From Rotoworld:

Willie Parker says he's frustrated with his usage and believes Pittsburgh has gotten away from "Steelers football" of old.

"I just don't think we should give up that quick," Parker said. "We're the Pittsburgh Steelers, everyone knows we're going to run the ball -- or they used to think we'd run the ball. We got away from Steelers football, Steelers mentality." FWP needs to get his facts straight. The Steelers have rushed 373 times in 2008, the ninth most in the league. They're only 21st in pass attempts.

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

Huh?  Parker hasn't looked all that good since coming back from injury and Moore has looked better anyway.  He should keep quiet and be happy he is seeing the ball at all!

 

Let's get home field throughout!!!!  Go Steelers!!!

 

I just found this Replay Re-Cutter over at NFL.com.  I think it would be really cool, but my days are filled with grading papers! 

I would love to see what this can do so if it works out you should link us up so we can see your creations.

For those of us in leagues where you can only use certain players a fixed number of times, We continue our look at matchups by position This week I thought I would take a look at some of the under the radar players.  They won’t be on your waiver wire, but you may be trying to decide to start them or not.  It’s getting close to the fantasy playoffs and the games are getting more important.  Keep an eye on the weather and the injury reports.  No stone can be left unturned! 

QUARTERBACKS

Jake Delhomme had one of the worst games of all time for a winning QB last week versus the lowly Raiders.  When looking at the stats, there is a pretty easy pattern developing.  Jake is a Snake at home and a worm on the road.  Delhomme at home has a 108 passer rating and a 67 away. Oh and this week he's at home against the Lions.

We all know the season Ben Roethlisberger has had this year and in Fantasy Land those interceptions and under 200 yard games don’t lead to even a 6-3 record.  But this week Ben is practicing and throwing the ball down field and he gets the worst passing defense (274 yds/17 TD’s) in the league traveling across the country.  Everything points to a good fantasy game by Ben. 

Tyler Thigpen has gone from scrub to stud in just a few weeks.  He took advantage of the poor SD pass defense last week, but he’s also played well against a very good Tampa Bay defense.  This week he gets the Saints in Arrowhead.  The Saints will score on KC and Thigpen will have to keep throwing it to Bowe, Bradley and Gonzo. 

Other good options: Matt Ryan, Jason Campbell, Trent Edwards
Be afraid, very afraid: Philip Rivers,  Joe Flacco, Sage Rosenfels

RUNNING BACKS

Joseph Addai has had a tough season.  Peyton hasn’t been 100%, the line hasn’t been healthy, he’s faced some tough run D’s,  and he hasn’t been healthy.  But this week vs. Houston everything should finally be lined up for a big game.  Dungy knows they need to get the running game back on track and Houston is a good team to line the wheels up.  The Texans are giving up 130 yards per game on the ground and 4.5 yards per carry.  If he doesn’t score and get 100 yards it’s probably time to give up on him.

Chris Johnson was stuffed last week by the Bears, but this week he gets to go against the Jaguars who just aren’t that good this year.  The Jags have been giving up good yardage to such fantasy studs as Michael Pittman, Jamal Lewis, Cedric Benson, and Kevin Smith.  Johnson should be able to get a hundred yards and a TD and get back on track.

DeAngelo Williams ran well last week against Oakland and gets the porous Detroit D this week.  Stewart has been supplanted by Williams so it is safe to use him as a #1 RB now.  Delhomme and Steve Smith will get Carolina up early and Williams will cement the game. 

Other good options: Marshawn Lynch, Larry Johnson, and Ronnie Brown
Be afraid, very afraid: Clinton Portis (looks like he won’t play), Willie Parker, LT

WIDE RECEIVERS

Dwayne Bowe now has a reliable QB and he’ll see plenty of action because they should be playing from behind.  The threat of Larry Johnson will also open up some lanes for him. 

Santonio Holmes has been disappointing this season, but I see a long TD coming from him this week.  As stated before San Diego can be thrown on and Holmes and Ben will hook up for at least one long pass. 

