First, Arizona vs. Philly.
Don't care. Next.
Baltimore Offense vs. Pittsburgh Defense
Baltimore's offense relies on the run to set up the pass. Pittsburgh's defense specializes in blocking the run first so the opposing team forces passes. For the Ravens to succeed, they'll have to attack with the deep ball early. Unless Polamalu seriously picks up his game, that's the most vulnerable part of the Steelers' D right now. Keep the ball away from the middle of the field unless absolutely necessary. Pittsburgh has the best linebacking corps in the entire league.
Advantage: Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Offense vs. Baltimore Defense
It's no secret Rex Ryan likes to order the blitz a lot. This works well in the first 28 minutes of each half. As the Steelers have shown, the final two minutes is when this tactic tends to backfire a lot. What usually may work for the Ravens will not help them here. They're going to need serious adjustments on the defensive scheme when crunch time comes, or Ravens fans may be glad that Ryan's probably leaving for another job in the near future. Roethlisberger is very good at picking up the blitz and converting on big third downs. This is what killed the Chargers. Injuries have also devastated the Ravens' D. When healthy, this is an easy pick for Baltimore. But 18 weeks without a bye have caught up to them, and it will show tomorrow.
Advantage: Pittsburgh (in the long run)
Special Teams
Despite the punt return for a TD in their last game, the Pittsburgh return game remains pretty sad. Their punter is also pretty much the worst in the league. On the other side, Baltimore boasts one of the best kicker-punter tandems in the league. Stover is clutch, but he's also not as effective as he once was in the 40+ yard range. Pittsburgh has been windy as hell the past couple weeks, so it will all depend on field position. Expect the Steelers to pick the side of the field rather than kick/return if they win the opening coin flip.
Advantage: Baltimore
Overall
There are two main factors in this game: how effective Willie Parker can be against the D that's given him problems his entire career, and whether Baltimore's D can make the proper adjustments instead of over-blitzing as they often do. Another big factor is health, which is not in the Ravens' favor. The game is winnable by either side, especially if the stars step up in a huge way. But looking at it objectively, Pittsburgh has a greater chance of winning.
Prediction: Steelers 24, Ravens 10
- Matt
Showing posts with label Steelers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steelers. Show all posts
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Chargerblog, Part 2
5:27 - Norv strikes again, ill-advised challenge. The officials clearly want the Chargers to be short, so why fight it? If only Tomlin were coaching the Bolts.
5:36 - Weddel goes streaking through, but fortunately it is due to a false start. Close call, that probably would have converted.
5:38 - Minorly terrified that the Steelers could convert, they instead punt away. Berger pulls a Berger and it's touchback city. Time for a drive let's hope!
5:44 - Here we go. Amazing completion may be nullified by a challenge. Tomlin with the red flag.
5:47 - Incomplete. Vomit.
5:50 - Fake called out from a mile away. Stupid decision by the Steelers may prove costly?
5:51 - Norv: "I can call a stupider play!"
5:55 - Gates is the best TE in the whole league. No one can convince me otherwise. What a player.
5:58 - Kaeding drills it facing the end that overlooks the Allegheny River. Not bad, Nate. Chargers 10-7
6:00 - Pittsburgh has three timeouts, and Roethlisberger is one of the best money quarterbacks in the league. This looks bad. It's good if San Diego can hold the Steelers to 3. It's amazing if they can keep them from scoring.
6:01 - Phillips gets elbowed in the throat. Ouch. Also, San Diego is forced to take a timeout. Ouch-er.
6:02 - A sure first down and at least 5 yards by the Steelers is missed, based on an incredibly off-balance throw by Roethlisberger. However, Pitt gets a good first down and the drive is sustained.
6:04 - Very nice move by San Antonio Holmes. But Big Joke throws too far.
6:06 - Shit. wHines Ward finally gets the gain the Steelers are looking for. Stop absolutely needed here.
6:07 - Excellent blocking by Pittsburgh leads to a Parker touchdown. Steelers 14-10
6:08 - 0:40 left on the clock. Let's see what the Chargers can do with this. I'll be satisfied as long as the Steelers don't score before the half.
