Con Air Grounded

Photo edit by me.

Everyone knows Cincy's D can't stop anyone. So it's no surprise KC put up 27 on them. What is a bit of a surprise is that coming off a bye week, Cincy couldn't do anything on offense, which was supposed to be their forte.



The Bungles get to play the lowly Jets next week in a game that might have high draft pick implications before coming to Pittsburgh. We can only hope that the feud between Johnson and Palmer gets worse next week. Then we might only have to worry about stopping Housh.

Other Divisional News

The Ravens beat the winless Rams on the strength of 5 field goals. Not being able to get the ball in the end zone will hurt Baltimore down the line.

The Browns beat the winless Dolphins. Derek Anderson and Cleo Lemon put up some numbers. Who? Yeah, these guys are starting in front of Brady Quinn and John Beck, both top 50 draft picks last year.

Debate Central

Who is the worst team in football?

Miami (0-6)--As bad as they are, they could finish 2nd in the division. Buffalo and the Jets are just as bad. The season is over. Beck needs to play.

St. Louis (0-6)--With Bulger going down, they're in the market for a QB, WR and an O-line in the off-season. Another Orlando Pace-esque pick at the top of the draft is likely. However, as bad as they are, they're only 3 games out of 1st place. With Leinart and Warner hurt in Arizona and Seattle's struggles, the winner of this division might not be above .500 this year. But it won't be St. Louis.

Atlanta (1-4)--They finally got a solid, go-to reciever but they lost their QB. Losing doesn't hurt Bobby Petrino, it just brings Brian Brohm closer to wearing red and black again in the pros. Will be picking in the Top 5 in April.

New Orleans (1-4)--They lost their running game, which was the heart of the team. Without the run support, the passing game hasn't been as prolific. In a division with Atlanta and where Vinny Interceptaverde is starting in Carolina, they could turn things around and end up around or over .500.

Buffalo (1-4)--They're not as bad as their record shows. They could have beaten the Broncos and should have beaten Dallas. They'll probably end up finishing 2nd in the worst division in football (minus New England).

NY Jets (1-5)--Another bad team from the AFC East with QB issues. They have solid recievers and a decent pair of running backs. The O-line needs some help and they need a QB. They have the 29th ranked offense and 28th ranked defense. Not a winning combination.

Cincinnati (1-4)--Of the seven teams with 0 or 1 win, the Bungles have the most internal turmoil. Chad Johnson causes havoc, players get arrested and the team lacks discipline. They're heading for another selection at the top of the draft unless they turn things around quickly. And a win against the Jets next week doesn't count.

Survey says....St. Louis is the worst team in football, followed closely by Miami, Atlanta and the Jets.

Personal News

GREs went well this weekend, so now I have to start working on grad school applications. My Senior Comprehensive Project is due in 1 month.

Injury Update

Hines had an MRI on his knee which showed no ligament damage. Hines says he's fine. Diagnosis of a bone bruise remains the bottom line.

Bills Linebacker (and Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate) Paul Posluszny is out for the remainder of the season with a broken arm. Dr. Cox says it's a clean break and he'll make a full recovery.

Seahawks Running Back Shaun Alexander has a broken bone in his wrist, no word on whether or not he'll play this weekend.

Thanks to the efforts of Jack Shepherd, Bills tight end Kevin Everett might be walking within a month. Great news.

Steelers Win 500th Regular Season game

26
3

The only Bills that really showed up for this game were these ones, that Jeff Reed deposited into the local PNC. Let's face it: he's money in the bank.

Our recap starts with the Steelers winning the toss. Good start to the game. Parker lights up a few nice runs around the outside, including one on a 3rd and 1 for 21 yards. The Steelers end a 7-minute drive to start the game with a Jeff Reed field goal. 3-0.

Buffalo's #1 pick Marshawn Lynch from Cal (who has never seen snow...genius pick there) dashes through a couple broken tackles on the Bills' first play. The Steelers D cracks down with Harrison coming up with a sack then a nice bit of coverage by Deshea on a 4th down attempt.

Textbook coverage.

Turnover on Downs, Steelers ball. According to a post-game interview, BA talked Roethlisberger into taking a shot deep to Holmes here. Ben didn't want to, and it hurts his numbers. 1 play, 1 INT, bringing the defense back onto the field. Bills run 3 times and punt.

The Steelers put together another 7+ minute drive with some key 3rd down receptions by Wilson, Ward and Holmes, driving all the way down to the 10. Ben has Dan Kreider wide open on a swing route that would have been a walk-in score, but he throws the ball short. Reed comes in to make it 6-0.

Buffalo goes 3-and-out again and the Steelers take over. Ben hits Spaeth for 9 and Washington for 21 and Parker busts a 24-yard dash as the Steelers drive back down the field and add another field goal. 9-0. At least it's a 2-score game at this point and we can breathe a little easier.

Buffalo goes 3-and-out again (yes, I know this sounds repetitious, a lot like Buffalo losing the Super Bowl). The Steelers get the ball back with no timeouts and a minute and a half to play. Ben takes to the air, hitting Nasty Nate Washington for 30 yards, Hines for 10 and Holmes for 17. A spike and 2 incomplete attempts to Ward (one of which should have been a touchdown, but the refs reversed the call), brings up another Jeff Reed field goal. 12-0 at the half.

