This Sunday, Rex Ryan and his New York Jets take on the Pittsburgh Steelers for the right to play in Super Bowl XLV.  Not much more needs to be said.  Which is ironic since Ryan is known for saying his peace and then some.  Whether he genuinely respects the Steelers or is just worried about winding up with his foot in his mouth (rather than his wife’s), he’s been remarkably restrained to the point of boredom.

The closest we’ve had to trash talk was when Ike Taylor said he wouldn’t hesitate to lay out his old buddy Santonio Holmes if given the chance.  To which ‘Tone responded he doesn’t care about the Steelers anymore.  Wait, so a defensive player will still do his job in the biggest game of the year even if his opponent is a former teammate?   And a pothead wide receiver cares more about his current team than the one who flushed him like a bag of weed during a drug bust?

SHOCKING.

Truth is, Rexy can call Mike Tomlin “one of my favorite people” in football and Tomlin can say he loves Ryan’s style all week long.  Trevor Pryce can call Big Ben “a polar bear” while complimenting how he plays the game. None of it matters.  When the whistle blows and the ball is kicked, both teams will bring all they have for a chance to play on the biggest stage of them all.

STEELERS DEFENSE vs. JETS OFFENSE

Mark Sanchez is the key to the game.  Last week, we saw Bert Flacco fold like a cheap lawn chair when the pressure was on.  Sanchez is a similar kind of quarterback who leans on a strong running game and is protected by safe, short throws when they pass.  Thus far, he has avoided the game-changing mistakes other young quarterbacks have made despite shaky protection due to an injury to his usual starting right tackle, Damian Woody.

The two-headed monster of Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson are a young quarterback’s best friend.  Against the Steelers staunch run defense, they combined for 100 yards.  They may not have won the previous meeting but their effective running kept the pressure off Sanchez by controlling the clock and providing manageable third downs.  If they’re kept in check, it becomes an entirely different game with the ball put into Sanchez’s hands.

Taking a page from the Ratbirds, the Jets tried to cover for inexperience at QB by surrounding him with star wide receivers.   Make no mistake, the duo of Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards are second to none.   Mix in slot man Jerricho Cotchery and dependable tight end Dustin Keller and you have an excellent supporting cast.  Still, in last week’s effort against the Patriots, Sanchez missed a number of throws and generally looked shaky outside of one or two key plays (he was helped immensely, for example, by a helluva catch by ‘Tone in the end zone).  While he has the admirable tendency to make a play when he needs to make one, the Steelers best bet would still be to turn the game into a track meet and dare Nacho to beat them.

The last time these two teams faced off, Sanchez didn’t have to worry about the flowing locks of Troy Polamalu.  Troy had a miserable game against the Ravens but if I were I betting man, I wouldn’t like the odds of him playing two poor games in a row.  Troy is exactly the kind of unpredictable wild card which gives young quarterbacks nightmares.  I fully expect him to be the difference between this game and the last one.

All other hands would seem to be on deck.  Bryant McFadden left the Ravens game with an abdominal strain but returned to practice and expects to play.  With Ike Taylor shutting down the opponent’s star receiver, it’s crucial for B-Mac to line up on the opposite side.  William Gay has played solidly when called upon although we saw what happened with him last season.  Not to mention with McFadden hurt, that leaves Anthony Madison as the nickel.

The only other notable injuries are to special teams players Arnaz Battle and Will Allen.  I note this because in the first meeting between the teams, the key play was Brad Smith’s opening kickoff return for a touchdown.  The good news is Smith is injured and, while he will play, may not handle returns.  The bad news is his replacement is Antonio Cromartie, who is every bit as dangerous.  The special teams played a lot better this season but were terrible last week and if one or both of our special team specialists can’t go, that’s not gonna help matters.

STEELERS OFFENSE vs. JETS DEFENSE

If Sanchez is the key for the Jets, Ben Roethlisberger is the key for the Steelers.  Both teams are roughly equal when you compare them position by position.  Except when you look at the quarterback position.  Big Ben is the best big game quarterback in the NFL and perhaps of all-time.  As Hines Ward said following the Ravens game, “When you walk in to the huddle and see #7 there, you know you always have a chance.”

