Steelers Today - A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

September 25, 2009
By Donald Starver

This is an important week in the AFC North.  All four AFC North teams will be facing opponents from within the division.  The Steelers play the Bengals, and the B******* R***** play the Cleveland Browns.  So this weekend will have an important impact on the final outcome of the season.  After all, the most important games are division games.

Following last week’s loss to the Chicago Bears, I heard many Steelers fans say things like “The Steelers will turn it around next week with an easy win over the Bengals”.  My response to that is that the team needs to be very careful.  Anytime you take an opponent for granted, it can become a trap game.

Sure, the Steelers have beaten the Bengals 5 consecutive times, and swept the season series against them in both 2007 and 2008.  However, this is 2009, and the Bengals look like a team on the rise.

The Bengals are 1-1, and are tied with the Steelers for 2nd place in the AFC North (1st place is held by that purple team that shall not be named).

Last week, the Bengals lit up the scoreboard in a 31-24 win over the Green Bay Packers.  Carson Palmer tossed 3 touchdown passes, and Cedrick Benson rushed for 141 yards (Yeah, THAT Cedrick Benson.  I couldn’t believe it either).

Both the Steelers and the Bengals seem to be playing in a bizarro universe where everything is reversed. 

In most years, if I were to tell you that one of these two teams ran the ball 34 times for 151 yards while the quarterback only threw 23 times for 185 yards, you would likely assume that I was talking about the Steelers.  Similarly, if I were to tell you that one of the teams has shown a pass-happy offense and has struggled to establish their running game, you would generally think I was talking about Carson Palmer and the Bengals.  However, that would be in most years, but not in this strange bizarro 2009 season.

This season, the Steelers are ranked #7 in the NFL in passing while the formerly pass-happy Bengals are ranked #23 in passing.  Contrarily, the historically run-oriented Steelers are ranked 28th in the league in rushing while the Bengals are ranked 12th. 

Things are just as abnormal on the defensive side of the ball.  The Bengals lead the NFL in sacks, while the Blitzburgh defense has only 3 sacks.  The Steelers sack tandem of James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley have a grand total of zero sacks between them.  That’s right, zero.  Meanwhile, the Bengals’ Antwan Odom had 5 sacks last week against the Packers, and he leads the NFL with 7 sacks for the season.

Are you starting to see why I am baffled, and feel like I am living in an alternate reality where everything is reversed?

Despite their success over the Bengals for the last few years, the Steelers have to remember that Carson Palmer has battled injuries over the last few years and is finally back at full health.  When he was healthy, Palmer led the Bengals to their first AFC North championship ever.  So their offense should not be taken lightly.

Their once porous defense has also been upgraded.  The Bengals drafted former USC linebacker Rey Maualuga, and he is already having an impact.  Maualuga had a sack and forced 2 fumbles in last week’s game.  The Bengals also get back another USC linebacker, Keith Rivers, who missed most of last season when he suffered a broken jaw at the hands of Hines Ward.  Rumor has it that Rivers is looking for some payback on Ward.

Sunday’s game will be played in Cincinnati at Paul Brown Stadium, so the Bengals will have the home field advantage.  Fortunately, Steeler Nation always infiltrates the Bengals home and  transforms Cincinnati to Pittsburgh, Ohio.  Once the Steelers take the lead, Bengals fans usual go completely silent, and the game sounds more like a home game for the Steelers.

Since the world as we know it seems to be turned upside down, perhaps the Cleveland Browns will defeat that Purple team that we choose not to mention, and the Steelers might emerge from this weekend tied for first place in the AFC North.  But of course, the Steelers have to beat the Bengals.  And that won’t be as easy as it’s been in the past.

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Recently, the Cleveland Browns’ blog No Logo Needed asked blogger from all 32 NFL teams to write a season preview for their respective teams.  I was asked to write the preview for the Pittsburgh Steelers.   Here is the article that I submitted.  I hope that I made Steeler Nation proud.

Team:  Pittsburgh Steelers

Head Coach:  Mike Tomlin (3 years)

2008 regular season record: 12-4 (AFC North Champs)

Key players lost:  CB Bryant McFadden, WR Nate Washington, ILB Larry Foote, QB Byron Leftwich, S Anthony Smith.

Despite the losses, the Steelers should actually emerge as a better team than they were in 2008.  Byron Leftwich and Anthony Smith were both backups.  Bryant McFadden and Larry Foote were both splitting playing time with players of equal or greater talent.  Nate Washington was the Steelers’ #3 receiver, so he won’t be as difficult to replace as Hines Ward or Santonio Holmes would have been.

