Beer We Go Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed inside linebacker Stevenson Sylvester and released Kion Wilson. I had high hopes that Sylvester would make a big impression in camp. He never got the opportunity. Vince Williams is the real deal and like Jarvis Jones just needs a chance to play and get his feet under him. Sylvester gives the Steelers experience and someone who plays with an edge.

This is a good move!

The Steelers continued their slide dropping another tough one to the previously 0-3 Vikings. The loss sends the Steelers into a further tailspin and virtually ends their season. For the first time since Bill Austin was coach the Steelers fell to 0-4. It was a great experience being at Wembley but the result was a huge disappointment.

Missed tackles was the theme of the day and the Steelers just didn’t execute on defense. Cortez Allen’s return the lineup was a tough one, he was downright awful and got beat for two touchdowns by Greg Jennings, including missing not one, but two tackles on a 70-yard catch-and-run score. The linebackers weren’t much better and they allowed their sixth rushing touchdown of the season, to put that into perspective they allowed five in all of 2010. Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley played mediocre games and Woodley had a costly mistake. Timmons was out of position on an eight yard touchdown and got stiff armed by Adrian Peterson on his 60 yard jaunt through the English country side. Every big play the Vikings had could be attributed to lousy tackling.

Big Ben continued his Jeckyl and Hyde season. He passed for another huge day putting up 383 yards and nearly pulling off a 17 point comeback. He continues to have costly turnovers and his 4th quarter fumbled sealed the Viking win. He was harassed all day long. The left side of the line couldn’t protect the blind side and Mike Adams at Left Tackle needs to be over and fast. While Marcus Gilbert and Dave DeCastro are starting to come around, Adams looks to be regressing. Jared Allen abused him for 2.5 sacks and Chad Greenway creamed him for a huge drive killing sack in the 3rd. Look for Kelvin Beachum or the newly acquired Levi Brown to take that spot.

The positives out of the game were Le’Veon Bell had a nice debut and he showed flashes of brilliance. The receivers are once again developing into one of the best units in the game, Jericho Cotchery, had a 100 yard game and made some tough catches, Antonio Brown was again excellent and had 12 catches the most by a Steelers receiver in 10 plus seasons, Manny Sanders and Heath both contributed.

Also in TERRIBLE NEWS, LC Greenwood passed, I got it in an email and don’t have any facts yet. Will post something when I get stateside about him.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Jericho Cotchery, He had over 100 yards of tough receiving. I also owed him after I F-Bombed him two weeks ago. He did a great job. Also Considered: Antonio Brown

Where I watched the game: WEMBLEY BABY!!! London, England I also had a great pregame party with Beer We Go Steelers own Ben Harkins and the Andy from Steeler Nation UK. KGB and I drank a bunch of Carlsberg Beer! It was great experience and Wembley is an awesome stadium. The British people couldn’t have been better, Steelers Nation was there, to combat the Terrible Towels the NFL gave out Vikings flags. Fans waved them for no apparent reason.

My Stat of the week: AWFUL STAT: 393 Yards put up by Minnesota’s putrid offense with second stringer Matt Cassel at the helm, there is no formula for success with that line.

My thoughts on Next Week: WE HAVE A MERCIFUL BYE WEEK.

Getting ready for Sunday, I saw a ton of our Black and Gold Brothers and it’s only Thursday! Will keep everyone posted. Thanks for the well wishes!

If you are here too, post on my Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/beerwego.steelers

In a turnover filled game the Steelers fell to 0-3, marking the worst start since 2000. Five turnovers, two of them returned for touchdowns, ended the Steelers night and sent them  to a  40-23 loss to the Chicago Bears. The Steelers put together a spirited second half rally but were held off.

The numbers don’t tell the story as Ben played one of his worst games as a Steeler. Roethlisberger topped 400 yards passing for the fourth time in his career. He  completed 26 of 41 for 406 yards, with two awesome touchdowns to Antonio Brown but he turned the ball over four times, three of which turned into 21 points. The offensive line situation has become bleak and Ben is showing the side effects. He was constantly harassed and had to pick himself up off the floor on nearly every pass play. It’s time to look at Kelvin Beachum at the Left Tackle spot.

The running game is horrendous and desperately needs Le’Veon Bell to step up next week. Felix Jones showed flashes in his first two weeks but a costly fumble crushed the Steelers momentum. Jonathon Dwyer did okay and had a nice 25 yard run but the Steelers are failing to move the ball consistently.

