Steelers - Jags Guest Post : The Dog Weighs In

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.

Post Mortem

Well, I can't say I didn't expect this. I always like to believe this team is going to win. I told my wife on our drive to the shore this weekend that I thought....really thought....that we were going to lose. It pains me to even type that. I never get that feeling. I was confident during the entire run of 2005. Sometimes you just get a feeling that you can't shake, and man, I had a bad feeling about this one. I feared the special teams all week and correctly so. I feared Najeh not getting it done all week and correctly so. The one thing I feared that I didn't need to fear was the left tackle position. Trai Essex did his part in my opinion. Pressure continues to flow up the middle like me peeing after a six pack...forcefully. It's embarrassing that since Ray Mansfield played center we haven't felt pressure up the gut like this. Ben looked shell shocked at times and with good reason. Can you imagine if for one game he wasn't running for his life after "hut"? I wouldn't know how to act. On to the random thoughts:

I rewatched the kickoff return about 10 times on NFL.com. At 1:14 of the game clip, there is a clip on Ike Taylor. I have to also say that starting at 1:11 or so, Ike doesn't look that inspired to make the tackle in the first place. The thing that bothers me most about the clip is that the guy I watched the game with (knowledgeable football fan C-Mo) said "Clip!" at the same time I saw it so we weren't making things up - furthermore, the ref was facing it when it happened and it was within 8 feet of the guy with the ball. Shrugs.

On the Jags first offensive touchdown - Tyrone Carter was as worthless as hot women at a Priest's convention. Watch the replay.

On Garrard's run on 4th and 2, see comments above about Ty Carter. I like his intensity, but a safety needs to stay under control and not get juked so easily! DAMN!

The worst thing that happened in this game occurred when on 3rd and 6, needing maybe 1 or 2 first downs to secure the game, some AssHat called a QB run...wide. Wait, WHAT? WHAT? Are you kidding me? Hines Ward was making tough inside catches the entire game you flaming idiot! What the HELL did you just do to my season? You giant ASSHOLE!

There, I feel much better now. Quit trying to friggin' out think the other team and get the first down!!! Why do teams curl up in the fetal position at these crucial junctures in games? We were moving the ball at will late in the game, and now, with Najeh at 14 rushes for 21 yards, we run him TWICE to make it 16 for 26 and then run Ben? Maybe if he got 5.5 yards I wouldn't be so bitter, but he got 1 yard. 1. One. Uno.

Dan Sepulveda - I have been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for a 50 yard boot this year....just a friggin' crushing punt when we need one. If we ever needed one, it was right after the AssHat called the QB keeper on 3rd and 6. Instead, you put up a very pedestrian 40 yarder with no pressure in your grill. Sigh. Thanks. I think the second the punt was caught I muttered "game over".

Ben.....Ben, Ben, Ben,.....Ben. BEN! In this game you looked like Terry Bradshaw on the first drive and near the end of the game - but I swear I saw a little Mark Malone in the middle. I know with so many starters out and your main weapon to boot that you felt a lot of pressure to carry the team. It's just that the second pick to Mathis didn't make a bit of sense. I can forgive the first and third to some degree.....but the second Mathis pick was a B-A-D decision.

I'm sick of Najeh Davenport. I need to know what I'm getting out of my power back each week. I can't get inspired one week and lethargic the next. I've been complaining about this for weeks.

Can I please have the head of the Special Teams coach on my desk Monday morning? First thing? Thanks.

I'm sorry, but I just don't think Sean Mahan held that dude on the 2 pt conversion. I'm not a fan and he's a big reason Ben got clobbered this year - but he didn't hold that guy.

I'm done. Enjoy the playoffs. I love to root for the AFC but I'd also like to Favre get another ring. I just don't think they're good enough as a team to accomplish the feat. Predictions later in the week.

Jacksonville Jaguars

I want to win today. I want Coach Tomlin to get a playoff win and build momentum towards next year. I think we are way too injured as a team to entertain thoughts of getting out of the Divisional round of the playoffs. I think if we can somehow get pressure on Garrard today, we can win the game. I think if he has time to sit back and find his targets, we won't. The other major factor will be Najeh Davenport. Will we get 120 inspired yards, or will he fall down the moment he is touched? We must not give up big kick returns and we can't turn the ball over on our chances. That's a lot of variables, but it's possible. What I would like to go on record saying is that if we lose tonight to the Jagoffs, I will be rooting for them to come out of the AFC playoffs and into the Super Bowl. Why not? They play our style of football and would have beaten us twice....at home. We'll see. I'll also say this, if our team was even 90% healthy, I'd give us a fair shot at winning it all. I just think our injuries and lack of solid depth on the offensive line is going to kill us - or get Ben killed anyway. Enjoy the game.

Not Surprised - Jags Are For Real

My goodness, what a defense. I think we have more talent on our team and Ben was rusty - but we got beat last night. In my old age, I can look at this game and not get that upset. I think if we played them at home tomorrow, we would win. The thing is - they've now beaten us two years in a row. Should we face them in the playoffs, they won't be intimidated by us at all....not one little bit, nosireebob. All we need to do is beat Cincy next week and we're 2-1 and looking OK. I don't want to be 1-2 but it's very early in the season and we knew we had a killer schedule coming out of the gate. Some things I noticed last night: maybe Ben should have sat and they would have had a long time to prepare a plan for Charlie (good point Dog!), we can't seem to tackle those short hitch passes very well when it's 1-on-1. Ike got beat by that against Miami and DeShea was getting schooled last night. Santonio looked confused at least twice last night, especially on the one pick. Not much pressure. No running game. At least we covered punts and kickoffs. Can't say the defense played poorly, but i was surprised at the lack of good tackling from Ty Carter. Troy is hurt and banged up, but Carter took bad angles and missed several tackles - the one surely giving up the 2nd field goal. Chidi time? It's not even that the offense played terrible, it's just that Jax plays the same aggressive in-your-face defense that we do. I would have bet the farm that we could muster more than 26 yards on the ground. I'm not going to panic though. Let's give Ben a full week of healthy practice and come after those "Who Dey?" guys. Remember, all we need to do is make the playoffs. Heinz hasn't been kind to us at home in January!