Steelers 29, Jaguars 31

Playoff insanity reigns at Heinz Field

Holy crap - what a wild, wild game! I haven't screamed that loud at a Steelers game for a long time. The Steelers looked beaten, then they put together an amazing comeback, but in the end it still wasn't enough to stop Jacksonville from ending their season.

Steelers 21, Ravens 27

Steelers look towards playoffs

There really isn't much to say about this game. It was a total meaningless game. Charlie Batch started at QB. Many of the other starters either rested or played sparingly. The o-line continues to allow sacks. The defense continues to lay down and die for running backs. Musa Smith looked like Walter Payton against our suddenly horrific run defense. About the only thing of interest we learned from this game is that there is essentially zero hope of salvaging Willie Reid's career. Reid, who was drafted solely to be a kick returner, finally got to return some kicks today. He proceeded to fumble the opening kickoff, leading to a Ravens TD, and then he fumbled another first half kickoff that was fortunately overturned. What a waste of a 3rd round pick.

The Ravens basically had their way with the Steelers but no one cared. Batch did try to lead a heroic 4th quarter comeback. He threw TD passes to Santonio Holmes and The Ghost of Cedric Wilson, but he was picked off on the final drive to close out the game. The regular season now comes to a close with the Steelers winning the division at 10-6, and the Ravens finishing at a very disappointing 5-11. The one other note for this game is that it was most likely the final one for Ravens OT Jonathan Ogden. I for one won't miss him one bit! What a heck of a player that guy was for so many years. I fully expect to see him in Canton in several years.

I will have a full playoff preview later this week. The Steelers will host Jacksonville in the Wild Card round next weekend, and eveeryone in Pittsburgh seems to be already conceeding defeat. I've never seen The Nation less excited about the post-season, but I guess you can't be too thrilled when your team stumbles into the playoffs by losing three out if its last four games. Regardless of what happens, this season still has to be considered a success by most standards. Mike Tomlin did a nice job, and with a few more puzzle pieces, this team really should be able to contend for a title again in the near future. Here are the numbers:

• Charlie Batch: 16-31, 218 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
• Santonio Holmes: 4 rec, 98 yards, 1 TD

Steelers 41, Rams 24

Offense hot, defense cold

The Steelers finally defeated the Rams on the road, something it took them 75 years to accomplish. They also finally won a road game this season outside of the tri-state area, and they took one step closer to their first division title in three years. However, it wasn't all good.

On the first run of the game, FWP broke his leg and will miss the remainder of the season! That injury really hurts. Parker is an all-pro and he is currently the NFL's leading rusher (although that will likely not hold up now, which is also a shame because he would have become the first Steeler since the 1940's to win a rushing title). Granted, FWP had been held mostly in check recently, and his replacement Najeh Davenport played great (and has fresh legs), but what this injury boils down to is that for the past month or so, Ben Roethlisberger has unofficially ben having to carry the entire offense on his shoulders. Now it's official - everything is on Ben. And with the defense continuing to suck, the pressure is even greater.

Roethlisberger sure didn't have any trouble handling the pressure in this game. The offense was explosive and aggressive all night. It looked as if they were thrilled to be playing indoors on a dry field for once! Ben tosses three TD passes before halftime. The first two were to Jerry Rice -- I mean, Nate Washington, who is suddenly becoming a threat for no apparent reason. The third one was to Davenport, who really jump-started the offense with a 100 yard rushing performance. That should have been plenty of fire power to take down the Rams, but it wasn't. Steven Jackson had a solid night, nearly becoming a third back in the past six games to top 100 yards against the Steelers (and they only gave him 12 carries!). Marc Bulger also played well. He hit The Corpse of Isaac Bruce for a TD in the second quarter to keep St. Louis close. The coaching staff seemed to know that they were in for a shootout. They didn't hold anything back, even executing a fake punt (Daniel Sepulveda hit a wide open Devenport for a huge gain) and throwing an 83 yard bomb to Santonio Holmes.

In the third quarter, the Steelers seemed to pull away again when Davenport finished off a long drive with a rare rushing touchdown. Just to give you an idea of how bad our o-line is, that was our first rushing TD by a RB since week 8! The Steelers were up by 14, but once again the defense went soft and allowed ANOTHER long TD drive. I just don't know what happened to the NFL's #1 defense. Aaron Smith's injury obviously hurts, but what's the excuse for not tackling? What's the excuse for only getting one sack in the past three games? Anyway, the offense once again bailed them out with a 12-play, 8-minute drive in the 4th quarter. The drive only netted a FG, but it was enough to put away the pesky Rams. Ike Taylor officially iced the game with a pic-six. It was Ike's first ever touchdown and the only bright spot for the defense.

Steelers 22, Jaguars 29

It's all falling apart

Somehow the Steelers actually had a chance to win this game. After getting physically manhandled all day by the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Steelers fought back to amazingly tie the score. But in the end, the Jags were still able to impose their will on the Steelers once-proud defense, dealing Pittsburgh its first home loss of the season and sending them reeling late in the season.

