Week 11 vs. Lions – A sign of things to come?

It’s nice to see Big Ben with a smile on his face! He has spent the last two weeks trying to fend off any rumors that he wants a trade, that he will be traded, or that he’s not happy with the Steelers franchise. But all that nonsense can hopefully be placed aside after Roethlisberger’s dominant performance against Detroit. Ben threw for 367 yards and 4 touchdowns! These statistics helped give the team a much needed win and earned him the AFC Offensive Player of the Week Award. All while wearing that bumble-bee uniform!

I mentioned last week that to win against the Detroit Lions, the Steelers would have to stop their QB/WR combo of Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. But instead of trying to defend that explosive duo, they tried to keep pace with their own passing game. The stats are very similar: Stafford and Roethlisberger throwing 362 yards and 367 yards, while Johnson and Brown caught for  179 yards and 147 yards. The biggest difference is that Ben threw 4 TDs to Stafford’s 2 TDs and that Ben didn’t throw any interceptions, which he’s been doing a little too often this season. Big Ben looked like his old self again on Sunday when he tossed two long TD passes to Antonio Brown. I hope this deep attack is something that will continue for the remainder of the season.

The Steelers looked good on defense, great on offense, and never gave up during the hard fought game against the Lions. However, Pittsburgh may have been given a gift when Detroit failed to score on their fake field goal attempt. This play was a huge turning point in the contest and the outcome could have been altered if their trick play managed to pay off. But a win is a win, and the Steelers need every one they can get, so I’ll take it!

Speaking of wins, Pittsburgh now holds a 4-6 record. This puts them in 2nd place in the AFC North Division. They trail the Cincinnati Bengals (7-4) and are tied with the Cleveland Browns (4-6) and the Baltimore Ravens (4-6). But with the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs having such great seasons (both 9-1) there is only going to be room for one more Wildcard spot in the playoffs. The Steelers travel to Cleveland this Sunday to take on the Browns. Pittsburgh needs to win this week and hope that the Chargers beat the Bengals so that the Steelers can close the gap on the Division lead. But nothing matters if they don’t win, so let’s hope the passing attack stays hot and the defense can make some big plays this week!

Immaculate Reception Screencast

This is a short commentary that I recorded over footage of the Immaculate Reception, one of the most famous and controversial plays in NFL history.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xMDIcsUMmA

Week 10 vs. Bills – Starting to turn it around?

The first thing I would like to cover is the trade rumors that started to surface before the game against Buffalo. Some reports were saying that Ben Roethlisberger was looking to be traded at some point this season or at some point in the off season. These rumors are completely false.

Here is a quote from Ben regarding the issue:

“I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “It is one of the most (untrue) stories that I’ve ever heard of. I’ve always said that I want to be a Steeler for life. I love it here. I’m happy here.”

Big Ben went on to say:

“I’m a Pittsburgher,” Roethlisberger said. “I’ve told people that. I’m so proud to raise my kids here. I want to finish my career here, however long that is. I don’t want to play for anybody else. This is it for me.”

These sentiments were echoed by the rest of the Steelers team and front office prior to the Week 10 game.

The Black and Gold played a solid game against the Bills. The defense seemed to wake up after being abused by the Patriots last week. They managed to throw enough confusing looks at Buffalo’s rookie QB to suppress his offensive capabilities.

Roethlisberger looked to be in good form during the game. He threw for over 200 yards, but still had one interception. These turnovers need to stop if they want to make a late playoff push this year. Rookie running back Le’Veon Bell continues to show signs of becoming a truly great NFL RB. He had almost 100 total yards and a touchdown against the Bills. He has the speed and quickness needed to be a star in the league.

The Steelers had the game in hand from the second quarter on. They easily won 23-10.

Now to preview Week 11’s game…

The Detroit Lions will be coming to Pittsburgh on Sunday. They bring with them a young and talented QB in Matthew Stafford, a physical freak of nature in WR Calvin Johnson (aka Megatron), and a nasty defensive line that is eager to exploit the weaknesses in the Steelers offensive line.

The Steelers are in last place in the AFC North Divison at 3-6. They need to pull off this win at home vs. Detroit. To do this, they’ll need to protect Ben, open holes for the running game, and find a way to stop the Stafford/Johnson combo from passing for 300+ yards. None of which will be easy. Good thing Pittsburgh will be wearing the infamous “bumblebee” throwback jerseys on Sunday (pictured below). Maybe it will distract the Lions enough to help us get the win!

Week 9 vs. Patriots – Well that was embarrassing…

Another week, another loss for the Black & Gold 😦

The game started with promise as the Steel Curtain put together a goal line stand to stop New England from scoring late in the 1st quarter. That incredible defensive effort made me believe that the Steelers had come to Foxboro to play a competitive game against one of their rivals! The next play proved just how foolish my hopes were.

Big Ben and the Steelers took over from their own 1 yard line after the defense’s huge stop. This offensive drive was short-lived as Roethlisberger wildly tossed up a lobbed pass with more air time than a Kardashian. It was easily intercepted by the Patriots and Brady quickly capitalized by throwing an absolute strike to hit his receiver in stride for the first of many TDs that they would score.

