Good Weekend (Steelers-Browns Recap)

Let's start with the big picture. The Steelers defeated Cleveland 27-14 while both the Bengals and the Ravens lost. As a result, the Steelers are tied with Cincinnati for the division lead at 4-2 and one game ahead of Baltimore. In addition, the Penguins and the Pitt, Ithaca College and Woodland Hills High School football teams were all victorious, plus two, and possibly three of my fantasy football teams won. (The fourth one lost badly thanks to Mark Sanchez filling in for Peyton Manning on his bye week. That didn't work out very well.)

Back to the Steelers, the passing game looks great. Ben Roethlisberger had 417 yards passing; Hines had a monster game with 159 yards and a TD; and Santonio Holmes (104 yards) and Heath Miller (80 yards and a TD) also put together excellent games. Even though Roethlisberger was sacked three times, I thought the line protected him well.

Here are my thoughts on the game:

- On Hines' TD catch, Rashard Mendenhall did a nice job picking up Cleveland's blitz.

- After attending the Steelers-Browns game at Heinz Field in 2007, I wrote, "In my opinion, Joshua Cribbs has now replaced Eric Metcalf as the scariest Steelers' opponent." Why do the Steelers still kick the ball to Cribbs?

- What happened to Browns' QB Derek Anderson? I remember attending that Steelers-Browns and although Anderson didn't put up big passing numbers, he did throw 3 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He even made the Pro Bowl that season (2007)!

- Did Ziggy Hood play on Sunday?

- I think it's telling that Mewelde Moore was the RB when the Steelers were running out the clock. Mendenhall and (not as) Fast (with turf toe) Willie Parker both fumbled earlier in the second half, so maybe Tomlin trusts Mewelde more than the others in that situation.

- Speaking of Moore, why was he returning punts instead of Stefan Logan?

- Browns' head coach Eric Mangini and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan are not fitness role models.





- Mike Wallace continues to be fast.

- It is so much fun watching Santonio Holmes run in the open field after making a catch.

- Should we be concerned that the Steelers wins are against mostly terrible teams? Here are the records of the teams the Steelers defeated:

Browns - 1-5
Titans - 0-6
Lions - 1-5
Chargers - 2-2

Personally, I say no. Tennessee has completely fallen apart, but we (and they) didn't know they would be that bad after the first week. As for the other teams, the Steelers may be playing down to its competition particularly in the fourth quarter. I think next week's game against Minnesota could tell us a lot about the Steelers.

Quick Steelers-Titans Notes

Just a few thoughts from Thursday night's Steelers-Titans game:

* I’m sure someone out there is going to say that Troy Polamalu got injured because of the Madden Curse. No, he got hurt since big, fat Alge Crumpler landed on Troy’s knee/leg.

* While the Steelers will obviously miss Troy for the 3-6 weeks he’ll be out, I don’t see the team losing a step. Tyrone Carter knows the system extremely well and is a solid replacement. Plus, we’ll get to see how Ryan Mundy performs.

* During training camp, there was a lot of talk about Willie Parker and whether the team would resign him (or if it was worth resigning him). Talk about how Mendenhall would perform in year #2 and if he would take carries from FWP. Isaac Redman and Frank "the Tank" Summers also got a lot of press. However, no one mentioned Mewelde Moore, who was only the best Steelers running back last night. I don’t think you could ask for a better 3rd down/2-minute drill back. He catches the ball well, makes smart decisions (see running out of bounds with 1 second left in the first half; of course, it got wiped out by a penalty), and can block.

* Although Roethlisberger threw 33 completions for 363 yards, you might have noticed that none of those completions and receiving yards went to Limas Sweed. Perhaps Rob was correct in his prediction that Sweed would have no more than 10 catches, 1 TD and 150 yards.

* I don’t remember being this excited for the Steelers’ special teams in years. Logan is an exciting returner; Sepulveda had a nice game; Reed is nearly automatic; and there was even a blocked field goal.

* Finally, this Ziggy did as much for the Steelers last night as Ziggy Hood.



Overall, the team is 1-0 with a win over a quality AFC opponent. Plus, the Steelers now get 10 days off until they face Chicago next Sunday.

As always, you can read more about the game on the Post-Gazette and by visiting the other Pittsburgh sports blogs listed on the right side of this page.

Post-Super Bowl Thoughts (and a Hair Story)

I may have received the quickest haircut in history Tuesday evening. I asked for a trim and the woman basically shaved the back of my neck and shortened my sideburns. She barely touched the rest of my hair. (Naturally, since it is Hair Cuttery, she did have enough time to try and sell me Nioxin, a thickening shampoo.) I’m not sure if I’ve reached the point where I have so little hair that all of my haircuts will only last 4 minutes or if the hairdresser was just lazy. Could I have lost that much hair since my last haircut? If so, the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl may have contributed to hair loss.

