Thanks for nothing Bears.
It doesn’t matter. Pittsburgh is a lead-pipe lock for the playoffs this year. Not bad for a team fighting for their lives after the Ravens game a few weeks ago. They can even lose to the Niners and still get the 5 seed after they win their last two.
I never understood, to be honest, why you were so doom-and-gloom a few weeks ago. At their lowest point in the season, it never seemed to me that the Steelers were anything less than a good chance to make the playoffs. Yes, it required them to win some important games, especially the in-division games against the Bengals, but at no stage since Week 2 have the Steelers ever been further out of the division lead than half a game.
Here’s the week-by-week breakdown of the AFC North standings. Anyone who looks at that and argues that the Steelers were “fighting for their lives” after week 9 (the second Baltimore/Pittsburgh game) is a bit silly, IMO.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
BAL 1-0 1-1 2-1 3-1 3-1 4-1 4-2 5-2 6-2 6-3 7-3 8-3 9-3 10-3
PIT 0-1 1-1 2-1 2-2 3-2 4-2 5-2 6-2 6-3 7-3 7-3 8-3 9-3 10-3
CIN 1-0 1-1 1-2 2-2 3-2 4-2 4-2 5-2 6-2 6-3 6-4 7-4 7-5 7-6
CLE 0-1 1-1 2-1 2-2 2-2 2-3 3-3 3-4 3-5 3-6 4-6 4-7 4-8 4-9
So, basically, at the end of week 9, the Steelers were half a game back of the Ravens and Bengals, and still had two games to play against Cincinnati. Since then, they’ve beaten the Bengals twice and basically guaranteed themselves at least a Wild Card and possibly the Division title.
Half a game back with 7 to go? Plenty of games to make up the difference. If you don’t make the playoffs from that position, then you didn’t deserve to make the playoffs. You seem to be trying to sell this as some sort of comeback, but it’s not. The Steelers are one of the two best teams in the division, and despite some sparks from the Bengals, that has been the case all year.
Pittsburgh lost the tiebreak to Baltimore and Houston and still had to face a resurgent Bengals team who, at the time, had possession of second place based on division record. If the Bengals had won the first meeting Pittsburgh was in big trouble.
Fortunately it didn’t happen that way, but it was a very real possibility a few weeks ago. That’s not overselling it, that’s the reality of it. Those circumstances have changed, but the scenario back then was win or fall into a very precarious position.
Looks like the NFL will be holding James Harrison for a full game.
Too bad we didn’t have a Doper work out all the different likey scenarios on, say, page 6. 
Perhaps they should make me a commentator.
I hope Harrison wasn’t counting on his coach for support in his appeal. Have I mentioned lately how much I like Mike Tomlin?
I think that it was indisputably an illegal hit. I think it was deliberate. I had no problem with the flag. It’s hard for me to consider it “dirty” though. The reason I say this is that if it had happened one yard further downfield, it would have been okay. If it had been delivered to someone with a number starting with a 2, 3 or 4, it would have been okay. If it had been delivered two years ago, it would have been okay. So it’s really kind of hard to see it as dirty. It was eminently stupid, no doubt about it, but Harrison’s decision making hasn’t been especially impressive.
Helmet to helmet is never OK.
It wouldn’t have been okay if it happened a yard further downfield. He might’ve gotten away with it on another position, but I think they might call a deliberate helmet to helmet spearing on even a running back.
Here it is. He could’ve kept moving forward and wrapped McCoy up. He could’ve even left his feet and threw his shoulder - hard - into McCoy’s chest. But he very clearly and very deliberately launched himself with the intent of hitting his helmet to McCoy’s facemask in order to give him brain damage. This isn’t some ticky tacky “they should make them wear skirts!” bullshit, deliberately going for brain trauma hasn’t been cool for quite a while.
