Random Thoughts On A Disappointing Steelers Season

After ten games in 2018, the Steelers stood at 7-2-1, held a comfortable lead in the AFC North, and they appeared to be headed towards a playoff spot and first round bye.   What then followed was a disastrous 2-4 finish that included losses to two lousy teams, the Broncos and Raiders, a loss to a very good Chargers team wherein they gave away 16 point lead at home, and a win they barely eaked out over another crummy team, the Bengals.  Oh, they did manage to get one monkey off their backs by beating the evil forces of Kraft, Bellichick, Brady, and the Patriots in that 2-4 stretch.  That was quite satisfying at the time, but when the totality of the season is considered, it turns out to have been, at best, a hollow victory.

So, yeah, this team, one that by all accounts seemed to be loaded with Super Bowl caliber talent, ends up missing the playoffs and the 2018 season can only be categorized as a disappointment (or worse!).

Some random thoughts from this section of The Grandstand....

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With perfect 20/20 hindsight, Steelers management clearly underestimated the resolve of Le'Veon Bell and his willingness to not get paid in the short term in hopes of getting a huge guaranteed contract in the long term.  Bell was certainly within his rights to do so, and, financially at least, he was the only person who "lost" anything by this strategy.   Whether he gets the big money he desires remains to be seen, but if you placed a gun to the heads of Art Rooney, Kevin Colbert, and Mike Tomlin and insisted they speak the truth, I'm willing to bet that they now wish that they would have traded Bell before the season started and gotten something, even a mid-level draft pick for him.  As it is, Bell will achieve free agent status and the team will get bupkis for him.

Of course, the Steelers could impose a franchise tag on him again next season, but please, God, spare us from that particular melodrama again.

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The newspaper today tells us that, statistically at least, the Steelers had the sixth best defense in the NFL in 2018.  Really?  When you watched this team all season, did you ever once think that you were watching a top tier defensive unit?

The defense forced only 15 turnovers all year, and had only eight interceptions, and I would have guessed that they had even fewer than that paltry number.   It was baffling to me to watch a team that just could not force turnovers on a regular basis.  This became all the more glaring and galling when in the game against the Patriots, Joe Haden DID make an interception, and off of Tom Brady, no less.  That play was critical in the Steelers winning that game, and it made the fact that they had so few throughout the season all the more frustrating.

I am not a football coach, so I won't even pretend to talk about the X's and O's of the game, but it seems to be obvious that something needs to be done with the defensive coaching staff leading into 2019.

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Special teams.  On the plus side, there was that fake field goal attempt that led to a Chris Boswell-to-Alejandro Villanueva touchdown pass, there was a blocked FG by L.J Fort, and there was, well, what other good things were there? Chris Boswell's implosion has been well documented, and did the Steelers ever have a kick off or punt return of any significance at all this season?  If they did, it's not coming to mind right now.

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Ben Roethlisberger hung some great numbers this year. Total yards, TD passes....he set team records in both categories, and he became the first Steelers QB and only the seventh NFL QB to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season.  There is still no QB I would rather see with the ball late in the fourth quarter when you need to drive a team down field with little time left on the clock to get a score to win a game.  This was demonstrated time and again this season.  The win against Jacksonville comes to mind, and even in losses to Oakland and New Orleans, Ben did what had to be done when the game was on the line.  He even finally outplayed and defeated the great Tom Brady.

He also led the league with 16 interceptions, including a terrible one in the closing seconds against Denver in the end zone when he was on the cusp of pulling off another fourth quarter, last minute comeback.

What caused this to happen?   Poor coaching and play calling? Bullheadedness on Ben's part?  Or after fifteen seasons and at age 36, is Father Time beginning to catch up to Big Ben?  Again, I'm not a coach, so I don't pretend to know the answers.  I'm glad that #7 will be back at the helm once again next year, but he can't go on forever.

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There were bright spots that need to be recognized....James Conner's performance sparked the team through that mid-season 6-0 streak and that 7-2-1 record.  He seemed to more than make up for Bell's absence.  Still, there were two critical fumbles that led directly to the Browns being able to pull off that tie in the season opener, and in another game, the exact one I cannot remember at the moment, that led to a Steelers defeat.  Plus, he missed three games due to injury down the stretch, so he has yet to be able to stay on the field for a full sixteen game schedule.

Also, T.J.Watt sure seems to be a guy on defense who was well worth that number one draft pick two years ago.

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And then there is Antonio Brown.