Eddie Royal should continue to put up big numbers at Atlanta this weekend.  Cutler will be throwing, and then throwing, and then throwing some more.  With no semblance of a running game it will be the Marshall, Royal, Scheffler show.  The Falcon’s D has been playing better, but still giving up big yardage through the air.  Look for that to continue Sunday.

Other good options: Lance Moore, TO, DeSean Jackson, Michael Jenkins, and Santana Moss
Be afraid, very afraid:  Plaxico Burress, Bernard Berrian, and Chris Chambers

Weather: Watch the weather in Pittsburgh.  I’m really touting the passing game for the Steelers, but the forecast is calling for a chance of snow and rain.  If it is heavy, with wind I’d downgrade all aspects of their passing game.

THE MATCHUP GAME

Last week was hit and miss.  Warner lived up to expectations and so did Peyton Manning.  Calvin Johnson did his due diligence and Forte racked up the second half yards.  But Graham laid a big fat one and Schaub and Orton got hurt.  Last week was a low scoring affair all around in fantasy. I'm going to look at the top matchups at the three main skill positions and see what we have going this week.

Continue reading this post »

I am pleased that steelerinchicago has expressed an interest in writing a fantasy column each week for us here at BTSC. His credentials? Besides being one of the site's orginal readers? Um, how about the Sporting News Salary Cap champion in 2006, where he took home a cool $10,000. He's playing for a even bigger prize pool this year so listen up and feel free to ask whatever questions you may have about salary cap games or any other format of fantasy football. He's well versed in 'em all. - Blitz-

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Hey fellow BTSC'ers!  I'll be giving you my fantasy thoughts for the rest of the season.  Maybe in the comments if you have any questions about your teams we could collectively try to push your teams into first!  I'll try to post a little earlier next week.

I play match-up games.  I also play D & T like most of you, but I enjoy the ability to switch out players weekly instead of hanging onto the same old scrubs. I kind of like having Brian Westbrook, Adrian Peterson and Clinton Portis on my team.  Different isn't always better, but it is different and that is a little better, or something.  So if you play games like Sporting News Salary Cap, Pay The Fan, Rotohog, or any weekly game that you try to pick the best players for the week, you want to look primarily at matchups.  And yes, that means picking players against Detroit, KC, Denver, Seattle, but it also means looking at past performances, home and road splits, weather, and even one on one player match-ups.  In these kinds of games every little bit matters.  We'll take a look at a few of this week's games and my studs for the week.

Continue reading this post »

from Football Outsiders -- http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2008/08/21/ramblings/walkthrough/6464/

"Steelers at Vikings: Tarvaris Jackson has been participating in drills despite a sprained right knee, but Gus Frerotte will likely get the start for the Vikings, whose offense will also likely be without Bernard Berrian (turf toe). So the Steelers defense gets to face an immobile 37-year-old without his top receiver. Maybe Brad Childress can get Wade Phillips to call Mike Tomlin and suggest a game plan.

Steelers fans are pumped, for a variety of reasons. Troy Polamalu’s return to practice will give the defense a boost (Polamalu might not play in this game). Ben Roethlisberger has looked good in two starts, and he hasn’t gotten sacked yet, a great sign for an offensive line in transition and a quarterback learning to get rid of the ball faster. Rookies Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed have shown promise. And the division-rival Browns laid an ostrich egg on Monday night.

Despite the high Frerotte quotient, this may be the most watchable national game of the week. The Steelers have several interesting young players to audition (Mendenhall, Sweed, Dennis Dixon), the Vikings may give John David Booty some late snaps, and of course there should be a brief Adrian Peterson sighting."

 

Glad to have a game on national TV.  If there isn't a game post we could use this, but if there is I'll jump over there.

 

 

WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling has a blog.  He answered a question about the 76 All Star game which pitted the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers vs.  a group of college all-stars.

original post here --

"Dear Tom,
I just heard a tape of the July 23, 1976, College All-Star Football game at
Soldier Field. The game was stopped by rain. What happened?
Tony Warren

Dear Tony,
The game started in very warm, muggy conditions with temperatures in the
upper 80s. There was a threat of severe weather, and it began to rain
heavily as the game began. Small hail and gusty winds accompanied the
thunderstorms. The rain ended, and the game continued on a sloppy field.
With the Pittsburgh Steelers leading the College All-Stars 24-0 late in the
third quarter the heavens opened up again as severe thunderstorms struck.
Winds gusted to 64 m.p.h. as the rain fell in torrents. The game was
stopped, but as the players left the field unruly fans ran out and knocked
down both goal posts. Even though the rain let up the game was cancelled. It
was the last College All-Star game ever played."

