I didn’t say what you say I said.
That was a commentary on Flacco’s inefficiency and Rice’s non-appearance last week. If you watched the game (I did) they were dead in the water until Flacco started lobbing the ball up for Boldin, who in turn got no less than 3 PI calls to extend the drive and move the ball.
The Ravens are gong to have to do better than that this week.
But on at least two of those PI calls, Boldin had a good play on the ball and probably would have made the catch without the interference.
So, either the calls were bad and the Ravens are being helped by the officials.
Or the calls were good, and the Ravens’ offense wasn’t as bad as you are implying, because without the interference the drive would have been extended through Boldin actually catching the ball.
The result of a penalty in the end zone is a safety, though, so whether they accept the penalty or decline it he achieves his goal in that case.
You may have noticed that I didn’t bring it up because I’m a part of the vast anti-Steeler conspiracy always trying to take their hard-earned outcomes away from them, but because of the argument that it was an especially smart play. If it had no effect on the outcome of the game, I guess it was an even dumber risk to take.
In other news, Woodley named offensive player of the month. Also, sadly,
Defensive player. The only way for a linebacker to win offensive player of the month requires him to be a Viking. 
Thank God you’re still on the case! Please give us a status update on this issue next Tuesday. It will be important to consider the impact of the weekend’s games on this matter.
Ouch. Typing without thinking! At least I linked to the correct article.
I’ll take this opportunity to add that Polamalu’s batting of the ball was a reckless, not head’s up, play and that they were lucky that a penalty wasn’t called. A penalty on that play was just about the only thing that could have hurt the Steelers as it would have stopped the clock and given the Patriots at least another play.
This week’s injury report stings a bit because it’s the Ravens.
OUT:
Legursky
Sanders
Woodley
Quest
Farrior
Sepulveda
Ward
Looks like Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace are the wideouts, with Cotchery getting some good time. Woodley stings, because now they’re going to have to run more of a 4-3 defense. It’ll be good to have Harrison back, but after all that time out and how hot Woodley has been it’s not a fair trade. Farrior, I think, is wrapping a great career this year, he’s been seeing limited time all season anyway.
So, what can I say about this game? I can say that it’s not going to be a Week 1 repeat. I said then and I say now that Week 1 was both Baltimore’s best game and Pittsburgh’s worst game, and thus far it’s proven to be true. With the injuries the Steelers will be playing a little different on defense, and that might make them a bit more vulnerable to the run, although Flacco’s horrible passing performance of late makes it easier to stack the line and kill the run.
Baltimore, of course, has the monster defense. I admit it, it’s every bit as good as Pittsburgh’s, perhaps more so in that they’ve repeatedly bailed out the offense this year. It’s much better than I expected, I’ll be honest, but all the same I should know better than to underestimate the Ratbirds’ defense. As always, that’s what this game will come down to. Pittsburgh has the offensive advantage, and if they can put up any points I think it’ll hold up against Flacco’s inept passing attack. Ike Taylor will be on Boldin all game, and while he is prone to making a few big errors he’s been a much better shutdown corner than in years past.
Prediction: Ben goes for 250 and 2 touchdowns, Mendenhall gets around 60-65 yards, the defense gets 2 turnovers, and Pittsburgh wins 24-20. Other than the debacle in the first week they haven’t been separated by more than a touchdown in a long time, and this week will be more of the same.
Is this real? Do you ever review your posts and just like think to yourself, wow, this football stuff is just not good for me? Like why do I even watch the games if this is where it ends up for me? Because I promise, you are responding to a thing that is not a real thing.
Nobody’s on a case. I pointed out something like 5 minutes after it happened about what Jim Nantz said, and then had to clarify that it is a penalty because Doors asked me, and that’s how conversations work. That’s all I’ve been talking about. Meanwhile you took a misguided couple of shots about how the Steelers would have won anyway, as if we had something to argue about. I never had anything to say about whether the Steelers would have won in the first place. I wasn’t addressing you. This may come as a surprise to you, but I was talking about the game without taking a position on the “Are the Steelers the ultimate good in the world, beset on all sides by the forces of hopelessness and darkness?” debate. I was pointing out that Jim Nantz is silly.