Here’s a fun hypothetical question: Let’s say that instead of the final Roethlisberger-to-Holmes touchdown, Mewelde Moore had a touchdown run for the winning score. In that case, who would have been the Super Bowl MVP? If your answer is either Ben or Holmes, has there ever been a case where the offensive player won the MVP without scoring a touchdown?

Inspired by my interview of him, Brian St. Pierre provided one last blog post about his Super Bowl experience. (Congrats to St. Pierre on the upcoming birth of his first child.)

Ziggy had no interest in watching the kitty halftime portion of the Puppy Bowl.

Steelers Today has a video of Ben’s appearance on Monday's David Letterman.

Yahoo presented a terrific photo gallery of the Steelers Super Bowl parade and celebration. Why is Casey Hampton sans shirt?



Yes, I realize that I’m now going to get Google searches for Casey Hampton shirtless in addition to the people already searching for Richard Ruccolo shirtless and Antonio Holmes shirtless (or worse).

Some joke of a newspaper called the Phoenix New Times paid someone to write and actually published a hateful article about Pittsburgh and the Steelers (the negative stuff starts on page three). There are some ugly R-rated language in the comments but most of the comments are thoughful and represent Pittsburgh well.

Finally, I apologize for not updating everyone on the Rock of Love 3 fantasy league. laclips of This is Getting Old is currently in the lead. By the way, it’s not too late to join.

What Ever Happened to Jerome Bettis?

Perhaps you have heard of this former Steelers running back who retired after winning a Super Bowl in his hometown of Detroit. So where is Jerome Bettis now?



Even though Bettis has been retired for nearly three years now, he still seems to get mentioned regularly. Over the past few months, Jamal Lewis, Mewelde Moore, Le'Ron McClain, Michael Turner, Brandon Jacobs, LenDale White, and even Tunde Ogun of Division III's Christopher Newport and Frankie Hejduk of the Columbus Crew have all been compared to Bettis.

Tennessee Titans' coach Jeff Fisher - Yeah, [Jamal Lewis is] an emotional runner. He's enthusiastic. He is kind of like the old Jerome Bettis where he'll get up after a big play, jump up. Yeah, he's fun to watch. Not fun to play against, but fun to watch.

Pats Fan.com after the Patriots lost to the Steelers - Mewelde Moore, filling in for the injured Willie Parker, looked like Jerome Bettis and caused severe tackling problems for the Patriots.

ExtremeRavens.com - In my mind, [Le'Ron]McClain looks more and more like Jerome Bettis every week he gets to carry the ball. That's not a bad thing.

Los Angeles Times - They are both men of girth, RBs packing some extra lbs., so the comparison is a belt-line cinch: Is Tennessee Titans running back LenDale White the next Jerome Bettis?

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard - "Other than maybe (New York Giants running back) Brandon Jacobs and possibly Steven Jackson, we haven't seen a guy like this since we faced Jerome Bettis in Pittsburgh (in 2004). Look at [Michael] Turner's thighs. They're like tree trunks."

USA Today - The closest thing to The Bus in today's NFL comes to Heinz Field on Sunday with the New York Giants in the person of 264-pound running back Brandon Jacobs.

Asbury Park Press - In just his fourth season, Jacobs running style has already drawn comparisons to some of the big, punishing backs of the past, including Jerome Bettis, the former Steeler, Christian Okoye and Natrone Means.

Washington and Jefferson coach Mike Sirianni - There's no way he's 6-foot, 218 (pounds)," Sirianni said, citing [Christopher Newport's Tunde] Ogun's listed height and weight in CNU's media guide. "Being from the Pittsburgh area and having Jerome Bettis here, he looks like Jerome Bettis. But he's bigger. He's as good of a back as I've seen in a long time in Division III. Not only is he physical and hard to bring down, but he's got great feet. He can run past you."

Deadspin - So, Sunday was Hejduk's Jerome Bettis moment as a club player—Hey, Frankie's from Southern California, that's where our game is being played—when the Columbus Crew beat the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in MLS Cup.



While many people seem busy comparing Bettis to other athletes, Steelers fans miss #36 the running back as a Post-Gazette reader asked Ed Bouchette earlier this fall if the Steelers need another Bus.


In addition, everyone seems to want Jerome's opinion

On Notre Dame's Charlie Weis in the Chicago Sun Times:
'I'm a fan of Weis,'' former Irish and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis said. ''He's done a great job in getting the players there, and now he's got to win. You've got the first half right, in terms of getting some top talent there. Now the second part is you've got to get that talent to win.'

On Hines Ward in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:
"Hines is not dirty," former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis recalled. "Hines was not the kind of guy in practice who beat up on his own teammates. He waited until game day, and you saw something totally different out of him."

On Adrian Peterson in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune:
"He is the best running back in the game," Jerome Bettis said. "After talking to him, it seems to me that he's a student of the game and as he develops and learns more he's going to get even better. That's scary."

