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.

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.

Cleveland Still Sucks.

34
7

Cleveland starts the game by winning the toss. It was the only thing they'd win all night.

Jeff Reed's leg was replaced by a cannon in the offseason. Touchback.

Cleveland's big addition of the offseason, Jamal Lewis, was supposed to improve their running game. The Steelers were supposed to miss Joey Porter. Lewis ran for 2 and was stopped by Porter's replacement James Harrison. Two plays later Aaron "Aero" Smith comes up with a big sack.

Next came the defining moment in the game. The Browns new punter fumbled a perfect snap and the Browns ensued to get four penalties on the play.

The Steelers accepted a holding penalty that gave them the ball on the Cleveland 22. Big Ben spreads the ball around to Holmes and Miller to get the ball down to the 5 and it's all Hines. Great lob pass to the back of the end zone. 7-0.

Two plays after the kickoff, Deshea Townsend picks off Charlie Frye and takes it back to the 17.

As the Steelers come out for the next drive, their average starting position is the 19-yard line. Awesome. Run-run-sack...but wait! Offsides on Cleveland. New life for the Steelers. After a failed roll-out look for Tuman, Reed comes in and knocks in a field goal. 10-0. 9 min to go in the 1st Qtr.

Cleveland tries to establish something with Lewis and throwing to Winslow, but an offensive pass interference penalty on Winslow negates a first down pass. Farrior comes up with a sack on the next play, forcing a punt.

The Steelers, starting in the area of the 20, do something familiar. Run-screen-pass-punt. Sepulveda can only be stopped by kryptonite.

The Browns go back to Lewis, but Farrior forces a fumble on the second play and B-Mac jumps on the ball.

The Steelers respond with a 1-play, 40-yard strike to Santonio Holmes. 17-0 and we're still in the 1st quarter.

Cleveland's next drive lasts 3 plays and ends with a Clark Haggans sack.

The teams trade punts, Parker fumbles, but James Harrison and Ike Taylor come up with sacks on consecutive plays to force a punt. The Steelers respond by punting and the Browns bring in Derek Anderson to replace Charlie Frye.

Anderson moves the Browns down the field but is stripped by Ryan Clark and the fumble is recovered by Aaron Smith. This is the last exciting play of the first half as the teams exchange 3-and-out drives for the last two minutes.

The Steelers come out of the half with a heavy dose to Willie Parker, driving the ball down the field on some solid runs. Big Ben hits 3rd Round Draft pick Matt Spaeth out of Minnesota for a 5-yard score to extend the lead to 24-0.

Anderson hooks up with Winslow and Carter on the next drive, picking apart the Steelers secondary, driving the Browns down into the Red Zone. The D holds Lewis from short yardage and forces a play-action pass to the fullback for a touchdown to pull the Browns within 3 scores. 24-7.

Roethlisberger comes out showing who the best QB in the game is by hitting Hines for a 22-yard reception. Back to the ground for some hard yards, and then...

Big hookup from Ben to Heath for a 22-yard score.
31-7.

Cleveland manages 1 first down on their next drive then punts. The "Brady, Brady" chants can be heard over the broadcast announcers.

The Steelers respond with classic 4th quarter Steelers football. Parker. Parker. Parker. Wilson gets his hands on the ball on a reverse that springs for 37 yards. Back to Parker on the ground and the drive stalls resulting in a Jeff Reed field goal. 34-7.

Two plays after the kickoff, Anderson hits Braylon Edwards for a big reception, but Anthony Smith strips the ball and William Gay falls on it. Another big play by these two, they just find the ball.

Homestead Charlie comes in to hand off to Najeh, run-run-run-punt.

Ike Taylor jumps in front of an Anderson pass and buries Cleveland in misery. The nail is in the coffin as the Steelers win their first regular season game of the Tomlin era. Solid performance all around.

Stats:
Roethlisberger: 12/23 for 161 yds and 4 TDs.
Parker: 27 carries, 109 yds.
Tight Ends: 2 TD receptions
(would have been 3 if we could have hit Tuman on the second drive)
Steelers Defense: 3 Fumble recoveries, 2 INTs, 6 sacks
Rushing Yards: Steelers 206, Browns 46
TOP: Steelers 36:16, Browns 23:44

Tomorrow

It's go time.

No more waiting around, thinking about last year.

Get your towels in hand and throw on your jersey. Put on your lucky socks and get ready.

Football season is here.

Enough for the dramatics, here's some fluff...

I know the season has already started, but here's my predictions for the coming year. I actually wrote these on a piece of paper (not that you have any incentive to believe me about that) on Thursday before the game.

AFC EAST
New England- they're still the class of the division. Yes they have some questions, but they also have more solid veterans than anyone else in this division.


New York- this prediction is predicated on Chad Pennington's success. With the addition of Thomas Jones, I think they'll finish better than Buffalo and Miami.


