Beer We Go Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers played one of their most well rounded games of the season and promptly…lost. BWG is not exactly sure how the Steelers lost this one. Summing it up pretty accurately, the difference was the Jets made two very big plays and that was enough to get it done on a cold night in the ‘Burgh. When you look at the top performers of the game on ESPN, the Steelers lead all the categories. The Jets had the biggest stat though and that was 22 points which was enough for the win.

Lets sum it up; The Offense had a 100 yard rusher and a 100 yard receiver…but didn’t make the biggest plays when needed. The makeshift Offensive line easily played their best game of the season…and gave up safety to Pittsburgh’s own Jason Taylor. The Defense held the Jets to 13 points and less than 300 yards and made a key stop when it was needed at the end of the game…and missed several key tackles that allowed the Jets to make the plays to win the game. The Special Teams hung tough all day…except they let up and opening drive kick return. It was just a strange game, at no point did I think the Steelers would let this one get away…but somehow they did. 

If you are a stat hound or a fantasy player it was a fun game to watch. The Steelers were slow as usual getting out of the gate after spotting the Jets seven points. Then they just muscled up and played a terrific game on offense. It was the most complete offensive game since the Raiders beating last month. In less than ideal conditions the offense moved the ball pretty well, racking up 378 yards while the O-Line pushed the Jets defense all over the field. For all the talk about who are the biggest bullies are and all that bravado the Jets coach said, the Steelers literally took it to the Jets on offense. Rashard Mendenhall banged out 100 yards against a defense that didn’t give up 100 yards in over a year. Also having a great day was Emmanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace! Wallace was held by Antonio Cromartie on nearly every play including what would have been the game winning touchdown. 

I want to be angry about losing especially as a native New Yorker behind enemy lines here in Jet County but seriously, the performances were solid and I was actually relieved that the offense could move the ball again. 

Here is the bad news; the pass rush was mediocre is the only negative I will say, but the Steelers rarely blitzed. Silverback James Harrison made a very costly mistake that led to a huge fourth down conversion as did Ryan Mundy who let Mark Sanchez escape a sure sack, but he made a great account of himself in the game. Worse news is I owe Brian Stein lunch my friend and colleague. 

SERIOUSLY HOW DID THEY LOSE THIS GAME!!! 

There is good news; by some voodoo magic of numbers and Roger Goodell’s wheel of punishment, the Steelers actually qualified for the playoffs last night. I don’t know the exact formula but I am hoping that penalty yards and nonsense fines are a positive factor in the math that helped them qualify.

There is more good news!!! We don’t have to wait one more week to get this losing taste out of our collective mouths. The Steelers tee up again Thursday against a very beatable Panthers team.

If that is not enough for you there is more!!! If the Steelers win the next two games they qualify for the Number Two seed and the sorely needed first round bye, no matter what the Ravens do. Why is that important you may ask, because that gives the Steelers the best chance at fielding their best team, Aaron Smith could conceivably be back and let’s face it this defense needs Troy. One extra week would be beneficial for everyone as the Steelers are banged up pretty good.

So don’t despair, this was a bump in the road. Beer We Go Steelers, Beer We Go!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Rashard Mendenhall who was the first 100 yard rusher against the Jets in over a year. He played an excellent game and looked great! Honorable Mention is Big Ben and Mike Wallace.  

Where I watched the game: In my living room on my projection screen! I watched with my three dyed in the wool Steeler kids (see link below) and I am happy to report that I didn’t F-Bomb once in front of them. The getting food at halftime was a metaphor of the Steelers day. I got the kids loaded up in the car, ran to McDonalds had 5 minutes to spare on the half when I arrived…I realized I was missing my wallet! So I had to listen to the third quarter in the car! 

http://community.post-gazette.com/media/p/55885.aspx 

My thoughts on Next (THIS) Week: The Steelers need a statement game after losing this week. I think the Panthers will provide the perfect foil for that. Look for the Panthers to keep it close early and the Steelers to run away with it.

