Beer We Go Steelers

In a game that was marred by controversy and crushing heat, a familiar Tomlin era theme occurred, the Steelers dropped another road game to an inferior team. Dropping a tough game to the Chicago Bears, who were 0-2, getting gashed on the ground.

The Steelers made the ridiculous choice of not going out for the National Anthem, as a protest to the ill advised rant of President Trump. This wrecked the afternoon for the fans and absolutely put undo scrutiny on the team.

The Steelers offense continues to struggle, Ben Roethlisberger has been unable to get started this season. He continues to misfire and has been unable to get anything going. He was completely inconsistent Sunday and the offense never recovered. The Steelers found very little running room as Le’Veon Bell grinded out 61 yards. Antonio Brown is the lone bright spot so far this season racking up 10 catches for 110 yards. Martavis Bryant has been inconsistent all season.

The defense was also horrible Sunday. The front seven was consistently out of their zones and were absolutely routed on misdirection plays. Jordan Howard ripped up the Steelers for 138 yards and won the game in OT on a 19 yard carry. The Secondary was never tested as Mike Glennon was shackled all day, however picked off three times. The question of course…where was Deebo???

After two weeks of Special Teams play being a highlight, reality once again set in. After naming Tyler “Tackle Machine” Matakevich as a special teams captain the Steelers fumbled a punt and had a had a field goal blocked. Eli Rogers fumbled a punt return which led to the Bears first touchdown. Chris Boswell had a 36 yard field goal blocked, with one of the strangest plays ensuing afterward. The Steelers gift wrapped a TD that Marcus Cooper promptly returned on a great play by Vance McDonald. The refs botched the called and once again the Steelers looked lost.

The coaching has to own this loss. Like so many road games of the same ilk, the Steelers lost to a terrible team and were unprepared for the heat as well as the Bears run first offense. The decision to not come out for the national anthem was a huge mistake, it was an unneeded distraction for a struggling team.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Without question, Alejandro Villanueva, because he showed class, courage and made a very brave choice. It goes beyond his performance on the field, it speaks to his sense of duty. Also Considered: Antonio Brown, who remains the lone bright spot on the offense.

 Where I watched the game: At Soldier Field. KGB and I met up with our friends the Colluras, Joe and Joe and my buddy Bill and Mike. Bill and Mike are both West Point Graduates and were disturbed about the National Anthem. The Beer of choice was Miller Lite. The National Anthem stunt was a complete and utter disappointment.

My Stat of the week: 220 Yards on 38 carries by the Bears running backs who absolutely killed the Steelers front seven. It was one of the worst performances by a Steelers defense. Another Stat consider 1-4 my record watching games with Bill!

My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers need a bounce back week and need to put the Chicago debacle in the rearview mirror.

This week’s Jersey: My gamer is always Joe Greene and most of the Bears fans were complimentary.

On a day that the fans and organization honored the late Dan Rooney, the Steelers made it two in a row as they beat the Vikings. The Defense put together a vintage performance as they pushed the Vikings all over the field and hammered late replacement Case Keenum.

The defensive line had a dominant performance anchored by Steelhead Heyward. Like Stephon Tuitt last year, he made up for the absence of his teammate and put together a dominant performance. Heyward had six tackles, including four that netted a total of minus-6 yards, and he was all over Keenum. Tyson Alualu and Javon Hargrave closed the running lanes.

Despite an injury to T.J Watt, the linebackers put together an outstanding day. Ryan Shazier continues to fly all over the field with eight tackles and Vince Williams had a huge game, laying waste to the Vikings running game. The pass rush was excellent despite only netting two sacks. Bud Dupree made a brilliant return and chimed in with one sack and broke up a pass. Anthony Chickillo came in for Watt and was disruptive. Keenum never had time to pass, so the Secondary was never really tested.

The offense still looks like a work in progress, but it is obvious how many weapons the Steelers have. Ben Roethlisberger struggled in the first half and was all over the place, despite throwing two great touchdowns. He settled in and stayed within the offense and moved the ball well in the second half. After a slow start last week, Martavis Bryant showed why he is a game breaker. Bryant had only three catches, but his touchdown was all his playmaking abilities and he hauled in a 50+ yard catch. Ju-Ju Smith had his first career touchdown on a well executed shovel pass. Mike Zimmer’s plan was to shut down Antonio Brown and he did it, which opened up spots for Eli Rogers, who had four catches for 43 yards.

Le’Veon Bell had a nice bounce back week grinding out 87 very tough yards. He still looks rusty but by the end of the game he was starting to get his feel back.

Two weeks in a row the Special Teams had solid contributions and two weeks in a row, Tyler Matakevich made a big play, stopping a ridiculous fake punt on the Vikings side of the field that led to a field goal. Little Bos hit all his field goals after getting a Mulligan on a 51 yarder.

The Steelers handled a tough Vikings team and are now on to Chicago!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: We have to go with Cam Heyward, who set the tone on a defense that held the Vikings to single digit in scoring. Also, considered: Tyler Matakevich for two weeks of Special Teams success

 Where I watched the game: At the house with KGB and the “Tailgate Kids” also our neighbors came for the second half. KGB made awesome flatbreads, spicy Meatball and Hot Sausage. Mike and Christine brought homemade Sausage bread. We had baked Penne for dinner! As for Beer, we went with Leinekugel Harvest Patch Shandy and KGB did Bud Light Lime.