Solid first half, the Steelers dominated in TOP. James "Silverback" Harrison was carted off the field after the last play of the first half. Word is he was conscious, moving and talking when they took him out, sat up to be taken into the x-ray and returned to the stadium. Glad he's okay.

The Bills come out with a heavy dose of the ground game, leading to a field goal, making the game 12-3. Right now, I'm a bit worried because Berman predicted the Bills winning 20-19 on NFL Live last nite.

The Steelers strike back with a 5-minute drive taking them down the field behind some big gains from Parker and a 27-yard hookup to Santonio Holmes that he almost took the distance. Tomlin and BA keep Krieder on the bench and put in Carey Davis for a goal line punch and Parker gets stopped twice. On 3rd and Goal, Ben shows he's got ice in his veins and hits Matt Spaeth off a play-action fake for the score. 19-3. At this point, I'm still a little worried about Berman's pick. It would take a monumental collapse by our defense.

Too bad the only team capable of a collapse that big was the 1993 Houston Oilers.

You let Frank Reich beat you.
No wonder you fled to Tennessee and changed your name.

Buffalo moves the ball back down the field and after a terrible non-call by the refs on an obvious Offensive Pass Interference, the D cracks down with some heavy pressure on Losman, making him throw a couple of bad passes and Larry Foote comes up with a huge sack and strip of Losman on a 4th down attempt.

The Steelers look to be ready to defy Berman, and hit Hines for a big 21-yard connection on the first play out. But a stop of Parker and Ben getting sacked (the only time all game, solid overall work by the O-line) put a halt on the drive and brings out Sepulveda for his only punt of the game, coming with 12 minutes to play in the game. Great offensive work to keep Sepulveda to his holding duties all game before this.

Buffalo wants to force the issue, and the refs want to let them, as they call back a Ryan Clark INT by saying he wasn't pushed out of bounds or some crap like that. Brett "the Diesel" Keisel comes up with a sack on the next play, pinning the Bills deep. The Bills fail to convert on 3rd down and punt back to Pittsburgh.

Parker has two solid runs before Ben hits Heath for a 29-yard pickup, down to the Bills 11. Willie Parker shows up Berman in a bang.

Handoff. Touchdown.
26-3.
No comeback here.

LaMarr Woodley brings the heat and throws down Losman for a sack. B-Mac powerbombs Lee Evans on a first down catch, and Evans gets up jawing.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct.

The Bills try to hit Evans in the corner of the endzone on the next play and he picks up another 15-yard USC for spitting in the Refs face when trying to beg for a Pass Interference call. The Bills, now faced with 2nd and 25 are in a hole. Evans comes out and Losman has only one reliable target left. Incomplete. We saw that coming. The secondary comes up with some great coverage on 3rd down, forcing Losman to scramble and bringing up a 4th and 8. Deshea Townsend comes up with a tackle 1 yard shy of the sticks, giving the Steelers the ball and the ability to run the clock out.

Homestead Charlie and Naj' come in and keep it on the ground to seal off the win.

Stats:
Parker: 23 carries, 126 yds, 1 TD
Roethlisberger: 21/34, 242 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Defense: 4 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble
Net Yards: Steelers 420, Bills 223.
Conversions: BUF 5-13 (3rd Down), 0-3 (4th Down); Steelers 11-16 (3rd Down)
TOP: Steelers 35:27, Bills 24:33

Also, the Steelers became the first AFC team to reach 500 regular season wins. Maybe by 2083 (150th Anniversary) rolls around we'll be at 1,000 wins.

Preseason Game 3 Tonight

So here's the deal: There are two more preseason games before the first cuts have to be made. Here's the NFL's preseason deadline schedule:

Aug 28: Roster cut to 75 players by 4 pm EST
Sept 1: Roster cut to 53 players by 4pm EST
Sept 2: After 12:00 noon, teams can sign 8 players to a Practice Squad

Other notes:

BSP and Walter Young can not be signed to the Practice Squad this year. Which means they either make the team or get cut. Quick prediction: Young makes the team, BSP gets cut. He may get picked up by someone who needs a QB...like Atlanta.

Buddy is glad the Falcons didn't have a first round pick in the 2000 NFL Draft

Speaking of the 2000 Draft, it was really the last time that I wasn't 100% sold on the Steelers first round selection. I'm happy with Timmons, but as you may remember, I was really pulling for the Steelers to draft Paul Posluszny. In 2000 I was really high on this certain running back from Alabama named Shaun Alexander. Did the Steelers pick him with the #8 pick? Nope. They drafted a wide reciever out of Michigan State named No-catch-ico

Burress. Oops. Alexander fell to Seattle with the 19th pick. 

If we had drafted Alexander, maybe we wouldn't have tried to throw the ball on 2nd and Goal from the 2 in the 2005 AFC Championship game.

So far this preseason, Timmons has played 0 games. Posluszny has played 2 games with 9 tackles and 1 sack in his first game and 3.5 tackles, including a HUGE one on 4th and Goal last night.  Prediction: Posluszny will be a Pro Bowler within 2 seasons (assuming no injuries).

Back to the matter at hand, the starters should see some more playing time tonight. Parker should get a few reps too. Timmons practiced this week but no guarantees on whether or not he plays.

8:00
KDKA
Pomp and Nelson take 2: they're still the worst.
Turn on your radios.