There You Go Again...

Let me tell you something. If Ronald Reagan had been in office during Iran's little episode with the speedboats, Iran would have five less speedboats right now. I'm sure whatever group propagated this is now claiming some kind of victory because they have successfully taunted the infidels with no backlash. These people only understand one thing - violence. Ok, two things, body odor and violence. Wait, can those both be considered violence? Anyway, they are going to mess around with the bull and they should already know what comes next. The horns. It wouldn't surprise me if this little feat was some kind of test run to determine what our counter action would be. the next time they are probably going to plow straight into a ship just like The USS Cole and people are going to die. Bush should put it in writing right now - any speedboat coming within half a mile of one of our ships is going to become part of target practice. 'Nuff said. I'm sure tonight's "news" programs will suggest it was Dick Cheney and his cronies out there in the boats trying to make it look like we're being provoked.

Why Not Ask About 3rd and 6?

This is great. Thanks to Still A South for sending it in. It's nice to hear those accents since I don't get that many out here.

Free Stuff

Ew...I mean really.

The Chin: Redux?

With Joe Gibbs stepping down today, there's a lot of internet chatter that Bill Cowher will be high on Daniel Snyder's list to replace him. Danny Boy has the kind of cash that the Rooney's do not. He could back up the Brinks truck to Cowher's porch and dump the highest coach's salary in the league onto his porch. It's the kind of monetary respect he could have been looking for but was never going to get at home. The thing is......could this coach work for Snyder? I think he wanted complete control of football operations. Snyder will offer that. Gibbs is staying on as a consultant to Snyder. I'm not sure why you need a consultant who went sub .500 over the last 4 years, but whatever. I don't think Bill would come back to his own division and I would prefer him to go to the NFC. While he said he wants to stay in broadcasting at least one more year - we'll see. If he jumps on the money wagon, we'll know it was a crock of poop that he wanted to not coach again until his youngest daughter got out of high school. It would be more about money than the break and time with his family. He threw a little jab at Tomlin over some calls in the game on the show and he secretly may have enjoyed the loss - growing jealous of the love shown Tomlin over his year one success. That's all speculation. I'd like to think that he pulls for the Stillers. Who knows, maybe he'll pull a Gibbs and come back over a decade from now.

Life Lessons

So my daughter likes to watch Deal Or No Deal every once in a while. When she does, I don't mind watching it. I'm fascinated by the greed and stupidity that some people display. As soon as a player crosses the line that I deem rational for them (yes, I am judge and jury) I root against them with all my person. Why? I'm teaching my daughter a valuable lesson. If you were watching earlier this week, a complete nimrod who was either in his late 20's or early 30's was on. He delivered pizza. He lived at home. Looked and acted like a total slacker. He didn't have 2 nickels to rub together. He got down to where he had (and the specifics are a little fuzzy) $250,000, $25,000 and 2-3 smaller numbers. The offer to quit was $126,000. God must have really given this turd a big fat brain because he decided to push ahead and at that moment I was begging for the quarter mil to show up. He deserved it. Here he was, a "man" with nothing, and he was going to tempt fate? How dare he! Now, if said contestant was a lawyer or doctor or successful businessman, maybe $126 large was gambling money - but to Skippy - it could have been a good (late) start on life or he could have paid his mother off for all the free Pop-Tarts and laundry he was scraping. Of course, he got nailed and the offer went down to $15K and change. Apparently that was funny money to him as well because he tempted fate yet again and again fate said "F you, ass clown" as the $25K came up. Does it say something about me that I enjoyed his failure so much? I hope not. I'm sure most people at home root against the people who make poor decisions. It is not by accident that this particular human finds himself in the situation he is in today. I bet his mom threw up a little bit in her mouth when he said "No Deal!" to the delight of the Romans. Poor woman. She deserves better.

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.

