Steelers Today - A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

January 29, 2009
By Donald Starver

We are (finally) getting closer to the big game.  Time seems to go in slow motion in the two weeks between the AFC/NFC Championship games and the Super Bowl.  I could swear that the Steelers-Ravens AFC Championship game happened about a month ago.

With only 3 days remaining until kickoff, it’s time to look at the key matchups that will probably determine the outcome of the Super Bowl.  However, before reading this, you may want to check out our Super Bowl Preview.  In that article, we break down the Steelers-Cardinal’s meeting from last season (that the Cardinals won 21-14), and we outline why this year’s meeting will be different.

So, without further ado, here are this week’s key matchups:

Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald vs. Steelers CB Ike Taylor
Ike usually lines up on the opposite side of the field than where Fitzgerald normally does.  However, whenever the Steelers play a team with a world-class wide receiver (Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, etc.), they typically have Ike Taylor shadow him, regardless of where he lines up.  The Steelers have a tremendous amount of confidence in Ike Taylor and his abilities.  Ike has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL for several years, and he still doesn’t get the credit that he deserves.

Everyone has been anointing Larry Fitzgerald as the greatest receiver in the universe lately, and admittedly, he has been phenomenal during the playoffs.  However, Ike Taylor is going to pose a different challenge than Larry has faced recently.   Most cornerbacks in the NFL tend to be small and fast.  Ike Taylor is BIG and fast.  While Larry Fitzgerald is 6’3″, Taylor is 6’2″, and will be able to look Fitzgerald directly in the eyes.  Moreover, Taylor is faster than Fitzgerald.  Much faster.  Fitzgerald has been praised for his amazing leaping ability.  Throughout the playoffs, he has consistently jumped higher than his defenders and come down with the ball.  Leapin’ Larry’s 38 inch vertical is indeed impressive.  Unfortunately (for Larry), Ike Taylor’s measured vertical is 40 inches.  So Fitzgerald will be going against a corner who is just as big as he is, but who can run faster and jump higher.

I know everyone has already crowned Larry Fitzgerald as the king of this Super Bowl, but I’m going to disagree with the crowd.  Ike Taylor is going to show the rest of the world what Steelers’ fans already know.  He won’t be able to shut Fitzgerald down completely, nobody can do that.  But he won’t get abused by him either.  Advantage: Neither.

Steelers center Justin Hartwig vs. Cardinals’ tackle Darnell Dockett
As we wrote in our Super Bowl Preview, the Cardinals’ win over the Steelers last year was partially due to the dominant performance that Darnell Docket had over former Steelers’ center Sean Mahan.  Dockett owned Mahan.  He spent almost the entire game in the Steelers’ backfield.  He also recorded 2.5 sacks on Ben Roethlisberger.   That is probably one of the reasons why Justin Hartwig was brought in to replace Mahan.

Steelers guard Chris Kemoeatu will help Hartwig with Dockett.  Together, they should be able to keep the 2007 Pro Bowler from repeating the performance he had last year against the Steelers.  Advantage: Cardinals.

Steelers CB Bryant McFadden vs. Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin
There’s been so much talk about Larry Fitzgerald during these playoffs that everyone seems to be forgetting the Cardinals’ other wide receiver, Anquan Boldin.  You know, the other Cardinals wide receiver who will also be starting in the Pro Bowl.  Boldin hasn’t been utilized as much during the playoffs as he was during the regular season (and he let Cardinals’ offensive coordinator Todd Haley know that he doesn’t appreciate that fact).

Boldin will be matched up against his former Florida State teammate Bryant McFadden.  Having practiced against one another in college, these two should be pretty familiar with one another.  In his first year as the Steelers’ starting CB, McFadden quickly proved how effective he can be.  He rarely gets beat, and is very physical.  I’m going to give the nod in this matchup to Boldin only because he’s a Pro Bowl starter.  Advantage: Cardinals.

Steelers WR Santonio Holmes vs. Cardinals CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
Everyone is talking about Larry Fitzgerald vs. Ike Taylor, but the more meaningful WR/CB battle may prove to be Santonio Holmes versus Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.  Last year when these two teams met, Holmes torched the Cardinals for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He actually had more receiving yardage and touchdowns than Larry Fitzgerald had in that game.

