AFC North teams’ opponent’s average offensive rank (by yards per game, of 32 teams):
Baltimore: 18.8
Cincinnati: 24.8
Cleveland: 23.0
Pittsburgh: 22.1
Still impressive.
Oh, I agree. I’m not saying they don’t have good defenses, but man, in Pittsburgh’s 7 games, they’ve faced the worst offense, the second worst offense, the third worst offense, and the 8th worst offense. Cincinnati and Cleveland are similar to Pittsburgh in that regard.
Well, it appears that things have changed since Week 1. I recall early on in this thread that I said Pittsburgh wasn’t as bad as that opening-week blowout and Baltimore wasn’t that good. How right I was. The Steelers handled the Jags a few weeks ago and Baltimore lost to them on the strength of 4 field goals. Jones-Drew got 105 yards on the vaunted defense. Joe Flacco had a truly horrific game.
I have to tell you, I very much enjoyed seeing it. The Ravens are vulnerable. Very vulnerable. I’m thinking that the rematch in Pittsburgh will look very different from the first week, and Pittsburgh has a very good shot at getting that monkey off their back.
I was stunned when I woke up today and saw that the Jags had won. Probably not as stunned as the Ravens were, but stunned none-the-less.
OK, so it’s game day. The Patriots are favored by a field goal and most people think that they will win. I don’t. If Pittsburgh holds them to 14 points or less they’ll win. I think they’ll do that.
Yeah, I know, Tom Brady owns them. Well, Tom Brady isn’t a part of the 32nd-ranked defense. That’s right, the Patriots are dead last. They are ripe to be burned on the long pass, and who do the Steelers have but the best player in the league for long passes, Mike Wallace. A few passes to stretch the field and they’ll be able to run on the Patriots, which will grind out the yards and, more importantly, grind out the clock.
As for defense, the Steelers will probably give up over 300 yards and Welker will probably have a 10-plus reception game. Pittsburgh is soft over the middle. But while that grinds out the yards, that won’t get them in the end zone, and Pittsburgh has owned tight ends this year so Brady’s favorite short-yardage goal-line targets are going to be shut down. The secondary has size and speed on them, and will at worst hold their own, maybe getting a turnover or two in the process. Woodley and Polamalu are playing like beasts right now, too. Woodley either gets a few sacks or opens it up for someone else to get a few. The Law Firm might want to hire a lawyer for the personal injury suit he will want to file after the beating he takes today.
One caveat: I’m hoping that the good Ben shows up. If fumblitis Ben shows up it’s done. He needs to protect the football like he has over the last few weeks.
My prediction: Pittsburgh 24, New England 14, holding on to their tenuous half-game lead on the AFC North going into the rubber match with the hated Ratbirds, who should stomp Arizona out. Then again, they played an atrocious game against the Jaguars, and for every good game Flacco has he has games that make him look like a Pop Warner quarterback at best. You just never know. But I digress. First things first.
If the D can force some turnovers from Brady, it’s a win. They’re due for a big game turnover-wise, let’s hope this is the one.
This is the second consecutive week that the Ratbirds have looked terrible. I’m enjoying it thoroughly. But hey, Week 1 was totally for real, no possible way it could have been an aberration, you know?
Everyone has their off weeks, you barely scraped by Indy. Still, the utter failure of the illegitimate entity is satisfying.
So much for that. I guess the Cardinals didn’t want to win.
The Ravens problems are almost entirely due to playcalling. Flacco is a fine game manager - let him hand the ball off 60% of the time, throw a few play action passes, and go deep once or twice a game and he does fine. With Ray Rice and Ricky Williams, Vonta Leach, and their two good young TEs, the team is built to play that kind of game. For some reason, Cam Cameron won’t do that.
Flacco’s not a guy you want to let drop back and throw 40+ times. He doesn’t make hot reads against blitzes and can’t handle pressure. If Ray Rice gets the ball on first and second down, Flacco won’t be in the position where he has to do that. Today they called twice as many passing plays as they did rushes - that’s ridiculous for any team, but it’s inexcusable when you have Ray Rice just sitting around and watching.
Big win for the Steelers. How badly hurt are Woodley and Taylor though?
That (2nd to) last play should have been a touchback, as a Steeler punched the ball, thus providing the impetus needed. I’m not sure if that is reviewable, or even when they did review the tape if they actually considered reversing that aspect of the play.
It was a penalty that was missed by the officials. I’m not sure how they missed the ball shooting foward 20 yards.
Woo Hoo! That is all.
I called that one, didn’t I? Other than that pick everything I said came to be. Hell, I even got close on the score.
Yeah, you know I’m happy tonight.
Just as bad was Nantz highlighting it as an incredibly heads-up play, presumably because it was Polamalu doing it. It was an inexcusably moronic play, in fact - the best case outcome was worse than falling on the ball. It’s not that big a deal really that Nantz didn’t know exactly what the rule there was, but his gushing about how smart it was is basically everything that’s wrong with television coverage in a nutshell.
Since it’s impossible to answer “no” to that question, I’ll simply ask how much praise are you expecting?
Of course you horribly misjudged this game, which makes me wonder if you’re not just flipping a coin, calling heads every time, and clamoring for praise when you’re correct 50% of the time.
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I’m sticking to my 7-point win prediction over Baltimore on Sunday. It should be a good game, no matter who wins.
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Good call today none-the-less.
I’m not clamoring for praise. I didn’t play the game. I am, however, expressing my pleasure at getting it right. As you say, I’ve been wrong before, sometimes very wrong. this time I wasn’t, and I’m happy about that.
Explain to me what was wrong with the play. The “Holy Roller” rule doesn’t apply because it wasn’t an offensive player advancing the ball. If it had been a touchback that wouldn’t have made things worse because the Patriots would have been at much the same place with less time on the clock.