First off, Brown is the best WR in football.  He is also probably the best player on the Steelers team and its most valuable player (and that fact that he wasn't voted that award by his teammates appears to be quite telling in light of the events of the last week of the season).  

All that aside, the drama that he generates - and I am not going to list all of there incidents of this past season; if you follow the team, you know of them - along with the unbelievable narcissism, reached its zenith this past week leading up to the Bengals game. Skipping practices, not showing up for a final walk through the day before the game, then having his agent, not him, his agent, calling Tomlin and saying he'll play on Sunday, showing up pregame on the sideline and then leaving the Stadium at halftime, then not returning phone calls from his bosses, including the team president, all of that adds up to a guy who (a) no longer wants to be with the team, and (b) should not be with the team in the future.  His actions have led to what appears to be a breakdown in team morale, as evidenced in numerous quotes this week from unnamed players on the team, and has called into question Tomlin's ability to maintain discipline and the aforementioned morale among the team.  I know that there are salary cap implications that make it difficult to either trade or release Brown, but somehow or another, I believe that bringing Brown back to this team in 2019 is going to just allow what was apparently a real problem on the team and in the locker room to get even worse.

Antonio Brown is a great player and it won't be easy to replace him, but let's face it, the Steelers haven't won any Super Bowls, or even had a lot of post season success, WITH him on the team these last few years, have they?

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I imagine that the 2018 season post-mortem discussions that will take place among Art Rooney, Kevin Colbert, and Mike Tomlin are going to be really, really interesting these next few weeks. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.....

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Despite some highs - hey, the season was not without its great moments - and lows, in the end, the images of the 2018 Pittsburgh Steelers will forever be.......

Le'Veon Bell on a jetski in Miami, and 

Antonio Brown in a mink coat on the sidelines against the Bengals, right before he blew off his team and left Heinz Field.

On the bright side, it will be stress-free watching the NFL Playoffs without the Steelers in them this year.

Steelers Sunday Night Fever: Stayin' Alive

Joe Haden with the key play off the game.

After three weeks of consecutive Steelers losses and the sturm und drang  that goes with such a streak, Rooney U pulled off what many, including The Grandstander, who placed a legal wager on the Patriots at -3 at the newly opened sports book at The Rivers Casino on Saturday morning, thought was impossible: they defeated the evil New England forces of Belichick, Brady, and Gronk 17-10 under the cold dark early evening skies at Heinz Field last night.  Entering the weekend with a 1/2 game lead over Baltimore, and knowing that the Ravens won earlier in the afternoon, and knowing that they have to play 11-2 New Orleans next Sunday, this game with the Pats was about as close to must win game as you could possibly get.

Here's what the Steelers had going against them, and how it all shook out:

• James Conner was still out with an injury, and rookie Jaylen Samuels, who showed very little the week before against Oakland, had to play.  He rushed for 143 yards and caught two passes for 30 yards, each of which resulted in critical first downs.  He may well have been the MVP of the game for Pittsburgh.
• Ben Roethlisberger threw two interceptions, and was flagged for intentional grounding that proved critical during a Steelers drive in the second half.  It was not his best game, BUT he also threw two TD passes in the first half and completed several key third down passes.
• Yips-afflicted kicker Chris Bosworth missed a near chip shot FG that loomed large, especially when playing Brady and the Pats, BUT he also made a longer FG late in the game that extended the lead to 17-10.
• The Steelers defense gave up a TD on New England's first possession of the game that was so bad, it looked like  they only had nine guys on the field, BUT although we didn't realize it at the time, that was to be the only time NE was to put the ball in the end zone all night.
• That same Steelers defense, which all season long has appeared not to realize that you were allowed to intercept the opposing QB's passes, came up with a critical one when Joe Haden (see photo at top of this page) picked  one off inside the five yard line when Brady appeared to be driving the Pats to a score.
• As they did in last year's loss to New England, the Steelers could not manage to get just one more first down late in the game, and that gave Brady and the Pats the ball with 2:30 in the game on their own 25 yard line.  How many time had we seen that movie before?  Somehow, though, this time the Steelers managed a different ending.  Brady did drive the Pats down to inside the Steelers twenty yard line, BUT then threw three straight incompletions, including one on fourth down, and for the first time in what seems like a thousand years, Mike Tomlin's Steelers came away with a "W" over Bill Belichick's Patriots.  The game and the victory were both gut-wrenching and euphoric.