Rogers-Cromartie is a young, brash, athletic rookie who has really helped the Cardinals’ secondary.  He is going to get even better as he matures.  But right now, he is not good enough to stop Santonio Holmes.  Advantage: Steelers.

Steelers TE Heath Miller vs. Cardinals S Adrian Wilson
This should prove to be another interesting matchup.  Heath Miller has probably the best hands on the Steelers team after Hines Ward.  He never drops the ball.  I mean NEVER.  Miller could (and should) be in the same category as Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates.  Unfortunately, the Steelers seem to be allergic to throwing him the ball.  When it is thrown to him, Heath always catches the ball, and after the catch he seems to drag tacklers at least ten additional yards following their initial contact.

When Miller comes into the seam of the Cardinals defense, he will be met by safety Adrian Wilson.  Wilson is best known by casual fans for his YouTube video in which he jumps over a 66 inch high bar.  But beyond being a physical freak, Wilson is actually a very good safety.  He will be an NFC starter in this year’s Pro Bowl.

Both of these players are so good that it’s hard to pick one over the other.  Advantage: Neither.

Steelers NT Casey Hampton vs. Cardinals center Lyle Sendlein
This matchup features two University of Texas alums going at it.  However, it is a Longhorn reunion that Lyle Sendlein would probably rather have avoided.  Sendlein is a competent, but not spectacular center who is in his first year as a full-time starter.  “Big Snack” is going to eat the poor kid alive.  If I were Sendlein, I’d load up my pockets with Krispy Kreme donuts and offer one to Hampton before each snap.  That won’t stop Hampton from running him over, but it will at least give him a brief reprieve while Hampton chews.  Advantage: Steelers.

Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley versus RT Levi Brown
Levi Brown and LaMarr Woodley came out of college the same year, Brown from Penn State, and Woodley from Michigan.  As Big Ten Alum, they’re used to going up against one another.  Only this time, it is in the Super Bowl.  Brown was the more highly touted player coming out of college.  He was the 5th overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft, and some scouts thought he was as good or better than Browns’ tackle Joe Thomas.  Woodley slipped to the second round in that same draft.

Fast forward one year, and while Brown is a starting right tackle on a Super Bowl team, he has not been spectacular.  Woodley, on the other hand, has turned into a sack machine.  He is strong enough to bull rush his opponent, and fast enough to go around them.  In this battle of Penn State vs. Michigan, go with Michigan.   Advantage: Steelers.

Steelers LB James Harrison vs. Cardinals LT Michael Gandy
James Harrison is the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.  Gandy is a journeyman left tackle who is playing for his third NFL team.  That just about sums it up.  Advantage: Steelers.

Steelers CB DeShea Townsend vs. Cardinal WR Steve Breaston
The Cardinals usually have an advantage when they go to Steve Breaston.  Breaston is a #3 receiver who is good enough to start for most NFL teams.  However, the Cardinals have two Pro Bowl starting receivers, so Breaston is stuck at #3.  Most opponents don’t have a #3 cornerback who is good enough to stick with Breaston.  The Steelers do.  DeShea Townsend has been the Steelers’ starter since…….well, I’m not sure how long it’s been, but I’m pretty sure that he played alongside Mel Blount.  Townsend lost his starting position this year to Bryant McFadden only after Townsend got injured.  McFadden played so well that he never gave up the starting spot when Townsend returned.  But Townsend is still starter quality.  Just like Breaston.  Advantage:  Neither. 

Steelers safety Troy Polamalu vs. Everybody
Troy Polamalu isn’t your usual safety.  If he were an ordinary safety, we’d probably be doing a matchup of him versus a tight end or wide receiver, or even a running back coming out of the backfield.  But this is Troy Polamalu we’re talking about.  Troy’s position defies definition.  He’s called a “safety”, but he’s really a cornerbackertacklesafety.  He plays all over the place.  That’s why Troy will be matched up with just about everyone on the Cardinals’ team at some point during the game.  Regardless of who he goes up against, my money’s on Troy.    Advantage: Steelers.