Because of the delay in posting this week, my synopsis will be brief! I was happy to be back in Pittsburgh, snapping my own personal two games losing streak, The Steelers smacked up the loud talking, quiet playing, sissy ass Bengals! The Bengals opening drive marked the only points they would score on the day. The Steelers marched to an easy and entertaining victory for the cold and wet BWG Nation!

The Defense just thoroughly dominated the game from start to finish. Troy Polamlu started the fireworks when he had a momentum changing pick six! It was vintage Polamalu as he darted and dashed his way to the end zone. Carson Palmer was confused and clobbered the whole day! Cedric Benson racked up a whopping 19 yards! T.O. who had his now famous Heinz Field yell at his QB meltdowns and contributed one catch for 22 yards! The Steelers kept him and his moronic partner in jerkyness Ochostinko in check all day!

Lamarr Woodley was devastating. After an early penalty he more than made up for it with a game clinching pick six and two sacks! Woodley is the perfect bookend to Silverback and while I feel his days are numbered here, he is one hell of a ball player!

I was completely shocked when I got off the plane in the ‘Burgh to here some jack ass radio host suggesting that it is time for Hines Ward to step back! Hines Ward is one of the greatest Steelers of all time! He proved it again Sunday. He banged the Bengals out for 115 tough yards.

Speaking of tough, Big Ben just continues to amaze with his true grit! This weeks trick was ripping off his protective shield and playing without it during the second half, leaving his surgically repaired nose exposed. The Refs of course did their usual bang up job protecting Ben. The offense was sluggish at best but Ben did a fine job!

All in all it was a great week to be in the ‘Burgh! BEER WE GO STEELERS!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Troy Polamalu! It was the kind of performance that just makes you glad the Steelers have him. He is a complete hurricane on Defense and he is clearly the difference maker from last year! His EXTREMELY ill advised “lateral” almost cost him the Game Beer! At the end of the day he turned the game around!

Where I watched the game: HEINZ FIELD

My thoughts on Next Week: The Jets need a trip to the woodshed and Rex Ryan needs his mouth washed out with soap. I can’t wait for this one! Same formula as always, Steelers should pull this out with a solid no mistake play from the Offense.

The Steelers absolutely gutted out a huge win over their arch rival Baltimore Ravens.  It was one of the gutsiest performances all around for the Steelers, from Ben getting his nose busted on the first series but never missing a play from scrimmage, to Sean Suisham being forced into punting duties and doing a good job, to Heath Miller nearly being decapitated, but walking off, on his own accord and Isaac Redman despite two failed conversions came up big when it mattered most.  The Steelers gutted out the win.  

Despite not exactly winning handily as I may have predicted, I always felt like they had the game under control if they could get their act together. They were in Baltimore territory several times and kept coming up short. The Steelers couldn’t stop making mistakes and it nearly cost them. The Wide Receivers, who are developing to be one of the best units on the team, kept dropping key passes, including Hines Ward. The Defensive backs especially Bryan McFadden looked lost in coverage and let Anquan Boldin out of his site on the Ravens only TD and didn’t cover the right receiver on a huge 3rd down conversion. Despite these mistakes the Steelers were able to keep it close so when they straightened out they could get back in the game. They did!  

The Ravens never were able to pull away and that’s where Ben Roethlisberger is at his best and most dangerous! Whenever the best Quarterback debate comes up, Ben gets dismissed. Tell me one other QB in the whole league who plays with a broken foot and a broken nose! That performance while mediocre on paper, was the stuff of legend. His physical strength and fortitude to get through that game is what he and the Steelers are all about. Watching him stiff arm the preening Terrell Suggs and saving the sack and/or fumble was just plain tough! 

This team needed a defining moment. Troy Polamalu provided that moment with an electric forced fumble that was recovered by LaMarr Woodley. When Joe Flacco was about to put the Steelers on ice not only for the game but for the division title, he had his pocket picked by the plundering Polamalu. (John Facenda RIP)

It was a game changer and provided the stage to be set for one of the best moments in this rivalry.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS6aVFSQVc0) Isaac Redman clearly earned his nickname “Red Zone” as he plowed through two tackles and crashed the End Zone for the game winning score.  