It has been mentioned on some national shows today that in that game, Tom Brady looked every bit like a 41 year old dude out there playing quarterback last night.  I am not saying that this is the end for the Golden Boy, nor am I writing off the Patriots as a Super Bowl contender, but those Pats last night didn't look like some of the Pats teams that we have seen over the years.  No, I am not saying that the end has arrived for New England, but are we seeing the beginning of the end?  Like I always say, watch but don't bet.

And a word about Mike Tomlin, whom the vast majority of yinzers in Steelers nation (not to mention Steelers Legend Rocky Bleier) wanted fired after the loss to Oakland last week.  He will get little, if any, credit for yesterday's win, but he obviously held that team together during what was a seemingly turmoil filled week as the team's (and, to be honest, his) greatest nemesis was coming to town.  He obviously did something right in preparing the team for this game.  Of course, there will be a lot of people who will never admit that.

That win also assured the Steelers of a winning season.  They can finish no worse that 8-7-1.  That will be twelve winning/non-losing seasons in Tomlin's twelve seasons at the helm.  Yeah, that's a guy who deserves to be fired, alright. Pffft!!!!

Finally, on personal note, I made a friendly wager with my cousin Jan Spencer, a resident of Maine and a New England fan.  The wager involved photos that we would have to post on Facebook if our team lost.  To her credit, before both teams left the field after the final gun last night, she posted the following photo on Facebook:

#goSteelers

She certainly was a good sport about the whole thing.  However, there exists a very real possibility that the Steelers and Patriots could meet up in the post-season, so I am sure that she will want another crack at me should a rematch take place.  To which I say...You're on, Janice!

As I type this, it is a little over twenty-four hours since the end of last night's game, and to my knowledge, there has as yet been no pronouncement from Rocky Bleier.  Stay tuned.

This and That.....

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box....

Back on November 18, I wrote a post entitled "Quite  A Football Weekend for Pittsburgh" wherein I waxed rhapsodic about the recent fortunes of the city's football teams.  We were coming off of a six week stretch where the Steelers had gone 6-0 and Pitt had gone 5-1.

Since that post, the Steelers have gone 0-3, and have not looked at all good in doing so, and Pitt has gone 0-2 and looked even worse.

Guess it's all my fault.

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The Steelers now have a one-half game lead over Baltimore in the AFC North. The Steelers have a schedule of Patriots, @Saints, Bengals. The Ravens schedule is Buccaneers, @Chargers, Browns.

Hope I'm wrong, of course, but, frankly, I'm not liking the Steelers chances of making it to the post season.

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Then there are the Pirates.  Here's what our favorite baseball team has been up to this Hot Stove Season:

• Traded a marginal outfielder and a marginal infielder to Cleveland for a utility infielder and two pitching prospects.
• Signed oft-injured free agent outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall.  Once a top prospect of the Indians, Chisenhall has spent much of his career, it seems, on the DL.  It is hoped that he will adequately fill in for Gregory Polanco until he is able to play sometime in June.  Chisenhall will then become the fourth outfielder.
• Re-signed Jung Ho Kang to a more team friendly contract (always important to the Bucs).  
• In news just in, they traded pitcher Ivan Nova to the White Sox for a 19 year old pitcher and $500 K in "international slot money" which no doubt excites GMNH.

And while the Pirates were doing all of this, the Cardinals engineered a trade with Arizona for Paul Goldschmidt.

Who should feel more optimistic at this point, Pirates fans or Cardinals fans?

Actually, of the moves listed above, the one that may - MAY! - have the most impact on the 2019 squad will be the re-signing of Kang.  If - IF! - he can regain the home run stroke he exhibited in 2015-16, he will give the team some middle of the line-up power that they sorely lacked in 2018.  I will remind you, though, that Kang had had exactly six (6) at bats and two (2) hits over the last two (2) major league seasons.  So he is far from a sure thing as the Bucs get ready to open Spring Training in couple of months.

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If we have learned one thing of value over these last few football weekends it is this existential fact:

Bad Steelers losses = better and funnier episodes of Pittsburgh Dad.

Quite A Football Weekend for Pittsburgh

The weekend of October 6-7 could have been a disastrous one for fans of Pittsburgh's two football teams. Pitt was 2-3,  was coming off of a loss to a bad North Carolina team, and was about to face 4-1 nationally ranked Syracuse.  The Steelers were 1-2-1, playing lousy and were about to play a 1-3 Atlanta Falcons team that desperately needed to win a game. A loss for either team that weekend could have sent the respective seasons into a tailspin from which it might have been hard to recover.  