The Steelers had the first TD of the game when Ben threw a pass that was tipped but still caught by Heath Miller. The Jaguars also got a first half TD and carried a 10-7 lead into the half. When the 3rd quarter opened, Jacksonville totally undressed the Steelers defense with a 20-play TD drive which included multiple 3rd and 4th down conversions. Fred Taylor made like it was 1998 and tore up the defense for 147 yards. Taylor has always been a huge Steeler-killer, and he did it again today. On their next drive, the Jags only needed one big play - a 55 yard TD bomb to Dennis Northcutt, who is usually whatever the total opposite of a Steeler-killer is. Northcutt burnt the embattled Anthony Smith. That should have iced things, but the Jags missed two PAT's on the two second half touchdowns. That meant that Jacksonville only had a 15-point lead, and that led to craziness.

David Gerrard, who had been playing so well all day, threw a costly pic to Smith (finally, he did something right). Ben, who played brilliantly, converted that into a TD. Then later in the 4th quarter, Ben threw a 30 yard TD pass to Nate Washington (who hurt his knee on the play). Cedrick Wilson threw to Santonio for the two-point conversion, and all of a sudden, the score was tied! But the Steelers defense was not up to the challenge. They let Taylor and the Jags march right down the field for a late 73 yard TD drive which put them up for good. Truth be told, the Steelers had absolutely ZERO business winning this game. It was an accomplishment to even have tied the score after the debacle of the 3rd quarter. Jacksonville did what the Steelers used to do to teams at this time of the year. It was a joke.

Steelers 13, Patriots 34

Yes, they're that good

How good are the 2007 New England Patriots? Good enough to target one player who made an absurd "guarantee" and humiliate him on national television? Good enough to adjust to some effective blitz packages and eventually shred the #1 defense in the NFL? Good enough to go 16-0? Yes, they are good enough to do any of those things and more. The Steelers never really had a chance.

The first half wasn't too bad. New England jumped out to an early lead behind two Tom Brady TD passes to Randy Moss. The victim on both of them was safety Anthony Smith, the second-year player who stupidly predicted a win this week. It was funny watching the Patriots act like that didn't bother them all week when it clearly did. This is a team that is thriving off of the fact that everyone hates them. After the first Moss TD, Brady got right in Smith's face to tell him about it too. Then on New England's next possession, Brady play-faked and Smith bit hard, leaving Moss wide open for a 63 yard TD. I'm not sure how you can bite on a play-action pass from a team who NEVER runs the ball, but then again, I can't understand much of what Anthony Smith has done this week.

The Steelers fought back though. The offense did a good job moving the ball in the first half, and one of the drives resulted in a TD when Ben scrambled and hit Najeh Davenport (of all people) for a 32 yard TD. The Pats only led by four at the half and the Steelers looked as if they may be able to keep pace.

However, everything started to fall apart for Pittsburgh in the 3rd quarter. New England did what New England does best - they made mid-game adjustments to exploit the Steelers defense, which had been playing well up to that point by pressuring Brady. The Pats called a trick play that resembled the Cedrick Wilson TD in the 2005 playoff game at Cincinnati. Brady threw backwards to Moss, who dropped the ball but still managed to throw it back to Brady. The QB then heaved it 56 yards to a wide open Jabar Gaffney, who had smoked past - guess who - Anthony Smith. Welcome to the real NFL, son. Don't ever taunt a team like that again. The game belonged to New England after that. Brady threw short to Wes Welker whenever the Steelers blitzed and he picked them apart when they didn't. New England's defense didn't let up either, stuffing the Steelers on 4th and goal at the one yard line. It wasn't pretty, and when it was all over, the Patriots were still undefeated and unphased. So much for them being vulnerable.

I can't say much else about New England. They can be beaten, but it's going to take one heck of an effort or one catostrphic collapse for it to happen. The Steelers fall to 9-4 but are still in good shape to win the North and make the playoffs. I'm just not sure what happens when they get there. How good is this team? That is the question we have been asking all season with no real solid answer. They were in that game today. Could they beat the Patriots given a second chance? Could they beat the Colts to get that chance? Could they beat a wild card team? They are capable and they have the talent, but they have never really presented strong evidence one way or the other. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the season and post-season plays out. Here are the numbers:

• FWP: 21 rushes, 124 yards
• Ben Roethlisberger: 19-32, 187 yards, 1 TD

Steelers 24, Bengals 10

Steelers continue home domination

Arizona head coach Ken Wishenhunt did his old team a huge favor. By knocking off the Cleveland Browns earlier in the day, the Cardinals guaranteed that the Browns wouldn't gain any ground in the standings regardless of the outcome of the Steelers-Bengals Sunday night game. That seemed like good news to many Steelers fans (including me), who really had a bad feeling that Pittsburgh would drop this one. After all, there were multiple key injuries. Marvel Smith, Troy Polamalu, Santonio Holmes, Najeh Davenport, and Dan Kreider (who went on IR) were all out for the game! Cincinnati has struggled all season, but last week their offense finally woke up and seemed to be back to 2005 level. The Steelers meanwhile had played several crappy games in a row and now had to play their big rivals without so many important players. Would that mean an upset for Cincinnati at Heinz Field?

It certainly seemed to be headed in that direction early in the game. On their first possession, the Bengals marched down the field for a long TD drive. The rain was back tonight, but the field was in much better shape so it didn't slow the offenses like it did last week. The Steelers offense was slowed by general ineptitude instead, but in the 2nd quarter, the offense finally shook off the rust of the past three weeks and responded with 17 unanswered points. They put together two long TD drives - the first was 11 plays, 67 yards and was capped with a Ben TD run, the second was 12 plays, 66 yards and ended with a short Hines Ward TD grab - and they also got a FG off of a Bengals fumble on a kick return. As usual, the Bengals didn't know what hit them and figured it was in their best interest to quit.

