The Steelers n'at

The Quest: Coaches

2012-01-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

As my quest continues to find a new favorite college football team, here's a brief recap of what I've covered already:

Today I'm going to delve into one of the most important aspects of the college game: coaching. In the college football atmosphere where players can change from year-to-year with transfers, graduations, and early departures for the NFL draft, a coach is the one stable constant factor that you can hang your hat on as a fan. Of course, most of the schools in my final 34 have coaches who have been at the school for less than 7 years. But the experience factor also counts for something, with 15 of the 34 having over 10 years of being a head coach at the D-1 level. Much like the NCAA Football video games, I have broken coaching out between two categories: Coaching Experience and Coaching Prestige.

Coaching Experience

Level of Interest: Average

Given that the bandwagon I'm jumping off of just fired the winningest coach in NCAA Football history who had over 40 years of experience, I know I am going to have to tone back my expectations in a coach. To be honest, I don't need a team with a coach that has a ton of years, but I want to see success.

In calculating the Coaching Experience ratings, I considered 3 factors: Total Years as a Division 1 Head Coach, Overall Winning Percentage as a D-1 Head Coach, Bowls Made During Coaching Career. To properly scale these components into a formula to yield a 1-10 score, I did the following calculations:

Years as Head Coach divided by 2. This yielded results anywhere from 0 (Penn St, UCLA) to 12.5 (Virginia Tech). I considered 12.5 to be close enough to 10 not to scale these results any further. Plus, Frank Beamer's experience is impressive and should be properly rewarded.
Winning Percentage multiplied by 10 to give a number between 0 and 10.
Bowls Per Season (Number of Bowls made divided by Years as Head Coach) multiplied by 10 to give a number between 0 and 10.

Virginia Tech (Frank Beamer - 25 years), South Carolina (Steve Spurrier - 22 years), Kansas State (Bill Snyder - 20 years), Texas Tech (Tommy Tuberville - 17 years), and Alabama (Nick Saban - 16 years) were the top scorers in the Years As Head Coach category.

In the Overall Record category, Boise St (Chris Peterson - 92.4%), Oregon (Chip Kelly - 85%), Stanford (David Shaw - 84.6%), Ohio St (Urban Meyer - 81.9%), and TCU (Gary Patterson - 78.6%) were the winningest coaches.

Finally, there were 8 coaches who had been to a bowl every year of their coaching career: Frank Spaziani (Boston College), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Larry Fedora (UNC), Brett Bielema (Wisconsin), Gary Patterson (TCU), Chris Peterson (Boise St), Chip Kelly (Oregon), and David Shaw (Stanford). Yes, I do know that Shaw has only been at Stanford 1 year, but that factor was addressed in the "Years as Head Coach" component so I'm not too worried about the offset in the Bowl Appearances component.

These three factors were then averaged to give the final score for Coaching Experience. The top scorers in Coaching Experience were:

1t. Virginia Tech (Frank Beamer) - 8.8

1t. South Carolina (Steve Spurrier) - 8.8

3. TCU (Gary Patterson) - 7.8

4. Kansas St (Bill Snyder) - 7.7

5. Alabama (Nick Saban) - 7.6

6. Boise St (Chris Peterson) - 7.4

7. Georgia (Mark Richt) - 7.3

8. Ohio St (Urban Meyer) - 7.1

9. LSU (Les Miles) - 7.0

10t. Texas Tech (Tommy Tuberville) - 6.9

10t. Wisconsin (Brett Bielema) - 6.9

10t. Washington St (Mike Leach) - 6.9

As a final note, you may be surprised to see Washington St appear in the Top 10 here, but it's important to remember they just hired Mike Leach who had a run of successful seasons at Texas Tech, so while Leach has yet to coach the Cougars, his experience still counts positively for the program.

Coach Prestige

Level of Interest: High

A coach's Prestige can be a difficult thing to measure. The metric to be used needs to take into account all of the accomplishments a coach has achieved, both at their current school and throughout their career. Coaching loyalty is another important factor in Coaching Prestige, as I don't want to cheer for a school whose coach is going to jump ship on them at the first sign of a job in Arizona. What a coach has done at their current school is important to me, along with the number of championships (either Conference or National) the coach has won. With that in mind, here is how I devised the Coaching Prestige Rankings.

Since a coach's entire career plays into their prestige, I included the 3 components (Years as Head Coach, Overall Record, Bowls per Season) that were used to determine Coach Experience in the Coach Prestige calculation as well. In addition to these 3, I added 5 more factors to the calculation: Coaching Loyalty, Record at Current School, Conference Championships Won, National Championships Won, Bowl Winning Percentage.

Coaching Loyalty was determined by the percentage of a coach's career they had spent at their current school. I know I could have included more data here, but I did enough data gathering so I went easy on this calculation. The percentage was multiplied by 10 to get a 0-10 number. Frank Spaziani (Boston College), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Mike London (Virginia), Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Brett Bielema (Wisconsin), Bill Snyder (Kansas St), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma St), Gary Patterson (TCU), Ken Niumatlolo (Navy), Chris Peterson (Boise St), Jon Embree (Colorado), Chip Kelly (Oregon), David Shaw (Stanford), Steve Sarkisian (Washington), and Mark Richt (Georgia) have all spent their entire head coaching career at the same institution.

Record at Current School simply took the coach's winning percentage and multiplied by 10 to get a 0-10 number. Schools like North Carolina, Ohio St, Penn St, UCLA, Washington St, and Texas A&M suffered here because they just hired their coaches this offseason. Boise St (Chris Peterson - 92.4%), Oregon (Chip Kelly (85%), Stanford (David Shaw - 84.6%), Alabama (Nick Saban - 82.1%), and LSU (Les Miles - 81.5%) were the highest scorers in this category.

Conference Championships was taken as a straight number and not scaled for the calculation. Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech) and Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) have both won 7 conference titles. Gary Patterson (TCU) has won 5 and Chris Peterson (Boise St) and Urban Meyer (Ohio St) have won 4.

Only 5 coaches on the list have won National Championships. Nick Saban (Alabama) leads the pack with 3, followed by Urban Meyer (Ohio St) with 2, and Gene Chizik (Auburn), Les Miles (LSU), and Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) round out the list with 1 each. Due to the importance of the National Championship, each National Title was multiplied by 5 for the final calculation.

Bowl Winning Percentage was a relatively simple calculation that took Bowl Wins divided by Bowl Appearances. I multiplied the number by 10 to get a 0-10 number that could be used in the final calculations. Auburn's Gene Chizik led all coaches with a perfect record in bowl games. Urban Meyer (Ohio St) was second with an 88% winning percentage, followed by Duke's David Cutcliffe who ran up an 80% mark while the head coach at Ole Miss (mostly thanks to Eli Manning) and NC State's Tom O'Brien who also has an 80% bowl record.

These five factors, combined with the 3 that went into the Coaching Experience ranking were all averaged together to yield a Coach Prestige score. Here are the top scorers:

1. Alabama (Nick Saban) - 7.1

2. Virginia Tech (Frank Beamer) - 6.8

3. TCU (Gary Patterson) - 6.6

4t. South Carolina (Steve Spurrier) - 6.5

4t. Boise St (Chris Peterson) - 6.5

6t. Georgia (Mark Richt) - 6.0

6t. LSU (Les Miles) - 6.0

8. Kansas St (Bill Snyder) - 5.7

9. Oregon (Chip Kelly) - 5.6

10t. Ohio St (Urban Meyer) - 5.5

10t. Iowa (Kirk Ferentz) - 5.5

With these two factors added into the overall calculation, here is the updated Top 25 Rankings:

1	Alabama	216.5
2	Georgia	213.7
3	Ohio St	208.4
4	Virginia Tech	195.0
5t	Wisconsin	194.5
5t	LSU	194.5
7	Boise St	186.1
8	South Carolina	183.2
9	Auburn	181.7
10	USC	180.4
11	Stanford	176.4
12	TCU	173.8
13	Iowa	173.2
14	Oregon	164.4
15	Georgia Tech	161.6
16	Michigan St	161.5
17	Clemson	156.7
18	Boston College	156.4
19	Texas A&M	153.2
20	North Carolina	146.5
21	Tennessee	145.9
22	Wake Forest	144.9
23	Washington	143.2
24	Navy	140.3
25	Oklahoma St	137.7

Dropped out: Penn St, UCLA, Virginia

The Quest: Championships and Stadiums

2012-01-27T22:42:00.002-05:00

If you've been reading over the last few days, you know about my decision to search for a new college football team to cheer for. I also determined a mathematical methodology to create a set of "Rankings" for the 34 teams that I have deemed to be "in the hunt" for my fandom (in true college football fashion, I'm doing Top 25 rankings). I have identified 14 different categories which I will provide teams a score between 0 and 10. Each category will come with a multiplier based on how much I care about that subject. Today, I tackle two more topics in my search for a school.

Championship Contender

Level of Interest: Above Average

Let's face it, I'm not going to cheer for a team that is bottom-of-the-barrel and has no hope of contending for a championship. Given the nature of the college football world, only two teams per year actually have a chance to compete on the field for the National Championship. Therefore, I have decided to also include Conference Championships in my category of "Championship Contender."

Taking these two factors (National Championship and Conference Championship) into consideration, I looked back over the last 5 seasons and compiled the teams finish in the final AP Poll and their finish in their conference to give me 10 subcategories.

Points were awarded based on inverse order of the AP Poll (25 points for first, 24 for 2nd, etc). This made the total possible points from the AP Poll portion of the calculation 125. I did this to weight the AP Poll (competing for a national championship) heavier than competing for a conference championship. Since there are conferences with different numbers of teams, I divided a team's final position in the conference standings by the number of teams in the conference to normalize the data. Then I multiplied that number by 10 to give me a value between 0 and 10 for the "Conference Championship" portion of the calculation. This gave me a total of 50 possible points a team could earn in the "Conference Championship" section of the calculation.

Given the two remaining values derived from the AP Poll and Conference Finish, there were a total of 175 possible points. Since I am using 0-10 scores for each school in the overall calculation, I divided a team's Championship Contender score by 17.5 to get the final 0-10 value. Here are the top schools in the Championship Contender category:

1. Alabama 7.15

2. Oregon 7.14

3. Ohio St 7.04

4. Boise St 6.77

5. LSU 6.72

6. TCU 6.71

7. USC 6.41

8. Virginia Tech 6.08

9. Wisconsin 4.87

10. Oklahoma St 4.87

Stadium

Level of Interest: Above Average

A team's home atmosphere can make or break a game, whether it be from the level of crowd noise, the intimidation factor, or something else. Every school has a tradition, whether it's Howard's Rock at Clemson, Glory Glory Hallelujah at Georgia, night games in Death Valley, the 12th Man at Texas A&M, or Script Ohio, nothing compares to just flat out dominating on your home turf. College football is deeply rooted in tradition and carrying on the legacy of those that came before you. The intimidation factor of over 100,000 fans screaming can be enough to derail even the most unflappable opponents.

Therefore, to create a rating for Stadiums, there were two factors taken into consideration: Seating Capacity and Home Winning Percentage over the last 10 years. Stadium Capacity was ranked by dividing total capacity by 10,000. Schools with stadiums over 100,000 seats were given the slight bonus of having a score over 10.0 in this category. Home winning percentage was multiplied by 10 to give a 0-10 number. These two components were averaged to get the final score for Stadiums.

As was to be expected, Big Ten and SEC teams dominated this category, thanks in large part to 100,000+ seat stadiums at Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama, and Tennessee. TCU and Boise State were buoyed by the top home winning percentages, but the low seating capacities at their stadiums (two of the lowest on the list) brought them in at 19th and 20th overall. Ohio State, with the 3rd biggest stadium (behind Penn St and Tennessee) and the 3rd best home winning percentage (88.3%) came in first in the Stadium rankings. Here are the rest of the top schools in the Stadiums category:

1. Ohio St 9.50

2. Penn St 9.10

3. LSU 8.95

4t. Alabama 8.70

4t. Georgia 8.70

4t. Tennessee 8.70

4t. USC 8.70

8. Auburn 8.40

9. UCLA 8.00

10. Wisconsin 7.90

Adding these two into the overall rankings and taking the Level of Interest multiplier into account, here is the new Top 25:

1	Georgia	148.5
2	Ohio St	147.0
3	USC	146.0
4	Alabama	143.5
5	Wisconsin	134.5
6t	Penn St	130.5
6t	Auburn	130.5
6t	LSU	130.5
9	Stanford	123.0
10	Texas A&M	121.0
11	Virginia Tech	119.0
12	Boise St	117.5
13	UCLA	116.5
14	Iowa	113.0
15	Tennessee	112.5
16	Michigan St	111.5
17t	Georgia Tech	109.0
17t	South Carolina	109.0
19	Boston College	108.0
20	Virginia	107.0
21	Oregon	104.0
22t	Clemson	103.5
22t	North Carolina	103.5
24	TCU	103.0
25	Washington	101.0

The Quest: First Rankings

2012-01-27T00:55:00.000-05:00

As I detailed a few days ago, I have decided to embark on a quest to choose a new favorite college football team. I identified 14 different categories that will influence my decision and I whittled my list down to 34 teams, which I initially separated into 5 "Tiers."

I have decided to take a mathematical approach to the solution and give each of the 34 remaining schools a ranking between 0 and 10 in each of the 14 categories. After that, I will apply a multiplier based on my level of interest in that category. Since there are 8 levels of interest (Least, Very Low, Low, Average, Above Average, High, Very High, Most), I will value each of the 14 categories between 1 and 8 and multiply that by the 0-10 score that each team receives.

Since there are 14 weeks in a college football season and 14 different categories for me to consider, I will create scales for generating the 1-10 ranking for each category then release periodic rankings to determine how they effect the overall standings. At the end of the 14 mathematical calculations, I'll have a final "BCS Standings" heading into the postseason, which will determine the eventual "National Champion" (or "New Team I will be a fan of"). Since I don't want to overly bore everyone with math, I'll give a brief description of how I decided each ranking as we go.

Academic Prestige

Level of Interest: High

Academic Prestige can be a difficult thing to measure from a statistical sense. Every institution of higher learning claims that they are one of the top research institutions in some field or another. Every school has their specialties, and it can be difficult to designate which ones are better than others. Thankfully, I don't have to do this. The US News and World Report does it for me. In 2010 about the time of the start of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, they released a set of school rankings in which the Top 50% of schools were ranked, schools in the 51st-75th percentile designated as "Tier 3" schools, and schools below that designated as "Tier 4."

Taking these rankings, the Top 50% comprises approximately 135 schools. Therefore, since I am going to "rank" each school between 0 and 10 points, I will award points to schools thusly:

Schools in the Top 15 will receive the full 10 points.
Schools ranked 16th through 30th will receive 9 points.
Schools ranked 31st through 45th will receive 8 points.
Schools ranked 46th through 60th will receive 7 points.
Schools ranked 61st through 75th will receive 6 points.
Schools ranked 76th through 90th will receive 5 points.
Schools ranked 91st through 105th will receive 4 points.
Schools Ranked 106th through 120th will receive 3 points.
Schools Ranked over 121st will receive 2 points.
Schools in Tier 3 will receive 1 point.
Schools in Tier 4 will receive 0 points

Top Academic Schools

School	Academic Rank	Points
Stanford	4	10
Duke	10	10
Navy	19	9
Virginia	24	9
UCLA	24	9
USC	26	9
North Carolina	28	9
Wake Forest	28	9

Conference Prestige

Level of Interest: Above Average

Conference Prestige is a difficult aspect of College Football to measure. Just how "good" a given conference is in any given year can be a subjective matter. Just because the Big 10 goes 1-7 in bowl games where they play 5 SEC teams makes them less prestigious than the Mountain West who beats up on the MAC, Conference USA, and a mid-level Pac 10 team en route to an undefeated Bowl season is a debate for another day. Therefore, I have decided to exclude Bowl Record from my metric for measuring Conference Prestige. There are three factors that I have decided to consider:

1. Percentage of teams in the Final AP Poll. I chose the AP Poll because it is less subjective than the Coaches Poll, total joke Harris Poll, or BCS.

2. BCS Bids. Obviously this gives more weight to the power conferences, but let's be honest. I'm not going to throw my full fandom behind a team from the MAC. It's just not happening.

3. National Championships. This should be a pretty obvious portion of the calculation. Does your conference produce champions?

Due to the sheer weight of the data that I needed to collect for this, I decided to limit the scope of Conference Prestige to results over the last 5 seasons. Does this unfairly weight the SEC because they have won the last 5 BCS Championships? Probably, but it's also hard to argue that there is a more prestigious conference than the SEC right now.

The Math:

Component 1 - Teams in the Final AP Poll. The calculation here was pretty easy. Teams in the final AP Poll divided by number of teams in the conference. This gives a percentage. Multiply by 10 and round to the nearest whole number to get a 0-10 number.

Component 2 - BCS Bids. Since the most bids any conference can get is 2 bids, I awarded 5 points per BCS Bid in each of the last 5 years.

Component 3 - National Champions. Either you won it or you didn't. 10 points for a Champion, 0 for no champion.

Given these 3 components ranked on a 0-10 scale over the last 5 years gave me a total of 150 possible points that a conference could obtain. Since I want my final number to be on a 0-10 scale, I divided the total numbers by 15 to get the "score" for each conference.

SEC - 8.0

Big Ten - 4.5

Big XII - 3.6

Pac 12 - 3.3

ACC - 3.0

Big East - 2.5

Mtn West - 1.7

Independent - 0

The Rankings

Two categories under consideration doesn't give us much of a sample size. But like the AP Poll after the 2nd week of a college football season, we have to simply go with what we have and move forward until the body of work gives us more to base the rankings on. Therefore, with two categories in the books, here are the rankings:

1. Georgia - 82

2. Stanford - 76.5

3. Texas A&M - 76

4. Duke - 75

5t. Wisconsin - 70.5

5t. UCLA - 70.5

5t. USC - 70.5

8. Auburn - 70

9t. North Carolina - 69

9t. Virginia - 69

9t. Wake Forest - 69

12t. Ohio St - 64.5

12t. Washington - 64.5

12t. Penn St - 64.5

15. Alabama - 64

16t. Boston College - 63

16t. Georgia Tech - 63

18t. Iowa - 58.5

18t. Michigan St - 58.5

20t. South Carolina - 58

20t. Tennessee - 58

22. Navy - 54

23. LSU - 52

24t. Clemson - 51

24t. Virginia Tech - 51

Requiem for a Season: 2011 Steelers Coaches

2012-01-23T23:31:00.004-05:00

What started as a frenetic end to the summer where a last-minute deal was reached on a collective bargaining agreement that enabled the 2012 NFL season to take place ended suddenly for Steelers fans on a cold Sunday night in Denver. Over the summer, we were told that the Steelers experience and depth would enable them to be successful in a season where there were no OTAs and an abbreviated training camp. As it was, the season started with us getting gashed on the ground by Baltimore and Houston, battling through injuries to our world class pass rushers, and ended with giving up 316 yards to Tim Tebow, of all people.

Head Coach

In his fifth season with the team, Mike Tomlin led the Steelers to another 12-4 record and playoff berth. Coach Tomlin actually got better at throwing the challenge flag this year, but his clock management skills left something to be desired. He wasn't afraid to go for the win in situations where the Steelers faced a 3rd down with under 2 minutes to go and a first down would end the game. The problem with that was the play-calling (which we'll get to in a minute), which on more than one occasion resulted in an incomplete pass that gave the other team the ball back with a chance to win the game. Even though the Steelers were 5-3 on the road, they struggled in their 5 victories, beating a bad Indianapolis team by only 3, and mediocre Kansas City and Cleveland teams by 13-9 marks. On the whole, it was a decent season for Tomlin but there were times when the team looked totally unprepared for their opponents. The opener in Baltimore and the playoff game in Denver are two examples that come to mind.

Offensive Coordinator

For as bad as Bruce Arians was in his play-calling over the last five years, he did make some marginal improvements. Gone (finally!) were the 3rd and 1 pass calls. He did still utilize the empty set a bit much for our liking. While we're on the subject, let's set the record straight. We have no problem with passing. It's the way of the league right now. But if you look at the prolific offenses around the league, they're not running crazy 5-WR sets. New England runs a 2-TE offense. New Orleans and Green Bay both utilize their tight ends. But Arians, for better or worse, falls in love with spreading teams out and giving Ben limited protection. If you're going to go 5-wide, you have to throw a quick pass so your quarterback doesn't get killed, but Arians seems to love having receivers go 15 yards downfield before making a break, which means Ben has to stand in the pocket longer.

But now, Arians is gone and the Steelers will begin the search for a new offensive coordinator. We'll have more on this as the week goes on.

Defensive Coordinator

Once again, Dick LeBeau's unit finished as one of the top defenses in the league. The team struggled to defend the run early in the season, but really locked things down after they got gashed by the Texans in Week 4. They gave up 100 yards to Steven Jackson, but they shut the Rams out and he was literally their whole offense that day. LeBeau's crowning moment was the New England game where he shed the system that he normally played and adopted a press coverage scheme where he utilized cornerbacks against New England's tight ends rather than linebackers to match up with their speed. That game plan was fantastic, but it ultimately backfired against Baltimore the next week when Torrey Smith beat the press coverage over the top. Later in the year, LeBeau seemed to get locked in to his defense and fail to adjust to what teams were doing. This was particularly evident in the San Francisco game and the playoff game against Denver. The biggest addition to the staff was defensive backs coach Carnell Lake who added a tough, hard-nosed edge to the secondary and taught them to play straight-up man coverage and to be more aggressive. It certainly paid off this year.

Special Teams Coach

Even though Shaun Suisham had the worst field goal percentage in the league this year, you can hardly put that on the coach. The coverage units played well, and while there was a blocked field goal and a blocked punt early in the year, the blocking was solid for the second half of the season. Despite the slew of injuries that the team suffered, the special teams units continued to thrive. The Steelers didn't give up any kick returns for scores this year and had their first punt return to the house since Santonio Holmes broke one in the 2008 Divisional against San Diego. Special teams also came up with their first blocked field goal since 2009.

Requiem for a Season: 2011 Steelers Special Teams

2012-01-22T19:00:00.000-05:00

Kicker

Shaun Suisham was signed to a multi-year deal last offseason and followed it up with a mediocre season. The coaching staff seemed reluctant to let him kick long field goals. Suisham was 6-for-11 on kicks in the 40-49 yard range and 1-for-2 on kicks over 50 yards. He did miss two from the 30-39 range as well. On the whole, Suisham was not the liability that Jeff Reed had become, but his 74.2% on field goals was the worst in the league.

Free Agents: none

The Offseason: Despite Suisham's long-term deal, it would not be surprising to see the Steelers bring in another veteran kicker to camp or even pick up a kicker late in the draft. Given that he was the worst kicker in the league last year (percentage-wise), it wouldn't be surprising if the front office jettisoned Suisham and his $1.35 million contract.

Punter

Daniel Sepulveda suffered yet another season-ending injury, and despite his popularity amongst fans, one has to think this is pretty much the end of the line for him in a Steelers uniform. Sepulveda averaged 46.1 yards per punt before being injured, and for the second consecutive season the Steelers were able to bring in Jeremy Kapinos who averaged a solid 45.0 yards per punt, drastically up from the 41.1 he averaged with the team in 2010.

