2000

This marked the Steelers final season in Three Rivers Stadium.

The team began the year with the Kent Graham Experiment.  Graham, a journeyman backup quarterback who spent most of his career with the Giants, was inexplicably signed to a big money free agent deal to replace the struggling Kordell Stewart.  He had a mediocre start as the the Steelers were 0-3 under his leadership until getting injured.   Kordell replaced him and reeled off two straight wins before returning to the bench.   Somehow, the Steelers won the next two games despite Graham completing a grand total of 16 passes.

Stewart was given his job back and finished out the year as starter.   The team went 9-7, ending their streak of three consecutive losing seasons.  Thanks to a decent defense led by Joey Porter and Jason Gildon and 1,350 rushing yards from Jerome Bettis, old Three Rivers went out a winner.

2001

The Steelers welcomed Heinz Field by going 13-3 and hosting the AFC Championship Game.  2001 was Slash’s final shining moment in the Black and Gold.   After almost losing his job the year before, he managed to conjure up the days when he was the most exciting player in the NFL.

When the year was over, Kordell would pass for 3,100 yards, rush for 500, and score 19 total touchdowns.   Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress each had 1,000 yard seasons receiving.  They were aided by the Bus, who would have his final 1,000 yard season, and Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala, one of the many heir apparents the Steelers tried to find for Bettis.

The Steelers bounced the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens out of the playoffs in the first round.  Thus began a decade long trend of the Steelers torturing the poor Ratbirds in games that actually meant something.  In the Championship game, the Steelers knocked a spunky youngster named Tom Brady out of the game.   Drew Bledsoe came off the bench to toss a TD pass that would eventually be the difference in the game.

2002

The previous year saw WWE owner Vince McMahon think to himself, “Hmmm, I’m great at marketing oiled up meatheads in teeny tiny swimming trunks fake fighting with each other.  I know!  I’ll start a football league!” The XFL was an abject failure and went away after one season.  However, the league MVP, Tommy Maddox, went on to sign with the Steelers.

Maddox was a first round draft pick of the Denver Broncos way back in 1992.  They planned to make him the successor to John Elway.   Except Elway pulled a Favre and refused to retire.   Good for Denver, because he ended up winning two Super Bowls late in his career.  Maddox was considered a washout and was actually selling insurance for a living when Vinnie Mac gave him a call.

Stewart began the season as starter but played terribly.  After losing the first two games and looking bad while squeaking by the Browns in OT, Bill Cowher had seen enough.  He pulled Kordell in favor of Maddox marking the end of Slash’s career in Pittsburgh.  Maddox lead the team to a 10-5-1 record (yes, a tie).

Elsewhere, Bettis was struggling with injuries as his days as the primary back were rapidly coming to an end.   West Virginia product Amos Zereoue stepped in to do a nice job in his absence.  It would be the lone highlight of Zereoue’s NFL career.  Believe it or not, today he’s a chef at a fancy restaurant which bears his name.

The Steelers managed to win the AFC North that year.      In the first round, they played the Cleveland Browns in one of the best playoff games ever.  The Browns were up 24-14 in the fourth quarter and all they had to do was run out the clock.  However, the Browns had an offensive coordinator by the name of Bruce Arians.  Foolishly chucking the ball 40+ times gave the Steelers time to explode for 22 points in pulling off a 36-33 victory.

In the next round, they faced the late Steve McNair and his Tennesee Titans.  This game will forever be known as The Joe Nedney Game.  The teams battled into overtime where Nedney missed a 30 yard field goal but Steelers CB Dewayne Washington brushed up against his calf trying to block it.  Nedney hit the turf, rolling around like he just got decked by Chuck Liddell. The refs threw a flag, giving Nedney a second chance to win the game.

2003

File ’03 under “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”   The Steelers had a weak running attack with Bettis battling injuries and age while newly anointed starter Zereoue quickly flamed out.  So what did they decide to do?

AIR IT OUT!

