The reason Ward should have taken the knee is so they Steelers could run out the clock and make the FG as time expired. That way, the Titans have zero chance for a run the kickoff back for a TD. Very likely, the play called for Ward to go down.
That said, I can’t blame him for wanting to just score.
You’re out of your mind. Seriously, what video are you watching? The helmet clearly came off on its own. There’s no possible way anybody reasonable can dispute that.
Nope. It popped off. He reached up to pull it back on.
I disagree. You never give up a scoring opportunity. What if the FG attempt gets blocked and returned for a TD the other way? Many things can go wrong in the FG attempt, so you always take the points when they are there. It would be nice to score with 2 seconds left, but you don’t run the clock down that far and only give youself one shot.
What if Ward’s fumble is returned for a TD the other way? Lots of things can go wrong when you’re struggling for the goal line as well.
I think the Steelers are more likely to win the game at 10-10 with 1st down on the 5 than they are up 17-10 and kicking off. It’s more likely that Tennessee scores a tying touchdown than Pittsburgh misses the short FG.
If Ward had just been tackled where the ball was stripped nobody would have said one thing about how he should not have tried to pick up more yards after the reception.
No- which is the problem with announcers. They only point out ‘stupid’ moves when they result in bad plays.
You can see this at play on fumbles. If a player scoops up the ball and runs for a touchdown, the announcers fall over each other to gush about how great a play it was.
On the other hand, if a player tries to scoop up the ball but misses, the announcers ream him for not just falling on it.
No, he reached up with both hands and put it back on. Watch the replay, this time without blinders on.
As for Hines, I know he’s a fighter and I know it’s his job, but he also needs to play smart football. If he had scored the Titans would have gotten the ball back, whereas if he had dropped (a la Westbrook) they could have run out the clock for the chip-shot field goal.
He’s been in the league long enough to know how to protect the ball as well, and he had one hand on it fighting for ultimately meaningless yards.
It wasn’t his finest moment. Not that I would hold it against him for any meaningful amount of time, but it really wasn’t a smart play on his behalf. Same goes for Troy. Trying to make things happen in a situation where there was nowhere to go anyway cost him a quarter of the season, and maybe some future mobility as these things add up.
Hey, I’m just a fanatic, not their parents or their coach, but this early in the season these guys need to fall back on their professionalism and experience and recognize that this is when people get hurt, so why take any unnecessary chances? Protect yourself, protect the ball, and get through it.
By the way, the Madden curse struck Polamalu in Week 1. When is Fitzgerald going down now?
Michaels and Collinsworth did, but that’s normal for them, always hating on the Steelers and seeing things that didn’t actually happen.
I did watch it without blinders on. I dislike the Titans and the Steelers about equally, with the proviso that there are a few Steelers players (Polamalu, Parker, Santonio Holmes, Lawrence Timmons) who I really like, and no Titans players I like.
I hope you know how goofy you sound dressing down Polamalu for trying to grab a loose ball. In the middle of the play, you want him to stop and assess whether it’s worth trying to come up with a live ball? Players can’t think like that. They have to react. Players that think aren’t good.
ETA: Complaining about the announcers being biased against the Steelers? Really? What is this, the football equivalent of griping about the MSM?
Probably in a few weeks, when Polamalu comes back. Two guys on the cover, so half a year of injury each.
I’m late to the thread so I’m just going to throw out some random thoughts to the discussion for now to get back into things:
[ul]
[li]Hines Ward dropping the fumble/Troy going for the loose ball: win or lose I want to see guys making that effort. When that effort disappears the Super Bowls will too. Fumble, injury, that’s part of playing a tough sport. I love that these guys are fighting hard. There’s some luck involved in making it to the Super Bowl but there’s a lot more tough football and that was what they showed. Hines should have protected the ball better in that part of the field though. He lost a big fumble last year too on a similar type play. The execution of the play is what needs improvement not his desire to eke out extra yards.[/li][li]Lawrence Timmons is not ready to fill Larry Foote’s spot. great coverage guy, super fast but Keyaron Fox is more instinctive against the run and Timmons will be best suited to a platoon system with him getting more of the time IMO. At least until he learns to take better angles and not bite on the play fakes. He would be best suited to continuing on the quarterback if he bites like Chad Greenway does in Minnesota.[/li][li]Troy Polamalu is a football god.[/li][li]The running woes are not the fault of the running backs (this time). All three guys averaged roughly 1.5 yds/carry. The interior lineman were backed up on every important run. Max Starks and Heath Miller actually got some push on a few plays but there was no running lane to get to the edge because the A and B gaps were blown up each time. Is it personnel, coaching, scheme? Probably a bit of each. Arians is quite good at designing draw plays, not so much the bread and butter inside runs we’ve become used to over the years.[/li][li]Ben is magic on third-and-long and in the last two minutes. We’ll get by the loss of Polamalu for a few weeks; if Ben goes down we’re screwed without a running game.[/li][li]Frank Summers whiffed, I mean whiffed completely, on at least three blocks. I don’t want Carey Davis back but they need to put David Johnston back there if we don’t see a better performance next game.[/li][li]The running game always struggles early in the season until the line gets in sync. I’m not panicking yet.[/li][/ul]
This week my beloved Steelers have Chicago at Soldier Field. They are well rested, the defense is solid even without Polamalu, and Chicago is missing Urlacher.