Speaking of the AP

Bill Bilermort won the AP Coach of the Year. How in the Mother Hubbard does someone who cheated at their profession turn around and win the best of their profession award? How? How, I ask you? How, How How? What a joke. When you get caught cheating in the Olympics, you get banned and give your medals back. Does anyone else see the injustice here? Furthermore, how many football talking heads will come out against this decision? Probably none, because they would then have no shot to ever interview the genius again. Could someone please remind me why this genius wasn't a genius at Cleveland? If Brady got hit by a truck tomorrow and was done forever - and the Pats won the Super Bowl next year, then I'd think about giving him the stupid award......oh wait, no I wouldn't because he was caught CHEATING the year before!

Uninformed Writers

Who in the Hell writes for the Associated Press these days? Do they just search the internet and cut & paste snippets together that they find without doing any research? I just read this drivel off of a link on NFL.com. It's an article about this potentially being Faneca's last game as a Steeler.

I didn't make it past the first two parts before screaming "BULLSHIT" at the top of my lungs. First, and I quote:

[Few players in Pittsburgh Steelers history have performed as well in a career as Alan Faneca.]

Low-IQ-writer-say-what? Few? Meaning slightly more than a couple? Few? Twenty-Five without question and who knows how many more? I like this one even better:

[Faneca is a team-first player in a sport that has increasingly become me-first]

I think this article was turned in as an assignment for a 1st grade writing class. Are you kidding me? Wouldn't a team first player realize he's over 30, that Troy and Ben and the future of the team need to be signed before him, and if he really enjoyed it here he could stay for less money like Jerome Bettis did....twice. Players all over the league do this now. Manning and Brady have done it. If you want to win Championships, you can make the sacrifice. How much money is enough? If you love being here, put up or shut up. It's not like he didn't get his big contract. He is already on his 2nd, which at the time paid him premier player money. How many star players see a third contract with the same team? I guess if he was in charge, he'd give someone on the down side of their career $20 million dollars guaranteed. Puh-lease!

Geek Weddings

Hmmm, seems to me there is one thing missing from this video....babes! Although I guess I could have picked a montage of babes and remarked that there was a curious absence of Stormtroopers. Ok, I admit that one chick in the middle is pretty hot, but the dude wasn't exactly an uber-geek either. I'm guessing he had money.

One Less Asshole

Hmmm, looks like I need to find a new "person in the NFL I hate most".

Roger Goodell is Smart, Not Nice

I am totally sick and tired of hearing about Roger Goodell's decision to allow the Patriots / Giants game to be simulcast on two other networks. Every sports writer and television wonk is praising him and he's everywhere this week saying the fans deserved to see the game. Mule Fritters! Under the contract, the other networks had to show the same exact commercials that NFL Network was showing! Hello?! They had a commercial for NFL Network at every break - complete with new commercials poking fun at cable companies for not carrying the network and splashing their website iwantnflnetwork.com at the bottom of every self-promoting spot. So please, can we stop pretending this was done out of the Goodness of Goodell's heart? The networks slept with their own Lex Luther in my opinion - high ratings for one night but knowing they were promoting the NFL Network which is a direct competitor. I don't want to make the NFL out to be the bad guy either because from what I've read, they are offering the cable companies a slew of free 30 second spots on telecasts where they are free to keep the money that is generated from them. If the NFL feels like it has the best product out there - why shouldn't they be able to create their own network and make more money off of their games than what they get if they sell the rights to the game to another network? Isn't it the same thing as Firestone tires opening their own stores to make more money off of their tires than the percentage they get from Pep Boys when they resell them? If it's not - then somebody will have to explain the difference to me. They have a product and they want to develop their own method of distribution. Last time I checked, that was legal.

What Happened To Our Defense?

