Beer We Go Steelers

The Steelers quest for the a seventh Super Bowl was held in check Sunday as the Green Bay Packers held the Steelers off for a 31-25 win! This marks the return of the Vince Lombardi trophy to Green Bay and the end of a dream in Pittsburgh!

The Steelers buried themselves early with a 21-3 deficit giving up 14 points on two turnovers! As I have reported almost every week, the only way the Steelers could lose is to turn the ball over. It is the simplest formula in sports, the team with the plus side of the turnover ratio wins. The Steelers turned the ball over THREE times for 21 points. That is a ridiculous figure and the fact that they still were in a position to win is amazing to me. It is a good testament to the coaching staff that had a pretty dismal day.

Statistics can never accurately explain a story. The Steelers had great stats and for the most part had a productive day. The issue was they never made the plays when they needed it most and again, the biggest stats, turnovers, were the killer! 

At no point was there panic, even down 21-3, as I knew the team could come back. The offense made several great plays and rallied to get right back in the game. The defense made some key stops to keep the game close and the Steelers somehow managed to be in position to take the lead back.

But in the end, they just couldn’t do it.

So as the national media prepares to jump off the Big Ben Bandwagon, I can tell you I, for one, was proud of his efforts. Yes, two turnovers that led to 14 points is simply atrocious. What I liked though, is that he never gave up and made a good accounting of himself and finished strong. It is easy to scoff now, but I can tell you I thought; give us the ball with two minutes, one timeout and Ben will make it happen. He didn’t do it this time but he will be back. I am certainly not going to put the goat horns on Ben, not for one second!  

The Steelers ran pretty much at will, and that I felt that would be why they would win. But again it was a turnover that would derail them.  Rashard Mendenhall’s fumble was the back breaker. I would point out ALL the turnovers were the backbreaker, but that was the final nail in the coffin as the Steelers couldn’t recover.

Focusing on the positives, Hines Ward is a warrior. I can’t say enough nice things about him as a player and as competitor. I laughed when I read he would be a non-factor. He racked up 78 extremely tough yards and a touchdown. I have harped on it all season and I will say it again, I love this receiving core and seeing the ghost of Randle El was nice as well! This is a major strength for the Steelers moving forward.  

Sean Kugler should be the mayor of Pittsburgh! If you have a crisis I am putting this guy on it. The offensive line played extremely well, Ben was sacked once but he had ample protection. The running game grinded the ball out to the tune of 126 yards on the ground. That is simply great. I wanted Anthony Munoz over Sean Kugler, because he was a big name and probably one of the greatest tackles of all times! I couldn’t have been more wrong. Well to be truthful, I wanted Mean Joe Greene over Bill Cowher and I wanted Russ Grimm over Mike Tomlin so maybe I have been “wronger”! But, he deserves enormous credit. The patchwork line ran all over the World Champs and basically shutout Clay Matthews Jr.! Can you imagine what this line will be like next year when we have both tackles back, a healthy Pouncey and Doug Legursky!  

Although, I have been killing the refs all year and they have been abysmal, I thought Sunday’s game was one of the best officiated games of the year. I thought they made excellent calls all day and I couldn’t argue with any calls or non calls the whole day. The last play was the right call. I wish it wasn’t but I have to be honest and that was the right call!

As for the Packers, the guy who deserves the credit was Aaron Rodgers. He played a great game and did an excellent job. He certainly was deserving of the MVP and my hat goes off to him. If I had to hear one more time about Brett Favre’s shadow I was going to puke. This guy is a winner and he proved it Sunday. Greg Jennings has the makings of a true superstar as well, very classy and a solid player! It was a great night for them and I would take nothing away from their performances!

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers!

The SUPER BOWL FACTS:

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Hines Ward! A true warrior and I hope he is back next year! Honorable Mentions: The Offensive Line, who played great and LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison who didn’t get the press this week that they deserved in light of Clay Matthews Jr. and totally outplayed him.

Where I watched the game: KGB’S and we hosted over 20 BEER WE GO FAITHFUL. Everyone brought something great with my favorite being Steeler Nachos! The pictures will be coming! I am actually eating leftovers as I type this. We had a tailgate out in the driveway which garnered a few honks. We pounded the Iron City and the Iron City light without mercy!

My thoughts on Next Week: This is going to be a long offseason, especially with labor issues looming. We are going to publish EVERY week here and sometimes twice a week. I also will allow guest writers of BWG and I invite feedback. Next week I am going to recap the season and post a ton of pictures! Stay with us!