They Said What?

Just starting to turn the engine over on the AFC Championship Game build up, I thought I'd post some links and quotes from out of town or national analysts on both the Steelers victory and the Jets victory. On with it.

Here's what people were saying after the Steelers came back to beat the Ravens:

From Peter King at SI:

That it was. In a cruel twist that will hurt coach John Harbaugh and GM Ozzie Newsome even more when they realize it, the nobody rookies for the Steelers beat the rich free-agents for the Ravens. Anquan Boldin, the $8 million receiver acquired from Arizona last spring, caught one ball for minus-two yards. Veteran T.J. Houshmandzadeh dropped what would have been a fourth-down conversion pass from Joe Flacco with 63 seconds to go and Baltimore trailing 31-24. "I can't believe it happened,'' a stunned Houshmandzadeh said later. "I can't ever recall dropping the ball when the team needed me. It's almost like it's not real.''

Inexcusable on both counts, those two guys coming up so small ... and Flacco (an underwhelming 16 of 30 with two turnovers) and Ray Rice (a crucial fumble) helping the collapse.

From Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN.com:

The Steelers didn't fold. They unfolded. For the first 30 minutes they played like they were still on a bye week, but then came the playoff smelling salts.

"I think both teams think they can impose their will," said Farrior. "We always believe we can do that. It's a little tough when Baltimore thinks it can do the same thing.''

Thinking and doing are two different things. You could see it in the Ravens' body language. You even could see it in the Heinz Field press box, where members of the Ravens' front office, including general manager Ozzie Newsome, spent much of the second half shaking their heads in disbelief, burying their heads in their hands, slamming tabletops (not Newsome, by the way), and delivering loud, exasperated sighs.

From Peter Schmuck at the Baltimore Sun:

Who knows why fate frowns at certain times, but it made a very ugly face at the Ravens at that point. Ray Rice hadn't fumbled all year, but he exposed the ball and the turnaround began. Joe Flacco, who is known for his cool demeanor under pressure, suddenly looked like a guy desperately trying to make up a big deficit instead of a guy trying to protect a lead. You saw what happened.

It would be easy to throw this all on Flacco for making two turnovers on consecutive possessions, but it wouldn't be fair. Just about everybody the Ravens depend on to make an offensive play failed — at some point — to make the kind of play that good playoff teams make. And you can't just look at this game in a vacuum

The Ravens have been doing this kind of thing, in one form or another, throughout this strange (and sometimes wonderful) season. It hasn't been a failure of the offense, though the offense certainly seemed to play well below the potential ascribed to it after the arrival of quality receivers Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Donte' Stallworth. There were defensive breakdowns, too, though the defense certainly carried the team to the threshold of what would have been a huge and potentially historic victory on Saturday.

From Kevin Van Valkenberg at the Baltimore Sun:

3. The Ravens still have issues at wide receiver. And it may be time to cut ties with a few of them.

Derrick Mason looked old against the Steelers. He couldn't get separation all game, and despite being targeted several times, he didn't catch a pass for the first time all year. T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Anquan Boldin dropped key passes when their team desperately needed them to make a play. Donte' Stallworth was a non factor all year, including Saturday.

Wasn't this supposed to be the best receiving corps in the league?

What they were saying about the Jets huge upset of the Patriots:

From Don Banks at SI:

Remarkably enough, the 6-seeded Jets are one of four NFL teams still in that particular hunt, and it's not an overstatement to say Ryan is clearly the biggest reason why. Love him or loathe him, Ryan gave his team the difference-making edge on Sunday with a defensive game plan that left Tom Brady and the high-flying Patriots befuddled and off-balance for most of the day.

It was a masterful performance by the Jets, and player after player in the New York locker room gave credit to Ryan and his ability to disguise New York's pass coverages and create the schemes that brought consistent pressure on Brady.

From Jason Whitlock as FoxSports:

Trailing 7-3 with 74 seconds left in the half and facing fourth and 4 at the New England 38, Belichick called for a fake punt. Defensive back Patrick Chung dropped the direct snap and the Jets tackled him for a 1-yard loss.

The Jets capitalized, scoring a quick TD to take a commanding 11-point lead.

The fake was ignorant. There was no reason to force anything at that point. The Pats were getting the second-half kickoff. New England panicked. The alleged “smartest” team in football played a dumb football game.

From Mike Freeman at CBSSportsline:

The Jets are what happens when fearlessness has a one-night stand with cockiness.

The Jets couldn't help themselves, in the end, taunting and talking on their way to the AFC title game against Pittsburgh. They left with a metaphorical middle finger raised high to the critics while simultaneously embracing an almost metaphysical belief in themselves. Would you expect them to be any other way? Would you want them to be any other way?

The Jets talk. And they talk. And they talk until their throats are dry and everyone is tired of hearing from them. But the Jets also back up that talk with action. There was no greater example of this than Tom Brady being sacked five times. Or looking frustrated. Or hands on hips. Or cursing at himself on the bench.

From Tim Graham at ESPN.com:

There will be a crow shortage in butcher shops across the country. I'm eating mine with a little Caribbean jerk sauce as I write this. It's a bit gamey.

With conviction, I wrote and said on television and radio throughout the past week the Jets would not win. Like so many of you, I was certain the Patriots would smack them around. Sure, I gave conciliatory analysis on how the Jets could win: dominate on the ground, dominate on third downs and Jeff Gillooly kneecapping Tom Brady during the national anthem.

But as I mentioned in my weekly AFC East chat, people in their right mind couldn't predict the Jets to win Sunday after watching them get razed in Week 13.

Not even Jets icon Joe Namath could bring himself to pick the Jets.

From Bob Ryan at the Boston Globe:

What do you say when you are whipped, fair and square? What do you say when there are no freaky happenings, when there are no loose ends, when there are no overtly bad calls, when the other team makes the big plays when it has to and stops you when you need to make some of your own?

What do you say when the other team does exactly what it wants to do and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it? What do you say when the other coach runs his mouth and his team backs him up? What do you say when a verbose rival gets to keep playing and you must pack up and go home, beaten, 28-21, on the field where you hadn’t lost a game all season?
...
Of course, the main reason the Patriots fell down in the execution was the play of the Jets. Brady looked comfortable only on rare occasions, the best example an eight-play, 80-yard drive that, combined with a direct snap 2-point conversion by Sammy Morris, got them within 3 points at 14-11 late in the third period. But that was the exception on a late afternoon/early evening when he was sacked five times, harassed into many ugly incompletions, and even threw his first interception in two months. The coverage of the Jets defensive backs was positively brilliant.

From Greg Bishop at the New York Times:

Momentum, conventional wisdom and common sense pointed toward the Patriots. They had the league’s best quarterback (Brady), best coach (Bill Belichick) and, according to many pundits, best team. Brady had just led them down the field for a touchdown and 2-point conversion.

Yet it was Sanchez who took over the fourth quarter, who found receiver Jerricho Cotchery for 58 yards, who lobbed a perfect 7-yard fade that receiver Santonio Holmes caught in the corner of the end zone. Holmes landed his right knee inbounds, then his left foot, as an official’s arms extended toward the sky.