Buffalo- Questions on offense revolve around Losman and Lynch. The Defense lost some key players but will have the Defensive Rookie of the Year in Paul Posluszny.


Miami- The addition of Joey Porter won't help them.



AFC NORTH
Pittsburgh- Yes, I'm biased. But I also know that no AFC North team has won the division in back-to-back seasons.


Baltimore- Everyone thinks that the defense is the heart and soul of this team. They lose the division title on the last game of the year in Pittsburgh.


Cincinnati- The offense can score, but so can other teams. The O-line had a big loss and that's not helpful when you're relying heavily on your offense. Offense wins games, Defense wins championships. Period.


Cleveland- They have young talent, but they don't have a winning attitude. Crennell doesn't make it through the season. Quinn starts Week 2.



AFC SOUTH
Indianapolis- The class of the division. No one is close to challenging them yet.


Tennessee- Vince Young is a winner, thta's about all there is to it. They're a season or two away from challenging Indy for the Division.


Jacksonville- One of the better running back tandems in the AFC, with a strong defense, but what will happen when the need arises to throw the ball?


Houston- The addition of Matt Schaub was nice, but they still don't have a line to block for him.



AFC WEST
San Diego- Like Indy and New England, they're the class of this division. They should be able to run away with it.


Denver- Honestly, this is a default pick. I'm not sold on Denver being a competitor, but the other two options are worse.


Kansas City- Tough year ahead for LJ as teams will probably stack the box against him. Not much to fear from KC's passing game.


Oakland- Even if they get Russell signed, it's basically a lost season for him.



AFC Playoffs
1. New England
2. Indianapolis
3. Pittsburgh
4. San Diego
5. Baltimore
6. New York



AFC Championship: New England over Pittsburgh
I know it's the trendy pick to go with New England here, but they've got the best all-around team in the conference. Pittsburgh pulls a suprise upset in Indianapolis again.



NFC EAST
Philadelphia- Experts are picking Dallas, but let's not forget about McNabb, Wesbrook and the Eagles.

Dallas- For the time being, they're better than Washington. Is Tony Romo the future of Dallas? We'll find out this year. He made the Pro Bowl after a set of good games and a set of bad games.


Washington- Give them a year or two to sure up their O-Line and front 7 on defense and they're a competitor. They've already got players at skill positions to win the division, just not the trench players. LaRon Landry wins NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year.


New York- Coughlin joins the ex-Giants head coaches club and Eli has his worst season yet. Failure to have a consistent running attack hurts. Big time.



NFC NORTH
Chicago- More or less the default winners of the division. Grossman does enough to keep his job and blow it in the playoffs.


Detroit- This is a stretch pick, but I need to take a few risks in my predictions. The second place team in this division (whoever it ends up being) might not need more than 6 wins.


Green Bay- Green Bay is the trendy pick for #2 in this division, but I don't believe it. Favre tries to force too much and they don't really have a running back. This team wins this division when Aaron Rodgers starts playing.


Minnesota- Of all the teams out there that need a QB, Minnesota's situation might be the most dire. The Defense played great against the run last year under Tomlin, but let's not forget the fact that they were last in the league in Passing Defense. The Vikings will be drafting first in April.



NFC SOUTH
Carolina- Watch out for the Panthers. Steve Smith is still the best reciever in the game and they have Carr in place if Delhomme falters.


New Orleans- Last season was an overachievement. The Saints drop back in the division, partially due to the fact that they have to play a 1st place schedule this year.


Atlanta- They lose the Brian Brohm sweepstakes by having a better year than people expect. Vick was a playmaker, but he wasn't consistent. People seem to forget that there were 52 other professional athletes on this team besides Micheal Vick. Dunn and Norwood are solid backs and the addition of Joe Horn to the recieving core gives them a go-to reciever. Like Baltimore of two years ago, they're just "a quarterback away"


Tampa Bay- They're being written off by a lot of people, but they could pull an upset during the year. All in all, look for Tampa to be drafting in the Top 10 come April. Gruden may go, but there are players in place to turn this team into a competitor.



NFC WEST
Seattle- They're not as good as the team that went to the Super Bowl, but they're good enough to win this division...this year.


San Francisco- They're a year away from winning this division.


St. Louis- Stephen Jackson is a stellar athlete. The Defense doesn't quite hold up in this division.


Arizona- Whiz and Grimm find out things aren't so easy. The tools are there on offense...for the most part. The line still has some holes.



NFC Playoffs
1. Chicago
2. Carolina
3. Seattle
4. Philadelphia
5. New Orleans
6. Dallas

NFC Championship: Carolina over Philadelphia
Everyone is picking New Orleans, but I've got my eyes on another team from the NFC South. Carolina has depth at almost every position and has a solid backup QB should Jake Delhomme falter.