I think this game is going to be pretty easy for the Steelers, I say they’re going to win by 2 touchdowns. A few easy games in a row is just what the doctor ordered, let everybody get well and on the same page. This game will be a damn sight tougher than the one next week, that’s for certain. Hopefully I’ll be able to see it.
@#!% Comcast (or the NFL) is not showing it in my area. Got the damn Ravens instead! :mad:
I could go down to the redneck bar, I think they usually have it on - or into town. But it is never as good as when it is on my own big screen.
Here in upstate New York, I’m getting this game. It’s rather funny, as if I still lived in New Mexico, I’d still be getting the Steelers game unless I moved up the interstate a little bit, at which point I’d get the Broncos game. Honestly, as much as I love the Broncos (and they’ve made it very hard this offseason) I’d rather see Steelers-Bears. I’ll listen to the Broncos game at the same time on the satellite radio.
And I have never understood WTF the NFL is thinking making the middle of Pennsylvania a secondary market for the Ravens. I only ever knew one Ravens fan in college when I was in Pennsylvania and he was actually from Maryland.
The best thing going for the Steelers in this game is the Bears lack of a true number one receiver right now. Devin Hester should be a slot guy, he has all the speed but not the will or savvy that guys like Steve Smith have. I know Jay Cutler is a diva but he has a strong arm and will stand in the pocket in the face of pressure. If if finds himself a go-to guy he’ll give teams fits. He won the battle the last time the Steelers faced him because of those traits.
The o-lines wil be the big key in this one I think. We all know about Pittsburgh’s woes and this week they face another of the active 4-man fronts that give them trouble. Chicago will stunt and twist d-linemen all day and guys like Chris Kemoeatu just don’t handle those schemes well. On the other side we’ll see Orlando Pace trying to stop James Harrison. Pace was an all-world tackle for many years but Silverback eats up those tall linemen on a regular basis. Pace is 6’7" and plays very tall, if they don’t slide protection to his side I think we’ll see Harrison get underneath him on a regular basis.
Watch how many plays we see today with Harrison driving to the QB with a lineman’s arm wrapped around his neck. Non-Steelers fans always complain that Pittsburgh gets favorable calls from the officiating but the non-calls for holding James Harrison are in double digits every game and that’s no exaggeration.
I’ll be interested to see how Pittsburgh’s oline fares in this one. They looked awful against the Titans, especially in trying to open holes for Parker. Ben is big and strong enough to keep plays alive on his own much of the time, but how much pounding can he take over the course of a season?
I would just like to see them convert a third-and-short on the ground. They’re dreaming in technicolor if they think they can win another Super Bowl like this. Winning it last year with that line was defying the odds. They should have moved Colon to guard where he belongs and brought in a guy like Jon Runyan to hold down the right edge until they could draft someone. Wouldn’t change the passing game much but the running game would immediately improve.
Ben’s confidence is a blessing and a curse. He can handle the straight up hits; it will be a fluke injury like Polamalu’s last week that takes him out. Speaking of which, Polamalu will be missed but the team has won without him in the past and will do it again. If Ben goes down, Batch or Dixon will be sitting ducks without a running game to take pressure off them. Losing Ben would be catastrophic for their Super Bowl chances.
Nice analysis. I agree about losing Ben, but of course, you can say that about pretty much most of the NFL teams out there. Not too many teams have a Cassell foundering on the bench, biding time.
Bah humbug. Even with the loss there were some positives though. The line played better and all three running backs did some nice things with the ball. They were outplayed in that game, pure and simple. Lawrence Timmons seemed a bit slow coming back form his injury, didn’t have his usual burst to the ball. When he’s 100% he’s a monster on third and anything but short. It’s a long season, they’ll recover from this. It would have been nice to get the win but there are still about twenty teams who would love to trade places with the Steelers in many ways. They can build on this one.