Another week, another win for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Outstanding defense in the middle part of the game, just enough late offense, and admirable job ball security wise throughout all helped Pittsburgh escape Week 12 with a 27-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Some thoughts on the game:

* Although we didn't learn much about the team tonight necessarily, I would contend  that when Pittsburgh has faced inferior opponents this season, the team has demonstrated it is not so fatally flawed as to fall flat on its face at any given moment, regardless of the opponent. What am I talking about? Well, last year we stumbled against the Jets and the Cardinals in games where our opponents did not play overwhelmingly solid.

* It'd be hard to hand out a grade of A+ or even A to our offensive line, but I don't see how you could ding them too badly for their efforts tonight either. 0 sacks allowed, and 121 yards rushing. Mind you, those 121 rushing yards came on 37 carries, good for just a 3.3 ypc average. But the second half rushing figures were substantially better than the 1st half numbers.

* # of 3 and outs for Pittsburgh offense: 3.

# of 3 and outs for Cincinnati Offense: 7! Including 6 straight at one point!

* I didn't think it was possible for our defensive numbers to improve too much tonight. They did. The Bengals accumulated just 208 total yards on 58 plays. The 3.6 ypp is lower than our already historically impressive 3.8 ypp. WOW.

* Sure, the sack numbers weren't what we thought they might be, but really, matters not. It was obvious that Bengals QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was going to get rid of the ball before the Steelers pass rushers could make 'game-changing' type plays with their pressure. The result was throws made out of rhythm and before WRs had found much separation. Fitzpatrick finished the night 20/37 for just 165 yards.

* Aaron Smith is good at football. You know what? He's really underappreciated as a sick athlete too. He's not just a savvy blue-collar, bring your lunch pail to work player. He's both. Awesome.

* So is Jeff Reed. No, no. Not the crazy good athlete part. Just good at what he's paid a hefty salary to do out there. Missing FGs like the ones he made can change the complexion of games, particularly at home when it's best not to give the visitors any extra reason to think they have a shot. Not long kicks or anything, but in the snow, I'm just pleased he's cash so often.

* 37 runs, 30 passes. That's the kind of balance and distribution I think most of us would prefer to see. Let's take a step back though. The temptation to abandon the run in the 2nd half was VERY real for Bruce Arians. We were really struggling to run it in the first half which told me that it was clear Arians had every intention of being patient with the run this evening.  But after an entire first half of general futility, it could have been very easy to not stick with it in the third and early fourth quarters.

* We'll see what 10 days does for Willie Parker and his sprained knee. You have to admire his toughness last week rushing for 100+ yards with a throbbing shoulder. But knee sprains are an entirely different animal.  He's such a competitor but it's just nearly impossible to make an impact with that kind of lingering issue. I think we can get some things done with Mewelde Moore and Gary Russel, but I sure hope FWP gets healthy enough down the line to make a few more critical contributions to our team.

* Speaking of Moore. Just when we're about ready to write him off as somebody who's valuable but not quite capable of being relied upon consistently, he comes through with a tremendous second half to help propel us to 17 2nd half points and the victory. He finished with 56 yards on 14 carries, and something like 44 yards on a 60+ yard TD drive in the 2nd half.

* William Gay may not look like Champ Bailey or Bryant McFadden physically, but he's got a nice little football mind. Other than the 4th and 1 play along the sideline by Amani Toomer in the NYG game, I'm having a hard time thinking of an instance where Gay's been out of position out there. I hope his dropped INT though was not a sign that he's got a little bit of Face Me Ike in him.

* Again, beating the Bengals 27-10 doesn't really tell us much about how much we may be improving, but like I said, I think it's a sign we're certainly not heading backwards.  Just thought I'd say that again. And yes, I agree, that should be the case as a year progresses, but it's not always so for a myriad potential reasons. Just look at last year.