The Defense had a better performance than the numbers will indicate. They kept the Steelers in the game but eventually broke late in the night. The pass rush was solid. Cutler was forced to dump off all night, but he did a masterful job getting the ball out in under three seconds. Ike Taylor again played a great game hanging tough with Brandon Marshall. He was only beaten once for a big play and it was a perfect catch and a perfect throw. The often maligned Willie Gay had a terrific game! Vince Williams had a brain fart on a 55 yard run but looked very good the rest of the night. LaMarr Woodley had a huge game despite his paltry numbers and Jarvis Jones showed signs of greatness. He needs to play more under control but he looked very good.

In the end the Steelers have dug themselves a huge hole!

I have been on a whirlwind of travel and leave tonight for London!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Antonio Brown. This was an easy one! He had a huge night and looked like the impact player everyone was counting on, he was one of the lone bright spots and he made a nifty one handed catch for a touchdown. Also Considered: Ike Taylor who had a good night.

Where I watched the game: ALL over the place in Saratoga, I had to escape a business function and missed part of  the opening of the game. I stopped in the Seven Horse Pub for a quick one and to watch the rest of the first quarter (Had a 2 dollar Pabst), back to my hotel room and watched the end of the second half talking to KGB on the phone, went to the SCOPE suite to start the second half at the Saratoga Hilton and had a few Sam Adams Octoberfests with my work crew and finished back in my room with a Miller lite.

My Stat of the week: Going to stay positive here, 9 for 196 which was Antonio Browns catches and yardage, highlighted by a 45 yarder and a great 31 yard one handed catch. HUGE NIGHT!

My thoughts on Next Week: The Vikings are the “home team” but I have a feeling that London, will be LOADED with Steelers fans! This is the week the Steelers bounce back!

The punchless Steelers dropped their Monday Night Football game to the Bengals 20-10 last night. For those keeping score at home the Steelers are yet to win a game this year. Counting the preseason they are 0-6 and their offense looks lost and out of whack. They last opened with consecutive losses in ’02. It was only the second time in over ten years that the Bengals (1-1) have beaten the Steelers in Ohio.

The offense was just terrible for the second straight week. The game plan was to spread the field, and it didn’t really work. Big Ben completed just 16 of his first 30 passes for 187 yards and the offense produced just one touchdown, giving them two on the season. They also mustered a field goal after a great return from Antonio Brown.

The pass protection was better than the first game but again the O-line had no push and the running game never got off the ground. Every time the Steelers moved the ball at all they made a grave mistake. David Paulson had a killer fumble as the Steelers were driving and Marcus Gilbert was unfairly penalized for a tripping penalty which cost the Steelers a 33 yard pass play.

The defense was soft and while they didn’t play badly they had no sacks and once again no turnovers. They also were gashed up front for several key runs, one of which iced the game for the Bengals. Playing without Larry Foote, Kion Wilson and rookie Vince Williams alternated every two series on the inside. They had difficulty stopping the run. Wilson tripped in coverage on the Bengals first touchdown. Neither player was impressive, Sly Sylvester’s phone could soon be ringing. The pass rush was virtually non-existent.  The lone bright spots was the play of Cam Heywood and Ike Taylor. Both had very good games!

Before everyone jumps off the Clemente Bridge here, the last four times the Steelers started 0-2 they made the playoffs three of those times, 1989, 1993, and 2002. Only in 2000 did they not make the playoffs. They also finished 9-7 or better all four of those times.  Don’t pack it in just yet, there is plenty of football left and the Bengals didn’t look especially dominant last night. The Ravens had 49 dropped on them in week one and the Browns well they are the Browns. So we are still in this thing but need to get it turned around right quick!

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Ike Taylor, he was a bright spot in a very gloomy night. He bottled up AJ Green and made some great plays. He has been an outstanding performer for much of his career. Also Considered: Cam Heyward, who looks like he is coming around.

Where I watched the game: Sea Cove in Center Moriches, the food was GREAT, had BBQ Chicken pizza and they ran a special on Leinenkugel, Summer Shandy. They have a team jersey giveaway during the third quarter for every prime time game. The only down side was I dropped the F Bomb pretty loud when Cotch dropped a pass and KGB had to give me a lecture on how to act in public when watching the game. Not wanting to sleep on the couch I toned my act down…until I got home and then proceed to fire the remote control across the room in the fourth quarter. My buddies also were in rare form which is why we retreated at the start of the 4th.