The second half was, in a word, goofy. The Steelers were seemingly in control of the game but kept trying to hand it over to Cincinnati via uncharacteristic mistakes. FWP fumbled several times. One fumble was recovered and taken into the endzone by the Bengals defense, but fortunately the Steelers challenged the play and FWP was ruled to have been down. At another point in the half, FWP fumbled and again had it turned over on a challenge, but on the very next play, he fumbled another time and finally the Steelers lost the challenge (all the reviews were right on by the way - very nice job by the refs tonight). Parker just couldn't hang onto the ball - it was very unsettling - but he wasn't the only member of the offense trying to throw the lead away. Ben got sacked for a safety but it got waived off thanks to a Cincy penalty, then he threw a costly pic a few plays later. None of it mattered however thanks to a brilliant performance by the defense. All they allowed was a Shayne Graham FG. Carson Palmer and his boys couldn't do squat. The Steeler D made all the difference, and the offense made sure the game was out of reach with another long TD drive. When it was all said and done, the Steelers had beaten the Frauds yet again, upping their record to 9-3 and giving them a much-needed two-game lead going into their seemingly unwinnable game next week at Foxboro.

While the defense deserves a lot of credit, there were some other big performers as well. The O-line played perhaps its best game of the season, and they did it without Smith. Max Starks is making people question why he was taken out of the starting rotation in camp. Sure, the Bengals aren't a good blitzing team, but neither were some of the other teams who have sacked us silly this year. Maybe the line is finally coming together (*knock on wood*). The other big performance was turned in by the great Hines Ward. He absolutely wasted the Cincinnati defense and made history in the process. Ward caught two touchdown passes and surpassed John Stallworth to become the team's all-time leader in TD receptions. I think at this point, Ward, Jerome Bettis, and Rod Woodson have to be considered the franchise's three greatest post-1970's players. It was a good night to be a member of The Nation. Now all eyes will turn towards the huge game next week, but for now, here are the numbers from another victory over the hapless Bungles:

• Hines Ward: 11 rec, 90 yards, 2 TD; 64 career TD receptions (team record)
• Ben Roethlisberger: 21-32, 184 yards, 2 TD pass, 1 TD rush

Hail to Pitt! I know this is a Steelers site, but I have to congratulate Dave Wannstedt and the Pitt Panthers on their shocking win over West Virginia on Saturday night. It's been a rocky tenure on the field for Wannstedt, but he has recruited well and this season, Pitt was close to pulling off a few big wins only to have them slip away in the final seconds. But what they did on Saturday will never be forgotten. It was not only one of the biggest upsets of all-time, but it also rocked college football and exposed the BCS as the joke that it is. Best of all, Pitt handed their most hated rival the single most devastating defeat in the history of their program. Being a loyal Pitt fan is usually tough. It certainly doesn't bring the kind of rewards that being a Steelers fan brings. But after that amazing performance in a game NO ONE gave them a chance in, I can honestly say that I have never been more proud to be a Panthers fan.

Steelers 3, Dolphins 0

That's a first!

Would you have ever thought you would see a game in which the Steelers got shutout for 59 minutes, scored just one measly FG, and still won? Well, now you have seen it, courtesy of a truly bizzare football game played tonight against the now 0-11 Miami Dolphins.

The actual "field" at Heinz Field has been a joke for quite some time now, and it's shortcomings were on full display tonight in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football. For whatever inexplicable reason, the Steelers have insisted on keeping grass while everyone else moves to some sort of hybrid fieldturf. The worst time of the year for the grass is right now. Due to the high school games played there on Friday and the Pitt-USF game on Saturday, the Steelers decided to re-sod the field yesterday in preparation of this game. Unfortunately, they did not count on the massive rain which hit Pittsburgh all day and into the game. The weather turned the new sod into ankle-deep mud. It was truly an embarrassment for the Rooneys, and hopefully the last straw in this annual joke which could so easily be remedied.

I'd like to write a recap of the actual game in this space, but what am I supposed to write? No one scored until the very end! Both defenses looked good (credit Joey Porter with playing especially well against his former team), but was it really the defenses playing well or just the fact that neither offense could move the ball? The Steelers won the field position battle - they were in Dolphins territory on every drive - but it didn't result in points. Each time they got moderately close, something bad happened, and as usual, it mostly had to do with the o-line either holding or allowing a sack. But again, I think all criticisms are off the table tonight given the conditions. After all, you try being a 300-pound lineman and trying to get your footing in that mess with guys running at you. My favorite moment of the game was when one of Miami's punts landed and stuck into the ground - the ball did not bounce one inch.

Ultimately the Steelers had a shot at one final drive, and they made it count. Lost in the quagmire was the fact that Ben Roethlisberger had a very solid performance. He was 18 of 21, and on the final drive he and Hines Ward connected on some big passes. The Steelers became the first team all night to even enter the red zone, and with 17 seconds left in regulation, Jeff Reed connected on a 24 yard FG to win the game.