* I wasn't thrilled about the design of the running attack we deployed for most of the first half. Between Parker's ailments and the slippery track out there, I thought it wasn't too wise to try some of those slower developing 'stretch' runs off guard or tackle. It was clear to me that it was a touch too difficult for both RBs and OL to firmly entrench their feet to either make cuts or stay on balance enough to seal off linemen. Better job in the 2nd half, though I guess Moore deserves some of the credit springing some positive plays on similarly designed calls.

* Anybody else remember how teammates and coaches said Limas Sweed was too hard on himself this offseason? Anybody catch how digusted with himself he looked on the sideline following his mistake on special teams that turned the ball back over to the Bengals? He'll learn. He's trying. I'm glad he got a chance to make a couple of plays in the 2nd half.

* It was meaningless in the outcome, and there's no question about whether or not Polamalu is heading to Honolulu, but it's always nice to see such an amazing player and teammate garner a bit more attention due to personal statistics.

* Of the 11 times the Steelers have played, opposing fanbases have had to hang their heads and discuss a defeat. I'm glad we have less practice feeling that way.

* More later, including an update on the always dynamic injury situation. Thoughts?

* P.S. NFL Network's simulcasts online are a joke. If their intention was to make me want to purchase the network, they failed.

* P.S.S. Snow be damned, our punting was sad tonight. For those scoring at home, we averaged 28.4 yards per punt. Might we be welcoming in our 4th punter of the year by the time we take the field next in 10 days?

As I suspected, we're in for a fight. I think we have the upper hand, but another mistake or two (Limas! Cmon rook!) and the Bengals will be right there until the end. Ben's had some good moments, completing 10/17 with a TD in the first half. No surprise, Santonio finds himself having a nice game against the Bengals, and credit Arians for getting Heath involved a bit. The running game's been a joke though, with too many of our runs coming on slow-developing plays on the slippery track.

Let's go Steelers! 1 half from 8-3...

Kickoff is just around the corner. The game will be televised on NFL Network. You can watch a simulcast of the game online here. Join me and other Steelers fans here throughout the game and afterwards to talk about the action as it unfolds. Hopefully our offense breaks out, our defense shuts down what's left of the depleted Bengals offense, and we emerege victorious to improve to 8-3 with a 10-day rest awaiting.

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

Thursday
CIN @ PIT (-11.5)

Sunday
SF @ DAL (-10)

PHI @ BAL (-1)

NYJ @ TEN (-5)

BUF (-3) @ KC

MIN @ JAX (-2.5)

NE @ MIA (no line = straight up even)

CHI (-7.5) @ STL

HOU @ CLE (-3)

TB (-7.5) @ DET

OAK @ DEN (-9)

WAS (-3.5) @ SEA

NYG (-3) @ ARZ

CAR @ ATL (-1)

IND @ SD (-2.5)

Monday
GB @ NO (-2.5) 28-24

Gametime is just around the corner! Love it. As much as I'd like to think we'll annihilate the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field, I think I'm more inclined to believe this one being a fairly close game. Part of that is because Bengals QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has gotten more experience since our October 19th showdown than he previously had in his entire career. Let's take a look at some of his performances, at least just the simple box scores, since we last saw him.

Couple things:

1. Fitzpatrick's numbers are still nothing to write home about. His yards per attempt have been meager to say the least. But he's proven himself to be fairly accurate, while improving in the ball protection department. If you remember back to our first game in October, after looking just putrid for the first quarter and a half of the game (they had 0 first downs on like their first 4 series), Fitzpatrick thoroughly dissected our defense on a 90+ yard scoring march to close the half. If you think about it, that one drive may have been the lowest moment of our entire season defensively.
   
2. Those rushing yards ain't bad. For a journeyman from Harvard.
   
3. As he's grown more comfortable, TJ Houshmanzadeh's numbers have remained oustanding. House has 35 catches in his last four games, and now leads the league with 73 receptions. Back-to-back reception titles for TJ?
4. Chad Johnson on the other hand, finds himself mired in the worse season of his career with Fitzpatrick at QB. He has just 14 catches for 115 yards in his last three outings.

