Last Week’s Result

• Jacksonville 29, Pittsburgh 22
• Record: 9-5
• Standings: Tied for 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

Most every fan begins the season with dreams of their team winning the Superbowl. Some of these dreams are crushed early on and some survive into the playoffs. The deeper that your team can go into the season with the dream alive basically defines how good of a season your team has. This year, the dream has survived for me until week #15. I have had doubts throughout the season, but I always felt that there were small things that were fixable and that if the Steelers could make the playoffs that they could definitely compete with anyone. I have had painful lessons in the fact that the best season record does not always equate to playoff success. I would rather have a team peaking in December that just gets into the playoffs than one that doesn’t play well in December and backs into the playoffs.

Unfortunately the Steelers are the team that were able to win some games early on and look to be in prime position to make a playoff run. However, while the Steelers have plateaued, and in fact descended, the other AFC teams are beginning to peak. The Steelers have fallen from just below the Patriots and Colts to the middle of the pack. On the other hand, the Jaguars and the Chargers are playing inspired football right now and they may be the scariest teams to face in the playoffs. Jacksonville is not a warm weather team and I really don’t think that home field advantage means a lot to them. They are really not supported that well at home. They are what the Steelers want to be. A tough, clock controlling team that does not make many mistakes.

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Last Week’s Result

• New England 34, Pittsburgh 13
• Record: 9-4
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

I feel that this was a barometer game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The competition that they have played to date have not been near as good as the New England Patriots (obviously). One or two slip ups in September through November can be forgiven and quickly forgotten if a team can take care of business in December. This is the time when you want to peak and there is no better gauge for where you are at then taking on an outstanding, undefeated team at their house in December. In the Steelers losses, I had mentioned that there were some things that worried me. In the New York Jets Defeat thread in particular, I listed four items that were keeping this team from being a championship team. Unfortunately these four items raised up once again and proved that the Pittsburgh Steelers are not an elite team in this league.

The Steelers now have a dreadful 2-4 record on the road and continue to prove that they can not win on the road. The special teams had a turnover as well as some coverage problems again. The offensive line has shown improvement, but continues to have pass protection inconsistencies. And finally, despite gaudy statistics, the defense seems unable to get off the field when it really matters. I may be the blindest of fan-boys, but despite all that, I still think this team is a good team with the potential to be a great team. > more <

Last Weeks Result

• Pittsburgh 24, Cincinnati 10
• Record: 9-3
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

For the second week in a row, Heinz Field has had a chance to be spotlighted in a prime time game. Much like last week, the conditions were wet and rainy. However, unlike last week, the field provided solid if not fast footing. I felt that the grounds crew did an outstanding job of getting this field prepared. Most of the Steelers players have said that they prefer the natural surface and I agree. It gives the Steelers a true home field advantage as it slows down “run and gun” teams. This was evident on Sunday night as the high powered offense of the Bengals was mostly held in check — mostly… > more <

Last Weeks Result

• Pittsburgh 3, Miami 0
• Record: 8-3
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

This is a really hard game from which to deduce information about either of these teams. I feel that I could successfully argue that the Steelers are a more talented team than the Dolphins is most positions. While both teams had to play on the same field, I really believe that it becomes an equalizer. In other words, conditions like this are going to hurt the more talented team. Joey Porter is always good for a quote and he summed it up well when he said that Willie wasn’t a 4.2 guy today on that field, but instead he was a 4.8 guy. Everyone on that field was a 4.8 guy.

Kind of lost in the game and the score is the fact that Roethlisberger only had two passes hit the ground. He had 18 completions and an interception in 21 passes. I had almost forgotten how good Porter is in coverage. Ben did not get the ball high enough, but with most other linebackers it is an incomplete pass at worst. The Steeler receivers (especially Ward) were excellent at holding on to a slick ball. On the other side of the field, there were several passes dropped by the Dolphins. > more <

Last Weeks Result

• New York Jets 19, Pittsburgh 16
• Record: 7-3
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

This was a tough game to watch. Not only did the Steelers lose, but it highlighted some fundamental flaws in the 2007 Steelers. These are mentioned in more detail below. First of all, I want to be careful not to take anything away from the Jets for this win. They came out with a game plan and executed it well. The play calling at the first of the game caught the Steelers by surprise and allowed the Jets to take the early lead. I think this took the Steelers away from what they wanted to do just enough to be a factor in this game.

I come to the same concussion that Tomlin pointed out in his post game conference. This loss was truly a team effort. All three phases of this team contributed to this loss. The team seemed flat and, in my estimation, severely under-estimated their opponent. > more <

Last Weeks Result

• Pittsburgh 31, Cleveland 28
• Record: 7-2
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

This game was decidedly different than the week one blow out by the Steelers at Cleveland. In fact, this game was nearly opposite of the first meeting between these two teams. Last time the Steelers jumped out to a big lead and Cleveland simply could not come back from their mistakes. This time, the Browns played very well on defense and got some good field position by turn-overs and kick-off returns of which they took full advantage.

