A Ray of Hope

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If Tampa can have 10 losing seasons and then go to a World Series, the Pirates can do it too.

But let's be real, it's not happening next year.

But the year after????

????????

Pirates in 2011!!!

Tampa gives us hope that the Pirates can be good again.

Plus, Philly sucks.

Go Rays!!!!

Game Day 10

Every division game is big. Don't let the Bungles 0-6 record fool you. This team has been banging at the door of winning for the last three weeks. They buckled down in the second half against the Cowboys. They forced the Giants to overtime. They stayed strong against the Jets. The Bungles are better than their 0-6 record.

Coming off a bye, the Steelers get the Diesel back. Parker and Hampton are still out.

Carson Palmer is out this week and the Bungles go with Ryan "I might be Irish" FitzPatrick. Who? Yeah, that's what I said when he got called on to start against the Browns.

The Steelers need to be on upset alert, but a win this week would be huge. They already have a 2-game lead in the division. Baltimore is playing Miami and Cleveland, who knocked off the Giants last week, get a Redskins team that lost to St. Louis. The Steelers need a win to maintain their 2-game lead.

Heading into enemy territory in need of a win, who do we turn to?

Don't doubt the King of Gondor.



Go Steelers!!

Week 7 Preview

After we took a bye week, we're back in action.

Week 7 Preview

Best Game of the Week: San Diego at Buffalo
The Bills are coming off their bye week and get to host a San Diego team that hit its stride last week against New England. Buffalo is seeking to prove it can play with the big boys and with New England playing Denver, the Bills can take a commanding lead in the AFC East. Trent Edwards is a little banged up coming off the concussion he suffered against Arizona. His ability to bounce back will dictate the success the Bills will have the rest of the year.

Most Intriguing Game of the Week: Indianapolis at Green Bay
This game has all the makings of a shootout, which probably means the final score will be around 13-10. Peyton and the Colts offense hit a stride last week against Baltimore. Their passing game should be on display against a mediocre Packers secondary. However, Joseph Addai's injury could spell trouble for the offense because it will make them more one-dimensional. Of course, when that one dimension is Peyton Manning passing the ball, that's nothing to go belly-up over. Likewise, Aaron Rodgers has been throwing the ball all over the place. If Green Bay is going to win this game, they need to play clock control with a solid running game against a weak Indy run defense. If Green Bay gets sucked in to playing pass-happy with Indy, they're going to lose.

Upset of the Week: St Louis over Dallas
I can't believe I just said that. St. Louis is awful and Dallas is, well...hurting. Romo is out, Felix Jones is out, and Adam The Artist Formerly Known As Pacman Jones is suspended indefinitely. This sets things up for an upset. Dallas' secondary is weak, which means Marc Bulger, who finally has a coach he likes, could come out of his shell and ignite the passing game this week. With Brad Johnson running the offense, Dallas may not be as explosive as they were under Romo, which means that TO and newly acquired Roy Williams will be catching more underneath stuff rather than going downfield. Of course, Dallas is 4th in the NFC in sacks and St. Louis is 4th in the NFC in sacks allowed, which could mean a long day for Bulger. If St. Louis is going to pull the upset, they're going to need to create turnovers and maintain ball control and clock control. Keeping the Cowboys offense off the field is the key to winning this game.

Best Performance: Ben Roethlisberger
The Steelers have owned the Bengals in Cincinnati in recent years. The Bengals have a poor secondary and coming off the bye week, the Steelers offense is ready to explode. The passing offense had a great game against the Jagoffs. Willie Parker is on the bench again, which means a little more weight on the passing game. Look for Ben to throw for over 300 again. Maybe they'll finally take some deep shots for Santonio.

Stay Away From: Seattle's offense
Let's face it, this team is downright awful. With Matt Hasselbeck on the bench with an injury, their offense went from bad to worse. They can't move the ball, and facing a good Tampa defense this week, look for lots of turnovers by Seattle.

Time for my favorite picture...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ian's Week 6 Power Rankings

After a bunch of teams made a mockery out of my Week 5 power rankings, here's my latest shot. As much as it upset me when I first heard that my Super Bowl team from the NFC (Washington) got embarrassed against St. Louis, I must say I love the parity in the NFL this year. We have the makings of what could be a great season ahead of us.

Top Five

Is Tennessee the best team in the league? They come off their bye with a 5-0 record in a schedule with a league-low opponent win percentage. They'll get tested against Indianapolis after they breeze through the LJ-less Chiefs this week.

It was popular for teams at the top to choke last week while the Steelers, Titans, and Bills sat at home and got healthy. Before the Jacksonville game I wondered if this was really a team that had a shot at making a run or if they were just pretenders posing as a threat. They carry a 2-game lead in the division into Cincy. Parker is out, but Moore and Najeh should be able to carry them. Cleveland's upset of the Giants could seem troublesome down the road. The Steelers need to maintain their high level of play.

