Game Day 10: Detroit Lions at Pittsburgh Steelers

Detroit DT Ndomukong Suh kicking
 Houston QB Matt Schaub in the groin

Traditionally, this is the kind of game the Steelers win. Traditionally, however, the Steelers aren't 3-6 in mid-November.

Detroit's defense is nasty but mediocre. It has allowed an average of 24 points per game this season and has only 15 sacks, which is one fewer than the Steelers' own defense.

If there was a day for Ben Roethlisberger and Co. to step up their game and put 30+ points on the board, this is it.

It would help if they could ramp up their 27th-ranked running game. It will be going up against a Detroit run defense that has stepped up its game the past three weeks, allowing a total of just five first downs rushing in those three games (three to Dallas, one to Cincinnati and one to Chicago).

"Obviously"
Detroit's offense has the much-ballyhooed trio of QB Matt Stafford, WR Calvin Johnson and RB Reggie Bush, who leads Detroit in all-purpose yards. Last week in Chicago, Bush averaged 7.5 yards-per-carry (14 for 105 yards). The Lions use Bush to exploit space opened by the attention Johnson requires, and Bush is lethal as an open-field runner with ability to maneuver in tight spaces.

Tight end Brandon Pettigrew

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls have had a queasy feeling all week about another guy the Steelers will need to account for, and that is tight end Brandon Pettigrew (6'5, 265). The Lions selected Pettigrew with the second of their two first-round choices in the 2009 draft in which they picked Stafford first overall.  He had seven catches vs. the Bears last week and also has been receiving accolades in Detroit for his fierce blocking.

Even with two rookies (RG Larry Warford and RT LaAdrian Waddle) getting lots of playing time on the right side of the offensive line, Detroit's run the ball well and, just as crucially, has protected Stafford. He's been sacked a league-low 10 times. That's not a good match-up for a Steelers' defense that has only 16 sacks this year.

As noted by Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau in a story by the Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette, sacking the quarterback would go a long way toward stifling Detroit's passing game. "Get the quarterback on the ground before he can throw it," LeBeau said. "That works pretty well against all passes."

Dick LeBeau, Detroit Lions CB

It would be cool if LeBeau could suit up at cornerback today, even at age 76. One of the greatest cornerbacks in Detroit history, LeBeau spent his entire 14-year playing career with the Lions (1959-72). A three-time Pro Bowler and Hall of Famer, LeBeau still holds the NFL record for most consecutive games played at cornerback (171), and is currently tied for eighth all-time with 62 career interceptions. His nine interceptions in 1970 led the NFC, and his 62 career interceptions ranked third in the NFL at the time of his retirement. Dick LeBeau could play.

Well, since LeBeau will be on the sidelines today instead of between the lines, it will be incumbent on the players to do the job.

Let's hope the Steelers win and Ben Roethlisberger survives the inevitable late hits, cheap shots and other calamities that await him.  

A Boy Named Suh

Pros or ... Cons?

The Detroit Lions incurred four personal foul penalties last Sunday in Chicago. 

For all their reputation as late-hitting, eye-gouging, leg-whipping, hand-biting, head-stomping, nutsack-kicking cheap shot artists, Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairly, Willie Johnson and company are fairly talented defensive linemen. If they were in Black 'n Gold, Steeler fans would appreciate their reptilian intensity, even if tends to flicker off-and-on sporadically and backfire at times.

In the last two minutes of the game in Chicago, Fairly and Johnson were flagged for late hits on quarterback Josh McKown. The penalties kept alive a late touchdown drive by the Bears. Both calls may have been ticky-tacky-borderline questionable, but ...

Thanks mostly to Ndomukong Suh's reputation for flagrantly bad behavior on the field (kicking Matt Schaub in the nuts, leg-whipping, late hits, etc.), Detroit's defense will rarely get the proverbial benefit of the doubt. Flags fly during the games; fines are assessed afterward. During this past week, the league office fined Fairly and Johnson $15,750 each for their late hits on McKown.  The NFL has fined Suh $200,000 this year alone -- 10 games into the season.

Even Ben Roethlisberger thought it wise (?) to comment on Detroit's style of play in his session with the media on Wednesday.

Taking aim.
Image from the original 
version of"The Longest Yard"

"Well, yeah, you've got to be careful," Roethlisberger said. "You'll end up dead if you're not careful. This is a great D-line and defense. I tell myself all the time to be alert for those things. But then, when the bullets are flying, who knows what's going to happen?"

Who knows, indeed.

Notwithstanding Roethlisberger's flair for the dramatic ("You'll end up dead"!!!) and penchant for over-stating things ("This is a great D-line and defense"!!!), his point is, what? ... he may end up dead on Sunday?

Hmmmm, that would be something to see. Ben is known to be a drama queen, but dying on the 40-yard line would be taking things to the extreme, wouldn't you say? One can't help but wonder what new rules Roger Goodell would enact.

Back to reality: Detroit's defensive front seven must be licking their chops at the prospect of going up against Pittsburgh's porous offensive line, which has allowed 36 sacks this year and 99 times that many hurries and hits.

