The Steelers survived turning the ball over 4 times on Sunday to beat the Cleveland Browns 27-14 at Heinz Field. The Steelers complied 557 yards of offense on the day, led by Ben Roethlisberger throwing for 417 yards and 2 touchdowns. Roethlisberger was 23 of 35 on the day and finished with a 113.6 quarterback rating. The two touchdown passes were in the second quarter to tight end Heath Miller and receiver Hines Ward respectively. Roethlisberger took advantage of the middle of the field behind great pass protection from the offensive line. Ward continued adding to his fantastic season as he caught Read more [...]

Below are my picks for the week 6 games around the NFL. You get what you pay for them. 11-3 in week 5 & 51-25 overall. Kansas City Chiefs 20 Washington Redskins 17 Houston Texans 27 Cincinnati Bengals 23 Pittsburgh Steelers 42 Cleveland Browns 3 Baltimore Ravens 24 Minnesota Vikings 19 Jacksonville Jaguars 30 St. Louis Rams 16 New York Giants 24 New Orleans Saints 21 Carolina Panthers 22 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 Green Bay Packers 21 Detroit Lions 13 Philadelphia Eagles 34 Oakland Raiders 24 Arizona Cardinals 28 Seattle Seahawks 24 New York Jets 20 Buffalo Bills 17 New England Patriots Read more [...]

How to you preview an upcoming ass kicking? Hard to preview this game. The Steelers have beaten the Browns the last 11 times the two teams have faced each other, additionally, Pittsburgh has won 17 of the past 18 games in the series overall. It may not be considered a rivalry that it once was, but regardless it is always fun smacking around the Browns. Offensively for the Steelers, they will look to run and run often on the Browns 32nd ranked defense that has given up 852 yards rushing in 5 games this season and have allowed 5.1 yards per carry. Running back Rashard Mendenhall looks to start Read more [...]

This weeks tea leaves presents a few challenges on picking the game day inactives. Although it is speculated that Willie Parker and Troy Polamalu will both be active this week, any false move from now until game time will land them squarely back on the inactive list as a precaution. I am going to assume both will be active and play though. The first 4 on the list are for sure: Dixon, Harris, Urbik and Hills. Limas Sweed in all likelihood will get the week off in favor Shaun McDonald. Arnold Harrison and Keenan Lewis have both seen the list over the past few weeks as well. The last spot is a tricky Read more [...]

Running Back Division Of Labor - The division of labor between running backs Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall against the Browns on Sunday shouldn't be a big deal. The big deal will be if they can't run as a team against Browns 32nd ranked run defense. The Browns run a 3-4 defense base that the Steelers have had great success against in the last 10 games. The Steelers are now 10-0 dating back to last season against teams that use a 3-4 alignment. The Browns have given up 852 yards rushing in 5 games this season and have allowed 5.1 yards per carry. Rotation At Left End - With Aaron Smith Read more [...]

If you watched the game on Sunday, you certainly remeber the play that Daunte Culpepper hit fullback Jerome Felton with a pass in the short middle area of the field that ended up going for 27 yards. I have that play broken down in the pictures below. In closing this was a well designed play, but should of only gone for 13 yards at most. Polamalu has a sixth sense of smelling these things out and helping limiting the gain. The Farrior miss was a miss nonetheless, but with only two wide receivers in the pattern with two backs, Carter could of and should of sniffed Read more [...]

Well, the attempt of Master Tomlin to get through to Jedi Limas Sweed seems to have failed. It has worked well with Jedi Rashard Mendenhall up to this point. Tomlin attempted to get Sweed involved early in the game with a high percentage pass and while not a perfect one, it was one Sweed should have made. Sweed was not involved anymore in the game plan and spent most of his time on the sideline. Whatever confidence he had going into the Lions game is now gone. It is unclear how Tomlin will handle this going forward, but right now Sweed is a liability and not an asset to the team. While the 4th Read more [...]

Another week and another game that came down to the opponents last drive. The Steelers held off a late Detroit surge and defeated the Lions, 28-20, today at Ford Field. The Steelers led the Lions by 15 late in the fourth quarter but as has happened so many times this season, the defense gave up a late scoring drive to make it close. The offense once again had a strong showing as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 23 of 30 passes for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns, while spreading the ball to 6 different pass catchers. Wide receiver Hines Ward led all receivers with 7 receptions for 85 yards Read more [...]

Baring any late changes, it now appears Limas Sweed will be back active this week and veteran Shaun McDonald will go back to the inactive list. Both Willie Parker and Troy Polamalu remain out injured. Offensive lineman Tony Hills and Kraig Urbik should assume their normal spots on the game day scratches as should defensive end Nick Eason. Cornerback Keenan Lewis is the best guess at being down as well. Dennis Dixon will once again be the number three inactive quarterback. Check back for the OFFICIAL LIST 90 minutes before game time. Likely Sunday Afternoon Inactive List RB Willie Parker WR Read more [...]

