Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, the Baltimore Ravens lost last night. No, actually that’s not an accurate description of what happened. Actually, the Ravens got crushed. Destroyed. Annihilated. Humiliated.

And Steeler Nation enjoyed every minute of it. In fact, in the spirit of the season, we were “laughing all the way”.

The Chargers beat the Ravens 34-14 in a nationally televised game.  The score should have been 34-7, but the Ravens scored a cheap TD late in the game when the outcome was already decided.

Ravens players sulk during loss.

The loss by the Ravens is a huge gift for the Steelers.  The Steelers and Ravens were tied atop the AFC North.  However, the Ravens owned the tie-breaker due to their two wins over the Steelers.  So the Steelers’ only hope was to pray for a Ravens’ loss.  And lose they did.

Of course, to take advantage of the Ravens’ loss, the Steelers have to win their game tonight against the San Francisco 49ers.  If you haven’t already read our preview of that game, click here.

If the Steelers win tonight, they will become the #1 seed in the AFC.  That will give them the opportunity to have a first round bye, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Of course, that all assumes that the Steelers will win tonight, and then win their two remaining games against the St. Louis Rams and the Cleveland Browns.  Tonight’s game is the hardest of the 3 games.  If the Steelers take care of business tonight, they should have clear sailing to the playoffs.

Currently, the New England Patriots stand as the top seed in the AFC playoffs.  However, if the Steelers win tonight, they’ll jump ahead of the Patriots due to their head-to-head victory against the Pats.

Steeler Nation will be saying collective prayers all day today, in preparation for tonight’s critical game on Monday Night Football.  But in between our prayers, we’ll take a moment to thank the Baltimore Ravens…………And we’ll try to refrain from laughing at them.

Bwahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone besides James Harrison’s lawyer, but the NFL upheld their suspension, and Harrison won’t be able to play on Monday night.

Harrison was suspended following his hit on Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Colt McCoy.  There has been much discussion about whether the hit was legal or not.  Even many national commentators said that they felt that Harrison made “a good football play”.  However, this is Roger Goodell’s NFL, and “good football plays” apparently aren’t allowed.

I don’t think that there’s any doubt that if it had been James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, or LaMarr Woodley who had made that hit, they wouldn’t have been suspended.  In fact, they might not have even gotten fined.  But Harrison has been in Roger Goodell’s crosshairs for the past 3 seasons, so there was little chance that his appeal was going to be approved.

Harrison said via Twitter: “17 games,1000+ snaps, 100+ tackles, 12+sacks and 2 forces fumbles since my last incident and I get a suspension for a football play!”

Because of the suspension, Harrison will not be able to play in the Steelers’ game against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. In fact, the rules of the suspension dictate that Harrison can’t even set foot in the Steelers’ practice facility until Tuesday.

Without Harrison, winning on Monday night will be a bit more difficult. But winning is crucial to the Steelers’ playoff hopes, so Jason Worilds is going to have to step in and play as though he’s James Harrison. As Mike Tomlin is so fond of saying; “The standard is the standard”.

Go Steelers!

The Steelers will limp into San Francisco on Monday night, hoping to keep pace with the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC playoff race.

The Steelers may be without 5 of their star players Monday nigh.  James Harrison is suspended for the game (although an appeal is pending).  LaMarr Woodley is still battling a hamstring injury.  Troy Polamalu is also battling a hamstring injury.  Ben Roethlisberger has a high ankle sprain.  And Maurkice Pouncey also has a high ankle sprain.

Big Ben has yet to practice this week, and it’s not certain if he’ll be able to play on Monday.  That’s why both Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon have been splitting reps in practice.  Dixon hasn’t been on the active roster for most of the games this season, but he’ll be dressed and ready this week.

This is probably the worst possible time for the injury bug to hit the Steelers.  The Steelers are tied with the Ravens atop the AFC North, but the Ravens control the tie-breaker.  So the Steelers have to depend on a Baltimore loss in order to have any hope of winning the division.  And they also have to make sure that they win all of their remaining games.

Winning their remaining games looked like a distinct possibility until the injuries started to mount.

The Steelers and 49ers are both 10-3, and both teams are fighting for playoff positioning.  However, unlike the Steelers, the 49ers have already clinched their division.

But the 49ers enter the game with almost as many issues as the Steelers.

The 49ers have lost 2 of their last 3 games, and enter Monday’s game with issues at two of their key offensive positions.

San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith has looked surprisingly good this season.  However, he had one of his worst performances of the season last week in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals.  Smith completed only 18 of 37 passes for 175 yards and no touchdowns.

The 49ers’ star running back Frank Gore hasn’t looked much better.  Gore has averaged just 54.4 in the last 5 games.  Gore injured his knee in a loss to the NY Giants on November 13.  Coach Jim Harbaugh says that Gore still isn’t 100% , but he failed to elaborate further.

Partially because of the challenges that they’re having at QB and running back, the 49er have the worst red-zone efficiency in the NFL this season.  They’ve only been able to score 3 touchdowns in their last 19 trips into the red-zone.