I understand Ben, Troy and Hines didn't play today and they are three of our best players, but week after week, I am more and more upset by our defensive showing. When a 3rd string running back tears us apart like Mr. Ross did today, you have to wonder if it's our players, our player's psyche or our schemes? With the above players dinged and Aaron Smith, Marvel Smith and Willie Parker gone for the year, I really don't know how we will compete with Jacksonville next weekend. I can hear Jack Del Rio firing his troops up right now. If Musa Smith and company can hurt us - what will Fred Taylor and Jones-Drew do to us? If a rookie quarterback can drive the ball on us, what will the more seasoned Garrard do with even better receivers? If our coach is calling timeouts at 2:04 will he crack in his first playoff game? Should he have tried a second onside kick? Should he have challenged the catch in the endzone of the kickoff? He has not shown a keen ability yet at managing the "game time" decisions. I'm more than a little worried. I think we could have bounced Cleveland or Tennessee on talent alone. Jacksonville could very well come into our house as a slight favorite. I'm not giving up or turning negative - I'm speaking the truth. I'm worried. I think if you're not worried, your NFL IQ might not be as high as you think it is. I'm putting our chances of winning this game at 51%. Also, that 51% is based on Ben, Troy and Hines all playing. Some other thoughts:

I was looking for one bright spot today...one! I'm not sure I saw one. If I missed it, please fill me in. I guess you could say we covered kicks ok today.

I think Willie Reid will not make the team next year. With Rossum hurt, this was his time to get pissed off and show Steeler Nation why he was drafted so high. Well, you see how well that worked out. If he can't be a decent #5 receiver and we're forced to make Cedric Wilson field punts, cut him. Apparently we can add him to the list of good college receivers who can't play in the NFL.

Ike Taylor continues to aggravate me with his inability to catch.

Najeh Davenport looks like a different runner every week. He may be the most inconsistent player on the team. If he's not - who is? I have laid down the gauntlet.

Willie Colon and Keamoeatu are going to rack up a ton of penalties next year. Bank on it. I like a Steeler with a bad disposition, not one that has to push and shove every time they don't like the way they are handled.

I'm done complaining, more to follow this week.

Guest Post: Dog in Bowl Heaven

From Still A. Dog:

With nothing to do but eat fruit cake and watch college bowl games for the next week or so I thought I’d give you loyal readers (all 4 of you) some things to look for in the bowl games as they relate to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And with Fan out of touch until further notice, I can fill some dead space on the blog. So here we go…

Holiday Bowl 12/27/07
Texas DT Frank Okam 6’5” 325 vs. AZ State C Mike Pollack 6’4” 300. We definitely need a center and probably a defensive lineman as well. In this two-fer you get to watch both guys go against each other. Both should be day one if not first round picks.

Champs Sports Bowl 12/28/07
Boston College QB Matt Ryan – not because we’ll draft him (we got one worthless BC QB on the roster now, St. Pierre ) but because the Ravens are salivating over him.
Michigan State RB Jehuu Calucrick 6’0 260 – Closest thing to Jerome Bettis in this draft. But still far far away from Bettis’ talent. I’ve seen him look good and very average. Watch him for yourself and see what you think.

Alamo Bowl 12/29/07
Texas A&M FB Javorskie Lane 6’0 and Unlimited Weight division – Also looks like Bettis, but in short yardage situations only. A poor man’s Ron Dayne. Has a career in the NFL if he can lead block but he’s a short yardage back and that’s all.
Penn State LB Dan Connor 6’3 240 – Latest in a loooong line of quality LBs from Penn State . Not sure how interested we are in another LB, but this guy’s probably the best one who’ll be around when we draft.

Sun Bowl 12/31/07
South Florida CBs Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams. Both are good. Jenkins is better. I’m not real good with CBs (I thought Fred Smoot covered all the earth not already covered by water) but I like Jenkins and Williams is pretty darn good too. I would think these guys will both be gone by round 3.

South Florida LB Ben Moffit 6’2 240. If you want a LB here’s the guy I’d go for. You can make up your own mind, but he drops into pass coverage and kills QBs in the backfield with equal enthusiasm.

