Deck the Broncos, They're Just Yoncos!

Although the Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 13-9 Sunday, the Baltimore win against the Cincinnati Bengals means that the Ravens earned the AFC North Division title and a first round bye. Therefore, the Steelers as a Wild Card will travel to Denver to face the Broncos next Sunday afternoon. Despite the fact that the Steelers were 12-4 on the season while Denver finished 8-8 with three straight losses, naturally, Steelers fans (including myself) may be worried. Here’s why:

- Injuries. Pro Bowlers QB Ben Roethlisberger & C Maurkice Pouncey aren’t close to 100% with ankle injuries. Meanwhile, starting RB Rashard Mendenhall may be out for the year with a knee injury and LaMarr Woodley’s hamstring has caused him to miss six of the last eight games.

- Ryan Clark had his spleen and gall bladder removed following a game in Denver a few years ago due to some type of reaction to the high altitude. Clark, another Pro Bowler, may not play at Denver

- Every NFL analyst/expert will pick Pittsburgh to win. Remember what happened last year when the 7-9 NFC West division champion Seattle Seahawks hosted the New Orleans Saints, the defending Super Bowl Champs? Denver will certainly have the "no one believes in us" mentality, and it's always possible (though unlikely) that some Pittsburgh players could be overconfident.

- Weather. It’s Denver in January, so who knows what could happen. Snow and wind could give the edge to the Broncos who have the best rushing team in the league. The Steelers are clearly a passing team now. Jerome Bettis and Franco Harris aren’t walking through that door!

With all of this written, the spirit of Myron Cope will be on the Steelers' side. Prior to the 1984 Steelers-Broncos first round playoff game in Denver, Cope created this Christmas song, and the Steelers won.

Pittsburgh's Going To The Super Bowl

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New York Jets to advance to their 8th Super Bowl in team history. LaMarr Woodley is so happy that he's comfortable carrying around a random helium balloon (at least I think that's what he's carrying) in celebration with Hines Ward.



Are you going to tell LaMarr Woodley that the balloon looks silly? I didn't think so.

Anyway, the Steelers played a nearly perfect first half led by Rashard Mendenhall playing arguably his best game as a Steeler. Ike Taylor and William Gay teamed up for a defensive touchdown late in the second quarter as the Steelers led 24-3 at halftime. I'm just going to ignore the second half.

So now we have two weeks until the Steelers meet the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 45 in Dallas. Expect this blog to be very heavy on Steelers content over the next few weeks.

Go Steelers!

Sunday Notes (Steelers-Browns Recap)

I know that you get your Steelers coverage from major media outlets and blogs dedicated to the Steelers. That’s why I give you other items that you can’t get anywhere else.

I’m not going to get into Ben Roethlisberger’s off-field activities. Simply from a football perspective, it was great seeing him on the field yesterday. The Steelers are clearly a better offensive team with Roethlisberger in the line-up, and with three touchdown passes, he showed again that he is one of the elite NFL quarterbacks.

While 27 is a lot of carries for 84 rushing yards, what stood out for me about Rashard Mendenhall’s performance was his excellent blocking in passing situations.

Yes, he got injured in the second quarter, but the defense and special teams did a nice job containing Steeler-killer Joshua Cribbs when he played.

James Harrison (11 tackles, 1.5 sacks) and Lawrence Timmons (11 tackles, 2 sacks) continue to dominate. There’s not a better LB combination in football.

The Browns may have finally found a franchise quarterback. Despite his two interceptions, Colt McCoy didn’t look rattled in his first NFL start. 23 for 33 for 281 yards, a touchdown and 22 yards rushing is a nice debut.

I get that NFL coaches aren’t going to wear suits anymore, but there has to be some type of professionalism. Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley wore a T-shirt during yesterday’s game against the Houston Texans. Haley couldn’t get away with wearing this shirt in 90% of the offices around the country.



I’d like to know the cost of all of the pink towels, hats, shoes, goal post pads, wrist bands, pom-poms, etc. displayed during NFL games to promote breast cancer awareness. It has to be in the tens of thousands, right? Who is paying for all of the pink equipment? The NFL? The individual teams? I hope that the NFL is donating at least the amount of money they are spending on the pink stuff to breast cancer charities.

