Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings were undefeated when they entered the game with the Steelers.  By the time they left the game, they were undefeated no more.

The Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings 27 – 17, in a game that probably didn’t go the way that either team had scripted it.

After last week’s offensive outburst, many fans expected to see another high scoring performance by Big Ben and the Steelers offense.  Instead, it was the Steelers defense that led the team to victory.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger followed up last week’s 417 yard passing performance with only 175 passing yards this week.

Hines Ward, who entered the game as the NFL’s leading receiver had only 1 catch for 3 yards.

On the ground, the Steelers weren’t much more successful, as they were only able to gain 106 yards.  Rashard Mendenhall led all Steelers rushers with 69 yards.  Unfortunately, Mendenhall hurt the team when he decided to go airborne on a run from the Vikings 9 yard line. The Vikings defense hit Mendenhall while he was in the air and forced a fumble that the Vikings recovered on their own 4 yard line.  What a painful way to end what had otherwise been a very nice drive by the Steelers.

I understand that Mendenhall was trying to make a play, but not even Superman can dive 9 yards.  What did he think he was doing?  There was no way his dive could get him to the endzone, so why make such a risky play?

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin obviously didn’t think it was a smart play either.  He benched Mendenhall for the rest of the game.

Fortunately, just as I predicted in my Steelers vs. Vikings Preview, the Steelers defense was the difference in the game.  The defense only yielded one touchdown (the other was scored against the Steelers special teams).  More importantly, the Steelers defense scored 2 touchdowns of their own.  Yes, that’s one more touchdown than the Steelers offense was able to muster.

What was most significant about the defense’s scoring was that it occurred in the 4th quarter.  For much of the season, the Steelers defense has seemed to disappear in the 4th quarter.  It was good to see the defense finally step up and change the game during the 4th quarter.

With 6:47 remaining in the 4th quarter, Brett Keisel sacked Brett Favre, and causes a fumble.  LaMarr Woodley scooped up the fumble and rumbled 77 yards for a touchdown.

Was it just me, or did it seem like Woodley was never going to reach the endzone?  That must have been the slowest 77 yard run in history.  I’m not complaining, but I’m just saying…..

Not to be outdone, the Vikings Percy Harvin returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.  Harvin probably should have been stopped early in his return run, but Jeff Reed forgot that he was playing tackle football and not “two hand touch”.  Reed got in front of Harvin on his return run and clearly tagged him with two hands.  Reed seemed perplexed as to why the referees didn’t whistle the play dead.

We seldom hear the words “wimpy” and “Steelers” used in the same sentence.  But I have to say that that may have been the wimpiest play that I have ever seen from a Steelers player.  Ever!  Shame on you, Jeff Reed!

Fortunately, the Steelers defense wasn’t finished yet.  With 1:15 left in the game, and the Steelers leading 20-17, the Vikings were marching up the field.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I started getting nervous that the Steelers might blow another game in the 4th quarter.  But backup linebacker Keyaron Fox had other ideas.  Fox intercepted a Brett Favre pass and returned it 82 yards for a touchdown.  Suddenly, the score was 27-17 with only a minute left in the game, and Steeler Nation breathed a collective sigh of relief.

I don’t think anyone who watched the game could have felt disappointed.  It was an extremely entertaining game that either team could have won.  Both teams played so hard that it seemed unfair that either team had to lose.

But somebody did have to lose, and that team was the Vikings.  So Minnesota is undefeated no more, and the Steelers have their first statement victory of the season.  Now they go into their bye week and prepare to play the undefeated Denver Broncos.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!!!!

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The Steelers’ schedule is about to get interesting.  On Sunday, they face the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.  Then after a bye week, they must face the currently undefeated Denver Broncos.

Steelers fans have been longing for a true measure of how good their team is.  They’re about to get it.

The last time the Steelers faced two undefeated teams in back-to-back games was in 2004.  The Steelers defeated the undefeated Patriots, ending their 21 game winning streak, and then defeated the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles the following week.  They were the only NFL team in history to ever achieve that feat so late in the season.

