The Steelers' 15 most pivotal defensive touchdowns
of the last 15 years
It's a three-for-one Halloween special. No. 10, No. 9 and No. 8 in one post. I'm going
away this weekend and I can't trust the world of wireless. I will resume with No. 7 on Tuesday.
No. 10: Chad Scott
(Steelers 17, Buccaneers 7, Dec. 23, 2002, at Tampa Bay)
For two teams from different conferences who had only played each other six times over the previous 25 years, the
Steelers and Buccaneers had a pretty heated rivalry. Part of it was because a schedule quirk had them playing each other in
back-to-back seasons. Apparently, that was enough familiarity to breed contempt.
There was a lot of trash talk between the two sides. Steelers safety Lee Flowers called the Bucs "paper champions."
Bucs' loudmouth Warren Sapp skipped through the Steelers' side of the field during pre-game warmups. Jerome Bettis shoved
him, which led to a shouting match between the teams.
It was on.
The Steelers entered this Monday night game 8-5-1. The Bucs were 11-3. They were the favorites, but they were without
quarterback Brad Johnson, the first sign that this would be a cool night to be a Steelers fan.
The Tommy Maddox-led Steelers took a 7-0 lead on their first possession. Then on the second play of the Bucs' first
series, Chad Scott intercepted Shaun King and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 Steelers lead less than four
minutes into the game.
It was over.
The Buccaneers didn't lose another game, going on to win Super Bowl XXXVII. There
would be no rematch in the Super Bowl between these unlikely rivals because the Steelers were eliminated by the Titans in
the AFC divisional playoffs. It's a bitter pill for a solid playoff team to own a win on the road against the team that won
the Super Bowl. The Giants and Colts last season found out how the Steelers must have felt in 2002.
While this win didn't lead to a championship for the Steelers, it did help set
up their come-from-behind, 36-33 wild-card win over the Browns, when they trailed by 17 in the fourth quarter. The Steelers
had to wait three more years for One for the Thumb, but that playoff comeback over the Browns was a memorable moment in team
history. Without Scott's interception against the Bucs, it might not have happened.
No.
9: Carnell Lake
(Steelers 24, Colts
22, Oct. 12, 1997, at Pittsburgh)
Thanks
to Carnell Lake, the Steelers were able to cover up the mistake of letting Rod Woodson go. Well, for a year, anyway.
Woodson went to the 49ers after the 1996 season. So Lake moved to
cornerback from his natural safety position. Without his points in this game, the Steelers would have been humiliated at home
by the winless Colts.
The Steelers fell behind 10-0 in
the first quarter and answered with 10 points of their own. Then Lake forced a Jim Harbaugh fumble (Peyton Manning was a senior
at Tennessee in 1997) and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown and a 17-10 Steelers lead. The Steelers took a 24-13 lead in
the fourth quarter and then hung on for the victory, which improved them to 4-2 and was the third of five straight wins.
The Steelers finished 11-5 and reached the AFC championship
game in 1997, losing 24-21 at home to the Broncos. It was the second of four home AFC title game losses under Bill Cowher.
No. 8: Chad Scott
(Steelers 34, Titans 24, Nov. 25, 2001, at Tennessee)
During this breakthrough 2001 season, the Steelers vanquished a nemesis in the Titans.
Four weeks earlier, the Steelers beat the Titans at home to break a seven-game losing streak against Tennessee. The
first three of those losses came after they moved to Tennessee but were still called the Oilers. But they still hadn't beaten
the Oilers/Titans on the road since 1995. Since then they had lost five straight, once in Houston and four times in Tennessee.
The Steelers led the Titans 27-24 late in the fourth quarter.
But Steve McNair, a sworn enemy of Steelers Nation, had the Titans at their own 46 with 3:45 to go. Plenty of time.
But Scott, who I forget ended his 11-year career with the Patriots
in 2005 and 2006, intercepted McNair and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown and a 34-24 Steelers lead. That was pretty much
it.
With the win, the Steelers improved to 8-2. A season
sweep of the Titans, just two years removed from a Super Bowl berth, helped firm the Steelers' status as one of the elite
teams in the NFL.
The Steelers' 15 most pivotal defensive touchdowns
of the past 15 years
No.
11: Willie Williams and Alvoid Mays
(Steelers 31, Chargers 16, Oct. 1, 1995, at
Pittsburgh)
Unless you're from the Pittsburgh
area, you might have a hard time remembering Alvoid Mays, who played at West Virginia. After five years with the Redskins,
this would be his last year in the NFL.
Willie Williams
might be a little easier to remember. After four years with the Steelers from 1993-1996, Williams played for the Seahawks
for seven years, then came back to Pittsburgh in 2004 and at 35 earned a ring with the Steelers the following year.
Williams helped point the Steelers to their first Super Bowl under Bill Cowher
with his performance in Week 5 of the 1995 season. The Steelers won their first two games then lost their next two, and they
were without Rod Woodson, who tore his ACL in the season opener and didn't return
until the Super Bowl.
Willie and Alvoid helped
fill the void left by their fellow cornerback by returning interceptions for touchdowns against the Chargers. The Steelers
led 7-0 when Williams picked off Stan Humphries and went 63 yards for his TD, then Mays returned a pick 32 yards to give the
Steelers a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. The Steelers led 31-6 after three quarters and the Chargers got 10 garbage-time
points in the fourth quarter.
How one-sided was this game?
Well, it's the last time that I've fallen asleep watching the Steelers. I know, I know. Let me explain.
Back then, I wasn't the beer-guzzling, pizza-munching, sedentary blogger that I
am today. In the fall of 1995, I was living in Rhode Island and training for the Ocean State Marathon, and I did a 20-mile
run the morning of the Steelers' game against the Chargers.
I
don't run marathons anymore, partly because the fall is peak marathon season in the Northeast and most marathons take place
on Sundays, and there's no way I'm going to be outside getting exercise and enjoying the beautiful fall colors when the Steelers
are playing.
There is an NFL lockout looming in 2011, however. Plus, if they do away with the salary cap and the
Steelers become the Pirates of the NFL, then maybe I'll find other things to do on Sundays. Let's hope it never comes to that.
But on that sunny afternoon in 1995, when I was a razor-thin
Generation X-er, I did wake up in time to see the end of the Steelers' victory, which improved their record to 3-2 and avenged
their stunning loss to the Chargers in the AFC championship game the year before.
It would be another 14 years before the Steelers had two defensive touchdowns in the same quarter.
The Steelers' 15 most pivotal defensive touchdowns of the
last 15 years
One little wrinkle in my countdown is that two defensive touchdowns in the same game will
be counted as one item. You could argue that I should take each one from the same game and rank them individually, but I look
at it as having twins. The only difference is they don't come minutes apart.