This was the year of the Tommy Gun Offense.  The Steelers let Maddox throw early and throw often.  He ended up with 3,500 yards passing but a terrible 18/17 TD-to-INT ratio.   And the team finished a miserable 6-10.

Although there was hope on the horizon in the form of a wild haired human missile out of USC who spent most of the year on special teams because he had trouble figuring out the Steelers’ complicated defense.

2004

The Steelers parlayed the misery of ’03 into a first round draft pick by the name of Ben Roethlisberger.  While everybody was fighting over Eli Manning and Philip Rivers, the Steelers sat back and waited for Big Ben to fall into their laps.  For those wondering where I got the name of my site, there was a great NFL end of season commercial showing two actors playing Steeler fans.  They were watching the draft and after Ben’s name was called one fan asks, “Roethlis…who?“  to which the other answers sarcastically, “Nice pick, Cowher!”

Man, how different does Ben look?

Anyway, Maddox was supposed to play the year while Ben sat and learned.  Unfortunately, he was hurt in the second game of the season, a loss to the Ratbirds.   Ben stepped in and reeled off fifteen straight victories.  Among those wins were back-to-back triumphs over undefeated teams, first ending the Patriots 18 game winning streak then humbling the Iggles.

Ben was supported by a rejuvenated running game.  The Steelers signed their last big name free agent by luring Duce Staley from the Eagles.  Staley had 830 yards on the season while the Bus added another 941 plus 13 TDS.  The Steelers also benefitted by rehiring Dick LeBeau, who had left the team earlier in the decade to become head coach of the Bengals.   With LeBeau as defensive coordinator and the ground game clicking, the Steelers made it to another AFC Championship game where they were defeated by Peepin’ Bill Belichick and his Spycam loving Patriots.

The loss was followed by a pair of good byes.  Burress, an uber-talented headcase, departed via free agency.   The Steelers shed no tears over that development.   Tears did fall when Myron Cope, the voice of Steeler Nation for 35 years, announced his retirement.  There’ll never be another one like you, Cope.

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 been experiencing headaches the past couple days.  Crack reporting by our local media as usual.  Anyway, after meeting with head coach Mike Tomlin it was evidently decided to sit Ben out rather than risk a second concussion or even worse neurological damage.

The Dennis Dixon era is about to begin.

Dixon is a second year pro who has thrown one NFL pass.  While at Oregon, he was seen as Heisman Trophy candidate and a probable first round NFL draft pick.  Unfortunately, he tore his ACL mid-way through his senior season.  He postponed surgery and played with the injury because he wanted to get his team to the Rose Bowl.  It ended up costing him, though, as he was still recovering from the surgery when the draft came around and his poor workouts dropped him from the top two or three rounds all the way to the fifth.  Dix is an amazing athlete who even played minor league baseball in the Atlanta Braves organization before turning his full attention to football.

As a Steeler, his highlights amount to exactly one play he made in a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills last year.  Taking the snap, he saw nobody open so he took off running.  47 yards later he had a touchdown in a play that would’ve made Kordell Stewart proud.  In fact, I confess to being excited about the idea we had Slash 2.0 on our hands.  I make no apologies for being a huge Kordell fan.  But much like the great Slash, Dixon came into camp this year showing a similar tendency to struggle with his accuracy.  Dix has a good arm so it was very disappointing to see the guy who was supposed to challenge Charlie Batch for the backup QB spot looking confused, erratic, and displaying poor mechanics.

Hopefully, he’ll be able to pull it together for this Sunday night’s game.  Although Ben hasn’t officially been ruled out (the doctors will test him today and tomorrow to determine if he should play), I’m going out on a limb and saying he’s not starting.  Once a player shows concern or reluctance to play because of an injury, he’s already mentally checked out.  For the sake of the Steelers playoff hopes, I hope the rest of the team hasn’t as well.

Only a little over half way through the 2009 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers face their first truly pivotal contest of the year against the Cincinnati Bengals. When the NFL crafted the schedule, it certainly appears they didn’t expect this to be the year the Orange Empire Strikes Back. Otherwise, I doubt they would’ve blown through both Baltimore games and the season series against the Steelers by such an early date. Nevertheless, that’s where we find ourselves this week, facing the Bengals in a game which may very well decide the AFC’s North Division champion.