Steelers LB Lawrence Timmons vs. Kurt Warner
It’s going to take a group effort to slow down Kurt Warner. However, I know that Lawrence Timmons is going to play a key role in whatever formula Dick LeBeau concocts. Timmons is insanely fast, and will probably replace Larry Foote quite often to help drop back and cover the seams in the defense that Warner is so good at finding. Timmons has the speed to cover a tight end (or even a WR) one-on-one. He can also close so quickly that any opening that Warner sees will quickly be shut. Timmons may well be one of the most valuable non-starters in the NFL. Advantage: Cardinals.

Cardinals’QB Kurt Warner vs. Steelers defense
This is going to be a good battle.  The NFL’s top pass defense against the NFL’s #2 passer (in yardage).  It is going to take the whole Steelers defense to stop Warner.  That’s because Warner reads defenses so well, and gets rid of the ball so fast.  Warner is a former league MVP, so he has to be respected.  But he’s not Superman.  Warner can be sacked.  He’s already been sacked 26 times this season.

To get to Warner, the Steelers are going to need a group effort.  James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley are going to have to provide heavy pressure from the edges.  Simultaneosly, the cornerbacks are going to have to play the Cardinals’ receivers close to the line and make early contact to redirect them from their intended path.  Warner is a disciplined QB who throws timing patterns where the receiver is supposed to be.  If they get delayed, Warner’s pass will fall incomplete.  The Steelers’ linebackers may not get many sacks on Warner, but their pressure will account for incomplete passes that won’t show up in the box score.  Advantage: Steelers.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger vs. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
I’m sure my readers get tired of hearing me say this, but the Steelers’ fate rest on the shoulders of one man, Ben Roethlisberger.  As Roethlisberger goes, so go the Steelers.  When Big Ben is good, he’s very good.  But unfortunately the inverse is also true; when he’s bad, he’s very bad.

The Steelers don’t need Roethlisberger to play the role of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.  Roethlisberger isn’t that type of quarterback.  He doesn’t carve up defenses with his arm the way those two do.  Instead, we need him to play smart, disciplined football.  If Ben manages the offense and avoids turnovers, the Steelers should win this game pretty easily.

Unfortunately, I’ve been hearing Ben reflecting far too much on his poor play in his first Super Bowl.  Ben really seems to be bothered by that.  I hope he doesn’t try to do too much in order to prove that he can do better than he did last time.  If he does that, he’ll probably press and throw silly interceptions.

Trust me on this one, Ben.  Nobody will care about your stats if your team wins.  Stay within yourself and trust your teammates to make plays.  If you do that, you will go down in history as a great quarterback who won multiple Super Bowls, regardless of what the statistics say.   Advantage: We shall see.

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January 27, 2009
By Donald Starver

A little less than a week to go until the Super Bowl, and I’m already tired of all of the hype. Let’s get it on already!!!

If I had my way, the NFL would eliminate the extra week between the AFC/NFC Championships and the Super Bowl. In my opinion, two weeks is just too much time. Fans get tired of hearing the media rehash the same stories over and over (and over, and over, and over) again. By the way, did you know that Cardinals’ head coach Ken Whisenhunt was once the Steelers offensive coordinator and was passed over for the Steelers’ head coaching job that eventually went to Mike Tomlin? Oh, so you’ve heard that story 97 times today too? Darn, I thought I had a scoop.

Well, since I can’t get a scoop on the Whisenhunt story, I guess I’ll have to write my normal pre-game analysis.

First of all, these two teams aren’t strangers.  They played one another in 2007.  That was both Mike Tomlin’s and Ken Whisenhunt’s freshman years as head coaches.  Whisenhunt’s Cardinals won that game 21-14.

For those who say that the Cardinals don’t have a chance against the vastly superior Steelers, I would remind them that that was exactly what they said last year (when the Cardinals beat the Steelers despite the supposed hopelessness of their cause), and these two teams haven’t changed very much.

So let’s take a look at exactly how the Cardinals beat the Steelers last year, and see if those factors still apply, or if things have changed significantly.

