I do appreciate it, because sometimes I get caught up in little things, like the fact that Duce Staley had an average of 5 yards per carry on his way to 125 yards before he left the game early with a hamstring pull. Of course, his average of 5 yards per carry was only because we were up early and running so often.
Surely the Patriots will solve that minor problem - like just bringing some of their veteran DBs up into the box and allowing their masterful corners to do some 1:1 coverage. Maybe they’ll even be generous enough to give Hank Poteat some playing time again at Heinz Field. I miss him!
Again, if true, it’s one of those little details I can’t help but get caught up in, due to my ignorance, you know - the Steelers are 3-0 against that Patriots/Jets model.
I just have to keep reminding myself of the crushing we are going to get. Dillon is just going to pound us. I wish we had some experience against him. Oh man, my balls just retracted so hard I think they bruised my lungs.
Perhaps the Patriots and their fans should be buying their tickets to Jacksonville.
Pats had a little let down. Pittsburgh has been in “let down” mode for the last 8 weeks.
Other than Miami, the Pats went into the end of the season with a destruction of the Jets at New York, and Sunday just took apart one of the best offensive teams in history, while Pittsburgh limped past a Jets team (wasn’t even in the playoffs until about 4:00 eastern time on week 17) which lucked out against a pretty poor looking San Diego.
The only game the Steelers have been impressive in since November 7th was against Buffalo in week 17, when the Steelers didn’t even play half their starters. Maybe they should try that this week.
I forgot to ask - Faulk was out in that earlier game, right? Because I assume that the Patriots must have been down to the ballboy at tailback, having gained a total of 5 yards rushing for the whole game. Who could expect Kevin Faulk to gain more that 4 yards on 5 carries? It’s unreasonable to ask that of any old run of the mill NFL running back! It certainly isn’t a problem with the offensive line. Most teams would be worried about that, but man, those Patriots are cool cucumbers. Dillon is going to solve all of that. A total of five yards rushing for the whole game for the whole team is easily resolved by one man.
See, Elvis L1ves, I need your counsel to keep my head on straight.
If you definition of “letdown mode” in the last 8 games is going undefeated for the last 7 games and winning the divisional playoff rounds, maybe we can “letdown” ourselves all the way to Jacksonville.
Yes, we had a bad game vs the Jets. But we won. Repeating myself: I know it’ll take a better effort than that to beat the Pats. the Pats are a better team than the Jets and if we make that many mistakes we will lose.
However – if you’re counting on a stinker from us and think we’re going to roll over and this game is a gimme, you’re going to be in for a shock on Sunday.
Faulk played that game, but had only 5 carries, and 1 for Cedric Cobbs (who?). Patrick Pass was out, too. Brady threw 43 times, in a 2003-style offense in which short passes substituted for the running game Antowain Smith couldn’t give them.Link to the box score.
You’re right about Dillon. He’s on a mission from God. Enough years in Cincinnati will make *any * man hard and mean.
No, that’s OK, the Stillers and their fans showed us the wisdom of that in 2001… :smack:
What’s with the inverse smack? Where’s the chest beating we’ve been hearing up 'til now? Anybody who thinks this is gonna be an easy win for either team is fucking delusional.
For the Pats to win will require all three facets of the team to be on top of their game. The Steelers will require BR to be healthy (did I hear something about thumb problems?).
I gotta admit, the retracting balls comment was priceless!
-Rav
P.S. Hey mouthbreather, what’s with the “we” and “our” references? Are you the Stillers new third-string starting left out? Phuleezze… Wanna put the “we” to the test? Jump onto the field at the end of the game Sunday to congratulate or commiserate with Sgt. Slaughter. (insert “big chin” smiley here) Security would be on you like a hobo on a ham sandwich.
You’re a consumer, making an emotional investment in the performance of one franchise of an entertainment company, just like all of us. Enjoy it for what it is, cause “it” isn’t what it used to be. The NFL, NFLPA and agents have made sure of that.