SUPER BOWL
New England over Carolina
Carolina is good, but New England is better. Assuming Brady stays heathly, we'll see him hoisting Lombardi's Trophy again in February.

Let's get pumped.

Don't forget your towel.

4 days...

Not a lot going on as the time bleeds away towards the season opener.

Coach Tomlin, like he has been all preseason, was noncommittal about who would fill the questioned roles in Sunday's game. The only real news here was that Santonio won't be returning kicks, unless, by some Shakespearean tragedy. Allen Rossum, Willie Reid AND Cedrick Wilson are all unable to do so.

The Steelers Blog has yet to post their recap of the Carolina game. Slackers. Mine was late, but I also didn't make a promise in the header that it would be up the next day.

Click it.

While browsing around, I found a great site for info on the AFC North. Check it out. The best page is the rivalry page. I love what they've done there. I added a link to the links second on the right side of the page as well.

The only real exciting thing that happened today was my fantasy football draft. In my league of 10 teams, the random draft order stuck me at #9. I picked some home boys, I picked some of the best players available, and I wound up with a pretty solid team.

Round 1: Willie Parker (RB- Steelers)
Round 2: Peyton Manning (QB- Colts)
Round 3: T.J. Houshmandzadeh (WR- Bengals)
Round 4: Roy Williams (WR- Lions)
Round 5: Thomas Jones (RB- Jets)
Round 6: New England (Def)
Round 7: Ben Roethlisberger (QB- Steelers)
Round 8: Pittsburgh (Def)
Round 9: Bernard Berrian (WR- Bears)
Round 10: Jason Witten (TE- Cowboys)
Round 11: David Akers (K- Eagles)
Round 12: Adrian Peterson (RB- Vikings)
Round 13: Joe Nedney (K- 49ers)
Round 14: Devery Henderson (WR- Saints)
Round 15: Jason Campbell (QB- Redskins)

The only other thing going on in the NFL: the season starts tomorrow.

Indianapolis v. New Orleans.

8:30

Tick Tock.
Cleveland, here we come.

5 days and counting...

The season is almost here. Other blogs are wrapping up their season previews, sports analysts are making thier picks for division, conference and Super Bowl winners....and Cleveland announced a starting Quarterback.

Charlie Frye...welcome to your nightmare.

Frye's career numbers against Pittsburgh: 0-2, 0 TD, 0 INT, 4 fumbles
The scores of the 2 games Frye started: 24-20 (2006) and 41-0 (2005)

Other news:

Pete Prisco of CBSSportsline picks the Steelers to win the AFC North.

Solid article in the Post-Gazette about the upcoming game. "It's a must-win." - Brett "the Diesel" Keisel

5 days.

T-minus 6 days

6 days remain until the season opener at Cleveland.

For starters, here's a solid article in the Trib pointing out that the Steelers are the only AFC North team to win a playoff game since the realignment in 2002. Believe it.

To get the bashing started we have some solid shirts (available to purchase here)

How true.


This is an important life lesson to teach your kids.

And finally, we end with a great picture.

James Harrison > the entire city of Cleveland

6 days left...do you know where your towel is?

A Crosby does something amazing, what else is new?

13
9

Okay, so we lost. Guess what? We still have more wins this preseason than we did all last preseason. Additionally, it's preseason.

What's to learn from the game?

1. Change-ups on the O-line are bad.

1a. We need A-Fan. Which means we need to sign him. We probably won't, but we should.

2. Aaron Rodgers is still as good as he was in college. Why he hasn't played yet, no one knows.

3. Mason Crosby is solid. He'd be a good pick for a fantasy kicker.

4. Nate Washington, John Kuhn, and Kevan Barlow may be in danger of not making the team.

And here's the recap:

Starting D totally shut down Green Bay's offense. No first downs in the first quarter and a half. Solid performance again. Lamarr Woodley will be starting by Week 7.

O-line breakdowns hindered the first string's performance. Homestead Charlie came in and hit Walter Young for the Steelers only touchdown of the game.

Extra point....what? How did that happen? Coach Tomlin = pissed.

Second Quarter sees a Jeff Reed field goal and a Dave Rayner field goal. 9-3 at the half.

Second half is all Green Bay. BSP plays for basically three quarters and does next to nothing. 10-23 for 99 yards.

Aaron Rodgers owns the Steelers 3rd string D. 10-9. Uh-oh.

D comes up with a stop, but Mason Crosby comes in for the long kick.

Mason may actually be Sid the Kid.

That was pretty much it. Nothing exciting happened in the 4th quarter.

It was good to see Russell and Davis getting some work. The use of Davis at fullback may spell the end for John Kuhn.

Coach Tomlin says: We'll get them next week.

By the way, Cleveland returned a 4th quarter kickoff for their only touchdown of the game to beat the Chiefs.