Free Agents: Jeremy Kapinos (ERFA)

The Offseason: One has to think that Kapinos now has the inside track for the punter's job heading into next season and that Sepulveda will be one of the players cut during the offseason to clear out cap space. Kapinos is an Exclusive Rights Free Agent, which would make it extremely difficult for another team to pry him away from the Steelers, assuming we want to bring him back next season.

Kick & Punt Returner

Antonio Brown had a record-setting season, becoming the first player in NFL history to record 1,000 receiving and 1,000 return yards. As Brown's role in the offense increased, the Steelers started cycling in Emmanuel Sanders to the returner's role to keep Brown fresh. Both players are capable returners, with Brown more explosive and having that ability to get vertical quickly and take it to the house at any minute. If the Steelers decide to increase Brown's role in the offense next year, we may see more of Sanders in the return game, or the opportunity may open up for another rookie to earn his way onto the team. Given the talent on the team right now, the days of Allen Rossum and Stefan Logan where we had a dedicated roster spot for a kick returner are over.

Requiem for a Season: 2011 Steelers Defense

2012-01-21T19:00:00.000-05:00

Defensive Line

For the second time in the last three seasons, the Steelers spent their first round draft pick on a defensive end. While some may have questioned this move, it was the right move to make from a personnel standpoint. Even with the additions of Hood and Heyward, the Steelers still have aging bodies up front, with Aaron Smith, Brett Keisel, Casey Hampton, and Chris Hoke all over 30. Smith and Hoke both suffered season-ending injuries that may wind up to be career-ending given their age. Hampton tore his ACL in the playoff game in Denver, which puts his status in question for the beginning of next season (not to mention his monster cap hit). Keisel tore his groin in Denver, which is as bad as it sounds, but he should be good to go by the beginning of camp. For a position where we needed youth and depth, the front office has addressed that with the additions of Hood, Heyward and Steve McLendon. If Smith and Hoke both retire, the Steelers will still need to add more bodies up front this offseason.

Pending Free Agents: Chris Hoke (UFA), Steve McLendon (ERFA)

The Offseason: Casey Hampton's contract will count for $8 million against the Cap next year, and the Steelers can save almost $6 million of that by cutting Hampton. His recovery from ACL surgery not withstanding, Hampton may wind up going the Max Starks route where he gets cut but the Steelers keep him on speed dial as they monitor his recovery. He may draw some interest from other teams looking for a short-term stopgap in their defensive front, but his age and injury history mean he won't be drawing big money from anyone. The Steelers should head into camp with Keisel, McLendon and Ziggy as the starters with Cam Heyward as the top backup. They will need to add at least 2, possibly 3, men to the roster to provide depth here. If Hampton and Hoke both do not return, the Steelers could be looking at nose tackles early in the draft. Though, given the fact that more teams are spreading the Steelers out with 4 and 5-wide sets, the Steelers tend to play a lot more nickel than base defense, which means any nose tackle is more of a 2-down player, making them less of a priority.

Linebackers

There might not have been a unit on the team that was more devastated by injuries this season than the linebacking corps. After a monster October, LaMarr Woodley missed most of the second half of the season after shredding his hamstring. James Harrison broke his orbital bone in September then came back looking like Darth Vader, only to be suspended by Roger Goodell for blasting Colt McCoy. James Farrior missed the New England game and Larry Foote battled through injuries all season. Lawrence Timmons had the least effective year of his career, switching between inside and outside linebacker depending on the health of the outside guys. Top OLB backup Jason Worlids was injured for the first half of the year and was able to return just in time when Woodley went down. Rookie OLB Chris Carter suffered a season-ending injury in there somewhere as well. Stevenson Sylvester actually started a game, and with the pending cap situation might be in line for an increased role in 2012.

Pending Free Agents: none

The Offseason: The biggest thing for this group is to get healthy. The Steelers failed to generate consistent pressure on the quarterback this year, and that can partially be attributed to the fact that Woodley and Harrison only started a handful of games together. Lawrence Timmons missed a bunch of tackles and needs to return to his 2010 form when he played at a Pro Bowl level. Farrior is aging and his $3 million cap hit could make him a cap casualty this offseason. Larry Foote is also due about $3 million and could be a candidate to have his contract re-structured. Consensus around the media and fanbase is that cutting Farrior would be problematic as he makes all the on-field calls on defense and that Lawrence Timmons does not understand the defense enough to step into this role. Either way, Farrior's age and ability to drop into coverage is definitely a concern and the Steelers very well could look to draft an inside linebacker early in the draft. The Steelers have not made many big moves in free agency, but Farrior was a free agent acquisition (from the Jets), so if the front office feels they need a more experienced player to fill Potsie's role, they may look at the talent available on the free agent market. If they feel Foote is capable of stepping into Farrior's role and making the defensive calls, they could look to the draft for an eventual partner for Timmons on the inside.

Cornerbacks

The position where most thought we were vulnerable entering the season turned out to be one of our biggest strengths. Granted, individuals did have bad games (Bryant McFadden vs Baltimore, Will Gay vs Baltimore and Ike Taylor vs Denver) but on the whole, this group exceeded expectations. After an early-season injury, McFadden was buried on the depth chart and Will Gay stepped up to be a significant contributor and solid starter on the outside. Ike Taylor had one of the best regular seasons of his career then got torched in the playoffs. Keenan Lewis finally stepped up his game and emerged as a solid nickel corner that played physical on the outside, enabling Gay to move into the slot in nickel. Rookie Cortez Allen had his best game against New England when he shut down Gronk in man coverage. Fellow rookie Curtis Brown was a special teams ace, leading the team in special teams tackles before suffering a season-ending injury.

Pending Free Agents: William Gay (UFA), Keenan Lewis (RFA), Anthony Madison (UFA)

The Offseason: While Brown and Allen are the future of the position, the Steelers will likely make a concerted effort to re-sign both Gay and Lewis. Gay played well throughout much of the season and looked the best he has yet in his career. He is capable of playing the slot in the nickel package, which is an essential cog in LeBeau's defensive scheme. Lewis took a big step forward this year and should be in the mix for playing time again next year. Anthony Madison presents an interesting option for the team, as he was brought in as a special teams player after Cortez Allen was injured. Given that the Steelers will probably cut ties with Safety Will Allen (who is making over $1 million), they may bring Madison back at the veteran minimum as a special teams ace. Assuming Gay and Lewis come back, the Steelers have a solid group of 5 corners heading into the offseason, but may look to add another late in the draft.

Safeties

Troy Polamalu didn't miss any games this season, even though he was taken out of two with concussion-like symptoms. Ryan Clark was the team's leading tackler, which is problematic. It was a great year for Ryan, but any time a safety is your leading tackler, it means your inside linebackers aren't doing their jobs. As long as the Steelers don't have to play in Denver, Ryan Clark should be hitting on all cylinders once again next year. Troy had an up-and-down year. He made a lot of significant plays in run defense, and given the Steelers struggles against the run, found himself playing in the box a lot more this year. He did drop a few interceptions early in the year that hit him right between the numbers. Ryan Mundy emerged as a decent backup who saw the field in the "Dollar" defense when the Steelers went with 3 corners and 3 safeties. Will Allen was primarily a special teams player who battled through some injuries.

Pending Free Agents: Ryan Mundy (RFA)

The Offseason: The top two here are set in stone heading into camp. Will Allen and his $1 million-plus salary are a candidate for the cut list as the Steelers try to clear cap room before the early March deadline. The Steelers will likely try to bring Ryan Mundy back as the back-up at both safety positions and will likely add a fourth somewhere, whether that is a veteran through free agency brought in near the minimum or a rookie in the middle rounds of the draft. Personally, I would prefer to see them add a safety in the middle of the draft to give them some youth on the back end as Troy is 30 and Ryan Clark is 32.

WPIAL Realignment

2012-01-20T23:37:00.001-05:00

Every two years, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) re-aligns schools into classifications based on the size of the school. This is a difficult endeavor state-wide and their formula goes something like this:

For Boys sports (like football), the number of boys in grades 9-11. For schools like Central Catholic that are all-boys schools, Central's numbers are counted for boys sports and Oakland Catholic's numbers are counted for girls sports. I am fairly certain that total enrollment does not count towards any sports.

After the number of eligible participants (ie boys or girls) is determined, the schools are listed in order from most to least across the whole state. The top 25% of schools, regardless of location, are placed into Class AAAA. The next 25% in AAA, the next 25% in AA and the smallest 25% in A. This can create difficulty in the less-populated areas of the state where there might only be one or two Class AAAA teams in the entire region.

Thankfully, WPIAL (or "District 7") does not have that problem. Though enrollments throughout the WPIAL region have been declining, there are still a healthy number of schools in each classification. However, given the shrinking sizes, some schools did move up or down in classification, prompting the WPIAL to realign their conferences. For the last few years, we have been blessed with a simple formula - four conferences in each of the four classifications, enabling four teams from each conference to make the playoffs. But now, due to the lobbying efforts of principals and athletic directors from AAAA and AAA schools, those two classifications have been realigned into three conferences instead of four. The positive of this is that there will be more conference games for AAAA teams, some of whom went almost an entire month before playing a conference tilt. In AAA, the change was prompted by a decrease in the number of teams from 31 to 27. With 27 teams, they were able to be aligned evenly into 3 9-team conferences.

For the playoffs, 16 teams will compete in each classification. In AAAA and AAA, the top 5 teams from each conference will make the playoffs and one "Wild Card" sixth team will be chosen by the selection committee.The realignment has created some interesting matchups. Some of the moves make sense for geographic reasons, some make sense for competitive balance reasons, and others make absolutely no sense whatsoever for either reason.

AAAA

With the move to 3 conferences, the biggest move was the dissolution of the Big East Conference. Due to a new policy in PIAA District 10, Erie McDowell is no longer able to compete in the WPIAL as a football-only member. Central Catholic and Fox Chapel move north to join the remaining 6 teams from the Northern Seven Conference. Penn Hills, Plum, and Woodland Hills move south to join the 6 teams from the Great Southern Conference. Altoona and Kiski Area move east to join the 7 teams from the Foothills Conference.

No teams joined the Quad-A ranks this time around, and the only departure was Erie McDowell. With 26 AAAA teams, it is easy to see the difficult situation the football committee was in. They could have chosen smaller conferences with less meaningful games on the schedule that would've made more geographic sense or opted for larger conferences and more conference games that count towards playoff seedings. The biggest question marks are the inclusion of Penn Hills, Plum, and Woody High in with the Southern teams, but given that the "East" already had 9 schools, there was really no other place to put these teams.

To make it easier to see the re-alignment, teams are colored by their previous conference (Northern Seven, Great Southern, Foothills, Big East).

Conference 1 (North): Butler, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Shaler, Central Catholic, Fox Chapel

Conference 2 (South): Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan Mt. Lebanon, Upper St Clair, Peters Township, Penn Hills, Plum, Woodland Hills

Conference 3 (East): Connellsville, Gateway, Latrobe, Hempfield, McKeesport, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Altoona, Kiski Area

AAA

The biggest change in numbers came in Class AAA which lost 4 schools to declining enrollment. The realignment to 3 conferences in AAA was not as drastic, and the main dissolution was of the Big Eight Conference, which lost South Park and McGuffey to declining enrollment numbers. In addition, the traditionally awful Keystone Conference (owners of a 1-43 record in the first round of the playoffs from 2000-2010 until Franklin Regional's run to the semi-finals last year) was split between the southeastern and northeastern conferences. The "Best Conference in Pennsylvania" Parkway Conference remains strong and adds a solid Chartiers Valley program.

No teams were added to the AAA ranks, but South Park, McGuffey, Valley, and Kittanning all departed to the AA ranks. The "West" conference is obviously still stacked and the Northeast gets stronger with the return of Franklin Regional, who played in the Greater Allegheny conference with Hampton, Highlands, Knoch, Indiana, and Mars for a while during the last decade.

To make it easier to see the re-alignment, teams are colored by their previous conference (Big Eight, Greater Allegheny, Keystone, Parkway).

Conference 1 (Southeast): Albert Gallatin, Laurel Highlands, Ringgold, Uniontown, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity, West Mifflin

Conference 2 (West): Ambridge, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Hopewell, Montour, Moon, New Castle, West Allegheny, Chartiers Valley

Conference 3 (Northeast): Hampton, Highlands, Knoch, Indiana, Mars, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hollidaysburg

Class AA saw the addition of 4 teams that moved down in rank from AAA (South Park, McGuffey, Valley, Kittanning) and lost 3 teams to A due to declining enrollment (West Shamokin, Apollo-Ridge, Laurel). The four AA conferences will retain the same conference names and there were some small moves to accommodate the new teams.

To make it easier to see the re-alignment, teams are colored by their previous conference (Allegheny, Century, Midwestern, Interstate, AAA Transfer).

Allegheny Conference: Burrell, Deer Lakes, Ford City, Freeport, Shady Side Academy, Summit Academy, East Allegheny, Kittanning, Valley

Century Conference: Burgettstown, Keystone Oaks, Quaker Valley, Seton-LaSalle, South Allegheny, South Fayette, Steel Valley, McGuffey, South Park

Midwestern Conference: Aliquippa, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Ellwood City, Freedom, Mohawk, New Brighton, Riverside

Interstate Conference: Brownsville, Charleroi, Greensburg Central Catholic, Jeanette, Mt Pleasant, Southmoreland, Waynesburg, Yough, Washington

Class A saw the addition of 3 schools from AA (West Shamokin, Apollo-Ridge, Laurel). Cornell's school board recently decided to end their football program, which means their last game in school history was a 54-0 stomping by Clairton in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs. On the positive side, Imani Christian Academy (located on the Pittsburgh/Penn Hills border in the East Hills neighborhood of the city) has begun a football program. They will play a WPIAL schedule but are not eligible to participate in the playoffs until they complete their PIAA probation period. Rumors out of the North Hills are that Vincentian Academy President John Fedko is working on starting a football program, which will likely be added to the Class A fold in the next few years.

Despite only adding 3 teams, there was a lot of shuffling of other teams around in Class A. The movement here makes the least sense from a competitive balance perspective. The WPIAL Football Committee clearly wanted to make life harder for the Clairton Bears as they added defending Eastern Conference champion Bishop Canevin, California, and Monessen to the Black Hills Conference. The worst conference in Class A, the Tri-County South, lost two of its best programs (Monessen and California) and added perennial bottom-dwellers from the Black Hills Conference (Avella and Bentworth). The new slate of teams in the Tri-County South Conference had a 26-57 record last year. Contrast that with the new Black Hills conference, which posted a 57-24 regular season record and includes 7 teams that made the playoffs.

To make it easier to see the re-alignment, teams are colored by their previous conference (Big Seven, Black Hills, Eastern, Tri-County South, AA Transfer).

Big Seven: Neshannock, Rochester, Shenango, South Side Beaver, Sto-Rox, Union, Western Beaver, Laurel, OLSH

Black Hills: Brentwood, Carlynton, Chartiers-Houston, Clairton, Fort Cherry, Serra Catholic, Bishop Canevin, California, Monessen, Imani Christian

Eastern: Avonworth, Leechburg, North Catholic, Northgate, Riverview, Springdale, Wilkinsburg, Apollo-Ridge, West Shamokin

Tri-County South: Beth-Center, Carmichaels, Frazier, Geibel, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, West Greene, Avella, Bentworth

The Quest: Jumping Ship

2012-01-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

For those of you that have read the blog for a while or follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I'm a Penn State fan. I've been a Penn State fan my whole life, so the next sentence I'm going to type is particularly hard to say.

I have decided, after the culmination of all the events that have taken place at Pennsylvania State University, I can no longer support the institution by cheering for their sports teams.

This is not a slight against the young men who strapped on the helmet and wore the nittany jerseys this season. Or the ones that will do so next year. This is about more than the football team. This is about the institution of Pennsylvania State University and the manner in which they have chosen to conduct business in the wake of the horrifying scandal that has come to light. Say what you will about the guilt or innocence of parties involved, be they administrators, members of the board of directors, students, players, coaches, etc. But throughout the whole process, it has been abundantly clear that the Board of Trustees and top administrators at the school have done more to cover their own butts than to actually find out what took place. In what might go down as the biggest cover-up in the history of the State of Pennsylvania, the leadership at the University has consistently shown that they care more about preserving the name and image of the university than uncovering the truth. Therefore, due to the manner in which the university has decided to conduct business, I feel I can no longer support their athletic programs by wearing the colors and logos of this institution.

Now, this brings me to a quandary. I enjoy watching college football. I love the tradition of the game, the uniforms, the roaring crowds, the history. It's something you just can't get anywhere else. But without a team to root for, I fear my interest my dwindle.

Therefore, I have decided to embark on a quest to choose a new college football team to cheer for. To set the record straight, I hate "bandwagon jumpers" so I'm going to do my best to be as objective as possible and consider the pros and cons of most Division 1 programs. That said, there are certain teams I simply will not cheer for; either due to their style of play, their coach, their history, or just flat out not liking them. There are 10 teams I simply will not cheer for under any circumstances, so let's clear them off the table to start with.

1. Michigan
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Miami
5. Florida State
6. Notre Dame
7. Nebraksa
8. Maryland
9. Connecticut
10. Mississippi State

That whittles the field of potential candidates down to 110 teams. That number is still a little unruly, so let's eliminate 50 more teams by taking out the "mid-major" schools that really have no chance of competing for a national championship. The only 3 exceptions I'm going to leave on the table are Boise State, TCU (who will be joining the Big XII shortly), and Navy. Even though they are not a mid-major conference, I want a team that is going to play a solid schedule throughout the year and play in a strong conference. We can strike the Big East from this list. I also want a school that actually plays an exciting brand of football, including a strong defense, which will eliminate most of the Big XII. Factoring in some of my other personal preferences, I have whittled the list down to 34 teams that I have separated into "tiers." I listed the teams alphabetically within the tiers since I haven't done enough research to differentiate between preferences.

Tier 1

Alabama - Their dominating defensive performance against LSU in the championship game makes them the "preseason" favorites.

Note: Penn State would also be here if they were still in play. I may include them in my future analysis just to see how they stack up.

Tier 2

Auburn - A solid tradition plus a recent championship makes them a candidate.

LSU - They have been championship contenders, play strong defense, and you can't argue with the excitement factor of watching Les Miles coach a game.

Washington - I have some cousins that live out around Seattle, which makes the Huskies a candidate.

Washington State - I had a cousin go to Wazzu, so I own some Cougars attire already.

Tier 3

Georgia - Between the Hedges, UGA, can't argue with the tradition here. Those jerseys they wore against Boise this year didn't help their cause.

Kansas State - Probably my favorite team of what's left in the Big XII.

Tennessee - I have some relatives around Knoxville, plus you can't argue with 100,000 people singing Rocky Top.

Texas A&M - The 12th Man. Also, the move to the SEC moves them up in my book.

Tier 4

Boise State - Even though they play in a sub-par conference, they are an up-and-coming program and one of the most exciting teams to watch.

Duke - Being a fan of their basketball program means I already own some Duke stuff, so despite a horrible football program, they are ranked high in the preseason rankings.

Iowa - Black and gold.

Ohio State - The question of "can I root against Penn State?" bumps the top contenders from the Big Ten down into Tier 4.

TCU - They've been an exciting team that has sent a slew of players to the pros lately.

Texas Tech - They're not Texas.

Tier 5

Boston College, Clemson, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Michigan St, Navy, NC State, Oklahoma St, Oregon, South Carolina, Stanford, UCLA, UNC, USC, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Wisconsin

Moving forward, I'll probably release periodic "Top 25" polls as I do more and more research into the 34 institutions in play for my fandom. In the spirit of an NCAA video game, here are my "recruiting preferences" by category:

Academics	High
Campus	Least
Coach Experience	Average
Coach Prestige	High
Conference Prestige	Above Average
Championship Contender	Above Average
Stadium	Above Average
Fan Base	Low
Pro Potential	Average
Program Stability	High
Program Tradition	Very High
Television Exposure	Average
Program Integrity	High
Uniforms/Logo	High

I haven't decided how I'm going to factor these preferences in yet, but if anyone would like to make a case for any institution, please feel free to add them in the comments, shoot me an e-mail, or tweet me. Perhaps I'll even include your comments in a future post, depending on how this endeavor goes.

Requiem for a Season: 2011 Steelers Offense

2012-01-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

Quarterbacks

It seems to be a right of passage for the Steelers to battle through a season with an injured Ben Roethlisberger. Is this a function of Big Ben's play or a porous offensive line that has allowed Ben to be sacked 40+ times every year of his career. Ben had a heck of a season and put forth a gutsy effort in the playoffs on what amounted to one leg. Once again, the Steelers saw one of their backup quarterbacks injured in the preseason when Byron Leftwich went down with a broken arm. Charlie Batch played well and led us to a victory against St. Louis. Questions will be asked all offseason if the Steelers should've started Batch against San Francisco and Cleveland. Dennis Dixon didn't see the field during the regular season and will be an unrestricted free agent.

Pending Free Agents: Charlie Batch (UFA), Byron Leftwich (UFA), Dennis Dixon (UFA)

The Offseason: With Ben locked up in a long term contract, the Steelers will likely re-sign Leftwich to be Ben's backup. As we saw throughout the league this year, the importance of a backup quarterback is paramount to a team's success. Charlie Batch is reaching the end of his career and is a candidate for retirement. If he decides not to retire, it's unlikely he'll be in high demand in the free agent market and we could bring him back for 2012. Dennis Dixon was a free agent last year as well and didn't garner much interest from teams around the league. Things may be different this time around, but with Dixon's lack of game experience, it's unlikely anyone would offer him a big contract. If all 3 backups depart for some reason, the Steelers will likely look for a veteran backup to add to the roster and possibly a young developmental project for their #3 QB.

Running Backs

We entered camp with one of the deepest set of backs we had seen in years with a returning 1000-yard rusher (Mendenhall), a short-yardage specialist (Redzone Redman), a 3rd down back (Moore), a one-cut runner that piled up a ton of yards in college (Dwyer), a rookie that with a big upside (Batch), and an undrafted free agent who had been the Big 10 offensive player of the year (Clay). Shockingly, we ended the season with three of them (Mendenhall, Dwyer, Batch) on IR and Mewelde Moore scratched with an MCL injury. Even though Mendenhall didn't have the most productive year in terms of yardage, he ran as hard as we've ever seen him run and hit the holes with authority. The shame for Rashard is that he was just coming into his own as a back and now will have to go through the arduous process of recovering from an ACL injury. Isaac Redman is an exclusive rights free agent and you'd better believe he will be back next season after having the best game of his career against Denver in the playoffs. Mewelde Moore is a solid veteran presence in the backfield but wasn't as effective this season as he had been in the past. Jonathan Dwyer showed flashes of potential this year, including a big 75-yard run against Tennessee but was ultimately lost with a broken foot. Redman was easily their best pass-blocking back and saved Ben's ass a few times on A-gap blitzes. John Clay has a big frame but is still a little raw. He definitely has potential as a developmental player.

Pending Free Agents: Isaac Redman (ER)

The Offseason: Much of the offseason will depend on Mendenhall's recovery from ACL surgery. With Baron Batch's recovery timeline in mind as well (he tore his ACL in camp, so he'll be further along than Rashard by August) the Steelers may look to the draft to add some depth at the RB position. If Mendenhall progresses quickly, the Steelers may be able to skirt by with the same stable of backs, though history has shown that it usually takes almost a year to fully recover from an ACL injury. Assuming Jonathan Dwyer can also fully recover we may start the season with Redman, Moore and Dwyer as our top three backs if Mendenhall is still limited. Not a horrible situation, but you can see why the Steelers might look to add another back via free agency or the draft.

