Beer We Go Steelers

The last ride of the “Bumble Bees” was a success as the Steelers beat the NY Jets 31-13! Behind a stellar performance by Ben Roethlisberger and a stingy second half defense the Steelers now lead the AFC North! Yesterday also marks the last day of the 1934 Steelers throwback.

The Jets strength is their front four and the Steelers had the perfect game plan to nullify it. They had quick sharp passes and Ben Roethlisberger jumped them early with a 72-yard TD to Sammie Coates. It was another outstanding day by Big Ben, he threw four more TDs, giving him 15 for the season and 9 for the last two weeks. When the Steelers fell behind 13-7 Big Ben turned the game with 2:00 minutes left in the half, completing 7 of 10 passes for 67 yards with a 1-yard Jesse James touchdown to finish the drive. The Steelers never trailed again.

The offensive line, playing without Marcus Gilbert and Ryan Harris, absolutely neutralized the Jets front four, they struggled to run the ball, but the pass protection was excellent and the Jets could never solve it. Chris Hubbard did a terrific job filling in.

Sammie Coates and Ross Cockrell were the symbols of the day, both had up and down performances, with some key mistakes but when the game was on the line, both came through. Coates made the big plays and in the end his numbers were spectacular. He finished with six catches for 139 yards, he also had his sixth catch of 40+ yards which is tops in the league. Cockrell limited Brandon Marshal to just two catches in the second half after struggling in the first.

Four players had six or more catches with Jesse James and Antonio Brown joining Coates with touchdowns. AB was AB with nine catches and 78 yards. Le’Veon Bell made a huge impact catching the ball, he had nine catches for 88 yards and was open on nearly every third down.

After a shaky start the defense pitched a second half shutout. The linebackers provided the pressure and Jarvis Jones emergence continued, as he made two big back breaking plays in the third quarter, batting down a Ryan Fitzpatrick pass and then blowing up a third down conversion on a shovel pass. Anthony Chickillo had his first career sack and continues to develop. It was great work by the front seven and they set the tone.

Coaching will be the discussion in the national media this week, as Todd Bowles was clearly outcoached by Mike Tomlin. Every adjustment that the Steelers needed, they made and it worked out perfectly. Every decision Bowles made, flopped, including hoping for the stop after punting on 4th and 2 and watching the Steelers march down the field and close out the game. It was a great job by the Steelers coaching staff…going to give a mulligan on that disastrous fake punt.

The Steelers started sloppy but then made the adjustments and now are atop the division!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Ben Roethlisberger, he played another amazing game and absolutely torched the Jets all day. When he needed to make a play, he made it! Also considered; Ross Cockrell and Sammie Coates for their turnaround. Chris Hubbard who did a great job filling in and of course Matt Feiler, who didn’t play but went to  Bloomsburg and I am the chief writer of this blog, so I can pick who I want 😉 !!!

Where I watched the game: Back at the house, with KGB and the family. We had wings brought in from Buckley’s, KGB made a plate of cheeses and meats with fresh baked bread. Iron City was the beer of choice.

My Stat of the week: 4- 2: The Steelers Record with the “Bumble Bee” jersey all -time! The two losses were both divisional games! I also attended the first wearing of the jersey so I am nostalgic. I hope they pick the 66-67 uniform next season.

My thoughts on Next Week: The Steelers head down to Miami and we will be there too! Looking forward to seeing the Steelers again live! Look for a solid Steelers win.

This weeks Jersey: James Harrison, Throwback 1960.

The Steelers scored 22 first quarter points and never looked back, as they crushed the Kansas City Chiefs 43-14 on Sunday Night football. It puts the Steelers record at 3-1.

Le’Veon Bell returned from his three-game suspension and was in vintage form, racking up 174 yards from scrimmage, including 144 yards rushing, which he achieved with near ease and five catches for 34 yards, giving him 22 touches in his first game since his season-ending knee injury last November.

The Steelers offensive line dominated the Chiefs front seven. They created plenty of room to move and the protection was nearly perfect. The day belonged to Ben Roethlisberger.  Roethlisberger threw five touchdown passes to four receivers and did not throw an interception against a defense that was leading the league. Roethlisberger passed for 210 yards in the first half and put the Chiefs down by 22 points, 15 minutes into the game. He had a 152.5 passer rating and finished with 300 yards passing.

