville Davenport mustered a total of 25 yards on 16 carries. Big Ben, running for his life, while eluding a Jacksonville defense that was clearly not worried about the run, nearly outgained Davenport.

Enter our off season acquisition of Moore, which along with last year's draft is beginning to make the organization look very smart. After riding the end of the running back bench for three weeks, behind Parker, Mendenhall and inexplicably full back Carey Davis - Moore exploded onto the scene with a game saving performance in Baltimore. He made two enormous plays on the final drive that saved the Steelers from blowing a close one at home against a division rival. He then went on to have an enormous game against Jacksonville, accounting for a total of 99 yards on the ground and another 17 in the air. Again he made a huge play in the game winning drive, with a 27 yard run on 3rd and 6.

As Willie Parker heals, we will be facing the critical question. How do we keep Moore involved?

This got me thinking a bit about what each back does well. I checked their split stats - for this season and was surprised to see a couple of things. First, Moore has been running very well in the middle of the field. He actually has better numbers inside the tackles than Parker this year. With significantly better numbers running up the middle (4.1 Avg vs. 1.9 Avg).

I think part of the credit there has to go to Darnell Stapelton who looked much better in the run game than Simmons did. I think credit also goes to an improvement in Arians play calling. But credit also has to go to Moore who has looked really good finding holes and picking up tough yards in the middle of the field.

Another stat that jumped out at me was Moore's stellar 6.7 yards per carry Avg on first down coupled with his 5.0 yards per catch avg on first down throws. Compared with Parker's 3.7 Avg and Zero receptions, you have the tale of two very different looking first down offenses.

Now, granted, I am looking at a very small statistical sample. Moore has only played in three games and one of those was against the Bengals, who probably could have made Najeh Davenport look good (remember the Rams game from last year). But I think that actually these stats hold across the careers of both of these backs.

Moore, when he has started has had really good numbers in Minnesota. He has always caught the ball well and has always been a first down threat. Over his career he has a 5.2 Avg on first down, and a 10.5 Avg receiving on first down (with a 9.5 YAC). Willie has been no slouch averaging 4.4 on first down in many more carries. But he has had far less success catching the ball on first down or any down for that matter.

Moore has also shown that tough running in the middle of the field is not a fluke for him. He averages a very respectable 4.1, Right 4.4,Middle 4.5 Left - career - better numbers than Parker's 4.4, 3.8, 4.0. Both guys run very well outside the tackles, although Parker is probably more explosive.

Bottom line I think we have somewhat of a dilemma. While Moore is slated as our third down back, I think he actually is very good to have on the field on first and second down as well. His presence makes our offense less predictable, more explosive and it's not clear that it sacrifices any toughness in the middle.

So what are your thoughts Steeler nation? Do we park Moore on first down in favor of more Willie, or do we rotate the two of them, and if so, how? 

Last week I asked if we can officially dismiss the Browns as a threat in the AFC north.  Steeler-nation, or at least the part that bothered to answer, seemed to have little or no doubt that we could.  Tough competition or not, it seems that  ALL the fans who responded thought that the Browns were overrated going in to the season and that their 1-3 start is a good reflection of their actual talent level and lack of team cohesion.

I am a little more skeptical that the Browns are that bad.  I still think that they have played a VERY tough schedule to start and that their record is at least partially a reflection of that. Having said that, there is no denying that the team has been less than inspiring, and that they appear to be facing a crisis of leadership that might only get worse after they play the undefeated Giants. 

I wanted to turn our attention to the other team in our conference:  the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens came into the season with much lower national expectations than the Browns. Their offense has been in the process of rebuilding for several years and though their defense remained potent, not much was expected of them.  It seems, at least at the outset, that Ravens are exceeding expectations.

Today, I was stunned to see that Football outsider DVOA rankings had the Ravens ranked at #2 this season.  I can’t say I totally understand how DVOA works, but the basic gist, is it explores how well teams play while factoring in the level of competition.   The system tilts heavily towards statistics and away from looking at wins and losses. But according to these ratings (an the accompanying article) the Ravens outplayed both the Steelers and the Titans. 

Now I find that a bit hard to swallow having watched our game with the Ravens. But I do think that it’s important to remember that the Ravens lost to the Steelers at Heinz Field and that it was a VERY close game. Their loss against the Titans was VERY, VERY close and the phantom roughing call on Suggs may have cost the Ravens a win. 

Overall I am quite impressed by the Ravens this year. There defense seems ferocious and disciplined (ask our number one draft pick). Their offense is still a big question mark, but I think there is no denying that Flacco has been a vast improvement at QB.

So what do you think, Nation? Are the Ravens back in a big way?  They have what will prove to be a very interesting game at Indy this week. After that they have a very soft middle of the season, with games against Miami, Oakland, Cleveland and Houston, before finishing against much tougher competition. I am curious to hear predictions for their overall record as well. 

The Brownies were billed by some as the team to beat in the AFC north this season. They had a great O-line, a couple of potentially good QB's, good receivers and a defense that promised to be much improved after big free agent signings.

 Four games into the season, they are 1-3, with their only win coming against the hapless, State of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Team (formerly the Cincinnati Bengals).  They face a looming QB controversy and a disgruntled fan base that has begun calling for the head of the head coach. 

So does Cleveland just suck? 

I don't think so.

I think that while they are not as good as billed, they a very tough schedule to start.  I also think that they now have the toughest schedule in the League this year, since they have to play us and the Ravens on top of the two toughest divisions in football.  

My sense is that they are a young team that is still in the process of building. The next couple weeks will be crucial to them, but they could still be a very dangerous team down the road.  I don't think they will threaten the Steelers for the Division, but I do think they will play much better in the second half.  Thoughts?

All he wants is for us to spell his name right. 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08270/915226-66.stm

"It's Bruce Arians' fault," the Steelers' offensive coordinator said. "Just spell my name right."

Steelers nation accepts his apology. All we want is for him to not run really stupid plays that kill our franchise QB. At that point we will be happy to spell his name in whip cream on top of a big old cake we bake him to celebrate a season with less than 45 sacks. 

So luck has smiled upon me in my new home town of Philadelphia. I just got tickets to next weeks game. 

First off I want to say that Philly is a great town. Good people, nice feel, big city with a small town atmosphere. Having said that, they have some of the craziest fans I've ever seen in professional sports.  I actually went to one game here a couple years back.  Eagles were losing. I don't think I've ever seen that kind of abuse heaped on a home team. It was actually disturbing. Having said that they also have some of the best fans anywhere. Real passion. Real tradition.  You got love it.  

This is also really exciting, since although I've been a die hard Steeler fan since I moved to this country in the summer of 1979, I have only been to one Steelers game in person. It was a Steelers-Bengals game and I got the tickets at Kickoff - from a friend who couldn't go. I made it down 10 minutes into the first quarter and the Steelers were down 14-0.  It was, to say the least, a fairly depressing affair. 

So, wish me luck.. I'll be wearing my Hines Ward Jersey in honor of Kwoog ( ; . I am  looking forward to seeing, first hand, what this team is made off, against what could be a very good Eagles team.