Key players acquired in free agency:  CB Keiwan Ratliff, WR Shaun McDonald, RB Stefan Logan.
As usual, the Steelers didn’t really participate in the free agent market.  Instead, they let other teams battle for the overpriced free agents, and then pick and choose from the leftovers to find potential contributors at a bargain price.

Top storylines in 2009:  Just like in 2008, and 2007, and ….oh nevermind….. the top story in 2009 is the offensive line.  The Steelers have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.  Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked over 100 times over the past 2 years.  They may be the only team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl despite having one of the worst o-lines in the league.  Will the offensive line be able to keep Big Ben alive, or will Roethlisberger be carried off the field in a body bag?

Key strengths on offense:  Despite being a run-oriented team, the Steelers actually have some of the best passing weapons in the NFL.  Big Ben is an elite quarterback.  Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes make up a tandem of wide receivers who have both been Super Bowl MVPs.  And tight end Heath Miller is one of the best (and most under-utilized) in the NFL.

Key weaknesses on offense:  The offensive line.  Duh!

Key strengths on defense:  Ummmm, the Steelers have had the top defense in the NFL since………forever.  They have NOTHING BUT strengths.

Key weaknesses on defense:  You’re kidding, right?

Expectations for 2009:  The Steelers should be an even better team in 2009 than in 2008.  Their defense should be even better with the insertion of LB Lawrence Timmons in place of Larry Foote.  Their punting game will be better with the return of Dan Sepulveda.  The Steelers’ kickoff and punt return also looks to be heading in a better direction.  The strong just got stronger.

Prediction for 2009:  Super Bowl champs again.  In Pittsburgh, any other result is a disappointment.

So, that’s what I wrote for his blog.  Do you Steelers fans agree or disagree?

Also, I read the introduction that Don Delco, the writer for No Logo Needed wrote for my piece.  I got a laugh out of the comment that a Cleveland Browns fan yelled to the Browns’ defensive linemen at training camp about beating the Steelers.  I suggest that you go to his blog and read it.  It is definitely worth seeing how Browns fans feel about us.

Also, if you read the comments that were left about the article, one Browns fan says that Browns fans feel the same way about beating the Steelers as Ohio State fans feel about beating Michigan; even if they have a losing season, beating the Steelers makes all of the other losses acceptable (It’s too bad the Browns haven’t beaten the Steelers since the 60′s….Or maybe it just seems like it’s been that long).

Let’s show this Browns blog the power of Steeler Nation.  Let’s go over there and take over his blog the same way that Steelers fans take over opponent’s stadiums.  Let’s leave some “Here we go Steelers” comments to let them know that Steeler Nation is in the house.

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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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It’s Sunday morning, and I can’t wait until game time. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to arrive.

The weather forecast for Pittsburgh calls for temperatures in the 20′s, but later in the game, the wind chill should make it feel like 18 degrees. That’s perfect Steelers weather. The team has been practicing outdoors this week to acclimate themselves to the conditions. Everybody is healthy, and the Black and Gold is ready to kick some Charger butt.

On the other hand, the Chargers come limping into Heinz Field. LaDainian Tomlinson isn’t going to play. Antonio Gates is hurt (although he is going to play). And Darren Sproles is about to find out that running against the Steelers is a lot more difficult than running against the Colts.

That leaves Philip Rivers as the Chargers’ best hope for victory. Rivers is the NFL’s highest rated quarterback. However, he had his worst game against the Steelers.

Rivers, who was born in Alabama, played all of his childhood football through high school in the warm climate of Alabama. He went to college at North Carolina State, where he played in warm southern temperatures. After college, he went directly to the Chargers and their tropical southern California environment. So basically, we have a kid who has never had to shovel a driveway, has probably never built a snowman, and probably doesn’t own a good pair of winter boots, being called upon to lead the Chargers to victory in chilly winter conditions. That’s like asking an African lion to join a pack of polar bears on a walrus hunt. He’s going to be completely out of his element, and probably won’t excel.

Kickoff is at 4:45PM ET. It’s going to be a good one.

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

In other news, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Tennessee Titans yesterday 13-10. I predicted that was going to happen here (scroll all the way down to the end of the article).  I never root for the Ravens.  Never.  In fact, few things make me happier than seeing the Ravens lose.  But on this occasion, I wanted the Ravens to win.  The Steelers had a tough time against the Titans.  Contrarily, we’ve beaten the Ravens twice this season.  Given the choice, I’d rather play the Ravens.