The Offensive line lost another key starter, when Flozell Adams went down, but played a respectable second half as they were able to protect Big Ben and give him the time he needed. Pouncey more than held his own against Haloti Ngata.

As with any Baltimore v. Pittsburgh game the hits were vicious and popping. The body count rose as several players were hurt at one point or another. The Defense led by James Harrison who despite having a quiet night statistically was a disruptive force throughout the game, he was all over the Ravens backfield. James Farrior and Brett Keisel played a disciplined tough game!

With the Ravens down by three they got the ball back with 2 minutes 51 seconds left in the game. They began to drive but fell short. As Flacco’s fourth down pass harmlessly hit the turf with 33 seconds left the Steelers in a span of under five game-time minutes turned their fortunes 180 degrees. 

The victory now puts the Steelers in the driver’s seat for the division.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Actually Captain Tailgate picked this and is giving it to three people! Hey we are Beer We Go we can give out as many as we want! First is Isaac Redman for knocking over the Ravens Defenders like Bowling pins, the second Sean Suisham who three weeks ago was pumping gas and now just did double duty this last Sunday as the punter and kicker, lastly Troy Polamalu who comes through when you need it most!

Where I watched the game: Quietly, again at KGB’s. Was to amped up to go out in public last night!  

My thoughts on Next Week: A division game is always dangerous but I will be in attendance so I am saying HUGE WIN!

“It’s starting to look like it’s OK to cheat, it’s OK to fight, but if you hit somebody too hard, we’re going to fine you a whole bunch. Maybe it’s because I play for the Steelers, who knows?”— James Harrison on NFL’s fine system

Ray Anderson, the National Football League’s executive vice president for football operations, said today the league is not targeting the Steelers, in particular linebacker James Harrison, for illegal hits… Yet somehow he gets fined every freakin’ week! Just to reiterate I had no problem with a fine for the first hit on Vince Young, as they clearly planted him. EVERY OTHER ONE including the 75K was complete and utter nonsense. BTW how does this hit on Fitz’ draw 25K while the fine on Massaquoi(THAT DIDN’T DRAW A FLAG) drew 75K and the Brees hit which was a complete joke drew 20K?

Who is determining this? It seems arbitrary and egregious.

A text book tackle as defined by Yahoo is, “…facemask in the opponents numbers and driving through and knocking the legs out from under him, dropping him flat on his back.” Apparently that little tidbit of information is foreign to the powers that be. James Harrison was fined for what looked like a textbook tackle. This is such nonsense!

Seriously, how do you not feel like we are getting hosed every week by the refs?

BEER WE GO STEELERS is backing James 100%! Silverback is our hero and he is everything that is right with football!!!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

  It was a nail biter but in the end the Steelers turned back the Buffalo Bills, thanks to some timely plays and a little bit of luck. After what looked like an impressive opening half the Steelers were forced to hold on for dear life and thanks to a Steve Johnston dropped pass rallied to hold off the Bills.

The game was strangely reminiscent of the Kansas City game from last year. The Steelers were clearly the superior team but lost some steam and let the Bills stay close. The offense was pounding the ball despite the horrid play of the Offensive line. I wrote back in the mid-season report how I felt the O-line was much improved and doing better. I don’t think that is accurate so far in the second half. They played a horrid penalty filled game. That is with them gashing the Bills for over 160 yards rushing. 

Ben played a gutsy albeit flawed game and made some great plays when needed. His 18 yard run on a bad wheel is the stuff that people would call the intangibles. I was impressed with that play and it made me realize again that we have a playmaker at QB. The bottom line though is he gets hit WAY too much. Part of that is his fault as he holds the ball way to long the other part is the O-line is patch work and looks and plays like patch work. 