This is very good information that I hadn’t yet considered. It is with complete sincerity that I declare this viewpoint has turned my whole worldview of sports and fandom upside-down.
Will great haste I will change my language to something that suits you better. If, by chance, I should forget and continue to use “we” and “our” – please by all means, point it out time and time again. Thanks.
It’s seems clear what the Steelers have to do to win: when the game’s tied at the end, don’t settle for a 40+ yard field goal attempt. The Chargers did it and lost to the Jets, then the Jets did it and lost to the Steelers. (see Dr. Z and TMQ)
I was also reminded today of a question I had during the game. Is it legal to block a field goal on the way down? There are a bunch of guys who celebrate touchdowns by dunking the ball over the crossbar, so they should be able to reach the occasional long FG try, such as the first Jets miss in the 4th.
I remember someone, Morris Stroud(?), a 6’8" TE with KC who stood back there when old man Blanda kicked a 49-yd field goal to beat them. It barely cleared, but the KC guy couldn’t reach them. I think it happened more thna once. This was maybe…1969?
Yes, yes it was a miracle job by Andy Reid. For the life of me I can’t figure out why you are referring to the West Coast Offense as a “magic system”, and I also can’t figure out why you put “traditional” in quotes. I mean, you’re an Eagles fan. You’d think you’d know what the West Coast system is, and how it differs from a traditional system.
To be quick, the West Coast system utilizes a short passing game in lieu of a rushing game. This has the noticeable effect of increasing completion percentages, which inflates passer rating. McNabb was a complete oddity in that he was the only West Coast QB to have a completion percentage in the 50s.
Look at Rich Gannon’s career. Ignore his first two seasons, where he was godawful and didn’t play much. His next 8 years he had a pretty consistent 57% completion rate. Then he went to the Raiders and their West Coast system, and his completion percentage immediately and consistently shot up 5 point to 62%.
I’d have thought I laid it on sufficiently thick that you’d see through the sarcasm and pick up on the point I thought I was making. If McNabb was so poor a passer that he was incapable of hitting on every other throw in a “traditional” passing game, and yet he’s managed to throw for 3000 yards consistently, and he’s managed to win games consistently without a real running game, that doesn’t quite add up, I don’t think. Either the guy can throw the ball or he can’t, and you’re saying he can’t, so I’m pointing to his success and saying, is the system that good? My point, simply stated, is that your assertion that McNabb is that inaccurate a passer is completely ridiculous, and no quarterback who “should” be throwing in the 40’s could ever be saved by a particular scheme. Football is football.
As for the quotes, I think you’re placing far, far too much emphasis on the names of particular offenses. There is no clearcut distinction between “the” West Coast offense on the one hand and traditional offense on the other. Truth be told, the whole West Coast offense phenomenon is sort of a media invention. The Eagles certainly don’t run Bill Walsh’s old system – for one thing, the Eagles don’t run the ball, and one of the fundamental tenets of the old San Francisco teams was an even distribution of runs and passes. Reid runs a variation of Mike Holmgren’s offense, as do Mike Sherman, Steve Mariucci, Jon Gruden, etc. Look at how different each of those systems are, and they’re all only one generation removed from the original scheme. Factor in 20 years and multiple adaptations of the original ideas behind the West Coast offense, and I think it’s a huge oversimplification to say that certain teams run offense A, which makes quarterbacks efficient, and the rest of the league runs non-A offenses, which don’t do so. Which is to say, to bring it right back to the point before I go off again on a rant, either McNabb’s a better passer than you say, or it’s a magic offense. Otherwise the Eagles don’t go 12-4, 13-3 every year.
So Rich Gannon’s 5% jump in completion percentage was due to what, exactly?
Just because the Eagles win doesn’t mean their passer is accurate. There’s 21 other starters on a team. Well, 19. I don’t think the non-TO receivers really qualify.
McNabb is now accurate, even without TO. At least he was last week. Against the Rams he was the same old 55% passer. I’m very curious which McNabb we’ll see on Sunday. In all honesty, I think this is your year to lose the Superbowl instead of the NFC.