Insight.com Bowl 12/31/07
Only one guy to keep an eye on in this game. Indiana WR James Hardy 6’6” 220. Not as fast as many but gets open and can catch the ball. Has the size we are lacking at the WR position.

Fiesta Bowl 1/01/08
I would absolutely love to see the Steelers get both these guys.
Oklahoma OL (can play G or T) George “Duke” Robinson 6’5” 335 – He’s a monster. Can bulldoze an opponent in the run game and keep up with a speed rusher in the passing game. We need a guy like him bad.
West Virginia FB Owen Schmitt 6’3” 260 – Without a doubt the best FB at West Virginia since Jim Braxton (the blocking back for OJ in Buffalo ). He is the perfect replacement for Dan Kreider and is actually capable of carrying/catching the ball much more effectively than Kreider ever was. Dude broke like 8 facemasks in college. And who do you think springs Pat White and Steve Slaton for all those yards? Like to see him doing the same for Willie Parker. Should be available in the late second or third round. We need a guy like him badly too!

Rose Bowl 1/07/08
Lots of good players on both sides but watch Ohio State LB James Laurenitis. He’s only a junior but this guy can take over a football game. He can sometimes get lost in the crowd too. Plus his daddy was a pro wrestler on WWE.

So there. If you got nothing to do but watch bowl games, keep these guys in mind. Most likely you’ll see them all playing on Sundays soon. Comments and opinions welcome.

Merry Christmas, You're Dead

Nice. A Christmas trip to the San Francisco zoo turned deadly for 1 person yesterday. Can you imagine walking down a scenic pathway and then being attacked by a tiger? Named "Tatiana"? I'm guessing this tiger grew up in the hood with a name like that. Why isn't a tiger ever named "Steve"? Since it was in San Fran, I'm surprised it killed somebody. I can see a tiger from the DC zoo or the Detroit zoo killing someone, but you'd think maybe the tiger from San Fran would just jump out and give somebody a makeover or something. Maybe give them a quick mani-pedi? Oh well, this is sad and I hate to make light of it, but geez....we're not safe in a mall, school, Disney World, church....the zoo. Not sure what's left. I'm sure the victim's family doesn't want to hear this but at least it wasn't a child that died. Can you imagine if the thing jumped into a group of toddlers? That would be like me eating popcorn at the movies.

Merry Christmas!

To the regulars....Merry Christmas! I wanted to find an image that conveyed hope and joy. Instead, I found a picture of Hope & Joy. Peace, Merry Christmas and all that good stuff. I'm going to take a few days off so enjoy the pic for a while.

Global Warming

I'm currently reading Dan Rooney's autobiography (well, as told to....) and I came across an interesting nugget of information. The game time temperature of the 1972 AFC Championship Game against the Miami Dolphins in Pittsburgh was 72 degrees. It was warmer that day in Pittsburgh than it was in Miami. Do you think people were running around screaming about global warming back then? That was on New Year's Eve. If it reached 72 next week in the 'Burgh, that's all we'd hear about. Another thing I never realized, Roberto Clemente died the day after that loss. I'll talk about the book after I'm finished with it. So far, it's pretty good. Back to global warming, I don't deny it lock, stock and barrel, what do I know? It's just that I don't buy all the "doomsayers" about how bad it's going to be in the very near future. It's like Dennis Miller says - the global temperature of the Earth is about 1.5 degrees warmer now than it was 100 years ago. Are we then trusting that the good 'ol folks of 1907 were keeping a perfect record of the temperature? From what I understand they were still pooping outside in a wood hut built around a hole in the ground. It is possible that whomever was in charge of recording the temperatures for that day got a little confused between 84-86 since they didn't have digital thermometers that I'm aware of. Calm down....I'm just saying.