I know that some Steelers fans will say that we shouldn’t avoid tough challenges.  Others will say that we should want to play the Titans so we can get revenge for their little towel stomping episode.  To all of that, I say “phooey”.  This is not the time to be proud.  This is the time to be pragmatic. 

I don’t care about revenge.  At least not right now.  Yes, the Titans did stomp on a Terrible Towel.  And they’re going to pay for that.  But not now.  Now is not the time for that.  The only thing that matters right now is winning another Lombardi Trophy.  And in my opinion, playing the Ravens is a more favorable path to that goal. 

If we played the Titans, we would have to play in their house.  But now that the Titans are eliminated, any opponent that we play leading up to the Super Bowl will have to come to our house.  If we can take care of business today, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Heinz Field.  That’s huge.

So bring on the Chargers.  And if things go the way that they should, bring on the Ravens.  In our house.  Beating the Ravens 3 times in the same season will be sweet.  Real sweet.

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January 9, 2009
By Donald Starver

This Sunday, the San Diego Chargers will make their second trip of the season to Heinz Field to face the Pittsburgh Steelers.  In the first game, the Steelers defeated the Chargers 11-10 in one of the strangest games in recent memory.

Several things made that game strange, first of which was the score.  It was the first time in NFL history that a game had ever ended with a score of 11-10.  The second oddity was the discrepancy between the on-field statistics and the final score.  The Steelers dominated the time of possession with 36:31 versus only 23:29 for San Diego.  They dominated total yardage 410-218.  They had 24 first downs versus only 16 for the Chargers.  Big Ben passed for 308 yards and had a 96.4 passer rating, while Philip Rivers was held to only 164 yards passing, and a 44.4 passer rating.  Willie Parker rushed for 115 yards, while LaDainian Tomlinson was held to only 57 yards.  Hines Ward had 124 receiving yards, while the Chargers leading wide receiver had only 29 receiving yards.  Yet, despite Pittsburgh’s clear dominance, the Chargers were leading with 30 seconds left in the game.  It took a field goal by Steelers’ kicker Jeff Reed with 15 seconds remaining in the game to salvage a Steelers’ victory.  Huh?  (Cue Twilight Zone music).

One of the key reasons for the discrepancy between the statistical results and the final score was the officiating.  Despite playing at Heinz Field, the Steelers didn’t get any home cooking from the referees.  In fact, the refs called 13 penalties on the Steelers for 115 yards.  Contrarily, the Chargers were penalized only 2 times for 5 yards.  Yeah, that will ruin an otherwise dominant performance.

Coming into this game, neither team has reason to feel overconfident.  The Chargers must remember how they got absolutely manhandled by the Steelers.  The Chargers’ defense couldn’t stop the Steelers from running the ball or throwing the ball.  The Chargers’ offense was equally impotent.  Philip Rivers was sacked twice and threw two interceptions on his way to a whopping 164 yards passing.  LaDainian Tomlinson was held to only 57 yards rushing on 18 carries.  Ouch!  That’s got to be fresh in their minds.

Despite dominating statistically, the Steelers can’t feel particularly positive about that game either.  The Chargers’ defense kept the Steelers’ offense out of the endzone for the entire game.  The Steelers’ offensive futility could be summarized by one play.  The Steelers had a fourth and goal from inside the Chargers’ 1 yard line.  Rather than kick the field goal, the Steelers chose to go for it.  The Chargers stopped Mewelde Moore cold and took over on downs.  Though they weren’t able to contain the Steelers’ offense, the Chargers “D” got stops when they absolutely needed them.

Additionally, the Steelers have to remember all of the mental mistakes that they made during that game.  The referees weren’t bribed by the Chargers.  The Steelers made mental errors that cost them 115 yards in penalties.  It’s hard to win in the NFL with that many penalties, regardless of how dominantly a team may be playing.

The Steelers left that game with a win, but it didn’t feel particularly good.  It probably felt the same as kissing your sister.  It was a win, but it was certainly nothing to be proud of.

So now, the two teams will meet again.  Both will want to make amends for their earlier performance.  The Chargers know that history is not in their favor.  They have played the Steelers in Pittsburgh 13 times in their teams’ regular season history.  They have left Pittsburgh with a loss all 13 times.  Strangely though, the Chargers have faced the Steelers in Pittsburgh twice in the playoffs, and they’ve won both games.  Go figure.

The weather will not be on San Diego’s side.  The forecast calls for temperatures in the 20′s, with a chance of snow.  Not ideal conditions for a team from southern California.

