28 Dec
Steelers defense flat
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, December 28th, 2015 – 2:18 pm
Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers
Tree of Life
28 Dec
Mallet and Ravens Shocks Steelers to put season in peril by Brandon Walker
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, December 28th, 2015 – 9:49 am
There was two lessons that Steeler Nation learned on Sunday afternoon: Never underestimate the power of a wounded rival and do not assume that the playoffs are a given. The Baltimore Ravens behind Ryan Mallett who has been on the team for two weeks after he was cast aside from the Houston Texans a couple of months ago for unprofessional behavior pull of a stunning upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-17 at M & T Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon to sweep the season series from Pittsburgh for the first time since 2011 and have beaten the Steelers for the 3rd time this calendar year if you count last season’s 30-17 Wild Card matchup at Heinz Field.
Mallett went 28 for 41 for 274 yards and one touchdown and most importantly no interceptions. Mallet outplayed Ben Roethlisberger went 24 for 34 for 215 yards and two interceptions. The interceptions were by Daryl Smith and by Jimmy Smith who had another interception for a touchdown nullified by a natural zone infraction by Courtney Upshaw.
Roethlisberger seemed flat and out of sync all day by the Raven defense being sacked three times and being hurried and pressured all day long and never got the big play that could have shifted momentum for the Steelers. I also thought that they did not go to DeAngelo Williams enough, especially in the first half. Williams had 80 yards rushing on seven carries in the first two drives but he had only 20 yard on 10 carries for the rest of the game. Williams did score both of the touchdowns for the Steelers (9-6) in the second half. The first was a 1 yard run which was set up by two pass interference penalties and the second was a 2 yard run to cut the lead to 20-17 in the 4th quarter. Javarious Allen had 18 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown for the Ravens (5-10).
The turning point of the game came in the first quarter came when the Steelers on their opening drive marched the ball down the field on a seven play 55 yard drive that came down to a 4th and 1 at the Baltimore 25 and Coach Tomlin elected to go for the first down instead of attempting a 43 yard field goal and they did not convert. Baltimore turned around and went on a 15 play 75 yard drive that culminated in a 8 yard pass from Mallet to Chris Matthews who was one of the stars of Super Bowl XLIX last February.
As for how this game effected the Steelers. The New York Jets defeated the New England Patriots which puts them in sole possession of the 6th and final playoff spot in the AFC. Which means if they beat the Buffalo Bills on the road next Sunday afternoon they will get into the playoffs no matter what the Steelers do in Cleveland next Sunday. It’s amazing what three hours on a Sunday afternoon can do in the NFL, it can turn a potential top Super Bowl contender into a team that needs help to get into the playoffs. All because a team didn’t handle business the way they should have.
Next
PIT: @CLE 1:00 Sun 1/3 1:00 pm CBS
BAL:@CIN 1:00 Sun 1/3 1:00 pm CBS
Twitter: @bwalkerdadon
Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers
28 Dec
Steelers Letdown by Tim Benz
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, December 28th, 2015 – 8:33 am
The tweet made me laugh out loud on the Steeler post game show. In the wake of the New England’s overtime coin flip debacle in New York, a straw grasping Steeler fan suggested that New England screwed up the coin flip on purpose against the Jets to help New York make the post-season while simultaneously blocking the Steelers from making the playoffs-
@BenzTribLive970 @CharlieBatch16 Patriots win coin toss & elected to kick? Do you think they tanked it so they don't have to play Steelers?
— Yinzer Nation (@Yinzerburgh) December 27, 2015
Right. The reigning Super Bowl champion Patriots…who own the Steelers in Foxborough…who beat them there earlier this year…who have defeated the Steelers twice in the post season since the turn of the century… intentionally tried to help their hated division rivals into the playoffs, and keep the Steelers out because Pittsburgh is a club that is so damned scary?!