Yes, the top 3 in my power rankings are all from the AFC. Are the Bills really this good? We'll find out this week against the Chargers, who they get at home. Trent Edwards ability to rebound from his concussion will be key for this team moving forward. Even if he can't, they still might have enough talent to hang on and win this division.

Since their Week 1 loss to New Orleans, Tampa is 4-1 with a 2-0 mark in the division with convincing wins against Atlanta and Carolina. Their defense is playing great right now and their offense seems to be coming around again after Griese went down and Garcia took the helm. This division is going to be a fight all season, though I have the feeling Atlanta is going to fade towards the second half.

Is there any better home team in the league than Arizona? They have beaten Dallas, Buffalo and Miami (combined 10-6 record) by a combined 51 points at home while losing to Washington and the Jets by a combined 28 points on the road. With their main competition in the division being San Francisco, Arizona might be able to win the division with 7 wins, which they can get to if they sweep their 3-game stretch of division games in November.

Just Missed: New York Giants

Bottom Five

Detroit almost pulled the upset of Minnesota last week and turned around and traded their top receiver (Roy Williams) to the Cowboys for draft picks. This team is obviously thinking for next season. With Kitna on the IR, it might be time to give Drew Stanton his shot. Things certainly can't get any worse.

Cincy has played their last three opponents tougher, but they still haven't racked one up in the win column, landing them in the second spot on my bottom five. Hopefully they're still waiting after the matchup this week against the Steelers.

They needed the bye week, but with LJ out, this team is in trouble. They don't play a team with a record below .500 until they get Oakland on November 30. It's going to be a long year in Missouri with the Chiefs and Rams bookending the state. Sadly for people in Missouri, during the bye week they got to watch Chase Daniel blow his Heisman hopes and Mizzou's national championship hopes against Oklahoma State. They still have a shot at a BCS bowl, but with their showdown against Texas this week, things might go even further downhill for the Tigers.

The Rams are playing bad, but for all intents and purposes, the Seahawks haven't won in over a month. Now with Hasselbeck out, this team has no quarterback and no wide receivers. Ouch. The big problem here is the defense. Where did they go? They're not stopping anyone.

Coming into this season, the Raiders seemed to have the looks of a team that could turn it around. After six weeks, the national media is taking the side of an ex-coach saying that Al Davis needs to move on. The team is a mess. Darren McFadden and JaMarcus Russell need some blockers up front. It all begins and ends with the line.

Just Missed: St. Louis Rams

John's Week 6 Power Rankings

High Five

5-0

The last undefeated team in the NFL sits atop my power rankings for the first time this season. There is no question as to identity - the Titans are a defensive-minded squad which likes to control the clock with a dominating running attack. Jeff Fisher's defense is tops in the league in scoring defense, having allowed 23 fewer points than the second place unit. However, concerns remain. Tennessee has yet to defeat a team which currently sports a winning record. Neither Kerry Collins nor Vince Young have thrown for over 200 yards in the first five games. Finally, it still remains to be seen whether LenDale White or Chris Johnson is the primary back. Johnson has led the team in rushing each week, but since peaking at 109 yards in Week 2, his rushing numbers have declined. After K.C. this week, the Titans will get tests from a supposedly rejuvenated Colts team, as well as from the Packers, with both contests coming at home.

Next Up: @ Kansas City (1-4)

4-2

Next Up: @ Carolina (10/26) (4-2)



4-1

Next Up: @ Cincinnati (0-6)



4-1

Next Up: vs. San Diego (3-3)



4-2

Next Up: vs. Seattle (1-4)

Just Missed: San Diego Chargers


Dive Five


0-5

From a guarantee of 10 wins in 2007 to half way to 10 losses five games into the season this year. What happened? We may never know the answer to that question, but football fanatics do know that the Lions have already begun to focus on 2009 and beyond. Jon Kitna was placed on IR with a bulging disc in his back despite Kitna claiming he would have been healthy enough to play. The move allows the team to see what they have in backups Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton, and to decide whether they should use a likely top-5 pick on a QB. Subsequently, the front office shipped starting wide receiver Roy Williams, once thought a cornerstone of the rebuilding process a few years ago but made "expendable" due to the arrival of Calvin Johnson, to Dallas for a plethora of draft picks. Now, the Lions have to hope they nab a franchise running back in the draft to aid an embarrassing running attack (30th in the NFL), hope that Mike Furrey returns to his 2006 form (or they'll be facing a hole at wide out), and pray the O-line somehow improves. Oh, and there's still the little fact of the defense being the worst in the league in yards allowed and second worst in scoring defense. Even the future looks dull for a franchise which thought it started turning the corner last season.