Wide Receivers

Antonio Brown was the team MVP, and deservedly so. Of his 69 receptions, 28 were on 3rd down and 14 were on 3rd down with 9+ yards to go. All Brown did all season was make big plays. Mike Wallace started the season on fire then tapered off after Ben's first foot injury when the Steelers moved to a shorter passing game that had him running more slants and crossing patterns. Wallace's speed was still a factor and he was able to turn some short throws into big gains. The weirdest stat of the season probably comes from Hines Ward. In his pursuit of 1,000 catches he went through stretches where the Steelers seemed to completely ignore him then some games where they tried to rack up catches. Even though Hines seemed to be an afterthought for Bruce Arians, the Steelers were 9-1 in games when he had 3+ catches. In games where Hines had 2 catches or less the Steelers were 2-4, including the losses to San Francisco, Houston, and Denver. Hines' best game of the season was against Tennessee where he had 7 catches. Interestingly enough, that was also the Steelers highest scoring game of the season as they put up 38 against the Titans. After breaking his foot in the Super Bowl, Emmanuel Sanders battled through injuries this season but came up with some big catches against Denver. Sanders has a ton of talent and is the slot receiver of the future. Jerricho Cotchery was a solid free agent acquisition and he made some big plays for this team down the stretch as he saw his role increased in light of Hines Ward's diminished playing time.

Pending Free Agents: Mike Wallace (RFA), Jerricho Cotchery (UFA)

The Offseason: Wallace is the biggest free agent decision this team has to make moving forward. He is the clear #1 receiver on the team and is in line for a big contract. Since he is a restricted free agent, the Steelers will have the right to match any offer he would get from another team if they can't come to a contract agreement before the free agency deadline. Given the way Hines was utilized down the stretch, I can't see him back on the team next year. This isn't a knock against Hines or what he has done for us over the last 14 years. He is arguably the best receiver to ever strap on a Steelers helmet and he battled his heart out every play. That said, he seemed to be excluded from the game plans that the coaching staff put together down the stretch. If you ask me, Hines can still make plays in this league, but the coaches unwillingness to use him makes me think he'll either retire or get cut before training camp next year. Assuming Wallace is re-signed, the Steelers should head into camp with a clear 1-2-3 combo of Wallace-Brown-Sanders. Cotchery is a great fit for what the Steelers do offensively but he will probably test the free agent market as the Steelers won't offer him much money to come back. Don't be surprised if the Steelers pick a receiver in the middle rounds of the draft to add some depth to this unit.

Tight Ends

Weslye Saunders was the "camp phenom" after being the only undrafted free agent to make the 53-man roster. Saunders orchestrated one of the most athletic plays by anyone not named "Antonio Brown" after making a whirling catch in the back of the end zone against Kansas City. Heath Miller was once again his solid, consistent self. Heath exemplifies the "all-around tight end" model as he excells in both blocking and receiving. One disturbing trend that we saw this year was Heath being utilized in the passing game during the first quarter of games then disappearing down the stretch. The Steelers went to him early and often against New England and Denver then pretty much ignored him the rest of the game. Since it's fresh in your mind, you may ask about the missed 3rd down pass in the 4th quarter against Denver when Heath was triple-covered and Antonio Brown was running open. Yes they threw to Heath, but it's never advisable to throw in to triple coverage. David Johnson is the kind of player that Bruce Arians loves because he can fill he "H-back" role as a fullback and blocking tight end. Johnson doesn't have the best hands and dropped multiple passes this year. This was probably the only group on the team that didn't sustain a significant injury all season.

Pending Free Agents: David Johnson (RFA)

The Offseason: Miller and Saunders make a solid 1-2 punch at tight end and it should be fun to watch Weslye develop. For a guy who looked a little timid blocking early in camp, Saunders really picked it up towards the end of the year and honed his blocking skills. The Steelers will likely tender David Johnson with a low-ball offer. Johnson probably won't get many looks from other teams and will probably re-sign. It's unlikely the Steelers will add a tight end in free agency and if Johnson (a former 7th round pick) does depart, they'll probably pick one up towards the tail end of the draft. In all likelihood, this will be the same unit in 2012 that it was in 2011.

Offensive Line

The Steelers first snap of 2012 saw Jonathan Scott, Chris Kemoeatu, Maurkice Pouncey, Doug Legursky, and Willie Colon line up in front of Big Ben. That play was a 9-yard run by Rashard Mendenhall in Baltimore. The last snap of the year, fittingly a sack, saw Jonathan Scott, Chris Kemoeatu, Doug Legursky, Ramon Foster, and Marcus Gilbert line up. In between it seemed like every combination under the sun of Max Starks, Kemoeatu, Legursky, Pouncey, Foster, Gilbert, and Scott saw playing time. At one point we had started 7 different line combinations through 7 games. The re-signing of Max Starks was huge for the left side of the line after J-Scott did his best revolving door impression against Dwight Freeney in Week 3. While this group clearly has it's holes (and believe me, they are big ones), you have to like the way the right half of the line played this year. After the RG free-for-all that took place in camp, Ramon Foster landed the gig for the second consecutive year and played a solid season. He got beat at times, but for an undrafted free agent, the guy has started 26 games over his 3-year career. Maurkice Pouncey is going to be a perennial Pro Bowler at center and rookie Marcus Gilbert stepped in nicely for the injured Willie Colon at RT.

Pending Free Agents: Max Starks (UFA), Trai Essex (UFA), Doug Legursky (RFA), Ramon Foster (RFA)

The Offseason: Max Starks was signed to a 1-year veteran minimum deal and depending on his health (he went down in the Denver game with a knee injury) probably won't return next year. The Steelers threw big money at Willie Colon during the last offseason which pretty much ensures he will be around for at least another year. Colon can't play LT which means that Marcus Gilbert will probably flip sides and move over to the left. After getting benched this year and towing a huge cap number around, Chris Kemoeatu is likely near the top of the cut list this offseason. Doug Legursky played all 3 positions on the interior of the line and makes for a good swing player. I think at one point or another this year, Trai Essex played all 5 positions on the line. Essex isn't good enough to get a lot of attention in the free agent market, but he's not a bad backup to have around either. Look for the Steelers to target an interior lineman - probably a LG - early in the draft.

Roadhouse Blues: Steelers Lose

2012-01-10T19:00:00.000-05:00

The Steelers struggled on the road all season. Whether or not you wanted to believe it or thought they might "flip the switch" once the playoffs hit, they just never put it together outside of Heinz Field. In short to summarize this game, the Steelers were flat out out-coached. John Fox put together a game plan and the Broncos executed it on both sides of the ball. The Steelers didn't really seem to have much of a game plan. If they did, they looked totally unprepared to execute portions of it, like "defending the option."

Denver wins the toss and defers.

Earlier this week, Tomlin mentioned that the Broncos struggled to defend the middle of the field given their injuries at safety. The Steelers go right after it, working Heath Miller for a first down then on a deep seam route to move us into field goal range. The drive eeks inside the 30 and Arians decides to go with a WR screen on 3rd and 7. I'm sure you can imagine how that turned out.

3-0

I've been adamantly against the WR screen since Arians first popped a boner over it after seeing some WPIAL team run it. Even it's biggest proponents, like Tunch Ilkin, will admit it is at best a "run replacement" play that is designed to get you 3-5 yards (usually on first down to get you into second and manageable). If this is a play designed to get you 3-5 yards, why are we running it on 3rd and 7? It's like the mid-90s all over again when we would throw 3 yard passes on 3rd and 7. Except this time the pass didn't even go 2 yards forward.

Denver starts slow, testing the Steelers run defense.

Cotchery drops a ball that hits him right in the hands on 3rd down. If he catches that he might still be running. No one between him and the end zone.

Denver goes 3-and-out again.

Isaac Redman starts to take things over, dominating in short yardage situations, ultimately busting a 3rd and 1 up the guy for 13 yards to get us down into the red zone. The offense can't do anything else and it's Suisham again.

6-0

Second Quarter

Tebow starts to open things up and hits Decker over the middle but he gets blown up by Harrison who, having been suspended for hitting guys high, makes the Goodell-approved hit and destroys Decker's knee.

Tebow comes right back like he's playing NFL Blitz and runs Da Bomb, connecting with Thomas over Ike Taylor. Two plays later, he hits Royal over Will Gay down the right side on pretty much the exact same pass Jordy Nelson scored on in the Super Bowl.

6-7

The Steelers catch a case of the drops as David Johnson drops one that hits him in the hands and Mike Wallace can't hang on to a deep ball that was initially called a catch. Fox wins the challenge and the Steelers wind up punting.

Tebow keeps running his video game offense and bombs another one for Thomas down the sideline. Two plays later, Tebow takes it up the middle for a touchdown.

6-14

The wheels start to come off as Starks gets blown over and Ben gets sacked then throws a pick across the middle.

Denver takes over deep in Steelers territory but the defense locks it down and forces a field goal. Big-time stand by the defense right there.

6-17

A defensive penalty wipes away another interception but the Steelers can't really do anything with it.

Tebow throws Da Bomb again. McGahee gets them into field goal range.

6-20

The Steelers take over with 1:05 left on the clock and a chance to put some points on the board. AB and Sanders make big grabs to get us across midfield and we use our second timeout with 51 seconds left. Ben hits Sanders to get us to the edge of field goal range, but on 3rd down Legursky snaps the ball over Ben's head, knocking us out of field goal range.

Kapinos punts and Tebow kneels.

Halftime

Lots of people freaking out, but for those of us that remember the Ravens playoff game last year know that it only takes one big play from the defense and we're right back in the game.

Third Quarter

The Broncos are able to drive into Steelers territory, but the defense is able to tighten it up and force a punt.

Brown converts a 3rd down to get things moving. We catch a HUGE break when Ben throws a WR screen for Wallace that he drops, but since it was a backwards pass it should've been a fumble. Somehow, the refs blew the whistle and called it incomplete so it's not challengeable. Sanders converts another 3rd down to move a sputtering drive out to the 40. Brown picks up a big chunk on an end-around. Redman works it to 3rd and short then gashes Denver up the middle, rumbling all the way to the goal line. The initial call is a touchdown, but after review Redman's knee was down at the 1. With less than a yard to paydirt, Arians decides to...run the ball parallel to the line of scrimmage?! It's a good thing Mike Wallace is fast. He zooms around the corner on an end-around and gets into the end zone untouched.

That was either going to be a 4-yard loss or a touchdown. Horrible play call in that situation, but we're lucky that it worked.

13-20

Denver gets the benefit of a horrible pass interference call when Thomas stops running and Ike bumps him. Tebow puts the team on his shoulders and carries them down into the red zone.

Fourth Quarter

A holding penalty sets the Broncos back, but they stretch their lead with a field goal.

13-23

All Antonio Brown does is make big plays, and he makes a huge catch to get the drive rolling. Redman bounces one off tackle and rumbles down the sideline to get us into field goal range. Ben scrambles to get us into 3rd and reasonable then tries to throw into triple coverage for Heath and the ball gets knocked away. Suisham puts us within a score.

16-23

Tebow converts a 3rd down to get things moving, but Ryan Mundy is able to do his best Ryan Clark impression and whacks Willis McGahee, knocking the ball out. The ball hops into Woodley's arms for the HUUUGE turnover our defense needed.

007 takes over with 7 and a half left, and recovers from a sack by hitting Manny Sanders to get close to the sticks. Redman converts again. Ben and Redman carry us down into field goal range. We catch a huge break when Ben tries to take a shot deep for Wallace into double coverage and Champ Bailey drops the pick. On the next play, Ben does his Ben thing, scrambling out of the pocket then gunning one to Cotch in the middle of the end zone. Cotch takes a big hit but hangs on to tie the game.

23-23

Denver doesn't move very urgently, and a few incompletions from Tebow stop the clock and give Ben a chance with a minute and a half to go.

Ben has put together plenty of game-winning drives in his career, and you really believed that he was going to do it again here. But the guys up from just couldn't block a 4-man rush, and that hurt. Ben gets sacked at the start of the drive, but bounces back and hits AB for a huge 17-yarder then floats one to Sanders for 18 more down the sideline to get us across midfield with 30 ticks left. On a 3-man rush, Dumervil is able to reach in and knock the ball out. The season flashes before your eyes as the ball lays there but Ben falls on it and the Steelers use their last timeout with 18 seconds left. Redman gets a few yards on a check-down and gets out of bounds at midfield with a few seconds left. Rather than try a 68-yard field goal, Tomlin elects to go for the hail mary. But Ben gets sacked and that's that.

Overtime

CBS makes a big deal about the new overtime rules. Guess what? It didn't matter.

John Fox makes a great call to go for the jugular and Tebow hits Thomas on a deep post route. Thomas throws a stiff arm to Ike and he's off to the races, taking it all the way to the house.

23-29

Game.

Season.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Isaac Redman

Defensive Game Ball: Lawrence Timmons

Honorable Mentions:

Ben Roethlisberger

Antonio Brown

Emmanuel Sanders

Jerricho Cotchery

Shaun Suisham

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

No Safeties

When a touchdown is the only thing that beats you, I don't understand having no safeties in the middle of the field. Ryan Mundy cheated up to stop the run and the play-action froze him in his tracks. Mundy had no chance and the Steelers basically left Ike Taylor to try to defend the entire 52x80 section of field. Ike definitely had his worst game of the season, but he had no safety help over the top all day. It was like Tebow was playing a video game where he just had to chuck it deep.

Final Thoughts

Ike Taylor really struggles against Denver. Not sure what it is, but he got lit up by them in 2006 in Pittsburgh too.
I mentioned on twitter that I was worried that Hines wasn't part of the game plan. The Steelers were 9-1 this year when he caught 3+ passes. Hines had no catches and only 2 targets. I doubt he was on the field for more than 5 plays.
Debate me if you want, but the WR screen is the worst play in the playbook. What a horrible play.
The Steelers looked like they had no game plan for this game. They didn't have a consistent plan for attacking Denver's defense and seemed lost and fragmented with their offensive play-calling. On defense, we looked like we had no idea how to defend the option and like we were afraid to blitz.
Heath had two big catches early then was pretty much silent the rest of the game.
Gutsy effort by Ben going the distance on what was basically one leg.
Lawrence Timmons had his best game of the season.
What a game by Isaac Redman. This guy has what it takes to be a feature back in the NFL. Gotta get the kid more carries next season. Then again, depending on Mendenhall's recovery timeline, Redman might be the starter entering camp.
Losing Hampton and Keisel to injury hurt. It really wasn't much of a surprise the inside guys didn't get much push considering Ziggy, Cam, and McLendon had to play the whole game without subbing out.
The Steelers had opportunities at the ends of both halves with the ball across midfield that they could've at least gotten field goal attempts, but a bad snap and a sack ended those chances.
This might have been the first football game I have ever seen that no holding was called. There was holding all over the place, but Ron Winters and his crew decided they wouldn't call it.
All in all, this was a 12-4 season where we endured a lot of injuries, battled through them, saw young guys arise, and ultimately saw an bruised and battered offensive line unable to hold their blocks at key times at the end of both halves.
Given all the injuries we had, it's hard to imagine this team getting past New England, but it still would've been nice to see them try.
In the grand scope of my Steelers fandom, this loss doesn't even rank in the top 5 as most painful in the playoffs. It was a tough way to lose, but hey, you can't win them all. Ask the 2007 New England Patriots.
As Dick LeBeau told the defense today in their end-of-the-year meeting: Come back next year ready to win a Super Bowl.

Wild Card Gameday: Denver Broncos

2012-01-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday January 8

4:30pm

Mile High Stadium

CBS

What To Watch For

1. Tebow vs Deebo

This has been one of the slogans for Steeler Nation all week leading up to this game. If you listened to Tunch Ilkin on the DVE Morning Show on Friday, he talked a lot about the "option man" on defense. To break it down, for a team that runs a "read option" like Denver, the quarterback will take the snap and put the ball in the stomach of the running back. At this point, the QB is "reading" the outside guy, be it the defensive end or outside linebacker. If the defender crashes down on the running back, the QB will pull the ball back with it and run himself. If the defender waits and "spies" the quarterback, he will hand it off to the running back. Against teams like Buffalo and Kansas City, their strategy was to make sure they dedicated two defenders, usually an outside linebacker and a safety to keying on the running back (McGahee) and quarterback (Tebow). If the Steelers go this route, it will likely be with the outside linebacker keying on the running back and a safety (probably Troy) spying Tebow.

2. Bumps and Bruises

The Steelers come into this game nursing some injuries. With Rashard Mendenhall on the IR and Mewelde Moore still out, the lionsshare of the workload will fall on the shoulders of Isaac Redman. Redman has been a beast all year. Until his last 3 carries of the Cleveland game, he had converted all of his short-yardage attempts and hadn't fumbled. But in his last 3 carries? Stopped on 3rd and 1 and fumbled twice. We're confident Redman will bounce back. Maurkice Pouncey has been limited this week in practice because of his sprained ankle and we obviously know about Ben's sprained ankle. LaMarr Woodley should be back, along with Doug Legursky. In the secondary, we signed Anthony Madison for special teams and cornerback depth. Denver has some injuries too, the biggest of which is safety Brian Dawkins who might miss the game.

3. Find the End Zone

Let's face it, Denver's offense isn't that good. They have relied on their defense to keep them in games so that Tebow can work his magic late. Tim Tebow is a winner, flat out. What he has done in the fourth quarter of games this year is incredible. He's the anti-LeBron. He bleeds clutch. That said, the best way to beat him is to just bury him early and force him to try to lead a comeback. Denver has the best rushing attack in the league, but their offense is built to go on long drives that eat a lot of clock. They are not a quick-strike team. Putting points on the board hasn't exactly been the Steelers forte since Ben hurt his ankle, but they're going to need to find the end zone if they want to pull this one out.

4. Steelers receivers vs Broncos Secondary

The Broncos will blitz a lot with OLBs Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil, so the Steelers receivers will have to get open against the Broncos corners. Champ Bailey was once a good corner and Andre Goodman is decent, but you have to believe Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown will be able to get open against these guys. Denver is 18th in the league in passing defense and has allowed 24 passing touchdowns this season, an average of about 1.5 per game. For a team that hasn't had a passing touchdown since Antonio Brown iced the first Cleveland game, this could be just the remedy the Steelers passing game needs.

5. Make Them Relinquish The Ball

We've had some great playoff success in Denver, like winning the 2005 AFC Championship Game. That said, these are both completely different teams. The Steelers have struggled to stop the run at times this year, and struggled to generate turnovers. Denver runs the ball very well and struggles when Tebow has to put the ball in the air. That said, during his big winning streak he was able to keep the ball secure and not turn it over. Teams have started to get after Tebow more and generate fumbles, something the Steelers haven't done much of this year. The reunited combination of Harrison and Woodley could help that, but if we're going to have success in the playoffs, we're going to have to generate turnovers.

It's playoff football baby. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

HERE WE GOOOOOOO

1000 for Hines: Steelers Win

2012-01-02T23:31:00.000-05:00

There were enough Steelers fans in the stands to prompt the Browns to treat it like an away game and wear their white jerseys.

Cleveland wins the toss, takes the ball, and promptly goes 3-and-out.

Mendenhall carries us down the field to the fringe of field goal range. Tomlin elects to go for it on 4th and 3 rather than try a 49-yarder with the wind at our back. Ben can't hit Redman and it's a turnover on downs.

Troy does his "dive through the line" play and pulls Wallace down before he can hand the ball off.

What a player.

3-and-out again for Cleveland.

Even with the wind at our back, the passing game can't get on track. The running game carries us to midfield but Ben gets sacked and that's that.

Another 3-and-out from the Browns.

Mendenhall bounces one outside and tries to make a cut but his knee gives out and he crumples to the ground.

Might be a torn ACL.

Shit.

Second Quarter

With Mendenhall out and the wind in our face, it's the Isaac Redman show. A holding penalty knocks us back but Ben zings one to Manny Sanders to get us down to the 22. Faced with a 4th and 1, Tomlin elects to go with Redman rather than try a 40-yard field goal. Redman spins off two tacklers and picks it up. Whew. After the moment of relief, Ben gets sacked on 3rd down, leaving us with a 45-yard field goal that the wind blows left.

With the wind at their back, the Browns start to move the ball and catch a spark when Wallace scrambles for 30 yards on 3rd and 2. The Steelers lock it down at the goal line and force a field goal.

0-3

The offense sputters going into the wind and punt it back to the Browns with 3 minutes left in the half.

Wallace comes out with the wind at his back and hits two big passes to Josh Cribbs to get the Browns into long field goal range. Dawson hits a 45-yarder.

0-6

Ben gets the ball back with a minute left and hits two quick passes to Cotch and Hines to get us near midfield. After a timeout, Ben loads up and guns one to AB down the right side that Brown catches against the side of his helmet for a huge 40-yard gain to get us down into the red zone.

All Antonio Brown does is make big plays.

After two incompletions, Ben hits AB on a crossing route near that goal line to pick up the first down with 11 ticks left. Out of timeouts, Ben tries two fade patterns that fall incomplete and Suisham gets us on the board before the half.

3-6

Third Quarter

The Steelers get the ball out of the half, and Isaac Redman just takes over. He carries us out to midfield where Ben hits Heath to convert a 3rd down. The drive keeps rolling when AB reels one in to move the sticks again. Wallace takes a WR screen down to the 10, but the Steelers can't get any closer and settle for tying the game.

6-6

The Browns get into 3rd and short but pressure on Wallace forces him to roll out and Troy jumps a route on the sideline for a big turnover in Browns territory.

The offense takes over, getting Hines a catch then pounding Redman into field goal range. AB gets us closer and Redman hits a hole and slices in from 7 yards out.

13-6

There were two things the Steelers struggled to defend in this game. Josh Cribbs and Seneca Wallace scrambling. Cribbs reels in a few more and Wallace reels off another big gain on the ground to get the Browns into field goal range. Ryan Clark gets a rare blitz opportunity and makes the most of it, bringing down Wallace. Tomlin declines a holding penalty on 3rd down that wouldn't knocked the Browns out of field goal range and elects to let Dawson try a 49-yarder.

It's right down the middle.

13-9

I honestly don't mind that call. Why give the Browns another snap? If they pick up any more than 10, it's a closer field goal. I'll take my chances with a 49-yarder any day.

Hines picks up catch #999 but Redman gets stopped for the first time all year on 3rd and 1. I think that was a bad omen of what was to come for him in the 4th.

Fourth Quarter

Kapinos flips the field and the Browns go 3-and-out.

Early in his career, Hines used to run the behind-the-line drag shovel-pass all the time. Now, it was only fitting that would be the play he would make his 1000th catch. The only problem was no one remembered to block the inside linebacker and Hines loses 3 yards. Oh well, 1000 is still an incredible record.

AB makes up for the loss by making a diving catch against his hip. Cleveland challenges the play but AB had it al the way.

What a grab.

There were 2 things Isaac Redman hadn't done all year. One was get stopped on a 3rd and 1. The other was fumble. In two carries (one at the end of the 3rd, and his first of the 4th) he did both. Ugh.

The Browns convert a 3rd and long with a sideline out, but that was the only throw Wallace could make into the wind. The Browns elect to punt rather than try a 50 yarder.