The Jets led, improbably, 21-11. All their bluster, threats and name-calling had been backed up.

A Tale of Two Games

In "The Fighter" with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, Wahlberg finally gets a big fight. After years of toil, of watching other, younger guys get opportunities, of having his face beat in from time to time, he gets a break. And then he goes out and is getting his ass soundly kicked. He's losing the fight just as much as he's being beaten. Suddenly, when he's just one or two good punches away from being knocked into an assisted living facility, he changes tacts. He starts taking the fight to his opponent, rather than just reacting to his opponent. He delivers some body blows, stuns the other, 'better' fighter. And he wins. It's not pretty, but its a win.

Boxing analogies, redolent with antiquity, blood, guts, and nothing more than sheer will driving competitors to get up and take more punishment, are like crack to television analysts and writers alike, and in the week leading up to Steelers-Ravens III, boxing language was tossed about like Pepcid after an ill-advised late-night trip to Primanti's. Bluster. Hyperbole. Hype and amplification that I myself was guilty of, knowing full-well that it might end up being both balder and dash. But I gave into it, letting the literary nature of the sweet science wash over me.

And then something crazy happened. The football game really did live up to the heavy weight bout paradigm, ridiculous as that seems.

The Steelers, with lots of veterans on the field, let a live ball lay on the ground while they stood around as though they were waiting in the considerable Heinz Field bathroom lines until Baltimore's Cory Redding picked the ball up and just sauntered into the endzone. I've seen guys move with more urgency on their way to visit the in-laws. How can veterans like Hines Ward and Heath Miller not even have the sense to pick up the ball? You know, just in case? How can a smart rookie like Maurkice Pouncey not just fall on the ball? It was the equivalent standing there, arms down, chin hanging out, just daring your opponent to knock you into the third row.

Terrell Suggs did his best to knock the Steelers senseless. It felt like a seismic, tectonic shift in the game -- if not a knockout blow, then the haymaker that sets up the inevitable knockout.

And I wondered, just how do you come back from that kind of thing?

The Steelers came back from that epic brainfart by going three and out, and then on their next possession, Rashard Mendenhall fumbled the ball over to the Ravens just 12 yards away from the endzone. Joe Flacco hit Todd Heap for an easy TD and the beatdown was on. The Steelers offense played careless football and played themselves into a deep hole. They let the Ravens beat them in the face and pound their midsections. The 21-7 deficit felt like a knockout.

Somebody throw in the towel before it gets too ugly.

It was at this point, I have to admit, that I thought, "Oh well, with the Steelers playing like this, at least I won't be tense."

But on the 8 count, the Steelers dragged themselves off the mat. And started to deliver head-body combinations of their own.

Ryan Clark knocked the ball out of Ray Rice's arm and the Steelers turned that into 7 points quickly. A word, and perhaps you've heard this before, or maybe you even read it here, but Rice never fumbles. Like never. That he did at that particular moment, was the turning point in the game, the one landed punch that gave the Steelers a chance to collect themselves, re-focus, re-load.

I have a simple-minded theory about turnovers. When an offense is unable to score after their defense sets them up with a turnover, it dampens the fire of the defense, breaks it's resolve. It's hard to get amped up when you give somebody a gift and they literally pee on it. But a touchdown following a turnover? That cranks the defense up to 11. Which, as you know, is one louder.

Pig Ben's pass to a wide open Miller in the back of the endzone fired up the Steelers defense and lit a fire under the Heinz Field crowd. That place was as loud as I've heard it in a long time, probably since the 2002 Tommy Maddox playoff comeback against the Browns.

Emboldened by the 7 point swing, the Steelers defense went out and forced a definitive three and out. Then, next time out, Clark (again) read Flacco beautifully and pulled in the overthrow intended for Heap. A bullet from Pig Ben to Hines Ward later and the game was tied.

What the??? How the hell did that happen?

Ray Lewis looked dejected. Don't believe me? Courtesy of the Baltimore Sun:But really, how did it happen?

It happened because the Steelers defense, statistically dominant all year, showed just why they owned all the numbers -- never caving in, never giving up, even after Rice ran through Troy Polamalu on the way to the endzone, even after all the offensive ineptitude. They gave up just 126 total yard. 126 total. Heck, Tom Brady throws for 126 yards in a single quarter and the entire Ravens offense was able to generate that over four quarters.

It happened because the Steelers forced three turnovers of their own, had five sacks and seven more tackles for losses. They did it with the other safety making all the big plays, with Casey Hampton looking like the 2005 version of Casey Hampton and Ziggy Hood looking very much like he was worth taking in the first round. It happened because Ike Taylor shut down one side and William Gay held down the fort on the other.

It happened because the Steelers offensive line, much maligned (by me) through the year, greatly diminished through the course of the season, and with the Ravens turning them into an on-field triage unit, somehow found a way to battle through. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't dominant, but it was admirable. You have to hand it to a bunch of guys who are back ups to back ups, going out there and giving their all against a defensive front and linebacking corps as good as Baltimore's.

Even so, the teams were even on points late in the game. Pittsburgh already had 17 points off of turnovers. Baltimore had 14 points off of turnovers, plus 3 more off of special teams, which woes the Steelers just cannot seem to banish once and for all. Each offense had driven the length of the field for one touchdown. I'd say, using the boxing judge's scorecard analogy, that's even on points, both literally and figuratively.

So this game, as games of this magnitude often do, came down to who was going to make just one or two big plays late in the game.

Facing a 3rd and 19, Pig Ben somehow found Antonio Brown deep behind the Ravens defense and the rookie clutched the ball to his helmet a'la David Tyree, tripping his way to the 4 yard line. Pig Ben is 9-2 in the post-season, an .818 winning percentage. Of quarterbacks who have started at least 10 post-season games, only Bart Starr (9-1 in the post-season) has a better winning percentage. And the reason is, I believe, because, inelegant though his game may be, he has an ability to make one big play when it matters. It maybe ugly, and it may only be one or two plays, but he has a knack for getting it done. It's inexplicable, but it's a fact.

On the other side of the ball, the Ravens had every opportunity to make that one big play, but Flacco and his receivers couldn't do it. Anquan Boldin dropped a sure touchdown that would have put the Ravens up by 4 points. On a pass, I would point out, that was nearly identical to the pass Ward hauled in to tie the game.

With plenty of time left to score a touchdown and send the game to OT, Ziggy collapsed the Ravens pocket and dropped Flacco bringing up a 4th and 18. Then T.J. Houshmandzadeh dropped a pass that Flacco put right between the 8 and the 4 on Whoseyourmama's jersey. Yes. That Whoseyourmama, the one who once wiped his feet on a Terrible Towel, the one who earlier complained that the Ravens were not throwing to him enough. With a drop like that, is it any wonder that, when he has his druthers, Flacco looks for Derrick Mason?

The Ravens had their chances. Actually, the Steelers gave them every chance to win, opening up their midsections and daring the Ravens to punch them there.

The Baltimore offense couldn't come up with one big catch when they needed it and the Baltimore defense let Antonio Brown get behind them. Two plays. Two plays where the Steelers executed and the Ravens didn't.

Brown gets deep and hangs on.