The thing that I remember most about that game was that the Cardinals played “Steeler football” much better than the Steelers did.  They manhandled us.  Everyone expected the Cardinals to be a finesse team, but instead they came out and showed the Steelers just how physical they could be.  They controlled the line of scrimmage, particularly on defense, and imposed their will on the Steelers.  Nobody was surprised that they were able to outplay the Steelers’ offensive line.  Afterall, just about every team dominated the Steelers O-line last year.  But nobody expected the Cardinals to have success against the Steelers’ defense.  Some attributed it to “the Gruden Effect”;  Coach Whisenhunt knew Dick LeBeau’s defense, and was able to game plan against it.  I don’t really buy that theory, but it was suggested by many.

Let’s first look at what happened when the Cardinals were on defense.  Despite a history of being a “smash mouth” football team, the Steelers Offense were the ones who got their mouths smashed.  The Cardinals lived in the Steelers’ backfield.  They sacked Ben Roethlisberger 4 times, and had him on the run plenty more.  It was definitely not a fun day for Mr. Roethlisberger.

Even more telling was the fact that they held the Steelers’ running backs to 52 yards rushing.  That’s right, 52!!!  Willie Parker got 37 yards on 19 carries.  That’s 1.9 yards per carry.  I hate to say this, but that’s not very impressive.  Especially not against a team that was thought to be “soft” prior to the game.

So why did the Cardinals’ defense dominate the Steelers’ offense so effectively?  Well, the biggest reason, in my opinion, was Sean Mahan.  The former Steelers center was absolutely owned by Cardinal’s DT Darnell Dockett.  Dockett was bull rushing Mahan on every play, and Mahan couldn’t hold his position.  Dockett spent more time in the Steelers’ backfield than Willie Parker did.  He was the biggest reason that the Steelers’ running backs couldn’t run the ball.  Moreover, he also harrassed Big Ben all day, and ended up with 2.5 sacks.

That type of performance was Sean Mahan’s trademark, and it’s a key reason why he’s no longer on the team.  The Steelers now have Justin Hartwig, and he is much more stout at the point of attack than Mahan was.  I doubt that Dockett will be quite as effective this time around.

But it wasn’t only Sean Mahan who played poorly.  The entire Steelers offensive line was plagued with penalties.  They had 4 false starts, and 2 holding penalties.  That’s just not going to win you very many games.  Of course, two of those penalties were on Mr. Dependable, Willie Colon.  If there is one thing that Steelers fans can count on, it’s Willie Colon getting called for at least one penalty every game.  You can set your watch by it.

The Steelers offensive linemen weren’t the only ones making mental errors.  The defense also had their share.  Ike Taylor was penalized for taunting.  I know that players get emotional during games, but that’s just not acceptable.  Be a professional.  If you make a good play, go back to the huddle and get ready to make another one.  There’s no need to taunt.

Clark Haggans and Lawrence Timmons both picked up off-sides penalties.  In total, the Steelers were penalized 13 times, while the Cardinals only got 5 penalties.  The official box score says that the Steelers were penalized 11 times, but that’s only because twice the Steelers had two penalties on the same play, and the Cardinals had the luxury of declining the lesser penalty and taking the one that worked most to their advantage.  But regardless of whether there were 11 penalties or 13, either is way too many.  A team that beats themselves with mental errors can’t expect to win a Super Bowl.  I expect Mike Tomlin to have rectified this problem, and to have the Steelers ready to play both physically AND MENTALLY on Sunday.

The other factor that played heavily into the outcome of that game was special teams.  The Cardinals’ Steve Breaston returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown.  That seemed to happen a lot last year.  It almost never happened this year.  That’s another thing that I give Mike Tomlin a lot of credit for.  Special teams has been a weakness for the Steelers since the last 3 years of Bill Cowher’s tenure as coach.  Tomlin has changed it into an actual strength for this year’s team.  The Cardinals shouldn’t count on picking up any free touchdowns due to poor special teams play by the Steelers.

The Steelers were also without Hines Ward during that game.  So even if Hines plays hurt during the Super Bowl, he will contribute more than he did to last year’s loss.  That is a good thing.  Hines is the emotional leader of the team.  His presence on the field means a lot, even if it is in a limited capacity.