We know what happened that weekend and what has happened since.  Both teams have combined to go 11-1 since then and the loss was a near upset of still undefeated Notre Dame by Pitt.  It's been a nice seven weeks.

Let's start with today's highly improbable win for the Steelers over the Jax Jaguars.

Jacksonville led 9-0 at the half and pushed it to 16-0 in the third quarter.   The Steelers defense could not get off the field in the first half as the Jags and Leonard Fournette ran roughshod over them.  Only the fact that Blake Bortles stinks and could not get into the end zone, prevented this from being a blow out.  The Steelers offense was worse.  Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions.  James Conner couldn't run.  Deep into the third quarter the Steelers had made only six first downs, and three of them came on Jacksonville penalties.

The something happened in the fourth quarter.  The Steelers defense came alive, and realized that that was Blake Bortles and not Joe Montana at QB against them.  A Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown pass clicked for a 78 yard TD pass in the third quarter, but Ben was still struggling.  It wasn't until there was 2:28 left in the game that a Ben-to-Vance McDonald TD pass put the score at 16-13.  The defense forced its fourth consecutive three-and-out, and the Steelers got the ball at their own 32 with 1:42 remaining.   Nine plays later.....

Ben Scores with :05 left;

Steelers Win!!

....and the Steelers had an amazing and highly improbable 20-16 win.

I have written countless times in this space that "You are never  - never! - out of a game with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback."  He proved that today yet again, and in game where for the first three quarters, he was just plain awful.

Steelers now at 7-2-1 and hold a two and a half game lead over both the Ravens and Bengals in the AFC North.

Meanwhile, down in Winston-Salem, NC yesterday, Pitt overcame a 10-6 half-time deficit to Wake Forest by scoring 28 second half points and handily defeating Wake, 34-13.  It was Pitt's fifth straight ACC win, moved them to 7-4 overall, 6-1 in the ACC, and more importantly, clinched the ACC Coastal Division.  In two weeks, they will play Clemson for the ACC Championship, and who besides Pat Narduzzi and the players themselves saw that coming after being pasted by Penn State and Central Florida, and losing to North Carolina?  

Pitt did something that good teams do: They improved and got better as the season progressed.  Good for the players and good for the coaches who made it happen.

Clemson is undefeated and ranked second in the nation.  They will be heavily favored to beat Pitt in the championship game.  In fact, it will be the exact same scenario as it was two years ago when Pitt went into Clemson and, uh, defeated them.   It happened once; it can happen again.

Yeah, a good weekend to be a football fan in Pittsburgh!

The Le'Veon Bell Saga Concludes

Throughout this NFL and Steelers football season, I have pretty much avoided discussing the subject of Le'Veon Bell.    I chose to adopt the Chuck Noll-ian philosophy of addressing only topics as they pertained to the Steelers that were actually, you know, playing.  Today, however, the matter reached its denouement when Bell chose not to report to the Steelers by the CBA mandated deadline of 4:00 PM, so he will not be playing for the Steelers, or anybody else, in 2018.  This also means that he will no doubt never appear in a Steelers uniform again.

We won't be seeing this anymore.

So here are The Grandstander's thoughts on the matter.  They are presented in a somewhat disjointed fashion and in no particular order of importance.

1. It is important to remember, I think, that the only  person who took a risk here, the only person who has actually lost anything throughout this whole process is Le'Veon Bell himself.  He thinks that he is worth and that he deserves a whole lot more than what the Steelers were willing to pay him in guaranteed money, and in standing up for that principle, he has passed up the chance to make $14.5 million this year.  I like to think that I am a highly principled person myself, but I can't see myself ever walking away from that much money if the opportunity presented itself, which, of course, it never will.  So, give Bell some credit for that stance.
2. The Steelers are coming out fairly unscathed in the court of public opinion over this whole affair only because of the emergence of James Conner as a star running back himself, one who has been able to do pretty much everything that Bell had been able to do.  Had Conner fizzled the Steelers would not be sitting with the second best record in the AFC today, and the fan base would be screaming for the blood of the cheapskate Rooneys.  And such a scenario could still play out if Conner were to become injured.
3. As I understand it, the Steelers and Bell could go through this entire fandango again next year by putting the franchise tag on Bell, albeit at a price north of $25 million, for the 2019 season.  That will never happen. It would then appear that Bell would become an unrestricted free agent (although there is a way where Bell could sign an agreement with another team and the Steelers would have the right to match the offer, and if that happens, I can't see the Steelers matching such an offer).  
4. So it would appear that Bell will be free to sign with the highest bidder for 2019.  Will his roll of the dice produce a contract that will give him what he thinks he deserves?  And even if it does, will he ever be able to make back that $14.5 large that he didn't get this year?  We'll find out, but as I said at the outset, Bell is the one that was willing to take this risk, and only he will be the one who will either reap the reward, or pay the price for his stance.
5. One thing I heard on the radio today was the possibility that the NFL owners might agree to not pay Bell what he wants, if only to show other players that they can't play that sit-out-the-season card when their contracts come up for negotiation.  That, however, would be collusion, and you just can't see the NFL lodge brothers engaging in the practice of collusion, can you? Nah, that could never happen, right?
6. You will never get a full and complete answer from Art II, Kevin Colbert, and Mike Tomlin, but here are questions to which I would love to know the answers: (A) Did they ever really think that Bell would stick to his guns on this issue? (B) If they knew in July and August what they know today, would they have traded Bell to another team for a second or third round pick just so they could get something, anything for him?
7. Why do I just have a sickening feeling that Le'Veon Bell will return to Heinz Field one day wearing a New England Patriots or Baltimore Ravens uniform?