Another big change from last time is the presence of Ben’s favorite target, Heath Miller. Those who saw the first meeting between the teams might recall Matt Spaeth being open all over the field.   But Spaeth does as he is known to do and dropped as many as he caught.  Miller will not disappoint in the same fashion.  Last week, Patriot tight ends had over 100 yards receiving while the Jets D have surrendered a league high 9 TDs to TEs during the season so to say having Heath back is extremely important is an understatement.

Make no mistake, the Jets have one of the finest defenses in the league.  They scheme extremely well and take full advantage of weaknesses in their opponents game.  They also take a page out of the Steelers book by blitzing from unpredictable places and at unpredictable times.  It surely helps that Flozell Adams appears to be over the flu bug although Jonathan Scott was also banged up last week and he was the biggest weak link in the previous meeting.

While the Jets play solid defense, they can be exploited.  Rashard Mendenhall had 99 yards rushing in their prior encounter.  The Patriots, who are a below average running team by nature, still ran the ball effectively with itty bitty Danny Woodhead.  While the Steelers are no longer a ground-and-pound “Stiller Football” style offense, it wouldn’t hurt to pound the rock enough to slow down the pass rush just a little bit.

However, the game will still come down to Big Ben.   Darrelle Revis seems to be hitting his stride so I wouldn’t expect much from Mike Wallace this week.  Luckily, the Steelers are five deep when it comes to receiving threats.  Antonio Brown caught maybe a dozen balls all season and then came down with a 58 yard bomb in the most critical moment of the year.  Drew Coleman, Brodney Pool, Kyle Wilson, and even Antonio Cromartie can be exploited.  Hines and Heath are the steady veterans while Ben has shown no fear in calling the numbers of Emmanuel Sanders or A-Brown when need be.

Fellow CMU graduate Nik Bonaddio ran a statistical analysis of this game which I would gladly explain to you if I didn’t fall asleep during stats class sophomore year.  Suffice it to say, his extremely detailed breakdown has the Steelers winning 24-17.  Sounds about right.  Games like this are won or lost on cheap points.  The first time these teams met, the Steelers gifted the Jets nine undeserved points by allowing a kickoff return and then running an idiotic draw in the end zone for a safety.  After last week’s sloppiness, I don’t expect the Steelers to shoot themselves in the foot yet again.  Good for Steeler Nation, bad for Rex Ryan and Gang Green.

Catching up with some Pittsburgh Steelers related news I may have missed while digging myself out from Snowmageddon ’10.

Super Bowl X MVP and gubernatorial washout Lynn Swann has challenged The Bus to a ten pin smackdown at next year’s Super Bowl. Swann, serving as event host for the Fifth Annual NFL Charities Super Bowl Celebrity Bowling Classic, welcomed more than 40 ex-NFLers in Miami to a benefit for the NFL’s Youth Education Town (YET) initiative.  What is it with Steelers and bowling?  It can’t be a Pittsburgh thing because I haven’t been to McKnight Lanes in fifteen years.  Did our favorite rotund halfback accept the challenge from our Hall of Fame wide receiver?

Stay tuned!

Speaking of Hall of Famers, beloved Defensive Coordinator Dick LeBeau was finally selected for the Hall of Fame. Of course, he’s going in as a DB and not a coach but let’s not quibble over details.  After over fifty years of distinguished service to the NFL, nobody is more deserving.   Also making it is longtime Redskins All-Pro OG and Pitt legend Russ Grimm.   Hope this takes some of the sting off the whole “You’re the Steelers new head coach!  Oh wait, no you’re not!” thing, Russ.

Ben Roethlisberger is a dick, chapter 24. The New York Post ran this story about Big Ben leaving a Chicago night club.   Evidently, he dropped some cash on the ground, then gave a lady the stuck up jock treatment when she tried to return it.  Given Ben’s recent history, I don’t blame him for being leery of strange women.  Plus, he was probably fresh out of Rohypnol.

Ben Roethlisberger is awesome, chapter 5. Yahoo Sports has an article up proclaiming Big Ben a better QB than Peyton Manning.  Seriously.  I’m not going to get into this debate again since your opinion is going to be influenced by whether you’re a biased homer or a reasonable and realistic football fan.  I will say this, who cares if you’re the most clutch playoff performer in NFL history if YOU CAN’T GET YOUR DAMN TEAM TO THE POSTSEASON IN THE FIRST PLACE!

The AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts returned home to a massive throng of… Eleven fans?   ELEVEN?  I guess they had better things to do, like cow-tipping or taking advantage of that free Grand Slam breakfast.  File this sad display away in your memory banks for the next time some uneducated moron claims Steeler Nation is filled with bandwagon jumpers.