Whoseyourmama drops a sure first down.

The Steelers made a lot of mistakes they need to correct, but they have a ton to be proud of, too. All that means is they get a chance to fight another day. That is way more than I anticipated back in September.

Steelers 31, Ravens 24

Nuff said.

Except to say, suck it Whose! Your! Mamma! Karma's a bitch. Bitch.

You can take the receiver out of the Bungles organization, but you cannot take the Bungle out of the receiver.

Steelers Versus Ravens in the Octagon

The two most physical teams in football will meet at mid-field on Saturday afternoon, shake hands and then try to kill each other for the duration of the 2010 rubber match. In their last contest, Terrell Suggs had a bloody mouth that made him look even more intimidating, Haloti Ngata broke Pig Ben's nose, a development that delighted Raven's coach John Harbaugh, and Troy Polamalu went all Chuck Norris on Joe Flacco's throwing arm. It was quite the bout.

T-Sizzle (known to his mama as Terrell Suggs -- although, I don't know, maybe she call's him T-Sizzle, too?) has declared that this game will be Armageddon. The teams hate each other. And I know this to be true because Hines Ward said so. The pundits have stopped just short of declaring that this football game will be as bloody as the Battle of the Bulge (and for that we should all be thankful), but one thing seems to be clear -- the forecast for the game, with all due respect to the peerless Mr. T., is pain. Pain with a chance of agony, to be specific.

So, given the tone and timbre of the conversation in the sports-talk-ocracy, I thought a boxing style tale of the tape was in order, by unit, but first, a quick note about the dominance of these teams. Since 2000, never has a year passed without either the Steelers or the Ravens (or both) in the playoffs. The Bengals are pretenders, the Browns an afterthought. The Steelers and Ravens ARE the AFC North.

The Ravens are 12-18 against the Steelers, but in the first three years after landing in Baltimore, the franchise was a hot mess and went 1-5 against Pittsburgh. Starting with the 2000 season, the Ravens record against the Steelers is 10-12, pretty evenly matched. Each of this season's games have been decided by 3 points. These teams are familiar and similar, which probably accounts for the bad blood. In the playoffs, the Steelers have faced the Ravens twice, winning both (2001 division game and 2008 AFC Championship.) I guess this game is Round Three in more ways than one.

QUARTERBACK: Joe Flacco is by far the best QB the Ravens franchise has ever had and after just three full seasons, he is already the team's all-time leading passer, which is maybe more an indictment of the crap-ass quarterbacking that's gone on Baltimore for the past 15 years than anything else. Flacco is talented, big, strong and can launch the ball. He is 4-2 in the post-season lifetime, a stat made more impressive when you note that all of those playoff games have been road games. Still, in the 2008 AFC Championship game, Flacco threw a momentum swinging pick-six to Troy Polamalu; in the last meeting between the teams, he failed to recognize a blitzing Polamalu, leading to a fumble and the Steelers winning touchdown.

Flacco has never beaten the Steelers when Pig Ben is on the field. Pig Ben's problems all come off the field because on the field, he has an amazing resume: undefeated regular season as a rookie, two Super Bowl rings, about 20 comeback wins in his back pocket, and a post-season record of 8-2. His QB rating is higher than Flacco's (this season and also lifetime), and while he does take some risks running around like a chicken with its head cut off, he plays extraordinarily well in the post-season.

OFFENSIVE LINE: I've written tomes about the faulty, leaky Steelers line, so at first blush, I thought I'd be giving the nod to the Ravens line no questions asked. Upon further review, this is closer than I might have guessed. The Ravens have allowed 40 sacks this year and left tackle Michael Oher can be beat on the first step by a speed rush. He can also be goaded a bit; the guy retaliates and, depending on the officiating crew, this could cost his team on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Steelers O Line, though upgraded at center (Maurkice Pouncey's presence has made the whole line better) has been decimated by injury, so they've constantly shuffled bodies in and out. Given all the givens, they've done better than I would have expected, but they're not reminding anybody of the 1990's Dallas Cowboys line. If you believe in statistics and such, this Wall Street Journal story is an interesting statistical breakdown of offensive line play.

RUNNING BACKS: I love Ray Rice. I'll admit it. I do. I think the kid is terrific. He ran for 1,220 yards with five touchdowns, averaging an even four yards per carry. He hasn't fumbled once this season. And he's a nice outlet to catch passes out of the backfield. Willis McGahee is a great alternative for the Ravens; he added 380 yards and five more touchdowns.

Rashard Mendenhall has very quietly asserted himself in the Steelers offense, rushing for nearly 1,300 yards this season and, more importantly, adding 13 touchdowns on the ground, something very sorely missing from the Steelers offensive attack last year. Despite the fact that Issac Redman has looked sharp in his rare appearances, has averaged 4.8 yards per carry, and the fact that Bruce Arians keeps saying he's going to use him, they just don't use him often. Redman's game winning touchdown in Baltimore was a play designed to go to Mewelde Moore, but they didn't get the personnel swapped out in time. Luckily, because I really don't think that Moore powers into the endzone in that situation the way Redman did. He is a nice weapon to have at their disposal if they choose to deploy him Saturday.

WIDE OUTS/TIGHT ENDS: Todd Heap and Heath Miller are two of the best all-around tight ends in the business and while Miller is a bit better blocking, Heap is more of a deep receiving threat. Both have missed time with injuries, but when healthy, either guy can turn in a huge game for his team.

On the outside, the Ravens don't have anybody who can match the speed of Mike Wallace. But then, other than the Eagles, who does? So there's Mike 'The Flash' Wallace and old reliable, Hines Ward as the possession' receiver, as it were. Rookie Emmanuel Sanders has developed as a threat for the Steelers, but coach Tomlin is not a fan of youth, so one bone-headed move out of him, and Antwan Randal El will be in before you can say El Yeah.

The Ravens counter with three reliable possession type receivers -- Derrick Mason, T.J. Whoseyourmama and Anquan Boldin. Boldin is a tremendous talent, one of the best in the game. He can pick up yards after the catch, he can fight through the most vicious blocks and he finds a way to get open in tight spaces in the endzone. If you had to sum him up in one word, it would be power. Donte Stallworth is supposed to be their speed guy, but with just two receptions all year, I'm guessing that he's not panned out quite the way they had hoped. No, they'll try to stretch the field with Boldin, who is by no mean slow, it's just the everybody else looks like they're running in pudding when compared to Wallace. Do you like unfettered speed? Or pure power? That's what it comes down to. Boldin? Or Wallace?

DEFENSIVE LINE: This is an interesting one. That the Steelers line has been so effective without the great Aaron Smith is a testament to their depth. Ziggy Hood is playing better with each passing week, and they got a huge lift when Brett Keisel returned from a nagging leg injury. Still, it'd be nice to have a 100% healthy Aaron Smith in their arsenal, wouldn't it?

For my money, Haloti Ngata is the best player on Baltimore's defense. Yeah, yeah, Ray's still the heartbeat of the team, T-Sizzle can come play for me any day of the week and Ed Reed is the second best safety in the game (more on that later), but Ngata is the most disruptive player on that team. He's fast and powerful. He just blows shit up all the time. To say nothing of his expertise in rhinoplasty.

