SteelCrazy
12-08-2010, 12:54 PM
There are not many sports fans that are as fortunate as the Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Very few sports franchises in all of professional sports have teams that can figure out a way to win more often than not. Recently the Patriots are in that category and the New York Yankees seem to do the same thing. Then there are some sports fans who have teams that can never figure out how to pull out a victory (I call them Cubs fans) while all the other sports teams are hovering somewhere in between.
On Sunday the Steelers had possibly their biggest regular season of the game. Pittsburgh trailed most of the game, the offense wasn't really moving the ball but they figured out how to win anyway. The winning score came when Troy Polamalu(notes) stripped the ball from Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco(notes). LaMarr Woodley(notes) picked up the loose ball and returned the ball inside the 10 yard line. Then Isaac Redman(notes) scored on a nine yard touchdown pass that saw him avoid four tacklers to get in the end zone. It wasn't a pretty finish, but that's how the Steelers normally win.
There were many things to take from this game, the biggest being that there should be no doubt that Ben Roethlisberger(notes) should be taken in a big game over Joe Flacco, hands down. It wasn't an impressive performance by Roethlisberger but he has taken physical beatings from every team he has faced without the ability to retaliate because of the short leash after his suspension. Roethlisberger was once again the focus of attack in the Ravens game when he got hit in the face and blood began pouring out of his nose. Regardless, Roethlisberger threw the go ahead touchdown pass like he normally does.
Joe Flacco on the other hand should be considered one of the biggest busts of the 2010 - 2011 NFL season. Maybe it is because Baltimore doesn't get as much attention or maybe it is because the Ravens are in a playoff position despite the offense, but Flacco has skated by without much criticism this season. This was supposed to be Flacco's break out year. The Ravens added more weapons for him to throw to and coming into the season the Ravens were the favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
The passing game hasn't been horrible mind you, but 15th place in the NFL was not what was expected. Flacco was projected by many to pass for 4,200 to 4,500 yards and at this point he will probably end up around 3,800. His quarterback rating ranks 11th and his total yards ranks 10th. Again, being a top 10 quarterback is not a bad thing but Flacco was supposed to be in the Peyton Manning(notes)/Rivers/Brees/Rodgers/Roethlisberger category and not the Orton/Cutler/Schaub/Eli Manning(notes) category.
Most importantly Flacco has a hard time beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. Earlier this season a lot of people thought Flacco got the monkey off his back for defeating the Steelers in Pittsburgh. If Flacco and the Ravens want to use that as motivation then they can do that but nobody in the league should buy it. Only beating the Steelers by three when they had no quarterback is not a victory that impresses anybody.
In fact, let's have a little history lesson. The Ravens beat the Steelers this year with Roethlisberger suspended. Last season the Ravens and Steelers also split their games. The game the Ravens won saw Dennis Dixon(notes) playing quarterback for the Steelers. The year before that the Steelers swept the season series from Baltimore and in 2007 they split again but the game the Ravens won was against Charlie Batch(notes) because Roethlisberger was nursing an injury. Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens have not defeated Ben Roethlisberger since 2006.
This week Flacco once again choked against Roethlisberger. Flacco got sacked in red zone situations, he gave up the fumble that would eventually lead to Pittsburgh's win and on a final drive to try and win the game, Flacco had a wide open receiver less than ten yards away and Flacco's pass dropped two yards short of the receiver.
This week's win was important for the Steelers because a loss would put them two games behind the Ravens (one because the Ravens would have the tie-breaker). Instead the Steelers are ahead one game. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning has one of the worst games of his career as the Colts drop to .500. The Chargers do the same because they are the Chargers. The Jets got taken to school and once again the two teams left standing are the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. Unfortunately we saw what Brady can do to the Steelers' pass defense three weeks ago.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ycn-7355218
On Sunday the Steelers had possibly their biggest regular season of the game. Pittsburgh trailed most of the game, the offense wasn't really moving the ball but they figured out how to win anyway. The winning score came when Troy Polamalu(notes) stripped the ball from Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco(notes). LaMarr Woodley(notes) picked up the loose ball and returned the ball inside the 10 yard line. Then Isaac Redman(notes) scored on a nine yard touchdown pass that saw him avoid four tacklers to get in the end zone. It wasn't a pretty finish, but that's how the Steelers normally win.
There were many things to take from this game, the biggest being that there should be no doubt that Ben Roethlisberger(notes) should be taken in a big game over Joe Flacco, hands down. It wasn't an impressive performance by Roethlisberger but he has taken physical beatings from every team he has faced without the ability to retaliate because of the short leash after his suspension. Roethlisberger was once again the focus of attack in the Ravens game when he got hit in the face and blood began pouring out of his nose. Regardless, Roethlisberger threw the go ahead touchdown pass like he normally does.
Joe Flacco on the other hand should be considered one of the biggest busts of the 2010 - 2011 NFL season. Maybe it is because Baltimore doesn't get as much attention or maybe it is because the Ravens are in a playoff position despite the offense, but Flacco has skated by without much criticism this season. This was supposed to be Flacco's break out year. The Ravens added more weapons for him to throw to and coming into the season the Ravens were the favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
The passing game hasn't been horrible mind you, but 15th place in the NFL was not what was expected. Flacco was projected by many to pass for 4,200 to 4,500 yards and at this point he will probably end up around 3,800. His quarterback rating ranks 11th and his total yards ranks 10th. Again, being a top 10 quarterback is not a bad thing but Flacco was supposed to be in the Peyton Manning(notes)/Rivers/Brees/Rodgers/Roethlisberger category and not the Orton/Cutler/Schaub/Eli Manning(notes) category.
Most importantly Flacco has a hard time beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. Earlier this season a lot of people thought Flacco got the monkey off his back for defeating the Steelers in Pittsburgh. If Flacco and the Ravens want to use that as motivation then they can do that but nobody in the league should buy it. Only beating the Steelers by three when they had no quarterback is not a victory that impresses anybody.
In fact, let's have a little history lesson. The Ravens beat the Steelers this year with Roethlisberger suspended. Last season the Ravens and Steelers also split their games. The game the Ravens won saw Dennis Dixon(notes) playing quarterback for the Steelers. The year before that the Steelers swept the season series from Baltimore and in 2007 they split again but the game the Ravens won was against Charlie Batch(notes) because Roethlisberger was nursing an injury. Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens have not defeated Ben Roethlisberger since 2006.
This week Flacco once again choked against Roethlisberger. Flacco got sacked in red zone situations, he gave up the fumble that would eventually lead to Pittsburgh's win and on a final drive to try and win the game, Flacco had a wide open receiver less than ten yards away and Flacco's pass dropped two yards short of the receiver.
This week's win was important for the Steelers because a loss would put them two games behind the Ravens (one because the Ravens would have the tie-breaker). Instead the Steelers are ahead one game. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning has one of the worst games of his career as the Colts drop to .500. The Chargers do the same because they are the Chargers. The Jets got taken to school and once again the two teams left standing are the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. Unfortunately we saw what Brady can do to the Steelers' pass defense three weeks ago.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ycn-7355218