Steelers 28 - Browns 10 and Other Games People Play

Some thoughts after a big sports weekend.....

• The Steelers eventually dusted off the Browns yesterday, and the return of Ben Roethlisberger certainly makes them a better football team, but it sure seemed like they let Cleveland keep that game a lot closer than they should have.
• If James Harrison played for another team, he'd be the most hated man in Pittsburgh. That hit on Joshua Cribbs SHOULD have been flagged, and while I can't honestly say that I saw the second hit on the Browns WR, it sounded like it was even worse from reading the paper today.
• For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about how the Steelers need to play "Steelers Football" and run more and pass less, it seemed to me that they played a lot better - a LOT better - when Roethlisberger was passing the ball yesterday.
• The schedule makers did the Steelers no favors this season. The next four weeks, three of them on the road, will tell a lot about where this season is going. If the Steelers come out of this stretch at 2-2, it will be a WIN for them.
• After watching Texas cough up a 4 run lead in the eighth on Friday night, I gave them very little chance to come back in the ALCS against the Yankees. But they did win in Game 2 and have Cliff Lee going tonight. Could make it very interesting.
• There are no easy outs in that Yankees line-up, are there?
• The Halladay-Lincecum duel in Game 1 of the NLCS sort of lived up to expectations, but Oswalt and Sanchez put on a better show in Game 2.
• At a SABR meeting a few years back, Steve Blass remarked that Roy Oswalt was one of his favorite current pitchers to watch. No nonsense, old school, put him any era of baseball and he'd excel. I agree. He sure was fun to watch last night.
• Good line from Norman Chad's column today: "I thought Brett Favre didn't play exhibition games."