LINEBACKERS: I see your Ray Lewis and T-Sizzle with my James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. Then I'll raise you a Lawrence Timmons and throw in James Farrior for good measure. Yes, I'll be taking that pot in the middle, thank you very much. Suggs played like a man possessed in the last meeting between the teams and Ray just keeps on going, despite my hopes that he won't, but Harrison, Farrior, Timmons and Woodley have all turned in all-pro years. Farrior, especially, after he appeared to have dropped off last season.

Both defenses stop the run (opponents averaged under 100 yards per game against both teams) and both groups of linebackers are gap sound, but the Steelers are mind-blowing at run-stopping, allowing just under 63 yards per game. Only the Jets (106) and Patriots (103) rushed for more than 100 against them and no single player came close to running for 100 himself. The Ravens D is not quite as statistically impressive, except that they have forced 10 rushing fumbles, many due and owing to the backers.

The Steelers have outpaced the Ravens in the sack department by a mile, putting up 48 sacks to just 27. And while I understand that the Lebeau system is, um, linebacker friendly, shall we say, there's no disputing the fact that the Steelers just frankly kick ass in the sacking of the quarterback department. The four Steelers starters have a combined 29.5 sacks this season, more than the Baltimore defense in total. The Ravens four primary backers have contributed 15.5 sacks, and 11 of those are T-Sizzle's.

SAFETIES: Can we all just agree that Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed are the two best safeties in the game? Okay, then. Dawan Landry and Ryan Clark are both good players, but this is all about Reed and Polamalu. I've never seen a safety ballhawk as effectively as Reed and I've never seen a guy pull one big play out of his hat after another, week in, week out, like Troy. I'm giving Troy the edge here and not because of his hair, but because the Steelers defense drops off appreciably when he's not on the field, while the Ravens are better able to tread water without Reed. It's gonna be a safety clinic on Saturday and that is no hyperbole.

CORNERS: Chris Carr is a nice corner. He tackles well and forced three fumbles this year. Josh Wilson ... aw, screw it. Frankly, none of the corners in this game are worth writing home about. The questions are these: (1) how do the Ravens contain Wallace's speed? can they contain him? And (2) how do the Steelers cover Boldin without giving up too much size in pursuit of the speed to cover him? Tough assignments any way you cut it.

KICKING/PUNTING: The Ravens have two kicking freaks in their employ and I mean that in the nicest possible way. I think Billy Cundiff can kick the ball through the uprights on kickoffs at least half the time. He's got a boomer for a leg. Plus, having kicked for the Browns and the Ravens, the guy is used to the quirks of Heinz Field.

Has anybody else noticed punter Sam Koch's ability to drop the ball inside the 10 and have it bounce straight up or bounce back away from the endzone? It's like he's able to kick and also get some freaky backspin on the ball, too. Every time, it bounces straight up and his coverage units can get down there and down the ball. Freak, I tells ya.

The Steelers wisely cut Jeff Reed and signed Shaun Suisham, who has been pleasantly reliable on field goal attempts, but his kickoffs are, like his predecessor, woefully short. Standing in for Dan Sepulveda, the Steelers will send out Jeremy Kapinos, who we haven't seen much of, so it's hard to know what he's got. I think we know this -- he's no Sam Koch. I expect the Ravens will be able to tilt the field with both of their outstanding kickers.

And one last thing, cut me Mick!

NFL Wildcard Weekend Preview

The annual march to Super Bowl silliness is upon us and everyone is all a-flutter. A few months ago, I even heard Bill Simmons say that he believed we were on a collision course with a Roethlisberger v. Vick Super Bowl. Oy, the mass density of that media day would certainly cause a shifting in the global tides perhaps set off the opening of a crevasse that would swallow Jerr'Jones' Deathstar in Big D right on the spot. Okay, maybe that's just my wishful thinking, but I'm way ahead of myself here. Right now, let's just see how wildcard weekend breaks down.

New Orleans Saints v. Seattle Seahawks, 4:30 Saturday

Teeth have been gnashed, garments rended, and panties twisted over the Seahawks appearance in the playoffs this year, but I wonder, what do they have to do to win? Can they even win?

The Seahawks defense is near the bottom of the pickle barrel, allowing on average 24.5 points per game. By way of reference, the Steelers allow 10 fewer points per game. Meanwhile, the Saints hang up 24 points every week, give or take. I know that the Saints are without the services of their two most reliable running backs, and I know that Drew Brees has thrown a very un-Drew Brees-like 22 interceptions this year, and that Seattle's field is the loudest outdoor facility in the NFL, and that weather can be a factor, but even given all of that, it's hard for me to think that the Saints won't put up five touchdowns today.

What the Saints need to do to win: don't turn the ball over.

What the Seahawks need to do to win: hope that Drew Brees turns into Heath Shuler.



New York Jets v. Indianapolis Colts, 8:00 Saturday

The match up of the day, featuring the coach who never met a microphone he didn't like versus one who I'm not sure is even awake half the time. I value equanimity, but Jim Caldwell always looks like he's thinking about something, anything else but the football game in front of him, like he's day-dreaming about playing a game of catch in the backyard with his grandkids or something.

After Peyton Manning torched the Jets other corner last year, Sexy Rexy Ryan went out and got Antonio Cromartie to balance out Revis Island. The problem for the Jets is the underneath coverage, where they are without safety Jim Leohnard. If Manning finds a way to exploit the middle of the field coverage, the Colts could put up a ton of points. And that means that Mark Sanchez, et al. will need to match them.

What the Colts need to do to win: give coach Caldwell some Red Bull and protect Manning so he can find open receivers underneath.

What the Jets need to do to win: promise Santonio Holmes two extra blunts as a bonus for every touchdown he catches.



Baltimore Ravens v. Kansas City Chiefs, 1:00 SundayThe Chiefs? In the playoffs? Yup. And I love it, because I think, after long scientific studies, that Kansas City fans are among the best in the league. I'm glad to see the playoffs back there.

The Chiefs have the best rushing attack in the NFL, averaging over 164 yards per game on the ground, but if Todd Haley and his coaches think that the Ravens are going to let them get away with that, they have another thing coming. This is not the 2000 Ravens defense. Heck, it isn't even the 2006 Ravens defense. But they are capable of taking away the one thing a team wants to do (run) and make them do something else (pass.) If the Chiefs don't find a way to pass the ball effectively, it's going to be a long day.

What the Ravens need to do to win: stop the Chiefs running game and let Ed Reed ballhawk.

What the Chiefs need to do to win: sub-contract with Troy Polamalu to come in and make an amazing, game changing play some time in the 4th quarter.



Green Bay Packers v. Philadelphia Eagles, 4:00 Sunday
First Mike Vick was a pariah, then he just wasn't that good, then he was the league MVP, then he was complaining about getting hit too much, then he was just pretty good. And that's where we are now. Mike Vick, up from Hades, but back down from the Mount Olympus of football. Meanwhile, the Packers defense, a big, big liability last year, has turned into a dominant, intimidating unit this year. Dom Capers is just more evidence that being a great coordinator (he is) does not make you a great head coach (he isn't.)
Both defenses like to blitz and the Eagles have 23 interceptions, half of which have come when they've been blitzing. Meanwhile, the other defense has recorded 47 sacks this year, second most in the NFL. Basically, for both teams, this game comes down to their ability to protect their quarterbacks. Or get to the opposing quarterback, as the case may be.