Next Up: vs. Dallas (4-2)



0-6

Next Up: vs. Pittsburgh (4-1)



1-4

Next Up: vs. N.Y. Jets (3-2)



1-4

Next Up: @ Tampa Bay (4-2)



1-4

Next Up: vs. Tennessee (5-0)

Just Missed: St. Louis Rams

Divisional Rankings

We've been calling the NFC East the best division in football all year. But with the Redskins loss to St. Louis and Dallas' loss to Arizona, maybe that's not quite true. In a new feature, here's the divisional rankings after Week 6, based on overall records.

1. NFC East 15-8 (.652)
2. NFC South 15-9 (.625)
3. AFC East 12-8 (.600)
4. AFC South 12-9 (.571)
5. AFC West 9-13 (.409)
6. NFC North 9-14 (.391)
7. AFC North 8-13 (.381)
8. NFC West 8-14 (.364)

So for now, the NFC East holds the crown of best division in football. The AFC North escaped the bottom spot with the Browns win over the Giants on Monday night.

Bye Week for Everyone

The Steelers had a bye week, and we did too. One of my friends got married, so I got to spend the weekend in a hotel room with cable watching football. It was awesome.

Yes, I know we didn't get up a preview for the week, but given my power rankings last week, it probably would have been a joke anyways.

Proof I don't know as much as I thought I did:

On Washington: "Of all the teams left on our schedule, I think Washington scares me the most...We ain't seen nothin yet."
On St. Louis: "This is the worst team in the league."

St. Louis 19, Washington 17

On Carolina: "Jonathan Stewart is the real deal...their two-RB style is working out. With Steve Smith back in the lineup, the offense is starting to hit its stride"

Tampa Bay 27, Carolina 3

Why you should keep reading this blog:

From last week's rundown:
On Baltimore: "Their offense needs to produce more than 10 points, even against a good defense. Their offense is 27th in scoring, 31st in passing, and 24th in total offense. Not the rankings of a playoff contender."

Indianapolis 31, Baltimore 3

On Seattle: "How bad is the Seahawks defense?"

Green Bay 27, Seattle 17

On Minnesota: "AP didn't really show up against a bad run defense [New Orleans]."

Minnesota 12, Detroit 10
Peterson: 2 fumbles, 0 TDs
(Okay, he did have 111 yards rushing, but the other stats are a little more concerning)

The Giants have a chance to either prove me a fool or a genius tonight.

Saturday night was a great night for sports. I was flipping between Penn State crushing Wisconsin, Chase Daniel coughing up his Heisman hopes against Oklahoma State, the Pens forgetting how to play hockey, and Tampa and Boston having a ballpark shootout. The Rays give me hope that the Pirates could be good again some day.

Go Rays.

With our game against Cincy coming up this week, I get to use my favorite picture plenty of times.

Go Steelers.

Ian's Week 5 Power Rankings

With the Steelers heading into their bye at 4-1, we're feeling pretty good right now. However, there are some other teams out there that aren't feeling so well. Like Houston.

With the season a quarter of the way in the books, here's the latest rundown on who's hot and who's not.

McDonalds Five
I'm Lovin It

New York gets the nod once again this week for the top spot based not only on their thorough shellacking of Seattle, but also for having a tougher strength of schedule than Tennessee. I have a feeling that the Giants-Redskins rematch is going to be a bit more spirited than their first game where both teams were still shaking off the rust. The Giants get the Browns and 49ers before coming to Pittsburgh at the end of October.

Is it at all worrisome that Keith Bullock and Courtland Finnegan got into a fight during last week's game? We'll see if Jeff Fisher is able to keep his defense together. They played strong against a good Baltimore defense and scored when it counted. They have a bye this week and then Kansas City after that (which is like another bye) before their big showdown with Indy. Even though they're up two games, losing that one to Indy would put their division title hopes in jeopardy as they have Green Bay, Chicago and Jacksonville after the Colts.

Of all the teams left on our schedule, I think Washington scares me the most. Jason Campbell is coming into his own and is having a year that could land him in the Pro Bowl. Clinton Portis is running great, and this past week's performance against Philly was just the latest example. Antwaan Randle El struggled to catch the ball, but threw a touchdown pass. Once Jim Zorn starts getting funky with the playbook like that, watch out. We ain't seen nothin yet.

I said last week that I wasn't sure if the Steelers were a top 5 team. After their statistical domination of Jacksonville (holding their dual-headed rushing attack to 38 yards), I feel a lot better about putting the Steelers up here. Look at what they were able to do against Jacksonville with 4 starters out of the lineup. The Steelers had a chance to put the game away twice in the third quarter, but couldn't convert. But they came back in the 4th quarter when it mattered. Good teams win games in the clutch. Good teams win close games.