The fact that you started feeling a little tender and got a case of the grumpy-wumpy mans doesn’t mean what you’re worried about is actually taking place. I promise. Nobody is treating this as important except you.
I think Tomlin put it best when he said their defense is better simply because they’ve made more “splash plays” as he calls them.
Ike Taylor has been great in the shutdown role. I love the way he’s playing. I’ve gotten over expecting him to ever make another interception.
The best part of Harrison coming back is that Timmons looks so much better in the middle then he does on the outside (which always surprises me). Hopefully we can get some of those splash plays from Polamalu or Timmons this week.
…aaaaaaand Sepulveda goes on IR again with a torn ACL on his plant leg. I like the guy but does anyone think he’ll ever wear a Steelers uniform again?
You can be the best punter on Earth but in the end you’re just a punter.
That’s a shame, Sepulveda is, or perhaps was, one of the best, but spending half your career on IR is not how you prove that. I wonder, is it too late to get Kapinos back? Sepulveda might be 5-10% better, but what difference does that make when he’s always hurt?
…and sure enough, they got Kapinos. I think at this point they need to use the rest of the season to evaluate the possibility of keeping him. Last year he did the Steelers a big service by coming in and getting the job done well when Sepulveda got hurt but he got cut in the preseason. I’m a firm believer that starters don’t lose their jobs because of injury except in extraordinary circumstances, but ACL tear #2 is pretty extraordinary.
Sadly, this is his third ACL tear on that leg. Clearly something is wrong with his training or his kicking style.
Not to get too nerdy about it but the relationship between pelvis and leg is called the Q angle and an increased Q angle is strongly linked to ACL tears. I can’t help wondering if Sepuveda is one of those guys who trains on machines and then has a poor alignment when he goes to apply that strength, “firing a cannon from a canoe” as they say.
4AM comes way too early for me to stay up and watch tonight. 
Go Steelers!
Sad Trombones for the Towelies! Good, hard-hitting game though, as it usually is.
Painful ending but a good game. Hopefully our boys learn something and get a chance to stick it to them in the playoffs again.
… and once again the Prevent lives up to both its name and reputation. How many times does a team call in the so-called Prevent only to lose at the end? Enough that it makes no sense whatsoever to use it. Stick to the defense that got you to that point. I’ve often thought that there ought to be a rule: if you play the Prevent and lose, you should lose your job, because it is absurd. You give up lots and lots of yards and leave the sidelines open, giving the team you’re playing shots from up close. I have no problem seeing the Steelers lose while playing tight defense, but giving up 60-70 yards in 40 seconds of game time for free never, ever works. Stop doing it.
Damn.
The Ravens played a good game. As did the Steelers. They just came up short on the last-minute heroics that always seem to happen when the two teams play. It looks like the Steelers are going the Wild Card route, assuming (and it’s a big assumption) that they can get past Cincinnati. We’ll find out next week. Because of tonight’s loss next week is by far the most important game of the season. It’s hard to believe that Pittsburgh went from a possible stranglehold on the playoffs to having to eke into them, but that’s life in the NFL these days.
Damn.
I feel your pain. I’ve gotten incredibly frustrated at the Ravens in the past for exactly the same thing. Here’s a post i made during the playoffs in January, 2010:
I think it’s become the football equivalent of walking a big hitter in baseball. It’s often a bad idea, but it’s done because it seems like the “safe” move and fewer people are likely to criticize you for it.
If you walk Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder and they end up having a big inning, no-one blames you for walking the star hitter, but if you don’t walk them and they hit a game-tying home run, everyone asks why the hell you didn’t put them on.
Similarly, if you play the Prevent defense, and end up giving up a touchdown, you probably won’t cop as much shit as if you continue with the regular defense (including the blitz) and end up giving up a 50-yard TD pass or a long run. If you play your usual defense, and give up a long touchdown, everyone then spends all of Monday second-guessing you and asking why you didn’t drop guys back into a Prevent defense. It’s the “Don’t blame me” strategy.
Agreed. I’ll be the first to say Flacco can throw the damn ball when he wants to really heave it. Nail-biter. We will see what we will see. I’m glad it was the Ravens, at least we know we lost to a good team in a hard game.