While the offense had a great bounce back the defense put together a vintage performance. It started up front and Stephon Tuitt and “Steelhead” Heyward really put together a very destructive performance. Heyward supplied the much needed pressure, registering three sacks and tipping a pass that resulted in an interception. Tuitt forced a fumble that led to the kill shot in the first quarter, as the Steelers converted it to a touchdown, he also had a tipped pass.

Jarvis Jones finally had a breakout game, causing pressure and picking off an Alex Smith pass. James Harrison came up short on the stat sheet but he absolutely wrecked Eric Fisher all game. Vince Williams and Lawrence Timmons were all over the field making plays. It was a terrific job by the linebackers over all.

Mike Tomlin deserves a lot of credit, because mistakes were corrected after last week’s debacle. Going for two on the first scoring play put the Chiefs on their heels and they never recovered.

It was a tremendous turnaround week.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Ben Roethlisberger, he played an amazing game and literally took the Chiefs out of the game in the first quarter. Also considered; Le’Veon Bell, who came roaring back, Antonio Brown for an extremely well played game and Cam Heyward for putting on a defensive clinic.

Where I watched the game: Buckley’s Irish Pub, My local establishment, with a raucous Steelers crowd. It was Me, KGB, our oldest guy Billy and then Courtney who is a crazy fan and Mike who is a tremendous Steelers fan. John the bartender took care of business. We had Boneless wings and Baked Clams and the beer of choice for me was Sam Adams. (Baseball Season officially over, I switch to Sam)

My Stat of the week: 152.5 – Ben Roethlisberger’s QB rating after coming off two tough weeks. He played outstanding.

My thoughts on Next Week: The Jets come into Pittsburgh for a tough matchup, the last time these teams met the Jets stole one. They are tough up front but the Steelers should squeak by.

This weeks Jersey: Le’Veon Bell Color Rush.

Steelers need a huge bounce back this week!

The Battle of  Pennsylvania wasn’t a battle at all as the Eagles routed the Steelers! Philadelphia handed Pittsburgh it’s worst loss in 27 years. The Steelers lost four starters on defense and two on offense and the signs for a major upset where in the air, from the beginning with a blocked field goal and a dropped touchdown.

It was one of those games where literally everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. The defense was plain awful, missing tackles and getting caught out of position on several plays. There was absolutely no pressure, unless James Harrison was on the field and that was sparingly, the only time Carson Wentz was hit was by Anthony Chickillo. The Eagles wore down the front and were able to find more running room late in the game. It was just a horrible performance.

The offense never clicked, every time they started moving, something would happen to stall the drive. Ben Roethlisberger had another off week. He consistently missed targets and the protection began to break down as the game went on. The offensive line had an off day and couldn’t protect. Eli Rogers left with and injury and no one had a worse day than Markus Wheaton, who dropped a touchdown and never looked like he was in the game.

Heck even Little Bos had a field goal blocked.

It is easy to point at the coaching, but if you watched the film you will see it was clearly the execution! Chock it up to a bad week and don’t read too much more into it than that.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: NO ONE, seriously this was the worst game I have seen in 20+ years!

Where I watched the game: Saratoga New York at the Saratoga Stadium Café, It had a great group of Steelers fans and a nice crowd, the beer of choice was Miller Lite and I snacked n Nachos which were great. I had a business commitment, so I was late getting there and was absolutely disgusted at how the Steelers played.

My Stat of the week: 27 years since the Steelers took a drubbing like that!

My thoughts on Next Week: The Chiefs are catching the Steelers at the worst time. Look for a monster comeback week and look for Le’Veon Bell to light it up on his return.

This weeks Jersey: Jack Hamm, Throwback (Bumble Bee)

In another tough matchup, the Steelers outlasted the Bengals 24-16! There was no body count, there were only a few questionable hits, no chaos on or off the field and in the end the Steelers produced a tough division win!

What makes the win very impressive is that the Steelers succeeded, despite an uneven performance by Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown. Neither were sharp, both made mistakes and at the end of the day, the Steelers still won the game fairly handily.