DeAngelo Williams had a great game with 3 touchdowns, but that was just a slow delay of the inevitable: Jonathan Stewart is the real deal. But for right now, their two-RB style is working out. With Steve Smith back in the lineup, the offense is starting to hit its stride and Mushin Muhammad has reemerged at the ripe age of 35 to show he can still play. Carolina gets the nod over Dallas here because of Dallas' struggles to close out Cincy (one of my bottom 5) and Carolina's total domination of Kansas City. They have a big showdown this weekend with Tampa Bay for the division lead.

Just Missed: Dallas Cowboys

Is it 2009 yet?
Five teams that want to put this season behind them

Is Houston the worst team in the league? No. But they get the honroary nod at the bottom of my Power Rankings this week for their utter collapse against Indy. This team had high hopes coming into this season, but they are 0-2 in close games. They get Miami, Detroit, and Cincinnati the next three weeks, so they have the potential to get out of the basement. However, even if they had won just one of their close divisional games, they would be in position to make a run at .500 again this year. Now, we might just get to see the Futility Bowl Part I when they play Detroit in 2 weeks.

Let's face it. This is the worst team in the league. Their defense is last in the league in every category, so they promote their defensive coordinator (Jim Haslett) to head coach. If it can count as a moral victory going into their bye, the Rams scored a season high (14 points) and gave up a season low (31 points) against Buffalo in Week 4. After spending their first round picks the last two years on defensive linemen (Adam Carriker, DT-Neb; Chris Long, DE-VA), it might be time to start scouting offensive linemen. Their second half of the season with Arizona and San Francisco twice, Miami and Atlanta is starting to look a little harder. If they keep this up, they have a legit shot at 0-16.

Matt Millen is fired, the team has "thier best week of practice this year" and gets trounced by the Bears. John Kitna got benched and Kyle Orton threw for over 300 yards. At least when they threw the ball all over the place, the offense was competitive. Their average loss is by 20.25 points and their season low in points allowed is 34. Not only is the offense not scoring, the defense can't stop anyone. If they don't beat Houston in 2 weeks, there might not be another team on their schedule they can beat. Is it Drew Stanton time yet?

They drop 31 points on the Broncos then get shut out by Carolina? Wow. Matthew Stafford better like wearing red. Everyone knew they were going to be bad, but this bad? Trade rumors are swirling around LJ. Even though Herm Edwards convinced the front office of his plan, he may have to do some more convincing if they keep this up. They get Oakland, Miami, and Cincinnati 3 of the last 5 weeks for Futility Bowls II, III, and IV. Bad news for KC: if they win more than one of those games, they might not get a top 5 pick. Their 1 win already has them pegged for the #3 pick.

This team is proving what we already knew. The last few years were flukes. This was an overachieving team. Chad Johnson doesn't show up in big games. Housh is their best receiver and he's looking for the first ticket out. They are trying to become a power football team with a pass-blocking O-line. Their defense is awful. They hung around the last two weeks against Dallas and the Giants. To their defense, they have played the league's hardest schedule thus far. They get the Jets and Steelers before a showdown at Houston which could be a tiebreaker for a top 5 pick in the spring. How long until they fire Marvin Lewis? Anyone want to put odds on them signing Michael Vick when he gets out of prison?

Just Missed: Seattle Seahawks

Week 5 Recap

As we start the second quarter of the season, there are a lot of surprises around the league. Who would have thought that Buffalo, Arizona, Chicago, Tennessee, Denver and Carolina would be division leaders. Heck, even the Giants starting 4-0 is a bit of a shocker. I guess the only non-surprising division is...Pittsburgh.

Which brings me to my next point. In our Steelers season preview, both John and I had the Steelers starting 4-1. Granted, I had us losing to Jacksonville and John had us losing to Cleveland. But nevertheless, our instincts were in the right place. We did differ in our opinions about post-bye records, with John predicting a 12-4 finish and me taking a more pessimistic attitude and predicting 9-7.

AFC Rundown

Tennessee is the only undefeated AFC team, but they have a league-worst SOS of .347 and was barely able to squeeze by Baltimore this weekend in a defensive struggle. If Baltimore wants to win, their offense needs to produce more than 10 points, even against a good defense. Their offense is 27th in scoring, 31st in passing, and 24th in total offense. Not the rankings of a playoff contender. The Single Wing is back in Miami and it has sparked their offense. Is it sad that Miami is better without a quarterback on the field? San Diego can't stop anyone. Forget the 59 1/2 minute-men defense. They're like a block of swiss cheese. John called the Arizona over Buffalo upset, but we couldn't have predicted Trent Edwards going down. Buffalo needs him to get healthy. Pittsburgh solidified their status as a contender by beating Jacksonville. Denver eeked one out against a good Tampa defense and New England did what they were supposed to against San Fran. Houston...where to begin? Sage Rosenfels played a great 56 minutes. The last 4 will haunt him for the rest of his career. Indy should be 0-4 right now.