This game was historic in its lack of scoring. The last time a game had gone that long without any points was on November 7, 1943, when the Giants and Lions played to a scoreless tie! Yes, that's right - the Steelers and Dolphins did something that hadn't been done since World War II. Unbelievable. I'm not sure what else to say. Can we really evaluate the Steelers performance tonight? Should they have played better in that mess? I'm really not sure anyone could have played well. Let's just be happy that they escaped with a win, and let's all hope we never have to watch anything like that ever again. Here are the numbers:

• Ben Roethlisberger: 18-21, 165 yards
• Defense: 2nd home shutout of the season

Steelers 16, Jets 19 (OT)

Road woes continue

All three of the Steelers losses this year have had the same setup - on the road against a much weaker opponent whom everyone assumed we would easily dispose of. It happened again today against the lowly Jets, and the Steelers blew a huge opportunity to stay ahead in the race for a prime playoff position.

The defense gave up one huge play all day, and it came on New York's first possession. The Jets ran a flea-flicker which Ike Taylor bit on badly, and the result was a 56 yard bomb which set up New York's only TD of the afternoon. While the defense didn't exactly give up any other big plays, they were responsible for other costly mistakes. New York's other first half scores (both FG's) came as a result of bad Steelers penalties. The first FG was set up by a long pass interference call. The second FG came after Jets QB Kellen Clemens had fumbled into the endzone for an apparent touchback, but when Clark Haggans got flagged for defensive holding, it gave kicker Mike Nugent the chance to add three more points. While the defense was busy making mistakes, the offense couldn't do much of anything. Ben literally had to run for his life all day, and this time he wasn't able to make his usual great escapes. The offensive line gave up an inexcusable 7 sacks to the Jets defense. In a season of terrible performances by the o-line, this one may have been the worst.

Ben did hit Santonio Holmes for a second quarter TD, but in the second half, the game ground to an agonizing halt. Neither team could move the ball well, but at least the Steelers got in range for three Jeff Reed FG's, giving them their first lead of the game at 16-13 late in the 4th quarter. But the defense went to sleep during the game's final two minutes, allowing the Jets to drive all the way down inside the five yard line and nearly win the game at the end of regulation. Instead Nugent kicked a FG and sent the game into OT.

In overtime, the Steelers watched helplessly as all of their faults poured out across the Meadowlands. Ben got sacked deep in Steelers territory as the o-line broke down yet again. The worst part about that sack was that it occured on 2nd down, and on 3rd down, the Steelers ran a "we give up" draw play to Carey Freaking Davis of all people. At first I wanted to rip into the Steelers coaches for being cowards there, but then I thought about it from their point of view: it's 3rd and a mile on our own 14 yard line, Ben gets about 0.5 seconds to make a play, and he already has two turnovers (one interception and one fumble) today because he has tried to make a play while being pressured, so maybe we should just put the game back on our defense rather than hand the game to the Jets right here. Unfortunately, that logic depended on the special teams making a play, and surprise - that didn't happen. Sepulveda kicked a low line drive and Leon Washington returned it all the way to the 33 yard line. That set up a game-winning 38-yard attempt for Nugent, and he drilled it.

It's hard to believe that we just lost a game to a team who only had one win. It's hard to believe that each time this season that the Steelers look like a contender to challenge New England, they go and drop a horrible road game to a bad team. It's hard to believe that our defense not only made a bunch of mistakes, but that their 35-game streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher ended when Thomas Jones - who had been struggling all year - ran for 117 yards. It's hard to believe that after a week of hearing about how we needed to address special teams problems, the punt coverage would break down at the most urgent point in the game. It's hard to believe that our running game has vanished in the past two weeks. And most of all, it's hard to believe that a football team could build a 7-3 record with one of the worst offensive lines in team history. Ugh... I am really disgusted right now. Here are the numbers:

• Jeff Reed: 3 FG's

Steelers 31, Browns 28

Steelers take control of AFC North

It's been a long time since we had a good old-fashioned Steelers-Browns game. Today the two longtime rivals battled for first place in the AFC North. Cleveland looked like they were going to pull it off for a while, but eventually Pittsburgh once again prevailed (that is now 9 wins in a row in this series). More importantly, the Steelers secured a very comfortable lead in the AFC North.

In the first half, each team had three red zone possessions. The big difference was that Cleveland scored touchdowns on those possessions while the Steelers had to settle for field goals. While that would have not been shocking in years past, it was very uncharacteristic of this year's team, which had been converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns on a regular basis. The other big problem for the Steelers was their special teams. Cleveland's second TD was an easy won because the Steelers gave up a 90 yard kickoff return to Joshua Cribbs. It was just the start of a horrific special teams performance.

When the second half began, Cleveland held a huge lead and seemed to be in full control. It started raining and neither team was able to do much but trade punts. The crowd at Heinz Field was completely out of it. But then the momentum completely swung. The Drug Dealer tried to pound his way thru the middle of the defense, but James Harrison (who else?) caused him to fumble. It was such a huge play because it gave the Steelers the break they so desperately needed. Ben Roethlisberger had been mediocre up until that point - he had thrown a costly first half interception and was throwing behind a lot of his receivers - but that turnover gave him new life. He quickly capitalized on it with a 12 yard TD pass to Hines (on a nice 3rd down play where Ben picked up Cleveland's all-out blitz). In the 4th quarter, Ben used his legs on 3rd down, running up the middle of the field for an impressive 30 yard TD dash.

