The fountain of youth was discovered this week. Apparently it's in the city of Pittsburgh. Or at least it seemed that way because the senior citizen Steelers' defense looked like young men with a purpose. The Steelers dominated the Seahawks in every facet of the game in a shutout victory of their Super Bowl XL rematch against the Seahawks. Quite amazing what a difference a week can make. With that, let's go around the NFL.
STEELERS 24, Seahawks 0
- Well, well, well. What do you have to say for yourself media members that called the Steelers defense old? It's only one week? If one week was enough to say they were old, then one week is enough for me to say you're wrong. It was only the Seahawks? The Ravens didn't look too good this week against the Titans. How about we just call week on a mulligan? Fair enough?
- That no huddle offense is a beautiful thing. Ben was masterful going 7-7 with 77 yards and a touchdown on one drive. Do we really need anymore evidence why Roethlisberger is better off calling his own plays?
- The lone concern I had this week was the Steelers' trouble scoring touchdowns inside of the redzone. There's too much talent on this team to not finish drives. You know the other team is going to stack the line against the run, so throw the ball.
- Is Mike Wallace the league's best receiver? Maybe. He predicted 2,000 yards for himself which we all know is improbable, if not impossible. But right now he's on pace for pretty close to that mark. He probably won't get there, but a 1,500 yard season doesn't seem too unrealistic.
- The Steelers' secondary looked pretty darn solid two weeks in a row. I know they only face the Seahawks and Tarvaris Jackson, but I'm not complaining.
Around the NFL
- I'm really starting to think the Buffalo Bills are for real. It all starts with their quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick who may make up in smarts what he lacks in ability. I've liked Fitzpatrick since last season and I'm all in on him. If Fred Jackson can keep opposing teams on the lookout for his running ability, Fitzpatrick will be even better. If the defense holds up this team may just be playoff bound.
- The Indianapolis Colts are really bad. Offensively, they have so much talent that it's amazing to see them struggle the way that they have. The defense will have to start bailing them out if Kerry Collins doesn't improve. I still think he will, but I'm losing faith fast. Not to mention an 0-3 start is looming large with a game against Pittsburgh next week.
- And so the Blaine Gabbert era begins in Jacksonville. Surprise, surprise. Luke McCown is a really bad quarterback. Gabbert's play will dictate how far the Jaguars go. Somewhere David Garrard is having a hearty chuckle at the expense of Jack Del Rio...
- Well I may not be ready to give up on the Colts, but the Kansas City Chiefs are finished. Eric Berry is gone, Jamaal Charles is likely gone, and Matt Cassel just isn't that good. But, of course, the defense is horrendous. 89 points against in two games? They're finished.
- I said I thought Cam Newton would be a good player just not in Carolina. I was wrong. I am buying into the hype. He will be a great NFL quarterback and the Panthers rebuilding efforts aren't going to take quite as long as we all thought.
- The Green Bay Packers have given up 400 yards to two straight quarterbacks, one is a rookie. Are they too old America? Hmmm?...
- I want to hate Mike Shanahan for what he did to Donovan McNabb, but Rex Grossman is making him look like a genius. The Redskins will be hang around even if they don't quite have enough to win anything more than nine or ten games.
- It's no surprise the Baltimore Ravens lost to the Tennessee Titans and I'm angry at myself for succumbing to the "crowd mentality" and picking them to win this week. I don't think they're that good and like I said, they've already won their Super Bowl. They should be a playoff team, but only because there's no one else to take their spot from them.
- Is anyone really shocked that Chris Johnson is struggling? He missed every bit of an already lockout shortened preseason. There's no guarantee he'll get it going at any point this year either. His career isn't finished, but it's not surprising if this year makes people start to question that.
- The Minnesota Vikings are in for a long season if they can't hold a lead. I think they'll get it together a little bit, but I expected much, much more from Donovan McNabb. Christian Ponder is lurking...
- Tony Romo is a gamer. I've even admitted that I kind of like the guy. He's still not clutch though. He won't win the big ones, but if he wins enough of the small ones like he did yesterday, the Dallas Cowboys will enjoy a playoff race.
- I truly hope that the Denver Broncos utilize Tim Tebow the way that they should. He played some wide receiver this week and that's a good thing. Get him some action whether at quarterback in a wildcat type formation, running back, receiver, it doesn't matter. He's a great athlete so use him. He's just not a better quarterback than Kyle Orton right now. That doesn't mean he has to ride the pine if he's one of your eleven best players.