That's a rapid pace even for Roethlisberger, who has been sacked more often than any other quarterback over the past five seasons and, since 2001, has taken a whopping 379 sacks, also more than any other QB.

An anxious (Steeler) nation hopes he survives Sunday's joust with the Lions and lives to see another day.

Detroitopia

A moment in a Detroit scene.

Detroit is a great city, but man has it had some tough times. Just like Pittsburgh.

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls would like to think Detroit and Pittsburgh share brethren spirits.

Musically, if Motown is historically a soul city, "Pittsburgh is a blues city," as keyboardist Mike Finnigan of Bonnie Raitt's band pronounced at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh on Monday night during an astoundingly superb concert performance by Ms. Raitt.*

And, if any city has a bigger inferiority complex than Pittsburgh, it may be Detroit, with its notorious bankruptcy, miles of blight, violent crime, arson contagion, rampant unemployment, corrupt politicians, crumbling infrastructure, and so on.

Just this week, Detroit's perceived inferiority hit the news when Lions players got defensive about verbal jabs from Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who patronizingly described the Lions and the city of Detroit as "Chicago's little brother." Ouch, never mind that the Lions have beaten the Bears twice this season.

Well, even little brothers grow up, as Lions running back Reggie Bush jabbed back, and the Lions are representing the Motor City reasonably well this year. They sit atop an NFC Central Division that features the struggling and injury-decimated Packers, the disappointing Bears and the absolutely dreadful Vikings, who managed to beat the Steelers.

Quarterback Matt Stafford's selection as the No. 1 overall choice in the 2009 NFL draft seemed a stretch at the time, and he has had spotty success throughout his four years. He has a big arm and a smooth throwing motion. The ball just zips out of Stafford's hand, laser-like when he needs it but with an arc and touch when he needs that.

Stafford has limited mobility, though, and he's been a bit injury-prone (what QB isn't injury-prone?).  Still, Stafford's been sacked only 10 times this year. Rookie guard Larry Warford (out of Kentucky) has helped solidify the offensive line; and, by the way, Warford would look good in a Steelers' uniform about now.

Despite throwing for nearly 5,000 yards in 2011, Stafford's name is not one that leaps to mind when discussing the top tier of NFL quarterbacks. This year, he is having possibly his best year, not so much in yardage, but more so in assertion of leadership. The Lions are winning, and he is the quarterback. It's his offense.

This is what Calvin Johnson does, a lot;
the winning TD catch last week at Chicago.

Megatron
This week's game in Pittsburgh should be interesting for Stafford. The Steelers don't sack the quarterback, nor do they take the ball away.

Pittsburgh's secondary has had its issues, to be kind, and the two best corners, Ike Taylor and Cortez Allen, have been dinged with injuries. Do the Steelers really want to match up William Gay vs. Calvin Johnson? No.

Ike Taylor will draw that assignment, assuming he is healthy enough to play, and he will be. Ike will need help, however, and Pittsburgh's safeties have not been especially helpful this year.

Throw out last week's game vs. the Bills and an ineffectual E.J. Manuel, who shouldn't have even started for the Bills. Stafford is a better quarterback, and Buffalo has no wide receiver that remotely compares to Calvin Johnson. No team does.

Johnson, also known as "Megatron," tallied 329 yards receiving vs. Dallas earlier this season. He has 11 touchdowns, including the winning TD catch last Sunday in Chicago.

Johnson won't be the only challenge for Pittsburgh's defense: Reggie Bush as a receiver out of the backfield is a nightmare in the short passing game and as an open-field runner. "He is tough to get on the ground," Ryan Clark said on his radio show on Tuesday.

With that in mind, the defensive game plan should be simple. Stop Stafford, Johnson and Bush.

Easier said than done.

*About that Bonnie Raitt concert:  

Bonnie Raitt at Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, Nov. 11, 2013
Photo credit: Scott Mervis/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Bonnie Raitt is a living American Treasure. If her current tour comes to your city, go see her. You won't regret it, even if you've never heard one of her songs.

"She is the greatest living American singer," said singer Marc Cohn during his intro set. She is also one of the greatest living guitarists.

Later, when Cohn returned onstage to sing with her during the encore set, he said, "Every night, Bonnie Raitt puts on a master class in soul, style and sexiness."

True dat. Bonnie Raitt is not only an astonishing singer and master guitarist at the top of her game, she is sexy, sassy and stunningly beautiful. Still. Radiant.

Last but not least, she's funny. Her 64th birthday was a few days before the concert in Pittsburgh. "It was so much easier when I was 63," she said. And, at one point after drinking from the water bottle hanging on her mike stand, she said, "I've got to stay hydrated. You never know when you might want to get moist."

Yowza. Really, do yourself a favor and go see Bonnie Raitt on this concert tour, if you possibly can.

Look Out, Ben

On Sunday, the cellar-dwelling Steelers take on the first-place Detroit Lions.

Ugh, that sentence looks so wrong. Has the universe turned on its axis?

Apparently.