NFC Rundown

The Giants sans-No-Catch-ico blasted Seattle. How bad is the Seahawks defense? Which is a perfect segue to Detroit, who is not only bad on defense, but on offense as well. They made Kyle Orton look like the real deal. I'm still not sold on him. Minnesota pulled one out against New Orleans. It was exciting, but AP didn't really show up against a bad run defense. Silver lining for New Orleans: Reggie Bush had 2 punt returns for scores. Dark Cloud for New Orleans: Drew Brees passed for 330 yards and the offense still only had 13 points. Aaron Rodgers played a great game but the Packer D couldn't stop Atlanta when they needed to. Dallas ran up a quick lead against Cincy but let the Bungles back in the game. They need to play Felix Jones more. Carolina and Arizona looked great. Washington is good. Really, really, really good. They are done with their road division games, and are 2-1 in those games.

Best Game of the Week: Pittsburgh over Jacksonville

This game had it all. Early scoring to keep things exciting, both teams moving the ball, big defensive stands, and a game-winning 6-minute drive by an injured quarterback. Epic.

Most Disappointing Game of the Week: Arizona over Buffalo

As tempting as it was to give this to Houston, it goes to Buffalo for getting trounced by Arizona. Buffalo showed a lot of heart after Edwards got knocked out on the 3rd play from scrimage, but Arizona ran up a 14-0 lead and the game wasn't really close after that with Buffalo never getting within a touchdown of the lead.

Top Performance: Ben Roethlisberger

Hometown bias? Maybe. But not only did Ben play hurt, but he threw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns, including the game winner to Hines Ward with just under 2 minutes to play. Clinton Portis was a close second here for racking up big yards against a good Eagles defense. DeAngelo Williams and Kyle Orton also deserve shout-outs, but their performances came against teams with bad defenses.

Games with Playoff Implications:
Pittsburgh over Jacksonville
Indianapolis over Houston (for the sole reason it saved their season)
Tennessee over Baltimore
Washington over Philadelphia

Waaaay too Early Playoff Picture:
Image to come later
AFC Standings:
1. Tennessee (5-0, 4-0)
2. Pittsburgh (4-1, 4-0)
3. Buffalo (4-1, 2-0)
4. Denver (4-1, 2-1)
5. New England (3-1, 2-1)
6. Baltimore (2-2, 2-2)
Outside looking in: Indianapolis (2-2, 1-1), NY Jets (2-2, 1-2), Miami (2-2, 2-1)

NFC Standings:
1. NY Giants (4-0, 3-0)
2. Carolina (4-1, 2-1)
3. Arizona (3-2, 1-1)
4. Chicago (3-2, 2-2)
5. Washington (4-1, 4-1)
6. Dallas (4-1, 2-1)
Outside looking in: Tampa Bay (3-2, 2-1), Atlanta (3-2, 2-2)

Revenge for Sedan: Steelers Win

For the second time in three weeks, I'm busting out a European History reference for the title of my recap.

For those of you unfamiliar with European History, the Battle of Sedan (which took place in the French town of Sedan) was one of the culminating battles in the Franco-Prussian War where the Prussians (Germans) totally decimated the French army. The French held on to their bitter memories from the Battle of Sedan in 1870 and were eager to strike back at the Germans when The Great War let loose. In essence, "Revenge for Sedan" was one of the influencing factors in the French decision to militarily engage the Germans.

Fast forward almost a century. Jacksonville comes into our house and beats us twice. We may not have had a big a gripe with Jacksonville as the French did with Germany, but we were certainly looking for some revenge.

21
26

Listening to the pregame show on DVE, Craig Wolfley had another classic line.

"The rain is coming down in spritzes here, and the wind is gusting pretty good. Wait, I'm standing in front of a fan by the bench."

Harvey comes through for us and the Steelers win the toss and elect to receive.

First Quarter

With a depleted running back corps, the Steelers come out and do the Steelers thing: run the ball. Mewelde Moore goes around the end for 19 yards and gets some bonus yards by picking up a late hit out of bounds penalty. After not throwing to Hines for two quarters last game, Ben goes right to him for a 13-yard gain to move the ball into Jacksonville territory. Ben looks over the middle for Spaeth, but throws the ball at his feet. Ben tries to scramble away from pressure but gets tripped up. He tries to throw the ball as he's falling down, but the refs say his knee was down for a sack before he got rid of the ball. On 3rd and long, Ben goes for Holmes on a deep in route, but Holmes slips and falls on his break, giving Rasheen Mathis an easy interception and cakewalk into the end zone.

This again?
7-0 Jagoffs.