6:11 - It looks like San Diego is content to go into halftime only trailing by 4. Rivers charges into the tunnel. Hopefully the second half will go better.
END OF THE SECOND QUARTER
6:39 - Chargers' second halves by week: 17/24, 21/38, 17/48, 28/28, 7/10, 13/30, 7/14, 15/32, 14/20, 3/10 (Steelers), 10/20, 9/16, 7/34, 19/22, 21/41, 28/52, 9/23 (playoffs). My calculator is out of batteries, but it seems the Chargers usually get it done in the second half.
5:36 - Weddel goes streaking through, but fortunately it is due to a false start. Close call, that probably would have converted.
5:38 - Minorly terrified that the Steelers could convert, they instead punt away. Berger pulls a Berger and it's touchback city. Time for a drive let's hope!
5:44 - Here we go. Amazing completion may be nullified by a challenge. Tomlin with the red flag.
5:47 - Incomplete. Vomit.
5:50 - Fake called out from a mile away. Stupid decision by the Steelers may prove costly?
5:51 - Norv: "I can call a stupider play!"
5:55 - Gates is the best TE in the whole league. No one can convince me otherwise. What a player.
5:58 - Kaeding drills it facing the end that overlooks the Allegheny River. Not bad, Nate. Chargers 10-7
6:00 - Pittsburgh has three timeouts, and Roethlisberger is one of the best money quarterbacks in the league. This looks bad. It's good if San Diego can hold the Steelers to 3. It's amazing if they can keep them from scoring.
6:01 - Phillips gets elbowed in the throat. Ouch. Also, San Diego is forced to take a timeout. Ouch-er.
6:02 - A sure first down and at least 5 yards by the Steelers is missed, based on an incredibly off-balance throw by Roethlisberger. However, Pitt gets a good first down and the drive is sustained.
6:04 - Very nice move by San Antonio Holmes. But Big Joke throws too far.
6:06 - Shit. wHines Ward finally gets the gain the Steelers are looking for. Stop absolutely needed here.
6:07 - Excellent blocking by Pittsburgh leads to a Parker touchdown. Steelers 14-10
6:08 - 0:40 left on the clock. Let's see what the Chargers can do with this. I'll be satisfied as long as the Steelers don't score before the half.
6:11 - It looks like San Diego is content to go into halftime only trailing by 4. Rivers charges into the tunnel. Hopefully the second half will go better.
END OF THE SECOND QUARTER
6:39 - Chargers' second halves by week: 17/24, 21/38, 17/48, 28/28, 7/10, 13/30, 7/14, 15/32, 14/20, 3/10 (Steelers), 10/20, 9/16, 7/34, 19/22, 21/41, 28/52, 9/23 (playoffs). My calculator is out of batteries, but it seems the Chargers usually get it done in the second half.
Chargerblog, Part 1
Live recapping the Chargers game at Pittsburgh. Recaps posted at end of each quarter.
4:30 - Was snowing a good amount earlier, now it's pretty light here 4 miles east of the stadium.
4:31 - Did you know. The pizza you are eating. It's from Pizza Hut. OMG.
4:37 - "Joe Flacco is the most successful rookie QB ever". Who is surprised Dan Marino and Bill Cowher voted "false"?
4:46 - First pass of the game: 21 yard pass to Gates. According to Cowher, Pittsburgh should have gotten 2 interceptions on the play.
4:48 - Sproles outruns half the Steelers D.
4:49 - WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Jackson takes it to the bank on the 4th play from scrimmage. Chargers 7-0
4:50 - From a guy who hates, commercials, I love the Southwest one where the guy throws a controller at the expensive TV. Amazing.
4:56 - Jammer hits Ward hard, and the ball pops loose. Incomplete, but what a friggin hit!
4:58 - Quick kick by Worthlessberger. What a call by Tomlin. Chargers placed at their own 4, which favors the Steelers immensely.
5:03 - Ouch. San Antonio Holmes returns a punt for a TD. So much for the special teams edge. Thanks a lot, Bill Simmons... Steelers 7-7
5:07 - Good return by Sproles nearly negated by stupid facemask penalty by Hester. Momentum definitely swinging in Pittsburgh's favor.