We all got drunk on this whole “Pittsburgh is the team no one wants to play in the post season” thing way too quickly didn’t we? Because after a putrid 20-17 loss in Baltimore Sunday, “the team no one wants to play in the AFC playoffs” likely won’t even be in the AFC playoffs.
Let’s flash back to a long time ago…as in last Sunday. That was when the Steelers had just completed a huge comeback against Denver to sew up a two game sweep against the AFC West leading Broncos and the AFC North leading Bengals. Way back then we had dreams of not only making a wild card slot dancing through our heads, but also getting past New England and going to the Super Bowl.
We all should have known better. We’ve all seen this act before from the Mike Tomlin coached Steelers. Beat a couple good teams. Then lose to a bad one. Have a season altering win sapped the very next week by a playoff altering loss.
For all the good Mike Tomlin has done as head coach, this is the bad. Yes. He’s won a Super Bowl. Yes. He’s been to another. No. He’s never had a losing season. But his career has been pockmarked by these hideous losses to substandard teams in crucial situations.
The five game losing streak to non playoff teams in 2009. The loss to an 8-8 Tim Tebow Bronco team in the playoffs. Tampa last year. That unforgivable home loss to San Diego in December of 2012. Missteps vs Oakland, Cleveland and Tennessee over the years.
But this one may be the worst of the bunch. The reason is that this team really should be better than that. Flawed though these 2015 Steelers are, they are legitimately as good as most of the potential playoff teams in the AFC. The evidence of that being wins over Cincinnati and Denver and Indianapolis, plus a victory over NFC powerhouse Arizona without Ben Roethlisberger.
After the defeat, Mike Tomlin said “We learned a hard lesson today.” That seemed to be in regards to losing the turnover battle. If history is any precedent, the Steelers will ignore that lesson too. Because they’ve never learned lessons from previous failures under Tomlin when it comes to taking care of business against lesser competition.
In his weekly Tuesday press conference, Tomlin was snide in dismissing a question about whether he’d address the players about having a “let down” game against Baltimore after those two thrilling wins vs the Bengals and Broncos. “I won’t. I’m sure you guys will.”
Well, Mike, maybe you should do so instead of us in the media. Don’t let us do your job for you. Because clearly when we ask them about it, they don’t seem to grasp how history tends to repeat itself.
But now you’ll get your wish. Because, again, the media will be asking the Steeler players about why they are always so bad against lesser competition. Again, we loathsome scribes and talking heads will be responsible for planting the acorn in your players’ heads about why they choke so consistently against inferior teams. So go ahead and lay the blame at our feet. But you are the one with “L’s” stacking up on your resume when they shouldn’t be occurring, Mike.
Or, instead of blaming reporters, maybe you could look within? Look at yourself in terms of preparation. Look at your coordinators in terms of game plans. Look at your players in terms of focus and determination. See if those elements are issues as to why your team fails so often against organizations that usually lose to opposing clubs of a lesser stature than yours.
Because no one in the media is going to get fired over your team’s failures in these types of situations, Mike. In fact, some might suspect it’s better business for us. But it’s bad business for a coach to go a fifth straight year without a playoff win while employing a potential Hall of Fame quarterback. And like it or not, Mike Tomlin is on the verge of living that reality.
Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers
22 Dec
Over The River And Through The Woods To Bowl Season, By Josh Taylor
published in category: College Sports on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015 – 4:07 pm
College football fans in western Pennsylvania get another special treat this year with Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia all playing in bowl games. But the status of each of program based on their bowl draw is not as easy to decipher as the next.
One thing the three teams have in common: they all have to travel to play in either their opponents’ back yard, or just a toss of a cornhole bean bag away. And for two of them, the matchups don’t help much, either. Let’s break it all down here:
– Military Bowl, Annapolis, Md.: Pitt (8-4) vs. Navy (10-2)
Considering Pitt is coming off a very successful first season for head coach Pat Narduzzi in which Pitt could have been a nine-win team (sorry, Ken Laird), this matchup looks like it’s a consolation prize for being passed over for the Pinstripe Bowl or the Belk Bowl… at least on the surface.