The Path For The Steelers

So I'm working at The Caring Place last night and early in the evening a buddy and I are discussing what the Steelers need to do in the second half of the season to position themselves for a run into the playoffs and, we hope, a trip to the Super Bowl.  Here's what we came up with:

Of the eight remaining games, four are with what we would call Good Teams: Panthers, Chargers, Saints, Patriots.  The other four are with Not-So-Good Teams:  Jaguars, Raiders, Broncos, Bengals.  (Okay, maybe you could say that the Bengals should be considered a "Good" team, but, c'mon, they're the Bengals.  Also, we know that the Jags did to the Steelers last year, but they've kind of hit the skids in recent weeks.)  So we figure that the Steelers need to split the four games against the Good Teams and go 3-1 against the Not-So-Good Teams.  We figure that each of those goals is doable.  That makes them 10-5-1 which should win the AFC North and get them into the Playoffs where as we all know, it's a "crap shoot" and "anything can happen" (sounds like Neal Huntington, doesn't it?).

So, there's the formula, Mike Tomlin.  Now it's to you and your players to, you know, execute it.

Like I said, that discussion took place early in the evening, and when I got in the car to come home last night, I hear the mellifluous tones of Billy, Tunch, and Wolf describe James Conner's two yard run for a touchdown  to put the Steelers up 21-7. In the first quarter.  I get home in time to watch the remainder of that 52-21 dissection that the Steelers put on the Carolina Panthers, yes, one of the aforementioned "Good Teams", last night.

Jesse James Scores

He was one of seven Steelers to score a TD,  and one of 

nine different Steelers to catch a Ben Roethlisberger 

pass in that game last night

No team is as good as it looks on its very best day, and let's face it, that performance that Rooney U put on last night was one of the best all around performances I've seen in years, but after a shaky 1-2-1 start, the team has won five straight games and has looked awfully good in doing so.  It was hard to find fault with anything that they did last night.

Could be a fun ride the rest of the way for this team.

A subject that I have pretty much avoided in this space all season is the holdout of Le'Veon Bell and all the drama that has surrounded it. It now appears that he will report to the team on Tuesday.   I certainly have my opinions on that subject, which I shall share with you when his rejoining the team becomes a fait accompli.

Until then, #herewegosteelersherewego

Are You Ready For Some Football (Observations)?

It has been 23 days (I looked it up) since The Grandstander has made any serious commentary on football, so it's time to catch up.  Since I last checked in....

• The Steelers kicked the collective asses of the Cleveland Browns and took revenge upon their earlier defeat at the hands of the Ravens, by beating them in Baltimore.  The score of the Ravens game would indicate a close contest, but the Steelers pretty much had that one in control from start to finish.  They have now won four straight games and sit in first place in the AFC North at 5-2-1.  The second half of the schedule won't be easy as it includes games against the Panthers, Chargers, Patriots, Jags, Saints, and the rematch with the Bengals.
• James Conner has made people forget Le'Veon Bell, who has to fish or cut bait by, I believe, next Tuesday.  That is the subject of a whole 'nother post, which I will probably write up as soon as we know whatever the hell it is he decides to do.

