Man, What A Game!

[R. Rich]

It was refreshing to see a team led by a QB who believes in his teammates and in himself. Ben Roethlisberger continues to show that he is NOT intimidated by playing in the NFL. His decision making is usually spot on and he's shown the ability to make plays both inside and outside the pocket. Imagine that.

 

Pittsburgh's offensive line, which had been a sore spot in recent years, seems to be getting better by the game. There's noticeable improvement, unlike our line. They were able to keep pounding away at Cleveland's defense and Staley eventually got his 3rd straight 100 yard game. This looked like the old Steelers; "we're going to run on you and you just try to stop us!".

 

If the Steelers do lose Plaxico Burress at season's end, it will be a lose/lose situation. He and Roethlisberger seem to be developing a nice working relationship there. Ward is still the man, but Burress is more than just the deep guy now. He's becoming more of an option on short to medium routes too.

 

The Steeler defense didn't impress me a ton, but they were effective in keeping the Browns from getting anything started for the most part. They did break down on passing downs by letting WRs get open (when will people learn that soft zone crap doesn't work?) and by letting Garcia get outside of their contain men. Often. The one thing I take away from watching their defense is that they can be beaten over the top. Lee Evans could have a great game against them in January.

 

Heniz Field is really nice too! This was my first time there and I was impressed at all the different options they have there. They have a walk of fame, various activities for children, a reggae band playing live before the game, and a lot of different food vendors with great looking-and smelling-stuff for sale (they have not only a Primanti Brothers stand, but also a Quaker Steak and Lube and a place right under their scoreboard called the "Steel Pit" where they grill up hot dogs, hamburgers, and sausages). I also thought the "Red Zone" gimmick, where the two bottles of Heinz ketchup on top of the scoreboard/Jumbotron tilt down and start 'pouring' whenever the Steelers are inside the opposing team's 20 yard line, was pretty cool.

 

 

Bottom line? The Steelers look pretty good. Time will tell how good, as they have Parcells' Cowboys, the Patriots, and the Iggles coming up next. But, so far, so good for them. Even if they're playing scrubs at this point in their season, hey, they're beating them. If the Bills don't start to improve, the January matchup with the Steelers could get messy. Let's hope things start to turn around for us.