Not that I've ever given birth to twins or anything.
With
that in mind, on with the countdown.
No.
12: Brentson Buckner and Chris Oldham
(Steelers
41, Patriots 27, Dec. 16, 1995, at Pittsburgh)
There
was a time when the Patriots were too much of a laughingstock to be hated. That began to change when Bill Parcells took over
as coach in 1993. They made the playoffs in 1994 and reached the Super Bowl in 1996. In between, the Steelers went to the
Super Bowl. The Patriots finished 6-10 in 1995, but their performance in this game foreshadowed how much of a problem they
would be for the Steelers in the next decade.
This was
the next to last weekend of the regular season, and the Steelers were fighting for a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs.
They led 10-6 in the second quarter when Brentson Buckner returned a fumble 46 yards for a touchdown and a 17-6 Steelers lead.
The Steelers took their biggest lead, 24-12, in the third quarter, but the pesky Patriots wouldn't go away (these were the
good old days, when the Patriots were nothing more than "pesky.")
Drew Bledsoe, who threw the ball 60 times, completed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Pittsburgh native Curtis Martin
in the fourth quarter. That was followed by a 2-point conversion throw to Dave Meggett to tie the game 27-27.
But this Steelers team wasn't like the 1994 team, which fell short of the Super
Bowl because it had no offense. They took the lead back when Ernie Mills caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from Neil O'Donnell.
But to put the Patriots away they needed a touchdown by safety Chris Oldham on a 23-yard fumble return.
The Steelers had two defensive touchdowns in a game that they won by two touchdowns.
They improved to 11-4 with the win and secured a first-round bye in the playoffs, which helped pave the way to Super Bowl
XXX.
I interrupt
my countdown of defensive touchdowns for this week's NFL power rankings. No fancy lead-in this week. I'm just too damn tired.
Here they are.
1. Saints (6-0, 1): Darren
Sharper had his 11th career interception return for a touchdown Sunday. He's one short of Rod Woodson's NFL record.
2. Broncos (6-0, 2): I feel a little bit better
about the Steelers' matchup in Denver Nov. 9. Why? Because the Broncos signed Mitch Berger.
3. Colts (6-0, 3): They're 6-0 for the fourth time in the last five years. Their 15 straight regular-season
wins is the most in franchise history.
4. Bengals
(5-2, 8): Their 35-point win over the Bears Sunday is their largest margin of victory since a 38-3 win over the Texans
on Nov. 3, 2002.
5. Patriots (5-2, 6):
Their 80 unanswered points against the Titans and Buccaneers is the most in the NFL since the Bills scored 86 unaswered points against the 49ers, Colts and Patriots in 1992.
6. Cardinals (4-2, 12): Have won three straight on the road for the first time since 1987.
7. Steelers (5-2, 10): Mike Tomlin gave the Steelers
the entire bye week off, the first Steelers coach to do that since bye weeks were instituted in 1990.
8. Vikings (6-1, 4): Brett
Favre said this is the best team he's ever been on. But according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, members of the 1996 Packers, who won the Super Bowl, beg to differ.
9. Giants (5-2, 5): Brandon Jacobs has been held under 100 rushing
yards in 10 straight games.
10. Cowboys (4-2, 13):
Miles Austin has 421 receiving yards over the past two games, the fourth most yards by a player in consecutive games since 1970.
11.
Ravens (3-3, 11): Play the Broncos Sunday. New Broncos coach Josh McDaniels turned down a chance to interview for
the Ravens' head coaching job two years ago.
12. Falcons (4-2, 7): Lost another defensive player when rookie
safety William Moore was put on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. They've already lost starting cornerback Brian Williams and defensive tackle Peria Jerry, their first-round draft pick in
the spring.
The Steelers' 15 most pivotal defensive touchdowns
of the last 15 years
Putting this series together has taken a little bit of time. So give me another day
to post my NFL power rankings. You know I'm good for it! Please don't break my legs!
No. 13: Dewayne Washington
(Steelers 20, Bills 3, Sept. 30, 2001, at Buffalo)
This was a historic turning point for both America and the Steelers.
The Steelers' championship window of the 90s appeared to be slammed shut after they went 7-9 in 1998, 6-10 in 1999
and 9-7 in 2000. They did win four of their last five in 2000, but after they opened 2001 with a 21-3 clunker at Jacksonville,
it looked like more of the same.
Then, two days after the
season opener came the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Play was cancelled the following week. Then the Steelers had a bye. When
the Steelers came to Buffalo, the world was a lot different than it was the last time they played three weeks earlier.
Fortunately, things were about to be a lot different for the
Steelers. They didn't need the defensive points provided by Dewayne Washington to beat a woeful Bills team. But the fumble
forced by Brent Alexander and Washington's 63-yard return at the end of the first quarter opened the game's scoring and provided
a spark not only for that game, but for a new chapter in Steelers history.
The Steelers went on to finish 13-3 in 2001. They infamously lost the AFC championship game at home to the Patriots
that year, but the malaise of the late 90s was over. The Steelers were back as championship contenders.
Since then, the Steelers have made the playoffs six of the last eight years. And
when they didn't make the playoffs, they refueled. They finished 6-10 in 2003, and used the high draft pick to get Ben Roethlisberger.
They finished 8-8 in 2006, then Bill Cowher rode off into the sunset and in came Mike Tomlin, who led the Steelers to their
sixth Lombardi Trophy.
Before I continue to count down the Steelers' 15 most pivotal
defensive touchdowns of the past 15 years, let me make clear that Sunday's defensive touchdowns against the Vikings won't
be included. Why? Because if the Steelers lose the rest of their games and finish 5-11, then those defensive TDs won't be
very pivotal, will they?
Historical context is one of the
considerations. It's hard to rate Sunday's touchdowns not knowing how this season is going to turn out.
Now, on with the countdown.
No. 14: Troy Polamalu
(Steelers 20, Packers 10, Nov. 6, 2005, at Green Bay)
Sunday wasn't the first time the Steelers picked
Brett Favre's pocket when he was closing in on giving his team the lead.
Believe it or not, the three-game losing streak that nearly torpedoed the Steelers' 2005 championship season could
have been longer. Just before that skid, Charlie Batch stepped in and won two games in place of an injured Ben Roethlisberger
(I guess Roethlisberger really wasn't acting this time). Boy, did Batch need help, though.
Against the Packers, Batch compiled a quarterback rating of 39.8 by completing nine of 16 passes for 65 yards with
an interception. That interception came at the start of the second quarter. The Packers set up shop on the Pittsburgh 36 with
the Steelers clinging to a 6-3 lead. Troy Polamalu was called for pass interference, giving the Packers a first-and-goal at
the Steelers' 3. A one-yard gain and a couple of false starts moved the Packers back to the 12.
