It's hard to believe that you could've turned this game off halfway through the fourth quarter thinking that the Steelers could not improve upon the 13-3 deficit they created for themselves. To that point in the game, play had been sloppy on both sides of the ball, and the Steelers had been offensively inept, to say the least. But as a certain coach from Crafton used to say, "It's a 60-minute game."
And the Steelers used all 60 minutes to outlast the Cowboys in a widely-watched game played in the bitter cold of Heinz Field. Let's go to the bullet points....
1. Biggest thing I noticed from Sunday's contest was the absence of Hines Ward. At one point I wondered if he was still in the game. Turns out that he was. Final totals: one catch, two yards. For a guy that usually rises to the occasion in big games, his absence was noticeable.
2. Did Jason Witten have money on the game, or was he
really that bad down the stretch?
3. To the best of my knowledge, the city remained intact despite the presence of one Adam "Don't Call Me Pacman" "OK, I Guess You Can Call Me Pacman" Jones this weekend. However, I'd be interested to hear the weekend box-office numbers from the local "gentlemen's" establishments and hear exactly how much precipitation (a.k.a. "rain") was in fact made.
4. That Tony Romo, he really rises to the occasion. Wait....I meant to say that he crumbled like a stale Chips Ahoy cookie.
5. Crushing loss for the Cowboys. They're in one of the two divisions where all of the teams are over .500, the other being the NFC South. And the AFC East features three teams (New England, Miami, and the Jets) at 8-5, followed by Buffalo, only a game under .500. So which teams are losing games this year?
Well, five teams have between zero and two wins and are making a mockery of the sport: Detroit (zero), Cincinnati (one), Kansas City (two), Seattle (two), and St. Louis (two). Plus, you've got the Raiders at 3-10. So that's 67 losses spread among 18.8% of the league. That would probably answer my previous question of who's losing.
Is that an usually high number? Well, in 2007, there were six teams that won four games or less: Kansas City, Oakland, the Jets, and Atlanta won four; St. Louis won three; and Miami won one. Amazingly, three of those six (the Dolphins, Jets, and Falcons) have
already won eight in 2008. So NFL logic would tell you that at least one or two of this year's stinkers will probably rise out of the ashes in 2009.
6. Wade Phillips, in his Cowboy blue Gore-Tex jacket: a blue version of the Michelin man?
7. Arguably the best part of Sunday's game was the inevitable Terrell Owens blowup after the Cowboys' last gasp, as he wore his finest ninja gear. He never lets me down. I'm sure it was a long flight back to Dallas for everyone involved.
8. I thought the Cowboys would be in trouble without Marion Barber, but Tashard Choice was tough. 88 rushing and 78 receiving against the Steeler defense is about as good as it gets. Of course, he was invisible in the fourth quarter, so maybe I should temper my enthusiasm on some level.
9. Owens, on the other hand, had three catches for 32 yards, the most infuriating clearly a 12-yard TD reception in the third quarter that turned out to be the Cowboys' only touchdown. It was also a rare bit of ammunition for Owens to use in his trash talk fest with Ike Taylor, who obviously covered his hands in glue before the game in order to nab an interception on Sunday.
10. For the first time in a long time, I was very emotional during a Steeler game (I'm actually pretty reserved during most of them). I'm talking about jumping-out-of-my-seat, screaming on the good plays, agonizing over the close or bad plays. Make no bones about it, that was beyond a football game, that was an
event on Sunday. And it was pretty sweet to come out on the winning end, especially when things looked so glum.
11. If you thought I was excited, you must've missed Mike Tomlin's display late in the fourth. A four-game winning streak, including back-to-back wins over Dallas and New England, and a second consecutive 10-win season have given the coach a lot to smile about. Hiring a coach can be a dicey proposition, but I think the Steelers hit it out of the park this time. They seem to have a pretty good batting average in that department, even though they get very few at-bats.
12. The Steelers' running game was virtually non-existent, as you probably noticed by seeing that their leader was Willie Parker's 25. Once again, their defense kept them in this one, because the offense generated only one touchdown. And that's not going to get it done in January. They have to start finishing drives and improving around the goal line.
13. Deshea Townsend has intercepted 20 passes in his 11-year NFL career, but I doubt he'll ever remember any more than the game-clincher on Sunday. Un. Real.
14. It wasn't the greatest game of Big Ben's career, but once again, he rallied his team when he had to, which can't be said for his counterpart on the Dallas side. A win is a win is a win.
15. Santonio Holmes couldn't have picked a more timely occasion for the Steelers' longest punt return of the year, a 35-yarder that set up a Skippy field goal in the fourth quarter and gave the Steelers some much-needed momentum.
16. Not a good day for the third-down category. Cowboys: 3-14. Steelers: 3-16. Total: 6-30, a LaRoche-esque .200.
17. Please, give your opinion on this in the comment section: did Tomlin make the right call in going for it on fourth-and-goal from the one down 13-3? I say yes, because the offense was going nowhere and you needed a touchdown eventually. Not knowing if or when you'd ever get that close, I was in.
Now the play call, I disagree with. Everyone in the stadium knew that one was coming. But it wouldn't be a Steeler game if we couldn't second-guess Bruce Arians, would it?
18. Nate Washington, of all people, came up with some huge, tough catches down the stretch., accounting for 51 of the 67 yards on the Steelers' lone touchdown drive. I was very impressed. I was also amazed after he literally bounced up after having his leg twisted in directions it shouldn't have been twisted by Ken Hamlin.
18a. The bomb to Santonio, spanning 47 yards, was one of the aforementioned plays that spontaneously got me out of my seat. Glad to see he's still capable of the occasional big play.
19. Rare miss by the Skipster yesterday. We totally take his accuracy for granted.
20. James Harrison, who was apparently
trash-talked by Tony Romo in the game's final moments, tied Mike Merriweather's single-season record with his 15th sack. I say NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He's gotta be.
21. We all get agitated by repetitive commercials during NFL games, so let me nominate a new one: I officially wave the flag to the UPS whiteboard guy. Enough. Please. Put away your marker. I'll even consider
upgrade, upgraaaaading you to DirecTV if you leave us alone.
22. This doesn't involve the Steeler game, but it does involve a prominent ex-Steeler, so I thought it was worth mentioning: Eli Manning's final scoresheet on Sunday was 13-27, 123 yards, 1 TD, and a divisional loss to the Eagles. No, the Giants didn't look distracted from Plaxigate at all. (Did you like how I tacked the -gate on, as if to suggest that Watergate, a scandal
named after an office complex, is the only inspiration we have anymore to name scandals?)
Over the past two-plus seasons, the Giants have played for significant stretches without Tiki Barber (retirement), Jeremy Shockey (injury, followed by trade), Michael Strahan (retirement), and Osi Umenyiora (injury). But the loss of Burress is different. Since joining Team Coughlin, he's connected with Manning for 33 touchdowns. And as much as people seem to like
Domenik Hixon, he's no Plaxico Burress (on the field, of course).
And here's something interesting I found out while doing research on #17: his career best season, at least statistically,
was not with the Giants, but
with the Steelers in 2002: 78 catches, 1325 yards, and seven TDs. The way some people talk, the Steelers rarely threw him the ball, and that's simply not true.
23. Anyone have a report from the Cowboys rally at the Clark Bar & Grill yesterday?
24. Next up for the Steelers: an appointment with Baltimore on Sunday, with the AFC North on the line. Yep, another big game. But don't expect it to bother this team. They've been playing big games all season.