5:12 - Good god. Norv, you have to do better than that. Also, run? Matt Cavanaugh would be proud. Punt city.
5:14 - They correctly pronounce Scifres, then immediately fail to correctly pronounce "pronunciation". Oh, announcers...
5:18 - It takes 400 pounds of defense to bring down 500 pounds of QB. Roethlisberger hits the ground.
5:22 - I thought Sproles wasn't supposed to be able to run against the Steelers. Man, if pre-game analysts are wrong, who is right in the world? I'd better buy another HDTV before I start thinking too much.
END OF THE FIRST QUARTER
4:30 - Was snowing a good amount earlier, now it's pretty light here 4 miles east of the stadium.
4:31 - Did you know. The pizza you are eating. It's from Pizza Hut. OMG.
4:37 - "Joe Flacco is the most successful rookie QB ever". Who is surprised Dan Marino and Bill Cowher voted "false"?
4:46 - First pass of the game: 21 yard pass to Gates. According to Cowher, Pittsburgh should have gotten 2 interceptions on the play.
4:48 - Sproles outruns half the Steelers D.
4:49 - WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Jackson takes it to the bank on the 4th play from scrimmage. Chargers 7-0
4:50 - From a guy who hates, commercials, I love the Southwest one where the guy throws a controller at the expensive TV. Amazing.
4:56 - Jammer hits Ward hard, and the ball pops loose. Incomplete, but what a friggin hit!
4:58 - Quick kick by Worthlessberger. What a call by Tomlin. Chargers placed at their own 4, which favors the Steelers immensely.
5:03 - Ouch. San Antonio Holmes returns a punt for a TD. So much for the special teams edge. Thanks a lot, Bill Simmons... Steelers 7-7
5:07 - Good return by Sproles nearly negated by stupid facemask penalty by Hester. Momentum definitely swinging in Pittsburgh's favor.
5:12 - Good god. Norv, you have to do better than that. Also, run? Matt Cavanaugh would be proud. Punt city.
5:14 - They correctly pronounce Scifres, then immediately fail to correctly pronounce "pronunciation". Oh, announcers...
5:18 - It takes 400 pounds of defense to bring down 500 pounds of QB. Roethlisberger hits the ground.
5:22 - I thought Sproles wasn't supposed to be able to run against the Steelers. Man, if pre-game analysts are wrong, who is right in the world? I'd better buy another HDTV before I start thinking too much.
END OF THE FIRST QUARTER
Gameday Number 18: Pittsburgh Steelers
These jokes are 12-4. Which means they are 3.5 games ahead of the Chargers in the standings. Guess who else was 12-4.
Still, you don't win 12 games by accident. You win 4 of them by playing the Browns and Bengals. And their defense has simply pushed around the vast majority of the AFC, with their offense good enough to beat good defenses. They might be the only team to ever go 6-0 in the AFC North. Troy Polamalu is sick. Etc.
Brief break: the dancing/gloating robot in Fox NFL things is beyond awful.
Positive buzz from multiple sources about the Chargers' chances today. First, Seth Wickersham gave five points why the Bolts should win this game.
[ESPN]
I was pretty pumped after reading that. Then I looked at the obnoxious BS stuff spewed around the page, saw another playoffs pick 'em, and was horrified to realize he picked the Chargers to win.
[Vomit]
TMQ and BS differ in key ways, as the most popular Page 2 writers on ESPN. TMQ is usually right about the football aspects, but his space/politics rants are often off-base. BS shows an incredible lack of skill in picking important game, but he's more connected to fandom and the pop culture aspects of generation X. Which is probably why he gets really annoying.
At any rate, I sincerely hope both are right and it comes down to special teams. Otherwise I won't be able to show my face in the office tomorrow.
Ravens visit the winner of this game. Meh.
Cardinals humiliate Panthers. Wtf.
Eagles beat the Giants. Barf.
That's about as much effort as I can muster to cover those teams. Maybe Will will post or something?