Despite missing Hines Ward, Big Ben still passed for 244 yards.  That not a good outing for Drew Brees, but it is a very good outing for Ben Roethlisberger.  Santonio Holmes had 128 yards receiving, and scored two touchdowns.  Unfortunately, Big Ben also threw two interceptions.

On defense, the Steelers were fairly successful.  The special teams touchdown can’t be attributed to the defense, so they actually held the Cardinals to two scores.  The Cards got a rushing touchdown from Edgerrin James, and Kurt Warner threw a touchdown pass to WR Jerheme Urban.

Both Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner played during that game.  The Steelers held the two to a combined 225 yards passing, while sacking each quarterback once.  Kurt Warner tossed for 132 of those yards, and had a QB rating of 99.7.  I’d say he had a pretty good game.

The Steelers did a pretty good job of stopping the run.  The Cardinals rushed for 86 yards on 25 carries.  However, 9 of those yards came from Matt Leinart, so the Steelers held the Card’s running backs to 77 net yards rushing.  The Cards’  longest running play of the game was a mere 9 yards.

The bottom line is that weak offensive line play and mental errors killed the Steelers in a game that they should have won.

So fast forward to this year’s matchup.  What will be different, and what will be the same?

Firstly, the Steelers’ offensive line is not going to let Darnell Dockett build a house in their backfield like he did last year.  Justin Hartwig will see to that.  Hartwig has held his own against much stronger players than Dockett.  I don’t think you’ll be hearing Dockett’s name very often on Sunday.

Secondly, the Steelers won’t kill themselves with stupid penalties.  Sure, Willie Colon and Chris Kemoeatu are each going to get their mandatory stupid penalties.  Probably an off-sides call for Kemo, and a holding call and an off-sides call for Colon.  But beyond that, Mike Tomlin is going to have this team mentally ready.  Unfortunately, even Vince Lombardi couldn’t keep Kemo and Colon from making stupid mistakes.  That’s a sad fact that Steelers fans have just come to accept.

Lastly, the Cardinals will not get a special teams touchdown.  Not on THIS Steelers team.  Not in the Super Bowl.  No way, no how.  You can bet your life on that.

So if the Steelers won’t beat themselves by making the same mistakes that they made last time these two teams played, then what SHOULD we look for in this game?

Everyone is predicting that Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin are going to be the stars of this game.  They are supposedly an unstoppable duo.  When you add in Steve Breaston, the Cardinals may have the deadliest receiving trio in the NFL.  The Cardinals were the 2nd leading passing offense in the NFL this year.

While the Cardinals’ receivers are scary, the Steelers have faced quality receiving corps before.  Let’s look at who they faced in 2008.  They held the tandem of Braylon Edwards and Donte Stallworth to 17 yards on 2 catches.  They held Dallas’ duo of T.O. and Roy Williams to 5 catches for 48 yards.  New England’s duo of Randy Moss and Wes Welker were held to 8 catches for 75 yards.  Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh had 16 catches for 110 yards.  Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison combined for 9 catches for 151 yards.  And finally, the NY Giants’ Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer had 5 catches for 64 yards.  So with the exception of Harrison and Wayne (with the help of a guy named Peyton Manning), the Steelers have stopped some of the most potent receiving corps in the NFL.

Kurt Warner has always been a difficult quarterback to play because he is very experienced and can get rid of the ball quickly.  Warner is very hard to sack because he reads defenses so well.  When defenses try to blitz him, he makes them pay by completing short passes to his receivers or running backs.  Just ask the Philadelphia Eagles.

Fortunately, the Steelers have the top ranked passing defense in the NFL.  The #1 passing defense facing off against the #2 passing offense should make for quite a battle.  The Steelers’ defense was 2nd in the NFL in sacks, so if anyone can get to Kurt Warner, it will be the Steelers.

These two units are pretty evenly matched, and should cancel one another out.  That means that the outcome of the game will probably be determined by the matchup of the Steelers’ offense against the Cardinals’ defense.

The first key is probably going to be the Steelers’ running game.  The Steelers MUST get Willie Parker going if they hope to win.  The Cardinals have a very average run defense, both literally and figuratively.  Literally, the Cardinals were #16 out of 32 teams in 2008, so that makes them very average (and if any of you statistics geeks write in about the “mean” versus the “mode”, I’ll shoot myself).  The Cardinals weren’t particularly stout against the run during the regular season.  However, they seem to have corrected that during the playoffs.  In the NFC wildcard game, they held Atlanta’s Pro Bowl running back Michael Turner to 42 yards rushing.  Next, they held the Carolina Panthers’ duo of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to only 75 yards rushing.  Finally, in the NFC championship game, they held Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter to 66 rushing yards.  Those defensive performances are Steeler-esque.

Steelers’ offensive coordinator Bruce Arians must avoid his tendency of giving up on the run halfway through the first quarter.  Arians is in love with the passing game.  It’s like girl-on-girl porn to him; he can’t seem to get enough of it.  But he has to remember that the running game enables the passing game.  Without a legitimate running threat, the defense can concentrate solely on stopping the pass.  And that is a formula for failure for the Steelers.

But having looked at all of these elements, the truth is that the outcome of this game will probably come down to one factor; the Steelers’ gazillion dollar man.  No silly, not Max Starks.  I’m talking about their OTHER gazillion dollar man, Ben Roethlisberger.

As has become a recurring theme this season, the Steelers’ fate will depend on Big Ben.  The Steelers will go as far as Big Ben takes them.

If “Good Ben” shows up, then the Steelers will probably leave Tampa with their 6th Super Bowl trophy.  “Good Ben” is the Ben Roethlisberger who efficiently manages the game, avoids careless turnovers, and doesn’t take needless sacks.  “Good Ben” was the quarterback who made the Pro Bowl last year, and who had one of the highest QB ratings in the NFL.

Contrarily, if “Bad Ben” shows up, then it could be a long day for the Steelers.  “Bad Ben” is the Ben Roethlisberger who tries to win the game all by himself, holds onto the ball way too long, throws interceptions at the most inopportune times, and doesn’t seem to realize that throwing the ball away is better than taking a sack.  “Bad Ben” was the quarterback who started for the Steelers during most of the 2006 season.

Of course, the Steelers could still win even if “Bad Ben” shows up.  Afterall, they managed to win Super Bowl XL despite Ben recording the lowest QB rating by a winning QB in Super Bowl history.  In that game, Ben had a QB rating of 22.6.  To illustrate just how bad that is, if Ben had spiked the ball after every snap, he would have ended up with a QB rating of 39.6.  Yeah, he played that bad.

So history has shown that the Steelers CAN win with “Bad Ben” at the helm.  Unfortunately, they aren’t likely to.  If “Bad Ben” makes an appearance at Super Bowl XLIII, then Steelers fans may be treated to unpleasant memories of Neil O’Donnell, and the Cardinals should make preparations for a parade in the desert.

From the press conferences, it is clear that Roethlisberger wants to erase the memory of Super Bowl XL.  He seems to be embarassed by that performance, and desparately want to do better this time around.  Hopefully, he won’t try too hard and put undue pressure on himself.

If Ben remains calm and just takes what the Cardinals give him, the Steelers should leave Tampa with a victory.  I fully expect that to happen, and am predicting a 27-14 Steelers win.

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

For even more Super Bowl analysis, please see our Steelers vs. Cardinals Key Matchups which can be found here.

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Note:  This article originally contained the pre-Super Bowl teaser of the ad.  Now that the Super Bowl is past, I have replaced it with the full commercial. So what you will see below is Troy’s new commercial in its entirety.

Troy Polamalu will be debuting a new Coke ad during the Super Bowl.  The ad will be a revision of the Mean Joe Greene Coke ad of the 70′s.  While the two commercials are going to be quite similar, the folks at Coke promise that the new ad will have an unexpected twist.  They’re not telling what that twist will be, so tune in to the Super Bowl to see the mystery revealed.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46M0yciKe7s

For those of you who are too young to remember the original, here it is.

But of course the best version of all was Sesame Street’s parody of the commercial.

Of course, I’m just joking about that last one.  But the original Mean Joe Greene commercial has to be one of the best commercials ever made.  Congratulations to Troy on this great opportunity to represent a great product like Coke during the Super Bowl.