The Steelers sign training camp fodder. First, they plucked LB Derrick Doggett from the CFL.  Doggett was a special teams ace for that Mickey Mouse league up north.  I don’t know why they bother since he’ll need to beat out James Harrison or that nincompoop Tomlin will cut him because he “doesn’t believe in keeping strictly special teams players on the main roster.”   They signed two more guys yesterday. Brandon London is a 6-4 WR who was a practice squadder with the Giants but spent 2009 out of football.  Limas Sweed had better spend the off-season playing with radioactive spiders.  They also signed former Pitt punter Adam Graessle, who kicked last year in the UFL.   Teams usually bring multiple Ps, Ks, and QBs to camp so they can practice against real life people.   Don’t worry, ladies, Dreamy Daniel Sepulveda isn’t on the chopping block.

Which reminds me, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Last year, I turned my blog over to one of our most frequent and insightful commenters, Robyn, and she delivered a great post on the animal magnetism (or lack thereof) of Skippy Reed.  If any of my hundreds of sassy female readers would like to give it a shot this year, drop me a line at this address or post in the comments below.

Finally, a plea to you, my dear readers. I don’t ask for much.  In fact, I give you countless hours of high quality entertainment for the bargain basement low price of free several times per week.  But now I am asking for something.   Sean over at Sean’s Ramblings is hosting his 2nd Annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament.   Last year, I was bounced in the Sweet Sixteen by the tournament’s eventual winner, PensBlog.  While I have no delusions of grandeur, I would like to improve upon last year’s performance.   So please, take a second to click this link, scroll down about a quarter of the way (to the Ironhead Heyward Division), and drop a vote or two or three for the most super duper spiffy Steelers blog on the interwebs.   Thank you.

The 2009 Pro Bowl rosters were announced yesterday.  A grand total of two Pittsburgh Steelers were selected to the team.  James Harrison was named a starter, his third selection in as many years.  Casey Hampton was chosen as a reserve NT (behind the Ravens’ Haloti Ngata) marking his fifth appearance in the NFL’s annual all-star game.

As is usually the case with the Pro Bowl, it’s more interesting to talk about who didn’t make it than those who did.

Nobody was selected from the Steeler offense.  Remember, this is first time in franchise history that they have a 4,000 yard passer, two 1,000 yard recievers, and a 1,000 yard rusher all in the same season.  Not to mention Heath Miller, who has long been one of the best TEs in the game but is currently having the finest year of his career.  When you pile up those kind of statistics, one would think somebody should get Pro Bowl recognition.

Even though Hines Ward currently has roughly the same stats as Pro Bowl reserve Brandon Marshall, I can understand him not making the team.  His fellow players consider him “dirty” and in a popularity contest like this, his grittiness hurts his chances.  The same cannot be said of Santonio Holmes.  Coming off his Super Bowl MVP performance, many thought this would be ‘Tone’s breakout year.   I’m not sure I’d go that far but he’s currently tied for third in the NFL in total receiving yardage.  What really separates him is that of the top ten receivers, he’s third in average yards per catch.  I’d say that’s slightly more impressive than Wes Welker’s uncanny ability to catch ten 3 yard passes per game.

The other omission I’m sure will cause much agita among Steeler Nation is the snubbing of Ben Roethlisberger.  This one’s a little bit difficult for me because I really don’t see any argument for including him unless you think the Super Bowl winning QB should make the team by default.  He’s eighth in total yardage and his 23/12 TD-to-INT ratio isn’t very good.  Big Ben also suffers by playing in the same conference as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.  It’s hard to put Ben on the team ahead of two of the greatest QBs in NFL history.  The only one you could quibble with is the third QB, Philip Rivers.  However, Rivers has a fantastic 27/9 ratio and his team has won twelve games this year.

Regardless, there are a ton of dropouts every season since everybody wants chosen for the Pro Bowl (due to contract incentives) but nobody wants to actually play in it.  Since the NFL stupidly moved it out of Hawaii, I’d imagine there will be even less desire to attend this year.  So of course I’m sure another Steeler or two will make the team before all is said and done.  Although being added because somebody else didn’t want to come is kinda like being the last kid picked in kickball.

Nice to know Dino Tomlin was as confused by the onside kick as most of Steeler Nation.