So we'll see what kind of test Pittsburgh faces from Fitzpatrick and the Bengals offense. More later on the play of the Cincy defense since we last saw them, but knowing what we do about our offense, Cincy's best shot at escaping Heinz with a win is if Fitzpatrcik continues to make progress and engineers some scoring drives against our stout D. Seems unlikely, I know, but with or without much of a running game from Cedric Benson, I still find it likely that they will find some success through the air with the short passing game. Just how much success? Hopefully not too much.

Not going to take too much time straying off subject from this oh so interesting 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers squad, but I wanted to take a moment to point out to those who may not be aware just how special a football player Anquan Boldin is. MVP talk is quickly gravitating towards Arizona Cardinals QB Kurt Warner, and deservedly so. His numbers are flat out silly, and more importantly for Cardinals fans, he's got them in legitimate contention to not only make the playoffs, but to also secure a first round BYE and a home game in the Divisional Round.

I want to shift the spotlight to one of his WRs though - Anquan Boldin. Here are Boldin's stats for the year. For what it's worth as well, Boldin's also Football Outsider's #1 rated WR in both their primary metric categories.

The yards per game and TDs are tops in the league, and some of the other totals might be even more impressive had he not of course missed two game earlier in the year when he broke bones in his face! No, that's not a misprint, Boldin had to have his skin lifted back so that plates could be inserted! And then just a few weeks later he's playing fearlessly, going over the middle with abandon, and generally playing like the toughest WR in the game not named Hines.That kind of toughness is contagious on a football team that's trying to change its 'culture'.

His running-mate on the other side - Larry Fitzgerald - ain't too shabby either, but for my money, there may be no WR in the game that I'd rather have on the Steelers. With Ken Whisenhunt already thinking about ways to deploy him in some variation of the 'Wildcat' Boldin's impact on the Cardinals already explosive offense may grow even larger.

For the toughness and the production, Anquan Boldin is my pick for MVP at this point.

In this instance, what you can do for your country is quite simple. I just received the following email from TheMostViolentTeam whom many of you know just started Officer Training for the US Navy Seals. He's a great football mind, as good and loyal a fan as they come, and generally just a fun dude around my age that I am proud to have met through the site. All you have to do is add a line or two in response to his inquiries, which I will cut and paste into an email to send back to him.

Let's get it done Steelers Nation!

Bean/Blitz,

What's up man.  First chance I had to write e-mail since I've been here, we aren't allowed on our personal e-mail either yet.  Saw the Steelers finished out that foursome of games 2-2, I was surprised we lost to the Colts, but I don't know anything other than if we've won or lost games, if you could fill me into some of what's been going on and how we are looking for the rest of the season that would be great, I did see on an ESPN ticker when I snuck a glance at a TV in chow hall that Dan & Art bought out the team; great news!  

There's a guy from Pittsburgh in my class so we're always trying to find out what's going on, little stuff like that is at a premium in this place, so anything you can do would be awesome.  This place isn't bad at all really (if you wanna pass onto the forum that I'm doing well, go for it), they control everything and it's annoying, but nothing like how the Navy will be.  Can't wait to get to BUD/s and SEAL training to kick ass and take names.  That's all I got for now, don't have alot of time.  Hope all is well with you, any interesting new developments for you?  Any book deals yet?  Hopefully you're kicking ass in law school.

- Dirty Dawg ____(Name Rescinded) (TMVT on BTSC)

 

Other than the fact that he butchered me being in law school - I decided AGAINST that, lol - this is a special email to me that I hope some of you will take a moment to respond to. Be it with a nugget about the team or a well wish to a young cat making a big sacrifice when he could be watching football, chasing girls, and making nice scratch in various professions.

Just a long conversational post about the latest and greatest in UT football. I'd love to hear your take. I can understand the glee permeating BON - I personally think Muschamp's been the X factor in 2008 simply because of the new 'play for blood' mentality he's injected into the program. But I do think once the euphoria dims and the typically business oriented aspects of NCAAFB play out, we might just find ourselves feeling the same kind of vitriol and disappointment towards Muschamp that LSU and Cardinals/Falcons feel towards Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino respectively.