At this point, the Steelers had the lead and held all the cards. They completed a two-point conversion to give them a 3-point lead, and the crowd was going nuts. They squib kicked it to Cribbs because they were much too afraid to kick it straight to him, and Cribbs mishandled the ball on the bounce. The football rolled all the way back to the one yard line, and it looked as if we were going to maybe get a safety out of it. So what happens? Cribbs dances down the sideline for a 100 yard kickoff return score! It was simply unbelievable. I'm still not sure whether it was a really incredible play by Cribbs or the most pathetic tackling display ever by the Steelers. Maybe it was some of both. Just like that, Cleveland had the lead back with about ten minutes left in the game.

As usual, Roethlisberger came to the rescue. He took the Steelers on a 14 play, 78 yard drive which may ultimately have won them their first AFC North title since 2004. The big play on the drive was a 3rd and 18 conversion to Heath Miller. Ben found Miller again later in the drive for a short TD to give the Steelers the lead for good. I know I write this every week, but I just can't say enough about the MONSTER season Ben is having. It's just amazing how he has spent his entire pro career doing the most important thing any QB can do - winning football games. Brett Keisel summed it best after the game: "All I ever hear is about Brady and Peyton, but this guy we have here is very special." I also can't say enough bad things about the Cleveland defense. They blew a 15-point lead and still had the game in their hands thanks to Cribbs, but they just laid down and died anyway.

After the Miller TD catch, Cleveland then started to, well, turn into Cleveland. They inexplicably wasted a timeout so that they could decide whether or not they wanted to challenge the play. Then when it was clear that Miller had indeed caught the ball, they challenged it anyway, thus giving away TWO of their three timeouts for nothing! In the final minutes, they had a great chance to tie the game when Eric Metcalf - I mean, Joshua Cribbs returned yet another kick into Steelers territory, but the Browns were guilty of holding on the play. Due to the extremely costly penalty (it set them back a good 30 yards from where they would have been), some bad clock management, and the fact that they didn't have any timeouts left because they chucked two of them for no good reason, the best Cleveland could do was to get Phil Dawson in range for a 52 yard FG attempt into the wind of the open endzone. And they even screwed that up when they waited too long to get the kicking team out on the field and had to rush the play! Dawson did get the kick away, and it fell woefully short of the goal post.

I won't be naive enough to say that the Steelers have the division all locked up. After all, I vividly remember planning out our #2 seed when we beat Cleveland two years ago this week to achieve the same 7-2 record, and look how that turned out. However, this was a huge win. The Browns clearly have talent and could easily get at least a wild card, but they aren't going too deep into the post-season with such a putrid defense. They also need to learn how to hold leads and win close games. The Steelers have now swept their three game stint against the division. There are still tougher games in the weeks ahead, but you have to feel really good with Ben behind the wheel. Here are the numbers:

• Ben Roethlisberger: 23-34, 278 yards, 2 TD, 49 rsuhing yards, 1 rushing TD
• FWP: 25 rushes, 105 yards
• Hines Ward: 7 rec, 80 yards, 1 TD
• James Harrison: 2 forced fumbles

Steelers 38, Ravens 7

Baltimore beaten into submission

Good Lord, was that a beating. The Steelers turned the tables on what the Ravens did to them last season by just absolutely hammering Baltimore into the ground tonight. So much for the first place showdown. Right now it is clear that the Ravens have no business competing for the AFC North this season.

As rain descended on Heinz Field, fans prepared for what they thought would be a low-scoring, smash-mouth affair. However, what transpired in the first half turned out to be the James Harrison / Ben Roethlisberger show. Harrison forced TWO fumbled early in the first quarter, both with his helmet. On the first one, he knocked the ball loose from Steve McNair and the Steelers recovered at the Baltimore 20 yard line. On the second, he drilled Ed Reed on a punt return, popping the ball into the arms of The Ghost of Lawrence Timmons. Both of those drives were turned into touchdowns by Big Ben, who played one of the best games of his career. The first TD was pure Ben brilliance. He somehow escaped a sure sack and managed to find Heath Miller in the endzone. His second TD pass was a pretty strike down the middle to Santonio Holmes. But Ben was just getting warmed up.

The defense continued to pound McNair for the remainder of the first half. McNair is a notorious Steeler-killer, but tonight he just looked like a broken down old man. Harrison added a few more sacks and an interception. On a night where the Steel Curtain defense was in attendance, Harrison did them proud by having what was arguably one of the greatest defensive performances in the 75-year history of the franchise. Check out these stats: 9 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery. Are you kidding me? I cannot believe there was a large contingent of people who were angered that we dumped Joey Porter! Shame on all of you.

As the defense was busy doing its job, Ben was busy making history. He not only tied the franchise record for TD passes in a game, he did it before halftime! His third TD pass came on another scramble play which allowed Nate Washington to get so wide open that not even he was capable of dropping the ball (and that's saying a lot). The fourth TD pass was a perfectly thrown 35 yard bomb to Holmes which had the Ravens defender bewildered. And the fifth TD was another nice throw in the side of the endzone to Washington. I love what Ben is doing this season, and the funny thing is that he is doing it all under the radar because his last name is not Brady or Manning or Favre. But he deserves to be mentioned with all of those players because he is seriously having an MVP-like season. The scariest moment of the season came in the second half when he got hurt, but he was walking around and even came back in for a few plays. Thank God for that, because I don't know what we would do without him.