The Lions are good this year, although Joey Porter's Pit Bulls are not totally sold on them.

Texas-born Matty Stafford is quasi-Roethlisbergeresque in that he has a big arm, takes a lot of hits and isn't very mobile. He has Calvin Johnson, though, and Reggie Bush, and those are weapons the Steelers cannot match. Whether the Steelers can contain that trio is the question we shall see answered on Sunday.

Taking aim.

Obviously, as Mike Tomlin would say, Johnson ("Megatron") presents match-up problems. As Tomlin noted at Tuesday's news conference, it's tough to prepare for Johnson in practice because the Steelers don't have anybody who remotely resembles him.

"Justin Brown just doesn't cut it," Tomlin said of his own practice squad rookie wideout from Oklahoma. Brown's height (6'5") is the only thing he has in common with Johnson, who is is a category all by himself.  Even Cincinnati's very, very talented A.J. Green (also 6'5") doesn't come close to approximating Johnson, according to Tomlin.

"There is no comparison," Tomlin said.

The Mean Machine
Just as troubling for a Steelers team that has a porous offensive line, the Lions have a large, aggressive an mobile defensive front that Tomlin describes as "a penetrating force," which sounds disturbing on many levels.

Seriously, Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley look and play like backlot cast members of the original version of "The Longest Yard."

They're nasty. Just ask Chicago's Jay Cutler, who endured some knocks from those two last Sunday, as noted on MLive.

"Fairley socked Cutler four times, and sacked him once. Ndamukong Suh had four QB hits and a sack of his own. That's eight QB hits and two sacks just from the starting tackles ... C.J. Mosley, Devin Taylor and Austen Lane added QB hits of their own."

There's also speed-rush rookie defensive end Ezekial Ansah and our old friend nemesis, Rashean Mathis (formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars) at cornerback. Mathis has a well-documented knack for intercepting Ben Roethlsiberger passes and returning them for touchdowns. Why couldn't the Steelers have acquired him during the off-season? After all, the 11-year veteran would fit right in with the Steelers' aging secondary.

Big Ben had better be ready. Let's hope he makes it through this one healthy. The Mean Machine will be gunning for him.

A Snoozefest Win Among Swirling Clouds

The overriding story: It's just more "Ben Drama."

What we learned from Sunday's game: Not much. Buffalo rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel did a lousy impersonation of an NFL quarterback. Manuel's performance gave the Bills no chance to win, and Dick LeBeau's defense was ready. The Black 'n Gold was able to stack the box, stuff the run, and that was it. Manuel looked unprepared, tentative, skittish and scatter-armed.

The game itself, while a relatively non-stressful win for the Steelers, was overshadowed -- of course -- by Ian Rapoport's pre-game report claiming that Ben Roethlisberger let it be known to the Steelers that he would be receptive to the possibility of a trade during the off-season.

Whatever.  Naturally, the denials came swiftly and vehemently from Ben and his "camp."  Who knows? We don't. This is a non-story until it becomes a real story. It's just elevator music, as Mike Tomlin would say. Until the elevator stops.

It's just more Ben drama, and yet another distraction. Where's the Todd Haley angle?

Game Day 9: Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers

The original Buffalo Bill.

The 3-6 Buffalo Bills are a better team than many people give them credit for. They may be a better team than the 2-6 Steelers.

The Bills have beaten the Ravens, Panthers and Dolphins, and they've lost close games to the Patriots, Bengals, Jets and Chiefs. They don't have all the pieces in place yet to be a contender, but they are competitive.

On Sunday morning's NFL Network show, Sterling Sharpe predicted without much conviction that the Steelers will win. If not, he said, "I will be jumping off that ship as if it's the Titanic."

The Buffalo Bills have a proud history dating to 1960, a heritage that most people outside Buffalo know little about and care less. The Bills won American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965, and they were a badass team based on defense. Ancient history.

Today's Bills are less formidable, but they can win. If not for a truly terrible throw by rookie undrafted free agent Jeff Tuell last Sunday, they would have beaten the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. On a quick two-step drop at the Kansas City one-yard line, Tuell somehow missed seeing a wide-open Stevie Johnson directly in front of him four yards into the end zone and instead flung a soft-toss throw to the right-tackle area, where a waiting Chiefs defensive back happily returned the gift 100 yards for a touchdown. Tuell won't be playing today.

Rookie first-round QB E.J. Manuel returns from four games missed due to a knee injury, and he has a strong arm. He has the ability to run, but the Buffalo coaches are imploring him to avoid taking hits -- which shouldn't be too hard against a Steelers defense that has trouble sacking the quarterback. Of note: In April's NFL Draft, the Bills selected Manuel out of Florida State with the 16th overall pick, one choice ahead of the Steelers' first choice, which they spent on linebacker Jarvis Jones out of Georgia. The Bills are counting on E.J. Manuel to be a difference-maker. For better or worse, he will be the face of a franchise that has for years lacked a strong quarterback.

