Sorry everyone

To everyone who has been a faithful reader of my blog,

Sorry I've let you down the past week. I am well aware didn't post a recap of the Baltimore game and my recap of the Cleveland game will be late. I am currently in the final stages of my comprehensive senior project (aka Senior Thesis) which is required for graduation. Since I really really want to graduate from college, I've been working hardcore on my paper (which is going to be between 60 and 70 pages when it's finished. It's due Wednesday, so I've been dedicating pretty much all my time to that. Well, except the 2 hours I spent driving to and from the games on Monday night and this afternoon. Great games to attend, the Baltimore victory was classic.

After my Senior Project is done, I'll post much-belated recaps of the Baltimore and Cleveland games. Sorry for the wait everyone, it'll be better from here on out.

Go Steelers.

Welcome to the Jungle

24
13

Sorry if my last recap sounded a little angry...I was a little pissed after watching the Defense blow the game and the poor play calling by the coaching staff. Much better job this week.

Steelers win the toss, the entire city of Cincinnati sheds a tear.

The Steelers come out with Dan Kreider blocking for Parker. Excellent choice by the coaching staff. Parker gets 4 to start the game then Ben hits Hines for a first down. It's great to have him back. The drive stalls around midfield and Superman comes on for his only punt of the game.

On a side note, Superman appeared on the Hines Ward Show this week and was asked what was his worst Halloween costume ever. His answer? A cowboy. No word on what his best costume was. I'm betting on this:

Cincy read two stanzas of Casey at the Bat during the commercial break. "Hope springs eternal in the human breast"...apparently. Carson came out firing and looking for Ocho Cinco as they drove down the field into the red zone. Solid defensive plays from Farrior, Haggans and Ike stop the drive short and force a field goal. 3-0.

The Mayor of Cincinnati declares free ice cream for everyone if the Bengals can hold on to the lead.

Holmes gets two to start the next drive on a reverse. Parker around the outside for 12. Ben hits Hines over the middle for 8. Second and short. Tomlin policy as been to run the ball and pick up the first down in these situations.

Not today.

Long ball for Holmes is complete, down to the 16. Marvin Lewis challenges in the hopes of maintaining free ice cream.

Ben to Hines for six.
Hines just owned Bengals first round draft pick Leon Hall on this route.
7-3.

Palmer tries to hit Ocho Cinco deep, but Ike and Anothny Smith are all over it. Kenny Watson fumbles on 3rd down, but the Bengals recover...and punt.

Ben hits Heath and Holmes on consecutive 3rd and 4 plays to pick up key first downs and keep the offense on the field. Parker chips in with a few solid carries and Hines pulls in a pass to get inside the 10. Parker for 1. Incomplete pass. 3rd down. Media nation is waiting for Ben to throw a pick and blow it.

Instead he finds Hines across the middle with a beautiful pass right between two defenders. 14-3.

Palmer comes out looking for Housh. Apparently he's had enough of throwing to Johnson. The Bengals convert a few 3rd and shorts and wind up driving the ball down to the Pittsburgh 2. Marvin Lewis calls a timeout with a little over 2 minutes to play to strategize for the 4th and short on the 2. His strategy? Take the points. Field goal. 14-6.

"Good teams get in the end zone. Teams like us kick field goals." -TJ Houshmandzadeh

If you look up 2-minute drill in the dictionary, you'll see a video of this drive by the Steelers. Absolutely perfect. Parker picks up 32 on the first play to take the clock down to the 2-minute warning. Ben goes for the deep ball to Nasty Nate, but the pass is broken up. It was a good look and Nate was in single coverage. Not a bad play.

Holmes picks up 10 and 12 on short outs. Parker picks up 3 to get the ball down to the 10. Ben finds Hines at the sticks on 3rd and 7 and he makes a lunge for the goal line.

This picture was too good not to post.
First and goal at the 1.

Parker off-tackle for the score with 4 seconds to play in the half. Perfect drive. 21-6 at halftime.

For the only time all game, a team goes 3-and-out. Good thing it was the Bengals coming out of halftime.

Parker carries the team on his back down the field. The only other positive gains before the red zone was a scramble by Ben and a pass to Heath. Willie gets a breather and Naj' comes in to pound the ball. Najeh gets 3, forcing a 3rd and long. Ben scrambles out of pressure and tries to force a pass on a ball he should have thrown away. Interception.

The Bengals come out firing, trying to get back in the game. Palmer tries a few shots deep, but the secondary is all over it. The underneath stuff is available, and Cincy moves down the field. They convert on a 4th and 8 pass to Chad Johnson that Coach Tomlin challenges. Coach is 0-3 on challenges this year. Oh well. Palmer hits Housh for the Bengals only touchdown of the game.

21-13.