John Clay comes in to spell Redman and isn't as effective. We get a first down via penalty and Cotch converts another one to get us out to the 40. Redman comes back in and takes off over the right side and rumbles down into Browns territory, carrying half their defense on his back as he fights for extra yards. He gets spun around and somehow the ball comes out. That's shockingly rare. But it's Browns ball.

The Browns can't do anything with it and punt back to the Steelers with 5 minutes left.

The Steelers go into "wind the clock" mode and grind out a first down with Clay and a pass to Heath. The Browns use their last timeout and the Steelers find themselves in the age-old situation. 2 minutes to go, 3rd down, the other team out of timeouts. Run the ball and wind another 40 seconds off the clock or go for the win and throw, hoping you pick it up so that the game ends. The danger of throwing, as we saw against Baltimore, is that if it's incomplete you leave the other team with a full 2 minutes to try to score.

Tomlin has always thrown in these situations, but with 3rd and 2 I thought the run might be worth it. But they opt for a throw and it's incomplete, leaving the Browns with a full 2 minutes to drive down the field.

Wallace starts picking his way down the field, moving the Browns across midfield as the clock ticks under a minute. Ryan Clark makes a big tackle to keep a guy in bounds inside the 40 as the clock goes under 30 seconds. Timmons makes another big-time tackle near the sidelines to keep Moore in bounds at the 25. Wallace spikes the ball with 5 seconds left, leaving one last shot for the end zone. Troy gets a hand on the jump ball and knocks it away, ending the threat as time expires.

Playoffs here we come.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Antonio Brown

Defensive Game Ball: Troy Polamalu

Honorable Mentions:

Hines Ward

Isaac Redman

Lawrence Timmons

Ryan Clark

Jason Worlids

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

Injuries

Not only did we lose Mendenhall with a torn ACL, but we also lost Cortez Allen (shoulder), Keenan Lewis (hamstring), and David Johnson (elbow, I think). Hopefully at least a few of these guys can get healthy for the playoffs.

Final Thoughts

It wasn't pretty, but 12-4 is 12-4 and that's hard to argue with.
What an accomplishment for Hines Ward to have 1,000 career catches. We've been blessed to watch him for the last 14 years.
All Antonio Brown does is make big plays. Period.
Ryan Clark has been a big force in our run defense this year. Going to be tough in Denver without him.
This might have been the best game Troy played all year. He was a force all over the field and came up with a big interception.
Looked like Ben came up gimpy after scrambling out of the pocket late in the game.
Despite the two fumbles, I'm not worried about Isaac Redman. He put up almost 100 yards and had the most carries he had all season.
For everyone who is going to say "The Steelers almost lost to Blaine Gabbert, Tyler Palko, Curtis Painter, Andy Dalton, and Seneca Wallace" just remember that the Ravens actually did lose to Blaine Gabbert, Tavaris Jackson, and Matt Hasselbeck. Almost only counts in horseshoes.
Thankful to be back in the playoffs. Never take that for granted. The Bills haven't been to the playoffs since 1999.
This season has been a fun ride. Not the best season for our hearts and stomachs, but it's never easy with the Steelers. Now it's playoff time. Get ready.

NFL Playoff Schedule

2012-01-01T23:26:00.001-05:00

The game recap should be up tomorrow, but for now, let's enjoy the fact that we got to watch the Steelers put together another 12-win season and we're headed for the playoffs. Do we have the most ideal road? Absolutely not. But we've been here before. And we can do it again.

Saturday, January 7

4:30pm -- NBC

8:00pm -- NBC

Sunday, January 8

1:00pm -- FOX

4:30pm -- CBS

Bring on the Tebow show.

Gameday: Cleveland Browns

2011-12-31T23:52:00.002-05:00

4:00pm

CBS

What To Watch For

1. AFC North-mageddon

When the folks made the NFL schedule over the summer, they couldn't have hoped for a better scenario heading into Week 17. Steelers-Browns and Ravens-Bengals with the division title and a wild card spot on the line. The Ravens have the inside track on the division crown, and will get to give John Harbaugh another gatorade bath if they beat the Bengals. The Bengals can still sneak into the playoffs if the Ravens beat them, but they need a bunch of other teams to lose. For the Steelers, it's straight-forward. Our playoff spot is locked up. We have to beat the Browns to have any chance at the division title. With a win over the Browns and a loss by Baltimore, we will win the division and get a first round bye. If both Baltimore and New England lose, we will have homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

2. 2010 not 2009

Last year, we went into Cleveland and kicked the living snot out of them. The Steelers need this game to follow the track of their 2010 trip to the worst city in the country rather than the 2009 version. The Browns are a pesky team that has hung around with almost everyone they've played this year. The Steelers need to get up big early and keep their foot on the gas. Don't let the Browns hang around.

3. 5 for Hines

Hines is 5 catches away from 1,000 career receptions. As I mentioned in my game recap last week, the Steelers are 8-1 in games where Hines has more than 2 receptions. Let's get it done for Hines.

4. Keep Ben Safe

Ben is expected to start and the patchwork offensive line, which will likely feature Trai Essex somewhere (center or guard) and possibly Chris Kemoeatu if Essex has to play center, must keep Ben safe and not give Cleveland the opportunity to knock him out of the game. This point includes the coaching staff, which needs to realize that Ben is not as mobile as he normally is so they will have to adjust the playbook by giving him extra blockers and utilizing shorter passes where Ben can get the ball out quick.

5. Seneca Wallace

Wallace will start in place of the still-concussed Colt McCoy. He has never started a game against the Steelers but has appeared on 3 occasions, throwing a grand total of 5 passes. He has completed 3 of those for a total of 20 yards and no touchdowns. Obviously, the Browns will lean heavily on their rushing attack so the Steelers will need to be sound up front. But if they can get pressure on Wallace and force some bad throws and turnovers, this game could get out of hand quickly.

By 7:30pm tomorrow, the Steelers could be anywhere from the top seed in the AFC to the #5 seed. Here we go.

Hope everyone out there had a great 2011. Looking forward to an even better 2012. Happy New Year everyone!

Grindhouse: Steelers Win

2011-12-26T03:32:00.000-05:00

In what has become a Pittsburgh tradition, B.E. Taylor rocks out some Christmas tunes before the game. The offense gets the nod for the intros, and the crowd gives Hines a great cheer for what might be his last game ever at Heinz Field.

I don't have any confirmation on this, but I think Hines is the last player on the roster to have played for the Steelers at both Three Rivers Stadium and Heinz Field. Aaron Smith would be the only other guy on the roster that might have played at Three Rivers as a Steeler.

The Steelers win the toss and defer. Smart move to put the defense out first.

The Rams come out determined to give the ball to Steven Jackson, who is obviously their best player on offense. He converts a 3rd and 12 on a draw play around the right side. Timmons bit inside on the fake and couldn't get out to seal the corner. The Rams get near midfield and seem to convert another 3rd down on a slant to Lloyd but Tomlin throws the challenge flag and actually wins one. Pretty obvious call that the ball hit the ground.

With Homestead Charlie at quarterback, the Rams were in for a heavy diet of Rashard Mendenhall all day. And Raise Some doesn't disappoint. Chuck makes a Ben-esque play by eluding a sack then finds Mendenhall on a check-down that Rashard scampers with for 35 yards. Wallace makes a few grabs in between runs and the Steelers work it down inside the 5 but can't punch it in. Wallace has a ball tipped away from him on a slant route on 3rd down.

Suisham.

3-0

The teams trade punts. Hines picks up a catch on a shovel pass that used to be a staple of his game back in the early part of his career.

Second Quarter

The Rams get across midfield but stall out. Steve Spagnolo calls for a fake punt on 4th and 10 but no one is open so the punter takes off running. The Steelers seem to be caught flat-footed then out of nowhere on a beeline shoots Antonio Brown who sticks the punter one yard short of the first down for a turnover.

You can actually buy this on a shirt on AB's website. Sick.

Hines gets another catch then Arians tries to go with a reverse pass by AB, but Brown gets pressured and winds up scrambling for some yards. Three plays later, Charlie tries to take a shot down the sideline for AB on a deep dig route, but AB slips and the defender is able to come up with the interception.

The Rams work it to 3rd and 1 then Josh McDaniels and his brilliant offensive play-calling strike. The Rams line up in a shotgun set but take a timeout because Harrison and Polamalu are ready to blow up their WR screen. Then McDaniels calls another pass but there are offsetting penalties. On the third 3rd and 1 opportunity, it's yet ANOTHER pass play, and Troy gets pressure to force a bad throw. Punt.

The next drive is all about Raising Menden-hellllll. Rashard guts the Rams defense on a run to the left then cuts it back when he hits the secondary and blows past a pack of Rams, rumbling all the way down the sideline for 52 yards down to the 10. Former Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year John Clay gets his first NFL carry and finds a crack off the right side and rumbles into the end zone for his first NFL touchdown.

Clay does an unrealistic jump for a dude his size. Can't blame him for being that pumped.

10-0

After the teams trade punts again, the Rams get the ball near midfield with a little over 3 minutes to go. The Rams decide now is a good time to run the ball and keep running it after the 2 minute warning. Harrison sacks Clemens, forcing the Rams to settle for a 52-yard field goal attempt. Josh Brown misses.

Third Quarter

It's right back to the grind for the Steelers, as Mendenhall carries us down the field once again. Wallace picks up a 3rd down in there to get us into field goal range and Suisham connects on a 49-yarder into the open end. Even the refs looked shocked that he made it.

13-0

Another 3-and-out trade before the Rams start moving the ball, primarily on the back of Steven Jackson. Scratch that, only on the back of Steven Jackson. He was literally their only offense. He picks up another 3rd and long on the same draw play to the right.

Fourth Quarter

The shutout looks to be in danger as the Rams move inside the red zone, but Troy blows up Jackson on a 3rd down run and Brown shanks a 33-yard field goal.

Darth Harrison used the force to push it wide right.

After another trade of 3-and-outs, the Steelers win the field position battle thanks to a huge punt by Kapinos and a terrible punt by the Rams. With the ball near midfield, Homestead Charlie takes a shot deep for Wallace who makes a spinning grab and tumbles into the end zone for the score.

The play is reviewed and Wallace was down at the 1. Mendenhall pounds it in on the next play.

20-0

The Rams offense is terrible. Timmons and Harrison split a sack when Timmons comes unblocked and Harrison owns the tackle.

With the game in hand, Isaac Redman takes over and grinds his way to a first down. Then it's Hines time as he racks up two more catches to get him to 995. Charlie throws his best pass of the game on a fade to Heath who makes a leaping grab over two defenders to get down to the 2. Redman pounds it in to give all 3 running backs a touchdown.

27-0

The Rams go into run out the clock mode and wind it down.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Rashard Mendenhall

Defensive Game Ball: James Harrison

Honorable Mentions:

Antonio Brown

Charlie Batch

Hines Ward

Isaac Redman

John Clay

Trai Essex

Troy Polamalu

Ike Taylor

Jeremy Kapinos

Shaun Suisham

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

Amateur Fans

A few games every year the stars align and the normal season ticket holders sell their tickets to friends, family, or random people on the internet. I don't have a problem with people getting the opportunity to attend a Steelers game for the first, second, or even fifth time. But there's a few things that one can come to expect from amateur fans. 1) They act like the stadium is their living room. Guess what? It's not. You can't just throw your half-eaten nacho tray on the ground and hope the cheese doesn't splash on the person in front of you. 2) They act like experts on everything Steelers. Okay, sometimes they are. But other times (and more than often) they try to share their limited knowledge with everyone around them. Case in point, the guy sitting behind me professed to having been to 1 game before (the New England game this year) and uttered such gems as:

They're going to announce the defense before the game starts (The offense got the nod, obviously for Hines).
I don't know why Brown isn't returning any punts this game. Against New England he was returning all of them and getting the crowd pumped up. Now he's just calling fair catches. (Field position difference in where the punts were.)
At this point, all we can hope for is Renegade. This game sucks. (Steelers were winning 13-0 at this point.)
We should be killing this team. Our offense sucks. (Fact: we were playing our backup quarterback and our 300th different O-line combination. Oh yeah, and we ran for 168 yards.)

Final Thoughts

Hines is 5 catches away from 1,000. Interesting stat, the Steelers are 8-1 in games Hines has more than 2 catches. They are 2-3 in games he has 1 or 0 catches. Boom.
First and last home game of the year were shutouts. That's pretty impressive. The last time we had 2 shutouts in a season was 2007. We haven't had more than 2 shutouts in a season since 1976 when we posted 5.
Even though we didn't generate any turnovers, we did force 3 3-and-outs and stopped the fake punt on the big tackle by AB.
Speaking of AB, he set the Steelers record for most all-purpose yards in a season, breaking the record set by Ernie Mills in 1995. Mills had 2024 APY, Brown has 2048 as of right now (664 KR, 325 PR, 1018 receiving, and 41 rushing).
Mendenhall went over 100 for only the second time this year and we ran for 168 as a team. Great game on the ground considering we ran behind an offensive line that looked like a Picasso painting.
Batch wasn't sacked at all? Wow.
Trai Essex actually played really well at center.
Never seen a team lay down and give up like the Rams did at the end of the first half. Is Steve Spagnolo trying to get fired?
Steelers-Browns and Ravens-Bengals both at 4:15. Biggest day for the state of Ohio since Lewis and Clark passed through.

Gold Rushed: Steelers Lose

2011-12-19T22:57:00.001-05:00

The start of the game is delayed due to a power outage in the stadium.

When it finally is football time, the 49ers win the toss and defer.

Ben comes out looking sharp, hitting Heath to convert an early 3rd down and make Heath the Steelers career leader in receptions by a tight end, passing Elbe Nickel. Ben hits Wallace on a slant and he is able to pinball off a few defenders and take off down the sideline for a big gain to get us into scoring range. Two plays later, Ben gets greedy and tries to hit Wallace on a post route but Carlos Rogers undercuts the route and picks off the ball at the goal line.

The 49ers come back pounding the rock giving Alex Smith easy passes. They move out past midfield on a series of 5-yard out routes. Gore carries them down into the red zone then Smith converts a 3rd down with a pass to Crabtree to get down to the 3. Troy blitzes off the edge on 3rd down and Smith visibly flinches, forcing a bad pass.

Akers hits a field goal.

0-3

All Antonio Brown does is convert 3rd downs, and he does it again to get the drive moving. Mendenhall churns out another then Ben goes play-action and has all kinds of time to throw but overthrows Heath and the ball gets picked off.

Probably the worst throw Ben has made since the first Ravens game.

Second Quarter

The 49ers take over with great field position and Smith converts a 3rd and 7 with a pass to Harry Potter's Uncle. The defense tightens down and holds to a field goal.

0-6

Lights out.

A fan runs on the field and Ben makes a quip about "Where's James Harrison when you need him?" The ESPN guys take the opportunity to tell us why Ben shouldn't play any more.

When the lights come back on, it's the Rashard Mendenhall show, picking up solid yardage on a dump-down from Ben and on a few carries. Ben converts a 3rd down by zipping a ball in to Heath, but 2 penalties afterwards leave us with a 1st and 25. Ben gets sacked but a penalty in the secondary gives us a gift first down. Ben keeps things rolling converting his 4th 3rd down of the game with a pass to Wallace on a drag route. The drive stalls out at midfield when Ben misses on 3 throws. Kapinos pins them inside the 15.

The 49ers convert another 3rd down on another out-route. Alex Smith scrambles for a first down to get them near the 40. The same combination of out-route/pound Gore gets the 49ers another first down near midfield as the clock hits 2 minutes. A chop block penalty derails the drive and the 49ers punt.

Starting at the 5, Mewelde Moore takes a draw play to the left and catches a huge block from Max Starks to spring him down the sideline for a big 20-yarder. Ben comes back and hits AB on a crossing route and he scampers out to the 45. Wallace gets us across midfield then AB converts another 3rd down. Ben hits Moore to get us into a 2nd and 3 and then in a confusing display of clock management the Steelers change personnel with the clock running and waste a good 20 seconds. The clock winds under 10 seconds and Ben hits Moore out of the backfield. Moore gets out of bounds with 4 seconds left, but we're left with a 55-yard field goal. Rather than risk a block, the Steelers opt for a Hail Mary shot. Ben hits AB on a back shoulder throw but he's tackled at the 15 and the half ends.

Halftime

Clock management has never been Mike Tomlin's forte, and we took a timeout into the half with us. Terrible coaching in the last minute there to change personnel and run Hines off the field and Heath back on to the field. Hines was on the other side of the field and had to come all the way across.

Third Quarter

Ginn makes the mistake of trying to bring the kickoff out and Sylvester blows him up inside the 10. A false start sets the 49ers back inside the 5 and the defense forces a big 3-and-out. A penalty on the punt flips the field back in the 49ers favor.

Mendenhall breaks into the secondary and moves the sticks, but the drive stalls out. Kapinos hits a great punt that gets bobbled but Lewis gets called for interfering with the catch but replay shows the returner touched the ball first. It's not reviewable so it's San Fran's ball near midfield with the penalty.

Keenan Lewis gets redemption makes a big-time play to break up a slant pass on 3rd down to force another 3-and-out.

Pinned back at the 10, Ben hits Heath down the sideline on a perfect wheel route and Heath rumbles all the way out to midfield. Heath snags another one on an out route to move the chains again across midfield. Mendenhall gets us into 3rd and short, and Ben goes back-shoulder for Brown down the sideline. Brown makes a wheeling catch that is initially called out of bounds but Tomlin challenges. Review shows Brown's hand barely touched before his second foot. Suisham squeezes it inside the upright from 51. Huge kick.

3-6

Alex Smith comes out and goes play-action and finds Davis deep on a post to get them out to the 50. The 49ers hit a screen pass and take it all the way down into the red zone. Smith goes play-action and throws back across the field, hitting Davis who takes it down to the goal line.

He's called out but Harbaugh challenges and loses. Smith goes play-action and hits Davis for the score on the next play.

Ouch.

3-13

The Steelers come back with the no huddle. Mendenhall finally cuts one back and moves the sticks then Ben hits Cotch down the sideline on a wheel route to take it all the way down to the 49ers 30. The drive stalls out and Suisham misses from 48.

The defense holds to another 3-and-out.

Fourth Quarter

Andy Lee's leg must hang out with Barry Bonds' arms. Pins us inside the 10 again.

Ben stands in and takes a shot on 3rd down to deliver a strike to Cotch to move the sticks. Ben gets swarmed and fumbles.

Haven't used that one in a while.

The defense comes up with another 3-and-out, but Timmons gets flagged for...um....something? Looking at the replay I have honestly no idea what the penalty was for. Frank Gore pounds it in.

3-20

Ben gets sacked again and the Steelers go 3-and-out.

The 49ers run 3 times and punt to wind time off the clock.

Ben gets sacked again but is able to move the chains when he zings one to Cotch on 3rd down. He comes right back and hits Heath down the seam to get us to midfield as the clock rolls under 4 minutes. Ben takes a shot deep for Wallace but throws it inside where the corner is waiting and it gets picked off for the 4th turnover of the game.

Same game plan for San Fran.

The Steelers go 3-and-out and punt.

San Francisco mercifully puts this one to bed.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Jerricho Cotchery

Defensive Game Ball: Ryan Clark

Honorable Mentions:
Heath Miller

Stevenson Sylvester

Greg Warren

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

Left side of the line

Max Starks got dominated by Aldon Smith and Trai Essex looked bad at left guard. Essex and Legursky struggled with communication and were totally lost on inside stunts all game. Kemoeatu wouldn't have been much better. Gotta hope we can get Pouncey back for the playoffs.

Final Thoughts

The Ravens are 3-4 on the road this season and have to go to Cincinnati the last week of the season. This division race is far from over.
Props to San Francisco. They came in with a game plan and executed it. They forced turnovers and got points off of them.
Can't turn the ball over 4 times and win games, simple as that.
See you Saturday for the Rams.

Gameday: San Francisco 49ers

2011-12-19T19:16:00.002-05:00

8:30pm

Mr. Green in the Library with the Candlestick Park

ESPN

What To Watch For

1. Edge of Glory

Week 15 couldn't have been better for the Pittsburgh Steelers. On Wednesday, we were sitting in the #5 seed needing a loss by Tennessee (to Indy), Oakland (to Detroit), Denver (to New England), or the Jets (to Philly) in order to clinch a playoff spot. We were tied with the Ravens atop the division but since Baltimore swept us, they owned the head-to-head tiebreaker. By the time the clock struck 11pm last night, not only did all four of the Wild Card contenders lose, but San Diego delivered a whopping to Baltimore that made the Ravens defense look like The Citadel playing against Alabama. To top it all off, Houston also lost, giving them 4 losses. Now, the Steelers control their own destiny, not only in the division race but also for the #1 seed in the conference, which would give us homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. As things stand right now, Both the Steelers and Patriots have 3 losses with the Steelers holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Ravens and Texans have 4, and if we wind up tied with the Ravens we will be a Wild Card, regardless of record.

2. Roll Up

With Ben Roethlisberger's injury and Alex Smith's inaccuracy, both teams will be looking to run the ball tonight. The 49ers offense is built on Frank Gore establishing the run then busting teams down the middle with play-action passes to TE Vernon Davis. The Steelers D has been stout against the run since Arian Foster ripped them in Week 4 and will have to be strong tonight in order to put the onus on Alex Smith to win the game. For the Steelers, they face one of the best

3. The One That Got Away

Rashard Mendenhall has had the best stretch of the season over the last few weeks. Even though he hasn't broken the 100-yard mark since October, he has run hard and kept his legs moving to grind out the extra yards. The 49ers have the best run defense in the league and haven't allowed a rushing touchdown all season. Mendenhall has been hot lately, finding paydirt 5 times in the last 4 games. The 49ers will be without all-world inside linebacker Patrick Willis, who is a key component of their ability to stop the run. Mendenhall and Redman will need to have another big game to keep the pressure off Ben. On the other side, the Steelers will be without James Harrison due to his 1-game suspension for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Colt McCoy.

4. Rolling in the Deep

Mike Wallace hasn't posted a 100-yard game since October, but he has been solid in taking intermediate routes and turning them into big yards. The 49ers are a Cover-2 team so there will be gaps in the middle of the field for Wallace and Brown to exploit on crossing routes. If Ben is able to hit these guys in stride, they can use their speed to create some big plays. With Ben's injury, look for a lot of quick slants, bubble screens and hitch routes to allow Ben to get the ball out fast and avoid having to scramble or take big hits.

5. Pumped Up Kicks

The 49ers have won a lot of close games this season thanks to David Akers having a monster season. He leads the league with 36 field goals and has made 86% of his field goals, missing only once from inside of 40. Possibly more impressive, Akers is 6 of 7 on kicks over 50 yards. Of his 6 misses, 3 of them have been blocked. Akers has at least 6 points in all of San Francisco's games this year and has made 4 field goals in 5 different games. The Steelers defense has bent at times this season, but they're going to have to be even better to keep the 49ers out of field goal range given the monster year Akers is having. The 49ers also have Pitt-grad Andy Lee who leads the league in punting with a 50.7-yard average.

Monday Night Football.

Bring your A game.