In their first meeting, the Steelers held a 20-9 lead in the fourth quarter.  Then came a stunning collapse, mistakes on both sides of the ball contributing to an eventual 23-20 loss. Of course, the Steelers were without the services of Troy Polamalu in that game. Then again, they had the presence of Aaron Smith to help contain the scorching hot Cedric Benson. Not only is Smith not playing this Sunday, but his capable replacement Travis Kirschke is also out.  Let’s hope Nick Eason and Ziggy Hood can keep the resurgent ground game of the Bengals under control or it’s going to be a long afternoon.

For more answers as to what we might expect this week, let’s talk with our old friend Mickey, lead blogger over at WhoDeyFans.

1. Last week, the Bengals whupped up on the Ravens 17-7 to sweep their season series. Where did this Cincy defense come from?

I think you are seeing a great Cincinnati defense for a few reasons. One, the Bengals have had pretty high draft picks for a while now and you are seeing that talent pay off with guys like Rivers, Maualuga, Joseph and Hall. Two, there have been some great free agent pickups that allow depth in the defense like Dhani Jones, Roy Williams and Tank Johnson. Lastly, I think Mike Zimmer is the best coordinator we have had here in a long time.

2. Can we expect to see anything different from your team this time around?

I think you will see more running. Especially to the right. With Smith being out and his backup questionable I think the Bengals overload that side of the line and run behind it. This can accomplish two things. One it brings Troy in and cheating to that side and that allows the receivers the opportunity for single coverage and two it allows Benson to hit the crease or roll outside with blockers in front. I fully expect Benson to break 100yds this weekend.

3. If the season were to end today, give me the team’s MVP.

Has to be Cedric Benson, he has acclimated well to the AFC North style of play and is the second leading rusher in the NFL.

4. Last year, two AFC North teams met in the AFC Championship game.  Do you think history could repeat itself in 2009?

I assume you mean the Bengals and Steelers. That would be awesome. This would mean not only do the Bengals make the playoffs they manage to win a game or two. If this happens, no matter where the game is, I will be in attendance.

5. Give me a prediction.

I am going to go bold here. I predict that Benson has around 140 yds rushing. I also think the Bengals win by more than a touchdown. 28-20

One long week from today, the Pittsburgh Steelers head to the Mile High City to face the Denver Broncos. A little of the luster has been lost from this match-up thanks to yesterday’s manhandling by the Baltimore Ravens which knocked Denver from the ranks of the undefeated. Nothing feels better than being the team that hands another club their first loss of the year. I love being a spoilsport.

When you ask Steeler Nation to name our biggest rivals, few would mention the Broncos. There are the traditional division rivals, like the Browns and Bengals. Then there are the Patriots and Ravens, teams we’ve battled for playoff glory most of this decade. And finally we have the Cowboys, a team we faced for the Super Bowl title on three occasions and the only team which rivals the Black and Gold on the national stage.

Nope, nobody mentions the Broncos. But I’m here to rectify that. Some of you newer fans may not be aware of the history these teams have together. In many ways, it’s been a much more heated competition over the last 25 years than the so-called rivalries we have with the Browns or Bengals.

In 1989, head coach Chuck Noll pulled off a miracle. He lead a thoroughly mediocre squad to the Wild Card game. In those days, there were only 3 division winners, all of whom got byes.  Two Wild Card teams played a game to see who advanced to the final four. The Steelers won an OT thriller against the Houston Oilers when a young Rod Woodson steamrolled a punt returner, forcing a fumble which lead to the game winning FG.