I’m happy that Hiro of Heroes (Masi Oka) is getting some work in Hawaii Five-0.



Did you happen to see that DirecTV commercial that aired approximately 7,000 times yesterday where a guy steals films by shooting the employee with a blow dart? After the guy missed with his initial shot, shouldn’t the employee have tried to run? He just sat there as the attacker reloaded the second blow dart. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the “See It Before It’s On Netflix” video on the “What To Watch” section of the DirecTV website.

Next week in South Florida!

Steelers-Buccaneers Recap

At trivia night last week, our team did the unthinkable. In what is believed to be unprecedented, we scored a perfect game by answering every question correctly and for the maximum amount of points. On Sunday, the Steelers went to Tampa and delivered about as close to a perfect football games as you’ll see. Even when the Steelers perform well, I know that Steelers fans like to complain about some aspect of the game. It’s in our nature. Therefore, when I made that perfect game statement, I’m sure that some folks will counter that Charlie Batch threw two interceptions, Ike Taylor dropped an interception, the defense gave up 13 points and 303 yards and that the Buccaneers had a 33:06 to 26:54 time of position advantage. If you really feel like nitpicking, go right ahead. However, I’ll focus on what really happened.

- Charlie Batch for President! Seriously, he’s 35 years old, so he’s eligible by our constitution to become President of the United States of America. I’m sure that he’s quite happy (and better paid) serving as a Steelers QB, and he looked great yesterday. Three touchdown passes, a surprisingly strong arm for those that haven’t seen him in a while, and an impressive 24-yard run made for a wonderful Sunday. My dreams apologize to Charlie Batch.

- Rashard Mendenhall ran for 143 and the team as a whole averaged 6.3 yards per carry over 32 carries.

- No sacks allowed! The offensive line easily played their best game of the season by giving Batch plenty of time and opening up holes for the running backs.

- Mike Wallace is still fast and proved this by catching two 40+ yard TD receptions. This is the first time a Steelers WR caught two 40+ yard TD receptions in the same game since Louis Lipps, one of my all-time favorites.

- Only two penalties for 20 yards. I’ll take that every week.

- Solid special teams. The kick-off coverage has been a refreshing change since last year.

- Antwaan Randle El made an important catch to convert a third down.

Other notes:

- Did you know that Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin and Bucs Coach Raheem Morris coached together and are friends? I really wish we heard more about this. For example, I would like to know where their families vacationed together. Did they go to the beach? Vegas? Branson?

- Remember the Joey Porter-Jerramy Stevens media battle leading up to Super Bowl 40? Have you heard from Stevens since? Exactly. He had one catch for 22 yards for the Bucs yesterday and really hasn’t done much as a receiver the past few years.

- This was my first time watching the Steelers at Fast Eddie’s this season. What an upgrade from last year! The main section is bigger, and non-smoking, and there’s a new all-you-can-eat buffet that looked good. I also ended up sharing a table with two guys from North Hills and another from Weirton, West Virginia (and Pitt graduate) and had a great time. The Steeler bar experience is definitely the way to go to enjoy you Pittsburgh football.

Finally, your non-Brett Keisel interception/TD, Mike Wallace touchdowns, or Mendenhall spin move play of the game:



More about the game on ESPN and the Post-Gazette.

Steelers Season In Review

I've written and rewritten parts of this post several times. I'm trying to balance the disappointment of not making the playoffs after coming off of a Super Bowl Championship with the fact that the organization is still one of the best in football. I'm sure many of you don't see that today, but living in the DC area, it's easy to see that the Steelers are in significantly better shape than the Washington Redskins and many other teams in the NFL (ex. Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams).

Before I share my thoughts, let's look back at the 2009-2010 predictions by drinkyourmilkshake of Behind the Steel Curtain; Phil of Phil's Occasional Musings; Michael Rizzo of Rizzo Sports (and the Rizzo Sports Blog); Messiah, Marc & Gobo of White Nerdy Wonks; Donald of Steelers Today; Steve of Steve Is Alive; Rob of The Bluey Blog; and me.

