Beer We Go Steelers

It was the kind of day that you know this offense can have and when they don’t, you’re frustrated. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns, hitting eight different receivers.  The passing game was clicking on all cylinders as the Steelers bombed the Cardinals in the desert. The Steelers, after a dreadful start, are now 5-2 and headed into a treacherous two week period in their schedule.

This game belonged to the receivers, with Mike Wallace stealing the show. He hooked up with Ben Roethlisberger for 95 yards on the longest play in Steeler history. The previous longest pass play was 90 yards, first set by Terry Bradshaw to Mark Malone (That isn’t a typo) against Seattle in 1981, and then matched by both Bubby Brister to Dwight Stone against Denver in 1990 and Kordell Stewart to Bobby Shaw against Baltimore in 2001. The good news for the Cardinals, they did a pretty good job covering Wallace as he only caught three passes all day…the bad news the three passes covered 118 Yards.

Wallace wasn’t even the best performer of the day, Antonio Brown was, and he pulled in seven passes for over 100 yards and made several key catches. Rounding out the performance was Heath Miller, Hines Ward and Manny Sanders catching 12 balls for well over 100 yards and two touchdowns! The aerial attack is just so well crafted and balanced; it looks to be the best strength of the team.

The running game had a disappointing, albeit, competent performance. Although Rashard Mendenhall struggled, but pounded the ball, he never really got on track. Mewelde Moore and Ike Redman put up good numbers in the times they spelled Mendenhall. In total they grinded, and I mean grinded, out 91 yards against a very game Cardinal defense. Also adding to the malaise… it is week seven and that was the seventh combination of offensive line the Steelers have put out there. Chris Keomatu didn’t look ready and played poorly, including a moronic penalty.

The Steelers defense had a very good day. Ryan Clark’s interception started the day off right and setup the offense! Larry Fitzgerald’s new nickname is going to be “law school”. EVERY time he doesn’t catch a ball he lobbies for a flag and it actually worked on Sunday. (Captain Tailgate thinks he is related to Larry so I am going to catch flack on this.) Ike Taylor had an excellent performance against him after a sloppy first half. He played hard physical football and kept Fitzgerald in check all day.

Kevin Kolb is a mope, plain and simple, and he played liked it. The Steelers hammered him all day. Lamar Woodley had another breakout game and after his slow start, he was an absolute monster. The highlight was the safety he recorded on Kolb’s intentional grounding. Except for one busted play to Larod Stephens-Howling the defense played a very strong and disciplined game. Steve McClendon had the task of filling the HUGE shoes, both literally and figuratively, of Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke but he was up to the challenge and the defensive line had its best day of the year. McClendon was second in tackles on the team and the Arizona running game was bottled up for under 80 yards.

The only downside of the day was that the referees were WAY too involved. For the record, it easily broke the Steelers way but they were so flag happy that the last 8 minutes of the first half took almost 45 minutes of actual time. It is frustrating to watch.  The Fitzgerald lobbying was so obnoxious I almost fired my beer bottle through the TV.

That being said, it was a very good game for the Steelers!

Beer We Go Steelers, Beer We Go!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: I am giving it to, Steve McClendon, who exemplified what “Next Man Up” means. He was athletic and did a great job. To be fair, I feel the WR vote was split between Wallace and Brown so I went McClendon. Both deserved consideration as did Ben with a huge game!  

Where I watched the game: With my GF KGB and my amazing kids! It was a great spread, which included Rice Balls, Kielbasa, Meat Balls, Sausage and Peppers, Fresh Mozzarella and pumpkin pie. The Beer was Miller Lite (Old Reliable) in extreme moderation with the kids, which my one son actually grabbed for me! It brought a tear to my eye. I traded Texts with the Captain and we both got a kick out of the Steelers playing a “home game” in Arizona! My daughter, for good luck, also carved a Steelers pumpkin! (PICTURE TO FOLLOW)

My thoughts on Next Week: The very definition of a shootout! I hate all things New England, so this is a grudge match for me. The Patriots always seem to have the Steelers number. Let’s hope this week is the difference. Look for an aerial fireworks display!