By David Todd Overview: The Steelers and Jets hooked up in the AFC Championship game at Heinz Field, their second meeting in a month. This time the Steelers were so dominate in the first half that despite a defensive meltdown and zero points in the second, they were able to hold on and earn their eighth trip to the Super Bowl. The Steelers defense, which held the Jets to one yard rushing before halftime, scored a late second quarter touchdown which proved to be the decisive score. New York made a game of it in the second half, but some gutsy playing calling by the Steelers on the final drive Read more [...]

By David Todd of The Hammer Speaks In Tables 1 & 2 we can analyze this season’s performance of the Steelers and Jets corners. The tables provided by Pro Football Focus are pretty straightforward. “TA” tells you how many times the opposing quarterback targeted each corner, “REC” is receptions and “%” is simply REC/TA. The rest includes yards, average yards/catch, “YAC” yards after catch, longest reception, touchdowns, interceptions and “PD” passes defended. “QBR” is quarterback rating and tells us how opposing QBs fared in their throws at each corner. Let’s take Read more [...]

By David Todd When the NFL's complex passer efficiency rating was devised in 1971 it was seen as a kind of Holy Grail. In one number it unlocked the answer to the question of which quarterbacks performed best each year. As an added benefit it could be used to evaluate QBs over their careers and to compare signal callers from different eras. Although no one new exactly how to calculate it, the scale quickly became familiar to fans. It was similar to the grading scale common in high school. A quarterback posting a number above 100.0 was probably having an MVP-type season--Ivy League material. Read more [...]

By David Todd Overview: The Steelers lost their third home game of the season 22-17 to the New York Jets to drop their overall record to 10-4. Poor special teams play and a lack of big plays on offense and defense highlighted the performance. Nonetheless, the Black & Gold had two chances to win the game in the waning seconds. Despite the loss the Steelers clinched a playoff berth and will clinch a bye and the #2 seed in the AFC if they take care of business against Carolina on Thursday and Cleveland the last week of the season. Injuries: Arnaz Battle was the only injury of note and with Read more [...]

By David Todd Overview: After a slow start on both sides of the ball the Steelers put together a workman-like 23-7 win. The defense dominated after the first quarter, scoring both Steelers touchdowns, actually outscoring the Bengals 12-7. The offense did a good job of possessing the ball and moving the chains but continued to have trouble finishing drives. Nonetheless it was a good division win coming off an emotional national television win against Baltimore the previous week. Injuries: There were no significant new injuries reported after the game for the first time in weeks. Both Ben Read more [...]

By David Todd Overview: An incredibly physical, hard-fought and dramatic win by the Steelers. Was it perfect? Not by any means. But, the objective was to go into to a very good division rival's stadium and get a win on a Sunday night before a national television audience. Mission accomplished. Mike Tomlin wanted a signature win for his football team and he got it last night. You could tell from the emotion of his press conference that it meant a hell of a lot to him and, I'm sure, everyone involved. The Steelers stand at 9-3 with a one game lead in the AFC North and will be tied for the second-best Read more [...]

By David Todd Overview: The Steelers couldn't have asked for a better opponent this past week than the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders strengths fit right in to what the Steelers do well and the Steelers had the added incentive of the Raiders win last year at Heinz Field. The Steelers were coming off an embarrassing defeat at home on national television to the New England Patriots and had something to prove, to themselves and their fans. And they did. An excellent game across the board. Injuries: Overall the Steelers came out of this game in reasonably good shape. The offense line again got Read more [...]