What the Packers need to do to win: Find a way to pick up the Eagles blitz and keep Aaron Rogers' clean and upright.

What the Eagles need to do to win: find a way to keep Clay Matthews out of Mike Vick's grill. Oh, and also bring a fan out of the stands to manage the clock for Andy Reid if things are close in late in the game.

Parsing the NFL MVP Debate

Last night, I was running at the gym (way too cold outside for that stuff) and SportsNation was on the telly in front of me. They were debating the NFL MVP and their top five candidates were: Tom Brady, Michael Vick, Phillip Rivers, Matt Ryan, and Aaron Rodgers. Then I took a quick look at Peter King this morning and his MVP watch list is: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, and Maurice Jones-Drew.

As much as I really, really like Aaron Rodgers, if the playoffs started now, his team would be out of it, so I have to ding him. Same goes for Phillip Rivers and I don't care about his mad numbers. The best player on a fair to middling team hardly qualifies as league MVP by my reckoning.

As to the rest, I love that King included MJD on his list because if the Jax Jags hang on to win the AFC South, it will largely be because little big man carried them there.

Michael Vick likewise. No way the Eagles are sitting atop the NFC East at 9-4 with Donovan McNabb or Kevin Kolb in there.

And a strong case can be made for Matt Ryan, too. The guy is so reliable in big moments and he is remarkably consistent.

Right now, Brady's hair has morphed from 'Justin Bieber' to 'roadie for a Grateful Dead Tribute Band' (they're never billed as 'cover bands' are they? They always call themselves 'tribute' bands. Anyway.) Regardless of how his Ubermodel wife is instructing him to keep his coiffure, Brady is playing quarterback better than I've ever seen the position played. Whereas Peyton Manning because always looks for the big score, big throw, dagger pass, Brady just takes what the defense gives them and will kill teams by any means possible, frequently through attrition. He's happy to have yards after the catch stats. He gets the ball out so quick, in such perfect spots for his receivers that he throws them open and, even if he's throwing to a guy who is just four yards past the line of scrimmage, he puts them in terrific positions to make plays. I thought the Patriots would be good again this year, but I didn't think they'd be this good but they are the best team in the NFL largely due to Tom Brady.

But let me make a case for Troy Polamalu. (You had to see that coming, yes?)

First of all, so quarterback-centric is the league that quarterbacks are almost teeing off from the ladies tee as it were, putting guys like Troy or Terrell Suggs or Justin Tuck or Clay Matthews at a serious disadvantage. For a defensive player to have the kind of impact that Troy is having speaks volumes about his ability to impose his will on a game while playing a position that isn't built for to do so.

He is the best defensive player in the game and I believe he might be the best overall player in the league. At the very least, he should be in that conversation. It's not just that he makes tackles, it's when he makes tackles. It's not just the forced fumbles, it's when he forces them. The interception always seem to come at moments where the game could turn against the Steelers for good.

Since he was out for most of last year, it's easy to point to what the Steelers are with him and what they are without him.

Without Troy, the Steelers finished 9-7, just out of the playoffs and nobody who witnessed it will ever forget that five game stretch of stench they left on the field. The Steelers defense had just a dozen interceptions last year (terrible) and allowed a little over 20 points per game (right in the middle of the pack). Sure, the special teams suck didn't help them any, but the defense didn't come up big in any situations when they needed it either. With him, after only 13 games, they have 17 interceptions (six of those are Troy's), they allow just over 15 points per game. The defense is not just keeping them in games, its actually winning games. And they continue to do that without the best run stopping lineman in the league because of Troy's ability to come up big when the moment demands it.

The numbers are startling, but if I look hard at the Steelers wins and losses, I can point to at least three games they would have lost without him, probably four. I realize it's hard to project what would have happened in the abstract. Football is complicated, tons of plays are run and 22 guys are on the field for each one, so I cannot say with complete and total certainty that the Steelers would have lost these games. Still ... I'm pretty sure they would have lost.

-- the season opener to Atlanta. I know Matt Ryan is still shaking his head wondering where the hell Troy came from to in the 4th quarter of that game. Simply put, he just appeared at the sideline, like a freaking apparition. The interception gave the ball back to the Steelers offense in field goal range. That game wouldn't have even gone to OT had Jeff Reed done his job (don't get me started), but I think there's a very good chance they lose that one without Troy.

-- at Buffalo. Troy's ridiculous at the goal-line interception saved the Steelers asses. Again.

-- at Baltimore. With an anemic Steelers offense, on the road, and in need of a big play, it was Troy, because it's always Troy, causing the fumble that may have won game and might have won the division.
-- versus Cincinnati. With the whole team suffering a Ravens hangover, and with the offense playing even worse than they had the week before in Baltimore, the team needed something. Anything. A loss to the Bungles would have undone almost all of the good work from this season. Bengals 7, Troy 23.

Without Troy, they could easily be 8-5 and battling for a spot; they could be 7-6 on the outside looking in; and they could be worse 6-7, much like they were last year. Instead, the Steelers are 10-3, atop the AFC North and in position to secure the #2 seed in the playoffs.

Largely due to just one man. Just what about that doesn't say MVP?

The Balls & Whistles MVP tracker:
Troy, Brady/Bieber/Burnout, MJD, Vick, Matty Ice.

Blood Bath at Baltimore Football Facility - No Arrests Made

Despite another slew of injuries to key players, despite Bryant McFadden playing worse than a little old lady with a walker and a babushka (or worse than Chad Scott, depending on your perspective), despite Anquan Boldin's obvious greatness, despite the broken nose and the broken foot, despite Keenan Lewis being very Keenan Lewis-like, despite a MASH unit masquerading as an offensive line, despite swirling winds and a place kicker pressed into doubling as a punter, despite another poor effort by the officials, and in spite of the always puzzling, often hair-pulling play calling of Bruce Arians, the Steelers managed to get out of town with an order of crabcakes from the Cross Street Market and, more importantly, a win that puts them atop the AFC North.

Oh, and also, they were able to overcome a completely unstoppable Terrell Suggs who made it his personal mission to hit Pig Ben on every snap and disrupt every single running play. Truly, Suggs turned in an amazing performance.

Kicks in the 'nads to:
--Keenan Lewis for going out of bounds and negating a Shaun Suisham punt that had pinned the Ravens at their own four yard line.

--Bryant McFadden for, oh, so many bad plays, missed tackles and foolish penalties.