**************

In today's world of coaches opting out of verbal agreements all the time, should this really be considered such a slam-dunk deal for the Longhorns retaining Will Muschamp's services for the foreseeable future? Perhaps. Probably in fact. And the main reason I think that is because on the college landscape, there's not many jobs better than Texas, if any at all. In terms of money, sure, a number of schools can match what Texas can pay. But the combination of money, fertile recruiting grounds nearby, facilities, etc etc etc all make it hard to think Muschamp would get impatient and not wait for the guaranteed gig just a few years down the line.

However...

We're talking about the hottest commodity on the market right now in coaching in college football. Every last major opening is clamoring for Muschamp. It's debatable just how desirable jobs like Clemson and Tennessee are. Same with any openings that may take place at schools like Auburn in the immediate future. Most of these jobs have intriguing upside (mostly $, but also fan fervor and overhyped prestige/tradition), but they also have legitimate cons compared to Texas.

But what if the Penn State job opened up after 2009? Or the Florida State job? Or if Urban Meyer wanted to try his hand in the pros after possibly winning another National Championship (or two) after 2009? Would Muschamp really refuse those jobs if Mack had not yet made a formal announcement that 2009 would be his last?

Couple more (stream of thought largely) final points that I hope some of y'all will weigh in on.

* Calming the Storm: Most likely, this move was made because of all the buzz about Muschamp being the top candidate for a number of fairly high profile jobs at season's end.  If you have another explanation or if I failed to read one, let me know. But I think most agree there.

* This is not binding. All this is for now, at least in the worst case scenario for us, is extra leverage for Muschamp to up the stakes at the negotiating table if some serpentile school approached him regardless of this arrangement. We can all agree that Texas is a better job than the Miami Dolphins or the LSU Tigers were in the case of Nick Saban, or similarly with basketball coach Billy Donovan, and on and on. But the bottom line is there are huge egos involved in this game and in the coaching profession. Schools come a knocking with offers of $3+ mil..?  $900k is nice, but it's still chump change even compared to what guys like Mike Leach make at fairly average reveue generating schools like Texas Tech.

* How Long Is Too Long To Have To Wait? Sure, it's a dream come true to have your first head coaching job be at the University of Texas. A fairy tale.  But a couple of things. First, and let me emphasize that there's no way at all this would cross Muschamp's mind until the mega dollar signs were dangled in front on his face...but  Mack Browns first head coaching job at App State came at age 32. His first 'major' job was at UNC at age 37 after being hired at Tulane at age 35. If Mack were to walk away at the end of next year and made his intentions known perhaps during the two-three weeks leading up to Bowl season, then I could see it all falling into place nicely. Particularly if Brown's '09 Horns were undefeated and going to play in a Title game. That'd be a nice Mack'esque story to go out in the sunset to and Muschamp would obviously be right there ready to take over.

But what if no announcement was made near or at the end of 2009? Might Muschamp get antsy then? Would he wait until he's almost 40 years old to try his hand as a head coach? Again, if nothing else, I hope that we all can agree (in addition to this being one the top three or four jobs out there at worst) that schools will continue to keep knocking on his door in the future. If it's just one year to wait, or if Brown might say 2010 would be his last not far removed from the end of the 2009 season, then I think all will be well. But if not. I dunno. Just to show how money could become a factor if we're talking about having to wait past 2010, here's a list of the Big 12 coaches salaries, likely not accurate down to the last dollar when factoring in all the peripheral revenue streams these guys get through various media and appearance fees:

1. Mack Brown (Texas) $2.8 million
2. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) $2.65 million 
3. Mangino (KU) $2.3 million
4. Pinkel (MU) $1.85 million 
5. Mike Sherman (Texas A&M) $1.8 million
6. Mike Leach (Texas Tech) $1.65 million
7. Bo Pelini (Nebraska) $1.6 million
8. Art Briles (Baylor) $1.4 million
9. Dan Hawkins (Colorado) $1.1 million 
10. Gene Chizik (Iowa State) $1 million
11. Mike Gundy (Okla. State) $953,000 
12. Ron Prince (Kansas State) $754,140