Stores Feed On Innumeracy

Like clockwork, Christmas seems to all of a sudden bring about cash registers that haven't been updated with sales prices. I had the same kind of trouble last year at about the same time. Today, I was out picking up a few last minute items and my wife and daughter went out as well but in a different direction. We met up for lunch at the local mall and went to Boscov's together. We looked in their Christmas department as my wife is looking to update some of our Christmas decorations. Everything was on sale. There was a big sign out front with an assortment of penguins and polar bears that stated all plush animals were 75% off. The penguins were awesome. They were all wearing ski hats, earmuffs and are well made of soft fabric on wire frames. We decided to buy a big, medium and small one. They were priced at $39.99, $19.99 and $9.99. We also picked up a metal art Christmas Tree with dangling jingle bells in a 60% off area for $9.99. We headed up to the counter where a manager was hanging out giving instructions to a clerk. He told her to do something and he would handle us....splendid. He rang up the tree and said "ok, that comes to $8..." I cut him off and told him it was $4. He told me it was 60% off and I agreed....that 40% of $9.99 was $4! He told me ever so politely that the item was $19.99, not $9.99. I showed him the price tag which clearly read $9.99. He apologized for the item ringing up incorrectly and said the program needed to be updated. Yup. You bet it does, Skippy. He takes the largest penguin and rings it and tells me it's $20. Nope. Sorry. Errrrnt. Wrong Answer. He said it was ringing at 50% off. I told him it was 75% off. He asked me where I got it that he had to go check the sign. Insert my famous loud "Sigh" here as I pointed it out to him. My daughter asked me what was going on and I explained to her that the store didn't update their software to match the merchandise on purpose and they were hoping that people weren't paying attention, or better yet, were too intimidated to question what they were told. I got a few chuckles from the people behind me. He came back, apologized again and corrected the large penguin. He was handing them off to the clerk who was now back to wrap and put in a bag. When he rang the medium one, he said "Ok, that's $5 off of that one"......Oh.....My.....Gawd. I told him $5 should be the price, not the percentage off. He thought about it a second and agreed and told me that he just said it wrong...it was a long day. You think? He got the little penguin perfect, but to be fair, he had some practice before he got to that one. I paid and then my daughter was buying a small nutcracker which he also got right. As we turned to walk away he said "is this your penguin?". The woman bagged the tree and the first two penguins but not the third one. He was so embarrassed - and with good reason! I'm not asking for perfection. I know it's the Holiday Season and they have new help at the registers. But for Grinch's sake, more things went wrong than right for us in a span of 5 minutes. I was kidding around somewhat about the pricing, but you have to wonder. Innumeracy is everywhere and I know it's more prevalent than illiteracy. Read the book or buy it for someone you know who that needs it! I'll lend you mine, I read it a long time ago as it's a good read for a math major.

Randy Rhoads

YouTube rocks. I forget what I was even looking for when a Jimi Hendrix tail showed up on the right. I clicked and watched about 3 Hendrix songs and then I saw a tail for Zakk Wylde playing Voodoo Child so I watched it. The tail from that had several Ozzy songs and a few Zakk vs. Randy Rhoads mixes where you could compare solos of the two guitarists cut into the same songs. While watching some of those, I found this really cool version of Crazy Train with Randy playing guitar. The solo is just freakin' incredible. This was Ozzy's chubby stage and damn if he doesn't look like Sean Aston of Rudy and The Lord Of The Rings fame. Looks like Ozzy was The Lord of the Rings for a while....onion rings. If they ever make an Ozzy movie, Aston sure could play younger Oz. I'm sure that's Aldridge on drums and I think it's Rudy Sarzo on bass who later played with Quiet Riot. I bet resident reader (Moor Cowbell) Kevin can confirm that. Enjoy. I wish we could get someone to lay the solo down for us so we could finish our recording of the song. Kevin, can you link what we have so far here? If he can, it's yours truly on drums and Moor Cowbell singing and playing lead with the exception of the solo. I forget who is playing bass. We did this all online, recording our parts individually and then Cowbell mixed it.

