Archive for November, 2009

They say close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Steelers play professional football. So while their 20-17 loss in overtime to the hated Baltimore Ravens may have been closer than many of us had hoped, it still doesn’t matter. If, as head coach Mike Tomlin likes to say, a win is a win then losing is losing. And a loss in this game at this point in the year has put the Steelers entire season in critical condition. Dennis Dixon, making his first career start, went three and out in his first series.  The Ratbirds took [...]

I guess we should have held our breath after all. In a completely unexpected turn of events, Ben Roethlisberger looks like he’ll be seated on the bench this Sunday when the Pittsburgh Steelers face a pivotal match-up against the Baltimore Ravens. Every article I read this week said Ben felt fine while passing each and every post-concussion test with “flying colors” (his words). He practiced normally as all indications were he was suffering no residual effects from the knee to the head he took last Sunday against those dirty scumbag Chiefs.  Late yesterday, ESPN issued a report that Ben had [...]

After playing the Baltimore Ravens three times last season, including an epic AFC Championship game, it’s safe to say the Pittsburgh Steelers know this enemy quite well.  And if familiarity breeds contempt, these teams must outright hate each other by now.  Pittsburgh sports has a number of great rivalries, including Pitt-WVU who meet later today in their annual Backyard Brawl.   But I dare say none can compare to the Ravens and Steelers. Earlier this week, the FOX medical drama “House” made a joke of the fact Omar Epps is a dead ringer for head coach Mike Tomlin.  In an ironic [...]

Steeler Nation can collectively exhale. Mike Tomlin, in his weekly Tuesday press conference, announced quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be a go this Sunday against the Ravens. Apparently, Ben suffered only a “mild” concussion last Sunday in the soul-crushing loss against the Chiefs. In my book, there isn’t anything mild about getting your brain slammed up against your skull but then again a hangnail causes me indescribable suffering. Tomlin claims that Ben is showing no lingering affects from the Shining Wizard to the noggin and will practice normally this week. In other QB news, if you read my update yesterday, you’ll [...]

While Steeler Nation holds their collective breath awaiting the verdict on Ben Roethlisberger‘s head injury, yet more quarterbacking issues have cropped up for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Backup Charlie Batch somehow broke his wrist during his brief stint on Sunday. He’s undergoing surgery and is basically lost for the season. This is yet another unfortunate setback for Charlie, who broke his clavicle in a preseason game causing him to miss all of last year.  At 34 years of age, this may be the end of his days as an active player.  If so, I’m sure we’ll still see him patrolling the [...]

Let’s say I told you the Pittsburgh Steelers wouldn’t allow a touchdown on defense for over six quarters.  Let’s say I told you the defense would hold the Kansas City Chiefs to 50 yards of total offense during the first half.   FIFTY YARDS.  Let’s say I told you Ben Roethlisberger had almost 400 yards passing while his opposing number, Matt Cassel, was stormed for a sack five times.  You’d think the Steelers had a pretty good day, wouldn’t you? Except you’d be wrong.  Terribly, horribly wrong.  There are some nightmares you unfortunately cannot wake up from.   And the Pittsburgh [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers travel out to the Show Me State this weekend to take a gander at the new look Kansas City Chiefs.  Unfortunately for long-suffering Chiefs fans, what they’ll see is more of the same losing football they’ve seen for more than a decade.  KC is a text book example of how not to run a franchise.  Unless you’re trying to run it into the ground.  The Chiefs have won exactly four of their past thirty four games and that trend doesn’t look like it’s about to reverse itself anytime soon. Let’s start as we always do with the [...]

Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers are everywhere. Even in Dallas as the above video shows. I love how the newspaper gave the entire family Cowboys jerseys (including, ugh, pink ones) to make it look like they follow the team. The look on Jason Witten‘s face when he walks into the kid’s room is hilarious. One of the other cool things about Steeler Nation is how we take over other team’s stadiums. This Sunday, for example, I expect there to be a sea of Black and Gold amongst smatterings of red when we play the Kansas City Chiefs. After all, the [...]

Looks like Terry Bradshaw can’t believe it either. In the wake of the Pittsburgh Steelers crushing defeat by the Cincinnati Bengals this past Sunday, Steeler Nation is awash in a sea of negativity. The Steelers are 6-3 and in good shape for a playoff berth yet the general feeling is that Sunday’s loss basically ended the season. While I advise you to put away the knives and remove your belts and shoelaces, I’d be less than truthful if I didn’t admit to believing the doomsayers speak a bit of truth. Two teams in 43 years have won the Super Bowl [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers were handed a devastating loss by the improbable score of 18-12 yesterday afternoon.  This defeat completes a shocking sweep of both divisional games by the Cincinnati Bengals.  Barring a monumental collapse, the Bengals have all but assured themselves of winning the AFC North title.  On a day when both a game and a division were lost, perhaps the worst loss for the Steelers came in the form of Troy Polamalu, who re-injured his knee on the first series of the game and may be lost for the season. This is where I usually launch into an obnoxiously [...]