It was a vintage performance by the Steelers defense as they smothered the Bengals up front and kept their passing game in check. The stats don’t tell the story, as Andy Dalton threw for 300+ yards and was only sacked once. However, the pressure was solid all day as was the pass coverage.

A.J. Green was held to two catches for just 38 yards. The game plan was to not let Green beat them, and cornerback Ross Cockrell held him in check. He was given the task of following him on the field. He did a terrific job. Artie Burns made a great play saving a TD and Robert Golden made some solid plays.

The run defense has been very tough for two straight weeks. After allowing the Redskins just 55 rush yards, the Steelers held the Bengals to 46 yards on 18 attempts and allowed only one run longer than 5 yards. Ryan Shazier led the charge with 11 tackles and Jarvis Jones seemed to get stronger as the game moved on. The Steelers held the Bengals on first and goal to three points. James Harrison sealed the win with his forced fumble!

Ben Roethlisberger struggled in the elements but he also spread the ball around. Hitting NINE different receivers including touchdowns to Xavier Grimble, Jesse James and DeAngelo Williams. Williams was the star of the game, he carried the offense on his back, racking up 132 yards from scrimmage, including 94 extremely tough yards on 32 back breaking carries.

Special teams was a huge asset. Jordan Berry, pinned the Bengals down five times inside 11 yards. “Little Bos” hammered a 49 yard field goal to extend the Steelers lead and never allowed a run back.

Mike Tomlin once again completely out coached his rival Marvin Lewis. The game plan was rock solid and the Steelers controlled the Bengals for the majority of the game. They took away AJ Green, smothered their run and moved the ball despite some of Ben and AB’s struggles.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: DeAngelo Williams, who absolutely is defying Father Time. He put together a tough and gutsy performance and carried the Steelers to victory! Also Considered: Xavier Grimble, first TD, Dave Johnson who had two awesome blocks on one play and most of all Ross Cockrell, who stuff AJ Green in his pocket!

Where I watched the game: Home sweet home! It was great to be home with KGB cuddling with me on the couch when she wasn’t making awesome “snacks”! We had Keilbasa, prosciutto and soppressata in a puffed pastry. We also had an amazing time with the “The Tailgate Kids”. Dante clearly called the TD to DeAngelo! The beer of choice was Iron City, which I am almost out of and need a delivery soon. KGB made a Primanti’s sandwich for dinner afterwards!

My Stat of the week: Has to be 2 for 38! AJ Green’s stat line. He is a game changer and one of the best WR in the league. He absolutely torched future HOF Darrell Revis last week and this week Ross Cockrell nullified his impact. It was a great job by the Steelers defense!

My thoughts on Next Week: The Steelers have always struggled against the Eagles. However, I think a rookie QB will have trouble with the Steelers D. Also look for a monster bounce back game from AB.

This weeks Jersey: LC Greenwood, 1930’s Throwback

I hate to admit this but I love the new color rush jersey! But of course, unless they make them in a historic player, I can’t own one. The reason is I am cursed with football jerseys, pretty sure hockey too, but that I can’t confirm, because it only happened twice. I also am cursed with giving them as gifts.

Here is my story:

#12 Terry Bradshaw: This was technically my Dad’s jersey but he gave it to me. Brad not only left the Steelers after I received it, he went on to write a book bad mouthing Chuck Noll, didn’t go to Art Rooney’s funeral and so on and so forth…btw I purchased his away jersey a few years back…I met him in person and he was a complete jerk. But hey that probably has nothing to do with his jersey right?

I started buying my own jerseys:

#26 Rod Woodson, Home, he blew out his knee the first game of the season against the Lions, the jersey came the Tuesday after he was injured, Rod played only one more game for the Steelers. (Super Bowl), I still wear this for my Turkey Bowl every year.

#58 Jack Lambert, Home, one tough son of gun and the face of Steelers toughness. Jack is doing very well and has a great life. I think he was too tough for the curse.

#36 Jerome Bettis, Home, I figured I would go offense. I picked THE BUS!!! One of my favorite all time Steelers and one tremendous player, he was the cornerstone of the Steelers of the late 90’s. I bought this jersey and the Steelers turned their fortune around and began their slow climb back. The Bus had a great year… but by next year he was injured and never rushed for 1000 yards again.