• As it stands, though, if I were voting for Steelers MVP today, I would probably vote for Ben Roethlisberger, but James Conner would not be far behind.
• After that win over the Browns, we all know what happened.  The Brownies fired Had Coach Hue "Mr. 3-36-1" Jackson.  This marks the sixth consecutive Browns HC who has been handed the paper key following the second game of the season against the Steelers (all Browns losses, of course).  SIX TIMES this has happened.  In an ESPN interview a few days later, Jackson blamed the whole thing on Baker Mayfield!  The man is totally delusional.

"What, me worry?"

• A lot of people laughed at the beginning of the season when Head Coach Pat Narduzzi said that Pitt would be playing for the ACC Championship.  That thought was especially hilarious after Pitt got pasted by Penn State and Central Florida and lost to a bad North Carolina team.  Since then, though, Pitt almost beat Notre Dame, and have run off three straight ACC wins, sits at 4-1 and are in first place in the ACC Coastal Division.  Win out against Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, and Miami, and guess what?  They will be playing in the ACC Championship Game.  At the beginning of October, I'd have given you long odds that they would be in this position with three games remaining in the season.
• Remember after the Pitt-Penn State game when I said that I would sure like to see James Franklin get dealt a big heaping helping dose of humility at some point.  Michigan 42 - Penn State 7.  Thank you, Jim Harbaugh, who, it must be said, could stand to be dealt some humility himself, but that's college football coaches for you.
• Were you like me and looking forward to watching the Alabama - LSU game last week, a game where all keen observers of the sport said that Alabama would be tested and might well lose to the third ranked Tigers?  29-0 Alabama, and the game wasn't as close as the score indicated.  Don't want to hear about LSU anymore.  Their coach Ed Orgeron, by the way, appears to be certifiably insane just from watching him on the sidelines.
• Back to the pros, throughout the season, I have been posting on Facebook a Top Four, College Football Playoff-Style, ranking for the NFL.  As of this week, it looks like this: 1. Chiefs 2. Saints 3. Patriots 4. Rams.  Other teams are knocking at the door (Steelers, Chargers, Texans, Panthers among others), but right now, those four teams have separated themselves from the rest of the NFL pack.  It will never end up that way, but for right now, does anyone disagree?
• On the Sunday Night Football game, the Packers won the coin toss and deferred, thus kicking off and giving the ball the Tom Brady and the Patriots to begin the game.  Did you watch that one?  If you did, you saw Brady and the Pats march down the field and score in ten plays and less than two and one-half minutes.  The Packer defenders were gassed and sucking wind on THE FIRST DRIVE OF THE GAME.  Why would a team choose to give the ball to Tom Brady to start a game?  You're just asking to have your heads handed to you on a platter when you do that.

• Speaking of the Patriots, did you notice Bill Belichick during that game?  On a Sunday when every coach and player in the league was wearing those olive drab military style sweatshirts and hoodies on the sidelines, Coach Bill was out there in his blue Patriots hoodie.  As much as everyone outside of New England is supposed to despise Coach Bill, there is something about his way of giving the NFL Suits on Park Avenue the middle finger every chance he gets that makes me admire him in a perverse sort of way.

Steelers 28 - Bengals 21

This is what did NOT happen to the Cincinnati Bengals this afternoon:

• They did not shoot themselves in their collective feet with cheap shot and downright dirty play.
• They did not have a running back fumble deep in their own territory when holding the ball would have assured a victory.
• QB Andy Dalton did not throw a soul crushing interception that cost his team the game.

Instead, Dalton played an error free game, didn't throw an interception, the Bengals didn't turnover the ball, they held the Steelers to field goals instead of touchdowns at critical moments, and Dalton led a beautiful two minute drill drive that put Cincy ahead 21-20 with only 1:18 remaining in the game.  And you know what?

THEY LOST TO THE STEELERS ANYWAY!!!!!

After the kickoff, the Steelers got the ball on their own 24 yard line with 1:12 left in the game.  How many times have I written in this Blog that the Steelers are never out of the game with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback?  A couple of key completions later and the Steelers were setting themselves up for a field goal attempt to win the game when Ben hits Antonio Brown with :10 left on a slant over the middle that went for a 31 yard touchdown.  

A two point conversion later, it's 28-21, and the Steelers win.

In many ways, this was way more satisfying than all those other Bengals screw-ups over the years.  They played well, they had it almost in the bag, and they still turned out to be the Cincy Bungles.

What a satisfying win this one was.

Managed to grab a few pics from my TV set at the end...

Feel bad for them, don't you?  Nahhh.

Steelers Get a MUST Win

Big Day for James Conner!!