1. Number of sacks James Harrison will have this season.
Steve predicted 12 for James and that Woodley would lead the team with 15.5. Messiah also believed that Harrison would have 12 sacks. The actual amount was 10 with Woodley leading the team with 13.5 sacks.

2. Limas Sweed's numbers (catches, yards & touchdowns).
The actual amount was 1 catch for 5 yards and 0 touchdowns. We all expected significantly more except for Rob who predicted "no more than 10 catches, 1 TD and 150 yards."

3. Stefan Logan: Reminds me of Antwaan Randle El as a Steeler; Greatest returner in team history; or Another Allen Rossum?

Well, Logan didn't have any touchdowns but he set the Steelers record for most kick-off return yards. Logan wasn't anything special returning punts and was often replaced by Mewelde Moore when a fair catch was probable. Overall, though, he was a solid returner and improved his special teams coverage as the year progressed.

Messiah - I'd say he's not quite Twaan, but certainly better than Colclough.
Donald - I predict that Logan will become the greatest 5'7" returner in team history.

Points for both Messiah & Donald!

4. Will Jeff Reed be arrested during the season?
Rob - Once, for drunk and disorderly conduct.

During the season, Reed was cited by police for disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

5. Who will lead the team in touchdowns scored?
Rob - Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall led the team with 8 touchdowns followed by Hines Ward, Heath Miller and Mike Wallace with 6 each. I need to take Rob with me to Vegas the next time I go!

6. Season prediction (please include the team record) + Any other thoughts/predictions:
All of us predicted division champs and playoffs. I think Phil's prediction was the closest though. 11-5. It's extraordinarily difficult to repeat as Super Bowl champions. I think we're going to have another good year and win the division but lose a close-game heartbreaker in the playoffs. Maybe that's just what I'm used to as a fan. Despite our success, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have something to complain about when it comes to the Steelers.

Phil, that brings us to today. There were certainly positives to the season such as the pending stardom of LaMarr Woodley, the thought that Rashard Mendenhall can be a #1 running back and the fact that Mike Wallace may be the offensive rookie of the year. Unfortunately, there were more negatives. The kick return coverage was among the worst in NFL history and the defense rarely made stops when needed. The secondary struggled, particularly in the fourth quarter, though I wonder how much of this was related to Troy Polamalu's absence. Taking away one of the best players in football certainly impacts the rest of the team and especially the secondary. I'm a big fan of Tyrone Carter playing spot duty or in specific packages. Unfortunately, he was exposed playing nearly every down. It also didn't help that rookies Ryan Mundy (I know he's not really a rookie, but he never left the practice squad in 2008) and Joe Burnett were playing significant minutes and that another rookie Keenan Lewis couldn't get on the field.

Now here's the positive to all of this. The Steelers have had a history of getting little production out of players in their first season only to see great improvements during their second season. It happened with Mendenhall, Polamalu, Woodley, and Lawrence Timmons. If we get similar growth out of players like Mundy, Burnett, Lewis, Ziggy Hood, and tackle Ramon Foster along with a healthy Polamalu and Aaron Smith, I think the team will be in good shape coming into next season.

There are a few other items that should be addressed. I know that a lot of people think offensive coordinator Bruce Arians should go. I'm not so sure. The Steelers finished 7th in the league in total yards with better numbers than playoff teams such as Indianapolis, San Diego, Philadelphia and Baltimore. While we may miss the days of giving the ball to Jerome Bettis 25 times a game and watching him run for over 100 yards, the NFL is now a passing league and that's where the team excels. Unfortunately, the team isn't able to close games like we did in seasons past. To have Bettis run out the clock in the fourth quarter when everyone knows that the team is going to run. However, I don't think you can pin this on Arians. The team, and in this case I'm referring to the personnel department, hasn't adequately addressed the offensive line over the past few years.