Elsewhere on offense, Buffalo starts three former Steelers: strongman guard Kraig Urbik (a 2009 third-round draft pick whom the Steelers kept inactive during his rookie season and inexplicably cut at the end of training camp in 2010); tough-guy guard Doug "Bronco" Legursky, our old friend who filled in mostly capably at various times for the Steelers over the past four years before they let him go in the off-season; and, surprisingly enough, fullback Frank "The Tank" Summers, a 2009 fifth-round draft pick of the Steelers who never made it with Pittsburgh.

In addition to Urbik and Legursky, Buffalo has three very good players on the offensive line: center Eric Wood (6'5, 324; 2009 first-rounder out of Louisville); left tackle tackle Cordy Glenn (6'6", 345, 2012 second-rounder out of Georgia); and right tackle Erik Pears (6'8", 316; eight-year veteran).

Running back C.J. Spiller can fly.

The playmakers on offense are wide receiver Stevie Johnson and, more fundamentally, running backs C.J. Spillers and Fred Jackson. These guys are true play-makers, and they drive Buffalo's offense. If the Steelers stop Buffalo's running game, they should win this game -- if Pittsburgh can score on offense.

Which brings us to Buffalo's uneven defense, which is led, surprisingly, by playmaking rookie middle linebacker Kiko Alonso (6'3", 238; third-rounder out of Oregon), who is in the conversation for Defensive Rookie of the Year -- in fact, he's probably the current front-runner.  He was NFL Rookie of the Month for September. Alonso has four interceptions and, in Week 6 vs. Cincinnati, he made an eye-popping 22 tackles. Twenty-two tackles in one game! -- yikes. He's already celebrity in Buffalo; and a rising star in the NFL.  He will be fun to watch today.

Other notables on defense are defensive end Mario Williams (DE - 11 sacks already!), Kyle Williams (DT), Marcel Daerius (DT), Alan Branch (DE), Leodis McKelvin (CB), Jarius Byrd (FS) and Nikell Robey (nickel corner, appropriately enough), an undrafted rookie free agent out of USC who is listed at 5'8", 165 pounds, and who hails from hometown Frostproof, Fla. Welcome to Buffalo, young Mr. Robey.

Pittsburgh connections with Buffalo extend to the front office (Doug Whaley), but more relevant to today's game are the players: The Bills have more than a few very good players. On paper, at least, the Bills look better than Pittsburgh on the defensive line, offensive line and at running back. On paper.

The Steelers have the edge at quarterback, however, and that edge is a big one. On paper, the Steelers also appear to have better receivers and ... and ... placekicker?

For the Steelers, today's game is at home. It winnable.  It's a should-win game. In reality, it's a must-win game, for respectability at the very least.

By the way, it is beyond jive for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to continue hanging the threat of moving the Bills franchise to Toronto. The people of Buffalo and western New York deserve better.

Has the NFL Jumped the Shark?

This post will go over like a Led Balloon; skip it if you don't want to read anything negative about the NFL.

First, let's be clear: Joey Porter's Pit Bulls remain passionate and emotionally invested in football generally and the NFL in particular.

We love the game of football that appeals to the kid in all of us who played ball in the backyard, in the street, on oil-slicked rock-hard fields, in high school, in college, in highly competitive venues, in crazy situations of all kinds. Intensely. We love football.

But ... this latest bullshit with the oafish, reptilian Richie Incognito and his ignorant apologists is yet another major turnoff in a series of diminishing returns.

The NFL is perilously close to jumping the shark.

As heretical as it sounds, the NFL has lost some of its patina that appeals to the kid in all of us.

The NFL is a multi-billion dollar business. During Roger Goodell's tenure as commissioner, it feels like the NFL sold it soul somewhere along the way.

It's increasingly tough to overlook ... 
the golden goose that is television, with its ceaseless fawning, incessant babble, over-saturation of coverage, Thursday night games, Sunday night games, late-season Saturday games, Monday night double-headers -- oh, and, of course, the all-too-frequent and lengthy commercial breaks during games -- the NFL doesn't seem so special and fun anymore.

It's increasingly tough to overlook ...
performance-enhancing drugs, steroids and human growth hormone; absurd rules changes; rampant bounties; institutionalized extortion, thuggery, hazing, browbeating as "initiation" rites; concussions, CET, brain damage and early-onset dementia; designated "strike zones;" deliberately targeted knee hits prompted by the new rules governing upper-body hits; constant and eternal roster attrition from injuries, injuries and more injuries; the continuous legal squabbling; the ridiculous regular-season games in London and Roger Goodell's continuing threat to move franchises to London (from Jacksonville and maybe other cities) and Toronto (from Buffalo).

It's increasingly tough to overlook ... 
the many, many player arrests (from the seriously disturbing Aaron Hernandez  murder case to the insanely absurd Alameda Ta'amu incident on Pittsburgh's South Side); cretins like Michael Vick; blockheads like Riley Cooper; jerk owners like Jerry Jones, Zygi Wolf and Dan Snyder; asshole coaches like Rex Ryan, Joe Philbin, Greg Schiano, Gregg Williams, Bill Bellichick, et al; Todd Haley and his wife; the selfies; the constant Tweets by clueless self-absorbed idiotic athletes, self-imporant talking heads and former-player blowhard "analysts" like Ray Lewis, Michael Irvin and Warren Sapp; the breathless bloggers, the uber-analytical Pro Football Focus Sabremetric-type "experts" who are about as fun as actuaries ... and so on, and on, and on.