Behind all of their vaunted offensive weapons, especially RB James Conner, a very strong defensive performance, and even great special teams work, the Steelers triumphed 41-17 over Atlanta yesterday in what was as close to a "must win" situation as you can find in Week 5 of an NFL season.  As I said about Pitt's win over Syracuse the day before, this victory doesn't necessarily save the Steelers season, but a loss to the Falcons yesterday may well have killed it.

As the AFC North stands today, the 2-2-1 Steelers are tied with the Browns, 1.5 games behind the Ravens, and 2.5 games behind the Bengals, and their next three games are, in order, @Bengals, Browns, @Ravens.  That is the make-or-break stretch of games for this squad.

As for this coming week, the 4-1 Bengals are looking strong thus far in 2018, but....

...we know that the Mike Tomlin-Ben Roethlisberger Era Steelers do to the Marvin Lewis-Andy Dalton Era Bengals.   Still, one of these years these Bengals might beat these Steelers (just like one of these years these Steelers might actually beat the Belichick-Brady Patriots), but until it actually happens, it's not the smart way to bet.  As I always say, three things in life you can count on: Death, taxes, and unbelievable screw-ups by the Cincy Bengals.

Hope this chick....

....is ready for this Sunday and a ride down the Paul Brown Stadium Escaloser....

Pitt Wins; Steelers Need To Win

Therran Coleman's interception in OT

seals the win for Pitt

As we settled into our Heinz Field seats yesterday before 2-3 Pitt took on 4-1 Syracuse, I said to my pal Dan Bonk, "Pitt really, really needs to win this game today."   Over four and one-half hours later, Pitt pulled off a 44-37 overtime win in a game that was sandwiched around a ninety minute weather delay.  That was a first for me at a football game.  Still, it was a fun and highly entertaining game.

Think about it, had the Panthers lost, they would have fallen to 2-4 (1-2 in conference) going into the Notre Dame game at South Bend next week, a game in which ND will be, rightfully, heavily favored.  Then they would have been 2-5, and the season would have been pretty much over insofar as making a bowl game.  Now at 3-3, the path towards six wins and bowl eligibility (if THAT is how you want to define "success" out there in Oakland) becomes a bit more obtainable.  

Winning against Syracuse yesterday didn't necessarily save Pitt's season, but a loss would surely have killed it.

********

Similarly, the highly disappointing 1-2-1 Steelers take on an equally disappointing 1-3 Atlanta Falcons squad on the Heinz Field greensward this afternoon in a game that both teams really, really have to win.  Both teams have explosive offenses (that dud against the Ravens last week notwithstanding) and rather inept, so far, defenses.  We could be looking at a 45-42 type of game this afternoon.   Yes, there will still be eleven games remaining, but the team that loses today could very well be kissing their playoff hopes goodbye as a result.

Speaking of that Baltimore game last week, I was unable to watch the game due to the fact that a fallen tree on Rochester Road knocked out the power in our neighborhood.  It was a classic good news/bad news situation.  The Bad News was that I was unable to watch the Steelers-Ravens game, and the Good News was that I was unable to watch the Steelers-Ravens game.

Further bad news was that I was forced to listen to the game on the radio being described by Moe, Larry and Curly, otherwise known as Billy, Tunch, and "Wolf".  Wow, are they God-awful.  I am sure that any random sixteen year  old kid doing play-by-play of his high school team's football game on an Internet streaming broadcast would do at least as good a job as that crew.

Oh well, in about two hours I'll be settling in for this Steelers-Falcons tilt.  In about six hours, we'll know just how meaningful the rest of the Steelers season will be.

Monday, Monday.....

A lot of what I like to call the exigencies of real life have been taking place in The Grandstander's world of late, which has caused what is now a thirteen day hiatus from the keyboard.  Lots to catch up on, but let's confine it the the wide, wide world of sports, shall we.....

STEELERS

I never got around to writing a pre-season preview/prediction post for the Steelers (those exigencies I just mentioned), but if I had I probably would have said that (a) the Steelers would win the AFC North Division, (b) that they would be contenders to reach and win the Super Bowl, and (c) all this would be contingent upon Ben Roethlisberger staying healthy and not all of a sudden playing like a 36 year old guy who is reaching the end of the line.

The season has started and in two games they have blown a 14 point lead in the fourth quarter and were tied by the improved but still lousy Cleve Brownies, a game where Roethlisberger turned the ball over five times, and lost to the Kaycee Chiefs 42-37 in a game where it appeared that the North Allegheny High School defense lined up for the Steelers when the Chiefs had the ball.  On the bright side, Roethlisberger turned in terrific performance, so maybe he ain't done yet.  As for the rest of the team....