--The officials for missing an obvious, horrific helmet to helmet hit that left Heath Miller motionless on the carpet for a few terrifying minutes. And I'm not quite sure how Haloti Ngata gets away with punching Pig Ben in the face without being flagged. I know it was inadvertent, but aren't they supposed to be flagging hits to the head, even when they are inadvertent? Wasn't that the point of the new emphasis on 'player safety?' I'm not some crazy person sitting in my basement in my underwear with a foil hat on my head decoding the secret messages from aliens in between putting the finishing touches on my treatise about the Kennedy assassination and how Dick Cheney was responsible ... but C'mon Man! If anybody did that to Tom Terrific, it would be a national freaking calamity and Roger 'Judge Dread' Goodell would ask President Obama to send in FEMA. If James Harrison did that to anybody, one of the officials would have left the M & T Bank Field and personally driven Harrison to Ray Anderson's house, where Anderson would fine him, suspend him, and possibly have him deported. Just sayin'.

--Bruce Arians for his continued inability to adjust, to create mis-matches or take advantage of them. After Miller (his best run blocking TE) and Hotel Flozell (his best run blocking lineman) went out with injuries, he ran the ball repeatedly. Oh, run the ball again, BA! And for his inability or refusal to adjust to Terrell Suggs' ferocity and intensity. Suggs was eating Hotel for breakfast before Hotel was hurt, and then Suggs noshed on Jonathan Scott. Inexplicably, the Steelers left Scott out there on an island, helpless to block Suggs. It's not Scott's fault that he is simply not good enough to handle Suggs on the edge one on one. How does the offensive coordinator not see that? How does he not have a tight end or running back helping Scott out?

Mugs of spiked hot chocolate to:
--Shaun Suisham for hitting both of his field goals last night in swirling winds, one of which was 45 yards. And also taking over for the injured Dan Sepulveda to handle the punts.

--David Johnson for three nice receptions and holding down the fort after Miller was knocked out.

--James Farrior for always just being a steady, heads up presence for that defense. He's old, he's skinny, but he's still a bad ass.

--LaMarr Woodley for constantly pressuring Flacco and being Johnny on the spot to scoop up the game turning fumble.

--Troy Polamalu, for being all world, all everything, creating the fumble that gave the Steelers new life. I'm surprised he didn't break Flacco's arm, he hit it so hard. How many times have we seen Troy make game saving, game altering plays? It's not an accident and it's not luck. That is greatness.

--Pig Ben, for playing on a broken foot and bouncing back from a broken nose to make enough plays to will his team to a win, none bigger than escaping Terrell Suggs to get the ball out out bounds and then making a nice hot read to get the ball in Isaac Redman's hands.

--Isaac Redman for making the right hot-read and then breaking the tackles of Dawan Landry, Ray Lewis and Jarret Johnson to get into the endzone for the winning touchdown.

But this wasn't a football game, not a normal football game. It was more like an Iron League hockey game. Hockey players take great pride in being the toughest athletes around, but I think that the Ravens and Steelers would earn their grudging respect. Pig Ben played with a broken nose and a broken foot and it looked like Terrell Suggs had a bloody mouth through the whole game, but who knows, he could go all Ozzy Osbourne on the sidelines or something.

Shut out everything else, a league in flux, officials who are so turned around they can't do their jobs; shut out the national television crews and Al Michaels; shut out the coaches making adjustments or failing to; shut out the wind and the hype and the hyperbole. This was a bar fight. Last man standing wins.

In this instance, the last man standing was, of all people, Isaac Redman.

Troy Polamalu Makes Miracles Happen, Wills Steelers to Victory in Baltimore

You can break Pig Ben's face, you can concuss the elegant Heath Miller, you can abuse Bryant McFadden repeatedly, but you can also, and I say this on behalf of Steelers Nation, suck it Ravens.


Yup, suck it.

Can the Steelers Beat the Birdies in Baltimore?

I kinda think no.

It pains me to say that, but the injuries continue to mount for the Steelers and no matter how many times Coach Tomlin says 'the standard is the standard,' there is bound to be some drop off. You need all hands on deck, in fact you need your very best hands on deck if you want to beat a very good Ravens team in Baltimore.

First, the Steelers lost tackle Willie Colon. They brought in Hotel Flozell Adams and moved on. The standard, after all, is still the standard.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, down went Max Starks for the year, so Jonathan Scott is starting in his spot. But the standard is still the standard. Mmmm, okay. If you say so.

This offensive line would be suspect even with Starks and Colon, two guys who don't put anybody in mind of Anthony Munoz or Jackie Slater. Now they're starting Scott, who wasn't good enough to beat out the competition for the spot left open by Colon's injury, and Hotel, for whom there wasn't exactly a long line of suitors. So, an already mediocre line was made worse through injury. What was that about standards again?

That sub-standard line is expected to protect Pig Ben of the broken-not broken-sprained-um-scar-tissue-aggravated foot. The only reason that the Steelers have been able to get away with having a less than stellar O Line through much of this decade is because Pig Ben can create opportunities by moving around when the pocket collapses, as it inevitably does. But can he bail out his line, and his team, on one leg tonight? And with Haloti Ngata bearing down on him?

Ray Lewis isn't the dominant player that he was 10 years ago, but Ngata is a serious threat to both disrupt the running game and possibly actually kill Pig Ben. (Something that would make some of my friends happy, I think.) For my money, Ngata is the best player on that defense right now, with apologies to the great Ed Reed.

Now, I don't want to tell you where this thought has led me. Oh, okay. While Reed is still fantastic, always a threat to break a game open, the Baltimore corners are not so great and the Steelers best chance to beat the Ravens may be through the air, via long passes that take advantage of Mike Wallace or Emmanuel Sanders against Chris Carr or Josh Wilson. The problem is, can the Steelers O Line protect a gimpy Pig Ben long enough for Wallace or Sanders to come open deep?

The Ravens do not sack the quarterback prodigiously; they have only 19 sacks on the year (compared to the Steelers with 32), but then again, the Ravens have only gone up against the Steelers offensive line once this year. Given all the givens, I think we can safely expect to see Bruce Arians call pass play after pass play after pass play. He may be right to take that kind of a chance, try to get up early and fast because the Ravens play a kind of vanilla version of themselves when they are down or tied, but get much creative and aggressive when they have a lead.

Even though I understand the reasoning, the idea of a pass-wacky Bruce Arians makes me kinda queasy.

On the other side of the ball, the injuries are an issue, too. We all know how different that Steelers defense is without Aaron Smith, but it's no use crying over torn triceps muscles. The fact of the matter remains that the combination of Ziggy Hood and Nick Eason are no replacement for Smith and Brett Keisel, but it looks like Keisel will be back tonight and that should give the defensive line a big lift. It also frees up Hood and Eason to just rotate in Smith's old spot.

Maybe it even means that the Steelers can get to Joe "Unibrow Spokesmodel" Flacco. Flacco doesn't throw a lot of picks - he has eight in 11 games - and his new toys, Anquan Boldin and T.J. Whoseyourmamma, have developed a good working relationship with him, so Ike Taylor, B-Mac and William Gay have to put the clamps on Boldin and Whoseyourmamma, to say nothing of Derrick Mason who always seems to save his best for the Steelers. And they have to contain Todd Heap, too.The best chance the Steelers have to contain all of the aerial weapons the Ravens have (still feels weird to type that in relation to this team) is to pile more sacks on top of their already impressive sack total. LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison have to find a way to get free from holds (and they will be held) to make Flacco throw the ball away, hurry his throws, and generally get his uniform dirty.