#55 Joey Porter, Away, I picked Joey Porter over Jason Gildon because he was the future and not the past and he was on the brink of greatness…until he got shot in the ass, in some crazy story! He did have a nice career after that however.

#97 Kendrell Bell, Home, one of my favorite draft picks and an absolute force in the middle. This was the first jersey I ever wore to Heinz Field, he again represented the future…he again was injured and he never recovered. He stood on the sidelines in a track suit for two years.

#75 Joe Greene, Home, this is my gamer and my favorite jersey I own. I wear it to every game, unless it is a special occasion. Happy to say nothing happened to Joe, although pretty sure he was fired from the Cardinals after I bought it. Need to confirm.

#52 Mike Webster, Home, I figured maybe it was time to stick with historical, I needed one of the greatest players in Steelers history, it was between Mr. Mike and Rocky Bleier the American Hero. I chose Mike Webster who made the Hall Of Fame, it worked the curse was lifted…but then it happened, he freaking died after falling on some very sad and difficult times, that prompted the CTE debate. BTW Love that guy! Somewhere Rocky Bleier is smiling and breathing a sigh of relief.

#86 Hines Ward, Home, He played great and never had an issue! Steelers lost when I wore it, but that one I will chock up to bad luck. HOWEVER, pressed my luck…bought KGB a “designer” Hines Ward shirt, he was gone the next season!

#7 Ben Roethlisberger, Home, I was given this as a gift, Ben doesn’t often miss and his career has been stellar with the Steelers, of course a year after I was given the jersey, he got into trouble, (NOT going to rehash that) and was injured several times, but stills thrives with the Steelers.

#63 Dermonti Dawson, Home, not only one of the greatest players of all time, probably one of the best people, I have ever met! Love this guy, couldn’t miss with Dermonti, bought his jersey…he ran into some serious business issues! HOWEVER, he did make the Hall of Fame and is on the comeback trail, so maybe the curse can be temporary.

#43 Troy Polamalu, Home and Away, needed a new away jersey, who better than Troy, who was a superstar, long term contract and one of my favorite players to watch. Injured his MCL first game of the season (2009) and then was injured again late in the year. He only played five games all year. Of course, he still had a fairly productive career, so the curse wasn’t career ending. He seems to dislike the Steelers now.

#56, LaMarr Woodley, Away, this was a gift from KGB and to make it worse, I bought her the home one as well because he was her favorite player. I wore it to Church in England and to Stonehenge, in 2013, he was injured and never really recovered…left after the season. BTW he is out of football right now, might have been the double purchase that did him in.

#92 James Harrison, Throwback, My favorite Steeler of the last five years. I couldn’t miss on Silverback…he injured his knee, left and went to the Bengals…again though, came home and played great last year. So maybe that one is lifted.

#59 Jack Ham, Throwback “bumble bee”, One of the five best OLB of all time. A great player, I chose him for my throwback. Jack is doing well! Maybe it doesn’t affect guys named Jack?  

#68 L.C. Greenwood, 1930’s throwback, got to meet LC and he was one tough guy! When I purchased my first throwback, a jersey LC never would have worn, I still decided to buy it with LC’s number…he too died, literally within a year and I was wearing the shirt the day he died. I was in England at the time. I wore it to the first game after his death.

#99 Brett Keisel, Throwback “bumble bee”, technically, I think this was KGB’s purchase but for the sake of the story, here we go; this was a gift for Hailey, “Little Miss Tailgate”, not only was Brett injured, we were AT THE GAME HE GOT HURT, he never played again!!

#26 LeVeon Bell, (T-Shirt jersey) I bought this as a gift for Eric. (E-Rock). At the start of last season…Suspended for four games (Happened before I bought the shirt) but then was injured and missed the end of the season.

#33, Merril Hoge, Away, happy to report Hogey is doing great!!! But bought this last year, so say a prayer for Merril!!

NON-STEELERS:

#14 Neil O’Donnell, JETS HOME, this was a gift given to me by my buddy who was a season ticket holder, so I would have something to wear to the games. He picked Neil because he was a Steeler of course and unlike most fans I had no animosity about him leaving, His career in NY was a borderline disaster.

