I’ll keep my fingers crossed and let this thread get back on track. Go Steelers! Wave them dirty towels! Woohoo!
While you Steeler fans are waiting for the AFC Championship, you might want to revisit a little of your sqad’s playoff history.
You guys all realise that this thread will be moot after Sunday don’t you?
BRONCOS!
;j
That game was yet another in the long list of games where the Steelers were cheated up and down the field. I wouldn’t be all that proud of that debacle if I were you.
Just FYI - after the game, Dungy said that going for it on 4th down was HIS call. The punt team was just not on the same page as the head coach (Dungy called them “overexcited” or “overzealous” or something similar). Since Dungy has a direct line to Manning through his headset, and had already told him to go for it, Manning waved the punt team off.
Two words: Mike Jones.
Hey, we’re talkin’ football, not rap music.
(Seriously, I didn’t expect the Titans to have a chance in that game, so I was just proud they hung in there so long. After the Bills game, that was a damned good season no matter what happened.)
(Not that I wasn’t screaming at the TV.)
Marvin Harrison just signed a huge contract extension (at the age of 32). Edgerrin James is making a ton of money as the team’s franchise player. They gave Corey Simon a very large contract to be a part time player. Ryan Diem recently got a big extension. Etc., etc. The Colts are excellent at drafting good, young (i.e. cheap) players, and at managing the cap. Manning is not killing his team’s cap space.
He is! I just don’t understand the impulse to take an all-world player with hundreds of games under his belt, then judge him based on a handful of performances, against the best teams in the league, in which he and his team loses, usually in spite of the fact that he played pretty well.
Well, we’ll never know. Maybe Manning’s ‘intangibles’ are really what’s holding his team back, but, unfortunately, they’re entirely subjective and unmeasurable. In the meantime, his tangibles are outstanding.
It would still have been the right call. Also, by the way, it was toward the end of the 3rd Quarter, not in the first half. Down by 18, 4th & 2 near midfield, with about 17 minutes to go and the best offense it football, you have to go for it.
Incidentally, Dungy said after the game that he had called for the offense to go for it, and the punt team just ran out on its own; that’s why Manning waved them off. I’ve heard some people argue that Dungy was just saving face when he said that, but I highly doubt it.
I agree, and I think this is what’s being underplayed in everyone’s rush to shit on Manning. Pittsburgh has a very, very good defense that played a great, great game. Being the best player in the league does not make you Superman – sometimes, you get beat.
Very true, but you know what, Manning always gets beat when it comes to a big game. And you know what, the reason the Colts lost this game was because of their offense. And Manning runs the offense. Through and through. He has the option of changing plays at the line, which he frequently takes the opportunity to do - especially in the playoffs. Manning gets shit on because he deserves it. He had an all-world running back that the Colts never made a factor in the game - like when Mike Martz forgot Marshall Faulk existed the last time he was in the Super Bowl. The blame for that lies on Manning and the offensive coordinator.
But you know that’s not true. Do his dominating performances in playoff games against the Broncos and Chiefs not count? What about important regular season games?
Manning probably gets too much credit when Indy wins, and he definitely gets too much blame when they lose. It’s just way too easy to point at the most talented and visible player on the Colts and blame the team’s big losses on him, but it’s usually not justified.
In the regular season loss to the Patriots two years ago, he had his team on the goalline at the end of the game with a chance to win, and Edgerrin James got stuffed three times. In the regular season loss against the Patriots last year, he got the team in position for a tying field goal at the end of regulation, and the Idiot Kicker honked it. In the postseason loss last year, Manning’s stats looked very mediocre, but they don’t show the unusally copious dropped passes, or the fact that he had no running game whatsoever (Edge had something like 37 yards on 14 carries), or that his defense let Corey Dillon run wild.
I’m not trying to say that it’s just the fault of his teammates, because he has had a few bad games himself (the 2003 playoff loss to the Patriots, e.g.). I just think the ‘choker’ label is absurd since, before this year, all of his big-game losses have come at the hands of better teams, while he’s proven he can keep the Colts in the game against the league’s best.