Despite a mediocre performance by the line Rashard Mendenhall had a great game despite a costly fumble. He mashed out 151 tough yards! He would have had a shot at “The Game Beer” but I HATE fumbles. His performance was terrific as was his backfield mates. Isaac Redman is proving he can do it on this level as he grinded out 25 hard fought yards. Mewelde Moore is the unsung hero of the offense; he chipped in with 12 yards rushing and 33 yards receiving. This is another emerging strength of the team! 

The receivers played their usual workman like game as the Rocks of the Steelers offense Hines Ward belted out a 100 yard game and Heath Miller chipped in for 46 yards! It was a quiet week for Mike Wallace, Randle El and Manny Sanders. Sanders had a huge drop but we will chock that up to youthful exuberance. He had so much green in front of him that he ran before the catch, I just wish he held on because I would have liked to see him in the open field.  

As written earlier this game had the feel of last year’s Kansas City game. Just like other games this season v. games last season the Steelers managed to hold onto the win. The difference being; Troy Polamalu played yesterday versus being out last season. Troy is simply a difference maker in everything he does. He is all over the field and continues to be there in the clutch. His interception was huge and would have netted him “The Game Beer” had the Steelers held onto the lead. 

The defense played okay, the front seven are starting to show some wear and tear as the D-line just didn’t put together their usual game. That in effect slowed down the linebackers who played well enough to win but not the usual spectacular game. LaMarr Woodley was held on every play practically and was pulled out of position on the Bill’s “big gain”. It was another week and I am sure another call from the league office for our hero “Silverback” James Harrison. He registered a sack and put a few licks on the Bills. 

The Jekyll and Hyde season for the secondary continues. William Gay needs to stop talking (insert your expletive here) on every freaking play. He however, had a great game filling in for Bryan McFadden and the secondary stepped up. The Bills tried to employ the “Patriot Method” to beating the Steelers. As I pointed out no one else has Tom Brady so it is hard to do.  The secondary held strong for the most part. Ike Taylor played well although you will be seeing him get burned for the next years on the OT drop by Johnston. I recognized the ghost of Keenan Lewis and Anthony Madison out there. Ryan “Crash” Clark played well and didn’t give himself or anyone else a concussion as I mentioned Troy Polamalu just makes a difference. 

Before everyone panics as we like to do in Steelers nation, keep in mind the Bills scored 16 Points the whole game and the TD was on a busted play that Woodley got yanked down on. The Refs absolutely hosed us every chance they could which included another nonsense roughing the passer, phantom pass interference and several holding calls. To be fair the holding calls were legit but were only called one way. The only reason this game was close was because the Steelers had a huge turnover and the refs jerked us up. When the Bills played the “Vaunted” Ravens defense, old Ivy Leaguer Fitzpatrick put up 382 Yards against them and the Bills grinded out 132 yards on the ground! They weren’t even close to making that happen yesterday.  This leads us to next week!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO STEELERS. 

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Dan Sepulveda! Why the punter you might ask, because his OT Punt saved the gamed. He banged out a net 65 yard punt that the Bills fumbled. Honorable mention is for Troy Polamalu and Rashard Mendenhall. Not to start a rumor but Mrs. Captain Tailgate has a wicked crush on Dan! 

Where I watched the game: Quietly, depending on your perspective at KGBs, while pacing the living room and screaming at the TV. The Captain and I texted the whole time discussing’ the bad feelings this game was giving us. Didn’t eat anything or drink anything during the game except a 2 liter Diet Root Beer and went to Applebee’s to celebrate afterward!   

My thoughts on Next Week: Of course this is all hinges on Ben playing; The Steelers should have beaten the Ravens once already this year. With Ben they would have, as the offense completely died in the second half. My feeling is the Steelers are going to beat them pretty handily this time. I know this is like playing with fire but just have a feeling!

Despite being left for dead by the national media and being completely and utterly cheated by the refs the Steelers dominated the Raiders! After an opening drive that saw them go seven plays for 45 yards, the Raiders managed little the rest of the game netting only 182 total yards. It was a thoroughly dominant performance all around for the Steelers.

