I was underwhelmed with our pre-season play, but that doesn’t always mean anything. I am hopeful and rooting, but am not sure of our season yet.
I too think the Steelers are going to be playoff bound this year. People forget that they’re only one year removed from being Super Bowl champs. As much as I think Ben is a slimeball, he’s a VERY good QB, and I think Dixon can get us to 2-2 before Ben comes back. If the defense stays moderately healthy, I think they’ll be much improved from last year, and the running game I think will be better than it has been since Bettis was here.
With a veteran team like this, once they get into the playoffs, all bets are off. Unlike the Bengals, who have had some really nice teams the last few years, but can’t close it out to save their lives, the Steelers know how to win in the playoffs, and Ben’s one of the winningest QBs in the league…get them to the playoffs and the Super Bowl is always a possibility. I’m looking for 10-6 or 11-5 this year, and either division champs or the WC to the with the Ratbirds taking the crown. I think Cinci will be good this year, but I also think they’re not going to be as good as they were last year and will miss the playoffs.
Steelers are going 4th in the AFC North sons. I’d be a little more confident of that if they didn’t get favorable treatment on the reduction of rapistberger’s suspension, but who didn’t see that one coming?
Inactives for today: Jonathan Dwyer, Crezdon Butler, Antonio Brown, Thaddeus Gibson, Byron Leftwich, Tony Hills, and Ramon Foster.
It’s football baby!
I have people coming, so I won’t be checking until after the game is over.
GO STEELERS!
I didn’t know you were being forced to read this. :dubious:
We’ve got a brand new flat-screen TV this year – so this season is going to rock even more. Let’s not forget having Randle El and Larry Foote back – that should add something to the team.
HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!!!
Holy hell, what a game! These guys are really testing my new BP meds!
Great game by Hines and Troy and well, just about everyone. I have to say, today’s game really showed that once again, I have no idea how we’re going to do… 
Did anyone see Bradshaw diss Big Ben on the pre-game? He flat out said he would have let Ben go.
No way the Falcons should have lost that game. I’m soo sick of hearing how great Ryan is… essentially he got outplayed by a guy starting his second game of his career.
Pittsburgh looked like Pittsburgh… better than most of the league…but not as good as New England, Indy or San Diego…
Well, now that my heart is back to normal, I dare say that the Steelers are in pretty good shape. Dixon did just enough to help them win the game, and that’s all they need until Ben gets back. Spindenhall did very well considering the Falcons were expecting the run all day long. And, of course, Polamalu is back and he proved it quite well with that pick. If only Reed had made that chip shot field goal… ah, what the hell, the Steelers won, and that’s good enough for me.
As for the rest of the division, how 'bout those Bengals? They got beat like a rented mule. Still think they’ll be dominant, Foie Gras? Based on today’s performance they couldn’t dominate a BDSM whore that they paid for the privilege.
One more thing: next year’s thread will be dedicated to Robot Arm. Help me come up with a good title for it involving his name. You have all season, so make it a good one. The winner gets credit in the first post next year.
I think this game is a good example of what happens when you have at least a moderately effective running game. Prior to the big run at the end of the game, Mendenhall was averaging about 3 yards a carry. Nothing earth shattering, but pretty much what you want with the 3 yards and a cloud of dust approach to offensive drives.
The result was that most of the time, the Steelers were able to put together pretty good drives. Obviously they suffered from the absence of a quarterback who could competently get the ball to receivers.
I was also thrilled with the run defense. Next week will be a good test of that unit.
I couldn’t stand the commentators. Who thought Jim Mora would be a good one to call a Falcons game. And what was it with the pimping of Matt Ryan? The guy was stinking up the joint but the guys in the booth could not get off his knob the entire game. I absolutely loved it when he took the ball with about 1:30 left. The booth guy says something like “Now is the time for him to put the stamp on the title of elite quarterback that he has pretty much been anointed with”, and he immediately throws a pick to Troy Polamalu. Beautiful! Idiots.
I was watching scores coming across during the game yesterday. The Browns almost pulled one out against Tampa Bay. You must be pretty pleased with the moral victory, even if it didn’t work out as well as you’d hoped.
