Beer We Go Steelers

The Steelers overcame a travel nightmare, a hostile vitriolic crowd, three very bad calls, and a ten point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Super Bowl Champions! It was a tremendous victory for the Black and Gold over the best opponent they have played this year.

The Defense played its most complete game of the season, shutting down the Giants running game and keeping Eli Manning off pace all day long. Dick LeBeau, who three weeks ago was considered washed up, dialed up another virtuoso game plan. After surrendering 4th quarter leads in every game they have lost this year, the Steelers held arguably the best fourth quarter QB in check to seal the victory. The front seven closed every gap and the secondary was air tight. They held the vaunted Giants offense to 13 offensive points and 182 yards. Keenan Lewis and Ryan Clark both were called for nonsense penalties that resulted in the Giants only offensive touchdown. Ike Taylor picked off his first pass of the year.  

 It was another great game for “Big” Ben Roethlisberger who clearly outplayed Eli Manning. Ben had two costly turnovers, one of which was completely incorrect. But despite that, he did a great job overall and when the game was on the line made every play that he needed to, including a huge end of the game 3rd down completion. The star of the offense was Ike Redman, backed up by the o-line, which pulverized the Giants Pro-Bowl front four for 158 yards on the ground. They pushed the Giants all over the field.

The receivers also played well, with excellent performances by Manny Sanders, who caught the first TD: a great back of the end zone snatch, Mike Wallace who took a hot route read and turned it into a 51 yards TD, and Jericho Cotchery who did a great job filling in for the injured Antonio Brown.

The lowlight of the day was watching Shaun Suisham’s failed run on a fake field-goal attempt. It was a gutsy call by Mike Tomlin and he deserves credit, but it also proved near disastrous and I don’t think there could have been anyone slower on the team to run it. The Steelers were down by three and he went for the TD.

Another Week another set of injuries were losing Antonio Brown and Chris Rainey who looks like he might be done for the Year.

With all the adversity it was a great win for the Steelers! It was a heavyweight showdown and the Steelers delivered the knockout blow! 

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Ike Redman, who gashed the Giants offense after a two-game absence and set career highs with 147 yards rushing on 26 carries. He also scored the winning TD on a 1-yard run. Also considered: the offensive line, who paved the way for the 147, Big Ben, who is a perennial star, and Keenan Lewis, who played a great game.

Where I watched the game: At the house with KGB, the NY BWG Crew and my buddy Mike and his lovely family. The beer of choice was IC Light and Sam’s Winter. We had Pizza and a Calzone the size of a toilet seat, which Mike was kind enough to treat to. It was bittersweet because we live in NY and with all the craziness this week, a gas shortage, and no electric, we had to skip the game in person. We also had to skip our home and home with the BWG Pittsburgh crew. We ran the TV on generator power and had a great time!  

My Stat of the week: The stat of the week is 147 Yards on 26 Carries. While that is Ike Redman’s line, the stat represents three weeks in a row that a Steelers running back rushed for over 100 yards. Todd Haley’s offense is really shaping up!

My thoughts on Next Week: This is the classic trap game against the Chiefs, after beating the Champs, as the Rat birds are on the Horizon! But an important story line is that Todd Haley is going to want to run it up on his former employers so watch for a Steeler blowout.  That’s right… I am calling for a blowout!