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has been busy sending messages to his second year 2008 draft picks the last few weeks. It started with running back Rashard Mendenhall, who was held to only special teams work after against Cincinnati, after a bad week of preparations during the week leading up to the game. Mendenhall responded with a great game against the San Diego Chargers in place of the injured Willie Parker. Now it will be wide receiver Limas Sweed who gets a chance to redeem himself. Sweed, who dropped a sure touchdown catch against the Bengals, was inactive last Sunday to clear his head a Read more [...]

The Steelers look to take out their previous 4 weeks frustrations against the detroit Lions on Sunday. At 2-2, no win has been easy up to this point. Even a 28-0 lead against the Chargers on Sunday night ended up turning into a nail biter. This Sunday second year running back Rashard Mendenhall will get his second start of the season with Willie Parker still sidelined by turf toe. Mendenhall had 29 carries for 165 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers and was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. It will be interesting how he handles the fame from last week as he Read more [...]

Below are seven matchups or things to look for on Sunday as the Steelers visit the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Face Me Ike vs Megatron - Ike Taylor has done a stellar job versus opponents number one receiver this season. Last week it was Vincent Jackson, this week Calvin Johnson. If Johnson is shut down, it is a cake walk stopping the running game. If Daunte Culpepper starts at quarterback, he will take some unadvised shots deep for the Lions. Ike might just get a pick or two with those hands of stone. Rashard vs Mendenhall - Yes, Rashard Mendenhall biggest foe this week his himself. Not every Read more [...]

The play below against the San Diego Chargers, gives a great view of running back Rashard Mendenhall showing great trust, vision and tackle breaking ability all in one play. Now the blocking is crazy good here, but regardless, Mendenhall still knows that his responsibility will be the free safety. This is great power inside running. Read more [...]

I have read various message board post this week about how the Steelers should trade away running back Willie Parker before the season ends now that Rashard Mendenhall had one break out game as a starter. The truth is, while Mendenhall certainly looked great against a banged up 3-4 Chargers defense, it was only one game. Throw in the fact that having two good running backs on the roster that can carry the ball 20 plus times is a great insurance from an injury standpoint as we are seeing now with Parker being sidelined. Sure, Parker is in the final year of his contract and will in all likelihood Read more [...]

The last time the Steelers played the Lions in Detroit is a memory most Steelers fans can not get out of their head. It was the infamous Thanksgiving Day game in 1998 that featured the coin-toss where Steelers running back Jerome Bettis calls tails but referee Phil Luckett says he called heads. Detroit won the toss and took the ball and went on to win on a 42-yard field goal by kicker Jason Hanson. The loss began a tailspin for the Steelers as they did not win a game the rest of the year, finishing 7-9. Ir ruined a perfect Thanksgiving dinner for me as well as I was sick to my stomach the rest Read more [...]

Below is the target report from the first 4 games of the season. The numbers that jump out the most is the completion percentage to Santonio Holmes along with the drops Holmes has had. It could be a number of things including the wrist injury that Holmes had early on that may be affecting him. Other wise, these are really impressive numbers thus far. Not only how the ball is being spread around, but the concerted effort to get the ball more to tight end Heath Miller. It is scary how good the completion percentage could be if Holmes catches a few more and Limas Sweed holds onto the sure touchdown Read more [...]

One thing is for certain, this team belongs to Ben Roethlisberger. His leadership in the video below, especially with running back Rashard Mendenhall is absolutely fantastic. He continues to remind him to hold on to the football and also to trust what he sees and go. The game really seems to be moving very slow right now for Ben as his play in 2009 shows thus far shows. If the defense can get Troy Polamalu back soon and turn the corner, the Steelers will be a dangerous bunch come December and January. Sound FX: Ben Roethlisberger Wired During Chargers Game Video [flv:http://ll.video.nfl.com/films/s2009/soundfx/w05/091007_nfln_sound_fx_ben_roethlisberger_micd_700k.mp4 Read more [...]

The 29 carries running back Rashard Mendenhall had on Sunday night against the Chargers, put him over the 50 carry mark finally. I have compiled a list of most of the current starting running backs in the league and compiled their stats of each ones first 50 carries for a quick comparison of where Mendenhall ranks. Of the 28 backs I have listed, Mendenhall ranks #10. Surprisingly he is ahead of the pace of superstars LaDanian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson at the same point in their careers. This numbers still do not take in situational football like down and distance and short yardage like goal Read more [...]

OK, Carey Davis really did not win the game for the Steelers, but his heads up play recovering the fumble of tight end Heath Miller resulted in 7 points just one play later. I mentioned earlier last week that I thought Davis would pay dividends some how and he already has. Below is some pictures of Davis and the recovery. I call this: Carey Davis Gets His Cheeseburger Read more [...]

Mike Tomlin and Bruce Arians unveiled a new goalline package on Sunday night versus the San Diego Chargers, in which big backup center Doug Legursky was lined up at fullback ahead of running back Rashard Mendenhall. The offensive line really did not need the help as you can see in the video below, but Legursky cleared out Chargers linebacker Brandon Siler just the same. I have created a movie poster as well. I call it "THE BIG LEGURSKY" Here is the movie trailer below for "THE BIG LEGURSKY" [flv:http://video.nfl.com/films/s2009/nflcom/w04/091004_phl_wk4_bp_mendenhall_1yd_td_700k.mp4 Read more [...]