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There is still over a week until the Super Bowl, and I am already tired of talking about it, and tired of waiting for it.  So instead of focusing on the Super Bowl, lets take a moment to reminisce about a great season, and to celebrate an outstanding performance by our beloved Steelers. 

Do you remember back when the Steelers’ schedule was announced, and just about every team we had to play had been in the playoffs the previous year?  Remember how nervous everyone was (including me)?  Do you recall how doomed we all felt when it was announced that our schedule was probably the most difficult schedule in the NFL in the past 25 years?  How were we going to overcome such a tough schedule?  At best, the Steelers might finish 8-8.  At least that’s what people thought.

Do you remember how everyone fretted about the weakness of the offensive line?  After the draft, Steelers fans hammered the Steelers’ front office for not selecting an offensive lineman in every single round of the draft.  And of course, there were those who feared that the Steelers would be completely helpless without the great and powerful Alan Faneca.  What were we going to do without him?  Woe was us.

Some said that Bruce Arians was a terrible offensive coordinator, and that the team would never experience success until Coach Tomlin finally came to his senses and fired Bruce Arians.  There was even a website devoted to that mission.  Yeah, doom and gloom reigned in Steelerland.

But here we are in January 2009, and the Steelers are the AFC champs, and are about to play in (and win) the Super Bowl.  Who’da thunk it?

So let’s take a moment to smell the roses.  Forget about the Super Bowl.  We’ll have plenty of time to talk about that.  Let’s write some reflective haiku to commemorate this season.  It can reflect your joy at being AFC champs, or your sorrow for losing Faneca, or your thoughts on a particular players’ performance this year.  Whatever you want to haiku about, except for next week’s Super Bowl.  That one topic is off limits.

To paraphrase a certain sci-fi move, “all these topics are yours except the Super Bowl.  Attempt no haiku there”.  (Yeah, I’m a geek.  I admit it.  Bonus points to the first person who can identify the movie and line that I’m paraphrasing).

So that’s the assignment.  Remember, a haiku is a 3 line poem.  The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the last line has 5 syllables. 

Here’s my contribution:

Fans had lost their faith
Thought schedule was much too tough
Steelers proved them wrong

Or how about this one:

Harrison was great
Deserved to be MVP
Joey Porter who?

Here’s one more:

Troy with flowing hair
Was just about ev’rywhere
Just ask the Ravens

Okay, your turn.  Start writin’.

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January 22, 2009
By Patrick Cartwright

In the next two weeks, you will hear the same stories repeated, ad nauseum, until you’ll swear that the members of the National Brotherhood of Sportswriters put 5 stories in a hat, and then had each writer step up and pull one out.  That’s the “angle” they get to write about.  They are:

1. Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm were beat out by Mike Tomlin for the head coaching job.
2. The Steelers Defense faces off against the high-flying Cardinals Offense.
3. Anquan Boldin is unhappy in his job (join the club, Anquan).
4. Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, as former assistant coaches for the Steelers, have super secret inside information on them that will undoubtedly help the Cards win the Super Bowl.
5. Larry Fitzgerald is the best receiver in the league.  And did you know he played college ball in Pittsburgh?

All fine stories.  Really, I have no problem reading about them because they’re based in fact and it’s fun to speculate.  My only problem is that by the end of the two-week purgatory that is the wait for the Super Bowl, these stories will not only be stale, they will be growing some sort of green fuzzy mold.  Which is nice, because after two weeks of the same articles, you might need the penicillin.

My favorite storyline hasn’t been reported very much….yet.  I’m sure a few local scribes will grab a hold of it and run like Polamalu after a Flacco interception.  And I’m certain that once ESPN gets wind of the story, there will be a half-hour special about it.  I have seen one or two sources make reference to it, but not many.  It’s a story that is a great one for this Super Bowl and a fantastic nugget of information in NFL and Pittsburgh Steelers history.  The story is that sixty-five years ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals once played a season as the same team.

First a little background:  The Arizona Cardinals were not always from the land of dust and retirement communities.  They started off as the Chicago Cardinals before moving to St. Louis and then eventually Arizona (where they were originally called the Phoenix Cardinals even though they played games in Tempe).  One might also be interested to know that despite a historic lack of success, the Cardinals are the oldest NFL franchise still in existence, first forming in 1898, a full 35 years before the Steelers were purchased for $2500.00 from Art Rooney’s horse track winnings.