Coming out of halftime, the Patriots were leading the Steelers 24-10. Ben actually managed to tie the game up in the 3rd quarter. Then Tom Brady happened. The man who looked so inept last week against Miami decided to wake up from whatever fog he was in and returned to his legendary self as he lit the Steelers’ defense up with 432 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. The final score was 55-31 in New England’s favor, but it felt more like 100-2.

Coach Mike Tomlin is fed up as well. He will look to make more changes this week to try and right the ship. The last trick he used was taking away the recreational games in the team’s clubhouse. This led to a 2 game win streak. But it looks like some more serious changes are going to come soon from this quote:

“We are going to comb through this with a fine tooth comb,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, “and those people who are lacking effort won’t be playing. It’s just that simple.”

The one bright spot of the day was Ben’s performance and his personal achievement. Roethlisberger threw for 400 yards and 4 touchdowns. He did throw 2 interceptions and fumbled the ball once but let’s just move past that. Big Ben’s beautiful touchdown pass to Antonio Brown marked the 200th touchdown pass of his career. This puts him 12 behind the franchise leader, Terry Bradshaw. With 8 games remaining, Ben could overtake the Blonde Bomber by the end of the season.

Hopefully the Steelers can make some adjustments and get a win when the Buffalo Bills come to Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Week 8 vs. Raiders – Oh no! We suck again!

The most historic franchise in the NFL marked their names in the record book again this week. Only this time it was on the wrong side of a record setting 93 yard quarterback touchdown run by the Oakland Raiders’ Terrelle Pryor. That was the opening play of the game, and things didn’t get better for the Steelers from there.

*sigh* The Steelers went to Oakland for Sunday’s game with a 2 game winning streak in hand and the possibility of climbing closer to .500 on the horizon. Hopes were high that the team had put the 4 straight losses that started the season behind them. Instead, the Steelers left California with a 2-5 record, placing them last in the division behind the Browns. THE BROWNS! Oh no! We suck again!

The big issues were the standard ailments that have plagued the Gold and Black most of the season: injuries and turnovers. This week, however, tossed in another wrench: kicking.  The injuries on the front line are catastrophic, with both the starting and backup Left Guards going down and the “he’s-been-injured-more-than-he-plays-draft-pick” Right Guard David DeCastro getting injured as well. This caused the running game to suffer tremendously, gaining only 35 yards. This led to Big Ben having to throw the ball nearly 50 times while taking 5 sacks in the process. Roethlisberger also threw two interceptions, one that was extremely questionable.

Now onto the new problem that has arisen. The punting and kicking were terrible against the Raiders! Shaun Suisham was great so far this season at a perfect 14/14. He missed 2 crucial field goals that truly could have changed the game considering that it finished 21-18 in Oakland’s favor. There was talk that the holder, and punter, Zoltan Mesko mishandled the 2 snaps that led to the Suisham misses. Mesko also had one of his own punts deflected, giving the Raiders good field position in a tight game. Those mistakes cost the team a win and Mesko his job because earlier today, the Steelers waived Mesko and picked up another punter, Mat McBriar. Will this be enough to cleanse the team and make sure that they don’t slide into another 4 game losing streak? I sure hope so because the Steelers travel to New England this week to face Brady and the Patriots on Sunday and they will make the Steelers pay for any mistake.

Week 7 vs. Ravens Recap

The Steelers won another scrappy match up against their Division Rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, this past week for their 2nd win of the season. The final score was 19-16 and it was won on a last second 42-yard field goal by Steelers place kicker Shaun Suisham, who is a perfect 14/14 so far this season. Troy Polamalu landed a HUGE hit on Tandon Doss, who somehow still managed to secure the catch, in the fourth quarter. Troy also made a spectacular leaping play on the PAT attempt that almost prevented the Ravens from tying the game but he mis-timed the snap by a split second and was called offsides instead (Link to a gif of the play: http://cdn1.sbnation.com/assets/3425613/polamaloops_medium.gif).

With less than 2 minutes remaining, Big Ben led the Steelers down the field to put them in position for a field goal from Suisham that won the game as time expired. Ben was able to connect on some long passes with receivers Antonio Brown and Jerricho Cotchery in order to march down the field during that last drive. Linebacker Lawrence Timmons played most of the second half with a broken hand, but still tallied 17 tackles in the victory. He has received a cast on his arm and will play in Week 8 at Oakland. Rookie linebacker Jarvis Jones sat out Week 7 after suffering a concussion in Week 6, he will also return next week to play the Raiders.

Le’Veon Bell, the rookie running back, had a really impressive game against a tough Ravens defense. He totaled 93 rushing yards on 19 attempts. This was his highest yardage total in his only 3 NFL games played so far. Bell showed signs of brilliance during the game this week by making quick cuts and hitting the correct holes to bust out some nice gains. Le’Veon should continue is upward progression as the season continues and he should perform well against the Oakland Raiders this week.

Image From: http://cdn2.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/21479127/185435904.0_standard_352.0.jpg