Only two games have been played, still lots of time, and blah blah blah, but the overwrought drama that seems to always surround this team looks like it MAY be too much to overcome.  The Le'Veon Bell holdout, the petulance (to use a mild term) of Antonio Brown, the mediocrity (to use another mild term) of the entire defensive corps, the Diva tendencies of Roethlisberger, what appears to be an undisciplined coaching staff.....

It's going to make for an interesting season.  Maybe not a good season, but certainly an interesting one.

PIRATES

A week ago, with the Pirates sitting at 69-71 with 22 games to play (against the lousy Reds, Royals, and Marlins; 13 against the good Cubs, Cardinals, and Brewers), I went on The Facebook and offered to bet $2 to the first five people who accepted the bet that they would finish below .500.  Four people took me up on it, and here is where that bet stands, eight games later.

The Pirates have gone 5-3 in that stretch (2-0 against the Lousy teams, 3-3 against the Good teams) and are now 74-74.  They have thirteen games remaining (I am guessing that that postponed game against the Marlins, rescheduled for Monday, October 1, will not be replayed) and need to go 7-6 to finish 81-80.  If they go 4-2 against the Lousies, they need only go 3-4 against the Goods to achieve it.

I figure that there is a good chance that I could be out eight bucks once all is said and done.  Tim, Len, Andy, and Ryan, you maybe shouldn't start making definite plans on how to spend your windfall just yet, but maybe you could think about it.

Oh, and I may also be buying Jim Haller's breakfast in October.

On the other hand, here we are sitting on the edge of our seats wondering if the Pirates can win a mere 81 games in a season.  Kind of pathetic, but you take your thrills as a sports fan where you can get 'em, I suppose.

PITT

Pitt now sits at 2-1 (1-0 in conference).  They defeated a Division II (or whatever the NCAA calls these schools these days) team in Albany, were positively pasted by Penn State 51-6, and held on to defeat Georgia Tech 24-19.

The Penn State debacle was disappointing, not only for the magnitude of the point spread, but for the behavior of Pat Narduzzi.  At the beginning of the game, he went apeshit on his captains for incorrectly calling the coin toss, incurred a personal foul penalty for running on to the field to argue with the zebras, and seemed to heap an inordinate amount of blame on his placekick holder and punter for botching a few snaps.  Yep, a missed extra point here, a botched punt there, pretty soon you lose by forty-five points.

Well, the Panthers did seem to shake it off against Georgia Tech, but they did take a 21-0 lead and had to sweat out a GT onside kick at the end of the game.  As guy in the men's room said to me between the third and fourth quarters, Pitt did everything in their power to make sure that Tech made a game out of it.

Also, Pitt has scored 0, 0, and 3 points in the second halves of each of their three games.  What is up with that?

PENN STATE

Penn State is a good team, maybe even a very good team that will probably contend for the Big Ten title and maybe even for a spot in the CFP.  James Franklin is also a good coach, maybe a very good coach, and perhaps a top echelon college football coach, but here is how I am always going to remember him.

In the final minute of the Pitt game, with a 51-6 lead in a driving rainstorm, Penn State fumbled, Pitt recovered, and Franklin challenged the ruling and had the refs review the play.  Again, there was less than a minute to play and PSU was leading by FORTY-FIVE POINTS.  The ruling was upheld, and Franklin put a sour look on his face.  It was move that totally and completely redefined the term "chickenshit".

As a group, there are few people more unlikable that big time college football coaches.  Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Brian Kelly, Dabo Swinney....you know who they are.  You like them when they coach YOUR team, but, objectively speaking, they are hard people to like.

Group photo taken at  recent 

NCAA Football Coaches Convention.

Add James Franklin to the list.   To all my friends and family out there who are Penn State fans, I don't necessarily want to see the Lions lose, but I sure would love to see James Franklin get dealt a big heaping helping of humility somewhere along the line.

ROBERT MORRIS

Yeah, I don't talk much about Robert Morris football on here, and with good reason these past few years.  The Colonials have a new head coach this year, Bernard Clark, who has to rebuild a program that has really been in the dumper these last few years.  They are 1-2, and on Saturday they were pasted by James Madison University, 73-7.  JMU is a powerhouse, but, still, it looks like a tough road ahead for Clark and his Colonials.  It should also be noted that this rout by JMU was led by the quarterback transfer-from-Pitt, Ben DiNucci.  So, good for DiNucci.