You don’t have to try to injure people to be tough. Look at Ray Lewis - sure, he stabs people off the field, but on the field he is a tough motherfucker that lays the wood, but I can’t recall him ever deliberately trying to injure anyone like that. You can’t defend James Harrison on the basis of how football is macho and blah blah (no one here is trying to, but I’ve heard it elsewhere) when you can point to Ray Lewis as someone who crushes people without playing dirty.
Edit: This is ignoring the fact that he’s looking right at McCoy and almost surely knows he threw the ball away by that point.
Yes. Once he crosses the line of scrimmage, he’s a runner.
Nonsense, or there would have been a flag and fine on Gocong for his helmet to helmet on Mendenhall on the goal line stand. Answer: There wasn’t, because it was a good football play against a runner.
Launching is defined as leaving your feet. He didn’t leave his feet.
It was illegal. It was deliberate. It wasn’t aimed at delivering brain damage.
He was just fined $20,000 a few weeks ago for a helmet to helmet hit. Unless you can read both Harrison’s and Lewis’ minds, you have no idea whether either or both were intending to injure.
You’re countering an argument nobody has made.
Well, kids… a fortuitous weekend has thrown fortune into the Steelers’ lap. If the Steelers win tomorrow they are in the catbird seat for the #1 seed, with only a home game against the hapless Rams and a game at the Factory of Sadness to close out the season. Pouncey, Harrison and Sanders are out, but Woodley and Polamalu are good to go and Ben sounds like he’s going to start. For the Niners the big loss is Patrick Willis, so Ben should (I say, should) have a little bit of time to hobble around.
The Steelers are favored, injuries and all. I’m hoping. That #1 seed looks really good right now. Thanks for the help, Chargers and a hearty HAHAHAHA to Ravens fans.
Incidentally, did you see Ray-Ray lead with his head at least twice and get away with both a facemask and horsecollar? How about Suggs with the head slap? Yeah, you can put them in suits and take them out of Baltimore but they’re still goons. Ah, the sweet scent of failure was cloying tonight.
Honestly it is only my desire to stick it to the Ravens that makes me want them to win the division. If anything, it seems the Steelers play better on the road in the post season.
Love James Harrison’s tweet: “If I can’t play, can’t nobody play…Lights out!”
When I’m an NFL coach, remind me never to play a player that’s half-injured and hasn’t practiced all week. This is a one-man loss this week.
Yes, it was.
INT
Fuck the Steelers by 17.
Yeah, but the Niners are actually a good, playoff-bound team.
That sucked. Looks like the 5th seed for the Steelers this year, and a meeting with the Ratbirds in the 2nd round since they’re the 2nd seed now.
The shame of it is that the Steelers didn’t even play badly, really. Ben’s 1st pick was just a good play, his 2nd was a drop and a great reaction, the fumble was Ben trying to do something he couldn’t do on a bum ankle, and the 3rd pick was more or less expected when the quarterback airs it out in garbage time. At least he didn’t quit.
Oh, and for those of you that say the Steelers get all the calls? Yeah, about that… they got the absolute shaft on that punt, that unsportsmanlike call on the field goal was suspect, and they should have drawn at least two PI penalties. But that’s how it goes. I thought they would lose this game (and said as much earlier in this thread, I believe… EDIT: I didn’t say it here, I said it elsewhere) because they had 2 Pro Bowl-caliber players out and one all bashed up, but hey, you go with what you got.
Good game to the Niners, whatever it is that Harbaugh is teaching them seems to be working. Do please take care of the Packers, in the playoffs, would you? Thanks ever so much.
Actually, one of the few heartening things about last night’s game, for me, was that San Diego actually looked, for basically the first time this year, like the offensive team that they really should be. Rivers finally played up to his ability, the receivers ran great routes, and the play-calling was excellent. I’ve been watching the Chargers all year, and this was twice as good as they’ve looked at any other time this season. They were, of course, helped by the Ravens having a truly awful performance, but while the Chargers might not be a playoff-bound team, they played like one last night.
Like some cheese with your whine?