But by drawing Navy at their home stadium, Pitt has a better chance than NC State (Belk) and Duke (Pinstripe) to show how much they’ve grown as a program by facing a team who has one of the best players in the country, quarterback Keenan Reynolds. Beating a team with a player who can break the FBS career rushing touchdowns record if he finds the end zone three times makes for a damn good storyline.
That said, while it is a great opportunity for Pitt to show what they can do, I also remember how much they struggle with mobile quarterbacks. Even if the Panthers keep Reynolds from breaking the career rushing touchdowns record, they won’t slow him down enough to win.
Prediction: Navy 24, Pitt 17
– TaxSlayer Bowl, Jacksonville, Fla.: Penn State (7-5) vs. Georgia (9-3)
James Franklin’s team with an offense currently in transistion seems like an odd, yet perfect placement against Georgia, an entire program in transition with former head coach Mark Richt leaving and taking the job at Miami.
The uncertainty of the coaches taking over the offensive play-calling in this game — quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne will call plays for Penn State, tight ends coach John Lilly for Georgia — makes it hard know what to expect from the respective offenses. But the one stat that I’ll lean on is third down efficiency: Georgia has the ninth-best FBS defense in the country, allowing only 29.6 percent of third down attempts. Meanwhile, Penn State has converted third downs at only 28.1 percent all season.
Factor that in with a healthy Carl Nassib playing his last game in a blue and white uniform and I’m expecting a very low-scoring game, but not one the Nittany Lions can come out of on top.
Prediction: Georgia 20, Penn State 10
– Motel 6 Cactus Bowl, Phoenix, Ariz.: West Virginia (7-5) vs. Arizona State (6-6)
My guess is this game was stuck with being named the Cactus Bowl because the “Peter’s Pub Pitt Fan Schadenfreude Bowl” took up too many characters. The challenge for West Virginia is pretty obvious (traveling across country right at the turn of the new year to play ten miles from their opponent’s campus), but this matchup is better for the Mountaineers than one might expect.
Arizona State had six games this season where they allowed at least 135 yards rushing and four yards per carry. They were 3-3 in those games. Meanwhile, West Virginia averaged less than four per carry only twice all season (3.8 vs. Liberty, 3.7 at Oklahoma), and they still surpassed 170 yards on the ground in each of those games.
This is a game tailor-made for Wendell Smallwood to gash the Sun Devils for big chunks of yardage and Skylar Howard to throw just enough to keep them honest and move the football. West Virginia found their stride late with four straight wins and falling just short of a fifth. The success they’ve had with a consistent running game and pretty competent defense in that same span should carry over nicely.
Prediction: West Virginia 31, Arizona State 24
– My other bowl predictions:
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Utah State over Akron
Boca Raton Bowl: Temple over Toledo
Poinsettia Bowl: Boise State over Northern Illinois
GoDaddy Bowl: Bowling Green over Georgia Southern
Bahamas Bowl: Western Michigan over Middle Tennessee State
Hawaii Bowl: Cincinnati over San Diego State
St. Petersburg Bowl: Marshall over Connecticut
Sun Bowl: Miami over Washington State
Heart of Dallas Bowl: Southern Miss over Washington
Pinstripe Bowl: Indiana over Duke
Independence Bowl: Virginia Tech over Tulsa
Foster Farms Bowl: UCLA over Nebraska
Quick Lane Bowl: Minnesota over Central Michigan
Armed Forces Bowl: Cal over Air Force
Russell Athletic Bowl: North Carolina over Baylor
Arizona Bowl: Colorado State over Nevada
Texas Bowl: LSU over Texas Tech
Birmingham Bowl: Memphis over Auburn
Belk Bowl: Mississippi State over NC State
Music City Bowl: Louisville over Texas A&M
Holiday Bowl: USC over Wisconsin
Peach Bowl: Florida State over Houston
Outback Bowl: Northwestern over Tennessee
Citrus Bowl: Michigan over Florida
Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State over Notre Dame
Rose Bowl: Stanford over Iowa
Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma State over Ole Miss
Liberty Bowl: Arkansas over Kansas State
Alamo Bowl: Oregon over TCU
Orange Bowl (CFB Playoff Semifinal): Oklahoma over Clemson
Cotton Bowl (CFB Playoff Semifinal): Alabama over Michigan State
College Football Playoff National Championship: Alabama over Oklahoma
Tagged with: college football playoff, ncaa, penn state, pitt, West Virginia
Posted in College Sports
Posted in College Sports
22 Dec
No More Slammy Awards!
