January 31, 2009
This is a test
THIS IS A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BLOGGING SYSTEM.
Had this been an actual blogging emergency, Steelers fans in your
area would have been notified.
This is only a test.
2:10 pm | link
January 11, 2009
Concussion!? I don't want to talk about a concussion!
Here's reason No. 612 why I want the Steelers to get to the Super Bowl.
Like I said in my previous post,
Mike Tomlin is nothing but class. But he is so due for a press conference meltdown.
In today's postgame presser,
Tomlin was asked about Ben Roethlisberger's concussion. He said "I didn't think about it until you just asked."
Can you imagine him at Super Bowl Media Day being asked what the name of his first pet was?
Oh, and one
more reason why Tomlin's cool: He doesn't golf.
Thanks for the traffic. This ends the live blog portion
of the program. Now I have a column to write.
8:27 pm | link
Class act
How do you like Mike Tomlin? Amid the cluster of humanity on the field after the game, the Steelers coach is looking
for his counterpart, Norv Turner, to shake his hand.
When shaking Ben Roethlisberger's hand, one of the Chargers
players said, "Take it, baby. Take it."
What do you say, Ben?
FINAL SCORE: Steelers 35, Chargers
24
8:03 pm | link
C'mon, guys!
Don't let that midget Sproles score a touchdown. You guys kicked their asses and you're letting the Mayor of
Munchkinland make it look like it was a game.
Watch out for the onsides kick!
Steelers 35, Chargers
24
7:53 pm | link
Whew!
I guess there's the answer to the question in my previous post.
Legedu Naanee isn't even close this
decade's Alfred Pupunu. Naanee is of Nigerian descent and Pupunu is from Tonga.
Willie Parker struck the knockout
blow with a 16-yard touchdown run with 4:17 left. Parker has 146 yards on 27 carries.
Steelers 35, Chargers 17
7:41 pm | link
Uh oh!
Is Legedu Naanee this decade's Alfred Pupunu?
Of course, the Chargers benefited from the Holding-is-allowed-on-James
Harrison Rule on that drive.
Steelers 28, Chargers 17
7:27 pm | link
Nice block
Did anyone see the key block that Carey Davis threw on Gary Russell's 1-yard touchdown run? It's nice to see
that, because up until that point, Davis had been the Artie Buco of this game, the kind of guy who gets his ass kicked by
a French dude or his hand stuck in a boiling lobster pot. There were those two times in the first half he caught passes and
got stopped just short of the first down near midfield, and he suffered the indignity of being stopped at the goal-line on
the previous drive.
Good for you, Carey. Good for you. Now, about that first name ...
Steelers 28, Chargers
10
7:16 pm | link
Two out of three ain't bad
Well, looks like the Steelers still have some work to do in short-yardage situations. Their passing game is clicking
on all cylinders and they can run the ball again, but they still can't punch it in at the goal-line, and the Chargers
still have a pulse.
7:05 pm | link
Putting their Foote down
Just when it looked like Darren Sproles was finally going to hurt the Steelers with a kickoff return to the Pittsburgh
23, Larry Foote intercepts a ball tipped by Brett Keisel to snuff out any Chargers momentum.
Nice try, Norv, on
the challenge.
This coming after a commanding touchdown drive of nearly eight minutes for the Steelers, ending
with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Heath "Hands of God" Miller. That gave the Steelers a 21-10 lead over the Chargers,
and hopefully tired out their defense, with 7:04 left in the third quarter.
6:46 pm | link
I think Ben's head's OK
When the Steelers need points, they get them.
Two weeks after his concussion, Ben Roethlisberger ran the
two-minute offense perfectly to give the Steelers a 14-10 halftime lead. Roethlisberger threw 41 yards to Hines Ward to set
up a 3-yard touchdown run on a sweep by Willie Parker.
And how about the protection Roethlisberger got on that
drive, which began with 1:56 left in the first half. Granted, the Chargers are not a great sacking team. They only had 28
sacks during the regular season, tied for 22nd in the NFL.
By the way, Parker has 52 yards for 10 carries in the
first half. Maybe with all the time he's missed during the regular season, he's fresh for the playoffs. That would
be nice.
So far the Steelers have returned to traditional, smash-mouth Steelers football while still being
able to get points in a hurry.
By the way, Philip Rivers needs to learn to ground the ball like a man. Last week
against the Colts, whenever he was in trouble and could legally get rid of the ball, he just dumped it a few yards in front
of him. And he's done it once in this game. C'mon, Phil! Throw it out of bounds out of everybody's reach like
everybody else does!
Speaking of Rivers, am I the only one who thinks he might have been whacked in the face with
a frying pan when he was a baby? His face is just too damn flat.
6:25 pm | link
Live by the coach, die by the coach
Mike Tomlin might have saved the Steelers some points by challenging and reversing the 43-yard Vincent Jackson reception in
the second quarter (pulled over again, Jackson?). But he cost the Steelers some points with the fake punt near midfield.
Nate Kaeding kicks 42-yard field goal.
Chargers 10, Steelers 7
5:59 pm | link
End of first quarter
Instead of making up for Super Bowl XL, it looks like Bill Leavy is trying to make up for the 13-2 penalty discrepancy
in the regular-season meeting between these teams. So far the Chargers have been flagged four times for 40 yards and the Steelers
once for 10 yards.
No negative runs so far for Willie Parker. He's got four carries for 23 yards. I love how
he shook his head like Jerome Bettis used to at the end of his first run.
Chargers 7, Steelers 7
5:25 pm | link
Holmes Field Advantage
Hey, maybe if the Steelers win, they'll let Holmes light up a fatty after that punt return for a touchdown against
the Greatest Punter Who Ever Lived.
One reason that was key is because as the field gets whiter and whiter, this
isn't the kind of game where you want to be working from behind.
A couple more thoughts:
No way
in hell Sproles is gaining yards between the tackles.
Let's hope Bill Leavy doesn't screw the Steelers
to try to make up for Super Bowl XL ... Not that SB 40 wasn't superbly officiated.
5:07 pm | link
Touchdown Vincent Jackson
License and registration, sir.
4:50 pm | link
Eagles 23, Giants 11
The dream of a Keystone State Super Bowl lives on.
The Eagles seem to be copying the Steelers. Winning playoff
games as the No. 6 seed, and winning by final scores that have never before occurred in the history of the NFL (23-11).
I saw that the weather forecast for Pittsburgh is 20s and snowing. This ain't sunny Californ-I-A, Chargers!
Carded at 37
Good afternoon, fellow Steelers fans! I'll be BLOGGING LIVE today during the Chargers-Steelers AFC divisional
playoff game, which starts at 4:45 p.m.
I went to the ShopRite on Tuckahoe Road in Yonkers, N.Y., to get a
six-pack of Rolling Rock, the taste of Old Latrobe, to get a Steelers theme going. And I was carded! When you're 37, you
always have to remember the date when you're carded. January 11, 2009. It could be the last time.
Maybe my
Steelers cap made me look younger :)
Perhaps this is a sign that it will be a good day to be a Steelers fan.
3:29 pm | link
