Pittsburgh Steelers Fanatics

For those who may not know Hines Ward last Tuesday announced his retirement last week from the game of football. Here is a link to the video of that press conference:http://www.nfl.com/videos/pittsburg
h-steelers/09000d5d827b9c85/Hines-W
ard-announces-retirement. 

The thing that stood out for me at the press conference was when he said "I can say that I am a Steeler for life". This statment is all that really needed to be said about his loyalty and devotion to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He could have latched on with another team but it would not have looked right to me (see: Franco Harris in a Seattle Seahawks jersey) and I am sure playing for another team would not have felt right to him (Hines).

Hines in my opinion is definitely heading to the Hall of Fame in 5 years. For anyone that may doubt this let me throw these facts out to you: He is the Steelers leading all-time receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns leader. And in each of those categories that I just mentioned he is within the Top 20 as far as All-Time in the National Football League lore goes. Throw in the fact that he won 2 Super Bowls, one of which he was named the Most Valuable Player of the game, and that is all the credentials needed for first ballot Hall of Fame induction in my opinion. To add a cherry on top he won Dancing With the Stars which no other active football player has ever done.

Hines is the epitome of a winner and the thing that I will miss more than anything is some of those fierce blocks that he laid on defensive players.

Thank you Hines for all of your great years of service and being a fine representative for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Category: NFL

First and foremost let me take this opportunity to wish all of my fellow Pittsburgh Steelers fans a healthy and Happy New Year.
 
One way that would make all of our New Years a little happier is if our beloved Steelers bring home the Lombardi Trophy several weeks from now. Well we will get another chance to get back to the Super Bowl as early as next week or hopefully 2 weeks from now when the playoffs begin.

After a 3 and 1 month of December the opportunity to defend and repeat as American Football Conference Champions is now at hand. If the defense plays as well as they did in December by allowing 7 points or fewer in each of the 3 wins (against the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams), then that Lombardi Trophy is coming back to the Steel City. However, if the offense struggled like they did in the loss to the San Francisco 49ers then the Lombardi Trophy will elude us again.

I understand that in the 49ers game Ben Roethlisberger was horrible primarily due to the ankle injury that he suffered the week before and this leads into my January 2012 preview which will only entail the game against the Cleveland Browns since the playoff seeding and matchups on the AFC side of the ledger has yet to be determined.

I would like to see Roethlisberger and any other Steeler dealing with a significant injury to not bother playing in the Browns game.

First off the weather forecast in Cleveland calls for rain changing to snow which means the playing conditions will be horrible which could further aggravate an already existing injury.

Secondly there is no guarantee that the Cincinnati Bengals defeat the Baltimore Ravens, so why send our guys out there to play what could be the equivalent of a meaningless game. Let players 40 through 53 on our roster get out and show what they are made of and have some extended playing time. Who knows a star player may be discovered as a result of the extended playing time.

Finally is being the 5 seed really that bad? Yes it is nice to get at least one home playoff game, but remember we did win Super Bowl 40 as a 6 seed and a good deal of those players from that team are still on this current 2011 team so it couldbe done again.

Whether we wind up with the 2 seed or the 5 seed let's just get out the Browns game healthy and get ready to make another strong run at claiming what is rightfully ours: The Lombardi Trophy.

Go Steelers!!!!

Category: NFL

Welcome one and all to the month of December. Can you believe that the final full month of the regular season is here already? It seems just like yesterday that the Lockout that was threatening this season was coming to an end and yours truly was scrambling to find fantasy leagues to join.

Well before I give my December preview I want to give a brief review of the month of November. This was a month in which our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers went 2 and 1 and could have just as easily gone 3 and 0. I am still smarting to a degree from that 93 yard game winning drive led by Joe Flacco to help the Baltimore Ravens win. However because we went 2 and 1 in November and are still nipping at the heels of the Ravens knowing that a slip up by them could move us up to the #2 seed and drop them to the #5 seed, I won't dwell on that loss for the time being.

Now on to what lies ahead for us in the month of December. The games in December include home games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams and a road game against the San Francisco 49ers. While all four games are winnable I can see the Steelers going 3 and 1. In my opinion the one loss will not be to the San Francisco 49ers. The Ravens have provided the blueprint on how to beat them which is force Alex Smith to throw the ball. The game that concerns me the most is the Thursday Night game against the Cleveland Browns. Thursday Night games in December in recent years have not been too kind to us dating back to Willie Parker being lost for the season with an injury on a Thursday Night December game and the Steelers losing to the Browns due to our inability to convert on every 3rd down and 2 yards or less situation that we were in.

At this point in the season it is definitely time to scoreboard watch and analyze the playoff standings. Anything better than a 3 and 1 mark this month and the Steelers are definitely looking at the #2 seed and a first round bye. Anything worse than 3 and 1 and the aforementioned scoreboard watching and playoff standings analyzing gets a little more intense. I will definitely be rooting for the former scenario (e.g. better than 3 and 1) to take place.

Go Steelers!!!!

Category: NFL

Steelers beat the cheifs and are now directing there attention to the next challenge coming, the Bengals. This year bengals are looking very nice. With a new rookie QB and a top rookie WR as well they are definetly a challenge to the steerlers. Infact i put my vote to the bengals on pulling off the win currently. I htink there team is pretty solid and can definetly take the steelers down in htis rematch form the previous matchup earleir this season. I will be excited ot see the outcome and do belive there might be a big upset in pittburgh on sunday.

Category: NFL

Well the month of November is now here and it is definitely time for us Pittsburgh Steelers fans to start discussing the postseason. These discussions can really begin in earnest especially after the very impressive 4 and 1 month that we had in October that culminated with last week's victory over the New England Patriots. Truth be told this exceeded my expectation of a 3 and 2 record that I had thought would take place.

Looking ahead at the month of November the Steelers have only three games on the schedule because of the Bye Week in Week 11. It starts off against the Baltimore Ravens, and ends with a game against the Kansas City Chiefs with a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in between. Realistically speaking I believe that the Steelers could go 2 and 1 this month, but would not be surprised if they go 1 and 2. I am looking at a win versus the Ravens to avenge the Week 1 loss, and am looking at a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs because the game is being played in Arrowhead which is a tough place to play. The game that will be the swing game in my opinion is the one against the Cincinnati Bengals. If the Steelers put that game away early and do not allow for any kind of comeback by Andy Dalton then it will be a 2 and 1 month. If the Steelers let the Bengals hang around it could be a 1 and 2 record. 

Anything better than a 2 and 1 mark in November and not only is it time to start making plans for the postseason, but it becomes a matter of having the #1 or #2 seed in the AFC Playoff picture. Anything worse than a 1 and 2 mark in November and scoreboard watching will definitely become the main activity for Steelers fans in December. Let's hope for the former scenario.

Well that is all for this month's review/preview. Talk to you all next month God willing.

Go Steelers!!!

Category: NFL