I Am Legend: Steelers Win

2011-12-10T22:18:00.001-05:00

And so the legend of Ben Roethlisberger grows. Somehow, after suffering an injury that sidelines other quarterbacks for weeks, he came back and played. We already knew Ben was the toughest quarterback in the league, but his legend has grown to the point where he is now in the discussion for toughest player in the league. What a human.

Cleveland wins the toss and takes the ball. McCoy hits some passes on two blown coverages to get the Browns inside the 5. McCoy tries to scramble for the goal line.

It's initially called a touchdown, but the score is called back because his elbow was down short of the line. Foote and Farrior blow up Hillis in the backfield on 3rd down, holding the Browns to 3.

0-3

Ben comes out throwing the ball all over the yard and looks sharp, hitting Wallace and Brown to move into Browns territory. Wallace takes an end-around down to the 10 then Ben steps up and hits Cotch who darts between two defenders into the end zone.

Great response. Sixth opening drive touchdown of the year for the Steelers.

7-3

The Browns are able to pick up a few first downs but a penalty puts their terrible offense in a long-yardage situation and it's punt time.

Ben converts a 3rd down to AB, the best 3rd down receiver in the league and gets 15 more on a roughing the passer penalty. Wallace makes a few moves on a bubble screen and moves us across midfield as the quarter ends.

Second Quarter

The Steelers keep moving but the drive goes to hell when Hines takes a bubble screen and tries to make a move inside the 10 and gets hit from behind, knocking the ball out.

Thankfully, the Browns can't do much better. After dropping a handful of easy picks early in the year, Troy finally snags one, jumping a seam route to the tight end and bringing it back into the red zone.

Heath gets a grab out in the flat and in an eerily similar situation to what we just saw, he gets hit from behind and coughs the ball up.

Two fumbles in the red zone is how you lose to a team like the Browns. Thankfully the Browns are terrible and work themselves into a 3rd and 20. Wait, what? They convert it with a draw play? Who had contain up the middle? Oh, nevermind, they had to punt a few plays later after McLendon gets a sack.

Mendenhall gets us away from our own goal line. Then it happens.

Ben rolls out and looks downfield. He can't find anyone and is hit from behind by a defender while he tries to get away.

He goes down in obvious pain.

Enter Homestead Charlie...who does nothing. Kapinos hits a good one, but the Browns take over near midfield.

The rest of the half consisted of 3 and outs and exchanging punts. Cleveland's punter coffin cornered our offense and the defense wouldn't let them inside the 40. Worlids ends the quarter with a sack.

Halftime

If you didn't spend halftime with your stomach in knots wondering what was going on with Ben, you're not human. Your thought process was probably something like this:

Broken ankle? High ankle sprain?

Would he be able to make it back by the playoffs?

Who all needs to lose for us to clinch a playoff spot?

Then, the smoke parted.

And out of the locker room limped number seven.

He gimped over to Doug Legursky, took a few practice snaps, and grabbed his helmet.

Holy shit he's going back in the game.

Third Quarter

The third quarter might be the worst coached quarter of the entire season. We were already short-handed with a quarterback who could barely walk and clinging to a 4-point lead. So how does Tomlin decide to come out of the half? With a reverse on the kickoff. Cleveland is all over it and we have to start at our own 6.

Thankfully we have Rashard Mendenhall. He puts the team on his back and carries us all the way down the field into field goal range. Ben tries to take a shot deep for Wallace that falls incomplete. To make matters worse, Ben took a hit AND Kemoeatu takes a holding penalty that knocks us out of field goal range. Punt.

The Browns are able to move out across midfield thanks to a late hit penalty on Farrior but the defense locks it down and forces another punt.

David Johnson makes a catch and there's a defensive penalty so Ed Hoculi delivers a dissertation on why the penalty is declined. Not sure why we have Ben throwing pases when Mendenhall is ringing up first downs...is Arians trying to get Ben killed? Mendenhall keeps rolling and gets us across midfield.

Fourth Quarter

With the ball on the Browns side of the field, Ben hits Heath over the middle to get us into field goal range and give Heath the catch he needed to become the top receiving tight end in Steelers history - BUT WAIT! Chris Kemoeatu is playing, right?

Right. Holding penalty.

Take that catch for Heath off the board. Somehow, Ben pulls it together and guns one to AB for a huge conversion to get us into field goal range. Two plays later, defying all odds, Ben takes a shotgun snap and hits Wallace across the middle. Mike turns on the jets and blows the defender away and races the safety towards the pylon. He makes a move and seemingly gets in, but upon review his knee was down at the 2.

Up by four, in the fourth quarter, with a quarterback who can barely walk. Running the ball here was the right call, and I have no problem with running Rashard 3 times. Some linebacker makes 3 unreal plays to stop Rashard at the goal line. The questionable call came on 4th down when Tomlin decided to go for it rather than kick the field goal and go up by 7. Mendenhall gets stuffed again. Ugh.

Thankfully, Cleveland goes 3-and-out.

The Steelers take over at the Browns 38, essentially needed 1 first down to get into field goal range. It looks like they get it when Redman converts on a 3rd and 1...

BUT Kemoeatu gets called for a THIRD penalty that knocks us out of field goal range.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but we'd be better with Trai Essex at left guard. On the next play, Ben tries to go to Heath down the middle but can't step into the throw and the pass gets picked off.

Cleveland takes over with 7 minutes left near midfield, and McCoy hits a pass to move them into Steelers territory. Things start to look worse when McCoy scrambles and gets whalloped by James Harrison as he flings the ball out to a running back.

Here's the deal. McCoy was out of the pocket and had the ball tucked away like a runner. If Harrison makes that same hit on a running back, that's not a penalty. But since it's Harrison and McCoy is a QB, it's 15 more yards. Seneca Wallace comes in and completes a pass down to the 5.

Somehow, McCoy came back in the game. He tries to roll out away from pressure but Harrison catches his leg. Colt tries to fling the ball away but gets called for grounding. With 3rd down from the 16, McCoy tries to hit Massaquoi but Big Play Will Gay makes a great play on the ball and steps in front of Massaquoi for a HUGE interception.

BIG

PLAY

WILLLLLLL GAYYYYY

Cleveland has 2 timeouts left, so the Steelers need a first down to seal the game. On 2nd down, the Browns show an all-out blitz with only one safety deep so Ben takes a shot for AB down the sideline. Even on one leg, Ben executes a perfect back-shoulder throw. AB snags it, the back falls down and Brown takes off at full speed.

He executes two cuts and makes the safety look like a traffic cone and takes it ALL THE WAAAY

TO THE HOOOOOUSE

BOOOOOOM

14-3

Cleveland gets the ball back with about 3 minutes left, but with no timeouts. Gay makes tackles to keep guys in bounds. Farrior and Mundy both have interceptions taken away by replay and penalty. Worlids closes it out with a sack.

Game.

And now, all our hope rests in the tendons of this ankle.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Ben Roethlisberger

Defensive Game Ball: William Gay

Honorable Mentions:

Antonio Brown

Jason Worlids

Troy Polamalu

Steve McLendon

Doug Legursky

Mike Wallace

Ryan Clark

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

High Ankle Sprains

Ben and Pouncey both have them. We'll see how things go this week and if either of them are available against San Francisco.

Final Thoughts

Once again, we just keep winning. Great effort by the defense to keep Cleveland out of the end zone at the beginning and end of the game.
Can't say enough good things about Antonio Brown. Not only has he turned into the best 3rd down receiver in the league, he's also the most reliable target on the team.
Rough night for the injury report. Ben and Pouncey with High Ankle Sprains, Ziggy with a groin, and Troy with a Hamstring.
Ben is the toughest player in the league, period.
I have no problem with running the ball 3 times at the goal line. I'd take the points on 4th down though.
Solid game by Mendenhall and Redman. Rashard hasn't gone over 100 in a while, but he's running harder than I've ever seen him run in his career. He's keeping the legs churning and really driving for those extra yards.
Heath Miller is tied with Elbe Nickel for the most receptions by a Steelers TE. He should break the mark next week.
Hines is 9 shy of 1,000 catches.
The line between a close game and blowout is very fine in the NFL. The difference between the 35 we put up against Cincy last week and the 14 against Cleveland this week is 2 red zone fumbles and a goal line stand. Take those 3 red zone turnovers off the board and this game isn't even close.
Long layoff until the monday nighter in San Francisco.

All Three Phases: Steelers Win

2011-12-04T22:10:00.001-05:00

Not often will I utter this sentence, but it was a beautiful December day at Heinz Field.

Might have to call up Al Gore to figure out how it was 60 degrees in Pittsburgh in December. The defense got the nod for pre-game intros.

Ike runs out with a terrible towel over his face. Swagger city.

Steelers won the toss and elected to receive but don't do anything with it and punt it away. Kapinos kills a 59-yarder to flip the field.

Dalton comes out and makes a big throw to AJ Green in double coverage. Green goes up and snags it over Ike for a huge gain. Cincy gets inside the 10 but then bungles it away after a penalty nullifies a touchdown. On fourth down, they take another penalty making it a longer field goal. Cam Heyward busts through the line and gets a paw on the ball for the Steelers first blocked field goal since Aaron Smith blocked a Rob Bironas kick against Tennessee.

With all the momentum on their side, the Steelers come out and lay another egg.

The Bengals come back and drive across midfield, mostly on the back of Cedric Benson, but a holding penalty puts an end to their drive.

After two failed drives, Ben comes out ready to do work. He hits Hines to get things started then Weslye over the middle. Mendenhall gets a carry then Ben hits AB on a slant that AB breaks between two defenders and cuts across the field, going all the way down the sideline to the 15.

Second Quarter

The Steelers pound Redman 3 times to get down to the 3, then Mendenhall comes in and finishes it off.

7-0

The Bengals respond by going 3-and-out.

Ben comes back and takes a shot deep for Wallace. The ball hangs in the air forever and Wallace is able to draw a pass interference call. With the ball at the 20, it's back to Mendenhall, who takes only 3 carries to find paydirt, getting there on a pitch play from the 5 where he makes a beautiful cut to find the hole and dances into the end zone.

14-0

On the ensuing kickoff, Sylvester gets a piece of the returner, knocking the ball free and Manny Sanders digs it out of a scrum.

AB makes a few moves on a reverse to get inside the red zone. On the next play, Ben rolls out away from pressure and finds Mike Wallace wide open in the back of the end zone.

21-0

BOOOOOOM

That's the killer instinct we've been talking about all season where you come out and stretch the lead out.

But Cincinnati came back with a fire under them. Honestly, it was do-or-die for the Bungles at this point. Dalton looked exclusively for AJ Green, because he was just a monster against Ike Taylor. Ike is a great player, but he gives up at least a half foot to AJ Green and even more in arm length. Nothing you can do when Green is making leaping catches all over the field. Green and Benson lead the Bungles down the field. As they get down into the red zone, Dalton extends a play by scrambling away from pressure and is able to find Green wide open in the end zone.

21-7

Ben gets sacked but comes back and hits Hines across the middle for a 12-yard gain that puts him over 12,000 career receiving yards. Manny Sanders converts a 3rd down then the wheels fall off. In a horrible display of clock management, Ben gets sacked then rushes the team to the line as the clock winds towards the two minute warning. Rather than letting the clock wind all the way to 2, Ben snaps the ball and throws an incompletion on the same out-route to Moore he missed on at the end of the Ravens game. With 2:05 left on the clock, the Steelers had to run their 3rd down play before the two-minute warning. They run a draw to get better punting position. Kapinos crushes one 57 yards.

The defense locks it down and forces 3 incompletions, giving us a chance to get the ball back and put points on the board.

Enter Antonio Brown. Touchdown Brown would rather just do it all himself. He fields the punt, catches a block from Special Teams Player of the Year Curtis Brown, cuts outside a block from Bryant McFadden and turns on the afterburners and blows past the punter.

First punt return touchdown since Santonio Holmes hurdled Mike Scifres in the 2008 playoffs.

28-7

Big-time response before the half.

With 1:16 left, the Bengals decide to give Dalton a chance to move the team downfield, but Darth Harrison almost breaks Dalton's arm with his tomahawk from the backside. The Bungles give up and head into the locker room.

Third Quarter

The Bengals pick up a first down on the back of Benson, but they do nothing else.

The Steelers go 3-and-out but more importantly Ramon Foster's ankle got rolled and he limped off the field. Kapinos blasts a 57-yard punt. What a game for Jeremy.

Darth Harrison rings up another sack and the Bengals go 3-and-out.

With Ramon Foster out, Trai Essex comes in at right guard and the running game flat out dominates. Mendenhall and Redman just take the show over. Redman rips off the best run of the series going 27 yards up the middle when he just refuses to go down. Hines picks up a few more catches and gets a facemask call then the refs flag Essex for holding as a make-up to the Bengals. Arians decides it a good a time as ever to go back to the well with the WR screen. Mike Wallace makes a fantastic individual play and breaks unlimited tackles, spinning and bursting his way through the entire defense and into the end zone.

35-7

The Bungles were obviously flustered because they decided it would be a good idea not to block Darth Harrison.

That ended well for Dalton.

That was Harrison's third sack of the game which tied some other Steelers record for 3-sack games. Speaking of threes, it was another 3-and-out for Cincy.

Hines gets another catch, his fifth of the game bringing him within 10 of 1,000. AB hauls in a big grab over the middle to convert a 3rd down.

Fourth Quarter

Mendenhall carries them to the fringe of field goal range, but the drive stalls out. Tomlin elects to give Suisham a try at a 50-yard field goal into the open end. The kick has enough distance but just misses wide right.

The Bengals throw up the white flag and bring in Pittsburgh native Bruce Gradkowski at quarterback. Bruce does a good job handing off to Cedric Benson, but he tries to force one to AJ Green and Ike undercuts it beautifully on the sideline for his second interception in two games.

Homestead Charlie comes in to wind some clock but can't pick up a first down.

Gradkowski moves the Bengals up to midfield but the Bengals decide that holding Harrison is a better option than letting him ring up another quarterback.

The Steelers take over with 4 minutes left and are able to run out the clock thanks to a running into the kicker penalty.

Victory Formation.

Game.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Rashard Mendenhall

Defensive Game Ball: James Harrison

Honorable Mentions:
Mike Wallace

Antonio Brown

Jeremy Kapinos

Curtis Brown
Hines Ward
Cameron Heyward
Ike Taylor

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

Um...

Honestly, there isn't much to complain about from this game. We started slow, but put together a great second quarter and finally were able to put a team away. So, for once, I've got nothing here. Even AJ Green, who is going to be a heck of a player in this league, making some big catches over Ike Taylor can't make me too upset. Green might just be a rookie, but he's got a big height advantage on any defensive back and has the talent to go up and make leaping catches that only a few guys in the league can make.

Final Thoughts

What a game by Jeremy Kapinos. He averaged 54.2 yards per punt. Even though it was warm out, that's a heck of a game.
Even though Mendenhall didn't rush for 100 yards, he still had a heck of a game. He was consistent all game, ran hard after contact, and found paydirt twice to boot.
Can we say enough about what Antonio Brown brings to the game? He turned a simple slant route into a 45-yard gain to set up our first touchdown AND delivered our first punt return since the Santonio Holmes era.
This was easily the most complete game we've played all season. After a slow start in the first quarter, all three phases clicked and we dominated in every aspect of the game.
Curtis Brown has put together a great season on special teams. He brings it every play. That's how you earn a hat on Sundays. He's going to be a great player in our defense some day.
Never, ever question what James Harrison can do for this defense.
Cleveland on Thursday night. Buckle up.

Picking Palko: Steelers WIN

2011-11-27T20:50:00.001-05:00

The Chiefs come out as expected and run, run, run. They pick up a few first downs and Palko is able to convert a 3rd down with a strike to Bowe down the middle to get them in field goal range. Troy makes a tackle at the knees of some giant dude and stays down.

Could be bad news bears.

Thankfully, the defense holds to 3.

0-3

Ben comes out trying to prove his thumb is just fine. He hits AB for a big 3rd and long conversion then fires one in to Heath in triple coverage. Hines gets a couple looks then Ben goes downtown for Brown on the right sideline for a big gain to get us down to the 8. Wallace drops a touchdown on first down when he tries to make a sliding catch. On second down, Mewelde Moore gets a carry and breaks through the line but Tamba Hali swats it out from behind and the Chiefs recover in the end zone.

That's exactly what we can't do against the Chiefs. We're the better team but we CAN'T let them hang around by turning the ball over.

The Chiefs keep grinding it out, but Palko can't handle a snap from under center and Keisel falls on it to give us the ball right back.

After two runs, Ben scrambles out of pressure and dives for the sticks. The ball comes out but he is ruled down by contact. Todd Haley decides to challenge the call. Ed Hoculi delivers a dissertation why it wasn't a fumble. After the end of the Baltimore game when Tomlin couldn't decide whether or not to kick, it's obvious he has no faith in Suisham to make anything over 40 yards. The Steelers go for it on 4th and 2 and Ben makes a vintage Ben play, eluding guys in the backfield then finding Redman in the flat who makes a few moves and picks up the first down. What a play by Ben. Sadly, a holding penalty and a sack put an end to the drive.

On the first play, Palko tries to go deep and throws it right to Ike Taylor who brings it all the way back to the 6.

2nd Quarter

The Steelers take over at the 6, but go with the motif offense and Ben can't connect with Sanders on the fade. Suisham ties it.

3-3

Tyler Palko responds to his defense coming up with a stand by throwing one right into the arms of Ryan Mundy. There was no receiver even close to Mundy. Palko sucks.

The Steelers get the gift of two defensive penalties, one nullifying a 3rd down sack, to move us inside the red zone. Ben hits Mendenhall out of the backfield and he skitters down inside the 5. Ben makes a vintage Ben play to fake the nuts off a linebacker then floats one to Weslye "My Parents Can't Spell" Saunders in the back of the end zone for the score.

Great catch and toe-tap by Saunders for his first NFL touchdown.

10-3

The Chiefs go 3-and-out because they're afraid to let Palko throw.

Ben takes a shot deep for Wallace and almost hits him in stride 55 yards downfield. The ball bounces off of Wallace's hands and falls incomplete. What a throw by Ben, even though it was incomplete. The drive stalls out and Kapinos booms one.

Palko completes another one over the middle to Breaston on pretty much the same play he hit Bowe on earlier. The Chiefs grind their way into field goal range. They have a kicker who can make kicks from over 40.

10-6

Mewelde Moore gets a chance to atone for his earlier fumble, getting a check-down then plowing his way through the line to move the sticks. Arians tries to get cute and have AB throw the ball, but he gets pressured in the backfield. Ben throws a big block to get AB free and he is able to pick up a few yards on the ground. Sanders moves the sticks on a WR screen as the clock hits two minutes. Sanders snags a tipped ball out of the air to move the chains and get us into the fringe of field goal range. Suisham nails it from 49.

13-6

Halftime

Maurkice Pouncey out with a stomach virus. Polamalu out with concussion-like symptoms.

I would say "barf" but Pouncey is doing enough of that for everyone.

Third Quarter

The Steelers come out with a chance to stretch out their lead and put the game away, and they looked ready to roll, mixing runs and passes with Hines converting a 3rd down. But then Ben gets greedy and tries to take a shot downfield for AB. Ben badly underthrows the ball and the safety comes underneath and makes the interception. Brown was covered too. No need to try to force that when we were driving.

Thankfully, the Chiefs can't do anything and give it right back.

Mendenhall gets us across midfield, but a holding penalty pretty much ends the drive.

The Chiefs start to move the ball when they convert a fake punt on 4th and 1. They utilize the No Huddle to keep the Steelers from calling exotic blitzes and are able to march up to midfield but Jason Worlids steps up and brings down Palko for his first sack of the season to end the drive.

Ben zips one to AB down the sideline to get things rolling as the quarter ends.

Fourth Quarter

After the Steelers failed to put the Chiefs away in the 3rd quarter, you were understandably a little worried heading into the fourth. And with the ball at midfield, rather than being aggressive, we go passive with the motif offense. The Puntfest continues.

The Chiefs running-back-by-committee lands on Thomas Jones for this drive and he grinds down the Steelers defense and carries the Chiefs into field goal range. Mr. Irrelevant connects, cutting the lead to 4. Ugh.

13-9

A holding penalty on the kickoff gives us the ball at the 12 with a little over 7 minutes to play. A long scoring drive would've put the game away. After Ben converts a 3rd down to AB, the drive stalls out and we have to punt with 4 minutes left.

4 minutes on the clock and down by 4, Tyler Palko takes the field. That sinking feeling in your stomach gets worse as Palko converts a 3rd and 4 to Aliquippa and Pitt alum Jonathan Baldwin. Will Gay makes another big play stopping Dwayne Bowe in his tracks on 3rd down, but Palko comes back and stands in under pressure and hits Bowe over the middle to convert a 4th and 7. As the clock ticks under a minute, the Chiefs move across midfield and thoughts of 2009 start to creep back into your head. Thankfully, the Chiefs suck. He throws one up for Bowe and Bowe makes a bush league effort to not even extend his arms and try for the ball. Keenan Lewis makes a HUGE play, jumping up and snagging the interception as the ball flies over Bowe's head.

Victory Formation.

Game.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Antonio Brown

Defensive Game Ball: Ryan Mundy

Honorable Mentions:

Hines Ward

Weslye Saunders

Ike Taylor

Max Starks

Jason Worlids

Brett Keisel

Cameron Heyward

Keenan Lewis

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

Not Putting the Chiefs Away

This was a bad team that we let hang around, and once again, put our defense in a situation where they had to make a play to seal the victory. The 4-minute offense has not been a highlight of Tomlin's tenure as head coach. We did get a win, and at the end of the day, we're 8-3, but we need to have that killer instinct and not let teams hang around and have a chance to win late in the game.

Final Thoughts

This was about an ugly a win as it gets, but at the end of the day, we're 8-3. We're a half game back in the division race and have a 2-game lead in the wild card race.
Great game by Ryan Mundy filling in for Troy.
Jason Worlids has played better each week. It will be great to have LaMarr back, but Jason has really stepped it up, particularly in run defense.
For all the talk this week about Hines being "demoted", he led the team in catches with 4 (Brown also had 4).
Antonio Brown has developed into one of the best, if not the best, 3rd down receiver in the league. He gets open and makes the big catches.
This one was ugly, but an ugly in is still better than a loss. A win is a win is a win.

Gameday: Kansas City Chiefs

2011-11-26T22:52:00.001-05:00

8:20pm

Arrowhead Stadium

TV: NBC

What to Watch For

1. Chiefs Quarterback

Tyler Palko started last week against the Patriots and looked flat out terrible. He had no zip on the ball and was wildly inaccurate when trying to throw anything more than 8 yards downfield. This past week, the Chiefs picked up Kyle Orton on the waiver wire, and if Palko struggles Orton may see time. Palko does bring some mobility to the quarterback position and can scramble out of pressure, but he really isn't a threat to make any big throws.

2. Run defense

With a backup quarterback under center, the Chiefs will lean heavily on their running game. The Steelers run defense needs to be ready for a heavy dose of Jackie Battle. The Chiefs will likely mix in some reverses and screens to get the ball in the hands of playmaker Dexter McCluster. The Steelers need to be ready for his change-of-pace speed. McCluster is dangerous in space and can be a mismatch in pass coverage for any linebacker.

3. Special Teams

The Chiefs have lived off of big special teams plays over the last few years. They have big time play makers capable of turning any punt of kickoff into points. The aforementioned Dexter McCluster will return kicks and CB Javier Arenas is their primary punt returner. Both are very capable returners and the Steelers special teams, which has been decent so far this year, will have to bring their A game.