My Stat of the week: The Steelers have scored 19 Points in two weeks. That is AWFUL and it is hard to win many games with those numbers. Keep in mind that it isn’t really 19 points; the Steelers had that dumb luck safety. The offense has two touchdowns in two games and a field goal. At some point we need to look at what has gone horribly wrong here in the first two weeks and figure out a way to remediate it.

My thoughts on Next Week: The Bears look tough and they look like they are going to come out swinging. That being said I think this will be the bounce back week with a good second half performance.

Two of the best guys you ever want to talk to! Dermonti Dawson, HOF Center, and John Jackson, All-Conference Left Tackle.

Also got to meet Lynn Swann, HOF Wide Receiver, was a cool guy and posed for a few pictures…

…and a couple of the “BAD GUYS”! Hall of Fame LT, Anthony Munoz and Hall of Fame LT, Jonathon Ogden, both guys were awesome people despite their team affiliation!

The Steelers dropped their first home opener in 11 years to the Titans. They not only lost the game, they lost four players, to injuries. It was the worst offensive performance in a very long time. The Steelers after scoring ONE SECOND into the game were held off the scoreboard for the next 58 minutes.

The injuries piled up at a disturbing rate with Maurkice Pouncey, Cortez Allen, Larod Stephens-Howling and Larry Foote all going down for the count. Pouncey looks to be the most serious and season ending. Larod Stephens-Howling and Larry Foote will also be out for the season now.

Any thoughts that the Steelers preseason woes on offense were nothing to worry about, were sadly mistaken. Big Ben struggled all day and was less than sharp. He missed several throws, was the cause of the first fumble by Redman and threw a tough interception that led to the Titans only TD. Ike Redman nearly played himself out of the lineup with a disastrous performance that gets players sent home. He managed nine yards on eight carries and looked slow and confused on several plays. He also fumbled twice The offensive line was plain AWFUL. They could barely protect Ben and couldn’t open up any holes for the running.

The defense put together a steady if unspectacular performance and played well enough to win. Troy Polamalu had a great day, the D-line was okay and the linebackers made some nice plays including Jarvis Jones laying a bone jarring hit on Chris Johnson.  That was one of the few highlights of the day.

The only good news is that the entire AFC North lost on Sunday, The Bengals got dropped by the Bears and the Browns lost to the Dolphins. The Ravens got worked, Thursday by Peyton Manning. So we are all tied right now in loser-ville.

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Steve McLendon. he was filling some huge shoes in Casey Hampton and he didn’t disappoint with a nice performance. He adds a level of athleticism that Hampton didn’t have. Also Considered: Troy Polamalu who again was just NUTS, he made several big plays and he still is a great force.

Where I watched the game: At the house, KGB put on a huge spread of Wings, Turkey Kielbasa, Chili and Chicken fingers. We were drinking IC Light and my buddy Matt was here to watch the game as well.

My Stat of the week: The Steelers rushed for 32 yards against the Titans mediocre defense. The Offensive line looks to be about as bad as predicted and without Pouncey they are going to struggle.

My thoughts on Next Week: The Bengals looks to be much better and will really give the Steelers trouble. It will be Silverback’s first game against the Steelers weak O-Line. Not feeling it.

The 2013 Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steeler dropped their final preseason game last night to the Carolina Panthers. For only the third time in their past 48 preseasons the Steelers lost all their games.  They had lost  only one preseason game in each of Mike Tomlin’s seasons as coach.

They  last went 0-4 in 2006, Coach Cowher’s final season, they followed with an 8-8 record in the regular season.

Again being an out of town fan I didn’t see the game although there were several bright spots from what I read. I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE SEASON TO START!

We will do a couple of quick hits this week and the roster analysis.

Beer We Go Nation, I am not beaten, so stay strong and let’s get ready for the regular season.

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the death of the “The Chief” Art Rooney. Mr. Rooney was not only the founder of the Steelers he was an accomplished Boxer, a great horse player, a true American sportsman, a devout Catholic, a Pittsburgh loyalist and one of the all around great guys!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oCeeMWy7vo

GOD BLESS THE CHIEF, ART ROONEY! ‘

January 27, 1901-August 25, 1988

Photo Courtesy of http://www.believemerch.com/