The next week, the Steelers faced the Broncos.  John Elway was in the midst of leading Denver to three Super Bowls in four years (and losing all of them) so the Donkeys were heavy favorites. Merrill Hoge (yes, the ESPN guy) had the game of his life, rushing for 120 yards on only 16 carries.  Bubby Brister showed tremendous grit, playing almost an entire quarter with a concussion so severe his teammates had to literally walk him to the correct sideline. The Steelers were on the verge of a monumental upset until Elway pulled off one of his patented comebacks, throwing the go-ahead TD with 2:30 left. Yes, Chuck Noll almost made the AFC Championship game with Bubby Freakin’ Brister at quarterback. Now you know why he’s considered one of the best coaches ever.

Fast forward nine years later, Bill Cowher is coach and Kordell Stewart is our quarterback. This was when Slash was one of the most feared offensive weapons in the league and one of the most exciting players I’ve ever seen. I will never apologize for my man crush on Slash. Anyway, the Steelers were the #2 seed and welcomed the Broncos to Three Rivers Stadium. Kordell had a 33 yard TD run which sadly was the only positive in his otherwise horrific day. Three INTS and a fumble contributed to a 24-21 Broncos upset. This game will always be remembered because after Slash threw his second stupid pick in the red zone, Denver LB Bill Romanowski visibly slapped his forehead and yelled at Stewart, “Think, man. You gotta think.”

The Steelers finally got a measure of revenge during the miracle run of 2005. The Broncos had plucked QB Jake Plummer from obscurity in Phoenix and he lead them to the best record in the AFC. Pittsburgh was the lowest seed that year, faced with the daunting prospect of playing the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seeded teams in consecutive weeks. It turned out to be their easiest game of the playoffs, as the Steelers traveled out to Denver and whupped up on the Broncos 34-17. The Black and Gold went on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks for their fifth Lombardi Trophy which set off a torrent of whining from the Pacific Northwest that continues to this day.

So you can see there’s definitely some history between our respective franchises.  If both teams are on a collision course for another epic playoff encounter, next Monday’s game takes on added importance. After all, it may end up determining who has the higher seed and thus, home field advantage.  Prior history aside, that’s something I’m sure we all agree we want on our side come January.

The Pittsburgh Steelers handed the Minnesota Vikings their first defeat of the season with an incredible 27-17 victory. That sentence may seem self-explanatory but it doesn’t even begin to cover what happened. In all my years of watching football, I don’t remember a crazier fifteen minutes of football than what occurred in the fourth quarter. Even for a team which seems to make a habit of the thrilling last second comeback, this one will be remembered by Steeler Nation for a long long time.

Things went well for the Steelers in the early going. Adrian Peterson was held to negative yardage in the first quarter, a first for him. He finished the game with only 69 yards (although he did have another 60 on catches), which is an accomplishment for any defense, let alone one playing without their best run-stopper. They ran right at Travis Kirschke on several occasions and he held his ground, while our linebackers attacked him like a Kit Kat bar at a Jenny Craig meeting.

The first quarter was a punt-fest which the Steelers got the better of thanks to a Mitch Berger impression by the Vikings’ punter. Mike Wallace had a 10 yard catch and then a 13 yard reverse to set the Steelers up at the Vikings thirteen yard line. Ben Roethlisberger, who was a fairly mediocre 14/26 for 175 yards, hit Santonio Holmes for a TD.

Unfortunately, the score was negated by a pass interference penalty against Heath Miller. Evidently, you can interfere with a pass that you not only didn’t catch but was thrown to another receiver 15 yards away. I understand you’re not allowed to run into DBs to prevent them from covering their man. However, it looked to me like the two, yes TWO, DBs Heath ran over bumped into each other first. And there’s still the little fact they were FIFTEEN YARDS AWAY FROM THE PLAY!

The Steelers settled for a FG. After more punts, the Vikings began a methodical drive down the field featuring a 28 yard pass to Percy Harvin and capped by a Peterson blast.  With 1:39 left in the half, the Vikes went to some soft zone type defense and Big Ben methodically picked them apart. A 22 yard pass to super-rookie Wallace (Who deserves a cool nickname. Suggestions please.) was followed up with a 40 yard bomb for a TD. Black and Gold up 10-7 at halftime.