The night was dedicated to honoring the 75th all-time team, so all the greats were on hand - everyone from Terry Bradshaw to Mean Joe Greene to Franco Harris to Jerome Bettis. It was a celebration of one of the greatest, most beloved franchises in all of American sports. For the Steelers to go out there and just manhandle the Ravens really added to that celebration. The ESPN cameras caught shots of the legends just loving every minute of it. How could they not? It was classic Steelers football. They out-physicaled a very physical team. The knockout punch was delivered by none other than Hines Ward, who as Mike Trico put it, was picking off Baltimore defenders all night. Ward BLASTED Ed Reed on a long pass play, sending Reed off the field with a mild concussion. And that about summed up the night. The Ravens didn't stand a chance. There was too much tradition in that building for any other outcome to be possible.

We are now at the halfway point of the 2007 season. I'm not sure what the second half holds. I know that after watching that game yesterday, the competition in the AFC is at an all-time high. Can the Steelers rain on the Indy-New England parade? I really don't know. We will find out in the next two months, but after watching that game tonight and seeing all those great Steelers legends, I have to say that I have never been more proud to be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Here are the numbers:

• Ben Roethlisberger: 13-16, 209 yards, 5 TD
• James Harrison: 9 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery

Steelers 24, Bengals 13

Steelers can't lose in Cincy

Nothing is better the week after a bad loss than playing at Paul Brown Stadium. The Steelers won there today for the seventh straight time against the pathetic Bengals. It was a big win against a hated rival, and it once again put the Steelers back in the driver's seat in the AFC North.

The defense looked out of sync to start this game. Carson Palmer led the Bengals on a long drive to start the game, but the defense eventually held them to just a field goal. After that drive however, the defense buckled down and played solid. They forced punts and allowed Ben Roethlisberger to take over the game. The offense was amazing in the first half. They put together back-to-back 80 yard drives. The first one took only five plays and was aided in large part by 42 yard bomb to Santonio Holmes. The second drive was a clock-eating 12 play drive which featured some big 3rd down "Ben makes something out of nothing" plays (which are now becoming the norm every week). Both drives ended with a Hines Ward TD catch. Ward had his first big game of the season. It was nice to see him back to being Hines again. It helped on his first touchdown that the Bengals defense only put 10 men out on the field. Apparently they thought they needed more of a challenge.

Down 14-3, Cincinnati put together a nice drive late in the first half. They got all the way down to the 2 yard line and were faced 4th and 1, but even though their backs were against the wall this week, they wussed out and kicked a FG with their crowd booing them the whole time. It was such a typical Bungle loser move. They may as well have waived a white flag. I can't believe this team actually thought it was destined to win the Super Bowl two years ago! I hope everyone now realizes what a bunch of frauds they truly are. The Steelers, who are not losers, then got the ball back with just two minutes left in the half, marched right down the field, and scored a touchdown in the final seconds. It was such a profound statement of how different these two franchises are. The game was essentially over after that. Ben threw a bad interception in the second half which allowed the Bengals to hang around a bit longer than expected, but the Steelers still won by a comfortable margin.

The Steelers really needed this win after last week. There was FAR too much panic amongst the Nation, and the Steelers responded with a good performance on the road. Anyone who thinks Ben isn't our most important player is very mistaken. Yes, FWP is essential. He had another big day today, and the line was not as shaky as last week. The defense is still playing well. They gave up big plays today, but not nearly as many as they had in the past few meetings with Palmer. But Ben is the key. He made an amazing play converting a 3rd down while getting hauled down by his ankle. That's just the kind of stuff we have come to expect from him this year. The Steelers were 8 of 11 on 3rd downs today and Daniel Sepulveda only had to punt once (and that was on the first possession of the game). Meanwhile, can we officially call the Bengals the biggest joke in the NFL again? At 2-5, they will need a miracle to get back in the race, and I'm not sure if their coaches or players even really care at this point. The Steelers may have effectively ended their season today for the third time in as many years at that stadium. Man, it's so fun to play there! Here are the numbers:

• Ben Roethlisberger: 19-26, 230 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
• FWP: 22 rushes, 126 yards, 1 TD
• Hines Ward: 8 rec, 88 yards, 2 TD

Steelers 28, Broncos 31

Not so easy after all

Games like this always scare me. For two weeks, there was so much talk. We talked about how Denver's defense was soft against the run. We talked about how decimated they would be without CB Champ Bailey and WR Javon Walker. We talked about how they had lost a bunch of games at home, including a blowout against San Diego before the bye. We talked about how the Steelers defense had been so dominant, and how they were going to be even better with Hampton and Polamalu back. It all seemed to point to an easy win for the Steelers. But things are never that easy when you are playing on the road in the NFL.

The first drive of the game did look very promising for the Steelers. They marched down the field thru mostly passing, and Ben Roethlisberger hit Heath Miller for a short TD. But the rest of the first half belonged to Denver. The Broncos offense was very effective moving the football and scored two touchdowns, both on fairly long drives. The defense had been so tough in previous games - especially in the first half - but they let Jay Cutler and Brandon Stokley pick them apart. Meanwhile, the offense was just as bad. Ben threw two interceptions, and he fumbled after a bad snap. That fumble was picked up by Denver and returned 50 yards for a touchdown by Tim Crowder. The offense was able to move the ball, but each time they got into Denver territory they blew up, either by comitting a turnover or taking sacks. They were so desperate for points that Tomlin allowed Jeff Reed to attempt what would have been an NFL record 65 yard FG (not surprisingly, the kick was short).