- Matt
Still, you don't win 12 games by accident. You win 4 of them by playing the Browns and Bengals. And their defense has simply pushed around the vast majority of the AFC, with their offense good enough to beat good defenses. They might be the only team to ever go 6-0 in the AFC North. Troy Polamalu is sick. Etc.
Brief break: the dancing/gloating robot in Fox NFL things is beyond awful.
Positive buzz from multiple sources about the Chargers' chances today. First, Seth Wickersham gave five points why the Bolts should win this game.
[ESPN]
I was pretty pumped after reading that. Then I looked at the obnoxious BS stuff spewed around the page, saw another playoffs pick 'em, and was horrified to realize he picked the Chargers to win.
[Vomit]
TMQ and BS differ in key ways, as the most popular Page 2 writers on ESPN. TMQ is usually right about the football aspects, but his space/politics rants are often off-base. BS shows an incredible lack of skill in picking important game, but he's more connected to fandom and the pop culture aspects of generation X. Which is probably why he gets really annoying.
At any rate, I sincerely hope both are right and it comes down to special teams. Otherwise I won't be able to show my face in the office tomorrow.
Ravens visit the winner of this game. Meh.
Cardinals humiliate Panthers. Wtf.
Eagles beat the Giants. Barf.
That's about as much effort as I can muster to cover those teams. Maybe Will will post or something?
- Matt
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Two Quick Rants
First, football analysts are retarded. If I hear one more person say "[player name] is [same player name]", such as Brett Favre is Brett Favre, I'm going to snap. No way, a player is himself? I could have asked a dog for such insight. Also, the dog would be less offensive to my senses. And please, limit the amount of pregame announcers. Wait, does anyone still watch pregame shows anymore?
Second, I have shifted from indifferent to unfavorable about the Steelers. My favorite radio station, which used to play a lot of good classic rock and that one Metallica song, is now basically Steelers Talk radio. If I wanted to know the third-string linebacker's opinion of how the defensive line did ("good", apparently), I'd... actually, I'd never want to know that. Please, Pittsburgh. There's a fine line between loving the Steelers and stalking them, and you crossed it long ago.
At least the X will begin playing Penguins news (in moderation, gasp) in a week. It'll keep them from playing Longview by Green Day 4 times a day at any rate.
Finally, that new Windows commercial with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates is, without hyperbole, the worst commercial I've ever seen. It's advertising the operating system, and focuses on wearing leather shoes. And it's not even funny enough to justify irrelevance.
Sports, right. Um, go Pens.
- Matt
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
AFC Preview: Where Winners Go To Win (part 1)
It occurred to me during a severely long and boring meeting today that I should talk a little about all 16 teams in the AFC. Why? Because between mental masturbation and hallucination lies the sports part of my brain. Here's a rundown of each team, their go-to offensive play, the relative strength of their D, and their chance at winning their division or the Super Bowl.
AFC North: The Least North Division Ever
Baltimore Ravens
Go-To Play: Offensive genius Kyle Boller throws directly to the opponents, in the hopes that they will fumble after the hit, giving the Ravens an automatic first down.
Defense: In the rare event you actually score against this unit, watch your back. Seriously man, half of them have knives and shit.
Chances of Winning: Not good, but they did win a Super Bowl title with this man:
Cleveland Browns
Go-To Play: Move to Baltimore and win the Super Bowl in less than 10 years. If that fails, have whats-his-name pass to the guy, number eighty or ninety something or whatever.
Defense: Sometimes the best defense is an awful defense. Wait...
Chances of Winning: About as likely as Bush's third term.
Nasty 'Nati Bengals
Go-To Play: Any passing play in which fat guys don't break Carson Palmer's knees.
Defense: You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Chances of Winning: You know what? Let's just move on to Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Go-To Play: "Fast" Willie Parker hops on a motorcycle and books it into the end zone. Note to offensive linemen: make sure Roethlisberger is wearing a helmet during this play.
Defense: While the "Steel Curtain" era is long over, the modern Steelers' "Lead Drapes" has not yet let a single gamma ray particle into their end zone.
Chances of Winning: Good, unless they have to play in the AFC Championship at any point, where they are approximately 6-73 in the past 42 years.
More tomorrow, so I can stretch this feature out over 8 days
- Matt
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