Because of the questions that both teams have on offense, each may need to rely on their defenses to win this game.  The Steelers and 49ers are both among the top 5 defenses in the NFL this season.  The Steelers are the #1 defense in the NFL against the pass, and the 49ers are ranked #1 against the run.

If Big Ben plays on Monday, then I believe the Steelers will win this game.  But if Charlie Batch has to start, then I think the advantage shifts to the 49ers, and the Steelers will likely lose.

Let’s all pray that Roethlisberger can play on Monday.

Go Steelers!

Today’s featured item:

Leading up to the holidays, we’ll be suggesting gift ideas that we believe Steelers fans will enjoy.

Today, we are featuring this unique Steelers jacket.  I’ve seen lots of Steelers jackets over the years, but I’ve never seen this beauty before.

If anyone who knows me is struggling to think of a gift idea to buy me for Christmas, consider this to be a huge hint.

Click the link above to purchase this great Steelers item.

The Steelers are fighting for playoff position in the final 3 games of the season, and that fight just got a bit tougher.  The NFL has suspended linebacker James Harrison for 1 game for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Colt McCoy.

The Steelers face the San Francisco 49ers in their next game.  It’s probably the toughest game left on the Steelers schedule, so they could definitely use Harrison.  But I guess that point is now moot.

Harrison’s agent Bill Parise has already appealed the suspension.

“We will ask for an expedited hearing because we’re dealing with a suspension,” Parise said.

Ummmmm, good luck with that.

Frankly, I don’t think he has any chance of winning his appeal.  The tape clearly shows that Harrison struck a head-to-head blow.  It can be debated whether the hit was intentional, but because it’s Harrison, the league is not likely to back down.

Harrison was fined a total of six times during the 2009 and 2010 seasons for four illegal hits against quarterbacks and twice for unnecessary roughness. Because of that history, the NFL probably felt that a suspension might send a louder message than the fines did.

Even Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t support Harrison on this one.

“He hit him, he hit him illegally, he has to suffer the consequences,” Tomlin said.

Because he’ll be suspended for the game, Harrison won’t get paid for it.  So effectively, the league did fine him.

This obviously makes the next game a little tougher than we thought it would be.  However, I still think the Steelers have a good chance of beating the 49ers and improving their record to 11-3.

Go Steelers!!!

Despite not playing on Sunday, the Steelers gained ground in the playoff race.  The Steelers came into the week as the 5th seed in the AFC, and they’re still the 5th seed.  However, their position has nevertheless been strengthened.

Going into the week, 4 teams were tied for the 6th playoff seed.  The Tennessee Titans, Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, and Cincinnati Bengals were all two games behind the Steelers in the wild-card race.  But losses by the Titans, Raiders, and Bengals leave only the New York Jets as the 6th seed.

The Jets are still two games behind the Steelers, so barring a colossal collapse by the Steelers, they have little chance of catching the Black & Gold.

The Steelers will play the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams, and Cleveland Browns in their final 3 games.  The Rams are tied for the 2nd worst record in the NFL, and the Browns are tied for the 3rd worst record.  So neither team should give the Steelers much of a challenge.

The SF 49ers are tied with the Steelers at 10-3.  However, the 49ers just lost to the Arizona Cardinals, a team the Steelers beat earlier this season.  I don’t foresee the 49ers beating the Steelers, even though the game is being played in San Francisco.

If the Steelers win this weekend, then they’re extremely likely to end the season with a 13-3 record.  The problem is that the Baltimore Ravens also have a good chance of ending the season at 13-3.  And if the Steelers and Ravens end the season tied, the Ravens will claim the AFC North title due to their two wins over the Steelers.

Because of that, the Steelers need the Ravens to lose at least one more time this season.  And a loss by the Ravens is a distinct possibility.  After all, the Ravens have already lost to the 4-9 Jacksonville Jaguars, and the 5-7 Seattle Seahawks.

The Ravens have games remaining against the San Diego Chargers, the Cleveland Browns, and the Cincinnati Bengals.  While the Browns aren’t likely to beat the Ravens, the Chargers or Bengals definitely have a possibility of doing so.

The Chargers just had a 37-10 win against the Buffalo Bills.  While the Chargers have underachieved over the past few seasons, they’re still a talented team that is capable of beating anybody.  I see them as having the best chance of beating the Ravens.

The Ravens face the Chargers this coming Sunday on Sunday Night Football.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the Chargers are going to have just as many supporters in Pittsburgh as they have in San Diego.

Go Chargers!!!

Today’s featured item:

Leading up to the holidays, we’ll be suggesting gift ideas that we believe Steelers fans will enjoy.

Today, we are featuring this beautiful Steelers watch.

Carry the Steelers with you everywhere you go, as you wear this men’s stainless steel watch by Fossil.  Let it be a subtle reminder that it’s Steelers time 24/7.

Click the link above to purchase this great Steelers item.