Getting a win this week won’t be easy.  The Vikings are a team that is very similar to the Steelers.  In recent years, the Vikings have been a team that primarily depended on a strong running game and strong defense to win games.  However, this year they find themselves with a suddenly potent passing attack led by a brash, gunslinger quarterback.  Sound familiar?

The Vikings’ potent running attack is led by Adrian Peterson, one of the best running backs in the NFL.  Peterson leads the NFL in rushing, and he torched the Baltimore Ravens’ defense for 143 yards last week. Peterson’s combination of size and speed will pose a daunting task for the Steelers’ defense.

After struggling in the passing game with QB Tavaris Jackson for the last several years, the Vikings’ passing attack is suddenly revived after the addition of legendary quarterback Brett Favre.

Steelers fans know how great a season Ben Roethlisberger has been having so far.  Yet Favre has a higher passer rating and has thrown for more touchdowns than Roethlisberger.  Think about that for a moment.

The Vikings defense was the only defense in the NFL that allowed fewer rushing yards than the Steelers last year.  The Vikings’ run defense ended the 2008 season ranked #1 in the NFL, while the Steelers were ranked #2.

Are you starting to see the similarities between these two teams?

Fortunately, the Steelers are starting to come into their own.  The offense is on fire behind the arm of QB Ben Roethlisberger.  More importantly, the Steelers’ running game is finally starting to show signs of life.

Since inserting Rashard Mendenhall into the starting lineup, the Steelers’ running attack has been noticeably better.  Mendenhall seems to be more capable of getting the tough, short yardage that Willie Parker often struggled to get.

Based on Mendenhall’s performance the past 2 weeks, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has decided to name Mendenhall as the starter for the foreseeable future.  “Rashard has earned the right to take the majority of the snaps as we move forward”, said Tomlin.  This is welcome news to many Steelers fans who had been calling for Mendenhall to replace Parker in the starting lineup.

While both teams have potent offenses, the real difference in the game should be the Steelers’ defense.  The Steelers defense is among the best in the league.  They are strong against the run and the pass.  Contrarily, while the Vikings defense is stout against the run, they have proven to be vulnerable to the pass.  The Vikings are ranked #24 against the pass.  That’s not a good thing when you are about to face the NFL’s leading passer (I still can’t get used to saying that about a Steelers’ quarterback).

I predict that the Steelers will bring the Vikings winning streak to an end by a score of 24-17.

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Well, just as I predicted here, the Associated Press named Peyton Manning as this year’s NFL MVP.  Even Manning’s coach Tony Dungy said that Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison should be the MVP.  Harrison was robbed!

Of course Dungy later changed his tune once Manning was named MVP.  But he had to do that.  Afterall, he had to support his guy.  But we all know how he really feels.

Manning received 32 MVP votes.  Dolphins QB Chad Pennington and Falcons RB Michael Turner were tied for second with 4 votes apiece.  Vikings RB Adrian Peterson and Steelers LB James Harrison tied for third with 3 votes each.

Our resident haiku king, Patrick, summarized Manning’s win as follows:

Manning wins again
While deserving Defensemen
Remain overlooked

That pretty much sums it up.

Being the optimist that we are, we are going to try to see this glass as half full.  Despite being cheated, robbed, disrespected, gypped, and treated like a second class citizen, James Harrison should nevertheless feel good about this travesty.  Afterall, he did come in third.  That’s pretty good, right? (No!).

Tying with a dynamic player like Adrian Peterson is actually pretty impressive.  And getting more votes than San Diego Chargers’ quarterback Philip Rivers (boo!!!) is definitely a good thing.

James Harrison was the only defensive player to receive any MVP votes.  That probably means that he is the leading candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year award.  Steelers fans can at least take solace in that.

But nevertheless, the Associated Press continued their ongoing lovefest with quarterbacks.  As an act of protest, I am declaring a hunger strike.  I won’t eat anything until the Associated Press corrects this injustice and names a defensive player as NFL MVP.

On the other hand, I sure am hungry.  I think I’ll take a quick drive down to the local Krispy Kreme.  I’ll start working on the hunger strike tomorrow.

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