The Steelers defense again completely just annihilated the Raiders. Darren McFadden who was averaging over 100 yards a game had a whopping 14 yards on 10 carries. The front seven played there most complete game since the Titans this week. Running all kinds of Blitzes and Stunts they just closed down every running lane! 

James Harrison is probably one of the m exciting players to watch. Despite being held on nearly every play and absolutely getting jobbed by the refs he played an amazing game chiming in with two very big sacks and two forced fumbles. James Farrior has turned back the clock and played his best game of the season as well. He is clearly the team leader and he plays like it every week. His sack of Jason Campbell set the tone and basically swung the momentum back to the Steelers. 

The secondary had a very good game. The only lowlight was Ryan “Crash” Clark who actually knocked himself out on one play. It was impressive that he received a helmet to helmet hit penalty as he never hit the receiver’s helmet or was close to it. THIS WAS COMPLETE NONSENSE and summed up the refs entire rotten, embarrassing performance. Troy had a big interception.  

Jason Campbell was confused and battered to the point that local Pittsburgh hero Bruce Gradkowski had to come in for relief. He faired almost as poorly as his first possession wound up in a turnover.  

What made this game special though was how the offense played a complete game. Ben finally had a breakout game despite being punched in the mouth by Richard Seymour. Not going to lie I actually got a kick out of that and liked how Kemo smacked Seymour.  The Offensive line continues to get hurt every week but after an abysmal performance last week, Jonathon Scott played a tough game including erasing the defensive lineman on Ben’s 16 yard scramble.  

Rashard Mendenhall played struggled but banged out yards as they were needed. The rest of the team ran pretty much at will with Ben having a big day scrambling and Isaac Redman doing a solid job on pushing the pile. 

The receivers are again the differential this week on offense. I simply don’t buy that this team misses Santonio. While I love the guy and he is lighting it up in NY. These guys are getting better and better every week. With eight guys chiming in for a catch and Mike Wallace again just putting on a superman like performance I think next to the linebackers this is the team’s greatest strength. It is great to see Antonio Brown and Manny Sanders becoming part of the passing game as both are burners! 

It is hard to say that this game was a must win but after the thrashing the week before, it was a great bounce back game! Not to mention that the Raiders ruined one of my trips to Heinz field last year!  

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO! 

My “GAME BEER” goes to: I actually got permission from Captain Tailgate and I am providing two game beers. One to James Harrison, SILVERBACK!!!! The guy is simply devastating and embodies the thunder of the Steelers defense. My second game beer goes to James Farrior. He is a true leader and just gets it done. LOVE “THE JAMES GANG”! 

Where I watched the game: This is actually going to be a spinoff story. I watched it at Nathaniel’s in Rochester with some of my closest friends in business and the local guys who were BWG all the way! They made me feel welcome and really we had an awesome time! We had an entire section dedicated to the Steelers and the bar was raucous. 

My thoughts on Next Week: Next week is Buffalo which should be a beat down. I have to give the Bills credit after being banished from the big screen at Nathaniel, they made a nice comeback at the hands of the talk big, play small Bengals. 

I expect the Steelers to give Harvard QB Ryan Fitzpatrick a true education!

Skippy in Happier Days

So it is official; Skippy is out! I think this is the best thing for both sides as he clearly is in a funk and not likely to get out of it here. When he wasn’t showing off his “little kicker” in bars and busting up bathrooms at gas stations he did a fine job kicking for the Steelers. Don’t forget they basically signed this guy off the street and he delivered in two Super Bowls and countless regular season games!

Beer We Go Steelers salutes you Jeff Reed! Thanks for the memories!

 Tom Brady simply owned the Steelers on Sunday night. The opening drive set the tone and the Patriots never looked back as they soundly beat the Steelers. The Black and Gold simply had no answers for the Patriots on any level. Bill Belichick’s record is 22-2 when following a loss and you can see they had the perfect game plan. The Steelers strength is stopping the run so they simply just passed and passed and passed and then passed some more. 