- The San Diego Chargers were intimidated by the New England Patriots. That was a pitiful ending to a great game. The Chargers will never win anything with Norv Turner at the helm. They couldn't even keep it together in a week two regular season matchup. How are they going to succeed in the playoffs?
- Matt Ryan buckled under the pressure and then the Philadelphia Eagles let him get comfortable again. I understand they are a work in progress, but Philadelphia is not on the right track. Not to mention Andy Reid screwed up clock management... AGAIN! With 1:49 to go and two timeouts, Reid took an ill advised timeout on fourth and three. The next pass was incomplete and the Atlanta Falcons ran the entire clock out. Had the Eagles had both timeouts, they could have gotten the ball with good field position and over 40 seconds to go. I've always defended the guy, but he just can't save himself from himself.
- Dunta Robinson needs to be suspended for his hit on Jeremy Maclin. His hit on DeSean Jackson last year was much more vicious, but this is his second offense in the new policy on headshots. Not to mention he had seconds to react. Don't confuse that with the milliseconds that most players have to react. He had full seconds. There is no reason to lead with his head the way he did, and it didn't look like an accident or a reaction play. He needs to be taught a lesson.
And here are the articles about the Steelers' shutout:
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I agree with you for the most part on your assessment, however I don't see how you say the Eagles aren't on the right track. They thoroughly dominated the Falcons, even though they ended up haven the game taken from them. The defense just quit in the fourth quarter after the Vick injury, but the only reason they were even close enough to allow that to happen was courtesy of two poor fumbles, one courtesy of Vick not protecting the ball, the other fumble was a mixture of bad play-calling, a bad read by Vick, and awful protection in the red zone. That play alone was probably a 14 point swing. Another problem was how did the officials miss two balls clearly bounced that required a challenge? There was a problem on the Vick interception though, everyone clearly knew there was no interception, but Andy Reid came out today to state he received an apology from NBC because they never got the replay to the Eagles; so they didn't know to throw the flag. How does that happen now, between the refs just flat out missing it even though they were right there, and NBC neglecting to send a replay on a terrible turnover call.
ReplyDeleteOutside of that it is funny how perception works. I don't want to defend Reid because I think that timeout was terrible, but if Maclin makes that catch; which he almost always does, especially in the middle of having a career game against a lousy secondary; it goes unnoticed, in fact, it might be a good call to ensure the young QB had the call right on the play. Just a funny little thought, but I criticize more for the third down screen prior to that timeout, bad call, plus a bad read by Kafka to throw into press coverage on a screen, bought how does the third string QB check out of the coaches call. I actually thought Kafka had a really good game, much better than anyone could have expected, throwing only two incompletions, one the Maclin drop, the second the Hail Mary at the end of the game.
You are starting to believe in Buffalo I see, as am I. Have you started to think that Detroit may be drastically improved too? It could make for a nice looking week five Monday night matchup against the Bears to prove if they are for real.
The Eagles in no way, shape, or form "thoroughly dominated the Falcons." The game is played for four quarters last time I checked, so the defense looking like garbage in the final quarter (which was not because of Michael Vick's injury by the way) is the clearest reason why there was no domination by the Eagles. I agree that the NFL and NBC need to make sure replays get to these teams, but if I'm not mistaken there was a play that went against the Falcons briefly before the interception.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that had Maclin made the play, Reid's botched timeout may not have mattered. That said it was 100% the wrong call and should be scrutinized and he should take blame for it. I'm an Andy Reid apologist, but he screwed up this time. Kafka played well, but as far as I can remember backups always play well for whatever reason. I guess because so much game planning goes into stopping the starter. I'm definitely not going to say Kafka is even starter material yet, but he did play well while he was in. Vince Young still gets my start if healthy and Vick can't go.
Lastly, funny that you ask about Detroit because while I believe in the Bills, I still don't buy the Lions. Injuries have already devastated projected AFC playoff teams (Chiefs and Colts), but the NFC still has a lot of strong, healthy teams. I see five teams better than the Lions in the Packers, Bears, Eagles, Saints, Falcons, and that leaves just one playoff spot for whoever wins the NFC west. I don't think the Bills chances are all that great yet, but they're better than the Lions in my opinion. But I will agree that a win against the Bears in week 5 could make them a virtual lock.