by John Cihon

Okay, I know it’s a little bit late, but I came across Santa Clause’s naughty and nice list for all of the Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowlers, and I’m reprinting it, even though I might end up on the naughty list for doing so.

Ben Roethlisberger – Nice
With one last regular season game to go, he’s already beaten Terry Bradshaw’s previous record for the most Steelers touchdowns in one season, and his quarterback passer rating (104.1) is second only to Tom Brady. And if you need any more evidence, just watch the games. Ben [...]

”We’re gonna ride Willie ‘til the wheels fall off.” – Coach Mike Tomlin

Well, Mike, the wheels have officially come off. Off Fast Willie Parker and most likely off the Steelers’ chances to make do anything significant in this year’s playoffs.
For the roughly 90% of you who don’t have access to the NFL Network, thanks to either the selfish cable companies or the arrogant football league (whichever greedy corporate entity you prefer), last night’s 41-24 win over the St. Louis Rams saw Parker’s season end with a broken fibula on his very first carry. For [...]

After the St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl, their plan for the future was set. Dick Vermeil would retire so they would hand the reigns over to Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz. Martz served as a QB coach/offensive assistant to the Redskins the year before and helped turn them into one of the league’s most explosive offenses. When he took over the Rams offense, it quickly became known as “The Greatest Show on Turf.”
But, as everybody knows, in life there are no guarantees when you use the drive-thru and there are no guarantees in the NFL. [...]

by John Cihon

The Pittsburgh Steelers got completely out-physicaled today in their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who successfully ran through the former steel curtain like it was tissue paper, as well as succeeded in putting a constant stream of pressure on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Did anyone else watching this game feel like the teams may have accidentally switched uniforms on the way onto the field? The Jaguars out-Steelered the Steelers, just as they did in their meeting last year.
In Coach Mike Tomlin’s post-game conference, he was forthright in saying that the team simply did not play well [...]

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. That’s basically the history of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags entered the league as an expansion team in 1995 and made the playoffs in three of their first four seasons, losing in the AFC championship game twice. How sad is it that there are teams that have been around 30+ years (I’m looking at you, New Orleans) and haven’t accomplished half as much? In their 12 years of existence, Jacksonville has either finished second in their division or made the playoffs only to fall short of the Super Bowl [...]

by John Cihon

Ben Roethslisberger stares deeply into Tom Brady’s eyes.

I don’t have a huge problem with Anthony Smith’s guarantee of a Pittsburgh Steelers victory over the New England Patriots, even with the Steelers loss. After the guarantee, his face was all over SportsCenter. If the Steelers would have won, we’d be calling Smith ‘Nostradamus’. But since they don’t win, the worst case scenario now for Smith is going back to the relative obscurity he dwelled in before the game. However, right now Smith is claiming he was misquoted. Absolutely unbelievable. If you’re gonna [...]

Anthony, Anthony… If you’re going to shoot off your yap making idiotic predictions, at least try to play a decent game so you can say you held up your end of the bargain. Instead, Tom Brady and Randy Moss gave big mouth safety Anthony Smith the football equivalent of public teabagging in leading the New England Patriots to an easy 34-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the future, Anthony, if you want to make some grand boast about an upcoming game, I suggest you pay heed to these words of wisdom from that great urban [...]

by John Cihon

So first they tell us Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najeh Davenport was out with a non-football related injury last week.  Shortly thereafter, Coach Mike Tomlin says Davenport fell off of an elliptical cycle and hurt his foot.  Then, a team spokesperson tells us that he hurt his foot through some sort of acupuncture treatment.  Okay, but why did he have a black eye when he was sitting on the bench last week?  Clearly, the Steelers don’t want to tell us the details of what happened.  That’s fine, but don’t treat us like idiots. 

by John Cihon

I will give one hundred dollars in cash to any Pittsburgh Steelers player who injures Tom Brady to the extent that he is unable to continue to play in the Steelers-Patriots game this Sunday. If the injury takes place before the game in the parking lot, don’t worry, I’ll still pay. As a matter of fact, that might be preferable. So don’t be sad offensive and special teams players, you have an opportunity to collect as well. I’ve heard a lot of people saying that Anthony Smith might be writing some checks he [...]

Memo to Anthony Smith: Shut the hell up!! In case you missed it, safety Anthony Smith “guaranteed” a win this Sunday when the Steelers face the Patriots. Predictably, the Patriots reacted to this stupid bit of boasting by, uh, trying to figure out who Anthony Smith is. “I didn’t know who he was until we started preparing for them,” model-diddling quarterback Tom Brady said.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King also predicted a Steelers upset this weekend. And, best of all, Las Vegas must have read my Five Reasons… post because the game is magically back on the [...]