Here's my observations about the 1999 Steelers (4-3) now that the season is nearly halfway over:

• Team MVP: Goes to the entire defense. They are the only reason we're over .500 right now.



• Biggest Surprise / Comeback Player of the Year: RB Richard Huntley. Last season, Huntley couldn't hang on to the ball if his life depended on it. This year, he has not fumbled once, and he leads the team with five touchdowns.



• Biggest Disappointment: QB Kordell Stewart. It's tough to be named the biggest disappointment when nobody was expecting you to be that good anyway, so Kordell really earned this one. He is unconfident and afraid to pass most of the time, and has repeatedly been booed off the field at home games.



• Rookie of the Year: WR Troy Edwards. He leads all rookie receivers in receptions, and has become a favorite target for Stewart. Unfortunately, he has dropped a ton of passes as well and often runs the wrong routes.



• The Jamain Stephens Award: this inagural award for absolute stupidity goes to - who else - Jamain Stephens! Stephens became probably the only veteran player ever to get cut on the first day of training camp after he showed up overweight and collapsed during sprints.



• Player who Made Me Look Stupid: PK Kris Brown. After I bashed the Steelers for getting rid of Norm Johnson for a rookie (I believe I remarked that "Brandi Chastain would be a better kicker than Brown"), Brown came in and has made all 11 of the field goals he has attempted. He won the game in Baltimore, he kicked a 51 yarder against Atlanta, and he leads the conference in scoring. Woops...



• Best Game: Opening night in Cleveland. We destroyed the Browns 43-0 in front of their fans who had waited for that game for four years. It was great for all of us that hate Cleveland.



• Worst Game: Week 4 at home vs. the Jaguars. They played poorly but since we couldn't do crap on offense, they won for the first time ever at Three Rivers.



• Best Play: In this case it's the best series of plays. The Steelers defense stuffed the Falcons on three straight running plays from the one yard line in week 7, preserving a 13-9 win at home.



• Worst Play: Faced with 4th and 1 late in the game vs. Jacksonville in week 4, the Steelers opted to try a flea-flicker and throw deep. The pass was underthrown, and the Jags held on to win.



• Funniest Play: In week 5 in Cincinatti, the Bengals were driving late when rookie QB Akili Smith threw an interception in the endzone. The play was reviewed forever, and then it was called back. Then the refs picked up a flag they had thrown on the Bengals. After an endless delay play finally resumed, and Smith threw another interception on the ensuing play to ice the game for Pittsburgh.



• Player with the Most Commercials: The Bus, although most of them are local spots for trucks ("Can you tell us how to get to Schenley Park?" I still say Kordell should be in that one).



• Player with the Most Commercials Despite Never Playing in One Game: Rookie OT Kris Farris had a national shoe commercial running earlier this season, even though he tore up his knee in training camp and is out for the entire year.



• Player Booed/Cursed at the Most at Three Rivers: Kordell Stewart, anytime he threw a pass or got sacked or walked out of the locker room or stood on the sidelines.



• Player Cheered the Most at Three Rivers: Jack Lambert, during the halftime ceremony in week 7.



• Crybaby of the Year: Browns GM Dwight Clark. He cried about the Steelers running up the score on Cleveland and said he has developed a "true hatred" for Pittsburgh. Maybe next time we play we'll be kind and only beat them by 42.



• Brilliant Quote of the Year: CB Chad Scott after the Steelers, who were up by four, stopped Atlanta from getting into the endzone on the final play of the game in week 7: "If we don't stop them, we lose the game". No sh*t, Chad.



• Dumb Move of the Year: Rookie RB Amos Zeroue not only got arrested for DUI, but he did it in Brentwood, where the cops probably don't take too kindly to Steelers players after the huge controversy surrounding the death of Ray Seals' cousin there a few years ago.



• Shocker of the Year: C Dermontti Dawson missed a game for the first time in over a decade when a bad hamstring made him sit out the week 7 game vs. Atlanta.



• Sarcastic Shocker of the Year: DE Nolan Harrison missed a game for the first time in over a week when a bad chest muscle made him sit out weeks 3-present.



• Favorite Opponents of the Year: The three teams that are under us in our division. Cincinnati and Cleveland scored a combined 3 points against us, and Baltimore came back on us only to lose on a field goal in the final seconds - and all those games were at their home stadiums. We still have one home game left against each of them!



• Something Different: No major injuries; a halfway decent secondary; a win over the Bengals



• Same Old Crap: No offense; horrible punt coverage; receivers who can't catch



• Grades:
• Rush Offense: C+
• Pass Offense: F-
• Rush Defense: A
• Pass Defense: A-
• Special Teams: B-
• Coaching: B