I think we all see the defense is good enough to keep this team in games even with Dixon not looking all that great. Fortunately the Falcons DBs catch as poorly as all the Steelers non-Samoan DBs or it might have been a different story.
The most encouraging aspect of the game for me was the strong performance from younger players on what is a very veteran team. On offense it was Mendenhall and Pouncey. Pouncey looks fantastic to me. He made good calls, solid blocks all game long. It will be interesting to see him play against some of the big 3-4 NTs around the league. It sounds like another young guy, Tony Hills, could get a chance to play with Max Starks being out for a few games.
On the D side of the ball it was Timmons who really stood out for me. He’s doing all the things he couldn’t do last year, particularly against the run. Last season he didn’t look instinctive. Now he’s flowing to the ball, taking on linemen, shooting gaps. Ziggy Hood played well too although I didn’t notice him quite as much.
Matt Ryan is WAY overrated. He’s better than Dixon though.
It seems like it would be so easy to attack me in the area of sports fandom, so why do you need to totally make up stuff? I’ve never been one to claim anything about moral victories, and I cetainly wouldn’t here - Tampa Bay is bad, there wasn’t a blown call or anything like that. I don’t even know what you’re getting at.
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Eh, hard to say. The Patriots are a really good team. They hardly ever lose at home, especially in openers. The Bengals defense was non-existent and the offense didn’t get really going until it was 31-3 in the 3rd quarter.
I still have plenty of faith we will win the division, without a doubt. My biggest concerns are the offensive line and its poor pass protection, and our lack of a pass rush (sigh, again, always a recurring issue I’m afraid).
Chad and TO played well. The rookies Gresham and Shipley looked good. Bernard Scott averaged 5.8 yards a carry.
There’s cause for hope, but also cause for concern. They were definitely outplayed though, no arguing that. I couldn’t understand it. The Patriots came out of the gate rocking and the Bengals defense just played tentative. And didn’t adjust well to some interesting Patriot formations on offense.
Tom Brady (whom I think you and I can agree we both dislike, probably you more than I) was nearly flawless. And Welker is definitely back to form. I don’t know why the Bengals (or anyone else, for that matter) would EVER try to cover him with a LB. Its just stupid.
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I didn’t say that you made any claims, did I? I assumed that you wanted the Browns to win. The rest was just a joke at the expense of the Browns and their fans, in response to your joke about the Steelers finishing last in the division.
Lighten up, Francis.
You have a tendency to make fun of me for things that aren’t even straw men because they’re not even remotely close to anything I said, but rather just non-sequitors. If I was the sort of person who was always trying to make moral victories out of losses, that’d make sense, but I’m not. And there was nothing moral victoryish about this situation - had we lost to the Saints by 3 points rather than Tampa or had the game been decided by a bad call, that could make sense.
I’m not offended or something. Go ahead and make fun of me. I would just suggest doing so in a way that makes some sort of sense.
Just popping in to say I could root for the Steelers with Dixon at QB.
Me too, since they would be more unlikely to win as many games with him at the helm than with Ben!
You said it yourself; Tampa Bay is a bad team. Who finds a moral victory in nearly beating a bad team? A really bad team. Like the Cleveland Browns.
Maybe not the funniest joke ever, but it isn’t like it should be so hard to grasp. If I have to spell it out even more simply: Cleveland sucks. They suck worse than Tampa Bay. That’s a lot of suck. If you think Cleveland has the capability this year of losing by only three points to the Saints, you’re living in fantasy land. And I drove near Cleveland on my way to Cedar Point over the weekend. It ain’t fantasy land, I can tell you that much. And their football team really sucks.
I think you may have some sort of syndrome that prevents you from understanding normal human humor. See, that comment would make sense if I were the sort of person that tries to declare moral victories for my team - then you’d be mocking me by implying I’d turn losing to a bad team into a moral victory. But I’ve never said anything like that so it’s just a non-sequitor.
The Browns have actually beaten the last 2 (3? I forget) superbowl champs they’ve faced.
Oh snap.