4. Score, score, score

The Chiefs are an offensively deficient team. However, they do have individual players like McCluster, Arenas, and Dwayne Bowe that are capable of making plays to give them the edge in a close game. The Steelers need to come out strong and put points on the board early and not let off the gas pedal. Like New England did last week, the Steelers need to put the Chiefs away and not let the game hinge on a big defensive or special teams play.

5. Doug Legursky

After putting up with Chris Kemoeatu's back-breaking penalties for years, we finally get some relief. It was announced this week that Legursky would be starting at left guard, effectively benching Kemoeatu. Honestly, we're completely behind this move. Kemoeatu was a false start machine and took at least one personal foul penalty for doing something stupid after the whistle (like diving on the pile) every game. While Legursky isn't the biggest guy, he is athletic and should give the Steelers an added element with down-field blocking and pulling.

Around the NFL

AFC North

Baltimore 16, San Francisco 6 (Thursday)

The Ravens defense terrorized the 49ers offensive line.

Cleveland @ Cincinnati

I guess someone has to win...

AFC Playoff Race

Division Leaders

New England @ Philadelphia

The Dream Team against Brady and Company.

Houston @ Jacksonville

Matt Leinart takes over for the injured Matt Schaub and should have an easy task against the offensively deficient Jags.

Chicago @ Oakland

The surprising Raiders get a measuring stick game against Chicago.

Wild Card Race

Tampa Bay @ Tennessee (5-5)

The Jake Locker era begins in Tennessee.

Buffalo (5-5) @ NY Jets (5-5)

Both teams have had horrendous QB play lately. The loser will have a long way to go to get back into the playoff race.

Denver (5-5) @ San Diego (4-6)

The Tim Tebow show goes to SoCal.

WPIAL Championships Preview

2011-11-25T00:31:00.001-05:00

After a long season we have come down to it. Eight teams remain across the four classifications and will battle it out on the Heinz Field sod for the right to be called "WPIAL Champion." All four games will be televised on ROOT Sports. All four games will be stacked with Division-1 capable talent, so it should make for an entertaining day of high school football.

There's a lot of buzz around these title games this year as each game (including the Class A game between Clairton and Sto-Rox) is stacked with Division 1 prospects. The boys over at Blitzburgh Blog have a list of Four Players NFL Fans Should Watch today. The Post-Gazette takes a look back at the last 25 years of WPIAL Championship Games. If you're on Twitter, follow the #WPIAL hashtag for updates and chatter on the title games. Also, credit to the folks over at PA Helmet Project for the sick helmet images.

AAAA

Championship

1. North Allegheny (12-0) vs 3. Upper St Clair (11-1)

8:00pm

North Allegheny is the defending state champion and has run through their season, easily defeating most of their opponents. This game is a rematch of the Week 3 showdown when the Tigers edged the Panthers by a touchdown. NA is led by a stalwart offensive line and QB Mack Leftwich, one of the top passers in WPIAL. Upper St Clair upset Central Catholic last week with first-time starting quarterback Pete Coughlin starting in place of dual-threat QB Dakota Conwell, who injured his ankle the prior week. These two teams played a tight game early in the year, and it should be another good matchup. Prediction: North Allegheny

AAA

Championship

3. Knoch (12-0) vs 5. Montour (7-2)

2:00pm

Montour is back in the Championship game after beating conference rival Central Valley. The Spartans are stacked all over the field with QB Dillon Buechel and RB Julian Durden. On the other side, Knoch has ridden an emotional rollercoaster of a season after one of their cheerleaders was killed in a car crash during the season. The Knights have played mistake-free offense (with the exception of last week against Franklin Regional) and solid defense. Knoch is led by QB Ky Kenyon and RB Andrew Rumberg-Goodlin. The last time the kids from Saxonburg played in a championship game was 1992. I've been picking against Knoch all season, and they've kept winning. We'll see if that holds. Prediction: Montour

Championship

1. Aliquippa (12-0) vs 2. Jeanette (12-0)

5:00pm

Aliquippa is back in the championship game for the fourth consecutive season. The last time they failed to reach Heinz Field was when Terrelle Pryor and Jeanette ousted them in the semi-finals in 2007. Now, they get a rematch with the Jayhawks who feature QB/DB Demetrious Cox who has a very similar skill set to Pryor. Aliquippa is stacked with athletes all around the field and in a matchup of perennial AA powerhouses, you have to like the Quips speed and experience. Prediction: Aliquippa

Championship

1. Clairton (12-0) vs 2. Sto-Rox (12-0)

11:00am

Clairton has just been destroying people all season and hasn't given up more than 20 points all year. Their offense is a well-oiled machine with RB Tyler Boyd who has over 1700 yards rushing and a Pitt recruit at WR in Trenton Coles. On the other side, Sto-Rox's trio of Division 1 recruits in WR/DB Marzett Geter (Pitt), WR/DB Dontez Ford (Syracuse), and WR/LB Deaysean Rippy (uncommitted). The Vikings are led by sophomore QB Lenny Williams who is sure to attract the attention of Division 1 schools in the coming years. Clairton is the 3-time defending Class A champion and is looking for an unprecedented 4th consecutive title. For a Single-A championship game, these two teams are stacked with big-play athletes and it might just be the best game of the day. Prediction: Clairton

Gameday: Bye Week

2011-11-20T12:32:00.001-05:00

Not sure why you're reading my blog over the bye week. Spend some time with your family and friends. Do yard work. Enjoy a week without stress.

But if you really intend on sitting on your couch and watching football today, here's what's going down:

AFC Playoff Picture

Division Leaders

New England (6-3) vs Kansas City (4-5) (Monday Night)

Pittsburgh (7-3) BYE

Houston (7-3) BYE

Oakland (5-4) @ Minnesota (2-7)

Wild Card Race

Cincinnati (6-3) @ Baltimore (6-3)

Tennessee (5-4) @ Atlanta (5-4)

Buffalo (5-4) @ Miami (2-7)

San Diego (4-5) @ Chicago (5-4)

Also, don't forget that Thursday night the Broncos beat the Jets. Both of those teams are now 5-5.

Want to know what games are going to be on in your area?

Check out the maps here.

Thankfully, those of us in Pittsburgh will be able to watch Cincy-Baltimore and won't be subjected to watching Cleveland-Jacksonville.

WPIAL Semi-Finals Results

2011-11-18T21:31:00.001-05:00

What a night. Great action in all 4 classifications with some big upsets mixed in. First-time starter Pete Coughlin stepped in at QB for Upper St Clair and led them to a 28-14 upset of Central Catholic. North Allegheny scored on 4th and goal from the 1 with under a minute to play then intercepted a pass inside the 5 to stop Gateway's comeback attempt. Montour finally got their revenge on Central Valley. Knoch committed 4 turnovers but beat Franklin Regional on a last second field goal. Aliquippa and Jeanette rolled, setting up a rematch of the 2007 AA Championship. Bishop Canevin shut down Sto-Rox explosive offense but couldn't hang on and fell 12-10 to the Vikings. After a close first half, Clairton blew Rochester out of the water to extend their winning streak to 43 games.

AAAA

1. North Allegheny 21, 5. Gateway 17

3. Upper St Clair 28, 2. Central Catholic 14

Championship

1. North Allegheny (12-0) vs 3. Upper St Clair (11-1)

8:00pm

AAA

5. Montour 21, 1. Central Valley 14

3. Knoch 9, 2. Franklin Regional 7

Championship

3. Knoch (12-0) vs 5. Montour (7-2)

2:00pm

1. Aliquippa 35, 5. Greensburg Central Catholic 0

2. Jeanette 40, 3. Seton-La Salle 21

Championship

1. Aliquippa (12-0) vs 2. Jeanette (12-0)

5:00pm

1. Clairton 43, 4. Rochester 7

2. Sto-Rox 12, 3. Bishop Canevin 10

Championship

1. Clairton (12-0) vs 2. Sto-Rox (12-0)

11:00am

WPIAL Semi-Finals Preview

2011-11-18T00:43:00.001-05:00

The High School football playoffs are winding down. Since the WPIAL expanded to having playoffs in all 4 classifications in the late 1970s, this is the highest number of undefeated teams to enter the semi-finals. With 11 undefeated teams remaining, it should be a wild night on the gridiron. Tonight is all about strength against strength. The top 3 seeds in all four classifications advanced to the semis. In Class A, #4 Rochester advanced, making it the only classification with the top 4 teams still remaining. In AA, AAA, and AAAA the #5 seed advanced to the semis, though it's hard to argue that GCC, Montour, and Gateway aren't contenders to win the title.

If you're going to the games and have a twitter account, tweet score updates with the hashtag #WPIAL.

Follow the #WPIAL hashtag all night for score updates. Also, you can listen to live internet broadcasts via the MSA Sports Network (broadcasts listed here). The North Allegheny-Gateway game will be televised on ROOT Sports. Here's to hoping Craig Wolfley drops a "slippier than snot on a doorknob" analogy tonight.

AAAA

1. North Allegheny (11-0) vs 5. Gateway (9-2) at Fox Chapel
North Allegheny Preview
Gateway Preview

The Gators have had an emotional season that started with a tragedy in North Carolina. They held the high-powered Central Catholic offense to 13 points and certainly have the play-makers to keep the game tight against defending state champion North Allegheny. The Tigers are led by QB Mack Leftwich (1803 yards) and have a stellar running game where they share the load amongst a handful of backs. This is the ROOT Sports game of the week, so you can tune in to enjoy Craig Wolfley's ever-entertaining way of describing how these kids play. We're hoping he busts out the "slippier than snot on a doornob" analogy again. Prediction: North Allegheny

2. Central Catholic (11-0) vs 3. Upper St Clair (10-1) at Chartiers Valley
PG Preview

The big story in this game is USC QB/LB Dakota Conwell and his ankle injury. Conwell suffered the injury last week against McDowell and didn't play defense afterwards. After the Pitt linebacker recruit left the defensive side of the field, McDowell scored to make it 21-14 and drove down the field at the end of the game with a chance to tie or win. Without Conwell on defense, it's hard to imagine the Panthers slowing down the Central Catholic offense. Prediction: Central Catholic

AAA

1. Central Valley (11-0) vs 5. Montour (9-2) at Ambridge
PG Preview

The top two teams from the best conference in WPIAL square off for the right to go back to Heinz Field. Central Valley, in their second year of competition, is the defending AAA champion. Standing in their way of defending their title is the team they beat at Heinz Field last year - the Montour Spartans. On the field, Central Valley easily has the best all-around athlete in junior WR/DB/KR Robert Foster. He is a threat to score any time he is on the field. Montour has one of the most balanced offenses in WPIAL with QB Dillon Buechel (1974 passing yards) and RB Julian Durden (1522 rushing yards). These teams have had some great games and this one will certainly be worth the price of admission if you can make it out to Moe Rubenstein Stadium. Prediction: Central Valley

2. Franklin Regional (11-0) vs 3. Knoch (11-0) at Valley
PG Preview

Two former conference rivals face off for the right to go to Heinz Field. Knoch has knocked off two perennial AAA powerhouses in West Allegheny and Thomas Jefferson while Franklin Regional has slugged it out against Belle Vernon and Pennsylvania's all-time leading rusher Rushel Shell and Hopewell. Both of these teams can put up points in a hurry, with quality running backs. Knoch's Andrew Rumberg-Goodlin has 1288 yards and 18 TDs and Franklin Regional's Dane Brown has 1900 yards and 33 touchdowns. However, in the quarter-finals Franklin Regional was able to do damage through the air against Hopewell's defense, so don't be surprised if a big pass play makes the difference in this one. Prediction: Franklin Regional

1. Aliquippa (11-0) vs 5. Greensburg Central Catholic (10-1) at North Hills
Aliquippa Preview
GCC Preview

Aliquippa gets another shot at the team that denied them a WPIAL title in 2009. GCC had one of the top five offenses in AA during the season (34.4 points per game), but have sputtered in the playoffs, putting up only 24 against Ford City and 18 against Ellwood City. Now, they face their biggest challenge yet in Aliquippa's top 5 defense (8.4 points against per game). The Quips have 3 shutouts this season and held opponents under 10 points in 7 of their 11 games. On offense, the Quips are just as potent with senior QB Mikal Hall. Hall has been the Quips QB since his freshman year when he carried them to a WPIAL title. Hall has been to Heinz Field every season, losing in the championship game to GCC and South Fayette the last two seasons. You have to like the Quips chances to get back to Heinz for the fourth consecutive season. Prediction: Aliquippa

2. Jeanette (11-0) vs 3. Seton-La Salle (11-0) at Elizabeth Forward
PG Preview

Two of the best players in AA square off with Jeanette QB Demetrius Cox and Seton RB Kevin Hart. Between passing and rushing, Cox has over 1700 yards this season for the Jayhawks. He is easily the most electrifying player AA has seen since fellow Jayhawk Terrelle Pryor. Cox is a Division 1 recruit at safety, and could wreck havoc on junior QB Luke Brumbaugh who has thrown for over 1200 yards this season. Hart is equally capable of taking the game over and dominating. His 1723 yards this season put him in the top 5 backs in all of WPIAL. Prediction: Seton-La Salle

1. Clairton (11-0) vs 4. Rochester (10-1) at West Allegheny
PG Preview

In what has become an annual affair, the Bears and Rams meet in the playoffs once again. These two teams have played in the last 2 Class A Championship games and met 7 of the last 8 years in the playoffs. Clairton is the three-time defending state champions and riding a 42-game winning streak. But that all goes out the window here. Rochester has had their season ended by the Bears for 5 consecutive years. The Rams are led by RB DeAndre Moon (1624 yards, 31 TDs) and will look to expose Clairton's run defense like Springdale did last week. Clairton is stacked with talent in RB Tyler Boyd (1504 yards, 27 TDs), QB Capri Thompson (1269 passing yards), and WR/CB Trenton Coles, a WPIAL track champion and Pitt recruit. Prediction: Clairton

2. Sto-Rox (11-0) vs 3. Bishop Canevin (11-0) at Moon
PG Preview

It's been a great year for the Crusaders who ran through the Eastern Conference and posted a perfect season. However, Sto-Rox and their three Division 1 recruits will simply be too much for Canevin to handle. The Vikings have been mauling people all year, with their closest game a 21-point shellacking they laid on Rochester. Sto-Rox has been on a collision course with Clairton in the WPIAL title game all season, and while Canevin has slugged it out and won two close games, they just don't have the talent or the speed to hang with the Vikings. Prediction: Sto-Rox

Still The Bungles: Steelers WIN

2011-11-13T22:50:00.000-05:00

The Steelers win the toss and defer to the second half.

The Bengals go 3-and-out after Gay makes a nice deflection on 3rd down.

Ben comes out and works the short-passing game, hitting Heath over the middle and Wallace a few times to move into Bengals territory. Wallace gets the call on a reverse and makes the Bungles defense just look silly and gets us down into the red zone. Three plays later, Ben buys some time by pump-faking TWO blitzing corners out of their shoes, steps up, and zings one to Cotchery for the touchdown.

7-0

The defense forces another 3-and-out and gets the ball right back to 007.

Ben looks deep but nothing is open so he checks it down to Rashard who is wide open on the sideline and rumbles for 26 yards. Arians goes to the well again and Wallace takes another reverse for solid yardage, splitting defenders and running over people.

Anyone who says Wallace is soft should re-watch that run.

Hines moves the sticks again on a WR screen, getting us into the red zone. Ben has Cotch wide open over the middle but Cotch stops his route and Ben throws it where he thought Cotch would be. That would've been an easy score if Cotch kept running. Two plays later, Ben hits Heath down the seam who gets nailed by a safety at the goal line.

No flag comes out, even though it looked like the defender led with the crown of his helmet. Raise Some pounds it on on the next play.

14-0

Bernard Scott comes in for the Bengals and starts gashing the Steelers with some cut-back runs, moving into Steelers territory. Dalton decides to chuck one up for AJ Green who makes a leaping catch in the end zone with Clark and Troy around him. Clark was trying to make the pick and was somehow in front of Green.

If Clark gets his hands up and/or jumps, he can knock that ball away. Green came down awkwardly on his leg and limped off the field.

14-7

Ben hits Wallace to get things rolling as the quarter ends.

Second Quarter

With the Steelers now going into the wind, Ben takes a shot deep for Wallace that gets broken up. On the next play, Ben tries a simple check-down to Heath, but the ball bounces off his hands and into the arms of a diving Leon Hall.

Ugh.

The Bengals grind their way down to the 26 on the ground, but Troy makes a leaping break-up of a 3rd down pass to force the field goal.

14-10

After the the turnover, we come back with the motif offense and Ben barely avoids a sack by getting the ball to Redman who gets tackled in the backfield. Punt.

Cincy picks up a first down near midfield but the defense locks it down and forces a punt.

Ben comes back and throws a bad pass for AB that almost gets picked off. Two plays later, Heath redeems himself for the interception earlier and makes a first down grab to get things moving.

Ben gets sacked twice forcing a 3rd and long but finds First Down Brown on a deep in to move the sticks after Brown tips the ball to himself. What a grab.

Ben keeps working it to AB, hitting him two more times for 15 and 17 to move down inside the 25. Brown was just torching Leon Hall on this drive. Ben decides to look elsewhere and steps up away from pressure and lobs one up for Cotchery who catches it in stride and takes it in for the score.

Offensive Pass Interference on Heath.

Weeeeeak call.

Leon Hall was injured on the play, and Ben went right to AB against his replacement to get us down into the red zone again. The offense stalls out and Ben gets sacked again on 3rd down. Suisham extends the lead to 7.

17-10

Cincy gets the ball back with under a minute to play and opts to run out the clock.

Third Quarter

The Steelers get the ball to start the half, but another sack leads to a 3-and-out.

The Bengals come back, mixing in runs and short passes, using some out-routes and relatively simple looks for Dalton. Dalton moves Cincy into the red zone. Keenan Lewis seems to make a tackle to keep a Bengal out of the end zone, but Timmons jumps on late and gets flagged, giving the Bengals first and goal at the 1. Dalton goes play-action and finds Gresham out-running Larry Foote to the pylon.

Tie Game.

17-17

007 comes right back and answers. He gears up the no-huddle and mixes in passes and runs nicely to get us across midfield. Then the running game takes over and we ride Redman and Mendenhall down into the red zone. A quick-hitter to Wallace gets us inside the 10, then Mendenhall takes one off the right side, catches a good block from Kemoeatu, breaks a tackle, keeps his balance, and runs through defenders into the end zone.

RAAAAAISE SOME MEEEEEENDEN-HELLLL

Pretty much the definition of a "RAISE SOME" run right there.

24-17

Some guy no one has ever heard of picks up a first down for Cincy at the end of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

The defense locks it down to start the fourth and forces a punt.

The Steelers commit some penalty on the kick, so they have to start at the 10. After two runs, Ben steps up in the pocket to get away from a 3rd down blitz and heaves one downfield for Mike Wallace who has two steps on the safety....

...and OVERTHROWS MIKE WALLACE. Take a minute to digest that. Ben, throwing into the gusty wind, overthrew Mike Wallace. Wow. Don't expect to see that...ever.

A good return gives the Bengals the ball in Steelers territory, but William Gay has other ideas. He swats the ball away from a receiver and it falls into the waiting arms of Lawrence Timmons for the Steelers first pick since Prohibition.

David Johnson actually makes a catch but the offense can't move the chains and it's another Fourth Quarter 3-and-out. Kapinos booms one to pin the Bungles back at the 8.

Bernard Scott gets some more yards for Cincy, but a 3rd down penalty nullifies a first down and Ryan Mundy steps up and makes a big tackle on the ensuing play to force a punt. A big punt flips the field and puts us back at the 20.

The Steelers take over with 6 and a half minutes left and go with the motif offense, resulting in another 3-and-out. For those of you keeping score at home, that's 3 3-and-outs in the 4th quarter when it was a one score game. Offense has to do more with the ball down the stretch.

Cincy takes over near midfield with 4 and a half to play, needing a touchdown to tie. Tense times as the defense marched out onto the field and subsequently got gashed 3 times by Cedric Benson to get down to the 25. After having success on the ground, Cincy tries to go to the air and Dalton stares down his receiver like he's a hot babe and William Gay jumps the route, making a HUGE interception.

With 2 and a half minutes left and the Bengals with a full slate of timeouts, the Steelers get aggressive. Ben hits Weslye Saunders who makes a big catch then carries defenders across the line for a first down to move the chains. With 2 minutes left, Ben hits Wallace on a curl for another first down.

Victory Formation.

Game.

Steelers are 10-1 at Paul Brown Stadium.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Rashard Mendenhall

Defensive Game Ball: William Gay

Honorable Mentions:

Antonio Brown

Ben Roethlisberger

Jerricho Cotchery

Mike Wallace

James Harrison

Brett Keisel

Ike Taylor
Lawrence Timmons

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

AJ Green's Touchdown

Let's face it, sometimes players just make big-time plays against you. That happened last week when Torrey Smith caught the game-winning touchdown. But he was behind Will Gay and somewhat open. Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu were all over AJ Green but neither made a play on the ball. Green did make a great play to go up and get the ball. But I have more of an issue with neither Ryan or Troy even trying to make a play on the ball. If Ryan gets his hands up or Troy does um...anything, Green doesn't have the chance to make the play.

Final Thoughts

For those that have been watching the Steelers over the last 20+ years, this was a very "typical" win for the Steelers. They ran out to an early lead, made a few mistakes that let the other team back in it, scored a big touchdown when it counted, then got a huge turnover at the end of the game to seal the win.
Huge bounce-back game for William Gay. He played aggressive all game and finished with 4 pass deflections (1 resulting in Timmons' pick), plus an interception of his own.
The Bengals looked better than they have in years, but they still have a long way to go.
No clue why Cedric Benson is the Bengals #1 back. Bernard Scott looked so much better.
The Steelers were clearly the better team, but made mistakes that let the Bengals hang around.
The pick wasn't Ben's fault.
First Down Brown is turning into a solid player. He's getting better every week. He's going to be scary good.
Cotchery should've had 3 touchdowns today. Good to see him growing into a role player in the offense.
The Steelers played man coverage almost the whole game, then went to a Cover-3 look on the play when Gay made the pick. If you're keeping track at home, that's the same play out of a Cover-3 look that Deshea made 3 years ago against Dallas to jump a route (though Deshea took it to the house for the winning score). Nevertheless, gotta credit LeBeau for making the right calls at the right time to give his defenders the chance to make plays.
Solid team effort on the ground. Sure, Rashard didn't break 50, but he had 2 TDs and we ran for over 100 as a team.
Andy Dalton wasn't horrendous. There are certainly worse QBs in the league than him right now.
Solid game for Kapinos, averaged 50.4 yards on 4 kicks. I think only 1 was with the wind at his back.
Great time to have a bye week. Rest up and get healthy. It's going to be an intense race to the finish here. Cincy and Baltimore play twice and we have to play Cincy again and Cleveland twice.
Oh yeah, how could I forget....