Ok, so Mike freakin Sherman will be making considerably more money - ahem 2x as much - as William Muschamp next year.  Mangino? 3x as much? Hmm. Maybe for one more year Muschamp could tolerate that. But more than that? You think Boom MotherFuc&*r will stand for that? I dunno. I don't care how great the job is in the future. Money talks, bullshit walks. And it talks NOW. Not later.  When we're talking millions of dollars, I can easily envision a scenario where he could talk himself into taking an inferior job to Texas that paid just as well. Like a Tennessee, Clemson, etc. 

It's also worth mentioning that snakes like Bobby Petrino still get paid huge bucks, even after showing their utter disloyalty and total lack of accountability. Petrino makes about $2.85 million at Arkansas this year after being dogged by EVERYBODY he came in contact with in 2007. Just saying. It's not career or character threatening to renig on your word in today's game.

* A History Already of Transition - Muschamp's already bounced around plenty. He was with Saban of course at LSU, then joined him in the professional ranks at Miami when Saban bounced. Obviously Saban asked him to come and said he was his guy - he was afterall named the 'Asst Head Coach'. Yet, after the 2005 year, a year in which the Dolphins defense fared quite well, tallying 49 sacks and finishing above average defensively in spite of their collective struggles, Muschamp bailed town to take the Auburn job.

So in other words, in my estimation, he snaked The Snake. Saban hitched his wagon to him, telling him all sorts of things about how it was 'you go, we go' for the two of them. But Muschamp knew better. He picked up on Saban's tendencies to renig on his word and be self-serving. Nothing wrong with that really when it comes to career advancement and self-fulfillment in a brutally cut throat profession. Muschamp sacked Saban and the Dolphins, supposedly for some 'impossible to pass up on job at Auburn'? Only to skip town from Auburn a few short years later?

We're not talking Major Applewhite returning to be a RB Coach when he could have been an OC or head coach somewhere. We're talking about a coach in Muschamp with a history of transitory proclivities as long as his resume of success coaching up defenses. Again, matters not if he doesn't have to wait long. But if he does, all signs, to me at least, point to impatience.

* Finally, I'd like to close with this. Why in the f&^'s sake is Mack Brown retiring??? He was born in 1951. That makes him 57 years old to us non math majors like myself. Me and PB's father is well into his 60s. The last ten years have been the most productive and fulfilling for him professionally. I'm sure it's similar for many in today's society where people rarely retire at 55. JoePas a legend for all he's done for Penn State as an instituion, not just on the field, but he's kind of become a joke to many of us. But still, the fact is, in 2005 when we won it all, he was a last second TD pass by UM from an undefeated season. And this year's team has been nationally relevant as well. Bottom line is it's not impossible to maintain success at a much much older age. Paterno's the extreme outlier, but we're talking about nearly 30 years Mack's elder!!! 

Furthermore, is Mack Brown really going to retire with one or two conference championships under his belt?? At age 58 with plenty of physical vigor left in him? Helloooo? As I mentioned, Joe Paterno is like 115 and B. Bowdens on his tail. Cripes. Mike Sherman...MIKE SHERMAN is just a few years younger at 53 years old. God knows he'll be in the game for 10 years after the Farmer Failure to try to restore some sense of closure and meaning to his professional life before calling it quits. Jim Tressel is one year younger than Mack at 56 and I don't see him calling it quits anytime soon. Tressel's had a similar trajectory to Brown. Peaking in his late 40s and 50s. Why stop now when the going's just starting to get reat good?  Even though we all know the truth of the matter when it comes to which is the better job - Texas or Ohio State - they both carry the same CEO type responsibilities that can be physically taxing, but certainly navigable with all the financial resources available to delegate.

