Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

The Steelers have named linebacker Patrick Bailey as this year’s recipient of the Joe Greene Great Performance Award.  The award is given annually to the team’s top rookie.

Bailey came to the Steelers as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Duke.  He has been used almost exclusively as a special teams player, and he is tied for third on the team with 12 special teams tackles.

This is great news for Bailey, but I’m not so sure that it is great news for the Steelers.  Does anyone else remember the ecstatic reaction by Steelers’ fans during the draft when we learned that Rashard Mendenhall had fallen to the Steelers in the first round.  Or how about when we learned that Limas Sweed was available in the second round?  He was the “big receiver” that Ben had been begging for.  Then UCLA sack specialist Bruce Davis fell to us in the 3rd round, and former all-american lineman Tony Hills from Texas dropped to us in the fourth round.  Some fans were concerned that we should have addressed the offensive line sooner, but having a player of Hills’ caliber fall to us was yet another blessing in what looked like a great draft.  Then, as if things couldn’t get any better, Dennis Dixon, the quarterback from Oregon who was leading in the Heisman race before suffering an injury, dropped into our laps.

This was going to be a draft for the ages.  Mendenhall and Sweed were going to be instant rookie sensations and provide offensive punch for years to come.  Davis, Humpal and Mundy weren’t expected to contribute much on defense this year, but all were expected to contribute on special teams.  Hills was potentially going to help an offensive line that was full of question marks.  At least that’s what many fans thought would happen.

Fast forward to today, and we see that nothing has worked out quite the way that we thought it would.  Many fans thought that the Steelers would never be able to overcome what was being touted as the NFL’s toughest schedule.  Many projected that if the team finished the year with an 8-8 record, it would be a successful season.  Some fans thought that there was no way the Ben Roethlisberger was going to make it through the season, since the Steelers hadn’t spent all of their draft picks on offensive linemen. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY predicted that the Steelers would be fighting for the top seed in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Perhaps the only thing that seemed more unlikely at that time was that an undrafted rookie named Patrick Bailey would turn out to be the Steelers’ top rookie. 

Bailey’s award, and the Steelers’ performance this season, just go to show that none of us is particularly good at predicting the future.  But of course, we’ll all do the same thing during the next NFL draft.  We’ll complain when the Steelers don’t select the players that we want them to.  We’ll prophesy doom and gloom when they don’t use their top picks on offensive linemen.  We’ll whine when they inevitably allow some free agent player to leave for greener pastures elsewhere.  But the one thing that very few of us will do is to remember that the Steelers have an uncanny knack for landing on their feet.  They have been consistently competitive for as long as any of us can remember.  Sure, there have been a few bumps in the road, but for the most part, the Steelers have enjoyed tremendous success.  Just imagine if our team were the Browns.  Or the Bengals!  Yuck!

One of the reasons that the Steelers always seem to rise to the occasion is because they get tremendous production from the least likely suspects.  Just look at James Harrison.  And Hines Ward.  And Willie Parker.  And Nate Washington.  And Patrick Bailey.

Now if only the Steelers could learn the secret to getting a similar performance from some of the guys that we all EXPECT to turn in better performances.  You know, guys like like Keith Gary, John Rienstra, Aaron Jones, Kenny Davidson, Huey Richardson, Troy Edwards, Alonzo Jackson, Ricardo Colclough, Willie Reid, Anthony Smith, Limas Sweed, and Bruce Davis.

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We had lots of good entries for this week’s haiku contest.  Patrick came into this week as a two-time winner, looking for a three-peat.  Did he defend his championship?

While we had lots of good entries, there were two that stood out to me.  Both had excellent concepts, but both also had flaws.  The first entry was by our reigning champ.  Patrick’s entry was as follows:

Paper towels for Suggs
To wipe the tears from his eyes
I’d suggest Bounty

The second noteworthy entry was by Eric Wagner.  It went as follows:

Was it in or out?
Doesn’t really matter for
Ninety-one reasons

Patrick’s entry was very creative, and I loved the play on the word “bounty”, since the Ravens have been known to put out bounties on Steelers players.  Unfortunately, Patrick used the word “towel”.  “Towel” has two acceptable pronunciations.  The first, and most commonly accepted pronunciation has two syllables.  That would give Patrick’s first line 6 syllables rather than five.

Eric’s entry was also very creative, but it too had a flaw.  The final drive was 92 yards, not 91 yards.  Therefore, the last line should probably have been “Ninety-two reasons”.

In my judgment, an error in game statistics is less egregious than an error in syllables, since an extra syllable would disqualify the poem from being a haiku.  Patrick’s entry, though recognized for it’s creativity, is being disqualified.  Therefore, Eric Wagner is this week’s winner. 