published in category: Wrestling Reality on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015 – 2:46 pm
Posted in Wrestling Reality
22 Dec
Tomlin on Ravens
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015 – 1:31 pm
Mike Tomlin previews game vs. the Ravens. Tim Benz, Guy Junker, Ken Laird and Josh Taylor analyze it. Tuesdays are Brought to you by Walnut Capital Real Estate Services serving your real estate needs in Pittsburgh and surrounding counties with a combined 28 years of experience.
Steelers at the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, December 27, at M&T Bank Stadium. The game will be broadcast on CBS (locally KDKA-TV, channel 2). Greg Gumbel will be doing the play-by-play, Trent Green will be the analyst and Jamie Erdahl will be the sideline reporter. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.
Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers
22 Dec
Power Play better without Crosby?
published in category: College Sports, Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015 – 12:32 pm
Pens win, Malkin takes over game, the Pens record without Crosby and should they take Sid off the Power Play? Odell Beckham suspended and Pirates acquire Kyle Lobstein.
Penn State fans flocking to events this fall have boosted the Nittany Lions into the nation’s premier program in top 10 home attendance averages.
Through the completion of the fall sports’ regular season and the first two months of the hockey campaign, fans have responded by boosting Penn State into the top 10 in average home attendance in six sports, the most in the nation, according to the NCAA.
The Penn State field hockey, football, men’s ice hockey, women’s ice hockey, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams all rank in the Top 10 in attendance. Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin are tied for second nationally with three teams in the top 10 in average home attendance in the seven sports in the survey.
Among six of the sports, Penn State ranks in the top three in home attendance among Big Ten institutions, with the NCAA Champion women’s soccer team and the field hockey squad leading the conference. Women’s hockey ranks No. 2 in attendance among College Hockey America teams.
In addition, Penn State is No. 2 nationally in wrestling home attendance with an average of 9,609 for two home dual meets. The No. 1 Nittany Lions drew 12,862 at the Bryce Jordan Center for their Dec. 13 win over Wisconsin and will face Ohio State in the Jordan Center on Feb. 5, 2016.
“Penn State has a student, alumni and fan base that is second to none, and it shows every week with the type of support all 31 of our programs receive,” said Brad Keen, Assistant AD, Marketing. “Our student-athletes and coaches are all very appreciative of our fans’ passionate support and feel fortunate to be a part of such a loyal and enthusiastic Penn State family.”
Posted in College Sports, Pittsburgh Penguins
21 Dec
Stillers 365 and Steelers Rountable
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, December 21st, 2015 – 3:03 pm
Around the NFL with Russell Baxter on playoff pictures, Ken Laird and Josh Taylor break down the Steelers win over the Broncos. Hear from Big Ben after the game. Brought to you by Mr. Rooter Plumbing with 24\7 Emergency Service, by Mr. Magic Car Wash at any of these five great locations- Brentwood, Castle Shannon, Banksville Road, Upper St. Clair and Bridgeville and by Garland Insurance- At Nationwide. And Mark Kaboly in-studio.
Steelers Beat Writers Mark Kaboly, Chris Adamski and Ralph Paulk on the win over the Broncos and how Pittsburgh can clinch a playoff spot. Looking ahead to game vs. Ravens. Arrow up and Arrow down on AB, Cam Thomas, Ryan Shazier and more.
Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers