Nice Pick, Cowher » packers

Stairway To Seven Runs Through Lombardi Avenue

chris — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:56:33 +0000

The number seven is Steeler Nation‘s new favorite numeral. When the clock strikes midnight on Sunday (making it officially February 7th), number seven Ben Roethlisberger, in his seventh professional season, will have led the Pittsburgh Steelers to an unprecedented seventh Super Bowl championship.

In the spirit of good sportsmanship, I reached out to Monty over at the excellent Green Bay Packers website Total Packers.Com. Naturally, we agreed to exchange seven questions in anticipation of Super Bowl XLV. My questions are in the little gray box with the quote marks, his answers in Green Bay Green.

Your team has impressive wins over many quality teams this season but they also lost to the Patriots as well as the lowly Lions and Redskins. Any common threads we can take from those losses?

The common thread in the Patriots and Lions losses is the Packers were without Aaron Rodgers.

He only played one half against Detroit because of a concussion and didn’t play at all against New England for the same reason. I suspect those outcomes may have been different had Rodgers been in the game.

That being said, if you look at the rest of the Packers losses — all of which were by four points or fewer — there are some common threads.

The Packers Achilles’ heal is special teams. They have a knack for giving up big returns and Mason Crosby has a knack for missing big field goals.

For most of the season, the Packers were also bad in short-yardage situations. Over the latter 1/3 of the season and the playoffs, John Kuhn and James Starks have helped correct that problem, though.

Last year, I know your offensive line was leakier than a computer at the Pentagon. How would you evaluate their performance this year?

The line gets a lot of credit for protecting Aaron Rodgers this season and rightfully so.

Green Bay was 19th in sacks allowed this season, with 38. That’s not great, but it’s a big improvement over the league-leading 51 they gave up last season.

While they were adequate in the passing game, the Packers offensive line was terrible in the running game. Left tackle Chad Clifton is a liability as a run blocker and left guard Daryn Colledge isn’t much better. Center Scott Wells is average. If and when the Packers run, look for them to run right more often than not. Their strength in the running game is right guard Josh Sitton and right tackle Bryan Bulaga.

Overall, the Packers offensive line isn’t terrible, but they are below average. Rodgers’ ability and Mike McCarthy’s play calling disguise their deficiencies.

Relatedly, Rodgers got smacked around like Charlie Sheen and a hotel room full of hookers. A-Rod also missed some time this season. Talk about his health and ability to play through injuries.

As I mentioned earlier, Rodgers missed a game and half with a concussion — his second of the season.

I know if it were up to him, he would have played against New England, but the Packers were cautious with him. They should be. He’s the franchise.

Since the concussion, Rodgers has made a concerted effort to take fewer hits when running. He’s also wearing a specially-designed helmet that’s supposed to decrease the likelihood of getting a concussion.

There was some question as to whether he suffered another concussion against Chicago when Julius Peppers hit him helmet-to-helmet, but he’s shown no sign of injury.

At this point, there’s no reason to believe he’s not 100 percent and I expect they’ll have to scrape him off the field with a shovel for him not to finish the Super Bowl. After all, we’re not talking about Jay Cutler here.

We know about your big three of Rodgers, Driver, and Jennings. If one lesser known offensive player was going to surprise us in the Super Bowl, who would it be?

Receivers James Jones and Jordy Nelson.

The Packers best bet to win the game is to spread the Steelers out because their passing game is superior to Pittsburgh’s secondary.

As a No. 3 receiver, Jones can beat any nickel back in the league and as a No. 4, Nelson can beat any dime back. Both have the speed to break the big play and they’re playing in conditions that give them a big advantage over defenders.

In a similar vein, we know about Cheesehead Fabio (Clay Matthews), Charles Woodson, and BJ Raji. Who could be a surprise hero on defense?

Cornerback Tramon Williams has been lights out in the playoffs.

He sealed the Packers victory over the Eagles with an interception. He intercepted Matt Ryan twice in the divisional round and returned one for a touchdown, which essentially ended the game at halftime.

Williams also developed into the Packers and one of the league’s best cover corners, this season. And yes, I do know Charles Woodson plays on the other side. Williams is close to being mentioned in the same breath as Darrelle Revis when it comes to shutdown corners.

Speaking of the D, how is Woodson still playing at such a high level at that age? I’d have to think Bruce Arians would like to get him matched up with Mike Wallace at some point.

Charles Woodson had more natural athletic ability than just about any football player I’ve ever seen to begin with, so it makes sense he should be able to play at a high level longer than most guys.

Beyond that, Woodson studies film non-stop. He knows the game and he knows his opponent.

It also helps that Dom Capers is the Packers defensive coordinator. Capers knows how to utilize Woodson’s talents and consistently puts him in place to make plays.

Obligatory prediction for the game:

Everything being equal, the Packers spread the Steelers out like the New England Patriots did during the regular season and win handily. Of course, everything isn’t equal. These Steelers have been to the Super Bowl before. These Packers haven’t. I don’t expect a Mike McCarthy team to get distracted, but experience counts for something — or so the media keeps telling me.

Packers 28, Steelers 20

Week 8 Preview: Steelers vs. Football Giants

chris — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 04:14:39 +0000

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Her name is Kate Mara.

This Sunday, her loyalties will be divided like those of nobody else. Kate, you see, is the perfect fusion of two of football’s greatest families. Her father, Chris, is the son of legendary New York Giants owner Wellington Mara. Her mother, Kathleen, is the daughter of Tim Rooney, one of Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art’s boys.

Kate is an actress. She’s probably best known for playing a nutjob analyst on the greatest show in the history of television “24.” The reason I chose that picture of her is besides the fact she’s hot (duh), it perfectly sums up her mixed heritage. You have the pretty, stick-thin actress aspect which represents her New York side and she’s toting a big-ass shotgun which has Pittsburgh written all over it.

I know this doesn’t have much to do with football but would you rather read the 528th article about the Class of 2004 QB Draft or gawk at Kate? Anyway, on to my preview of this week’s tilt between the New York Football Giants and our Pittsburgh Steelers.

STEELER DEFENSE vs. GIANTS OFFENSE

They changed the offense under coordinator (and Steeler castoff) Kevin Gilbride by getting rid of so many deep pass patterns and utilizing more short patterns and come back routes. These safer throws help cover QB Eli Manning’s greatest weakness, his accuracy, which is key to his sudden emergence as an elite quarterback.

Nevertheless, the strength of this offense is the running game. Brandon Jacobs is far better than given credit for since he averaged 5.0 yards a carry and is very unfun to tackle because of his size. He’s not Reggie Bush by any stretch, but he’s far more elusive than say Christian Okoye was. Derrick Ward was supposed to be featured on passing downs and as a change-of-pace back but his explosive ability has many saying he should be given equal chance to carry the ball. This two-headed monster is complimented by a third excellent back in Ahmed Bradshaw. They will be coming at the Steelers all day so Blitzburgh better be ready to clamp down on the run or the entire playbook opens up to the Giant offense.

Their O-Line deserves a lot of credit for their success running the ball as they have quality run blockers at four of the five positions. Rich Seubert is a severely underrated left tackle. Chris Snee is really good, although he does struggle with penalties. Plus he’s married to head coach Tom Coughlin’s daughter so he knows if he doesn’t play well, he’ll likely be sleeping on the couch when he gets home.

While run blocking is a strength, the line does have questions when it comes to protecting the quarterback. One of the key players last season was Kareem McKenzie. McKenzie has always been known as a run blocker over a pass protector. However, last season he put it all together in time for their stretch run. If McKenzie had struggled in pass protection like he had in previous years, it would’ve been nearly impossible for their offense to do anything with two offensive tackles needing help. David Diehl, the other weak link, is a good run blocker, but led the league in sacks allowed as he simply can’t keep up with good speed rushers.

The Black and Gold Wrecking Crew of LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison should get some pressure on Eli. This will be key as in their embarrassing loss to the hapless Browns they reverted back to their pre-Super Bowl form of Manning running around ragged, forcing things, and making bonehead mistakes.

Because he knocked off the hated Patriots, I’ll always be a fan of Eli. But realistically, he only played really well in week 17 last year, was about average against Tampa, and then only attempted 18 passes in the Dallas game. He was terrific against the Packers but if you watch the Super Bowl, he started making those bad decisions again and was just incredibly lucky. His highest season QB rating is only a 77.

Manning’s big weapon in the passing game is another old friend, Plaxico Burress. If you remember all the reasons we weren’t sorry to see him go they still apply here. Yes, he came up really big in the playoffs last year but considering how many big games for the Steelers where he pulled a disappearing act, it’s almost too little too late. He’s Eli’s favorite target and with his size, he should give our smallish corners fits. CB Bryant McFadden has a broken forearm and will be out several weeks so the nickel corner will now be the unfortunately named William Gay.

STEELER OFFENSE vs. GIANTS DEFENSE

The G-Men run a 4-3 scheme that is based on the scheme that the Eagles use as D-Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was a longtime assistant under Jim Johnson. This means lots of blitzing, stunting, and changes in coverage. This also means we’re facing nearly an exact copy of the defense which sacked QB Ben Roethlisberger approximately 37 times in our only loss of the season.

Except the Giants D has more talent. They held opponents to an 83.4 QB rating last year. They were solid against the run (3.8 yards allowed per carry) and led the league in sacks. We’ll learn if our revamped offensive line has really improved since the Philly debacle or if it has simply been a result of playing sub-standard teams. LT Marvel Smith is still recovering from the back spasms he experienced three weeks ago so his return is uncertain. If he can’t go, the $7 Million Dollar Man Max Starks will actually have to earn his grossly inflated pay. He looked decent last week against Cincy but c’mon, it’s the Bungles. RG Darnell Stapleton continues to impress but he will be tested against the Giants excellent DTs.

Of course, I again refer to the Browns game where immobile statue Derek Anderson had all day and night to throw the ball. The Giants have suffered a lot of loss on defense, notably the retirement of Michael Strahan and the season-ending injury to every hooker’s nightmare Osi Umenyiora. Whether or not these losses have finally caught up to them or if that game was just a fluke will deteremine what happens on offense for Steelers.

Barring any last second incidents such as walking under a ladder or breaking a mirror, Pothole Willie Parker should finally return from his sprained knee. Mewelde Moore has been nothing short of spectacular in his place so I wouldn’t expect a heavy workload for FWP. In fact, I’m sure they’ll split the carries until he works himself back into game shape.

Loosening up the Giant D will likely fall to Big Ben and his receivers. One reason the Pats were such favorites last year was on paper the biggest weakness for NY is their corners. Sam Madison is a gamer. He was supposedly done 3 years ago and he doesn’t have nearly the quickness or athleticism he had back then but somehow manages to hold his own. Corey Webster was horrible last year but then played the game of his life against Randy Moss. Aaron Ross didn’t put up good pass defense stats either although he’s a great blitzer.

Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and the Tiffin Thunderbolt Nate Washington should be able to work against this secondary. The Browns passing game had little problem and even pathetic Cincy kept their game competitive because they could throw on them. As long as our line keeps Ben upright, there will be plays to be made. That’s one big “if” though.

Both teams are currently 5-1. Both teams also have yet to play any real stiff competition. This week will be a huge gauge of exactly how good they truly are.

Brett Favre Takes Ball, Goes Home

chris — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:32:09 +0000

September 27, 1992.

I was a senior in high school, eagerly awaiting my acceptance letter from Carnegie Mellon University. Between us, I firmly believe the extra 250 points the SATs give you for spelling your name correctly put me over the top. “Wayne’s World” kept me sane by repeatedly asking, “Are you mental?” Kriss Kross promised to make me Jump! Jump!

And for the first time in 25 years, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a new coach roaming the sideline. Emperor Chuck Noll had stepped aside and his successor was a fiery, spit-spewing, thirty-five year old former KC assistant with a lantern jaw that would make Jay Leno jealous. It was Bill Cowher’s first season as head coach and this native son of Pittsburgh made us all proud by getting the Steelers off to a 2-0 start.

In week three, we played the Green Bay Packers. The city, the team, and even I were on a roll and none of us were ready for the ride to end. We had every reason to think it would continue as the Majik Man, quarterback Don Majkowski, was injured the previous week, forcing the sorry Pack to turn to some nobody making his first career NFL start.

That guy’s name was Brett Favre. And not only did he start, he won. He threw for over 200 yards and two touchdown passes, handing the Steelers a crushing 17-3 defeat. Brett started the next week. Then the next. In fact, he went on to start 253 games in a row. Along the way he picked up three MVP awards, reached two Super Bowls (winning one), set a whole slew of quarterbacking records, and left us all with a number of memorable performances.

Yes, I’ve been critical of Favre from time to time. I do happen to feel this retirement should’ve taken place 2-3 years ago. Granted, he had a pretty damn good year last season but the last couple prior to that were so bad that nobody, other than the most ardent of Favre supporters (which apparently includes 98% of the media), saw them as anything more than him hanging around just to break a few records.

That said, he has had an incredible career, and those few bad years won’t diminish his prior accomplishments. He’s easily a top-10 all-time QB and a first-ballot Hall of Famer. While I’ve never been his biggest fan, or even a big fan, he has my respect. And I’m sure when September 2008 rolls around, we’ll all find it a little bit weird and a little bit sad to have an NFL season without #4 playing for the Packers.

Highway To Ham: Playoff Picks Edition

chris — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:34:50 +0000

Before the season started, I developed this theory known as the “Fab Four.” Basically, since 2000 there have been 28 teams that have made the playoffs despite having a losing record the previous season. In fact, since 2000, four teams a year have made the playoffs despite a losing record the prior season, except for 2001 (3 teams) and 2002 (5 teams). It’s pretty much a given that four playoff teams each year will make the playoffs despite a losing record the season beforehand. However, there was a caveat to this year. In 2006 there were only 12 teams with a losing record. Thus, I believed that it was less likely the “Fab Four” would happen this year and modified my theory to predict 3 teams with losing records in 2006 would make the playoffs this year. I chose Tampa Bay, Houston, and San Francisco to accomplish this feat.

I bring this up because, as you can see, I was 1 for 3. This level of Prognostication Proficiency is about how well I did on the Highway to Ham. For the newer readers, the Highway to Ham is a group of about two dozen of us at work who compete in a weekly not-for-profit football poll where the cumulative results are tallied at the end of the season and the victor is awarded a trophy in the form of a Jack Ham rookie card. Needless to say, if you bet your college education funds according to my picks, I hope you enjoy your upcoming semester at Allegheny Community College.

Still, since the Steelers have lamentably been bounced from the post season tournament, I figured I might as well chip in with a few picks for this week’s Divisional Playoff games.

Patriots over Jaguars – The Jags were exposed more last week than Britney’s crotch was in 2007. Jacksonville is a great running team with a mediocre quarterback and suspect secondary. Not exactly the recipe for beating the Patriots. Bill Belichick’s deal with Satan ensures them at least a shot at 18-0 next week.

Colts over Chargers – I’m tempted to take the Bolts here since Peyton Manning has a history of struggling in first-round playoff games and the team has to shake off the rust of not playing any meaningful football for almost three weeks. However, I just can’t ride with Phillip Rivers, who’s only consistency is his tendency to be wildly inconsistent. Where would San Diego be if they had taken Ben Roethlisberger or decided to keep Drew Brees?

Packers over Seapigeons – You see, Bret Farve is the greatest player ever in the history of football, sports, pretty much any athletic competition there is, was, or ever will be. Bah gawd, Brett Farve will chuck that pigskin because if anyone could make a pass like that, it is the one and only Bret Farve. Did I mention that Bret Farve is the greatest quarterback ever and he, and only he alone, is capable of going out there with his gunslinger mentality and firing footballs into itty bitty spaces where other knock-kneed quarterbacks fear to tread? Plus, he’ll being throwing these passes at Lambeau Field, the greatest stadium ever, so it is inevitable his passes will be complete and go for many many touchdowns!

Just getting you warmed up for what you should expect to hear from the announcers this weekend. Verbally fellating Bret Favre has become our new national pastime.

New York Football Giants over Cowboys – Dallas QB Tony Romo made news this week for vacationing in Mexico with girlfriend Jessica Simpson. I think because of those two large yet perky distractions, the G-Men will be able to pull off the upset. Plus, Dallas has already beaten the Giants twice this year. Call it a case of tit for tat.