Willie gets a breather and Cincy gets a heavy dose of the Najinator. Power football down the field with some passes mixed in to Hines and Holmes. Reed tacks on a 40-yarder to extend the lead. 24-13. Solid 7 minute drive to put the game away.

Palmer hits Housh for thier biggest play of the game for 28 yards to start the next drive. The Bengals looked like they were going to desparately air it out, but then ran three consecutive running plays. Watson was getting dangerously close to the 100-yard marker, and it was time to put a stop to that. James "Silverback" Harrison dropped a sledgehammer on Watson and stripped the ball.

Your work here is done.

It's time to "RUN THE BALL". Parker for 3. Parker for 5. Naj' for 3 and a first down. One more seals the game. Parker for 2. Two-minute warning. Flip over to the Browns game shows them throwing on 2nd and 3rd down when St. Louis has 2 timeouts left. Incomplete pass on 3rd down stops the clock and makes Cleveland punt to give St. Louis the chance for their first win of the season.

Channel surf back to KDKA. Parker for 5. Naj' for 3. Victory formation. Game.

Flip back to the Erie station. Cleveland commits a pass interference penalty on 4th down to keep the Rams drive alive. Bulger throws a pick and the Rams continue to wallow in misery. Cleveland moves into second place in the division.

Stats n'at:
Parker- 22 carries, 126 yds, 1 TD
Roethlisberger- 19/26, 230 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Ward- 8 catches, 88 yds, 2 TD
Anthony Smith- 9.5 tackles, 1 Jacked Up! highlight hit on Housh.
Defense- matches their league-best average of 13.0 points allowed per game.

Blame Arians

31
28

I'm a college student. I have class every Sunday night. Usually this doesn't present a problem. Tonight it did. I missed the first quarter.


You may say "He runs a Steelers blog! How could he miss a game?!" Well, I want to graduate and class attendance is mandatory. And besides, I'm just one person running a blog. And I still update more than those guys over at The Steelers Blog. They haven't actually done a recap since the Cardinals game.


So here's your forewarning: the first quarter recap is shoddy. All I know is what I've heard from people.

Everyone knew the story coming into the game. Denver had the worst run defense in the league. By far. Willie Parker and Najeh are a solid combo. The Steelers are a power team, everyone knows we're going to run the ball, right?

You must be joking.

We run 3 pass plays and gain 43 yards before Parker touches the ball. No gain. Two more passes ensue. Parker dashes for 3 down to the 1. 2nd and Goal from the 1. You know what that means...

7-0. Early lead looks good.

But then Denver gets the ball. Someone forgot to tell our defense how to cover 3 recievers. The defense doesn't force a 3rd down until Denver is on the Steelers 15. That just happened to be the same play Cutler hit Stokley for a score. 7-7.

Now the Steelers want to try and run. Parker for 7. Sweet, let's go to him a few more times. Oh wait, Arians likes to throw. Two incompletions later Superman is on to punt. Way to waste a great first down play.


Denver converts a 3rd and 12 to keep their drive alive but is forced to punt 4 plays later.

At this point Parker has 3 carries for 10 yards. That's pretty solid. What do we do against a Tampa-2 that has safties sitting back so you can't throw deep? Throw it deep. Interception.


Cutler seems like he's going to pick us apart again, but Anthony Smith (from the 'Cuse) steps up with a huge interception in the end zone to get the ball back.

Arians might be realizing his play calling sucks. So he goes back to the bread and butter. Parker for 4. Parker for 27. Naj' for 3. Parker for 3. Incomplete pass. Punt. Argh. This guy who sits next to me at Hienz Field always screams "RUN THE BALL." (Section 107 if anyone knows). The Steelers should hire him to stand next to Arians and scream the whole game.

In emanation of the Steelers, Denver goes run-run-pass-punt.


Parker loses 4 yards on 2 plays, but a solid play by Holmes keeps the drive alive. Ward barely drops a pass over the middle. Coach challenges. I think the altitude might have been getting to his head here. This wasn't the best idea in the world. Two plays later Ben throws a ball behind Ward that he tips into the air and gets intercepted.


Denver marches 40 yards for the score. 14-7 bad guys.


Parker for 7. Bad snap by Mahan, Ben holds on and hits Heath for a big gain down the middle. Arians tries to call a screen. Ben throws it at Parker's feet with a guy in his face. Another bad snap by Mahan and the O-line looks like the Maginot Line as Ben gets hit trying to pick up the ball. Broncos recover the fumble and take it to the house. 21-7.

Actual picture of the Steelers Offensive line.
Kendall Simmons is represented by "Sedan" on the map.

Down by 14 with just over 2 minutes in the first half, I guess we have to pass.


Sack. Then Hines steps up and makes a few big grabs to get us out near midfield. Naj' converts a big third and short. Hines again down to the 31. We're in field goal range. Remember that.