I'm not sure when
gray hairs started to sprout up on Favre's head and face, but Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden probably gave him a few
more, or maybe his first ones, by sacking him and knocking the ball loose. Polamalu then atoned for his penalty by scooping
up the ball and returning it 77 yards for a touchdown and a 13-3 Steelers lead. With the Steelers two yards away from falling
behind, it was basically a 14-point swing.
The Steelers
ended up winning by that 10-point margin, improving to 6-2. Batch led them to a win over the Browns the following week before
they lost three in a row. But I think things turned out OK for them that year.
In honor of the Steelers' two defensive touchdowns Sunday in
the fourth quarter of their 27-17 win over the Vikings, I'm ranking the Steelers' 15 most pivotal defensive touchdowns over
the past 15 years.
1994 is a good starting point. That was the year the Steelers went 12-4 and were stunned by
the Chargers at home in the AFC championship game, but it marked the beginning of this era in which reaching the Super Bowl
pretty much became the standard for the Steelers.
I'm doing this because I'll be damned if my traffic goes down
during the Steelers' bye week. The Steelers don't play again until Monday, Nov. 9 at Denver. That means there are 15 days
between games, so counting down from No. 15, I'll roll out one pivotal defensive touchdown a day.
So it's
15 years, 15 defensive touchdowns, in 15 days.
Here we go.
No. 15: James
Farrior
(Steelers 19, Bengals 14, Nov. 21, 2004, at Cincinnati)
This was in the midst of the Steelers' 15-game winning streak during Ben Roethlisberger's rookie season, certainly
a pivotal year in the history of the franchise.
With the Steelers' trailing 7-3 midway through the second
quarter, Farrior intercepted Carson Palmer and returned it 14 yards to give the Steelers a 10-7 lead. The Bengals took
a 14-10 halftime lead, but the Steelers took the lead for good in the third quarter when Roethlisberger threw an 8-yard touchdown
pass to Dan Kreider, who now plays for the Cardinals.
This was when Roethlisberger was a fresh-faced young lad.
While he showed signs of the quarterback he would become, the less he had to throw at this point, the better the
Steelers did. Roethlisberger won a lot of games by just not fucking up. He was 15 for 21 in this game with a touchdown
and no interceptions.
The Steelers improved to 9-1 with this win, a win they wouldn't have had without Farrior's
six points.
There's "The Men Who Stare at Goats," a new military comedy starring
George Clooney and Kevin Spacey.
Then there's "The
Men Who Almost Became Goats," starring Rashard Mendenhall and Jeff Reed.
The Steelers entered Sunday's game against the unbeaten Vikings having won three in a row after a 1-2 start, but
while they appeared to have righted their ship, they still didn't
look the same. Something was missing.
That something was
game-changing turnovers. In the season's first six games, the Steelers forced just eight turnovers while committing 12.
Sunday's game was turnover free for three quarters, after
which the Steelers led 13-10. That's not a comfortable margin against a quarterback as dangerous as Brett Favre. They needed a takeaway to seize control of the game.
That need for a turnover became more urgent when Mendenhall fumbled at the Vikings' 4-yard line on the second play
of the fourth quarter.
The drop, Mendenhall's second in
two weeks, came after Santonio Holmes caught a short pass from the Steelers' 46 and spun it into gold, zig-zagging his way around Vikings' tacklers for a 45-yard gain, giving the Steelers' a first-and-goal at the Vikings'
9.
Holmes showing signs that he's ready to play more often
like a Super Bowl MVP, plus the Steelers poised to make it a two-possession game, equalled downright euphoria ... until Mendenhall's fumble.
Starting from their own 4, Favre and the Vikings methodically moved the ball up the field, keeping it for 15 plays
and nearly eight minutes. Then, backed up on third-and-goal from its
own 8, the Steelers' defense finally counterpunched.
Brett
Keisel stripped the ball from Favre, then LaMarr Woodley scooped it up and ran 77 yards for the touchdown and a 20-10 Steelers
lead with 6:23 left in the game.
At last, like a chef dusting off an old recipe, the Steelers' defense rediscovered the turnover, a staple of their
success over the past decade and a half.
There was only one problem. Steelers players still had time to enter the Goat Sweepstakes.
The next contestant was Reed, who can fight cops but can't tackle a guy named Percy.
The Vikings' Percy Harvin got loose on Reed's ensuing kickoff. Reed
had a chance to tackle him near midfield, but instead went all matador and made a lame attempt to stop him without stepping
in front of him.
Harvin went the rest of the way for an
88-yard touchdown return, narrowing the Vikings' deficit to 20-17 with a little over six minutes left.
The Steelers were forced to punt on their next possession, giving the Vikings the
ball at their own 26 with 3:21 to go. That's an eternity for Favre.
Of course Favre isn't the only scary part of the Vikings' offense. There's also Adrian Peterson, currently the best
running back on the planet.
The Steelers held Peterson
in check Sunday. He had just 69 yards on 18 carries. But with the Steelers trying to protect their lead, Peterson found another
way to hurt them.
On third-and-4 from the Vikings' 45, Peterson caught a short pass over the middle, leveled Steelers cornerback William
Gay, who had a good game to that point, and rambled 29 yards to the
Steelers' 26.
Just when it seemed like the Steelers' biggest worry would be the overtime coin toss, the Vikings all of a sudden were within striking distance of the lead.
The
Vikings picked up another seven yards to get to the 19. Mendenhall and Reed were being fitted for their Halloween goat costumes
when lightning struck again.
This time it was Keyaron Fox. No. 57 saved the day at Heinz.
Fox, a special teams ace replacing an injured Lawrence Timmons at linebacker, was in the right place at the right
time when Chester Taylor let a Favre pass bounce off his hands. Fox
caught it and ran 82 yards for the game-clinching touchdown.
It
was the first time the Steelers scored two defensive touchdowns in a quarter since Oct. 1, 1995, when Willie Williams and
Alvoid Mays both took interceptions to the house in the first quarter
of a 31-16 win over the Chargers.
In this day and age,
when the Steelers get two defensive touchdowns in the same quarter, you'd assume Troy Polamalu scored one of them. While Polamalu didn't score either touchdown, without him neither of them might have
happened.
Five plays before Woodley's touchdown, Peterson
broke off his longest run of the day, 19 yards to the Steelers' 21. Polamalu pushed him out of bounds. Without Polamalu's lateral speed, Peterson probably scores on the play. It showed that in his second game
back from a sprained MCL, Polamalu was able to do just about everything
he could do before getting hurt. That's a good sign.
Despite
his foolishness, I also saw some good signs from Mendenhall. He averaged almost seven yards a carry, gaining 69 on 10 attempts,
further cementing his role as the Steelers' starting running back.
His fumble came at the end of a five-yard run to the Vikings' 4. For some reason he felt the need to dive through the air as if he were going into the end zone, which made him more vulnerable to swipes
from Viking defenders.
The Steelers' defense isn't always
going to score points to cover up mistakes like that. Next time, "The Men Who Almost Became Goats" might not have such a happy ending.
Ben Roethlisberger finally will meet his boyhood idol.
Roethlisberger and Brett Favre will be on the same field for the first time Sunday when the unbeaten Vikings
visit Heinz Field. The Steelers did play in Green Bay in 2005, but
Roethlisberger was injured. Charlie Batch was under center for the Steelers' 20-10 victory.
In honor of this momentous NFL occasion, I've put together a little quiz to see how well you know the differences
between Favre and Roethlisberger. Each question has two answers. You have to decide which one matches Favre and which one
matches Roethlisberger. Good luck. And no cheating!
FAVRE-ROETHLISBERGER QUIZ
A
B
Age
27
40
Height
6-foot-5
6-foot-2
Weight
222
241
Super Bowl wins
2
1
QB rating (this season)
109.5
104.5
QB rating (career)
85.9
90.9
Favorite music
Country
Whatever it is these kids are listening to these days on those fancy iPods.
Preferred transportation
Motorcycle
Tractor
Likes to wear ...
Jeans
Pinstriped suits
Uses his acting ability to ...
Appear in numerous commercials
Look more injured than he really is
Spends
too much time ...
Holding onto the ball during
a play
Deciding on his future
Marital status
Single
Faithfully married to Deanna despite
ESPN's raging hard-on for him.
Answers: Age: A. Roethlisberger
B. Favre Height: A. Roethlisberger B. Favre Weight: A. Favre B. Roethlisberger Super Bowl wins: A. Roethlisberger
B. Favre QB rating (this season): A. Favre B. Roethlisberger QB rating (career): A. Favre B. Roethlisberger Favorite
music: A. Favre B. Roethlisberger Preferred transportation: A. Roethlisberger B. Favre Likes to wear: A. Favre B.
Roethlisberger Uses his acting ability to ... A. Favre B. Roethlisberger Spends too much time ... A. Roethlisberger
B. Favre Marital status: A. Roethlisberger B. Favre
Grading
system:
11-12 right: You're a Steelers expert. You could start your own Steelers blog. But don't, because
then you wouldn't read mine anymore.
8-10 right: You're a true Steelers fan. You even stuck with
them through the 80s.
5-7 right: You like the Steelers, but you probably couldn't name the team
they beat to win their first Super Bowl (Hint: They're playing that team real soon).
2-4 right:
You wonder what's so terrible about the Terrible Towel.
0-1 right: You're counting down the days
until pitchers and catchers report in Bradenton.
At a glance:
Who: Vikings (6-0) at Steelers (4-2) When:
Sunday, 1 p.m. Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh TV: Fox (WPGH Ch. 53 in Pittsburgh.
Out-of-market fans, click here to see if the game will be shown in your area.) Announcers: Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa (sideline) All-time:
Vikings lead 8-7 The skinny: This game will feature the NFL leaders in passing yards, rushing yards
and receiving yards. Ben Roethlisberger leads the league with 1,887 passing yards. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson leads
the NFL with 618 rushing yards and Hines Ward is tops with 599 receiving yards. ... Troy Polamalu is expected to play for
the Steelers and wear a knee brace. ... The Vikings are pretty banged up. Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield is doubtful
with a sprained foot. Punt returner Darius Reynaud is also doubtful (hamstring). Safety Madieu Williams (quadricep), wide
receiver Percy Harvin (shoulder) and safety Husain Abdullah (back) are questionable. Running back Adrian Peterson (ankle),
offensive tackle Phil Loadholt (ankle) and backup safety Eric Frampton (ankle) are probable.
One of the signs that the Steelers are
coming together and overcoming their 1-2 start was the team unity that was on display Sunday night outside a Pittsburgh bar, when kicker Jeff Reed allegedly stood up for the right of a teammate to take a leak.
Police said they were about to issue a citation to backup tight end Matt Spaeth
for urinating near Reed's SUV when Reed got out of the SUV and started harassing the officers. Reed was wrestled to the ground
and handcuffed and charged with simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Reed and his
agent dispute the charges, even though Reed revealed Wednesday he told his agent to "keep his mouth shut" because
he doesn't know what happened.
Reed happened to be with
his parents at the time. According to police, Reed was released at the scene to his father's custody.
Reed will play Sunday against the Vikings. The NFL is looking into the incident.
Even if Reed isn't disciplined by the Steelers or the NFL, he might be
grounded.
As far as Spaeth goes, this is the most attention
he's received in two years. Spaeth, taken in the third round of the 2007 draft from Minnesota, caught touchdown passes in each of his first two career games. He caught another one in Week 7 that year, but he's
had only two touchdowns since. He's caught just three passes this
season.
I guess it was just too much fame too soon for
Spaeth. Now he's pissing in parking lots. So sad.
It's
up in the air whether Spaeth will take more passes or pisses this season.
OK, enough kidding around. Here are this week's NFL power rankings, with information researched from nfl.com, profootballtalk.com,
the Elias Sports Bureau and the Indianapolis Star. Records and last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Saints (5-0, 2): Fourth team in NFL history to win their first
five games by a double-digit margin, joining the 2007 Patriots, 2004 Eagles and 1999 Rams.
2. Broncos (6-0, 4): Have
not allowed any points in the fourth quarter this season, and have appeared on Monday Night Football for 18 straight seasons, the longest active streak in the NFL.
3. Colts (5-0, 3): Kicker Matt Stover on board to fill in for his hunting buddy, Adam Vinatieri.
4. Vikings (6-0, 5): Adrian Peterson gained
143 yards Sunday, the most yards against the Ravens with Ray Lewis in the lineup since 1998.
5. Giants (5-1, 1): Allowed 493 yards in Sunday's loss to the Saints, the most yards allowed by
the Giants in a game since 1988.
6. Patriots (4-2,
7): Led 45-0 at halftime of Sunday's 59-0 win over the Titans, the largest halftime lead in NFL history.
7. Falcons (4-1, 8): Signed safety Jamaal Fudge
to replace cornerback Brian Williams, who's out for the season. No, Fudge never played for the Packers.
8. Bengals (4-2, 6):
Antwan Odom, who was tied for the NFL lead with eight sacks, is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
9. Bears (3-2, 9): Signed Jay Cutler to a two-year contract extension.
10. Steelers (4-2, 12): Teams they've beaten
have combined for four wins. The Vikings, Sunday's opponent, have six wins.
11. Ravens (3-3, 10): They're hurting for receivers. After signing David Tyree last week, they might
be interested in Joey Galloway, who was cut by the Patriots.
That's right. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin
went up against one of the dorkiest coaches in the NFL.
Tomlin had a decided advantage in the coolness department.
The man blessed with the ability to resemble both Omar Epps and Bernie Mac stood across the gridiron from Browns coach Eric Mangini, who looks like Stewart from Beavis & Butthead.
Tomlin looked like a bad-ass state trooper sporting his
trademark solar-panel sunglasses while Mangini sported his trademark baby fat.
Despite his cameo appearance on "The Sopranos," Mangini's not exactly a cool cat. So the best he could
do Sunday was use the Wildcat in trying to match wits with Tomlin.
The claws of the Wildcat didn't draw any blood, but they did leave the Steelers' defense with a couple of minor scratches
early in the game. Joshua Cribbs took the direct snap when the Browns
lined up in the Wildcat. But he did most of his damage with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
That score put the Browns on the board in the second quarter after the Steelers
(4-2) had taken a 14-0 lead. At this point, the Steelers probably should concede
a return touchdown by Cribbs every time they play the Browns. You pretty much know it's going to happen.
The Wildcat, the Steelers' lapse on special teams and four Steelers turnovers conspired
to prevent the Steelers from blasting the Browns (1-5) back to Cleveland.
The Steelers did, however, take another step forward in addressing their fourth-quarter woes thanks in part to
the four turnovers they forced themselves, something they hadn't done a lot of this season.
The first takeaway came late in the opening quarter, with the game scoreless and the Browns on the Steelers' 14.
Had the Browns scored first, it might have injected them with the
energy their dull coach can't seem to provide.
But with Cribbs throwing out of the Wildcat, Troy Polamalu made his return to the lineup a triumphant one with an interception. He came up
limping after the play mostly because he didn't use the knee brace he was supposed to wear. But after the game, he said he
was "fine." So apparently no worries there.
The
next two Browns' turnovers came late in the third quarter with the Steelers leading 24-14. Both were fumbles forced by Lawrence
Timmons. James Harrison recovered the first one and Brett Keisel recovered
the second one. Unfortunately, the Steelers answered with two fumbles of their own, one by Willie Parker and one by Rashard Mendenhall.
The Browns never saw the ball again, however, when Ryan Clark intercepted Derek Anderson at the Steelers' 1 with
4:21 to go in the game and the Steelers leading 27-14. Clark, an unsung
member of the Steelers' defense, has made two of his seven career interceptions in the past two weeks.
Speaking of unsung defenders, the Steelers didn't do bad stopping the run in their
first game without Aaron Smith. They yielded 94 rushing yards on 23
carries.
With the Wildcat, many of those yards were of the gimmicky variety. In their previous two games the Browns
had back-to-back 100-yard rushers for the first time in 24 years,
and were tied for 16th in the NFL in rushing offense. So the Steelers weren't facing a bad rushing attack. They were facing an average one.
Without Smith, they might get gouged by elite running backs, like the
Vikings' Adrian Peterson next week. But if the Steelers can keep average runners under control during Smith's absence, that
won't be too shabby.
So while the defense is getting there,
the Steelers' offense is already there. The numbers Sunday were staggering.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 417 yards, his second career 400-yard passing game. The Steelers amassed 543 yards of
offense, their most since gaining 645 against the Falcons in 2002
(that game ended in a tie, which means the Steelers had a whole extra quarter to pad that number).
Hines Ward caught eight passes for 159 yards and leads the NFL with 599 receiving yards.
He's tied for the league lead with 41 receptions. Heath Miller caught
five passes Sunday and has 34 catches this season. He's well on his way to eclipsing his career high of 48 receptions in a
season.
The most staggering number, of course, is the fact
that the Steelers have beaten the Browns 12 straight times and 18 out of their last 19.
On the field, the competition next week promises to be tougher when the 6-0 Vikings come to Heinz Field.
On the sidelines, however, Tomlin figures to once again look cooler
than his counterpart. Brad Childress might be the only coach in the NFL geekier
than Mangini.
It seems like every week, the Steelers play an inferior opponent and I'm the guy who presents the history lesson
warning of the possibility of an upset.
I'm not going to be that guy this week.
So I'm not going
to say anything about Week 14 of the 2002 season, when the Steelers lost 24-6 at home to the 3-9 Texans despite outgaining
them 422 yards to 47. I won't bring that up.
And while Eric Mangini, in all his baby-fat glory, patrols the
visitors' sideline Sunday at Heinz Field, I won't mention that he was the winning coach the last time the Steelers
suffered a true upset, a 19-16, overtime loss to the Jets at the Meadowlands in 2007.
Remember, I didn't say anything.
At a glance:
Who: Browns (1-4) at Steelers (3-2) When: Sunday, 1 p.m. Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh TV: CBS
(KDKA Ch. 2 in Pittsburgh. Out-of-market fans, click here to see if the game will be shown in your area). Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots All-time: Steelers lead 59-55 The skinny: Troy Polamalu and Willie Parker both will be back for the Steelers. Polamalu will start.
Parker won't start at running back, but he'll rotate with Rashard Mendenhall. ... Travis Kirschke will start at left defensive
end for Aaron Smith, who is on injured reserve with a torn rotator cuff. Nick Eason and rookie first-round draft pick Ziggy
Hood also will see action at left defensive end. ... The Steelers have won 11 straight against the Browns and 17 of the last
18. ... The Browns picked up their first win of the season last week, beating the Bills 6-3 even though quarterback Derek
Anderson completed just two of 17 passes for 23 yards with an interception.
In my previous column, I said that this Lions-Browns stretch
on the schedule is essentially a second training camp for the Steelers.
That's true now on another level.
Defensive end Aaron Smith is out for the season with a torn rotator cuff. Smith's work largely went unnoticed because most
of it took place among the tangle of bodies at the line of scrimmage. Whatever it was that he did, it prevented other teams
from running the ball.
When the Steelers lost Smith in December of 2007, their run defense was torn to shreds.
The only team they could beat was the Rams. They lost twice at home to the Jaguars, once in the regular season and once in
the playoffs.
Travis Kirschke is expected to start at left defensive end in Smith's place. Sharing the duties with
him will be Nick Eason and rookie first-round draft pick Ziggy Hood, who hopefully will benefit from this baptism
by fire and at some point during the season provide what's expected from a top pick. The Steelers also
signed their sixth-round pick, Ra'Shon "Sunny" Harris, off the Panthers' practice squad.
The Steelers
are fortunate to have the Browns at home Sunday. This glorified practice will give the Committee to Replace Aaron Smith (CRAS) a
chance to get its act together. If the Steelers can't beat the Browns at home, then they have bigger problems than the absence
of Aaron Smith.
After the Browns game, the Steelers' ability to stop the run will be put to the test. They face
the best running back currently on the planet in Adrian Peterson when the Vikings come to Heinz Field Oct. 25. Then after
a bye, they're at Denver, which ranks fifth in the NFL in rushing. Starting for the 5-0 Broncos at defensive end, by the way,
is Ryan McBean, chosen by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2007 draft. I'm just sayin'.
So in theory, the
Steelers will face their biggest test stopping the run without Aaron Smith when they play the Vikings and Broncos. They
might give up some yards on the ground in those games, but hopefully they'll come out of it at least with an ability to keep
average running attacks under control.
Now, as promised, my NFL power rankings with comments,
albeit a day late. Some of this information was researched from the Elias Sports Bureau and profootballtalk.com. Previous
week's ranking in parentheses:
1. Giants (5-0,
1): Led Raiders 28-0 after 18 minutes of play Sunday, their earliest 28-0 lead in the post-World War II era. 2.
Saints (4-0, 2): Eli Manning faces his dad's old team Sunday in New Orleans. And Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey
faces his old team. 3. Colts (5-0, 3): Adam Vinatieri out 4-8 weeks after knee surgery. 4.
Broncos (5-0, 10): Players likely won't be fined for twisting their vertical-striped socks on Sunday. NFL spokesman
Greg Aiello said they won't be fined unless it can be proven that players who wore those uniforms in the 60s never twisted
their socks. Is anyone going to investigate this? Seriously? 5. Vikings (5-0, 8): First time in his
career that Brett Favre has led a team to a 5-0 start. 6. Bengals (4-1, 11): Looking like a blackout
for Sunday's home game against the Texans. 7. Patriots (3-2, 4): Signed 40-year-old Junior
Seau. It's his 20th NFL season, his fourth with the Patriots. This seems to be a trend the last few years, and not
just in football. Old stars are coming back in mid-season because they can't handle a whole season. 8. Falcons
(4-1, 9): Their 35-10 win Sunday was the largest margin of victory against the 49ers ever at Candlestick Park (my
favorite all-time sports stadium name, BTW), where they've played since 1971. 9. Bears (3-1, 7): At
Atlanta Sunday night, where they hope to avenge last season's heartbreaking, 22-20 loss. 10. Ravens (3-2, 5):
Streak of 39 games without allowing a 100-yard rusher ended Sunday when Bengals' Cedric Benson gained 120. 11.
Jets (3-2, 8): Braylon Edwards caught five passes for 64 yards and a touchdown in his Jets' debut Monday night. 12. Steelers (3-2, 12): In his effort to not take the Browns lightly, Mike Tomlin referred to them this
week as "dangerous people." I found that slightly amusing. Not worthy of my comments: 13.
Eagles (3-1, 14) 14. Chargers (2-2, 13) 15. Cowboys (3-2, 15) 16. Dolphins (2-3, 23) 17. Cardinals (2-2,
18) 18. Packers (2-2, 17) 19. 49ers (3-2, 16) 20. Seahawks (2-3, 22) 21. Texans (2-3, 20) 22. Jaguars
(2-3, 19) 23. Panthers (1-3, 29) 24. Redskins (1-4, 21) 25. Browns (1-4, 28) 26. Lions (1-4, 29) 27.
Bills (1-4, 24) 28. Titans (0-5, 25) 29. Raiders (1-4, 26) 30. Chiefs (0-5, 31) 31. Buccaneers (0-5, 30) 32. Rams (0-5, 32)
October is here. Leaves are changing colors in the Northeast. The weather is a little more crisp.
Watching the Steelers, however, would make you think there's still plenty of time
to work on that tan.
The Steelers beat the lowly Lions
Sunday in another white-knuckle win, then host the dismal Browns next week. Essentially, this amounts to a second training
camp for the Steelers (3-2). The way they played Sunday, they could use a few two-a-day workouts in the August heat.
In training camp, teams don't play real games. In this second training
camp the Steelers are fortunate enough to be granted, they aren't playing real NFL teams, and they don't look ready to beat a real NFL team.
For the fourth straight week, the Steelers led by at least seven points after three quarters. On Sunday they led
28-13.
Like the Bears, Bengals and Chargers before them,
the Lions rallied in the fourth quarter. It fell short. But if the Lions (1-4) were anything more than a team picking up the pieces from a historic disaster in 2008, they probably would have completed the comeback.
Or maybe they wouldn't have fallen behind in the first place.
The Steelers took that 28-13 lead when Ben Roethlisberger threw
a 47-yard touchdown pass to rookie Mike Wallace with six minutes left in the third quarter. Roethlisberger completed 23 of 30 passes for 277 yards with three touchdowns and an interception,
which was returned for a touchdown. Rashard Mendenhall carried the
ball 15 times for 77 yards, a clip of better than five yards a carry, with a touchdown.
The offense seemed to be clicking, but the defense was ugly, particularly on third down.
The defense looked vulnerable on underneath routes, with Daunte Culpepper frequently
dinking and dunking over the Steelers' pass rush. That helped the
Lions convert on 11 of their 18 third downs.
Troy Polamalu
appears ready to return next week. But the Steelers' defense without Polamalu was like a marginally attractive woman without
makeup. It's an image I hope I can get out of my head.
The Steelers allowed 110 rushing yards on 25 carries Sunday, including 44 yards
on three Culpepper scrambles. Eight of the Lions' rushing yards came
when Jerome Felton, a second-year fullback from Furman (yes, Furman), went eight yards up the gut of the supposedly stout
Steelers' run defense on third-and-7, putting the ball on the Steelers' 28 late in the third quarter with the Steelers trying
to preserve their 15-point lead.
Ryan Clark came to the
rescue on the next play, intercepting Culpepper. It was just the Steelers' second pick of the season, and it came only after
Culpepper was forced to throw across the field after fumbling the
snap.
Sacks were another thing the Steelers hadn't had
a lot of going into Sunday. They had just eight entering the game, but brought Culpepper down seven times. James Harrison had three of those sacks and has six for the season. Four of the Steelers' sacks came
on the Lions' final drive.
In the fourth quarter, the Steelers
looked like vintage 2008, which was both good and bad. Their pass rush ultimately was the reason they held off the Lions, but their inability to protect Roethlisberger kept the Lions in the game.
Roethlisberger was sacked three times Sunday, with all three
coming in the fourth quarter and two coming on a three-and-out that preceded the Lions' scoring drive. Detroit went 82 yards on seven plays, pulling to within 28-20 when Culpepper threw a 25-yard
touchdown pass to Dennis Northcutt with just under five minutes left.
The Steelers again went three-and-out, giving the Lions the
ball on their own 29 with two timeouts and 3:07 remaining. The Steelers embarrassingly let the Lions off the hook on a third-and-19. Northcutt's 22-yard reception moved the ball to the Steelers' 21 at
the two-minute warning.
Then three straight sacks, one
and a half by William Gay, one by Lawrence Timmons and a half by LaMarr Woodley, yanked the ball back to the 45. Even the Steelers were able to close the deal with Culpepper desperately heaving
the ball toward the end zone on fourth-and-34 with 1:18 left. Ike Taylor broke up the pass.
The Steelers likely will have another week to get their act together when they entertain the Browns next Sunday.
Then hopefully they'll be ready to start the season.
Much like U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has studied the Great Depression
so that it is not repeated during this economic downturn, I have studied
the 2006 Steelers, so that team's feeble title defense is not repeated this season.
The Steelers appear to be back on track after beating the Chargers to improve to 2-2. But a loss to the Lions Sunday
would not only sound the alarm that something is seriously wrong with
this team, it would put them right back on the same course as 2006, when they were 2-3 after five games.
This should be an easy win for the Steelers.
But they've yet to prove they can win on the road this season, and without Troy Polamalu, the defense has yet to look anything more than ordinary.
Not
only that, but I can't help but feel a little uneasy because of the Steelers' checkered history in Detroit, where they've
experienced both glory and infamy.
The glory, of course, came when they won Super Bowl XL at Ford Field after the 2005 season.
However, two of the most galling and pivotal losses in post-Steel Curtain history
have come on Thanksgiving in Detroit.
We're all familiar
with the infamous Phil Luckett game in 1998, although it has been brought to my attention that Luckett gets a bad rap. The
Steelers might have been trying to invent a word that sounds like
both "heads" and "tails."
The Steelers
entered that game 7-4, but that 19-16, overtime loss in the Silverdome was the start of a five-game losing streak that ended
their season.
In 1983, the Steelers opened the season 9-2, lost a game at home to the Vikings then got crushed 45-3 in Detroit
(the Steelers also suffered identical 45-7 losses at Detroit in 1956
and 1962, for what it's worth). They limped to the finish after losing at Detroit in 1983, ending up 10-6. Then they got smoked
38-10 by the then-Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC divisional playoffs.
On both occasions, the Steelers had decent seasons going,
but weren't the same after leaving Detroit on Thanksgiving.
In
1989, however, the Steelers started the season horribly, then fueled up with a win in the Motor City.
The Steelers opened that season 0-2, with a 51-0 loss at home to Cleveland and
a 41-10 loss at Cincinnati. Then they beat Minnesota at home and won
23-3 in Detroit. The Steelers finished 9-7 that year, upset the Oilers in the wild-card and came within a point of upsetting
the Broncos in Denver in the divisional round.
Sunday's game will be played 20 years and 10 days after that Oct. 1, 1989 victory,
the Steelers' last win in Detroit. Their only other wins in Detroit came
in 1940 (when they were still the Pirates), 1942 and 1967.
To
be fair, the Steelers have played in Detroit only three times and nine times overall since the merger, going 7-2. The teams
were regular opponents before the Lions moved over to the NFC.
So maybe as long as they're not part of the Thanksgiving fare,
a trip to Detroit could be appetizing for the Steelers. And just like their early-October game in the Motor City 20 years ago, a win could turn the ignition on a season that isn't really rolling yet.
At a glance
Who: Steelers (2-2) at Lions (1-3) When: Sunday, 1 p.m. Where:
Ford Field, Detroit TV: CBS (KDKA Ch. 2 in Pittsburgh. Out-of-market fans, click here to see if the game will be shown in your area.) Announcers: Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts All-time: Lions lead 17-15-1 The
skinny: Willie Parker (turf toe) and Troy Polamalu (sprained MCL) likely won't play for the Steelers. ... Quarterback
Matthew Stafford (twisted knee) likely won't play, which means Daunte
Culpepper will start for the Lions. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson is probable (bruised thigh). ... Former Steeler and Detroit Pershing Doughboy Larry Foote is the Lions' middle linebacker and leads the team with 34 tackles.
The Steelers appear to have a controversy at running back.
I say that Rashard Mendenhall should be the starter for the time being. The Steelers have the luxury of allowing
Willie Parker to ease his way back into the lineup when his turf toe
heals. Then when Parker is fully healthy, they can reevaluate.
Mendenhall's
165-yard, two-touchdown performance Sunday was just one game. But if he keeps having games like that or even close to that,
there's no reason for him to lose the starting job. The Steelers took
a wait-and-see approach with Willie Parker's contract with hopes that Mendenhall
would develop into a legitimate starter. I think they're going to give Mendenhall more chances to prove he's the real deal.
As for Troy Polamalu, there's no need to rush him back before
he's ready. I'm not taking the Lions lightly. But even though the Steelers' defense isn't nearly as good without Polamalu, if they're a championship team they should be able to beat the damn Lions
without him.
I'd rather have him 100 percent ready to go
next week against the Browns, then he'll really be needed against Brett Farve and the Vikings Oct. 25.
Here are this week's NFL Power Rankings, with information researched from nfl.com,
the Elias Sports Bureau and ProFootballTalk.com:
1.
Giants (4-0, 1): So Eli Manning has plantar fasciitis. Maybe he can get an endorsement deal with Plantar's Peanuts.
2. Saints (4-0, 5): Get a bye after beating
the Jets, then host the other New York team Oct. 18 in what will be another battle of unbeatens ... unless the Raiders beat
the Giants at the Meadowlands Sunday.
3. Colts (4-0, 3): Peyton Manning has four straight 300-yard passing games for the first time in
his career.
4. Patriots (3-1, 7): Tom
Brady is the first quarterback in 60 years to have two separate 15-game, regular-season winning streaks at home.
5.
Ravens (3-1, 2): Linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo, the AFC's Defensive Player of the Week for Week 3, out for the season
with a torn quadriceps.
6. Vikings (4-0, 8): Monday night's win over the Packers, Brett Favre's last game before he turns
40, broke ESPN and cable TV records with 15 million viewers.
7. Bears (3-1, 6): Scored 48 points vs. the Lions
despite throwing for 125 net yards and running 28 fewer plays.
8.
Jets (3-1, 4): Traded with the Browns to get Braylon Edwards, probably the only receiver in the NFL with more
drops than Santonio Holmes.
9. Falcons (2-1, 9):
Five of their next seven games are on the road. Four of their next seven games are against teams coming off byes.
10. Broncos (4-0, 16): Belichick-McDaniels
reunion Sunday in Denver. Keep an eye on the postgame handshake.