It was an all around beat down that the Steelers really had no answers for. The Patriots O-line stoned the Steelers pass rush as they barely got one lick on Brady throughout the game. No pass rush and a confused secondary equals the worst beat down at Heinz field that I can remember. I spoke with Captain Tailgate all game and he stayed until the bitter end. It was just an AWFUL night for the Steelers. 

The Steelers were actually able to move the ball pretty well when the left side of the line wasn’t being caved in by the Patriots pass rush. Jonathon Scott had a very rough night and didn’t hold his own replacing Max Starks. He wasn’t even close as he made Tully Banta-Cain looked like the second coming of Greg Lloyd. 

The Steelers simply didn’t make any plays. Losing Hines Ward was huge and that snapped his catch streak adding insult to injury. There were two huge drops in the End Zone that kept the Steelers from being competitive. Every time the Steelers managed to get close the Patriots would just score and pull away again. Jeff Reed is officially a question mark now as he missed yet another Field Goal! 

You have to give credit where it is due and Tom Brady was a surgeon cutting the Steelers secondary to ribbons. Rob Gronkowski (Pitt Native) who has been a disappointment all year absolutely killed the Steelers. Bill Belichick proved why he is considered the best coach of this era.  

So while I agree that right now the Steelers are falling back to the pack, the Captain and I are not ready to pack in our Terrible Towels. First off it is hard to say that this is a “formula” on how to beat the Steelers. No other team has Tom Brady, so it is hard to see Jason Campbell or Ryan Fitzpatrick doing this. I also would like to think that the Steelers will make adjustments too.  I am not counting out Coach LeBeau or our Super Bowl winning Head Coach Mike Tomlin!

There is some reason for optimism and I did take a glimmer of hope out of the game. Ben who played the first half in cement shoes looks a hundred times better in the second half. Believe me, I realize the numbers are garbage in garbage time but, he actually made adjustments from the blitz as opposed to doing something dumb or just getting clobbered. Emmanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace played well and if they both continue to develop they will be a force to be reckoned with. I though Mendenhall played well and I wish he had an opportunity to actually run. The Steelers were behind by so much so early we didn’t get to see what he can do.

In my other life I am a die hard Yankees Fan so my disaste for New England is double fold. This just really, really ruined my weekend! 

It was a terrible week and now we welcome the rejuvenated Oakland Raiders! I was at the game last year and that truly marked the end of the season for the Steelers. By far this was the worse game I had ever been to at Heinz field as the Steelers blew three fourth quarter leads! I had awesome seats and sat in the end zone in the front row and nearly tackled the Louis Murphy the game winning receiver. The Raiders Center wanted to punch me out because I called him a dirty hippie, apparently that is frowned upon in The Black Hole. I was supposed to go this game but I am traveling this week, so it will be Nathaniel’s in Rochester for me! If you come in an mention the site I will buy you a beer! 

All kidding aside the next two weeks are MUST WINS! BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO! 

My “GAME BEER” goes to: I seriously contemplated not giving a game beer out this week! At the end of the day though I am giving it to Mike Wallace! Wallace had a monster game despite a very costly drop. Again, everyone makes mistakes the great ones learn from them and move on!  

Where I watched the game: At my house while texting frantically with Captain Tailgate! I just got a projector and 82 inch movie screen which was great until I through my drink at it! Thanks allot Tom Brady!  

My thoughts on Next Week: This is a must win to exercise the demons of last year. I wrote last week that it isn’t last year anymore. It isn’t and I expect the Steelers to beat the Raiders pretty handily. I wouldn’t want to be Oakland this week after what Coach Tomlin is going to do to these boys this week.

What has gone right?

Quite a bit actually! The Steelers survived a tough stint without their starting QB and finished 3 and 1 in that Span. Trust me if the Colts lost Peyton Manning for four games they wouldn’t be 3 and 1.

Despite a rash of injuries the team was played exceptionally well and tough. The Defense can also be coined as going right! The Linebackers are the best in football and I will have that argument with anyone who cares to take me on.