The Maginot Line breaks down again and Ben has to scramble for his life. Incomplete pass. Ben comes back and scrambles around again and hits Hines with a huge pass to get down to the 19...

Holding. Offense Number 73, 10-yard penalty.

2nd and 20. 14 seconds left. Ball on the 41. A safe play puts us in solid field goal range. Or the Maginot line could let them through. Sack. Reed falls short on a 65-yard field goal to end the half. Stupid play calling.

Denver comes out, seeming intent to drive the ball, but Larry Foote makes a great leaping interception to get us the ball back. Parker twice for basically nothing. Ben forced to scramble, picks up the first down with his own legs. Parker dashes for 15. Ben hits Holmes across the middle in double coverage for a huge score. 21-14.

So you're saying there's a chance.

James "Silverback" Harrison and LaMarr "I'm a Freaking Beast" Woodley come up with sacks on the next drive, but Denver converts two 3rd and 14's and opens the lead back up. 28-14.

The Steelers start in the shadow of their own goalposts. Holmes picks up a first down then the refs tack on 15 more for a late hit out of bounds by John Lynch. Ben hits Parker with a short pass that he takes for 22. Then Parker dashes for 24. Incomplete pass. Ben scrambles for 8. Parker dives for the sticks on 3rd down. Terrible spot, but Ben plows through on 4th down. Next play, Spaeth from 13 yards out. 28-21.

Denver goes 3-and out. Now's the time. 7 minutes to go. We can do it. Two passes to Holmes for a first down. Parker does basically nothing but Hines pulls in a big catch for 16 yards on 3rd down. The refs missed a false start penalty on us here, but I'm not complaining. Short pass to Parker and he darts inside the Broncos 40. The Maginot Line strikes back as Ben is sacked and Simmons is called for holding.

Ben sparks hope and hits Ward to bring it back to 3rd and 10. Great slant route by Wilson to convert. Parker for 4 more, bringing him to 93 yards on 21 carries. 4.4 yards per carry tonight for Parker and we only ran the ball 26 of our 61 plays. And two of those were supposed to be passes that Ben had to scramble on because the O-line choked.

Back to the game. Swing pass to Carey Davis to get inside the 15. And...

TOUCHDOWN.
Heath was open all night.
28-28

1:10 left to go. All we need is the defense to hold. Cutler starts picking apart the Prevent defense in the face of a 4-man rush. LeBeau doesn't blitz until they're at midfield. Cutler makes a shaky throw, but the catch is upheld by replay. Denver is down to the 30. Elam time.

Now I understand why the Romans had vomitoria.
31-28.
Game over.

By the numbers:
0-number of important running situations when I can remember seeing Dan Krieder on the field. Why isn't he playing?
1-the number of more games we can keep playing stupid like this. Play Krieder. Run the ball.
3-the number of touchdown catches by our tight ends tonight.
4-Heath Miller's total touchdowns on the season. And the cumulative total of all of our Wide Reciever's touchdowns.
8- number of different recievers Ben threw to tonight
39- The percentage of running plays actually called by Bruce Arians against the worst run defense in the league.

Me vs. Sportsline

Making football predictions is tough.

Any given Sunday, anyone can win. That's a given.

The guys at CBSSportsline do weekly picks against the spread.

I'd rather pick it straight up. Yes, I know this is "easier." Whatever. They get paid to make picks.

That being said...in my Yahoo! Pick 'em league, I am 57 - 32- 0 this year.

Yes, getting 64% of the games right isn't anything to brag about.

But how are the "experts" over on Sportsline doing?

Harmon: 49-39-0
Prisco: 53-35-0
Judge: 51-37-0
Davis: 43-45-0
Richard: 43-45-0

Yes, they're picking against the spread which is in theory "harder". But they get paid to do sports analysis. I don't. And I have a better record than all of them.

How about the ESPN guys you ask? Well, they pick the games straight up like me.

And only Mortensen and Jaws have better records than me. And they haven't even picked all the games apparently, because their overall number doesn't add up to 89, which is how many games have been played so far this season.

In lieu of this...here's my picks for this week. Most of them are obvious, but I took a few upsets to keep things interesting.
Tennessee over Houston
Tampa Bay over Detroit
New England over Miami
New Orleans over Atlanta
NY Giants over San Francisco
Baltimore over Buffalo (though I'm rooting for the Bills here)
Washington over Arizona
Kansas City over Oakland
Cincinnati over NY Jets
Philadelphia over Chicago
Seattle over St. Louis
Dallas over Minnesota
Pittsburgh over Denver
Jacksonville over Indianapolis

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.

Seagulls Lay an Egg

21
0

I've gotta say...while being at a game is great and watching it live equally as good, there's something to be said for taping the game and being able to fast-foreward through the commercials.


Seahawks won the toss; their biggest gain of the day.



Reed kicks another touchback. He's been solid on kickoffs this year.