Harrison, already feeling unfairly besieged by the league, has to find a way to keep his head in the game, without leading with his head; he has to remain calm no matter how bad the holds (and they will happen) or penalties. If an official wants to call a bullshit penalty like the one for landing on Jason Campbell, there's nothing he can do about that. But he can drive through with his shoulder and not the crown of his helmet. Then he just has to hold his breathe and hope for the best. Do it like this James, like this:That's a tall order for a man whose entire game is predicated on hitting harder than anybody else in the league and who feeds off seemingly congenital, unwavering enmity. But he has to do it.

That's a tall order for the team as a whole. I am not hopeful. But I'm usually wrong! any time I try to predict the outcome of a Steelers game. At least that's one thing that bodes well for Pittsburgh.

Thoughts on the Return of Pig Ben

Pig Ben returns to the field Sunday after serving his four game suspension for conduct unbecoming a grown up person. The questions swirl around.

What kind of reception will the fans give him?

What does this mean for team chemistry? What kind of reception did his teammates give him?

Will he be sharp? Or play more like Carson Palmer has of late?

I think Pig Ben is going to play lights out, perhaps better than he's ever played heretofore (and it's been a pretty spectacular career already), because athletes, the ones who perform at this level, are mostly driven and myopic and have a unique sense of the world and their place in it.

It makes me wonder about the weirdness of professional sports and the rules of conduct in the inner-inner-sanctum thereof.

The smallest slight is coaxed, nurtured into a dis of monumental proportions. Then, once it has been built up into an epic insult, it is fed off of as motivation. The New England Patriots trotted out the tired old "no respect" saw year after year, even though most people recognized their greatness, even while we, er I, resented it. Lather, rinse, repeat. Michael Jordan used to convince himself that fans, media, and other players had been critical just to get himself even more psyched for games. So the slights don't even have to be real to be used as fuel.

Enter Pig Ben. Since his meeting with Judge Dread, he has been saying and doing all the right things. He's been talking about the fact that he had a lot of growing up to do and he was working on that. He's been talking about his obligation to his teammates and the community. Meanwhile, he's been working out like a lunatic (he looks to be in the best physical condition he's been in since his rookie year) and doing yoga with his mom. Take it for what it's worth and everybody's mileage may vary on his credibility.

Publicly, he has been humble. And humbled. But inside? Inside, I expect that he feels that he has to quiet all the critics, make them -- us -- choke on our words. And the only way to do that is win football games, play better than he's ever played, better than anybody else is playing. Some people, most people, would wither under that kind of scrutiny, pressure and general condemnation. But I expect it will have the exact opposite effect on Pig Ben.

Roethlisberger's BFF Ray Lewis can probably explain it. In January of 2000, Lewis was arrested in the stabbing deaths of two people. Lewis' attorney (also Pig Ben's attorney), arranged for Lewis to testify against the other two defendants and the murder charges against him were dropped, reduced to the charge of obstruction of justice.

Almost a year to the day later, Lewis' Ravens won the Super Bowl, in no small part because of Lewis' play on the field in that game and throughout that season. The guy has had many great seasons, but perhaps none greater than that year. Normal people, after an ordeal like that -- being involved in or at the very least, witnessing two killings, being investigated, indicted, testifying and all that jazz -- would be thrown off our games. We would just be a mess. But not Ray.

Then there's the other example. Evil Hoodie got caught with his hands in the cookie jar, busted red handed while violating a league rule about filming other teams. Evil Hoodie was fined and the team was docked draft picks. The rest of the NFL reveled in the great comeuppance. But like Ray Lewis, rather than be disturbed by the whole kerfuffle, Evil Hoodie was even more defiant, more determined to run roughshod over the league and thumb his nose at the commish. His team rallied around him, ripped off 18 wins in a row, often rolled up the score on opponents in the process. It led Bill Simmons to dub that season "the Eff You Season," a totally accurate term.

The point is, these are not normal people. The things that would throw most of us into months of self-recrimination, doubt and inertia, instead drive them forward to their greatest performances. It's an alternate reality, through the rabbit hole, out the back of the wardrobe and into the NFL.

That quality allows them to be the elite. They are all undeniably great at what they do, and yet, would you want to spend a night on the town with Ray Lewis? Be married to Bill Belichick? Go on a date with Ben Roethlisberger?

It's an upside down world, the one of pro athletes.

Ravens 17, Steelers 14, Post-Mortem

Five photos that sum up the loss yesterday.

The Ravens O Line played great and despite the defense's efforts to get to Flacco, they always seemed to be a split second late. Flacco himself got rid of the ball quickly and efficiently. He has come under some heat in Baltimore, but yesterday should shut up those critics. At least for a while. On the last drive of the game, he was perfect and his touchdown pass to TJ Whoseyourmama is the kind that great quarterbacks build careers on.

Bruce Arians' insistence on calling slow developing, deep pass plays when a dink and dunk approach might have worked better, kept the Steelers defense off the field and, you know, picked up first downs.

11 penalties for 88 yards. Ed Hochuli and his crew had awfully quick trigger fingers with the yellow hankies, and I personally believe that Hochuli loves getting face time and showing off his amazing pythons on national tee vee. That said, 11 penalties are going to kill you. Every time.

These penalties deserve their own category. After an amazing defensive stop by the Steelers, just an awesome goal-line stand, Matt "a Draft Pick is a Terrible Thing to Waste" Spaeth and Chris Kemoeatu each jumped on the following series. Who knows? The Steelers may not have been able to pick up a victory ensuring first down there, but those penalties made sure they didn't. And why the hell was Spaeth even out there blocking? He's a terrible blocker. Well, he's pretty much terrible at everything, come to think of it. Off-sides? On home turf? In the waning moments of the game? Be serious.

Of course, dipshit pulled one kick right and then the second one left.


The guy has one job to do. Just one. Were this a new phenomena -- Skippy missing make-able kicks in tight games -- I might just chalk it up to a bad day. Everybody has bad days. I can live with that. But Reed started to deteriorate last year in Chicago and in Cincinnati. This year, he's back to that 2009 form, missing an easy game winner against the Falcons and then yesterday's execrable performance.
Does anybody remember how Reed got the job? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?

Todd Peterson blew some very make-able kicks and Bill Cowher finally got fed up, brought in a bunch of kickers on rainy day and tried them all out. By the end of that week, Peterson was out of a job and Steelers fans had a new kicker. Food for thought, coach Tomlin, food for thought.

Jeff Reed Chokes and Blows a Winnable Game for the Steelers

Perhaps, like me, you're the kind of person who turns Steelers losses over and over in your head, unable to shake the malaise that sets in after after the pain of losing, particularly in such dramatic fashion as was seen Sunday at Heinz Field. Perhaps, you too will lay in bed late this Sunday night, flashing on every missed opportunity, every miscue, every momentum shifting mistake leading to the disappointing loss.

Tonight, I will find no refuge in sleep.

Intrusive will be the thoughts of Charlie not seeing a wide open Hines Ward over the middle and instead going incomplete to Heath Miller.