I'm just going to go on the record as saying that wasn't Ben's fault. He threw the ball where it needed to be and Holmes fell down. Tough luck.

The Steelers came back out and looked like they were going to make it a long game when Moore got stuffed and Ben couldn't hit Spaeth again, but Holmes came through on 3rd down, making a big conversion to keep the drive alive. Moore got the ball 2 more times to set up 3rd and 1. The Najenater comes in and lines up at fullback and barrels his way through the pile for the first down. Ben goes play-action and comes back to Moore in the flat who picks up 13 yards and gets 15 bonus yards on another late hit penalty on the Jagoffs. Gary Russell came in to pound the ball and was able to get 3 yards in 2 carries to set up 3rd down from just outside the 10. Ben finds Heath over the middle for the first down inside the 5. Russell can't power it in on 1st down, but he does get the ball down to the 1. And for the first time this year....

Ben to Heath to tie it up.

7-7

Jacksonville's offense came out for the first time in the game with 5:18 left in the quarter. They looked terrible on first and second downs, but Garrard converted two third downs of 9 and 10 yards to Jones and Walker to keep the drive alive and move into Pittsburgh territory. With first down on the Steelers 40, the Jagoffs took a shot downtown. Ike got called for an iffy pass interference call. Personally, I thought the ball was uncatchable, Jones was at the front of the end zone and the ball hit the back line. Jones didn't even try to make a play on the ball.

Nevertheless, Jacksonville got it on the 1 and MJD punched it in to put the Jagoffs back in the lead.

14-7

The Steelers came out determined to shoot themselves in the foot, but Ben wasn't having it. After a false start penalty on Colon to start the drive, Ben hit Nasty Nate for 10 yards. The drive got set back again when Marvel Smith jumped early, and an incompletion lead to a 3rd and long. But Ben hooked up with Hines again to keep the drive alive. Ben ran the No Huddle after the first down and was able to hook up with Nasty Nate for 6 and Hines for 8 as the first quarter came to a close.

First Quarter Time of Possession: PIT 12:09, JAX 2:51

Second Quarter

Mewelde Moore dashed for 11 yards into Jagoff territory to start the second quarter where the first left off. Ben brought the no huddle back and hit Hines for 14 yards to get into field goal range. Moore managed 7 yards on two carries in the motif offense, but couldn't come up with a pass along the sidelines on 3rd down.

Jeff Reed knocks it through from 38.

14-10

Reed blasts a kickoff into the endzone but speedy Jagoff returner Witherspoon elects to bring it out and gets through a crease and is off to the races, but Jeff Reed is there to plug the corner and stop him after a 40-yard return at the 38.

As it turns out, only being on the field for 3 minutes out of the first 17 1/2 of the game makes your offense a little rusty. Kirschke gets pressure and forces a bad pass on first down. Aaron Smith stuns Fred Taylor on second down and Garrard tries to scramble on third down, but James Harrison is there to hold him to a short gain. Great 3-and-out by the defense to get the ball back in the hands of the offense after a score.

Holmes manages an 8-yard return to get the ball near the 20. Ben appreciates the effort and throws him a bone on the first play from scrimage to get the ball out near the 40. Moore gets stopped on the outside on first down, but Ben is able to hook up with Nasty Nate for 14 yards on second down to get the ball across midfield. Ben actually has some time to throw and pump-fakes the corner out of his shoes and fires one to Nasty Nate who is taking the 71C downtown. Nasty Nate doesn't have a defender in sight and breezes into the end zone.

17-14

The Jagoffs get called for holding on the kickoff and are forced to start inside their 10. Kirschke stops MJD on first down, the Polamalu lays a lick on MJD on a swing pass on second down. Garrard can't find Mercedes Lewis on 3rd down and it's 3-and-out city again.

Willie Gay picks up a block in the back penalty on the punt return, pushing the Steelers back to the 31. Ben goes right back to Nate on first down for 4 yards. Moore gets stuffed on 2nd down bringing up a huge 3rd down with the field position battle and a slim lead hanging in the balance. Ben hits Heath with a huge pass for 20 yards, but it gets called back on a holding penalty. On 3rd and 16, Ben tries to go deep for Washington but he can't come up with the pass. Lucky for us, the Jagoffs decide to taunt Nate and pick up a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. With renewed life, the offense stalls. Lob Wedge comes in and, when we need a well-placed punt, blasts a 61-yarder into the end zone.

Fred Taylor busted a 6-yard gain on first down, but Ryan Clark made a big stop on 2nd down to bring up 3rd and 2. The Jagoffs try to run MJD, but Big Stick is there to say nooooo. Punt.

The Steelers get the ball back with just under 3 minutes to go in the half. Gary Russell starts things off with a 15-yard run around the end to get the ball across the 40. After Ben can't hook up with Russell on first down...