Seattle comes out throwing and hit some cheap short passes for a first down. Alexander runs for 6 on a 2nd and 10 and Hasselbeck can't hook up with his reciever on 3rd down. Punt time.



Ben comes out firing, in spite of losing Holmes to pregame warmups and Hines sitting out for the second week in a row. Nasty Nate snags a big catch on first down, but the Steelers can't make anything of it, so they ring up the Fortress of Solitude.

No Kryptonite today. Superman is solid.
(Image by Karri)

The defense puts Seattle on the ropes, but Hasselbeck comes through on 3rd and long, picking up a first down. They try to take a shot deep but there's nothing there. Punt.

Ben throws two incompletions and Sepulveda pins Seattle inside their own 10.

Seattle continues their trend of picking up a first down and then punting. Same deal here.

Anyone up for a shocking bit of play-calling? Neither are the Steelers. Run-run-pass-punt. Superman pounds a 56-yarder to flip the field.

Seattle picks up a first down as the first quarter ends. Any bets on what will happen 4 plays from now?

Bingo. Punt. A good play by Seattle pins the Steelers down at their own 1. Rossum tried to stick his nose in to pick up the ball and almost made a bonehead play giving Seattle the ball on the 1. We dodged a bullet here.

The Steelers seem to be poised for a punt, but former Florida State star Willie Reid breaks a few tackles for a solid 25-yard gain on 3rd down, keeping Sepulveda on the bench for now. Okay, so I just spoiled the rest of this drive. Nothing really happens. Ben gets sacked. Superman punts.

For the first time all game, Seattle punts before picking up a first down. Are you asleep yet? Hopefully not. Keep reading, I swear it gets better.

Ben hits Heath with a great pass on 3rd down to move the chains then gets sacked. The Najehnator comes in to pound away, but springs for a 45-yard gain. Parker dashes for 3. Davis on a swing pass for 4. 3rd and 3 in the red zone?

Great pass from Ben to Heath down the seam.

7-0.

The Seahawks look content to run out the clock with just a minute to go, but hit a big 30-yard pass on 3rd down to keep themselves moving. Farrior and Tyrone Carter come up with a sack on the next play, and Seattle lets the clock wind, forgetting they have timeouts. Another big gain with a personal foul penalty tacked on moves the Seahawks within striking distance.

Hasselbeck tries for the end zone but Ike Taylor makes a great play on the ball and comes up with a huge interception to end the half.

The Steelers come out rolling on a 17-play, 80-yard drive that eats up over 10 minutes of clock. The Steelers picked up a few penalites here, so actually tallied 110 total yards on this drive. Ben hit Wilson for a huge 3rd down conversion. Parker broke one around the corner and almost got to paydirt, but a challenge from Seattle overturned the touchdown call.

Just a bit outside.

However, from 1 yard away, you don't stop Naj'.

14-0.

Seattle goes 3-and-out and the Steelers get the ball back.

Long drives defined the Steelers second half as Parker just dominates Seattle all the way down the field, but it was Najeh's day. He pounds it in from the 4 to pretty much wrap things up.

Naj' repeats his patented Hines Field High Jump after the score.

The Steelers don't throw the ball again the rest of the game.

Both teams go 3-and-out the rest of the way. Seattle pulls Hasselbeck in favor of Wallace. He doesn't do anything. Seattle picks up one first down the rest of the game, Steelers pick up none.

Homestead Charlie comes in to run the Victory Formation. Game.

Stats:
Parker: 28 carries, 103 yds
Najeh: 7 carries, 58 yds, 2 TD
Heath: 4 catches, 44yds, 1 TD
3 sacks, 1 INT, 0 points allowed by the Defense.

Stat of the Game:
Time of Possession:
Steelers 40:45
Seahawks 19:15

Other News:

Cleveland lost to New England.

Baltimore beat San Francisco 9-7 on 3 field goals. Snore.

Bye week is next week. We need to get healthy.

I'm taking the G.R.E's next weekend, don't expect much from me this week.

Yeah, I've been busy

So I haven't made a post since Sunday.

No, I haven't been in mourning because we lost a game. It's just one game. Everyone loses a few times.


I'm a college student. I had a paper due. I need to work on it. Hence, blogging took a back seat to school work.


On the same line, I'm currently working on my Senior Comprehensive Project and applying to Grad Schools, so if I don't update every day, cut me a break.


Also...there will be two reviews this weekend. The first review will be of the Clarks concert that I will be attending on Sunday afternoon. They're playing for free here at school, so I'm going to the concert and taping the Steelers game.

After the concert, I'll watch the tape of the game, then write up a review. So I'll be in the dark for a little while, but it's okay...I'm seeing the Clarks for free.

Clarks Concert
1pm. Sunday.

Steelers v. Seahawks
1pm. Sunday.