heels, sox & steelers
First!
Ryan, I never cease to be amazed at the awesomeness of the pictures you find for your posts.
I have next to zero pop culture knowledge, but that's The Hoff is it not?
Yep, the Hoff..with that " can you believe I am making more money than the GDP of Surinam for this?" look in his eyes.
I am ready to declare this most interesting Steeler season ever. I can go from thinking they are in transition to looking at the schedule and seeing no team we can't beat on our way to 16-0.
Who knows where it goes from here but I like the ride so far. I believe we will lose some games this year but not before the bye. That's going to put us in great position for the meat of the schedule.
I'm not bold enough to say the Steelers will beat the Pats, but I think the Pats look alot like the '04 Eagles (Moss instead of TO) and believe if Ike is on his game he can give as good as he takes. I know alot of times in the past when the "best receiver in the NFL" has faced the Steelers he hasn't fared too well. Lets just say LeBeau has done well before against high powered offenses.
Ryan, haven't you published this photo before? Of course, it's a classic and deserves all the airplay it can get.
Plus, it's probably wise to set aside some of the hype we've been reading (and all too willing to believe).
If we go through the breakdown of the play of the Steelers' offensive line last Sunday courtesy of Post Game Heroes, http://www.postgameheroes.com/?p=913, and JJ Cooper at AOL sports, http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2...-some-problems/
we'll discover that our concerns during the off-season about the o-line were not entirely misplaced.
Not to be a party pooper, but maybe we should take a couple deep breaths before we place an order for our play-off tickets,
Against the Pats, its not so much Moss who scares me, as Welker and Stallworth. When we play the Bengals, we always shut down Chad Johnson, but TJ Hooshamazode kills us.
DJ, excellent point. Johnson hasn't done jack against us in a while, but I seem to remember Houshmanzilly having a few monster games against us.
Hey Randy,
good call. I have been talking to JJ Cooper a few times over the past 2 weeks....I think I'm going to start comparing/contrasting our grades at the end of each week just to see if we can come to a final conclusion on each guy.
We see eye-to-eye on a lot of the grades but we grade a bit differently on occasion. Might be fun to look at.
I agree that our DB depth has been questionable in recent years, but let's re-examine: #3 CB is McFadden; #2 FS is Anthony Smith; #4 CB is Willie Gay. Those guys are still learning, yes, but they represent a giant leap in talent that makes me think we might be able to cover better in dimes and quarters. We'll see.
Sepulvidite-
If we want to stop Kurt Warner we go with the true dime... 1 lineman and 10 DB's.
I think Cowher and Lebeau used to run a one down lineman defense in the mid 90's and maybe even for 1 or 2 plays in the 95 Superbowl... I love seeing it make a comeback this year! But I think they referenced this as a "penny" defense more in reference to one down lineman.
Randy, I agree that we should stay calm 3 weeks into the season. Even if everything were perfect (and it never is), it is a long season.
Plus, in the AFC, you've still got the Pats and Colts, plus other teams that could turn it on over the course of the season, like the Chargers, Ravens, Broncos (and maybe even the Jags).
If we were in the NFC, though, I'd be happy to assume that we'll make the playoffs and be the favorites to be in the Super Bowl.
A friend sent me this ode to Farve article today:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/co..._len&
id=3038534
In it, Len says that of today's modern quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have "a gunslinger's mentality."
My immediate response was not really. In my head I guess I consider a gunslinger a QB that is willing to take questionable risks for potential payoffs and Brady and Manning don't really fit that bill to me.
What's other people's thoughts on the gunslinger moniker? I know Ben has been spotted doing the gunslinger impersonation at least once. In your mind, could Ben be considered a gunslinger? Is this possibly the most use of the word gunslinger in a single post?
John, for me a gunslinger is an "air it out" qb with a big arm who's willing to take high risk-reward shots down the field
favre is, or at least was, a personification of this. ben can fit the bill. I think at least he's got the mentality of one. not afraid to throw a sixty yard bomb into double coverage and whatnot. I think Manning is under the surface, but he rarely lets it get out. that or he's just so insanely good that for him high risk-reward shots always end up reward.
sometimes if the colts fall behind he'll start forcing it like that.
John, if we're comparing current QBs to past ones, I'd say (gulp) Roethlisberger is the most Favrian.
To continue the game:
Brady = Montana
Manning = Marino
Roethlisberger = Favre
Grossman = McMahon
Did I miss any? You could even point out that Favre's career started when Marino and Montana were at the heights of their game. Which in a lot of ways resembles Roethlisberger compared to Manning and Brady now.
I know Brett Favre has taken a lot of heat lately for various reasons, but we could only be so lucky if Roethlisberger were 3/4 the player he was in his prime.
I still don't know what a gunslinger is, however.
Bradshaw was a bigtime gunslinger, especially later in his career after he'd had some Super Bowl success. After a long incompletion (or worse) he'd go back to the sideline and just shrug and smile at Noll.
That drove Noll crazy. I think that's why he became infatuated with short tossers like Cliff Stoudt who made a specialty of the 5-10 yard pass.