Steelers 21, Seahawks 0

Cry about that, Seattle!

Steelers 14, Cardinals 21

Steelers suffer first hiccup

I wrote in my preview this week that I did not have a good feeling about this game. The Steelers were playing on the road against all of their old coaches, and had several key injuries to deal with, mainly WR Hines Ward, who did not dress due to injury. To be fair, the Cardinals weren't playing at 100% either, as their top wideout Anquan Boldin also had to sit out. In the end, Arizona made the plays and Pittsburgh did not. Give credit to Ken Wisenhunt, because he knew how to beat us and he had his team ready to execute.

The first half of the game was a defensive battle. FWP entered the game as the NFL's leading rusher, but the Cardinals were all over him. The offense kept getting called for uncharacteristic penalties and kept taking sacks (not sure if that was directly related to the Sean Mahan injury or not). They put themseleves in numerous 3rd and 20+ situations, which contributed big time to the loss. Ironically though, their only big play of the first two quarters came on a 3rd and long. It was a 43 yard bomb from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes, who had a huge day in Ward's absence.

The Steelers held their 7-0 lead into the 3rd quarter thanks to their defense continuing to play tough against both Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner, who as expected split duty at QB for Arizona. But then things started to fall apart when Troy Polamalu was forced out of the game with an injury to his abdomen. Everyone who thought Polamalu was overrated got to see what the Steelers defense looks like without him, and it was not a pretty sight. Warner tied the score with a long TD drive, but the Steelers then got a golden opportunity to regain the lead. The Arizona center snapped the ball over Warner's head and James Harrsion recovered the ball inside the Cardinals 5 yard line, but Roethlisberger threw a terrible interception in the endzone. The Steelers then made a mistake on special teams, getting called for an ineligible man downfield penalty on a punt. On the re-kick, rookie Steve Breaston returned it 73 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. It was Arizona's first punt return TD since the stone age, and it should have never happened. Later in the 4th quarter, the Cardinals iced the game 13-play, 7-minute touchdown drive. The QB's were effective, but the guy who really killed us was none other than Larry Legend. Following in the footsteps of fellow Pitt legends Dan Marino and Curtis Martin (who also killed the Steelers in their first pro game against them), Fitzgerald caught 11 balls for 123 yards. The Steelers got a last-minute touchdown to make it close, but it was too little too late. They tried an onside kick at the end, but Fitzgerald recovered it.

So it turns out the 2007 Steelers aren't invincible after all. They were completely outplayed by the Cardinals today, but I don't think it's reason to panic. This was going to happen at some point. Mike Tomlin had to lose his first game. The key will be seeing how they respond at home next week against a Seattle team who is in first place in the NFC West. Here are the numbers:

• Ben Roethlisberger: 17-32, 244 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
• Santonio Holmes: 6 rec, 128 yards, 2 TD

Steelers 37, 49ers 16

Another dominate win

Today's game was built as a big early season showdown between two 2-0 teams. If that was the case, then the Steelers came up big, shutting down their 3rd straight opponent for their best start since 1992. So far the team's surprise decision to hire an unproven head coach is paying dividends.

The defense played well again. They gave up a few big plays here and there (Alex Smith is a lot better than I thought he was, especially when he rolls out of the pocket), but overall they played "bend but don't break" football. They stonewalled the Niners on three drives where they got close to the endzone, forcing FG's by Academy Award Winner Joe Nedney each time. The only touchdown they gave up was in garbage time, and that was after Bryant McFadden had iced things with a pic-six. The biggest stat of the day was the defense holding star RB Frank Gore to 39 yards on the ground. Again, if you had to point out one potential weakness, it would be the tight ends getting open (Vernon Davis seemed to be all over the field), but that is not even close to being a big problem.

Some fans questioned why the Steelers picked up kick return specialist Allen Rossum days before the season started. No one was asking those questions today. Down 3-0 in the 1st quarter, Rossum took a kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown. That really gave the Steelers much-needed momentum. The offense played solidly again. FWP continues to rack up big yardage, and Ben Roethlisberger had an error-free afternoon. Ben hit The Ghost of Jerame Tuman for a short second quarter TD pass which gave the Steelers a 14-6 lead going into the half. The tight ends have become such an integral part of the offense already. In addition to Tuman's touchdown, Heath Miller was the team's leading receiver. Even with Matt Spaeth out with an injury, Ben found the TE's. This is the offense many of us had hoped to see when they invested the draft pick in Miller a few years ago.

After that it was all Pittsburgh. Jeff Reed added a few field goals, and once again the game was over by the 4th quarter. The 49ers aren't the best team in the league, but they're better than the previous two opponents. Plus I'm getting tired of talking down the competition. Yes, it is true that these are games that a good team should be winning. But the fact that they are just bowling over everyone is surprising. The Nation has to be impressed with the job Mike Tomlin has done so far. He was under SO much pressure to succeed right off the bat, and while that pressure hasn't been erased with this 3-0 start, it certainly has been eased. The best part about this early season winning streak is that the Steelers are doing what they do best - ball-control and solid defense, with big plays like Rossum's kick return thrown into the mix. The schedule will slowly start to get tougher, but so far you have to like what you are seeing. Here are the numbers:

• Ben Roethlisberger: 13-20, 160 yards, 1 TD
• FWP: 24 rushes, 133 yards
• Heath Miller: 4 rec, 82 yards

Steelers 26, Bills 3

So far so good

You have to give credit to the Bills defense. They were ravaged by injury, yet they still managed to play bend-but-not-break football for half of the game to keep Buffalo in it. In the end it wasn't nearly enough though, as the Steelers still rolled to another easy victory.