I may never find the answer to the question of what on earth could have been going through Bruce Arians' mind with 0:45 left in the 3rd quarter when he called a deep pass to Mike Wallace on 3rd and 4 from the Baltimore 27. Why not run the ball there? Or at least throw a short pass to Hines over the middle and try to just pick up the 1st down instead of going for the deep ball? The guy calls his offense like a 13 year old boy playing Madden 2010.

Certainly, 11 penalties for 88 yards will ruin a good night's sleep and even the best teams aren't going to win many with that much laundry on the field.

Ike Taylor actually caught and interception and William Gay has grown up before our eyes. He played another great game. Both wasted. As were all the times that Charlie pulled the Ravens off-sides on a hard count. Well done, Chaz, but that wily veteran effort was wasted, too.

But nothing more than this one single thought will keep me up through the night.Thanks a lot, Skippy. I can almost forgive the first miss, but the second one? That sound you heard was your contract demands going up in flames. Your contract with the actual business operation that is the Pittsburgh Steelers may not expire until the end of the season, but consider your relationship with SteelersNation terminated as of now. You might want to spend less time f*cken' with your hair, f*cken' with your beard and taking pictures of your junk and more time practicing kicking.

Now get out of my face, ya drunk hayseed.

At least UConn Fan brought cupcakes from Vanilla and my roasted tomato salsa was slammin.

Steelers Look to Stay Undefeated: Fish Tacos on the Menu

I thought about crabcakes with the Steelers hosting Baltimore and all that, but there are no finer crabcakes in all the world than the ones at the Cross Street Market in Baltimore, so why even bother? It did get me thinking about some delicious goodness from the sea. With complex spices. And maybe some crunch.

Fish tacos, of course.

I turned to a veritable pantheon of knowledge and wisdom in the arena of tacos, fish: Bobby Flay. I don't know how much Flay knows about football and he's probably a Giants fan anyway, but fish tacos? The guy rocks those out.

I sort of culled various elements from a couple of Flay's recipes. I'm serving it with two salsas, one from his "Throwdown" and the other salsa and the fish marinade from Flay's original fish taco recipe. On with the actual cooking.

I got freshly made tortillas at La Reyna in the Strip, both flour tortillas and corn.

The elements:

Fish Marinade:
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 limes, juiced
1 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Place fish in a medium size dish. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, ancho, jalapeno, and cilantro and pour over the fish. Let marinate for 20 to 25 minutes.
Here I've deviated from Flay's instructions. He calls for a fish like Mahi Mahi and then grills it, but the flounder looked good when I was at the market, so I got flounder, which is too delicate to grill, so I'm going to quickly pan fry it. I am still using the marinade above because, seriously, yum.

Tomatillo-Avocado Relish:
2 large tomatillo, husked and rinsed and diced
1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted and diced
1 or 2 jalapeno or serrano peppers, finely diced (depending on how spicy you like it)
2 limes, juiced
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the tomatillo, avocado, jalapeno and lime juice in a medium bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil, add cilantro and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Pureed Tomato Salsa:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1/2 small red onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves roasted garlic
2 cups roasted tomatoes
1 serrano chile or 1 jalapeno, sliced
1 tablespoon hot sauce - I'm partial to Cholula.
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper

Again, I'm deviating here. Flay calls for fresh tomatoes, but I just roasted some tomatoes and garlic** so I decided to use those instead and adapted Flay's original instructions.
Heat oil in medium saucepan, add onions and cook until soft. Add chili(s) and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes and garlic and cook for 5 more minutes. Toss it all into a food processor or blender until smooth. Add the hot sauce, oregano, cilantro and lime juice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Garnish with --
Shredded white cabbage
Hot sauce
Crema or sour cream
Thinly sliced red onion
Chopped cilantro leaves
Pureed Tomato Salsa and
Tomatillo-Avocado Relish.

Enjoy!

** I roast tomatoes per Tom Colicchio's recipe as follows:
Core tomatoes and cut in half crosswise, along the equator, as it were. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and many cloves of garlic (unpeeled) was well as several sprigs of thyme.
Lay on baking sheet so that they are flat side down and roast for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Drain as much juice as you can and peel off the skins. Return the tomatoes to the oven for another hour at 275 degrees.
Drain the juice again and return to the oven for about another hour still at 275.
When you are done, you will have amazing tomato broth that you can use in sauces and soups, plus a batch of roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic cloves.

Mendenhall, Offensive Line Key to Steelers Victory Versus Ravens

As impressive as Charlie Batch was last week in the Steelers victory over the Bucs, perhaps more impressive was this stat: Total Rushing Yards - 201.

In the last few years, the Steelers have been mediocre at running the football and seemingly indifferent to the idea of running the football. Either they were unable to do it. Or they were unwilling to do it. Or, more likely, some combination of the two.

That five game stretch of putritude in 2009 was punctuated by a marked inability to pick up first downs on the ground, punch the ball in from short yardage and maintain offensive possessions even when they had a lead. In short, they threw so much that other teams always had lots of chances on offense late in the game, a fact that came back to bite them in the butt numerous times. Like this time:
But if last week was a fair indicator of what's to come for the remainder 2010 season, the bad old days of ignoring the running game or being completely inept at it are behind them.

Rashard Mendenhall ran for 143 yards last week but the best part was that he picked up 103 yards of those in the second half. Somewhere, the Bus is wiping away tears of joy.

The whole team picked up 67 yards rushing in the 1st half and another 134 in the second half. No doubt, Bill Cowher is flashing those terrifying new choppers over that stat.

What does it mean for the immediate future?

Heading into the big game this Sunday versus the Ravens, we all know that both defenses are going to try to hit the quarterback, and hard, every chance they get. Ray Lewis will probably try to break Mendenhall's shoulder again, if given the chance. Coach Tomlin is always saying that football is a violent game and no two defenses personify that better than these two. They are built to intimidate other teams. Most of the time, they succeed at doing just that.

Pittsburgh's defense ranks first in average points allowed per game, even with the two garbage touchdowns they gave up late in the Tennessee game and Tampa game, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Ravens defense ranks first in the league in total yards allowed and first in the league in total passing yards allowed.

But where the Ravens have shown a chink in the armor is their run defense. They have allowed 383 yards on the ground in the first three games, about 125 per. They allowed the Browns Peyton Hills to rumble for 144 yards last week, all of which bodes well for the Steelers game plan.

Rookie center Maurkice Pouncey has been solid and, at times explosive in the middle of the line. On the right side, Hotel Flozell is still good for two pre-snap penalties per game, but he's also a dominating steam roller when run blocking. If those guys can get Mendenhall going and, if the defense can pick off Flacco (he threw four ints. versus the Bengals two weeks ago ...)

At the start of the season, with Pig Ben out, Leftwich hurt and only Dennis Dixon and Batch holding down the fort, who would ever have thunk it that a 4-0 start was even a remote possibility? So, sitting on a 3-0 record, they're already playing with house money.

Even better, I don't see this game as a must win for the Steelers, but it's closer to a must win for the Ravens. Somebody pinch me.

Steve McNair, RIP

Steve McNair found murdered. For True/Slant:

trueslant.com/jodydiperna/2009/07/04/nfl-great-steve-mcnair-found-dead/