Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

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.

(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment below. Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below. Thanks.)

Subscribe in a reader

December 29,2008
By Donald Starver

Sports writers are hypocrites.  They are quick to spout trite phrases like “defense wins championships”, yet when they are called upon to show what they really believe, their actions prove that they believe that offense wins championships.

Each year, the Associated Press selects the NFL MVP.  And each year they go through their annual ritual of proving that they only value offense.

Since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970 there have been 40 NFL MVP’s.  Of those, 25 have been quarterbacks and 12 have been running backs.  That’s 92.5% for those of you who like statistics.  The only anomalies from this rule were linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986, kicker Mark Moseley during the strike shortened 1982 season, and DT Alan Page in 1971.

Two defensive MVP’s since the merger.  Pathetic!  So much for “defense wins championships”.

Of the NFL’s 5 top ranked offenses, 4 of them will be watching the playoffs from their living rooms.  Prolific passer Drew Brees and the #1 ranked New Orleans Saints offense had an amazing season.  Too bad their season’s over.  Same for the Denver Broncos, the NFL’s #2 offense.  The Houston Texans had the 3rd best offense in the NFL this season.  They’re also vacationing now.  So how important is offense if it can’t even carry a team into the playoffs?

Contrarily, 4 of the top 5 defenses in the NFL will make playoff appearances.  The lone holdout was the Washington Redskins, and if they played in any division other than the brutal NFC East, they too would probably have made the playoffs.  Despite these obvious arguments for the importance of defense, look for Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Kurt Warner, and Philip Rivers to garner most of the MVP votes.  Idiotic, if you ask me.

In January of 2001, when the Baltimore Ravens where enjoying a parade following the first Super Bowl championship in team history, was there anyone in the known universe who didn’t agree that Ray Lewis was the MVP?  I’m not talking about the Super Bowl MVP.  I don’t mean the Defensive Player of the Year.  Nope, Ray Lewis was the friggin’ NFL MVP.  For the Ravens, defense DID win a championship, and Ray Lewis was the engine that drove that defense.  Some quarterback or running back may be babysitting his MVP trophy, but we all know it belongs to Ray.

This year, we have the potential for a similar injustice.  The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the playoffs with the league’s #1 ranked defense.  They allow the fewest points per game.  They allow the fewest yards per game.  They are #1 against the pass, and #2 against the run.  They were #1 against the run as recently as week 14, but were surpassed by the Minnesota Vikings’ defense late in the season.  Suffice it to say that the Steelers’ defense is pretty good.

The best player on that defense is James Harrison.  Harrison was voted team MVP for the second year in a row.  He will also make his second consecutive Pro Bowl appearance since becoming a starter last year.  The Steelers have a $100 million quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger, but James Harrison is the team’s two-time MVP.  Think about that for a moment.

On a team with a tradition for great defenses, James Harrison broke the Steelers’ all-time record for sacks in a season.  Neither Joe Greene, nor Jack Lambert, nor Greg Lloyd, nor Kevin Greene, nor Jack Ham, nor Joey Porter, nor Jason Gildon, nor L.C. Greenwood, nor any other Steeler has ever harrassed opposing quarterbacks like James Harrison did this year.  When you think about all of the Hall-of-Famers who have played for the Steelers, that’s pretty amazing.

Sure, there are other defensive players who deserve attention.  DeMarcus Ware and former Steeler Joey Porter both had more sacks than Harrison.  But in many ways, they’re both one trick ponies.  Ravens’ safety Ed Reed and Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu also had fantastic seasons.  But they didn’t fill stat sheets like Harrison.  Same with Tennessee’s Albert Haynesworth.  He had a great year.  Just not as great as Harrison’s.

Harrison’s off-field demeanor is so quiet and understated that it’s easy too overlook his accomplishments.  No defensive player filled stat sheets quite the way Harrison did.  Harrison ended the season ranked #4 in sacks.  However, unlike the 3 players who were ahead of him, Harrison is asked to do far more than sack the quarterback.  Harrison had 17 more tackles than sack leader DeMarcus Ware, 54 more than Joey Porter, and 63 more than John Abraham.

Anyone who has ever watched James Harrison play has probably noticed that he isn’t satisfied with simply sacking a quarterback.  When Harrison sacks a quarterback, he seems to think that forcing a fumble is also a requirement.  He led the league with 7 forced fumbles.

Harrison was tied for second in the NFL in forced safeties.  How many did Albert Haynesworth force?  zero.  How about DeMarcus Ware?  Zero.  Joey Porter?  Zero.