To make matters worse, the Chargers are likely to be without LaDainian Tomlinson.  Tomlinson is reported to have a groin tear.  While he has not officially be scratched from the game, it is highly unlikely that he will play.  Additionally, tight end Antonio Gates is also battling injuries.  He was questionable for the Chargers’ game last week against the Colts, but ended up playing.  The same is likely to hold true this week.  Gates will play, but he won’t be at his best.  That’s good news for the Steelers, but terrible news for the Chargers.

All is not lost though for the San Diego Chargers.  They still have Philip Rivers at quarterback.  Rivers ended the season as the NFL’s highest rated quarterback.  Rivers threw for twice as many touchdown passes as Ben Roethlisberger while also throwing fewer interceptions.  The kid’s pretty good.

Despite being without LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers can call upon capable backup Darren Sproles.  Sproles had 328 all-purpose yards in last week’s win over the Colts.  Sproles is short (5’6″) and quick, and presents a totally different challenge than LaDainian Tomlinson.  Don’t be fooled by his small stature.  Sproles plays much bigger than he actually is.  Additionally, he’s got a low center of gravity, and he can change directions much faster than his bigger defenders.

The Chargers enter the game as one of the hottest teams in the NFL.  They’ve won 5 straight games, and are averaging 34.4 points during that stretch.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Chargers are a team on the rise.  They ended the season as the 25th ranked defense in the NFL.  Not overly impressive.  However, since Ron Rivera took over as defensive coordinator in the middle of the season, the Chargers’ defense has become much more aggressive.  Remember, this defense denied the Steelers a single touchdown last time they met.

Just as the Chargers would like to avenge their last game against the Steelers, the Steelers also want to make amends.  Last time they faced the Chargers, they got inside the Chargers’ 20 yard line 3 times, and failed to score a touchdown each time.  They know that they have to score touchdowns in order to win this time.

“We moved the ball, but we sputtered in the red zone”, said Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.  “We can’t afford to do that.  We can’t turn the ball over.  The big thing is we can drive up and down the field, but we have to be able to put the ball in when we get down there”.

That game was not the only game in which the Steelers’ offense has sputtered.  In seven games against teams that made the playoffs this year, the Steelers managed only 8 touchdowns.    That is not good enough for a team with hopes of winning a Super Bowl.

“There’s no hocus-pocus or secret formula for getting the ball in the end zone,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.  “We’ve got to execute better.  We’ve got to put our guys in a better position to capitalize on field position”.

The Steelers’ offensive woes come from three sources.  Firstly, the offensive line has been suspect all year long.  Many felt that the Steelers’ offensive line needed a complete overhaul after last season when they allowed Big Ben to be sacked 290 times (okay, maybe not THAT many times, but it was still too many).  Many Steelers fans were disappointed when the offensive line wasn’t addressed more aggressively during the draft and free agency.

The second problem has been Willie Parker.  Fast Willie has battled a series of injuries this season, and hasn’t resembled the back who led the NFL in rushing last year before breaking his leg.

The third, and definitely most important problem has been Big Ben.  Roethlisberger’s performance this year can best be described as “inconsistent”.  Roethlisberger threw for 17 TDs and 15 INTs, and ended up with a passer rating of 80.1.  That’s just not good enough for a $100 million dollar franchise quarterback.  Moreover, Roethlisberger was sacked 46 times.  That’s second worst in the NFL.  Some of that was attributable to the aforementioned offensive line, but some of it was also attributable to Ben.  Ben has a tendency to hold on to the ball too long in an effort to make the big play.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes……….

Roethlisberger is coming off a concussion suffered in the Steelers’ season finale against the Cleveland Browns.  The Steelers medical staff has cleared Ben to play on Sunday, but I’m sure all of Steeler Nation will be watching Ben for any sign of lingering effects from the concussion.

So the Steelers will send their 22nd ranked offense against the Chargers’ 25th ranked defense.  That’s a pretty even battle.  Pathetic, but even.  Fortunately, the Steelers have an ace in the hole.

Whenever the Steelers offense has struggled, their #1 ranked defense has been able to pull out a win.  While the Steelers offense may be evenly matched against the Chargers’ defense, the Chargers’ offense should be no match for the Steelers’ defense.  This is especially true with Tomlinson out, and Gates at less than 100%.

NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison and the rest of the Steelers defense should be able to contain the Chargers offense, and give Mike Tomlin his first playoff victory as a head coach.

Next up, the Baltimore Ravens (yes, I am predicting a Ravens victory over the Titans).

For more information on the Steelers-Chargers playoff game, please read our Steelers-Chargers Playoff Key Match-ups, which can be found here.

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