Game Recap By Still A Dog:
Big Ben gave us a gutsy 300-yard, 3 TD performance. James "Silverback" Harrison and LaMarr Woodley caved in the Jags pocket in a classic pinser movement. But as I reflect on last night's win in Jacksonville it's the unsung and taken for granted players that made it happen for us.
To start, those guys are Aaron Smith, Darnell Stapleton, and Chris Hoke. Linemen all. You all will remember how our defense crumbled when Smith did not play at the end of last season. And last night you saw how effective Dick LeBeau's defense can be when Aaron Smith comes to work and does his job. Everything Le Beau does with his safeties and linebackers is predicated on rock solid line play. If the line play is weak, all his fancy schemes and stunts are just French pastry.
And that leads me to the next guy who is taken for granted, Chris Hoke. Hoke has filled in time and again for Fat Casey Hampton. When Fat Casey is out of breath Hoke comes in, when Fat Casey is hurt, Hoke comes in, when Fat Casey is in Tomlin's doghouse, Hoke comes in. And in the last two weeks Hoke has more than filled in for Casey Hampton. He has clogged the middle AND made plays in run stop and pass rush that I dare say I haven't seen Hampton make recently. So if strong line play is essential to Le Beau's defense it is Hoke and Smith that are the reason the talking heads are telling you what a great tackler Troy Polamalu is. I don't even think Troy's the best tackler on this defense let alone the NFL. But John Madden (once a Raider always a Raider) is just a windbag anyway. Hoke and Smith do give us the ability to play Polamalu in some unusual situations that an offense is not prepared for.
And on offense, Darnell Stapleton. I watched his play carefully last night and he is better than Kendall Simmons hands down. Why this man was riding the bench when that putrid Simmons started the first 3 games, I'll never know. But I was very pleased with Stapelton's play. He sealed the lane twice which sprung Mewelde Moore on long runs. And it was not his man that got to Big Ben, not once that I saw. And speaking of other things offensive line related that I don't understand, when Marvel Smith went out why did Trai Essex come in? I thought for sure we'd see Max Starks at LT. He finished the season there last year and did a decent job. We pay the man 7 million dollars but we never see him except as a Tight End in the goal line jumbo package? Have we not all seen enough of Starks and Essex to know which is the better Tackle??
I'm starting to take Jeff Reed for granted too. But those who have lived with lesser kickers know how many gray hairs those guys can put on your head... right Still A. Dad? Reed has simply become "money" on his kicks. It's easy to take him for granted but he is mucho important to this teams success.
And finally, a big hats off to Still A Fan for gushing over the signing of Mewelde Moore. He was so excited when we got that guy I was dumbfounded. I knew very little of Moore's work in Minnesota and did not see a great deal of value in the signing. Yes, we definitely needed a punt returner. But I did not see the man running the ball from scrimmage much. On punt returns, I was happy to just see Moore able to catch the ball which was an improvement over the last couple years of special teams play. But I had no idea he'd do so well as a pass catcher and runner out of the backfield! He is a "shifty" back. Where Willie Parker relies on pure speed, Moore has more moves than a pole dancer in Vegas. Combined with Parker for speed, and Dump Truck (in lieu of Mendenhall) for power, he is a great compliment RB to have. And Fan was justified in his exhuberance at the signing.
No bitching about Arians this week. Makes me wonder how much input Roethlisberger had in the play calling. I venture that Big Ben called a lot more of the game than we know and than we've seen to date.
We got a bye week now which we desperately need at this stage of the game. I hope everybody heals up and we can make a run from here. I am very pleasantly surprised at the team so far. As with everything else, time will tell.