Gameday: Cincinnati Bengals

2011-11-12T22:36:00.001-05:00

1:00pm

Hamilton County Jail

TV: CBS

What to Watch For

1. Andy Dalton vs Steelers Defense

Typically, the Steelers defense makes mince-meat out of rookie quarterbacks. But Dalton has led the Bengals to a 6-2 start. The Bengals have gone back to what made them successful in the past - running the ball and not forcing things in the passing game. Of course, Marvin Lewis has to feel like he's managing a resort now that the TOcho show has hit the road. For the Steelers, James Farrior should be back but LaMarr Woodley will miss another game. A number of other players have minor bumps and bruises. The defense has stepped it up against the run since getting gashed by Houston, so if the Bengals are going to beat us, it's going to require a big effort from Dalton. So far this year, Dalton has shown very good decision-making in the pocket and he has the athleticism to tuck and run if the play breaks down.

2. Steelers receivers vs Bengals Secondary

Even though the Bengals lost CB Jonathan Joseph in free agency, they replaced him with Nate Clements and the Bengals corners have been playing solid this season. Only twice this year have they given up over 250 yards through the air, but those two were in the last two weeks. Ben Roethlisberger is playing out of his mind right now, and you have to think the Steelers have an advantage here, particularly with our receivers. Hines should be back and even though Manny Sanders will be out of the lineup again, you have to like the way the Steelers match up here.

3. Run the Ball

In the past, the Steelers have run the ball very successfully against Cincinnati in the first half then completely abandoned the run in the second half, which makes games closer than they needed to be. The Bengals should get a healthy diet of Mendenhall and Redman to keep them off-balance. The team that can be more successful on the ground will win the game. Cincinnati actually has a decent run defense, with a lot of big bodies up front and big linebackers that key on the run. Which brings us to....

4. Heeeeeeeath

More specifically, utilizing the middle of the field. The Steelers have been incredibly successful going to Heath down the seam or utilizing deep-in routes this season. As much as Ben and Arians want to make sideline throws, the middle of the field has been wide open all season and it's great to see the Steelers finally starting to use it. Heath has 12 catches for 158 yards over the last two games. It's great to see Ben getting everyone involved and spreading the ball around.

5. 20 points

This seems to be the magic number this season. In games where the Steelers score over 20 points, we are 5-0. In games where we score 20 or less we are 1-3. On the other side of the ball, we are 0-2 when our defense gives up more than 20 and 6-1 when we hold our opponents under 20. What does that mean? We need a complete effort from both the offense and the defense. We have to keep Cincinnati out of the end zone and not give up any easy touchdowns on kick returns or turnovers. The offense also has to do their part to put points on the board and actually score touchdowns when they're in the red zone - not just settle for field goals.

Around the NFL

AFC North

St Louis @ Cleveland

Baltimore @ Seattle

Seattle is bad, but Baltimore has been dropping games to bad teams after picking up big wins.

Game of the Week

NY Giants @ San Francisco

Not sure how these two teams only have 3 losses between them, but this is an important game for the pecking-order in the NFC as we pass the halfway point of the season.

WPIAL Quarterfinals Results

2011-11-11T21:48:00.001-05:00

Here's the scores from tonight's games and the semi-final matchups. Semi-Finals games are all played at neutral sites, which will be announced on Monday.

AAAA

1. North Allegheny 35, 9. Seneca Valley 10
5. Gateway 34, 4. Penn-Trafford 9
2. Central Catholic 31, 7. Mt. Lebanon 14
3. Upper St. Clair 21, 6. Erie McDowell 14

Semi-Final Matchups

1. North Allegheny (11-0) vs 5. Gateway (9-2)

2. Central Catholic (11-0) vs 3. Upper St Clair (10-1)

AAA

1. Central Valley 44, 8. Ringgold 28
5. Montour 31, 4. West Mifflin 7
2. Franklin Regional 24, 10. Hopewell 21
3. Knoch 31, 6. Thomas Jefferson 9

Semi-Final Matchups

1. Central Valley (11-0) vs 5. Montour (9-2)

2. Franklin Regional (11-0) vs 3. Knoch (11-0)

1. Aliquippa 36, 8. Washington 6
5. Greensburg Central Catholic 18, 13. Ellwood City 15
2. Jeanette 35, 7. Shady Side Academy 14
3. Seton-La Salle 21, 11. South Fayette 13

Semi-Final Matchups

1. Aliquippa (11-0) vs 5. Greensburg Central Catholic (10-1)

2. Jeanette (11-0) vs 3. Seton-La Salle (11-0)

1. Clairton 34, 9. Springdale 20
4. Rochester 26, 5. Avonworth 22
2. Sto-Rox 40, 7. Brentwood 0
3. Bishop Canevin 16, 11. Fort Cherry 6

Semi-Final Matchups

1. Clairton (11-0) vs 4. Rochester (10-1)

2. Sto-Rox (11-0) vs 3. Bishop Canevin (11-0)

WPIAL Quarterfinals Preview

2011-11-11T00:31:00.001-05:00

The first week of the WPIAL playoffs saw a lot of blowouts and only a few upsets. The quarterfinals should be a bit more exciting with numerous re-matches and matchups of balanced teams. If you're interested in following the action tonight, check out the #WPIAL hashtag on Twitter where people will be posting score updates. The MSA Sports Network will have radio broadcasts for all the games. Here is the list so you can tune in on your computer.

Also, today I discovered the PA Helmet Project which has compiled images of current and past helmets from all the Pennsylvania high school football teams they could find. It's quite the task. Here's the list of WPIAL conferences. Click through the conferences to find your high school's current and past helmets...it's pretty sweet.

AAAA

1. North Allegheny (10-0) vs 9. Seneca Valley (8-2) at North Hills
PG Preview

It's a week for re-matches in Class AAAA. Back on September 30 the Tigers traveled north and defeated Seneca Valley 49-28. Now, two of the top 10 quarterbacks in WPIAL face off for the right to go to the semi-finals. Seneca Valley's Jordan Brown, whose brother CJ is the starting QB at Maryland, leads the WPIAL in passing with 2100 yards. Led by QB Mack Leftwich (1740 yards, 7th in WPIAL), NA has been slaughtering people this year, putting up 34+ points in 8 of their 10 games. The 28 points Seneca Valley scored on the Tigers was the most given up by NA all season. Prediction: North Allegheny

4. Penn-Trafford (10-0) vs 5. Gateway (8-2) at Hempfield
PG Preview

Back in Week 4, Penn-Trafford defeated conference foe Gateway on a last-second field goal to give the Warriors the inside track to the conference title. Now, the Gators get a shot at redemption on a neutral field. Penn-Trafford is built on a strong offensive line and rushing attack while Gateway has play-makers all over the field. This one should be close again. Prediction: Gateway

2. Central Catholic (10-0) vs 7. Mt. Lebanon (7-3) at North Allegheny
PG Preview

Mt. Lebanon has had an up-and-down season while Central, who many (including myself) believe to be the best AAAA team in the state, features 5 Division 1 recruits. This game matches up two of the top running backs in AAAA with Central's Damion Jones-Moore (who Craig Wolfley once called "slippier than snot on a doorknob") and Lebo's workhorse Luke Hagy (who has 1790 yards this year, 2nd best in WPIAL). Prediction: Central Catholic

3. Upper St Clair (9-1) vs 6. Erie McDowell (8-2) at Seneca Valley
PG Preview

There are a few things that are simply givens when we get into November in Western Pennsylvania. One of those things is Jim Render winning football games. The Upper St. Clair coach has led the Panthers to 5 WPIAL titles and is relying on QB Dakota Cronwell (948 passing yards, 928 rushing yards) to carry the Panthers past McDowell's triple-option attack. Both of these teams were in the top 10 in points scored this season, so this game could turn into a shootout. Prediction: Upper St Clair

AAA

1. Central Valley (10-0) vs 9. Ringgold (8-2) at West Allegheny

The defending AAA champions rolled through the difficult Parkway Conference and should take a step closer to Heinz Field this week. Coming into the playoffs, Keystone Conference teams were 1-43 in the first round since 2000, but Ringgold's QB Quad Law ran and threw for touchdowns, carrying the Rams past Highlands. Nevertheless, Central Valley is much, much better. Prediction: Central Valley

4. West Mifflin (9-1) vs 5. Montour (8-2) at Baldwin

Montour was a trendy preseason pick to win the AAA crown, and they certainly have the talent to do so with 1400-yard rusher Julian Durden and 1800-yard passer Dylan Buechel. West Mifflin beat TJ to win the Big Eight conference crown and has a 1300-yard rusher of their own in Shamar Greene. West Mifflin is good enough on defense to keep this game close. Prediction: Montour

2. Franklin Regional (10-0) vs 10. Hopewell (7-3) at Fox Chapel
PG Preview

Two of the top three running backs in WPIAL face off with Hopewell's Rushel Shell and Franklin Regional's Dane Brown. Shell has 2020 yards this year and is already the WPIAL career rushing leader with 8,787 career yards. He is also 241 yards shy of the state record. Shell can also set the national record for most consecutive 100-yard games. He is currently tied with Billy Sims (who won a Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma in the 70s) with 38. On the other side, Junior RB Dane Brown put up 1774 so far this season and over 3,000 for his career. Prediction: Hopewell

3. Knoch (10-0) vs 6. Thomas Jefferson (7-3) at Plum
PG Preview

The Knights won an emotional game after a Knoch student died in a car crash last week. Now, they get to face perennial powerhouse Thomas Jefferson. TJ has been to the Semi-Finals every year since 1997. Knoch has dominated their games with a strong rushing attack this season. Knoch's leading rusher Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin put up nearly 1200 yards and 18 touchdowns. QB Ky Kenyon has also contributed with 741 yards rushing and 892 yards passing. On the other side, the Jaguars have a balanced attack behind 1300-yard rusher Ryan Ruffing and 1300-yard passer Dom Presto. Prediction: Thomas Jefferson

1. Aliquippa (10-0) vs 8. Washington (8-2) at Chartiers Valley

The Quips have been dominant all over the field this year with an 1100-yard rusher (Dravon Henry), an 1100-yard passer (Mikal Hall), the top scoring offense in AA (40 points per game), and the #3 scoring defense in AA (9.0 points against per game). On the other side, the Little Prexies have been carried by one of the top 10 offenses in AA, but their defense has given up over 30 points 3 times. Prediction: Aliquippa

5. Greensburg Central Catholic (9-1) vs 13. Ellwood City (7-3) at Valley
PG Preview

GCC's dominant season has only been blemished by their 3-point loss to Jeanette. GCC has a top 5 offense and a top 5 defense in AA and should be able to lean on 1100-yard rusher Jordan McCrae to carry them over Ellwood City. Ellwood City came from 15 points down to beat Freeport last week, thanks to 22 fourth-quarter points. Prediction: GCC

2. Jeanette (10-0) vs 7. Shady Side Academy (8-2) at Norwin
PG Preview

Jeanette overcame a closely-played first half to blow out Burrell in the second half. Led by all-around threat QB Demetrius Cox, the Jayhawks now get another team from the Allegheny Conference. Shady Side Academy ran out to an early lead against Beaver last week. SSA's game is built on controlling the clock with a strong rushing game (they had 3 backs with more than 500 yards this season). Prediction: Jeanette

3. Seton-La Salle (10-0) vs 11. South Fayette (7-3) at Peters Township
PG Preview

RB Kevin Hart has been outstanding for the Rebels this year, putting up 1458 yards while rarely playing in the second half of games. This game could be a battle of brothers as South Fayette may continue to play freshman QB Brett Brumbaugh, who has carried them to two victories after starter John Lerda was injured. For Seton-La Salle, QB Luke Brumbaugh has put up close to 200 yards through the air. Both are the younger brothers of last year's WPIAL passing king, Christian Brumbaugh. Considering Luke is only a junior and Brett is a freshman, you'll be hearing the Brumbaugh name for a long time to come. Prediction: Seton-LaSalle

1. Clairton (10-0) vs 9. Springdale (8-2) at Yough
PG Preview

You would be hard-pressed to find a team that has been more dominant in any classification of WPIAL in any season than Clairton has been this year. Not only do they have the highest scoring offense in all of WPIAL (47.7 points per game) and the least points against (1.8 points per game), they have also pitched 8 shutouts in 10 games and won every game by at least 29. Springdale is no slouch either, boasting one of the best rushing attacks in Class A. They put up almost 500 rushing yards last week against Monessen. Prediction: Clairton

4. Rochester (9-1) vs 5. Avonworth (9-1) at Ambridge

Two teams from the banks of the Ohio River meet for the second consecutive season in the playoffs. Last year, the Rams won their semi-final matchup 20-7. Both teams boast good rushing attacks and stout defenses, so this should be a good one. The Rams might just have too much firepower for the Antelopes with 1400-yard rusher DeAndre Moon. Prediction: Rochester

2. Sto-Rox (10-0) vs 7. Brentwood (9-1) at Keystone Oaks

It is rare for a Class A school to have 3 Division 1 recruits on the roster, but Sto-Rox is just that stacked this year. The Vikings have blown out everyone but Rochester, who they still beat by 21. On the other side, Brentwood's only loss is to Clairton but they simply don't have the athletes to stay with Sto-Rox. Prediction: Sto-Rox

3. Bishop Canevin (10-0) vs 11. Fort Cherry (7-3) at Chartiers-Houston

Canevin survived a first-round scare against Chartiers-Houston. Now they have to travel to Char-Houston to take on a Fort Cherry team that dismantled Tri-County South Conference Champion Beth-Center last week. Behind 2000-yard passer Tanner Garry, Fort Cherry is peaking at the right time. Two of their losses are to Rochester and Clairton while the other was a 20-19 loss to Brentwood. Bishop Canevin has been solid all season but have had to play through a bunch of injuries, which may finally be catching up with them. This one should be exciting and go right down to the end. Prediction: Bishop Canevin

That Settles That: Steelers Lose

2011-11-09T17:36:00.000-05:00

Let's be straight up about something right off the bat: this was a very well-played game by both teams, and one of them had to lose. For a few years, we've had the luxury of getting the last drive against Baltimore and our quarterback having the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game. I am a big supporter of Mike Tomlin, but as we've seen all too often with his teams, they failed to put the game away when it counted and left the door open for the other team. In this case, Baltimore made the necessary plays to win the game. We're not out of it by any means, but we certainly have a long hill to climb. Cincinnati is 6-2 but hasn't played us or the Ravens yet. Those 4 games are going to decide the division race.

Game Recap

Steelers do a nice ceremony before the game to honor veterans of past (and present) wars. Still not sure why they play "Born in the USA," a song about a disgruntled Vietnam vet, during occasions like this.

Defense gets the nod for introductions.

What a picture.

Steelers win the toss and defer to the second half.

First Quarter

On the first play from scrimmage, it looked like Week 1 all over again as Ray Rice cut one back through a hole in the line and took it 76 yards to the house, but a holding penalty brought it back. Now, there have been some questions about why, with the hold, it was 1st and 10 again. Here's the rule: if a holding penalty occurs at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield, it is a 10-yard penalty from the line of scrimmage but if a holding penalty occurs past the line of scrimmage it is a 10-yard penalty from the spot of the foul. So, Torrey Smith's hold occurred 10 yards downfield, which brought the ball back to the original line of scrimmage. Interesting note - after the penalty, Vontae Leach went bezerk on the officials, possibly threatening to give them the Ray Lewis treatment.

(h/t PSAMP)

I don't know what Leach said to them, but it obviously worked. The refs only threw 2 flags on Baltimore the rest of the game, and that was a false start penalty that drew the defense off and a defensive offsides where there was contact.

The Ravens start driving after that, with Flacco picking up first downs by hitting running backs and tight ends. The Steelers defense did a good job forcing 3rd downs, but a bad job when it got to 3rd down. In the red zone, Flacco tried for Torrey Smith in the end zone and the refs give them a make-up call for the holding with a pass interference on Gay. Flacco decides to throw on first down and Ryan Clark almost picks it off, but the ball bounces off his hands.

Big missed opportunity there.

The defense stands tall on Ray Rice at the goal line and forces a field goal.

0-3

Mendenhall gets 9 on the first play and things are looking good, but a failed pass and run turn a good start into a 3-and-out.

The Ravens drive back down the field, converting more third downs. Cundiff misses a 40-yarder at the open end of Heinz Field. Think it isn't hard to kick here? He had made like 35 straight field goals before that.

007 comes back and gets in a groove by getting the ball to Heath to get things rolling. Two plays later, he hits AB down the sideline who makes an ankle-breaking move to get past a defensive back but slips and falls as he enters the red zone. If he turns and runs rather than looks back at the defender, he's gone.

Second Quarter

The Ravens hold to a 3rd down and Ben hits Hines over the middle who gets crushed by a helmet-to-helmet hit to the side of the head by Ray Lewis. Hines held onto the ball until he hit the ground and another Raven fell on top of him. No flag on Lewis for helmet-to-helmet.

Harbaugh challenged the call and it was ruled incomplete. Eerily similar to the Patriots game last year when Brandon Merriweather hit Hines with a helmet-to-helmet shot that wasn't flagged and Belicheat challenged and had the catch overturned.

Suisham ties it.

3-3

B-Mac makes his first positive play of the season, jarring a fumble out on the kick return but the Ravens fall on it.

To make matters worse, Flacco converts two 3rd downs to move the Ravens into scoring territory. Harrison makes a big-time stop on Ray Rice on 3rd and short. Cundiff converts in the closed end.

3-6

Ben comes back and tries to go deep a few times, which doesn't work. Punt.

The defense is finally able to force a 3-and-out and get off the field easily when Harrison gets pressure on Flacco on 3rd down.

Ben hits David Johnson, who seemed just as surprised to catch the ball as everyone was that he caught it, for a big gain down the seam. Johnson drags some Ravens with him as he barrels across midfield. After Mendenhall grinds a first down out, Ben's pass for Cotchery gets tipped but Cotch makes the catch anyways to get down inside the 10. After a WR screen gets a few (a really worthless play inside the 10 yard line), Ben can't hook up with Cotch then gets sacked on 3rd down. Suisham ties it.

6-6

With a minute left, Flacco comes back to drive for points. Harrison finally breaks through and is able to bring Flacco down, but Joe comes back and hits Boldin a few times to move across midfield. Flacco hits Rice on a check-down as time is winding down and he is able to get down, get the time out called, and Cundiff connects from 51 as the half ends.

6-9

Third Quarter

The Steelers came out determined to put points on the board, and went right to work with the no huddle offense. They started the drive running out of the no huddle (though at the pace Ben runs it, maybe it should be called the "Slow Huddle"). Ben connects downfield to Heeeeath and AB, moving us down into Ravens territory. The drive is rolling, everything is going great, and Ben is slinging it downfield. So what next? A WR screen to the right. Ugh. I've said plenty of times how much I hate this play, and lo and behold, Terrell Suggs reads it and jumps the route for an interception, ending the drive.

Flacco comes back converting more third downs by hitting tight ends. Dennis Pitta killed us all game on 3rd down. Looks like the Ravens found their replacement for Todd Heap. As the Ravens drive into scoring territory, Flacco takes a shot down the sideline for Boldin who is running stride-for-stride with Ike. The two are arm-battling, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Except that the refs wanted to see Baltimore score a touchdown.

Almost as bad a Pass Interference call as the one on Ike in the Oakland game last year.

The refs initially place the ball at the 1 and the Steelers run out their goal line defense, taking all their corners off the field. Then, the refs decide the penalty was at the 4 and move the ball back but don't let the Steelers substitute. We get lucky as Harrison gets pressure and Flacco air mails a pass out of the end zone. Bizzarre sequence there. Ray Rice scores on the next play.

6-16

Down by 10, Ben knows what he has to do.

Big completions to Heeeeeath for 30 and 12 to get us down into Ravens territory.

Fourth Quarter

With the ball inside the 10, Ben tries to go the Jimmy Dean route on 3rd down.

He gets a lane and is able to dive for the goal line.

The initial signal is touchdown, but in another bizarre call, the refs overturn it upon review, saying Ben's knee was down at the goal line or that he fumbled or something. Not sure how you can call a QB's knee down when he wasn't down by contact and it looked to me like he had the ball across the plane before the ground caused the fumble.

Raise Some pounds it in on the next play.

13-16

Renegade.

The defense comes out inspired and Harrison makes his second sack of the game. However, Flacco is able to convert ANOTHER third down while getting pressured by Harrison and keep the drive alive. The Ravens move down into Steelers territory but Harrison steps it up again and produces his second turnover of the season, knocking the ball out of Flacco's hands. William Gay is there to pick up the bouncing ball and get it back in the hands of 007.

007 wastes no time, hitting AB on a post down the middle then Tip-Drill Cotchery on another deflected pass. Three plays later, facing a 3rd and 5 at the Ravens 25, Ben does his Ben thing and scrambles away from pressure to the right and guns one downfield.

Mike Wallace comes streaking out of nowhere in front of AB in the end zone and makes the grab for the go-ahead score.

sldfjksdlfsdlfkdsnfljskfslkfnslknfs

20-16

The Ravens go 3-and-out and the Steelers get the ball back with 4:30 to go. As we said at the outset, the "Four Minute Offense" has not been a specialty of Mike Tomlin's Steelers. Once again, it wasn't a specialty.

On the first play from scrimmage, David Johnson drops a pass that hits him right between the numbers. Crap, that could've run 40 seconds off the clock. That came back to bite us. After Cotch picks up a first down on a non-tipped ball, the Ravens start using their timeouts. A dump-down to Redman gets us into 3rd and 4 from the 29. Ben tries to hit Moore on an out-route, but the two can't hook up, stopping the clock with 2:37 left and leaving the Ravens with a timeout on the board. Here's the problem I have with the play - I don't have a problem with throwing to try to essentially put the game away there. But if you're going to throw, why throw for the sideline? Why not use the middle of the field where you don't risk running out of bounds and stopping the clock?

To make matters worse, Tomlin doesn't send the kick team out fast enough AND elects not to use one of our two remaining timeouts to think about it. A delay of game penalty sets us back. This is the most mind-boggling of anything. First: we have timeouts for a reason. If you're not sure, take one. Second: if you don't trust your field goal kicker to make a 46-yard field goal with the game on the line, then he shouldn't be on your roster. Period. Third: The excuse that there was a new holder was a bad excuse. Kapinos held for Suisham last year.

After the delay of game, Kapinos pins the Ravens back at the 8.

92 yards in 2:24 with 1 timeout? You honestly had to like our defense in this situation.

But Flacco had been torturing us all day, and in the hurry-up it was no different. He starts things off by hitting Boldin over the middle before the clock winds to two minutes. Two more completions get them near midfield. Larry Foote has a chance to put the game away when he gets his hands on a 3rd down pass but he can't make the pick. One of the innate rules of football is that if you don't make a key interception when you have the chance, the other team is probably going to score on you. The Ravens opt to throw rather than run for the 1 yard on 4th down and Flacco's pass is high but Boldin makes a leaping grab for the first down to keep things going. The clock starts to tick down and the Ravens make their way down to the Steelers 26. After two incompletions, Flacco goes downtown for Torrey Smith who is streaking past Will Gay. Gay tries to slow him up but Smith gets separation (in his post-game comments he said he "gave [Gay] a shove") and makes a diving catch for the game-winning touchdown with 8 seconds left on the clock. Ryan Clark seemingly was supposed to be over the top but for some reason tried to undercut the route. No idea what he was doing.

Gay got flagged for Pass Interference because it was a Ravens pass into the end zone, but it didn't matter.

20-23

The Steelers get it back with 8 seconds left.

Yeah, not happening.