If you look at the league leaders in total tackles, you notice that this statistic is traditionally dominated by inside/middle linebackers and safeties, the guys who roam the middle of the field.  If we eliminate the inside/middle linebackers and safeties, and look at tackles by players at all other positions, James Harrison is 9th in the NFL.  Even when you add the inside/middle linebackers and safeties back into the statistics, Harrison is still 25th in the league.  Not bad for a guy who is only responsible for one side of the field, and who has to take on the opponent’s toughest offensive lineman (the left tackle) on every single play.

James Harrison is tied for 7th in the NFL in interceptions.  He has the same number as defensive backs Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Jonathan Joseph, and Lawyer Milloy.

Harrison even has 4 passes defensed.  That may not sound like a lot, but for an outside linebacker, that it tremendous.  DeMarcus Ware has none.  Joey Porter has none.  See my point?

There is no doubt that Peyton Manning has had a great season.  And this Friday, I expect to hear his name called as this year’s NFL MVP.  But the reality is that Peyton Manning has not had as good a season as James Harrison.  In order to match what Harrison has done on defense, Manning would have to be among the league leaders in passing yards, rushing yards, punt return yards, kick return yards, and field goals.  That may sound like a ridiculous statement, but when you look at how broadly James Harrison has filled the defensive stat sheets, you quickly realize that it is an appropriate analogy.

Peyton Manning will probably receive his third NFL MVP Award this Friday.  However, those who truly understand football will know that he is merely babysitting James Harrison’s award, just like Marshall Faulk is babysitting Ray Lewis’.

If sportswriters had any courage, they would use their vote to correct this injustice.  But they don’t.  So they won’t.  Congratulations Peyton.

(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment below. Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below. Thanks.)

Subscribe in a reader

Let’s review. The Steelers defense plays like men possessed. They dominated Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts offense. They hold them to 62 yards rushing. James Harrison adds to his sack total. Aaron Smith picks up a sack as well. The Steelers march the ball 62 yards for an easy touchdown on their very first offensive series. The Steelers’ offense maintains control of the ball for almost 10 minutes more than the Colts. Mewelde Moore rushes for 2 touchdowns.  Big Ben throws for 284 yards.  Clearly, that narrative ends with a decisive Steelers victory, right? Wrong.

In the normal universe, that game would have been an easy win for the Steelers. But in this bizarro universe that is the Steelers’ 2008 season, such performances sometimes result in losses.  Too often, the cause of those losses proves to be Ben Roethlisberger. 

In this unusual season, in which the Steelers were supposed to be overwhelmed by the NFL’s most difficult schedule, they instead find themselves with a 6-3 record. Moreover, they could easily be 8-1.  Two of the losses, the ones to the Giants and Colts, should have been wins, had it not been for the poor play of the Steelers’ $100 million quarterback.

Yesterday, Ben Roethlisberger gave up two costly interceptions.  The first, with only 1:30 remaining in the 1st half, gave the Colts great field position, and ultimately resulted in a Colts touchdown.  So instead of going into halftime leading the Colts 17-7, the Steelers found themselves only leading by 3 points, 17-14.

The second costly interception came in the middle of the 4th quarter.  With the Steelers leading 20-17, Roethlisberger threw his second interception of the game.  Four plays later, the Colts had another touchdown, and led the Steelers 24-20.  That would be the final score of the game.

It’s not fair to place the entire burden of the loss on Ben Roethlisberger’s sore shoulders.  Afterall, it was coach Tomlin who allowed him to start despite missing practice most of the week.  It was Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians who had Roethlisberger launch 42 passes with a sore shoulder.  Most of those passes were off-target or fell woefully short of the intended receiver.  I could see that as a spectator.  Why couldn’t the Steelers coaching staff see as much?

History has shown us that Big Ben is a warrior, and he is willing to play through injuries.  However, history has also shown us that Ben usually plays badly while hurt.  Does anyone remember the awful 2006 season when Roethlisberger came back too soon from a motorcycle accident and an emergency appendectomy?  Sure, it was courageous of him to try to be there for his teammates.  But after throwing his 200th interception (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit), Coach Cowher should have benched him and let Charlie Batch play until Ben was fully recovered.  The same is true this year.  An injured Ben Roethlisberger is an ineffective Ben Roethlisberger.  When will the Steelers’ coaching staff learn that lesson?

On two separate occasions this season, Byron Leftwich has come into the game and been more effective than Big Ben.  That is not to say that Leftwich is better than Roethlisberger.  He’s not.  But Byron Leftwich at 100% is better than Ben Roethlisberger at 80%.

While Big Ben’s ego may not like the idea of being benched temporarily, it is the best decision for his long-term health.  The Steelers have invested a lot of money in their franchise quarterback.  It’s time to start protecting that investment.  And it’s time to stop losing winnable games.

(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment below. Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below. Thanks.)

Subscribe in a reader