Rats

Well, the way our defense is playing, I don't think we can compete for the Super Bowl anyway - but Willie Parker being done for the season kind of puts another nail in the coffin. You might not want to believe that at first since Najeh had a good night, but he is too "hot and cold" for me. Maybe if Tomlin can get in his head and make him into an animal overnight.... Maybe he's a guy that needs to be "the man" and he couldn't do that behind Willie so now he'll shine? We'll soon see how tough he is playing against Baltimore in Baltimore. I just wish we had another back who has some speed. None of the other guys are burners, that's for sure. So, what did we learn tonight? Let's kick out some thoughts in no particular order.

I learned that the game (and a lot of other things) can be watched of www.channelsurfing.net even if it isn't on in your area. I'm going to continue to monitor this service to see if I still need to get Direct TV, although it's tough to curl up on the couch to watch a computer monitor. I have Verizon Fios for my phone and internet, but I can't get the TV because I need NFL Ticket to see my boys.

We cover about 1 out of 10 kicks the way a kick should be covered. The other 9 are like "oh shit....oh shit....get him...GET HIM.....shit!....". I'm getting sick of it. Bring back Chidi Owouma! I saw Anthony Smith running like he was a blocker for the ball carrier once instead of turning around and popping him. Did you see that? I backed up the DVR to confirm my suspicion and I was right. He is a raw talent that can hit. He needs to be taught so many other things.

My wife actually sat down tonight and watched 30 minutes of the game with me. First time this year she was there for the beginning of a game. It took her all of 6 minutes to ask "why can't they protect Ben?" When he got buried again 2 minutes after that question and we both "Ooooo'd" at the same time she was all like "he should be mad at them". Yeah. I wouldn't be buying the line Rolex watches for Christmas this year if I was him. I'd be buying them some steroids and/or HGH. The pressure continues to come from everywhere....up the middle...on the edge.... We don't have the ability to stop a pass rush and they refuse to max protect in certain situations. I guess Ben being 6'5" and well past 240 has something to do with that.

Rossum played well tonight minus the one muff. Ha Ha....I said "muff". He had a few decent runs after making the catch tonight.

Hello Nate Washington! Way to squeeze the pigskin, baby!

Hello Ike Taylor!! Pick-6! After failing to stop most passes that came his way tonight, he latched onto one and took it home. Good job. Stopping Bruce is a tough assignment for anyone. DeShea played well too as Torry Holt was madder than a hornet most of the night.

I don't think Sean Mahan is the man at center that we thought he was. Look for other experiments next camp.

Troy Polamalu is an outstanding talent and it's tough to critique anything he does, but is it just me or does it seem like he whiffs more times than not when he dives headfirst into people's legs? Would he be better off staying on his feet and meeting the ball carrier and holding them up waiting for help rather than going low and missing? Maybe he should just get in their way and get low and take the blow or wait a second longer before exploding into them, but from what I see, he launches too early giving the ball carrier time to make a slight adjustment and get around him. I don't know. It's tough to say. It just seems like that on a lot of longer runs and yards after a catch, I see a "43" come flying into the screen only to exit the screen quickly as the ball is still being advanced.

Nice fake punt! Danny has an arm!

Dick LeBeau needs to come up with a scheme this week to sack whatever shitty quarterback the Ravens throw out there about 8 times. The defense needs some confidence. The Ravens offense should provide it. We need to relearn punishing a quarterback and this is the week to do it.

And lastly, what the heck with Deion and Marshall in the booth? Where was Collinsworth? I'm not a huge fan of Chris Collinsworth, but compared to most people available today, he's in the upper echelon of announcers....especially for color during games. Deion and Marshall would let Bryant make the call and then they would go silent. When they did talk, I had a hard time understanding every word they said. Neither has a career in announcing. I don't enjoy either of them on NFL Network type programming, let alone doing a live game. Deion still thinks it's all about him and Marshall is too vanilla. Bryant tried to ask questions and tried to get them to follow up comments they made with substance, but substance never came. I'm pretty sure I could have done a better job then Beavis or Butthead.