Congratulations Eric.  It took some serious haiku jiu jitsu to defeat Patrick.  Patrick has already established that he has a black belt in haiku, so defeating him was no small task.  I expect Patrick to bring a full can of whoop @$$ next week to win his title back, so everyone had better start preparing for a serious rumble next week.

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The NFL has announced the Pro Bowl rosters, and 4 Pittsburgh Steelers will be heading to Honolulu. 

Steelers defensive players James Harrison and Troy Polamalu will be starting for the AFC in the Pro Bowl.  James Farrior was selected as a backup.

This will be Harrison’s second Pro Bowl appearance in two seasons as a starter.  Harrison is having an incredible season, and is a leading candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.  Harrison has already tied the Steelers’ all-time record for sacks in a single season with 15.  With 2 more games left in the season, Harrison may break the Steelers’ record.

Polamalu will be playing in his fifth straight Pro Bowl, and his third as a starter.  After having a poor season in 2007 due to injury, Troy has bounced back nicely and leads the NFL in interceptions.

James Farrior will be a backup linebacker at this years Pro Bowl.  This will be Farrior’s second Pro Bowl.  Farrior leads the Steelers in tackles with 127.  Farrior is in his fifth season as the Steelers’ defensive captain, and he plays a much bigger role in the defense than he is often given credit for.

On special teams, Mitch Berger was named the starting punter.  This came as a total surprise to Berger, who brings a rare combination of poor aim and negligible distance to the punting position.   “When coach called me into his office, I thought I was going to be cut.  You can imagine my surprise when he told me that I had been named to the Pro Bowl.  Heck, James Harrison can punch the ball farther than I can punt it”, replied Berger when told that he was named to the Pro Bowl.

Okay, that last paragraph was a total joke.  Berger wasn’t named to the Pro Bowl.  But I’ll bet I had a few of you fooled for a moment there.  Haha.  Gotcha!

Of course, Polamalu, Harrison, and Farrior really did get named to the Pro Bowl.  Congrats to them.  Hopefully, a trip to Honolulu will be just what they need to rest from their upcoming trip to the Super Bowl.

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Well, we got the defensive struggle that we all anticipated.  But in the end, the Steelers proved that their defense was superior to Baltimore’s.  More importantly, the Steelers’ offense proved that they better than Baltimore’s as well.

With their 13-9 victory, the Steelers clinched the AFC North title, and a first round bye.  It might not have been pretty, but a win is a win.

As I do each week, I will summarize the game in the form of a haiku.  A haiku is  a form of Japanese poetry that contains only 3 lines.  The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the third line has 5 syllables.  Here is my offering for this week:

Ball did not break plane
We’ll take the win anyway
AFC North champs!

Okay readers, your turn.  Try to write a better haiku than mine to summarize the Steelers-Ravens game.  The best entry gets posted on the front page of the blog. Start writin’.

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Before reading this article, please read the precursor found here.

“Minstrels shall sing of this epoch battle and children shall learn at their fathers’ knees of the fateful Charge of the Men of Steel. Woe unto the evil minions of the Dark Hall for they shall fall in utter defeat to the warriors of the Black and Gold”.
-The soothsayer Nick

And lo, the men of steel didst traverse into the lair of the purple dragon on their quest to slay the mighty beast, and lay claim to the kingdom of AFC North.

The mighty warriors, adorned in their black and gold armor, found themselves surrounded by an  assembly such as had never been seen before in the vile land of Baltimore.  It is said that a record 71,502 orcs, trolls, and other foul worshipers of the purple beast did gather in M&T coliseum to witness the clash that had been foretold.

The mighty purple beast.

The purple dragon did draw first blood.  The mighty beast inflicted much damage to the valiant men of steel, yet their mettle did not waver.  For almost sixty minutes the two sides did battle, and victory for the forces of purple darkness seemed all but assured.

But when all seemed lost, the mighty warriors Lord Ben, Sir Hines, and Sir Nate did lead a final valiant charge that rallied the men of steel.  Emboldened by the courage of Lord Ben, Sir Hines, and Sir Nate, the other men of steel did rally in kind until finally the young squire “Santonio of the Smoky Weed” did draw his mighty blade and deliver the death blow to the purple beast.

By defeating the great beast, the Men of Steel did lay claim to the kingdom of AFC North and received the gift of the “first round bye”.  The threat of the purple beast was no more, and the children of light could sleep soundly, knowing that good had triumphed over evil.

The Men of Steel must now leave the foul land of Baltimore and travel back to the civilized valleys of Pittsburgh.  Upon returning home, they must prepare for battle once again as they have been challenged by the over-rated Titans of Tennessee.  Like all AFC challengers before them, the Titans shall be found wanting, and the Men of Steel will prove their worthiness to rule the kingdom of AFC.

Epilogue: When the Men of Steel didst defeat the mighty purple behemoth, the sorcery that did empower the beast was lifted, and he reverted to his true form.    Behold, the true nature of the beast.

The dragon's true form.

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