It all detracts, takes its toll, from what used to be a more enjoyable, fun diversion and, yes, a passion that still means a lot to us.

Football is supposed to be a game, but it's got "business" written all over it.

It's as if Roger Goodell and his minions never heard of the adage,"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls remain deeply invested in the whole scrambling omelette, but ... there is something to be said for perspective and balance, if you will, if not wisdom.

We still watch the Steelers closely, with passion and intensity, but ... we're also watching the Aaron Hernandez and Richie Incognito situations, along with all the other crap, almost as much as we're watching the games.  The bad with the good; you don't get one without the other.

If you can't say something nice about someone ...

Confusion in Pittsburgh. Ugliness in Miami.

It's been a tough week. Steeler fans are looking for answers and hope. Steeler players are fumbling for excuses.  Steeler coaches -- who knows what they're doing?

The most sort-of interesting thing we heard from Mike Tomlin's weekly news conference on Tuesday was the following statement, which raises more questions than answers:

“I take responsibility for the players we have drafted since I’ve been here, not only in recent drafts, but since I’ve been here. Because it’s the truth.”

Tomlin's statement could be interpreted a couple of ways:

1. Tomlin assumes stewardship of the players drafted by the Steeler' front-office personnel decision-makers and placed under his care -- somewhat like a first-grade teacher "takes responsibility" for the children sent to school for guidance and direction. ... Or ...
2. Tomlin actually has final-say decision-making responsibility for selecting the players in the draft; which would be news to us but not, presumably, to Kevin Colbert, the general manager of the Steelers. In other words, Tomlin decides which players to draft. If so, that might explain some of what appears to be his infatuation with certain players, and why some players either were overdrafted (not to name names) or shouldn't have been drafted at all (not to name names).

As for the ugliness in Miami, ugh. We suspect what's been reported down there occurs to some extent on many other teams across the NFL -- maybe not to that extent, though.  If true, and it sounds like it just might be true, what Richie Incognito allegedly did goes far beyond "hazing" and "bullying."  

It's criminal: Extortion, harassment, terroristic threats, etc., and it sounds like it was (and continues to be) condoned by other players and the coaching staff in Miami. Shame on them. It's tough to see that kind of behavior shrugged off, sanctioned and even institutionalized.

Just another black mark for the NFL, and it is an especially ugly one. What a colossal turn-off for fans even as invested and impassioned as most of us are.

What We Learned We Already Knew

Ben fumbles.

The 2013 Steelers aren't nearly talented enough to play mistake-prone football. The Steelers are a bad football team, but we knew that. 

Against New England, they were non-competitive.

Penalties, interceptions, sacks allowed, a sack-fumble, dropped passes, sloppy tackling, missed assignments, lousy blocking, blown coverage, crummy punting, inability to get off blocks, general confusion, ad nauseum ... the Steelers put it all on ugly display in Sunday's embarrassing 55-31 fiasco in Massachusetts.   

They were steamrollered.

Rob Gronkowski: Wide open, romping and running free.

This game marked a new low. The 55 points allowed were the most in franchise history, and the game wasn't even as close as the lopsided score indicated. 

More than 600 yards allowed; three Patriots' receivers with more than 100 yards each; 198 yards rushing allowed -- it all added up, and the Steelers allowed Tom Brady to complete 29 of 33 passes to compile a perfect passer rating.

The defense was manhandled. Yet again, the Steelers' linebackers were virtually invisible, and their play worsened after rookie Vince Williams left the game with a concussion, not that he had played well beforehand. The Patriots ran play after play to their left side, and the Steelers' defensive players were not up to the job. 

Stevenson Sylvester couldn't get off blocks, Steve McClendon was run over, Lawrence Timmons was spun around, Jarvis Jones looked lost, and LaMarr Woodley was absent. 

They're not good enough.

Danny Amendola: Wide open.

The secondary was run past, through, around and over. Every one of them. Ike Taylor got burnt, William Gay couldn't cover, Troy Polamalu was consistently out of position, Shamarko Thomas was over-matched, and Ryan Clark was slow. 

This game made painfully clear what we suspected: Ryan Clark can't run anymore. He just can't run. He can talk, though.

The offensive line can't block, but we knew that, too. Emmanuel Sanders dropped a pass that hit him between the numbers. Le'Veon Bell dropped two passes, including one that clanged right off his hands, and he clearly missed assignments. 

Jericho Cotchery showed up. Good for him. Antonio Brown made some plays. Cameron Heyward showed some flashes. Heath Miller tried.  

To our untrained eyes, it seemed all the players tried ... mostly, however, they're just not good enough.

Can it get any worse?  Yes. It can always get worse.

