Big Lead Sports Bar

10/01/2007

Whised On

CARDINALS (2-2) 21

STEELERS (3-1) 14


Sorry it took so long to get the recap and game notes posted. I was following around Ken Whisenhunt while he was shaking hands with every member of the Steelers' organization. We're flying back to Pittsburgh, as we still have a few ballboys and trainers to catch, but don't fret...we will not meet up with Big Ben.

But we'll have to get back to Phoenix soon. Today is the parade around the desert for all of the former Steelers employees carrying around their "Steelers Revenge" trophy. I guess they showed us. As a matter of fact, I know Dan Rooney is already second-guessing his hiring of Mike Tomlin. And Chukky Okobi...what a difference-maker.

All kidding aside, what a horrible game on Sunday. A few questions:

1. Do the Steelers have an offensive line anymore, or are the guys up front participants from some kind of expensive Steeler fantasy camp? Is getting pushed around by the Cardinals considered the low point in a lineman's career?

2. When did the Cardinals get fans? Were they really a bunch of bored Cowboy fans who still hate the Steelers from the '70s? Or does it simply take an invasion of Yinzers waving yellow cloth to bring them out?

3. The two-headed QB worked for Florida last year, with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow bringing the Gators a championship. Anyone think it will work out as nicely for the Cards? Me neither.

4. Did the presence of Ken Whisenhunt make Ben Roethlisberger feel like it was 2006 again?

5. Is Tunch Ilkin a psychic? On the radio broadcast, after the Steelers were penalized on a 4th-quarter punt, Tunch proclaimed that "nothing good happens when you have to re-kick." Unless you consider giving Pittsburgh's own Steve Breaston his 1st NFL touchdown a good thing. I don't.

Even the usual "Willie Parker long run" couldn't make much of a difference on Sunday. 19 carries, 37 yards, with a long of 20. That's 1.9 per carry, if you're scoring at home. I guess it was his turn to be the crappy fantasy league running back of the week.

I mused last week the Steelers could absolutely lose this game, if only for the reason that this league has been so inconsistent this season. Take a look around...it's not just the Steelers. Philadelphia craps the bed early on, they're ready to run McNabb out of town, then they put up 50+ on the Lions. Of course, they would go on to score 3 points and surrender 12 sacks to the also-inconsistent Giants on Sunday night.

Or take Cleveland. They look like they belong in the MAC after they play the Steelers...then they put up 51 on Cincy...then they lose to Oakland, a 2-14 team a year ago...then they beat Baltimore, a 2006 playoff team, by two touchdowns. I can't figure it out, either. And to think, people wager money on this league.

Scary as it sounds, the cliche "on any given Sunday..." applies this season more than ever. Unfortunately, Steamin' Willie Beamon is not walking through the door to save anyone's season. We'll have to rely on Fast Willie Parker. Let's hope for a better performance against Seattle.

Thoughts from around the league:

--Shouldn't they rename the Sunday night game, "The NFC East on NBC"? As you can tell, I'm not letting this topic die. We're getting waaay too much NFC East. And it's not just NBC. Think of me next Monday when you're watching the highly-anticipated Dallas-Buffalo matchup on ESPN.

--Daunte Culpepper wins the "Whisenhunt/Grimm Revenge Award" for his performance against the Dolphins on Sunday. If only he played like that when he was a Dolphin, he'd probably still be there.

--Matt Schaub is a runner-up in the "Whisenhunt/Grimm Revenge Award" for his showing against the Falcons on Sunday. 317 yards and a TD was a nice performance. Unfortunately, he couldn't beat the Falcons, so his performance is automatically negated.

--I might want to re-think that "Tampa Bay winning the NFC South" comment last week after the always-reliable Cadillac Williams went out for the season on Sunday (as well as OL Luke Petitgout).

--A look around at this week's winning QBs includes Trent Edwards, Derek Anderson, Jon Kitna, Joey Harrington, and Damon Huard. I'd say that's mildly frightening.

--I can't remember another NFL player that has an on/off switch quite like Randy Moss's. As Mr. Tony said last night, I hope that 4th-rounder Oakland gets is really good.

--So are Bears fans going to call for Kyle Orton next? Most importantly, what does Jim Belushi think of all this?

--That Norv Turner, all he does is win. Anyone familiar with the Peter Principle?

--John Clayton just reported that the Chargers will consider giving Pete Carroll total control if things don't turn around in San Diego. It's week four.

--How bad are things in San Diego? The Chargers are 1-3, and the Padres just got knocked out of the playoffs on a phantom touch of home plate. Bad times for Champ Kind.

--Bengal fans, you might want to sell your Super Bowl tickets. Just a hunch. And to Chad Johnson, when Mike Greenberg is saying you need to walk the walk, that's about as embarrassing as it gets for an athlete.

3 comments:

Dirty Sanchez said...

Running game wasn't doing squat, Faneca going through Operation Shutdown, maybe it would have been a good time to break out the heralded no huddle offense we've heard so much about?

Or can we only run that when we're down by 14 and there are 3 minutes left in the game?

Good thing Ben has decent wheels on him or the Steelers would be looking at about 20 sacks allowed through 4 games. But who needs to draft offensive lineman when you can draft LBs that don't play and a backup TE with your first three picks?

Unknown said...

Let's relax folks, we're still 3-1, don't jump off the cliff yet...

Anonymous said...

Steelers had to lose at some point. Dropping this one allows Coach Cool to really crack the whip this week.

The NFC East has teams in 4 of the top 8 TV markets in the country and is by most account the premier division in the NFL on an annual basis, that accounts for the reason these 4 teams end up on national TV with great regularity. As for regional telecast making their way to PGH....don't you have Sunday Ticket yet?

MOndesi - great call on the Peter Principle. Other "Peter Principle Coaches" include: Buddy Ryan, Ray Rhodes, Wade Phillips (don't tell me about his record THIS year), etc.