Looking back at week one, midway through the second quarter, the Browns were down by 17 and really hadn’t moved the ball well at all. This point also marked the start of the Derek Anderson era in Cleveland. Anderson came in and for the first time in that game, the Cleveland offense actually started to put together a drive. However, this was stopped by a fumble and the Browns were never able to make a game out of it. The final score showed a blow out. > more <

Last Weeks Result

• Pittsburgh 38, Baltimore 7
• Record: 6-2
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

Wow. This game could not hardly have gone any better from a Steelers fan perspective. The one glitch in the nearly perfect night was the 33-yard run for a touchdown that the Steelers gave up near half time. I always try to keep things in perspective, especially when it comes to football. However, this weeks perspective needs to be looked at from two sides. This first thing to realize is that both starting cornerbacks for the Ravens were out. Ben definitely took advantage of this and a lot of his passes abused these two inexperienced defensive backs. The Ravens defense shut down the running game nearly all night long and applied consistent pressure on Ben. On top of that it was an extremely wet and sloppy night that was conducive to turnovers.

Let’s look at things from the other side of the coin however. Both the Ravens and most of the media want to discount this game and diminish what the Steelers did in this game as well. I have little doubt that not a single Steelers player nor a single Steelers coach care a lick what anyone thinks as long as the W still counts. Generally, I could care less as well. But instead of going into detail about the game this week I thought I would take a different tact. The game itself was an absolute blow out. Bottom line: one team showed up to play, the other didn’t. The loosing attitude for the Ravens did not stop on the field however. I came across an article today that I am going to quote in here, that proves how big of losers these Ravens really are. I have never cared much for this organization, but just when I thought they couldn’t possibly be any dumber…

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Last Weeks Result

• Pittsburgh 24, Cincinnati 13
• Record: 5-2
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

This was a very strange game overall. For the most part this was a very clean game. The Steelers were penalized 3 times for 20 yards, while the Bengals were penalized 2 times for 10 yards. Each team committed a single turn-over. There were times when both offenses moved the ball well. And other times where the defenses of both teams stepped up to make a stop. Both teams turn-overs proved to be huge and pivotal points in the game.

The Steelers offense in the first half was very good. They only punted once in the game and that was the very first drive. After that they drove the ball all the way down the field and punched it into the endzone three times. Conversely, the defense was able to hold Cincinnati to 2 field goals, even though Cincinnati put together some long drives as well. At half time, the Steelers were up 21 to 6 and really hadn’t been stopped all day. The Bengals got the ball to open up the second half and immediately went 3 and out and punted to the Steelers. Ben and the offense marched all the way down the field to the 11-yard line and this game was quickly becoming out of reach for the Bengals. However, Ben throw a questionable throw that was picked off and basically kept this game in hand for the Bengals. > more <

Last Weeks Result

• Denver 31, Pittsburgh 28
• Record: 4-2
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Last Weeks Game Recap

While there is still a lot of football left to be played, this game had the feeling of a separation game for the Steelers. A win against the Broncos would have put the Steelers in firm control of the AFC North as well as added their name to the AFC contender list. With the loss, it places the Steelers right back in the middle of the pack in the AFC. I don’t want to take anything away from the Denver Broncos and their win. The Broncos have not been playing up to expectations, but they are still a talented team with an outstanding coach. I never did get comfortable with the fact that the Broncos were not a very good team.

That being said, Pittsburgh showed that they are decidedly not a championship team at this point. Right now the Steelers are a playground bully that can beat up on the weak sisters of the NFL, but can not win on the road against a quality opponent. In addition, the defense has yet to show me that they can step up and make a stop when it is really needed. These are two indicators that tell me that Pittsburgh is not prepared to by a contender at this point. We have not yet reached the midpoint of the season and hopefully the Steelers can work on these short comings and still make a play-off run. This is the true test of the coaching staff and it will be interesting to see how Tomlin responds. > more <

Last Weeks Result

• Bye Week
• Record: 4-1
• Standings: Sole possession of 1st in AFC North

Game Preview: Denver Broncos

When I looked at the schedule this year, I had placed the game at Denver as a catagory 4, or in other words as one of the tougher match-ups for the Steelers this year. Coming into this game at 2-3, the Broncos don’t look near as daunting as what I imagined. While their losses have been to good teams (Jacksonville, Indianapolis and San Diego), their wins have been come against mediocre teams and they have been extremely close.

While this may not be the level of match up that I originally predicted at the first of the season, I don’t think that the Steelers should underestimate the Broncos, especially at Mile High Stadium. I think that the Broncos are backed into a corner right now and I expect them to be well prepared for this game coming off of a bye. Mike Shanahan has always come off a bye-week well and after being demolished at home by the Chargers, this is going to be a Broncos team desperate to rid themselves of the bitter taste of that defeat. In addition, for whatever reason, the Steelers seem to struggle with the Broncos. The Broncos lead the series 12-6-1 and recently have won 4 of the last 5 games. > more <