On athletes and guns following the Plaxico incident:
"Athletes are targets. Some players like to splurge on very expensive items; rings, watches, bracelets and chains, so there have been a lot of instances where players have been robbed."

So besides numerous interviews, what does Jerome Bettis do these days as a retired athlete?

He inspires people through Sharing Miracles, a 30-minute public affairs television program that tells the compelling and inspirational stories of real patients. This month's episode featured Bettis -- known in the sports world as "The Bus" -- who was 14 years old when he was first diagnosed with asthma. He says: "Initially I thought that with asthma, I couldn't be involved in any sports or other activities. Thankfully, my mother encouraged me, instead of discouraged me, to play. She said, 'As long as you take your medicine, the doctor told me that you will be fine.' But, as I got older, I had to take serious steps to control my asthma."

He likes to golf.



He speaks in Erie, PA:

It wasn't until he officially became a champion that Jerome Bettis realized he had been one all along. That was the message the former Steelers running back had for a crowd of more than 2,000 Thursday at Penn State Behrend's Junker Center. Bettis, appearing as part of the college's award-winning speakers series, urged attendees, including dozens of children clad in Steelers jerseys and caps, to follow his example of passion, hard work and singular focus in their life's pursuit. Any chance it is the Guy Junker Center?



Bettis participated in the annual U.S. Marine Corps "Toys for Tots" drive when they launched their "Stuff the Bus" campaign.

He also has the restaurant Jerome Bettis' Grille 36 and the "Bus Stops Here" Foundation.

Bettis is also married and has two kids.

So to answer my original question, I guess Jerome Bettis is everywhere. Who knew? I also heard that he's on some kind of NFL television show.

Steelers-Jaguars Recap

I’ll preface this post by writing that I have no idea what Al Michaels or John Madden said during Sunday night’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Jacksonville Jaguars game. I have not read recaps of the game by Pittsburgh newspapers, national sports websites or the Pittsburgh sports related blogs listed on my links list. The following are my comments, thoughts and pictures from attending the game live.



This picture was taken a half hour before game time. Notice the large banner covering two sections on the top left and the Jaguars banner behind the end zone. Apparently, these seats and several other sections throughout the stadium are completely covered during the entire season to help the team avoid blackouts. That would never happen for the Steelers. Oh, Jacksonville has no problem selling these seats for the Florida-Georgia college football game.



I really don’t know what to write about these guys. They were loud and somewhat annoying, but overall, pretty cool. Of course, I was not sitting directly next to them unlike the guy on the left wearing a white shirt. His sleeve ended up being mostly black from the body paint. He wasn't too happy being next to them.



The Steelers with an empty backfield, which they used more on Sunday than during the last 75 years combined. Did Mike Tomlin or Bruce Arians mention anywhere why used this set so often? Did it force the Jaguars to have more defenders in coverage instead of blitzing?

When the Steelers used this set, it seemed like the receivers were Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Nate Washington, Heath Miller and Mewelde Moore. Do the Steelers have a fourth WR?



Occasionally, the Steelers really did run the ball. I think this was one such case. Moore was definitely more effective on the outside as opposed to between the tackles.



Your halftime entertainment was a fireworks/laser show. The smoke was a little overwhelming after it ended. Maybe that’s why Fred Taylor had trouble picking up yards in the second half.



This picture was taken at the end of the game and did not come out well. The guy in the center had green hair and was an obnoxious Jaguars fan. To quote the Pensblog, STUNNED!

Other notes:

- Washington Capitals’ Sergei Federov’s brother Anthony sang the national anthem. Apparently, he was on American Idol.

- After a first down, the Jags fans cheer "Move Them Chains, Move Them Chains, Move Them Chains, Huh." Seemed kind of silly.

- I’m sure that everyone is saying and writing that Ben Roethlisberger is amazing in his ability to make plays after avoiding the pass rush. While he did make a great pass to Hines Ward late in the fourth quarter, he really needs to throw the ball away once in a while. On that particular play, he could (should) have been sacked, which may have knocked the Steelers out of field goal range. He probably did take 3 sacks during the game when he could have thrown it away. Yes, I’m nitpicking, but it really is OK to throw it away once in a while.

- "Welcome to Teal Town" is not very intimidating.

- Although Crazy Train is a great song, the Jaguars played it on three separate occasions (not including the fourth time when they played the Lil’ John version). I’m sure there are other songs out there that could be used to excite the crowd.

- My guess is that 25% of the fans supported the Steelers.

- I probably received a dozen compliments on the Louis Lipps jersey.

- I wanted to take a picture of the final score, but as soon as the game ended the team removed the score from the scoreboard. Did the Jaguars think their fans would forget that the team lost?

Most importantly, the Steelers won 26-21 and are now 4-1 heading into the bye week.