Game Day 8: Steelers at New England

What are the chinks in the Patriots' armor? The 6-2 Patriots have had injuries on both lines and are starting a group of young receivers whose productivity has been uneven.

One stat catches the eye: Tom Brady has been sacked 23 times in eight games. That's an unusually high number for Brady. The Steelers' defense, however, has collected just 10 sacks; by comparison, the Patriots' defense has 24 sacks.

The Steelers also don't take the ball away. The Steelers have intercepted just four passes vs. 10 by New England's defense.

The Patriots rarely lose at home to AFC opponents. With Brady at quarterback, the Patriots have 34 consecutive home games vs. AFC opponents.

All of the above doesn't bode well for a Steelers team that desperately needs a win.

For what it's worth, here's a bit of history:

• A win today by the Steelers would mark the second consecutive and the third in the last four games against the Patriots.
• Since 2000, Pittsburgh is 3-4 vs. the Patriots.
• The Steelers are 14-8 vs. against New England in the regular season, including 4-2 on the road (1-2 at Gilette Stadium).
• Ben Roethlisberger is 3-3 vs. the Patriots in the regular season, including a win at Gilette Stadium in 2008.

Matchup City

Much has been made over the years of Bill Bellichick's penchant for exploiting match-ups favorable to his New England Patriots.

He's got plenty to choose from tomorrow.

On offense, Guy Whimper ("Abdullah the Butcher") starts at right guard for the injured David DeCastro. As noted this week by the Post-Gazette's Ray Fittipaldo, "Whimper lined up at guard for the first time in training camp this summer when the Steelers had some injuries and the coaches wanted to see if he could be position-flexible."

Let's hope Whimper's play in New England instills more confidence than his words:

“I’m still getting used to it,” Whimper said. “I didn’t play guard until I got here. It’s a new experience. It’s helping me out to better understand the game, looking at it from a different perspective. Playing guard and tackle is two different things even though they’re right beside each other.”

Bellichick will have various defensive players attacking the interior line, so it's not like Whimper will be going one-on-one against an individual player tomorrow.  It will be interesting to see how he handles it.

When the Steelers line up on defense, Dick LeBeau will have some tricks up his sleeve, and his schemes have given Tom Brady problems in the past (most recently two years ago). Still, Brady is 6-2 vs. the Steelers and has never lost to Pittsburgh in New England. More to the point, whatever LeBeau concocts won't matter, if the players don't play well enough.

Brady is working with a young corps of wide receivers, and the timing with them remains a work in progress. Recent games have shown a marked improvement, however, particularly with WR Kenbrell Thompkins.

Brady's main target remains tight end Rob Gronkowski, and that is a match-up that always favors the Patriots against any opponent. Coming off injury, Gronkowski returned to the active roster only two weeks ago but immediately became Brady's go-to receiver. In just two games, Gronkowski has caught 10 passes for 141 yards.

For what it's worth: The Patriots have won their last 26 games vs. AFC opponents visiting Gillette Stadium.  With Brady at quarterback, the Patriots have won their last 34 games vs. AFC teams in New England.

All Souls Day, "Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed" & Day of the Dead

Dancing with the dead.

We've lost several former Steelers and other notables this year.  Rest in peace, L.C. Greenwood, and all others who have passed.

It's All Souls Day, also known as the day of the "Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed" and also continuing the festival that begins on Nov. 1, "Day of the Dead" or Dia de Los Muertos spanning the first two days of November.

Today we honor those loved ones who have gone before us, and those spirits who travel with us, in us, around us, every day -- the spirits, angels and saints, whom we also honored yesterday, All Saints Day.

As noted by Tom Waits, "They say that life itself is really just the dead on vacation."

And, as the philosopher Pierre de Chardin  said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience."

All Saints Day

It is All Saints Day, also known as The Solemnity of All Saints or Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), as it is known in Mexico, where skulls are considered a symbol of life and regeneration.

The Steelers need some new life and regeneration, that's for sure. The team has so many issues, not one can be singled out as the problem.

We could start with leadership.

St. Bernard kneeling before Mary

"Excuses are the tools of the incompetent," said Mike Tomlin last November, and he may have been talking about himself, his coaches or any of the players.  

Tomlin also is fond of saying, "The standard is the standard."  This year, nobody is meeting The Standard.  
  
So, today, we shall look elsewhere for guidance, and since the Steelers need some heavenly help:

• All Saints Day (Nov. 1) commemorates those who have made it to heaven and “attained the beatific vision,” which Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls would like to see some day.

• Tomorrow is All Souls Day, which commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been made it to heaven ‘cause they ain’t yet purified and sanctified, ‘n ‘at.

• Got it? Saints first, Souls to follow.

Just two years ago, the Steelers beat the Patriots.

Tom Brady walks off the field after a last-gasp pass.

Hard to believe, but it was only two years ago (Oct. 30, 2011) that the Steelers held Tom Brady to 188 yards passing in a rousing Steelers' victory over the Patriots at Heinz Field. How times have changed.