In the first half the Steelers were able to move the ball with ease. After a somewhat slow start last week, FWP went nuts today, pounding the Bills for his second straight 100-yard performance. Ben was not nearly as sharp as last week, but still made plays when it counted. Even Nate Washington got into the mix, catching 3 balls for 60 yards before halftime. But the Steelers couldn't get into the endzone. Buffalo held strong when the Steelers drove deep, and Jeff Reed kicked four first half field goals. Fortunately for the Steelers, their defense played lights out yet again. Rookie RB Marshawn Lynch had some nifty runs (he really looks like the real deal), but QB J.P. Losman couldn't generate any momentum.

Perhaps the best player for the Bills all day was kick returner Terrence McGee. His big return at the start of the 3rd quarter set up Buffalo's only score, a 24-yard Rian Lindell FG. That only seemed to wake up the Steelers offense. They finally got into the endzone with two big drives. The first was a 9 play, 62 yard drive which was capped by a short TD pass to TE Matt Spaeth. The second drive was shorter (4 plays, 51 yards), but also featured a big TE play, a 29-yard pass to Heath Miller (it's SO good to see the tight end prominently featured in this offense). FWP capped that drive with an 11 yard TD run, and that wrapped things up.

While this wasn't quite a total blowout, Charlie Batch and Najeh Davenport were running the offense by the 4th quarter, so it essentially turned into the seventh pre-season game. The Steelers look great, while the rest of the AFC North looks inconsistent at best. Mike Tomlin also appears to be doing a fine job thus far. Once again, I preface all of this with the fact that this is still very early in the season, and the Steelers really haven't faced any tough competition yet. With three NFC teams on the upcoming schedule, things don't look to get much tougher either. Still, it's great to see everything clicking so well. Hopefully they can keep it up. Here are the numbers:

• Ben Roethlisberger: 21-34, 242 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
• FWP: 23 rushes, 126 yards, 1 TD
• Defense: 4 sacks, 223 total yards allowed

Steelers 34, Browns 7

Cleveland bad

The first instinct on opening day 2007 would be to get really excited about the Mike Tomlin Era. Like the two legends who preceded him, the new coach began his tenure with a victory, and this one was a dominate victory. The Steelers completely dismantled the Browns from start to finish. The offense was impressive on all fronts, while the defense leveled Cleveland QB's Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson. While the first instinct is excitement at how good this team looks, the second instinct has to be, "Was that a real NFL team that we just played?"

Remember in the movie Major League when Bob Uecker - playing the announcer of a miserable Cleveland baseball team - says that you can tell a lot about how a season is going to play out based on the first at-bat? Well, if you can also tell a lot about a football season from the first series, then the 2007 Cleveland Browns are in a heap of trouble. On their first possession, Cleveland lost three yards and took the first of what would eventually be six sacks on the day. When they attempted to punt on 4th down, punter Paul Ernster mishandled the snap and barely got off a terrible 15 yard kick, but that wasn't even the worst part of the play. The Browns incurred four penalties on the punt! There were two holding calls, an illegal formation, and an ineligible man downfield - all on the SAME play! That was surreal. I'm not sure I have ever seen anything like that in all my years as a die-hard football fan. That set the tone for the rest of the day.

Ben Roethlisberger, who had a big day, converted the Cleveland mishap with a nice over-the-shoulder TD pass to Hines Ward. On Cleveland's second possession, Deshea Townsend picked off Frye, setting up a FG. Two possessions later, The Drug Dealer fumbled, and Ben made them pay for that one with a 40 yard play action TD bomb to Santonio Holmes. The defense looked awesome, killing Cleveland drives with sacks and creating turnovers. If I had to be picky and point out one negative, it would be their lack of coverage on the TE, which has been an issue in the past. But can you really fault a defense which created five turnovers and all but shutout a team?

The second half saw Roethlisberger throw for two more touchdowns, both to our tight ends (much to the delight of The Nation). Rookie Matt Spaeth caught the first one, and Heath Miller hauled in the second. Roethlisberger finished with 4 TD passes, which was a career high. Meanwhile, FWP had a very quiet 109 yards rushing. It was the perfect Steelers game - take a big lead early, play solid defense, and run it down their throats to kill the clock. By the time the 4th quarter rolled around, the only suspense left was to see if Brady Quinn - whom the Cleveland fans had been chanting for - got into the game to get his head ripped off (unfortunately, he did not).

It was great to see the Steelers open with a win for the fifth straight season. Remember when an opening day loss was pretty much a given? This team was definitely prepared. The other team was definitely not. One of my friends asked out loud, "Do they even practice during the week?" It was truly embarrassing. Barring a miracle, Romeo Crennel probably won't make it thru the season with his job intact. So be excited about being 1-0, but take it all with a grain of salt seeing as how Cleveland looked like absolute garbage. Here are the numbers:

• Ben Roethlisberger: 12/23, 161 yards, 4 TD
• FWP: 27 rushes, 109 yards
• Defense: 5 forced turnovers, 6 sacks