11. Bengals (3-1, 11): In order to keep their ego in check after beating the Steelers, Marvin Lewis
had them practice last week in uniforms without names and numbers.
This was like being on a date with
Julia Roberts, and watching her pick her nose during dinner.
Yeah,
you're on a date with Julia Roberts, and you still want to get invited into her apartment at the end of the night. But what
is she doing?!
Yeah, the Steelers ended their two-game
losing streak Sunday, but in doing so, they almost blew leads of 28-0 late in the third quarter and 35-14 midway through the
fourth quarter.
By avoiding a 1-3 start, the Steelers (2-2)
temporarily have calmed my fear that they're following the trajectory of the 2006 Steelers. But even in victory, they proved
that they are, in fact, impaired by a Super Bowl hangover.
This
hangover's not as bad as the one that afflicted the 2006 Steelers. It's not the call-in-sick kind of hangover. Unlike the
2006 Steelers, the 2009 Steelers appear ready to report to work and honor their duty as defending Super Bowl champions.
But there were still some cobwebs in those heads Sunday, with
one notable exception.
Mike Tomlin lifted the haze in Rashard
Mendenhall's head by benching him last week.
I predicted
a big game from Mendenhall (I can prove it. It's time-stamped. Click here), and he carried the ball 29 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
This was against a Chargers team that entered the game ranked 26th in rushing defense and was without nose tackle Jamal Williams. So when Mendenhall reached 100 yards on 22 carries in the third quarter,
I wasn't quite ready to fit him for his Pro Football Hall of Fame yellow blazer.
It was the fourth quarter when Mendenhall really showed me something.
The Chargers pulled to within 28-14 with 12:37 left in the game when Jacob Hester recovered Stefan Logan's
fumble on a punt return and ran it in 41 yards for a touchdown.
With an uneasiness settling upon Heinz Field, the next series was highlighted by Mendenhall's 32-yard gain, his longest
run of the evening. It helped set up Mewelde Moore's 6-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller on a gadget play, giving the Steelers
a 35-14 lead with 7:18 left.
The Chargers weren't done
yet. A four-play drive ended with a 30-yard TD pass from Philip "Flat Face" Rivers to Antonio Gates. Then San Diego
recovered an onsides kick, and needed just three plays to score on a 13-yard hookup from Rivers to Chris Chambers, suddenly
making it 35-28 with 4:31 left.
Ben Roethlisberger opened
the ensuing Steelers possession by hitting Santonio Holmes for a 15-yard gain. Then the Steelers rode Mendenhall's shoulders to the two-minute warning. The No. 23 overall pick in the 2008 draft
picked up yards in chunks of 5, 22 and 9 on the next three plays, helping
to set up Jeff Reed's eventual 46-yard field goal, which just about put the game out of reach.
Mendenhall provided the Steelers with something they lacked in their losses at Chicago and Cincinnati, an ability
to close out the game by sustaining drives on the ground.
The defense has to help with closing out games, too, of course.
And while the defense deserves much of the blame for putting the Steelers in danger of one of the most embarrassing moments
in modern franchise history, special teams should share the blame.
The Steelers led 28-7 and forced a three-and-out early in the fourth quarter. Then Logan took the punt at the Steelers'
41 when the ball was ripped from him and returned for a touchdown.
It's great that Logan keeps churning and refuses to go down on kickoff and punt returns. But so far in his brief
career, it's yielded two fumbles at critical times and no touchdowns. I'm not sure I'm likin' that.
The next special teams gaffe came after the Chargers (2-2) narrowed their deficit
to 35-21 on Gates' second touchdown. The Chargers recovered the onsides kick when the ball bounced off Ryan Mundy like a pinball.
The three-play scoring drive that followed was aided by a pass interference
penalty on James Harrison, who in pass coverage looked like an 18-wheeler on a dirt road. Then came Chambers' 13-yard score,
a wobbly 35-28 Steelers' lead, and a cascade of boos raining down
from the yellow seats.
A touchdown on a fumbled punt return,
failure to scoop up an onsides kick, Harrison's pass interference penalty. This is the same kind of goofy shit that happened to the 2006 Steelers.
Speaking of goofy shit, the Steelers
will play the Lions in Detroit next Sunday for the first time since the Phil Luckett game. Nice, huh?
The only thing the Steelers can prove by beating the Lions is an ability to win
on the road, which they haven't done this season.
It would be another step toward beating the hangover.
What is it with the Steelers' history of stupidity before critical
games against the Chargers?
On Friday, when they could
have spent time studying Chargers game film, Ben Roethlisberger and his offensive linemen got a World Wrestling Entertainment "Monday Night Raw" script.
Santonio Holmes, meanwhile, provided the
Chargers with bulletin board material this week by saying Quentin
Jammer and Antonio Cromartie are "Honestly, two normal corners."
Roethlisberger and his O-linemen will appear as guests on "Monday Night Raw" in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the
day after the Chargers game. While Steelers coach Mike Tomlin hasn't
said anything about it, you have to figure he's making his angry Bernie Mac face when there's no cameras around.
Supposedly they won't be doing anything that puts them at the risk of injury. But it cuts into
their preparation for the Chargers when they get their scripts on
Friday, two days before a game the Steelers need to win.
I
am reminded of the 1994 AFC championship game against the Chargers, when the Steelers rehearsed for a Super Bowl video in
the days before the game. I'm sure that didn't motivate the Chargers
at all. We all know how that turned out.
The Chargers also
might be motivated by Holmes' words. I'd say they might want to hit him extra hard during the game, but Holmes drops so many
passes, they probably won't need to.
I'm wondering how the hell Holmes is able to put it all together for his MVP performance in Super Bowl XLIII, then
play like it's his first Pop Warner game the rest of the time.
Unlike the 1994 AFC championship game, the Steelers' season
won't end if they lose Sunday night to the Chargers. But if they do lose, they'll be in a heap of trouble.
Win, and you have two very
winnable games (at Detroit, home to Cleveland) the next two weeks. You easily could get your season back on track.
Lose, and you better win those two games just to get to .500, then
Minnesota looms before the bye.
I just hope the Steelers
are a lot smarter on the field Sunday night than they've been this week.
At a glance:
Who: Chargers (2-1) at Steelers (1-2) When:
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh TV: NBC (WPXI Channel 11 in Pittsburgh) Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth Series: Steelers lead 21-8 The
skinny: Troy Polamalu is out and Willie Parker is doubtful for the Steelers. ... LaDainian Tomlinson is probable
for the Chargers. Shawne Merriman, who's been lacking his usual explosiveness,
is questionable. ... Steelers are trying to avoid their first 1-3 start since 2006, when they finished 8-8. They started 1-3 in 2002 and finished 10-5-1, losing at Tennessee in the AFC divisional playoffs.