Players of the Game
Offensive Game Ball: Heath Miller
Defensive Game Ball: James Harrison

Honorable Mentions:
Mike Wallace
Rashard Mendenhall
Max Starks
Larry Foote
Casey Hampton
Antonio Brown
Jerricho Cotchery

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

Taking a Delay of Game before a Field Goal

I touched on this already, but there's absolutely no way you can take a delay of game penalty when you're on the edge of field goal range. If you honestly don't trust your kicker to kick a 46-yard field goal, then why not run the ball on 3rd down to try to get closer so you could go for it on 4th down? If you don't trust your kicker to make a 46-yarder, then why is he on your team? To cap it all off, we had 2 timeouts and took 1 home with us. Boy that one would've been useful to take here if Tomlin needed more time to make his decision.

Final Thoughts

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't have a problem with the league enforcing blows to the head, but the enforcement HAS TO BE CONSISTENT. Ray Lewis can't get away with a forearm shiver to Hines Ward's head and get fined half as much as Ryan Clark does for a textbook hit. Ryan also got flagged and Lewis didn't.

The officiating was incredibly inconsistent in this game. Antonio Brown got spun around in the end zone with no flag, but the Ravens got 3 pass interference calls on Steelers DBs inside the 5-yard line.

James Harrison was an absolute monster tonight. 3 sacks and a forced fumble? What a comeback.
The No Huddle worked very well in the second half.
I hate the WR screen. Such a horrible play. No idea why you throw the ball parallel to the line of scrimmage when your offense is rolling.
William Gay had a bad game, but anyone who took to Twitter after the game to scrutinize Gay for his play needs to re-evaluate their life.
Antonio Brown is starting to make some big-time catches for this team. Only a matter of time before he takes it up to the next level and really becomes a game-breaker.
Thoughts & prayers with Emmanuel Sanders and his family. His mother died last week.
Great to see Heath Miller getting involved in the offense more. He's been a catalyst for the offense being able to move the ball and has dominated the middle of the field this season.
Big game against Cincinnati this week. Get ready to chase down that Wild Card.

Gameday: Baltimore Ravens

2011-11-06T16:11:00.001-05:00

8:20pm

Heinz Field

NBC

When we play the Ravens, you have to throw everything out the window. Stats, trends, injuries, it doesn't matter. What matters is the 11 guys on the field at any given time wearing black and gold making sure what happened in week 1 doesn't happen again.

Steelers in their throwback unis tonight.

We're out for blood. Out for revenge. Call it, if you will, a vendetta.

WPIAL First Round Results

2011-11-04T22:29:00.003-04:00

Here's a quick look at the scores from the first round playoff action and the matchups for next week.

AAAA

1. North Allegheny 53, 16. Fox Chapel 20
9. Seneca Valley 30, 8. Penn Hills 13
4. Penn-Trafford 21, 13. Bethel Park 0
5. Gateway 52, 12. Shaler 13
2. Central Catholic 42, 15. Peters Twp 14
7. Mt. Lebanon 28, 10. Woodland Hills 21
3. Upper St. Clair 42, 14. Connellsville 0
6. Erie McDowell 42, 11. McKeesport 7

Second Round Games

1. North Allegheny (10-0) vs 9. Seneca Valley (8-2)

4. Penn-Trafford (10-0) vs 5. Gateway (8-2)

2. Central Catholic (10-0) vs 7. Mt. Lebanon (7-3)

3. Upper St. Clair (9-1) vs 6. Erie McDowell (8-2)

AAA

1. Central Valley 60, 16. Laurel Highlands 20
8. Ringgold 14, 9. Highlands 10
4. West Mifflin 21, 13. Mars 8
5. Montour 55, 12. Chartiers Valley 20
2. Franklin Regional 28, 15. Belle Vernon 14
10. Hopewell 41, 7. Indiana 13
3. Knoch 28, 14. West Allegheny 7
6. Thomas Jefferson 34, 11. Greensburg Salem 28

Second Round Games

1. Central Valley (10-0) vs 8. Ringgold (8-2)

4. West Mifflin (9-1) vs 5. Montour (8-2)

2. Franklin Regional (10-0) vs 10. Hopewell (7-3)

3. Knoch (10-0) vs 6. Thomas Jefferson (7-3)

1. Aliquippa 44, 16. Steel Valley (3-4, 5-4) 14
8. Washington 30, 9. Mt Pleasant 14
13. Ellwood City 33, 4. Freeport 26
5. Greensburg Central Catholic 24, 12. Ford City 3
2. Jeanette 46, 15. Burrell 14
7. Shady Side Academy 35, 10. Beaver 21
3. Seton-La Salle 48, 14. East Allegheny 12
11. South Fayette 24, 6. Beaver Falls 14

Second Round Games

1. Aliquippa (10-0) vs 8. Washington (8-2)

5. Greensburg Central Catholic (9-1) vs 13. Ellwood City (7-3)

2. Jeanette (10-0) vs 7. Shady Side Academy (8-2)

3. Seton-La Salle (10-0) vs 11. South Fayette (7-3)

1. Clairton 54, 16. Cornell 0
9. Springdale 65, 8. Monessen 30
4. Rochester 48, 13. Northgate 22
5. Avonworth 28, 12. California 16
2. Sto-Rox 69, 15. Frazier 25
7. Brentwood 20, 10. Western Beaver 12
3. Bishop Canevin 27, 14. Chartiers-Houston 23
11. Fort Cherry 33, 6. Beth-Center 14

Second Round Games

1. Clairton (10-0) vs 9. Springdale (8-2)

4. Rochester (9-1) vs 5. Avonworth (9-1)

2. Sto-Rox (10-0) vs 7. Brentwood (9-1)

3. Bishop Canevin (10-0) vs 11. Fort Cherry (7-3)

WPIAL Playoffs: First Round Preview

2011-11-04T17:56:00.005-04:00

Tonight begins the four-week trek that begins with 64 teams and ends on November 26th on the Heinz Field turf. Here's a quick preview of the first round matchups.

AAAA

1. North Allegheny (6-0, 9-0) vs 16. Fox Chapel (3-3, 3-6) - The defending AAAA State Champions got the #1 seed in the bracket and should have no problem with the Foxes, who have the worst offense of any team in the WPIAL playoffs (13.1 points per game). Prediction: North Allegheny

8. Penn Hills (5-1, 5-4) vs 9. Seneca Valley (4-2, 7-2) at Plum - Penn Hills rebounded after a 1-4 start to earn a second place finish in the Big East Conference. Seneca Valley is led by the leading passer in all of WPIAL, Jordan Brown, who has racked up 1828 yards through the air this year. Prediction: Seneca Valley

4. Penn-Trafford (6-0, 9-0) vs 13. Bethel Park (3-2, 4-5) - The Warriors surprising run to their conference title came on the backs of a strong offensive and defensive line. Bethel has played in a lot of close games this season, so don't be surprised if this is a low-scoring affair. Prediction: Penn-Trafford

5. Gateway (5-1, 7-2) vs 12. Shaler (3-3, 5-4) - Gateway is a last-second field goal away from being conference champs. They held nationally-ranked Central Catholic to only 13 points. Shaler has lost 3 in a row and looked progressively worse with each game. Prediction: Gateway

2. Central Catholic (6-0, 9-0) vs 15. Peters Twp (2-3, 4-5) at Fox Chapel - Many people (myself included) thought Central was the best team in AAAA and was surprised to see them draw the #2 seed. Prediction: Central Catholic

7. Mt. Lebanon (4-1, 6-3) vs 10. Woodland Hills (4-2, 6-3) - This might be the best first round matchup on the slate, but both teams are reeling entering the game. Mt. Lebanon got pounded by rival Upper St Clair and Woodland Hills has lost two straight to Pine-Richland and Penn Hills. Prediction: Mt. Lebanon

3. Upper St. Clair (5-0, 8-1) vs 14. Connellsville (3-3, 5-4) - Statistically, the Panthers have the best offense in AAAA (43.2 points per game) and a top-5 defense that have pitched 5 shutouts this year. Connellsville is improving after a last place finish last season. Prediction: Upper St Clair

6. Erie McDowell (4-2, 7-2) vs 11. McKeesport (4-2, 6-3) - Two teams with top 10 offenses in AAAA match up. Have to think McDowell has the advantage given McKeesport's 2+ hour bus ride up I-79. Prediction: Erie McDowell

AAA

1. Central Valley (7-0, 9-0) vs 16. Laurel Highlands (3-4, 4-5) - The defending AAA champions out of WPIAL's toughest conference gets the team with the worst scoring margin (-15.1 points per game) of any of the 64 WPIAL playoff teams. Prediction: Central Valley

8. Ringgold (6-1, 7-2) vs 9. Highlands (4-2, 7-2) - Think the WPIAL board has a sense of humor? They matched up the Ringgold Rams and the Highlands Golden Rams in the first round. Even though Ringgold put up a crapload of points this year (35.6 points per game, 5th best offense in AAA), Highlands has had one of the best defenses (12.1 points against per game, 4th best defense in AAA). Also, the Keystone Conference is 1-43 in first round games over the last 11 years. Prediction: Highlands

4. West Mifflin (6-1, 8-1) vs 13. Mars (3-3, 6-3) - West Mifflin ended TJ's conference winning streak to claim the conference crown. The Titans have a top 10 offense and defense in AAA. On the other side, the Planets haven't been as explosive as in years past. Prediction: West Mifflin

5. Montour (5-2, 7-2) vs 12. Chartiers Valley (4-3, 5-4) - The Spartans have one of the most explosive offenses in any classification, led by 1200-yard rusher Julian Durden and 1600-yard passer Dylan Buechel. Char Valley has struggled since losing QB Wayne Capers to injury and his status for this game is uncertain. Prediction: Montour

2. Franklin Regional (7-0, 9-0) vs 15. Belle Vernon (4-3, 3-5) - If any Keystone Conference team has a chance to win a game this year, it's Franklin Regional with the WPIAL's second leading rusher Dane Brown (1673 yards). The Leopards have struggled on offense, scoring under 10 points 5 times this year. Prediction: Franklin Regional

7. Indiana (5-1, 7-2) vs 10. Hopewell (4-3, 6-3) - The Little Indians aerial attack put up the 4th most points of any AAA team, but this game is all about WPIAL leading rusher Rushel Shell. Shell is about 500 yards short of the state rushing record, and he'll probably get 30+ carries in this game, which should get him about halfway there. Prediction: Hopewell

3. Knoch (6-0, 9-0) vs 14. West Allegheny (4-3, 5-4) - The Greater Allegheny Conference Champions get a horrible draw with the 4th place team from the Parkway Conference. West Allegheny is battle-tested, and should give the Knights a run for their money. Prediction: West Allegheny

6. Thomas Jefferson (6-1, 6-3) vs 11. Greensburg Salem (5-2, 7-2) - TJ has some unreal streak of semi-finals appearances going. Two of their three losses were to Quad-A teams. Prediction: Thomas Jefferson

1. Aliquippa (8-0, 9-0) vs 16. Steel Valley (3-4, 5-4) at Ambridge - The Pit at Aliquippa is one of the great high school football venues of the region, but due to bad field conditions, this game was moved across the river to Ambridge. This matchup pits two old steel towns against each other, and the defending AA Champion Quips should have the edge on the field. They have playoff experience, having been to Heinz Field every year since 2007 when Terrelle Pryor and Jeanette knocked them off in the semi-finals. Prediction: Aliquippa

8. Washington (6-1, 7-2) vs 9. Mt Pleasant (6-2, 6-3) - The Little Prexies are back in the playoffs for only the second time since 2005. Both of these teams have a lot of young starters and could contend for conference titles next year. But for now, you have to like Washington's offense (30.5 points per game), which ranks 7th in AA. Prediction: Washington

4. Freeport (6-1, 7-2) vs 13. Ellwood City (5-3, 6-3) - I was a bit surprised the Yellow Jackets were awarded the #4 seed in the AA bracket. Yes, they were the Allegheny Conference Champions and they rode their defense (8.9 points against per game) and running back Damon Smith (1206 yards, 15th in WPIAL) most of the season. Ellwood City has a good offense but suspect defense (22.2 points against per game), which could be their downfall against the run-oriented Jackets. Prediction: Freeport

5. Greensburg Central Catholic (7-1, 8-1) vs 12. Ford City (5-2, 6-3) - GCC played one of the best games of the regular season against Jeanette for the conference crown. The Centurions should roll against the offensively-challenged Sabres (15.9 points per game). Prediction: GCC

2. Jeanette (8-0, 9-0) vs 15. Burrell (5-2, 6-3) - Jeanette has stormed through their opponents on the back of QB Demetrious Cox, winning the conference title by beating GCC last week. Burrell is better than people give them credit for with an offense averaging over 30 points per game. The Bucs downfall is on defense where they rank 16th out of 34 AA teams. Prediction: Jeanette

7. Shady Side Academy (6-1, 7-2) vs 10. Beaver (6-2, 7-2) - There is a very good chance that less than 10 passes will be thrown total in this game. Both teams are in the top 10 in AA in offense and defense, with Beaver posting 5 shutouts this season. Prediction: Beaver

3. Seton-La Salle (7-0, 9-0) vs 14. East Allegheny (5-3, 5-4) at Chartiers Valley - Seton-La Salle rode 1200-yard rusher Kevin Hart to a series of blowouts this season. The Rebels have put up at least 28 points in every game and won every game by at least 20. They pitched 4 shutouts this year and the offensively-challenged East Allegheny (19.1 points per game, 24th in AA) could be a candidate for a 5th shutout. Prediction: Seton-La Salle

6. Beaver Falls (6-2, 7-2) vs 11. South Fayette (5-2, 6-3) - This is easily the best game on the AA slate and it will be worth the price of admission. Beaver Falls is a traditionally strong playoff team with 1200-yard rusher Trey Hall leading the way. South Fayette is the defending WPIAL champs and might start freshman QB Brett Brumbaugh, younger brother of Christian Brumbaugh who led WPIAL in passing last year and carried the Lions to the state championship game. Prediction: Beaver Falls

1. Clairton (7-0, 9-0) vs 16. Cornell (4-3, 5-4) - Has there been a more impressive team than 2-time defending state champion Clairton this season? Not only did they extend their winning streak and can tie the WPIAL record for longest winning streak if they win the state title again. The Bears are averaging 47 points for and 2 points against this season. Let that number sink in. they only gave up 18 points all year. 12 of those came to Washington, the #8 seed in the AA playoffs, in a game they still won by 30. The only other team to score on the Bears was Fort Cherry (#11 seed in A), who still lost 35-6. Prediction: Clairton

8. Monessen (6-2, 6-3) vs 9. Springdale (6-2, 7-2) - The typically powerful Monessen offense has struggled this season, scoring only 182 points this season (20.2 points per game). On the other side, the Dynamos high-powered rushing attack has put up 294 points this year (32.7 points per game). Monessen's one out-of-conference test came against North Catholic, who finished 6th in the Eastern Conference) and they got shut out. Prediction: Springdale

4. Rochester (6-1, 8-1) vs 13. Northgate (4-4, 5-4) - The Eastern Conference is 8-0 in the first round over the last two years, but that undefeated streak will end tonight. Even though Northgate has the second leading passer in WPIAL in QB Jon Girvin, the Rams will simply be too much on both sides of the ball. Rochester is averaging 36.4 points per game and has been to the Class A Championship game the last two seasons. It seems like punishment to put the Rams in the same side of the bracket with Clairton, who has ended their season 5 consecutive years. Prediction: Rochester

5. Avonworth (7-1, 8-1) vs 12. California (6-2, 7-2) - The Antelopes put up another solid season in the Eastern Conference. They are riding an 8-game winning streak after losing their opener to conference champion Bishop Canevin. California has been the epitome of a hot-and-cold team this year, ranking 10th in both points per game and points against per game in Class A. They have scored over 35 points 5 times but been held to under 20 in the other 4 games. Prediction: Avonworth

2. Sto-Rox (7-0, 9-0) vs 15. Frazier (6-2, 6-3) - Sto-Rox handed Rochester their first loss to a team not named Clairton since 2008 and turned that 21-point victory (their closest game of the season) into a conference title. The Vikings boast three Division 1 recruits and have scored 40+ points six times. Only once (a 29-0 victory over Cornell) have the Vikings been held under 38 points. Prediction: Sto-Rox

7. Brentwood (6-1, 8-1) vs 10. Western Beaver (5-2, 5-4) - Brentwood's only loss was a 32-0 defeat by Clairton. Western Beaver had a tough schedule and went 1-4 against playoff teams. Their only victory over a playoff team was a 38-36 win over Cornell. In their four losses (Fort Cherry, Clairton, Rochester, Sto-Rox), they were outscored by an average of 35.3 points per game. Prediction: Brentwood

3. Bishop Canevin (8-0, 9-0) vs 14. Chartiers-Houston (4-3, 6-3) at Dormont Stadium - The Crusaders (which is an awesome name for a Catholic school) boast the 3rd best offense (347 points, 38.6 points per game) and 2nd best defense (52 points against, 5.8 points against per game) in Class A. Chartiers-Houston is in the playoffs for the 9th time in the last decade, but are 0-8 in the playoffs during that span. Prediction: Bishop Canevin

6. Beth-Center (8-0, 8-1) vs 11. Fort Cherry (5-2, 6-3) - Beth-Center ran through a bad Tri-County South Conference, putting up the 3rd best Margin of Victory in all of WPIAL (39.7 points per game). They were one of 3 WPIAL teams to score over 400 points (Clairton and Franklin Regional the others). Their only loss came in non-conference play to Avonworth. Fort Cherry might have the best chance of any Class A teams to pull an upset. They have played well against quality opponents, beating Western Beaver by 15 and Chartiers-Houston by 24. The Rangers only lost to Brentwood by 1 and hold the distinction of being the only Class A team to score against Clairton this season. Prediction: Fort Cherry

Inside the Play: Double-Slant Route

2011-11-02T23:24:00.000-04:00

One of our biggest critiques of Bruce Arians is that his offense is too "schoolyard" and he doesn't have plays that are designed to get guys open. However, we're going to take a few minutes here and look at one of the plays he has that does work. It's specifically designed to get a guy open, making it an ideal play in the red zone.

The play we're going to look at is the Double-Slant Route that the Steelers utilized to score their first touchdown against New England.

Here's the initial lineup at the snap. At the top of the screen, Mike Wallace is on the line of scrimmage and Mewelde Moore is stacked directly behind him. The play is designed for both Wallace and Moore to run slant routes, with Wallace's slant drawing the defenders and clearing out space for Moore. With an empty backfield, the rush is going to get there fast, so Ben has to get the ball out quick.

As it happens, on the left side of the line, both Starks and Kemoeatu are double-teaming the down-lineman, which leaves the outside linebacker free to rush at Ben. When he rushes, this clears out space underneath for Moore to run his slant route. The two defensive backs at the top of the screen are essentially taken out of the play by Wallace running his slant route. The only other player that could pose a problem is the middle linebacker, but he is neutralized by Heath Miller running to the middle of the field out of the inside of the bunch at the bottom of the screen.

As we watch the play develop, Starks blocks down on the defensive end, leaving the outside linebacker free to blitz Ben. Due to Wallace's speed, the two defensive backs are playing on their heels, reacting to Wallace running underneath them. Moore is wide open. Heath is running to the middle of the field, freezing the middle linebacker (standing next to the referee).

When Ben releases the ball, we see both Moore and Miller are open. Ben's pass to Moore utilizes Wallace as a lead-blocker on the defensive back at the goal line, which gives Moore a lane to the end zone. As a side note, you'll notice the ref in the middle of the field starts running forward and he barely gets out of Heath's way.

Here Moore has secured the catch, Wallace is blocking the defensive back, and Moore has a clear path to the goal line. All he has to do is dive across for the touchdown.

Here's the play in real-time (at the beginning of the video):

Now, this week on his radio show, Stan Savran said he'd never seen the play before. We beg to differ. We think it looks awfully familiar. Let's turn back the clocks to 2009 when the Green Bay Packers were in town.

With the game tied at 14, the Steelers have the ball, second and goal from the 9 with time running out in the first half. Here we once again see the Steelers in a 5-wide formation with a receiver and running back stacked at the bottom of the screen. In this case, it's Santonio Holmes as the receiver and Mewelde Moore again as the running back. There are 3 receivers at the top of the screen, but the split end is out wide instead of in a bunch in this case.

Holmes and Moore run the same double-slant route, with Holmes clearing out space for Moore. The Packers middle linebacker, who is up at the line feigning blitz, will drop into coverage but Ben gets the ball out before he is deep enough to make a difference. On the left end of the line, Clay Matthews gets taken care of.

Here at the snap we see Moore beginning to cut underneath Holmes. The middle of the field is wide open as the middle linebacker doesn't backpedal out of his blitz position fast enough. Clay Matthews is blitzing, opening up space for Ben to hit Moore.

Matthews got a solid bull rush, pushing the tackle back, but the ball is already away and Moore has space in front of him, with Holmes as a lead blocker. The middle linebacker is caught flat-footed with his shoulder pads to the sideline.

As Moore makes the catch, Holmes throws a block on the defensive back on the outside, giving Moore a one-on-one matchup with the safety. With the ball already in his hands, Moore clearly has the middle linebacker beat, who is still in the middle of the field.

In this case, Moore gets the benefit of the safety tripping over his own two feet. Moore skirts inside Holmes' block and into the end zone for the score.

If you want to watch the play in real-time, it's at 1:35 of this video.

But haven't we also seen this same double-slant route play more recently? Maybe Week 13 in Baltimore in 2010?

With the game on the line, right after Ben Roethlisberger shrugged off Terrelle Suggs, we had a 3rd and goal from the 9. Down by 4, it was definitely 4-down territory. Here we see the Steelers lined up in a similar formation with a wide receiver and running back stacked at the bottom of the screen (in this case Mike Wallace and Isaac Redman). And trips receivers at the top of the screen. Like the 2009 play, the receivers are spread out at the top and not bunched.

Once again, we see the double-slant route run by the receiver and running back at the bottom of the screen. The Ravens have 6 defenders lined up on the line of scrimmage and they all come on the blitz. This leaves single coverage on the receivers. With the defenders playing off to try to prevent the touchdown, this leaves room for the double-slant route. David Johnson, in the game for Heath Miller who almost got decapitated on a shot to the head that wasn't flagged, runs a slant route to the middle drawing the attention of the safety in the middle of the field that is dropping into coverage.

Here at the snap, we see Terrelle Suggs (55) blitzing from a wide angle at the bottom of the screen, creating the space in the flat that Redman needs to get open underneath Wallace.

Here where Redman makes the catch, we see where the Steelers have the advantage. They have Wallace at the 5-yard line plus David Johnson and Hines Ward running down the far hash marks that can serve as blockers for Redman. As we know, Redman is able to spin away from a few tacklers, keep his legs moving, and get into the end zone, giving the Steelers the victory.

Here's the full video:

Hopefully this brief piece of film study gives you some more appreciation for how the Double-Slant route works and how the Steelers have used it successfully. Now, this isn't a play that we should rely on, because it is easily disrupted if the outside linebacker drops into coverage rather than rushing the passer. Due to the very specific conditions in which it is useful, I think this is why we've only seen it a handful of times over the last three seasons. Nevertheless, it's a play that works because it is designed to get a guy open. With the 5-wide look, it's designed to get a guy open fast so that Ben can get rid of the ball quickly and not have to stand back there and get killed by the pass rush.