#16 Vinny Testaverde, JETS HOME, I am a native NY and Long Islander, so when the Jets reached the AFC Championship game, I bought the jersey for a party and was pulling for them all the way. Also, Vinny is a NY guy, the Jets lost of course and Vinny T. was injured game one the following year.

#92 Michael Strahan, GIANTS AWAY, hosted a business event and the Giants were on Monday Night Football. I also consider the Giants and the Steelers like brothers. So I was happy to rep Michael. It actually worked out well and I don’t think anything terrible befell him. Unlike my next guy…

#17 Plaxico Burress, GIANTS HOME, went to the Dallas-Giants game in 2008, the Steelers were Monday Night Football and went to that as well. I wanted to rep the Giants, especially against the Cowboys in solidarity with the Giants fans…Who better than Plex? He was a Steeler and a terrific player…towards the end of the season, he literally SHOT HIMSELF and was sent to prison!

 So you be the judge?

After a slow start, a turnover and a near turnover, the Steelers came back and wrecked the Redskins! After recovering his own fumble Ben Roethlisberger, never looked back as the Steelers rolled to a 38-16 victory

Ben Roethlisberger, who was missing, the retired Heath Miller, the injured Markus Wheaton and the suspended Martavis Bryant, threw three touchdowns, after shaking off some early rust. He passed for 151 of his 300 yards and two of his three touchdowns in the first half. He attacked the Redskins with a precision passing game that included two huge Fourth Down conversions including a 29-yard touchdown to Antonio Brown. You could literally hear the air leave the stadium at that point, the Steelers never trailed again in the game.

Antonio Brown had a spectacular night, pulling in two touchdowns. He finished with eight catches for 126 yards and continues to be an unstoppable force. Rookie Eli Rogers chipped in with six catches for 59 yards including a fourth down conversion. He made the best of his opportunity and will push for playing time. Both Jesse James and DeAngelo Williams contributed to the passing game with clutch catches.

DeAngelo Williams had a great night, he continued a slow build and put together a monster second half, rushing for 105 of his 143 yards and scoring on a 16-yard run. He also pounded out two third and shorts. The offensive line just punished the Redskins front seven and eventually wore them down.

The defense held the Redskins to under 360 yards, it was apparent that the game plan was limit big plays and keep the Redskins in check. The did both, holding the Redskins to just three field goals and a late touchdown.  Ryan Shazier had an outstanding game and was all over the field. Sean Davis had a very nice debut and Robert Golden’s first week as a starter was a success. James Harrison had an interception in the end zone to put the exclamation point on the game.

Mike Tomlin going for it on Fourth Down twice and then going for the end zone on top of it was not only gutsy but it put the Redskins on their heels and they never recovered. It was a very good game plan and it was executed well.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

The Game Beer: I am going with Big Ben and stats have nothing to do with it. It’s about attitude and reliability, he just plays as a big game QB and last night missing several of his key personnel he delivered.

Where I watched the game: FedEx Field for my first home opener! The tailgate was great and turned into a block party after the game the Washington Fans were really fun to watch the game with, they were  passionate but not disrespectful. The Redskins management handed out their own towel but it didn’t really help. As usual the Steelers fans had a great showing. The Beer of choice was Iron City which I flew down in my luggage!

My Stat of the week: Two for Two on fourth down conversions. I wouldn’t want any other coach than Mike Tomlin! Both plays show his belief in the team and even the Redskins’ fans felt they were being outcoached.

My thoughts on Next Week: The Steelers face the Bengals and it’s going to be a fist fight again…these teams bring out the worse and best of each other. The stat of next week, might be the body count!

This weeks Jersey: Joe Greene, Home Black, my gamer.

I was surprised about Doran Gran and Steve Johnson but the rest seemed pretty obvious. Look for some movement if they can grab some secondary help after todays cuts.

So the final preseason game is here and the Steelers of course had significant injuries although nothing fatal so far:

What we know?

-Cam Hewyard might miss opening night against the Redskins but I have a feeling he won’t!

-Ladarius Green will indeed be on the PUP list and the Steelers.

-No Starters, but the last three spots on the roster are up for grabs.

-Bruce Gradkowski is done and most likely finished as a Steeler.

-Zach Mettenberger was a great pickup!

-JAMES HARRISON IS NO CHEATER!!!