It seems so long ago. Bruce Arians was the offensive coordinator, and that raucous win featured the following, according to the write-up on Joey Porter's Pit Bulls:

• "The Steelers jumped out front, controlled the tempo, maintained a two-to-one edge in time of possession, converted 10 of 16 third downs (including multiple third-and-longs), and played well in every phase of the game, mistakes notwithstanding."

Can you imagine?  And then there was this:

• "LaMarr Woodley sacked Brady twice and played a monster game before leaving with a pulled hamstring."

Uh-oh. An ominous portent.  That was effectively the end of LaMarr Woodley that sesason, and he hasn't played to that pre-injury level of excellence, consistently, ever since.

How times have changed. Today, the Patriots are 6-2, and the Steelers are 2-5. They truly are different teams. This merits checking, but the Steelers must have 35 players from that 2011 team who are no longer here.

Happy Halloween.

It's Hallowed Eve: Buenos de Los Muertos

It’s Hallowed Eve, also known as All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween, the eve of All Saints Day … or The Feast in Celebration of the Day of the Dead … or, Dia de Los Muertos, as it is known in Mexico, where skulls are considered a symbol of life and regeneration.

This celebration of Hallow’ed Eve is rooted in Christianity, since it is on the eve of All Saints Day (Nov. 1), which honors those who have made it to heaven and “attained the beatific vision,” which Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls would like to see some day.

The subsequent All Souls Day (Nov. 2) commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been made it to heaven ‘cause they ain’t yet purified and sanctified, ‘n ‘at.

Got it? Saints first, Souls to follow. "We ain’t jaggin’ around."

Anyway, the celebration of Hallowed Eve dates more than 2,000 years to ancient Ireland and Scotland. The Celts believed their departed family and friends returned home during harvest time to eat and drink before going to heaven. Being harvest time, food was more plentiful, and some was left out in the evening for the souls of The Departed.

So, in this way, it was in Ireland and Scotland and England that All Hallow’s Eve became a combination of merriment and prayer; prayer and merriment.

Following the break with the Holy See, however, England’s Queen Elizabeth forbade all observances connected with All Souls' Day.

Tight-ass, no-fun prude, she was.  What was the "Holy See" anyway? It was probably when the Queen said, "See? See-ee? Three to five wins this year!  I told you so. I TOLD you so!"

Still, kids eventually started dressing like ghosts, goblins, witches, etc, to have fun and play along with the notion of the dead returning to their homes. The pranksters would demand treats of neighbors … or, you guessed it, threaten to play some sort mischievous "trick" on them.

Soul, soul, an apple or two,

If you haven't an apple, a pear will do,

One for Peter, two for Paul,

Three for the Man Who made us all.

I went down to the St James Infirmary,

Saw my baby there,

Stretched out on a long white table,

So sweet ... so cold ... so fair.

Let her go ... let her go ... God bless her,

Wherever she may be,

She can look this wide world over,

But she’ll never find a sweet man like me.

When I die want you to dress me in straight lace shoes.

I wanna a boxback coat and a Stetson hat,

Put a $20 gold piece on my watch chain,

So the boys’ll know that I’ll be back.

– Louis Armstrong, “St. James Infirmary”

The 29th-Ranked Offense in the NFL

Ray Fittipaldo makes interesting points in the Post-Gazette's Steelers Blog entry, "Ben Roethlisberger is Running the 29th-Ranked Offense in the NFL."  

Here are some takeaways: 

"In the past 22 games without [Bruce] Arians calling the plays the Steelers have 10 wins and 13 losses. This season they are averaging 17.9 points per game, which ranks 29th out of 32 teams in the NFL. They have managed to score more than 20 points in a game twice this season, both losses. ...

But in many ways, this isn’t about numbers. It’s about a comfort level with the quarterback and his play-caller. ...

The point is a decision was made by the organization to change coordinators after going 55-25 during the regular season with Arians in charge. 

Haley and Roethlisberger continue to say the right things when asked, but something appears to be amiss with this offense. The bottom line is Roethlisberger is not having the same success with Haley that he did with Arians. 

To be sure, there are other reasons the Steelers are 2-5 and streaking toward a losing season, but the decision to change coaches following the 2011 continues to be easily second-guessed. 

If there is an organization that understands the concept of coaching continuity it’s the Steelers, who have had three head coaches since 1969. It's 20-20 hindsight, but the question persists whether continuity within the assistant ranks was vastly underestimated 22 months ago."

"The NFL is Running a Billion-dollar Con," by Sean Conboy

The current issue of Pittsburgh magazine features an excoriating article by the excellent Sean Conboy, who shines a light on how the NFL's extortion con game worked to extreme effect in Minnesota.  Highly recommended.  You can read it here.

When the Steelers played in London earlier this season, lots of casual observers wondered why, so Joey Porter's Pit Bulls felt duty-bound to tell the truth about why the NFL sends teams like the Vikings and Jaguars over there every year -- it's the NFL's blatant attempt to strong-arm the people (legislators) of those locales into building a new taxpayer-funded stadiums. The NFL basically tells the fans in those cities that if their tax dollars don't get spent on new stadium deals, their teams can be moved (to London, Los Angeles, anywhere).