Bottom line: Perhaps this was Super Bowl Hangover Part II. It's certainly possible that the team overlooked Kansas City, Oakland and Cleveland. They may not have said it, but I'm sure that the players came into those games knowing they were the better team and believed that they would win just by showing up. That won't happen next year. I also believe that having Polamalu and Smith healthy would have translated into at least one more win. One more win would have got the team into the playoffs.

Finally, not everything is bad in the world. The Steelers have won two Super Bowl Championships over the last 5 seasons. How many teams would dream of having even one?

Sean's Ramblings First Contest: Win a Free Watch

About two weeks ago, I shared my skepticism about a contest where I would give away a free watch. I figured that either the company that sells Men's Watches wouldn't live up to their end of the bargain or that the watch wouldn't be worth giving away. I was wrong on both counts. The watch is nicer than I expected and the company really came through.



What's interesting is that I couldn't find this specific model on an American website. Instead, this Japanese website (translated to English) is selling the watch for 9,980 yen, which converts to $110. Yes, I am giving away a $110 watch!

So here's how this contest works. In the comments section below, predict the number of passing yards Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger will have against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. As a tie-breaker, please predict Rashard Mendenhall's rushing yards against the Vikings.



One entry per person and anonymous entries will be disqualified. The winner must reside in the United States (or at least provide an American address where I can send the watch). All entries must be received by Sunday at 12:55 PM Eastern time. I'm sure that there are other details I should add, but I can't think of anything. Basically, my decisions are final, and I have the right to postpone the contest if something unusual happens like Roethlisberger getting suspended for the game for knocking out Jeff Reed. I'll announce the winner on Monday and that person will have a certain amount of time to provide me with their address.

Please make sure to visit this Men's Watches website to learn more about Orient Watches.

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.

Greg Lloyd Redux

You may remember the ebay auction several months ago where you could bid on the opportunity to have former Pittsburgh Steeler great Greg Lloyd come to your home to watch the Steelers-Browns game with you and a group of friends. Since the game took place this past Sunday, I thought I would contact of Josh Korb of Steel-Town Memorabilia, the person who posted this auction, to see the results.

I'm curious as to how the idea to have Greg Lloyd watch the Steelers-Browns game at someone's house was created. Was this your idea?

It was mine. I first thought of the idea after seeing that Peyton Manning direct tv add for NFL Sunday season ticket which got me thinking. Then after watching one of the Penguins playoffs game they showed Sidney Crosby hand delivering someones season tickets and knocking on there door. I saw the excitment on there face's thought what a great idea. I just put 2 and 2 together.

Was Greg Lloyd easily willing to participate?

Yes that was easy. I have been working with Greg for years. He thought it was a great idea. He even told me a story about a similar experience back from his playing days. It was a spend the day with Greg type deal and the family had him in a back room and just pop out into the kitchen for this kids birthday. He said little guy allmost had a heart attack right there.

I'll take a little credit for posting the ebay auction on my blog (thanks to the DC Steeler Nation group) and then it got picked all over the place by sites such as Yahoo, Deadspin and The Burgh Blog. What kind of response did you and the auction receive?

Just for the record we are not part of dc steeler nation. I don’t approve of the nasty language they post on the internet. (Sean's note: I think Josh may be thinking of a different website.) The auction didn’t get noticed for 2 days then one morining I get into the office with the phone ringing off the hook, all voice mails full etc. It was nothing but radio stations calling for interviews about the auction. I ended up doing 17 total interviews including Mike & Mike, Pittsburgh ESPN, Fox Sports. It hit just about any sports football blog on the net and also the major providers like ESPN, Yahoo sports, AOL sports. I was also featured in ESPN the magazine in a interview about the auction. With all the extra traffic into my ebay store there was a few extra 1000's in sales during a week or so. I think Jim Rome put this over the top with a 30 miniute rant about the auction.



So I guess the big question is this: Where did Greg Lloyd watch the Steelers-Browns game this past Sunday?

He watched it at his home. I was able to sell the auction however the buyer wanted him for a different game later this season. I’m going to have him back up on ebay to auction him off for the next browns game 12/28/08 (pending the ok from #95)

What was the winning bid to have Greg Lloyd watch the game at someone's house? Are you willing to let us know the location (city or state) of the winner?