How the Steelers and Cardinals formed one team is rooted in necessity, and actually started one year before they merged.  In 1943, the United States was in the midst of World War II, and the majority of young men drafted were going to war, not the football field.  For that reason, the Pittsburgh Steelers, with only six players, and the Philadelphia Eagles, with sixteen, merged for one year to form the “Steagles”, which sounded like a discount furniture store.  Despite the unfortunate moniker, the collaboration went relatively well, resulting in a 5-4-1 record, which was only Pittsburgh’s second winning season since the franchise was founded, and Philadelphia’s first.

One year later, Philadelphia had enough players to form their own team without collaboration.  The Steelers also had enough to field a team, though just barely.  But that wasn’t the main problem.  In 1944, a new franchise, the Boston Yanks, joined the NFL*.  Also rejoining the league was the Cleveland Rams**, which had suspended operations in 1943 due to lack of players and resources.  This left 11 teams in the league, which caused problems in scheduling.  NFL Commissioner Elmer Layden requested that the Steelers and Eagles merge again for another season.  However, Art Rooney would only do so if it was agreed that half of the team’s games would be played in Pittsburgh, which was not acceptable to the Philadelphia Ownership.  The deal fell through.

The Steelers toyed with the idea of merging with the Cleveland Rams, Boston Yanks, and Brooklyn Tigers, but none of them panned out for various reasons.  Finally, Pittsburgh agree to merge with the Chicago Cardinals, a team which went winless the previous season.  They would split home games between Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and Comiskey Park in Chicago.  This solved the NFL’s scheduling problem, and it was hoped that combining the best talent of the two teams would help them win games against the giants of the league like the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.  It didn’t work out quite that way.

Steelers’ founder Art Rooney called them “the worst team in NFL history”, and he might have been right.  The Card-Pitt team, as they were imaginatively called, set several infamous NFL records.  The team did not make a single field goal all season, although they only attempted two of them.  They were outscored 328-108.  (To put that in perspective, the 2008 Detroit Lions, which is probably considered the worst team in modern football history, averaged 16.75 points per game while giving up 30.37.  The ’44 Card-Pitt team scored 10.78 points per game while giving up 32.8, which means they averaged a touchdown less per game on offense, and gave up 2.5 more points per game on defense).  The team threw 8 touchdowns to 41 interceptions in 10 games played.  And in a stat that will make Mitch Berger somewhat relieved, they averaged 32.7 yards per punt, an NFL record for kicking futility that still stands.  It got so bad that the team known as Card-Pitt was routinely referred to as the “Car-Pitts” (carpets), because every other team walked all over them.  Not surprisingly, their record at the end of the season was 0-10.

The experiment failed, and each team went their separate way.  By the start of the next season, the war was all but over, and each city fielded their own independent team.  From there, the Steelers and Cardinals took opposite roads.  The Cardinals turned things around almost immediately, winning the NFL Championship in 1947 (over the Eagles), and making it back to the game but losing to the Eagles in 1948.  Since then, however, the Cardinals have been a somewhat disappointing franchise, qualifying for the playoffs only four times in 64 years and losing all four games until their run this season.  The Steelers continued their mediocrity for the next 28 years, making the playoffs just once until the 1972 season, when a young coach name Chuck Noll turned things around, laying the foundation that eventually led to them being one of the winningest NFL franchises in the last 40 years.

Now, 65 years after the teams merged in order to help keep the NFL alive during the lean years of World War II, they will play on the same field again, as foes, for the NFL Championship.  One thing is certain; the days of the “Car-Pitts” are long over.  Nobody is walking over these two teams.

*The history of the Boston Yanks and how they eventually, through a long and winding road, became the Dallas Cowboys, is another fantastic NFL story.  I’d advise anyone with an interest in NFL history to look up the story of the Yanks and the Brooklyn Tigers/Dodgers, who merged in 1945.

**The first team to abandon Cleveland.  They moved to Los Angeles in the 1940′s, then later to St. Louis.  Three current NFL Franchises, the Rams, Ravens, and Browns all started in Cleveland.

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