Ben to Heath for 17 to get to the 2-minute warning.
Out of the break, Ben to Heath again for 15 to get down to the Jagoff 24.

Ben looks deep for Santonio, but can't hook up with him on first down, but goes back to him for a big play to get the ball down to the 5 on second down. With first and goal at the 5, Ben looks for his go-to guy, but the pass is just out of Hines' reach along the back of the end zone. Moore gets stuffed up the middle on second down and Ben lobs one for the corner but no one is there on third down, forcing a field goal.

Right down the pipes.
20-14.

The Jagoffs come out with 45 seconds left and Garrard looks to move the ball down the field, but a facemask penatly on a Jagoff lineman sets them back and Garrard kneels it to go into the half.

First Half Stats
TOP: PIT 21:15, JAX 8:45
First Downs: PIT 21, JAX 4
Yards: PIT 300, JAX 46

Third Quarter

Jacksonville came out in the 3rd quarter determined to try and rectify some of those halftime stats. Taylor caught a short pass for 6 yards and Garrard rectified a 2nd down incompletion by hitting Walker for 16 yards to get the ball out to the 50 on 3rd and 4. They continued to mix run and pass as Taylor went for 4 then MJD took a short pass for 10 to get the ball to the Steelers 36. But then the Jagoffs crapped all over themselves. Garrard threw two incompletions but came back with a big third down pass that got called back on a holding penalty. On third and long, it's Teddy Roosevelt time.

Woodley runs a stunt and loops from the end to the center of the line and charges through a gaping hole to bring down Garrard for the sack. Punt.

You knew a 6-point lead wasn't going to hold and that one more touchdown would probably put the game away. But the Steelers really wanted to make you sweat. Two Moore runs bookend an incomplete pass and lead to a punt. Anthony Madison makes his second special teams tackle of the half as Witherspoon tries to field the punt off a hop.

Garrard goes right back to the air, hitting Walker for 14. Taylor carries for 1, then Garrard scrambles but slides just before the sticks to set up 3rd and 1. Polamalu makes a great play on MJD to hold him. With the ball near midfield, the Jagoffs elect to go for it and hit their fullback off of play-action to convert. Woodley gets pressure again, but Garrard is able to fling a pass to Taylor who barely makes it back to the line of scrimage. MJD carries up the middle and twists his ankle when the whole Steelers D-line falls on him, sidelining him for a bit. Garrard throws an incompletion on 3rd down, and instead of electing to try and pin the Steelers deep or go for a 52-yard field goal, the Jagoffs go for it, but Garrard throws an incompletion.

With good field position, you hoped the Steelers would drive down and put this away. But it wasn't meant to be. Russell gets stopped on first down, a swing pass to him loses yards on second down, and Ben gets sacked while trying to roll out on third down, forcing a punt.

The Garrard to Walker hookup was working, as they connected twice in three plays for 41 yards. The Jagoffs ended a 3rd quarter in which they had the ball 11 1/2 minutes and held the Steelers to 0 first downs with a holding penalty.

Fourth Quarter

MJD comes out catches a short pass to start the 4th, then Garrard goes deep for Matt Jones. Deshea makes a great play on the ball and breaks up the pass, but Ryan Clark lays a lick on Jones and gets called for an unnecessary roughness personal foul. With a 1st and 10 instead of 3rd and 16, Garrard takes advantage and hits Mercedes Lewis down the middle for a touchdown.

21-20

Hey, we had our chances to put it away, and now we were down. After Ben held the ball for too long and got sacked on first down, you were about ready to puke. But after Holmes picked up some yards to get to 3rd and manageable, the Jagoffs gave us a gift on a defensive holding penalty on 3rd down to give us the first down. Mewelde Moore added to the rising hopefulness with a 13-yard run. After Ben couldn't hook up with Hines, Moore added 2 more yards, but the Jagoffs held on 3rd down, forcing Ben to scramble for a short gain. Lob Wedge punts 42 yards to pin Jacksonville inside the 20.

You were anxiously watching the clock during their next drive, wondering if we were going to need a touchdown or field goal to tie/win it when we got the ball back. Taylor carried twice and the defense contained MJD on 3rd down to force a-

James Harrison is called for roughing the passer on a completely legal hit.
Garrard had just let the ball go and Harrison hit him as it was leaving his hand. Terrible call.

With the zebras on the side of the Jagoffs, the Steelers defense needed to step up. Right on cue, the Big Stick Policy comes into effect, sacking Garrard back at the 25. Aaron Smith and Lawrence Timmons team up to stop MJD on a short pass to force 3rd and 20. With the Steelers in soft zone, Garrard hits Walker right in front of Clark and B-Mac, who are able to hit him on the spot, holding him to a gain of 18, 2 yards shy of the first down. The punt goes into the end zone, giving us the ball and a chance to win with a field goal with 6 1/2 to go.