Some players have just absolutely developed, the best being Mike Wallace who is a “Home Run” threat playmaker and of course Lawrence Timmons. It is funny how I don’t hear we should have drafted “Poz” anymore. He is just a force of nature in the middle. Antonio Brown has slowed down but again showed flashes and Emmanuel Sanders has been an excellent big play special teams addition.

Some of the veterans have been nice additions. First and foremost Charlie Batch!!! He is not really an addition to this team but lets face it he was close to getting cut. A classy guy who never complained when he was getting shafted and he kept the season on track! Randle El has had less than stellar results in punt returns, but has played solid as a receiver and I hope Monday Night was a preview of what else he can do! Larry Foote brings a complete air of confidence as he plays well and again does what is asked.   

Lastly, coaching has been great. Mike Tomlin is a consummate coach who is exactly what you are looking for in a head coach. He is cool, calm, collected and pushes the right buttons. Dick LeBeau has of course been just outstanding! The addition of Sean Kugler has answered some very difficult challenges as his whole line has been injured. Losing Max Starks will put him to the test! Al Everest has my vote for mayor of Pittsburgh! It is amazing to watch a Steelers game without closing my eyes during special teams!  

What has gone wrong?

A RASH of injuries is troubling as the Steelers lost at one point or another, EVERY offensive linemen and two of their three defensive linemen. Aaron Smith’s injury was a double whammy because he is out and could be for the season and it cost the Steelers Thaddeus Gibson who looked like a solid prospect to find out. Don’t get me wrong I liked keeping the spot open for Aaron! The Steelers also lost Dennis Dixon who unfortunately never became the Willie Beymon we were hoping for. I was seriously hoping for a QB controversy. It was not to be, as Leftwitch was a DUD and Charlie did a fine job but just isn’t a starter in the NFL.

Reasons for Concern: Jeff Reed when he isn’t getting drunk and having his picture taken without clothes on or busting up paper towel racks and hassling shop keeps is one of the best clutch kickers in football. That has not happened this season. He simply has had a very mediocre first half. His misses have cost the Steelers dearly and some games were closer than they should have been. We are not going to win without Reed so keep your fingers crossed!

Losing Max Starks is a terrible blow to an already questionable line. For those keeping score at home every O-Line has been hurt at one point or another and both our Starting Tackles are now on IR. Nothing concerns me more than this unit!

The secondary is “leaky” but I have faith in Dick LeBeau and his cast of characters so I am not overly concerned. The stat that they are in the bottom of the league on Pass Defense is deceiving.

Offensive Game Beer: I am going with Rashard Mendenhall. He has had a very strong first half and he has carried an inordinate amount of weight for the first eight games!

Defensive Game Beer: I am going with Silverback; James Harrison! He is an unstoppable force albeit probably a broke one because of the ridiculous fines he has received. Without question my second choice is Lawrence Timmons. Has played an outstanding brand of BWG football and has made everyone around him better!

Disappointment of the first half: Is going to Aaron Smith! Not because of how he played, because how badly we are missing him. You can’t replace an Aaron Smith! I am pulling for the Zig but Aaron is one in a million. Dennis Dixon is easily the biggest disappointment from a pure letdown standpoint.

Most Improved: William Gay; has been a terrific nickelback after being a disappointment last year. 

GRADES:

QB: B, not great but never terrible despite playing four games without Ben

RB: A- when they have had room to run all the Backs have been great

WR: A+ Not sure how you can do better than this group. They have everything you could want and we are all thinking Santonio who?

TE: B would have been a B+ but that Miller fumble killed us! 

OL: C+ at times they look dominant at other times not so much!

DL: B+ Have played mostly a solid season and have been missing their two anchors

LB: A+ they are 6 deep with talent and savvy. I love this group!

DBs: B- The numbers are deceiving but they clamp down when they need to.

What does part two look like: Without any more serious injuries, this team should finish no worse than 11-5 and I am predicting 12-4. I would really like to whup the Ravens and the Jets as both teams really look to be contenders.

BEER WE GO STEELERS! BEER WE GO!