And Pete Carrol? The same age! Carrol's waiving his pom poms and....I won't continue. I don't know Mack Brown personally and I don't know what his ambitions in life are. But if they are most heavily centered around coaching and being remembered as one of the greats, it's insane to think he's ready to pack it in, even if he does win another Big 12 and perhaps MNC in '08 or '09.

My point is: WHY? Why is Mack hanging up?? I think he's really just now hitting his stride as a coach. He was a bit defensive and insecure at first under the microscope here. But a boatload of wins, a MNC, and the flagship program in America whe it comes to resources all help relax a tremendous football coach so he can go about focusing on making necessary adjustments and winning football games. Mack has done that and what we're seeing now in 2008 is his ability to field a title contending team with young players, something Mack wouldn't have been able to do earlier in his career. So basically, every year now has the potetial to be unbelievably gratifying and fruitful for Mack if he learns from all the things he's done right in recent years, particularly since last year's Holiday Bowl preparation.

I don't get it. And 500k of commemorative money be damned. I think we've learned this about Mack Brown this past year: He's a competitive SOB. Sorry, unless the Horns catch snake eyes and win the Big 12 this year and/or are in position for a conf title and MNC next year, I just for the moment have a hard time seeing Mack walk away at the end of 2009 with what we know about his competitive spirit and his easy to misinterpret resume. And next year's no slam dunk. We all know better than to put our faith in the athletes, so if McCoy were to leave after this year....

Lots still in play here. Far more than just the guaranteed possibility of Will Boom-Father Muschamp remaining in Austin for years to come. Just one Horns' fan opinions, but I'll get my concerns on the record first I suppose.

P.S. It's not like Deloss Dodds, Coach Royal and Mack Brown are going all-in with this move. There's this guy named Major ready to step in the case of an emergency. Texans love their own and many fans like to hate on Texas around the country. Muschamp leaves, particularly to SEC country, people rationalize, or at least forgive and forget. For us Horns fans? We get our guy in Major. Kumbaya.

Lots still in play though in my humble opinion.

Anybody else pleased that it's a short week before we get to see just how much progress the Pittsburgh Steelers may or may not be making as the season approaches the stretch run. Yesterday, maryrose mentioned that regardless of how the San Diego game had ended in the final seconds, he would have felt pleased about the visible improvements shown by Ben Roethlisberger and the offensive line. It's a perfectly reasonable point of view, particularly since he also mentioned that he was also pleased that Willie Parker proved that he can be a difference maker when healthy.

For me though? Absolutely not. We HAD to have that game in my opinion. Why? Forget records and playoffs for a second. What I wanted to see was the team finish a game. Sure we won a few tight games earlier in the year against Baltimore and Jacksonville, but in our latest two tight games - Indianapolis and New York - we failed to seal the deal late. My face was buried inside my jacket as Jeff Reed lined up for the game-winner.

Whew. Ok, that's something to build off of. Of course, a kick in the final seconds has no bearing on the other 59+ minutes of the game, but my hope is that now that we have one of these tight wins against a solid team under our belt, we add a little pep to our step in practice and then go out and play a little bit more loosely, fluidly and confidently on offense.  Big Ben can go back to playing more instinctively out there now that he doesn't have yet another sour moment in 2008 fresh on his mind.

So what next?

Continue reading this post »

RIcardo Colclough, a one time 2nd round draft pick of ours, was picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs recently. While perusing some of the recaps, this!

Lance Moore had eight catches for 102 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown strike when he got behind Ricardo Colclough on the Saints' second play of the third quarter.

Colclough was one of several unemployed players the Chiefs signed two weeks ago to shore up their injury-wrecked defense.

"It was a slant and go. Lance did a great job of selling it and the corner bit," Brees said. "The second play of the second half really set the tempo for what we were going to do."

 

Brees can make good corners look bad, but ay yi yi, poor guy. Wonder what he does to garner more opportunities. Must be a workout warrior of sorts. Or whatever the DB version of that is.