I had never been a huge Bradshaw fan. I think he should have thrown underneath more, but he proved, to me at least, the necessity of heaving the ball long to keep the opponent's defense spread out (and in a panic). Obviously that kind of passing attack helps the running game, too.
Plus he had Swann and Stallworth snatching those big gumdrops out of the air. Ahhh, good times...
It's not only us eyeing the SB or AFC Championship, it's also much of the media:
Inside the NFL, Marino says we're part of the AFC Elite
NFL Primetime, Hodge, Schlereth, and Ditka say we can go all the way (although Ditka said our key is getting to the QB; if not, our CB's are toast)
MMQB, King has us #3
SI, Dr. Z has us #4 (#3 in AFC)
The only guy on TV that says we aren't as good as we appear was Terrell Davis on NFL Network.
RE: Gunslingers
The epitome of gunslingers to me were Marino, Fouts, and Moon. They piled up the yards and TDs but they had their share of INTs and had no championships.
Gunslingers can only lead you as far as their offense (K-gun, Run-and-shoot, Air-Coryell, etc.) let's them. Favre was the only exception.
Gunslingers today? McNabb, Favre
NOT gunslingers today? Big Ben, Brady
I'm still not sure about Manning, though.
Speaking of talking heads, how would you rate Jerome Bettis? Can't say I'm terribly impressed and will be surprised if he lasts more than a season or two on network TV.
interesting article on FO about vernon davis catch/int play from last week. remember when someone asked why tomlin didn't challenge the challenge? i thought it was crazy but it turns out you actually can challenge the challenge (though i still think that is dumb).
anyway:
http://www.footballoutsiders.com...ra-points/5537/
the comment thread is pretty interesting too.
Joey Porter has not registered a sack in seven games.
I thought Bettis was pretty bad on tv
Eric,
Curse you. I saw the FO thread on the Vernon Davis call this afternoon, but I'd already heard Periera on NFL Network explain what happened (Davis didn't get two feet down, and the refs thought the ball hit the ground, hence the incompletion call).
And then I read the comments and got angry trying to figure out if bravehoptoad is just dumb, or being a pain in the ass.
When the play happened live, I was yelling at the teevee because like everybody else on the planet, my initial reaction was: yep, davis is down by contact, followed by: um, that's a ryan clark interception.
But like my buddy Andy has been saying for the last four years or so, nobody knows the rules, so no call should be all that surprising.
That said, Periera's explanation the other night sold me.
Yeah, I'm still baffled that Periera is actually telling coaches to challenge something that was just reviewed by a challenge. I like replay, but it's difficult to think of something more irritating than sitting through multiple challenges of the same play.
It seems like every week, there is a call I never heard about. Like the one on Monday Night where the runner was declared down before the goalline..because his SHIN touched down. I would have sworn it had to be his knee or his butt or his elbow..never heard of a shin being the determining factor. Crazy.
The rules are so convoluted and have so many interpretations that I have just given up on the whole thing. Its not worth my time but you get the feeling that they sometimes make it up as they go along.
Someone said they should really simplfy the rules (after the Steeler's run to glory with all the controversial calls) on things like fumbles and PI. I hate the whole thing about his arm going forward in particular and also have no idea from play to play what constitues PI. Its all down to the crews working the game. Some have a high strike zone and others don't I guess.
If the ball comes out of your hand while you are upright, its a fumble. OK? lol! yeah, right...No. let's waste 15 minutes on a replay that sucks the life out of a game faster than the "punt, pass and kick" awards do during the AFCCG every year. Great for the kids..bad for the teams who have to endure another break in the action..
geez..I am crabby...catch you tomorrow.
Rob D, I agree. But define "upright." The fundamental problem with language is it is subjective. I wish the NFL would institute a more effecient review process. Seeing a ref looking into a tiny 9 inch black and white Zenith with both hands cupped to block out glare doesn't make me feel good about the review. College football does a better job with reviews than the pros by taking care of it in the booth. I watched an excellent piece about the tech used on Real Sports last year. It seemed much better than the NFL standard.
FTID,
I agree about the college replay system. The only reason I can think of for the NFL to resist the shift is ego. Because nobody can convince me the college replay system isn't far superior to the NFL's.
"The only guy on TV that says we aren't as good as we appear was Terrell Davis on NFL Network"
Both he and Faulk detest the Stillers. They can't hide it. Maybe due to the reputation they had froim the 70's as pre-eminent winners 
IMPORTANT!
Everybody, please go here and vote for Vinny Testaverde as the Raven most deserving of addition to the Ring of Honor.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/
spor...,0,3904537.poll
Remember, vote for Vinny!
FTID & Eric,
I agree with your college replay comments, but their OT system alone makes them worse than any NFL rule.
I just casted my vote! Vinny's up to 7.6%!
What is it with Faulk and T.Davis? Is it just anger from their playing days? I never hear too many players hating on the Steelers as I thought they had a good rep around the league as a great franchise.
Terrell Davis...a wonderful running back but he comes across as an egotistical prick. He has that chip on his shoulder over what exactly? He's not the first player to have a short but great career. He should have a chat with Gale Sayers and chill.
Not sure why he hate you.
This was informative.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ter...i/
Terrell_Davis
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