Well, I think a better way of saying it would be that Colts lost this game becuase of Pittsburgh’s defense. You’re right, though: Manning has to take some of the blame for the protection issues and for not getting James the ball, and it would have been nice to see him own up to it after the game. OTOH, you seem to be giving him more blame than he deserves. It wasn’t just a matter of the O-line being out of position (though they frequently were) – they got creamed regularly by the Steelers pass rushers even when they were in the right spot.
And maybe there was a reason not to rely too heavily on James having a good day against a top-tier run defense. Before their Week 8 Bye, versus a total cream-puff schedule (BAL, JAX, TEN, CLE, SF, StL, HOU), James had 801 rushing yards and 4.9 yards per carry. After the Bye, either because of fatigue or a much harder schedule (probably some of both), he was a below average back: 705 yards on 3.6 yards per carry. I don’t think it would be at all unreasonable to emphasize the passing game (which actually improved after the bye in spite of the difficult schedule) when you have a running back who seems to have broken down and an opponent with an excellent run defense but vulnerable pass defense.
Yikes, this is longer than I planned. Well, enjoy!
Pete Morelli’s home vandalized
Hmmm…lesse…motivating factor…motivating factor…nope, I can’t think of any reason someone would chuck a rock through this guy’s window, can you?
If I can rehash a joke I’ve read on at least three other sites:
The Police, upon further review, noticed that there was a rock in his room, and there is broken glass all over the place. They then decided that there was not conclusive evidence that any vandalism at all had occured.
So, who threw the red flag?
The media really want the trash talk to escalate, but for the most part the fans of both teams are anxiously awaiting the game. I’m almost sick of all the fair-weather-fan coverage by the local stations.
All the local stations covered a story about a local Boncos fan. He had a nice collection of Broncos and Elway memorabilia, and each one of the news stations reported breathlessly about him, acting as if there were a major problem with a Pittsburgh-area family liking a team from another area.
I’m told there’s a Steelers bar in Las Cruces. (Actually, I’m not that surprised. Steelers fans are amazing that way.) Anyway, I’m trying to decide if I want to go there tomorrow, and, if so, whether to bring my terrible towel or to wear my Broncos hat. I’ll probably do neither and watch the game at home on my little 19" TV using the antenna and get drunk by myself.
According to this page:
http://www.post-gazette.com/steelers/steelerbars_list.asp
There’s two of them in Las Crues.
Farley’s Food, Fun & Pub 3944 Foothills Rd Las Cruces, NM 88011
Hurricane Alley Solano Square Las Cruces, NM
I’d call them before you went down there, though…I’ve heard from a couple people they may not keep that list completely up to date.
I think you already know the right decision is to take the towel. 
Wow, a Steelers bar a quarter of a mile from my house.
I’m having people over to watch, so I won’t be able to post during the thread. So:
Go Steelers!
So sad. This thread ends today.
It’s been a good read, but GO BRONCOS!
What a vivid imagination you have. You should write fiction, you’re so good at it.
Finally! Trash talk!
How many faces did Cowher pack to bring to Denver? I hope he has plenty of these:
:eek: 
Yer pal, Obnoxious Denver Fan ;j
That’s it, bub! The romance is over! 
This is going to be a good Sunday! Mozart in the morning at church; Steelers playing smash-mouth football in the afternoon; lunch with a couple of friends in between. The friends, by the way, are true heathens – they didn’t even know there was a game this afternoon.
I’ll let you know how things look from the pews. Knowing this town, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a “Go Steelers!” from the pulpit, or at least during the announcements, and I wouldn’t put it past a choir member or two to wear Steelers gear. Oh, NoClueBoy, I hate to break it to you, but the Catholic Bishop of Denver is reported to be a Steelers fan. The Bishops of Green Bay, Detroit, and Providence, RI are known fans. Even though I figure God doesn’t participate in football games (if He did, no team would ever lose), every little bit helps.
Win or lose, it’s been a great run and a great year!
Go Steelers!!! (Er - sorry about that, sir. I meant “Kyrie eleison!”)
CJ