If the Pittsburgh Steelers wish to defend their Super Bowl championship in the postseason, they must win their two remaining games.  Step one of that plan puts them on a collision course with the Baltimore Ravens .   People forget that in 2006, even with the horrid 2-6 start, the Steelers rallied in the second half of the season to have an outside shot at the playoffs.  Those dreams were soundly crushed by the Ratbirds in the second to last game of the season.  Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself on Sunday.

Since we’re all too familiar with the Ravens, I’ll give a brief offensive/defensive breakdown.   Defensively, Baltimore is a perfect example of why I caution people not to blame injuries for the Steelers poor play.   They’ve had numerous players go down in their secondary to the point they just resigned Corey Ivy, who was a Steeler for about thirty seconds about a month back.   Considering the Ratbirds played almost an entire season without their best defensive player (and Hines Ward‘s favorite victim), Ed Reed, it’s amazing they’re still a top ten pass defense.  In fact, despite losing a number of key players, they’re second in the league in fewest points given up per game.  Injuries are never an excuse for sucking.

Offensively, Baltimore depends heavily on emerging superstar RB Ray Rice.  Rice is a dual threat running the ball and catching passes out of the backfield and when he gets on track, the Ravens usually roll.  QB Joe Flacco hasn’t exactly had a sophomore slump but he’s still more of a game manager at this point.   Of course, it doesn’t help that the Ravens are very thin at wide reciever with only old man Derrick Mason as a major gamebreaking threat.

When these teams last met, it marked the beginning of the death spiral which derailed the Steelers entire season.  Ben Roethlisberger came down with “concussion related headaches” out of nowhere, prompting him to bail on his team at the last minute.   Hines was interviewed by Hobbit Costas and threw his QB under the bus on national television.   First time starter Dennis Dixon came off the bench to perform above and beyond the call of duty.  Behind a running game that rushed 38 times for 156 yards, Dixon played well enough to pull the team ahead 17-14 with about five minutes left.  Of course, the Origami Curtain pissed away the lead and Dixon’s only stupid mistake cost them the game in OT.

This time, Big Ben will be on the field, fresh off his epic 500 yard passing performance against the Green Bay Packers.  Somehow, I doubt we’ll run the ball 38 times on Sunday.   Actually, despite the statistical evidence, I may be in favor of rolling out the Flying Circus since the Ratbird secondary appears to be their most vulnerable area.  Ben will once again be without the protection of LG Chris Kemoeatu, who is nursing a variety of ailments.  He’ll also have a new target in veteran Joey Galloway.  Galloway, who played well for Tampa last year but was cut by the Patriots earlier this season when he ended up in Brady’s doghouse, takes the place of uber-bust Limas Sweed.   Sweed is gone for the season with a “non football-related illness.”

Good job, Limas.  Dude can’t catch a pass but somehow manages to catch swine flu.  Or the clap.

Defensively, FREE AT LAST!!  Yes, Mike Tomlin has finally figured out that Will.i.am Gay is possibly the worst CB ever to wear the Black and Gold and has removed him from the starting lineup. Only about twelve weeks too late in my book.  Surprisingly, the man taking his place is ninety-seven year old Deshea Townshend.   I guess Joe Burnett still needs a little more time in the oven.  Somebody get Dick LeBeau a microwave, please!  Anyway, Gay will go back to playing in nickel packages, where he appeared semi-competent last year.

Finally, my Christmas wish went unfulfilled as Troy Polamalu will not be suiting up for this game.  He underwent an MRI hoping to be cleared but it appears the results were not as positive as we all had hoped.  He remains determined to get back on the field for the Miami game, although I’m beginning to doubt we’ll see his Head ‘N Shoulders fortified locks again this season.  Perhaps that’s for the best.

I know many of my loyal readers live outside of the ‘Burgh.  As such, you may not have the chance to watch this game because of the NFL’s stupid coverage rules.  However, you can still contribute to the Steelers cause by rooting for the teams they need to win to help their playoff chances.  We caught a break on Christmas when San Diego dropped coal in the Titans stocking, eliminating them from the race.   Here’s what else we want.   Miami knocking off Houston.  The Patriots beating the Jags.  Indy dumping the Jets.  And, hold your nose for this one, Philly defeating the Broncos.  Yes, we must root for those illiterate mouthbreathers back east.

I know…  I feel dirty, too.