Oh, and by the way, the 2-5 Steelers are still the only team the 1-6 Viking have beaten this year.

Where are the linebackers?

Now that the Steelers have gotten that dangerous "between" game out of the way -- between Baltimore and New England -- it's time to go to Massachusetts. With the Red Sox in the World Series, New Englanders have baseball to occupy their sports-mindedness this week, so this game maybe flies a bit under the radar in Boston. 

The Patriots are 6-2, but hardly anybody thinks they're very good. Hah.

The Steelers are 2-6, and nobody except LaMarr Woodley thinks they're very good.  Huh?

Woodley, you'll recall, had some interesting comments following Sunday's loss in Oakland, and the Post-Gazette's Gene Collier captured them beautifully, so we'll present Woodley's comments as Collier did:

"This is no step back for us; we're still movin' forward," said linebacker LaMarr Woodley, whose movements seemed almost designed to avoid tackles in a 21-18 loss to an almost equally dreadful football team. "We just had some mistakes out there and the Raiders capitalized on it. So, we're still a good football team, but we gave up some big plays. That's the only thing you can really look back on. You gave up some big plays. I wouldn't question us as a football team.

Huh. There's something to be said for Collier's throw-in line about Woodley, "whose movements seemed seemed almost designed to avoid tackles."

Well, he's got a point, and it underscores a very real concern that's been gnawing at us most of the season: Where are the linebackers?!  

• Lawrence Timmons is the only one making plays, as demonstrated in an outrageous 17-tackle performance against the Ravens and 12 tackles (with a broken hand) in Oakland.  

The others  have been mostly invisible. On Sunday, to recap:

• LaMarr Woodley had zero tackles
• Jarvis Jones had one tackle
• Jason Worilds had two tackles
• Vince Williams had three tackles
• Chris Carter was on the inactive list

The linebackers are supposed to be the core of this defense. Time for them to step up, although ... it remains to be seen whether they can.

• LaMarr Woodley is looking less and less like the dominant player he was for a brief time before the Steelers awarded him with a $65 million contract. 

• Jarvis Jones, the rookie first-rounder, is not making the kind of impact one might reasonably expect of a high-profile first-round draft choice who led the NCAA in sacks and tackles for losses his previous year. Jones still is looking for his first NFL sack. 

• Jones's performance on Sunday paled in comparison to that of Oakland rookie linebacker Sio Moore, who sacked Ben Roethlisberger twice, giving Moore three sacks for the season. Moore was no secret coming out of college (Connecticut), and pre-draft speculation suggested he would be a good fit on the Steelers.

• Oakland was fortunate Moore was still available in the third-round. Small sample size, but he's been playing a bit like a younger version of, well, of LaMarr Woodley. 

Oakland rookie linebacker Sio Moore sacked Ben Roethlsiberger twice on Sunday.

• Make no mistake: We're not writing off Jarvis Jones yet, but he just hasn't done much in his brief NFL career. It's time to stop playing like a rookie. Some people are starting to wonder if what we've been seeing is all we're going to get. Give him time -- he may prove to be very good, but the Steelers need him to start making an impact, and Sunday's game in Foxboro would be a good time to start.

• Now in his fourth year, Worilds fairly well qualifies as a second-round bust, which is all the more unfortunate because the Steelers selected Virginia Tech's Worilds instead of Penn State's Sean Lee, who has proven in Dallas that he is by far the better linebacker (Lee had two interceptions on Sunday). 

• Lee was the also the much more accomplished player in college, and he would have been a perfect fit on the Steelers -- not exactly the same identical role/position as Worilds, but the much better linebacker.

• That choice (Worilds over Lee) possibly had ripple effects that necessitated other personnel moves in the linebacking corps (including the re-signing of Larry Foote and the selections of Jarvis Jones and Vince Williams, which meant the Steelers didn't draft players at other positions of need). It's likely that if Worilds had shown more promise as the projected successor to James Harrison, the Steelers would not have selected Jarvis Jones.

• Vince Williams was a sixth-round draft choice this April, and he has been mostly invisible, although he's gotten playing time because of the injury to Larry Foote. As a sixth-round rookie, he more or less gets a pass, for now, but he's been thrust into the lineup, and that means he has to up his game. Like, now.

• Chris Carter, a 2011 fifth-round pick out of Fresno State, was projected to be a potential pass-rushing force. He's not been any kind of force, and it appears he is on his way out.

Jones is going to be around for a while, and since he and Sio Moore are fellow rookies, maybe Jones could take heart from something Moore himself said during the week before the Steelers game:

“I feel like I’ve made steady progress,” Moore said. “The player I was in Week 1 is better than the guy who went through training camp. The player I am after Week 6 is better than the player I was when the season started. I feel likeI’ve grown and gotten a lot smarter. That in-game experience has helped, and now I want to make the right turn into the second half of the season, so there are less errors and more big plays.”