Ben comes out by going right to Hines on the sidelines for 16. Moore and Miller catch short passes to set up 3rd and 3. Nasty Nate comes up with a huge catch to convert the first down, but after the play is over has some words with the Jacksonville bench and gets called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Luckily, the play was over, so it's still 1st and 10, just back at the Steelers 40, rather than across midfield. Mewelde Moore takes things into his own hands and dashes around the end for 27 yards to get the ball to the Jacksonville 33. Trai Essex threw a great block on the corner to open the hole for Moore. Mewelde comes back with a 2-yard run on the next play. Ben goes deep for Nate who can't quite make the catch, setting up a big 3rd down. With the pressure on, Ben is able to duck and elude a Jagoff lineman...

Then, in the midst of being dragged down, Ben flings a sidearm pass out to Hines who catches it on the run and takes it down to the 13. Ben gets up slowly and is holding his right arm awkwardly. Ben is forced to take a timeout with 2:07 left to alleviate the pain in his shoulder. You can tell he's in pain, but manages to hand off to Russell on the next play who takes it down to the 8. The Steelers take another timeout to set up a 2nd down play. Out of the timeout, Ben tries a pass for Nasty Nate that falls incomplete as the clock ticks down to 2 minutes.

Ben's shoulder is hurting. He can barely hold his arm right. It's 3rd and 5 from the 8. Conventional wisdom says run the ball and kick the field goal if you don't make it. Ben is tougher than that. He lobs a perfect pass for the back pylon and Hines runs it down and gets both feet in for the TOUCHDOWN.

The Replay Booth wants another look, but even the refs can't take this one away. However, as the Steelers line up to go for 2, the refs didn't reset the play clock off the review.

The Steelers are forced to move back 5 yards after the delay of game. Ben looks for Heath at the front corner of the end zone, but the ball is just out of reach and the 2-point conversion fails.

26-21

Reed "tweaked" his groin apparently, so Lob Wedge comes out to kick off. He kicks a squib that Jacksonville is able to bring back to the 26. With 1:48 to go, it was all on the defense. After a first down incompletion, Woodley stopped MJD in his tracks to set up 3rd and long. Walker couldn't come up with the 3rd down pass, giving the D a chance to close it out. But druggie Matt Jones had other ideas as he came up with a 10-yard pass to keep the drive alive. As the clock winds under a minute, Aaron Smith is there to hold a scrambling Garrard to just 3 yards. The Jagoffs take a time out with 47 seconds to play.

Out of the timeout, James "Some Kind of Monster" Harrison gets revenge for the roughing the passer call by laying a pounding on Garrard from the blind side, knocking the ball free. It bounces around, but Jacksonville falls on it. Druggie Jones can't pull one in on 3rd and 14, giving the Steelers defense another chance at redemption. Aaron "Aero"Smith sticks a paw up in the air and knocks down the pass, sealing the deal.

Victory formation. Game.

Players of the Game:
Offensive Game Ball: Ben Roethlisberger. 309 yards, 3 TDs, engineered the game-winning drive and played through pain.
Defensive Game Ball: LaMarr Woodley. 6 tackles, 2 sacks. He's playing like a Pro-Bowl Linebacker.

Honorable Mentions:
Mewelde Moore. Last week's overtime hero, Moore came up huge this week with 99 yards on the ground.
James Harrison. Added another sack and played great in pass coverage as well as getting pressure, drawing multiple penalites.
Nate Washington. Kept the ball in his hands and it payed off, scored a big touchdown to put us in the lead.
Hines Ward. Came back from a few drops early in the game to catch the game-winning touchdown.
Aaron Smith. How much did we miss him last year? Wow.
Chris Hoke. He played great in replacement of Hampton and was able to use his athleticism to get pressure up the middle.
Heath Miller. He's starting to get more looks, which is great for the offense.

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game
The Referee Crew

Specifically for the roughing the passer call on James Harrison which was a downright terrible call, but also for their inability to manage the game. For all intents and purposes, this game was on NBC and the sticker should have gone to John Madden for just being John Madden, but the refs deserve this one for that downright awful call.

Final Thoughts

• We really need this bye week.
• More passes to Heath = better offense
• Arians escapes scrutiny for another week
• Troy Polamalu is playing the best he's played since the Super Bowl year
• We really need this bye week.
• Harrison and Woodley are both legitimate Pro Bowl candidates.
• Shout out to Darnell Stapleton for doing a solid job filling in for Simmons.
• Why didn't Starks replace Smith when Marvel got cramps? Props to Essex for doing a good job and getting some personal closure by playing well against Jacksonville.
• We really need this bye week
  
• Sorry for taking so long on the recap, hopefully it was worth the wait!