It sold for 7 grand. (Sean's note: WOW!) Buyer asked to remain private with all the media attention.

What is Greg Lloyd up to these days? He was definitely a fan favorite when he played in Pittsburgh, so I'm sure a lot of people are wondering what he's doing now.

He is doing great. He is married with a beautiful family living right outside of Atlanta, GA where he owns his own Taekwondo school where he teachs kids and adults. He is a 19 year 3 degree black belt. He is now known as "Master Lloyd". When he is not with the family or teaching you can most likely find Greg up in a tree stand hunting or on the golf course. That pretty sums up the 4 things that are major parts of his post football life. A lot of people wonder about Greg taking in account his "just plain nasty" style of football he played. You can aruge he is the most feared linebacker in Steeler history right there with Lambert with his brutal & ever imtimadating style of play. Combine that with the legal issues he had shortly after football it made a lot of fans wonder what kind of person he is. I can say without doubt Greg is nothing like that man they watched on Sunday. He is a very laid back person really in tune to the martial arts lifestyle living a very clam and peaceful life now. Some of his former teamates that we helped reconnect with him through apperences tell him thats not the same guy I played football with. Greg took the game so seriously that I don’t think he was able to turn a switch on & off at game time. Even the local long time media guys I talk to in Pittsburgh tell me stories about how they hated to interview Greg after the Steelers lost, not that he was a jerk but they were afriad of him. That football player image he created on the field seem to follow him around no matter what he was doing. Like his shirt said "he wasn't hired for his dispostion"



Do you have any other unique or interesting auctions or events at this time?

Well were going to be auctioning off other former Steeler players in the future. Probably just Levon Kirkland will be the only one this season due to limited time however I’m going to have a full lineup of guys for next season. Also will be doing same style concept but replacing football game with shooting a round of golf with a former Steeler. We arrange or can just about anything within reason. I love to hear new ideas so if anybody has any let me know.

We do have a big event setup in Pittsburgh for the Steelers bye weekend at Monroeville Mall 10/11 called return to the burgh. (Sean's note: I spent hours in my teenage years at Monroeville Mall.) Proceeds benifit Super Bowl XL champion Willie Williams foundation that helps kids. Our event we wanted to bring back some of the fan favorites to Pittsburgh that have disappeared over the years. Some of the names attending include Barry Foster, Bam Morris, Erric Pegram, Tim Lester, Brentson Buckner, Lee Flowers, John Jackson, Norm Johnson, Neil O’Donnell, Rick Moser, J.T. Thomas, John Banasazk and top pick Rashard Mendenhall. (Sean's note: Mendenhall certainly disappeared from the Steelers offense last week.)


You can find out more about Josh's items for sale at Steel-Town Memorabilia and his ebay store.

Pittsburgh Sports Update

If I wrote only a Pittsburgh sports blog, I would be required to discuss the Steelers draft. Since I don’t write a Pittsburgh sports blog, I don’t have to mention that I was surprised to see the Steelers select Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall. I would express a concern that maybe Willie Parker’s recovery from a broken right fibula is not going that well. I would write that Najeh Davenport’s career as a Pittsburgh Steeler could be over. However, I would also state that I saw Mendenhall play in several games last season and he is an explosive running back who is fun to watch. Even if Willie Parker is 100%, Mendenhall can certainly take some carries away from Parker to give him rest for the entire season and playoffs. The Parker-Mendenhall combination could be one of the best running back tandems in the NFL. Although I would have liked to have seen the Steelers draft an offensive or defensive lineman in the first or second round, the team drafted two players, Mendenhall and six-foot-four wide receiver Limas Sweed of the University of Texas (a steal at #53), that can help them immediately.

Game two of the Penguins-Rangers series airs today at 2 on NBC. As always, go to The Pensblog and the Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters for all of your Penguins coverage.

Oh, the Pirates lost again too and their record is currently 9-15. That would be the second worst record in the National League, ahead of only the Washington Nationals’ 8-17. I can’t wait to see the epic Nationals-Pirates game in person on Thursday night.