My Stat of the week: 30.3 average yards per catch for Martavis Bryant. He is an absolute force to deal with when he plays. If he could stay out of trouble this could be a HUGE year for him.

My Thoughts on next week: This game SCARES me to death. With  the Ravens looming, it is the classic trap game, that has plagued the Steelers in the Tomlin era. The Steelers should absolutely demolish the Bears, but they need to show up and play.

This week’s Jersey: With all the flag protests still being talked about, I moved up my Franco Harris, Salute to the Military jersey up this week!

The Steelers overcame several mistakes and were able to hold off the upstart Cleveland Browns. Despite racking up a whopping 13 penalties for 144 yards and gaining less than 300 yards of total offense, the Steelers still prevailed.

The Steelers offense never clicked all day. Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant both looked extremely rusty as neither really factored into the win. Bell was tentative and looked like someone who didn’t practice. He finished with just 32 yards on 10 carries. His last run of the day was his biggest for 15 yards and it sealed the win for the Steelers. Bryant, had only two catches for 14 yards and struggled most of the day.

Ben Roethlisberger had a workman like game putting up 263 yards and throwing two TD’s. However, he also looked rusty and threw a crucial interception that breathed life into the Browns chances. The Browns played their Safeties deep, so the Steelers dinked and dunked them to death.

Antonio Brown, saved the day for the Steelers offense, catching the game clincher on a “chuck and hope” throw from Roethlisberger. If there was any question of his value, he answered it yesterday. He took control of the game putting up more than half the Steeler offense with 182 yards and making several great catches. Jesse James reiterated his pitch to be the starting Tight End, he had six catches and both Touchdowns!

The defense, did a terrific job against a game but overmatched Browns offense. It always starts up front and even without Bud Dupree and losing Stephon Tuitt on the first series, the Steelers dominated. The Browns could only muster 57 yards rushing on 25 carries. Many of those yards came on 3rd and long situations. The pass rush was impressive, registering seven big sacks.

T.J. Watt in his debut battled grizzled veteran Joe Thomas and came away with two sacks and a big interception after he had a costly penalty. It was a terrific debut and he continues to impress. Javon Hargrave and Steelhead Heyward, in his return, put up 2.5 sacks between them and pushed the Browns line around.  Ryan Shazier was all over the field tying Watt for the team lead in tackles with seven. Anthony Chickillo, filling in for the injured Dupree, was in DeShone Kizer’s face all day , dumping him for two sacks as well as contributing on special teams with a Touchdown.

It is always great to see special teams contribute and Tyler “Tackle Machine” Matakevich blocked the first Browns punt which lead to Chickillo’s Touchdown, the Steelers’ first blocked punt for a touchdown in 19 years. “Little Bos” was on the money as usual. Jordan Berry struggled and needs to pick it up.

The Steelers looked lethargic at best and not ready for the game and that is on the coaches. That being written, style points don’t matter and a win is a win. The Steelers start out 1-0

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: We have to go with Antonio Brown, who almost singlehandedly won the game. He is this week’s Game Beer player for the clinching catch.  Also, considered: T.J Watt for an outstanding rookie debut. Jesse James for two TDS and Anthony Chickillo for coming off the bench and putting on a show.

 Where I watched the game: At the house with KGB and the “Tailgate Kids”. We did pictures for opening day outside. We had cheese, crackers and meats for snacks. As for Beer, we had to send IC Light to the bench after the lethargic start and went with Leinekugel Harvest Patch Shandy. Spaghetti and Meatballs was the celebratory dinner.

My Stat of the week: ELEVEN…wins by Ben Roethlisberger in Cleveland “Whatever it’s called now” Stadium. Roethlisberger passes Derek Anderson as the winningest QB in Cleveland since they rejoined the league. Since we added this section to the blog, this is now my favorite stat! DeShone Kizer is well on his way to breaking this, but as of now it belongs to Big Ben! If 11 sounds familiar to any Browns fans who read this…11 is where the Steelers drafted Ben after the Browns drafted Kellen Winslow at SIX!

My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers are going to be crucified this week about how poorly they played. The Vikings are a tough team and Mike Zimmerman knows the Steelers well. Look for another tough fight with the Steelers pulling out.

This week’s Jersey: I started the season with Mike Webster 52 Home. Had several ideas and made some changes but in the end my heart is with the O-Line and with one of the greatest players to ever grace the Steelers!

So we are REALLY back now! This year’s team has all the tools. The Steelers are clearly going for it as the Joe Haden acquisition and the J.J. Wilcox trade demonstrates. The team will be formidable and is an absolute Super Bowl contender.

Here are your 2017 Pittsburgh Steelers:

The Steelers uncharacteristically stepped out of their comfort zone and signed Joe Haden. Looking to improve the secondary, the Steelers grabbed Haden after he was cut by Cleveland.

The Steelers finished the pre-season with a 3-1 record with a comeback win against the Panthers.