The third quarter saw an exchange of FGs.   The Steelers wasted a great opportunity to score a knockout blow with a first and goal from the Minny 8. Three consecutive pass plays resulted in a near INT, a busted play, and an incompletion. This team leaves the barn door open more often than Matt Spaeth after an all-night bender.

Then came the unbelievable fourth quarter. The Steelers drove downfield, mixing pass and run quite effectively. First down at the Minnesota 9 and it appeared they were finally going to club that baby seal.  A hand-off to Rashard Mendenhall and…and…

…and what the f*#k happened?? I saw what happened but can’t quite believe it. In over two decades of watching football, I’ve never seen a dumber play. Mendenhall launched himself skyward, unfortunately failing to take the ball with him. The Vikes pounced on his horrendous fumble while I literally screamed at my television. Rashard, you see, attempted what looked like perfect goal line dive.  Problem was, he jumped from the SEVEN YARD LINE!! Does he think he’s Michael Jordan!? Who attempts an endzone dive from SEVEN FREAKIN’ YARDS AWAY?!?

Predictably, Brett Favre took this gift and marched the Vikes right down the field. Our secondary fell apart as Troy Polamalu was way out of position several times and they picked on Will.i.am Gay mercilessly all game long. To make matters worse, Kirschke and Lawrence Timmons both left the game with injuries during the drive.  In Timmons’ case, that would come back to haunt the Vikings later, much like the movie Paranormal Activity haunts my dreams on a nightly basis.  A tripping call on Minnesota nullified a TD pass to Sidney Rice, momentarily saving the Steelers from yet another 4th quarter choke.

Still, with a third and 8 from the Steelers 8, it looked like the Vikes would get the tying FG. Then Brett Keisel darted up the middle and swatted the ball out of Favre’s mitts. Mister Woodley rescued the pigskin from the evil clutches of Captain Wrangler and a whole convoy of Steelers escorted him 77 yards the other way for a TD.

To say everybody was excited is like saying Megan Fox kinda looks like a stripper.  Even Dick LeBeau was celebrating!  Steeler nation was excited.  Heinz Field was rocking. I was doing my patented Snoopy Dance of Joy.

Then we kicked off.

Percy Harvin took the ball and without the slightest hesitation streaked the other way for an 88 yard TD. He was barely touched. And I never EVER want to hear how kickers are football players again because Skippy Reed‘s attempt to “tackle” him was laughable. After apologizing to Steeler Nation this week, you’d think he’d at least try to make up by throwing his body at Harvin. Instead he just gave him a dainty little push like he was afraid to break a nail.  Way to go, dipshit.

The Steelers got the ball back and at this point I was just hoping we could somehow run out the clock.  Naturally, Bruce Arians answers my prayers by dialing up a SHOTGUN PASS.  This ends in epic failure as Ben gets the ball stripped and the Steelers are lucky to swat it out of bounds.  Which left Brett Favre with the ball, down 3, with three minutes left. In other words, exactly where we didn’t want to be.

And Favre immediately makes our nightmares come true by leading his team down the field.  The key play here was Purple Jesus SMITING William Gay on a short dump pass before rumbling 30 yards. Minnesota had the ball at the Steelers 19 and at this point I was just hoping for OT. Then Favre floated a screen pass to Chester Taylor who got his fingertips on it enough to deflect it into the waiting hands of Keyaron Fox. Fox was escorted 82 yards for the second thrilling defensive TD in the quarter.

I don’t know what else to say about this one.  We played a legitimate Super Bowl contender and held them to one offensive TD.  We also squandered several chances to put the game away on offense, continuing the disturbing trend of not finishing teams when they have the chance.  On the other hand, our defense playing without three starters had four sacks, a ton of pressures, held the league’s best RB pretty much in check, and scored two TDs.  Sure our secondary isn’t nearly as good as it was last year but this was the first time I felt our defense matched 2008′s level.  And we all know how last year ended.  If the Steelers could figure out how to stop sabotaging their efforts with dumb mistakes on offense and special teams, this team would really be dangerous.