More details from wikipedia about the all-star game here

"The last game took place during a downpour at Soldier Field on July 23, 1976. Despite featuring stars such as Chuck Muncie, Mike Pruitt, Lee Roy Selmon and Jackie Slater, the rookies were hopelessly outmatched by the Pittsburgh Steelers, winners of Super Bowl X. Pittsburgh was leading 24-0 late in the third quarter when weather conditions made play impossible and the officials called for a delay. The players left the field and were replaced by unruly fans who tore down the goal posts. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle decided the game would not be restarted. Chicago Tribune Charities Inc., the sponsor of the game, elected not to bring it back for 1977."

 

 

Bumped. I've been holding out on commenting on this situation until I got my thoughts/feelings in line. I'm close and will probably sound off as to why this whole cheating ordeal is so important. For now, use this thread to discuss the details and lament the fact that that scumbag and his cohorts perhaps took away our 'one for the other thumb'.

-Blitz-

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08046/857665-66.stm?cmpid=steelers.xml

"U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said yesterday that he has a list of witnesses and will pursue the "Spygate" case against the New England Patriots that he said involved four games against the Steelers, including two AFC championship games.

"I think Steelers fans have a lot to be concerned about this and I'm one of them,'' Mr. Specter told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in an interview yesterday, adding that "maybe Steelers ownership should think about it a little.""

This information gives Hines Ward's comments a little more credence.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/2007-09-12-1294083353_x.htm

"PITTSBURGH -- Wide receiver Hines Ward suspects the New England Patriots may have had some type of inside information on the Pittsburgh Steelers before at least one of the teams' two AFC championship game matchups since the 2001 season.

Ward is certain the Patriots, while known for the thoroughness of their scouting under coach Bill Belichick, had some kind of unusual help before their 24-17 upset victory in Pittsburgh in the January 2002 AFC championship game. The Patriots went on to win the first of their three Super Bowls.

"Oh, they knew," Ward said Wednesday. "They were calling our stuff out. They knew, especially that first championship game here at Heinz Field. They knew a lot of our calls. There's no question some of their players were calling out some of our stuff.""

Can't say this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about the Patriots and Belichick.  Especially after watching them spank us in those championship games.  

Well, our team is sitting at home, eating pizza, drinking a beer, and watching these games today!  Some of the pain of the Jacksonville game has worn off, SOME!  

The oddsmakers have the Patriots by 14 and the Packers by 7.5.  It is hard not to see these lines coming true, but you never know.  The Giants have been playing some inspired football, but have to go into the frozen tundra where as we speak it is -6 degrees with a high forecasted at 3 degrees!  With a wind speed at over 10 mph that's -20 degrees wind chill! With that kind of weather who knows what will happen.  

The Chargers have quite a few injuries.  They are playing in Foxboro.  They are playing an undefeated team.  If they pull this one out it will be an amazing upset.

My predictions for the games are --

Pats 27 Chargers 13

Pack 17 Giants 14

What do you guys think?

From Rotoworld

"Unrestricted free agent WR Andre' Davis is in line for a "lucrative" contract this offseason.
Davis had a career year as a receiver and a kick return specialist and will draw interest around the league. With a solid corps of receivers in place and 14 other unrestricted free agents, the Texans may not be in a position to keep him.
Source: Houston Chronicle "

I know we don't give any free agents "lucrative" contracts, but I just don't see us getting a good kickoff returner in the draft and none of our current players seem to be showing much promise.  Davis seems like a perfect fit.  Yes his numbers are inflated after the 2 TD's in week 17, but he is a good return man.  I know this is just one hole that needs to be filled, but it really hurt us this year.  Jax was not even worried about Najeh and I doubt much would have changed with Rossum.  When we need to get in fg range with little time remaining we need a great return man.