Steelers 26 - Giants 16

JuJu Smith-Schuster hauls in one of

his two TDs against theGiants last night

How can one count the ways that last night's season opening 26-16 win over the Giants was so satisfying?

• After a somewhat rusty start, Ben Roethlisberger showed that he is back and ready to play.  With the team trailing 10-9, the Steelers got the ball with 1:32 to play and proceeded to execute an eight play, 76 yard drive in eighty-five seconds that culminated in a 13 yard TD pass to James Washington for the TD that put the Steelers up 16-10 at the half.  It was vintage Big Ben.
• The amazing effort that Washington put into staying on his feet and driving into the end zone for that score.
• Two TD catches by JuJu Smith-Schuster.
• A defense that smothered Giants' quarterback Daniel Jones, and held Saquan Barkley to only 6 yards on 15 carries.
• An interception at the Steelers goal line in the third quarter after the Giants had marched 87 yards in 19 plays and 8:50 of game time and were getting ready to take a 17-16 lead.  A ferocious pass rush forced Jones to lob up a big balloon that Cam Heyward picked off at the goal line.  If you're the Giants, it was a positively soul-crushing play, and it turned the game around completely in the Steelers favor.
• Ben passed for 229 yards, three TDs, and no interceptions while completing passes to eight different receivers.
• An interception by TJ Watt, picking up right where he left off last season.
• A phenomenal game by OLB Bud Dupree, who may well have been the best player on the field last night.
• 113 yards rushing by Benny Snell Jr.
• A couple of catches by Chase Claypool who in his first game looks to have been a wise draft pick for the Steelers.

On the down side, what appear to be serious injuries struck offensive linemen Stefan Wisniewski and Zach Banner late in the fourth quarter, and James Conner couldn't get out of the first quarter after suffering yet another injury.  For many reasons there is no athlete in Pittsburgh for whom I root more than Conner, but was the performance of Snell last night a "Wally Pipp Moment" for Conner?

All in all, a most satisfactory win for Rooney U. last night to start the 2020 campaign.

Ryan Shazier

 

The Steelers Ryan Shazier formally announced his retirement from football two days ago.  If you remember the horrific injury that he sustained on the field in Cincinnati in 2017, such an announcement was certainly not a surprise.   You also know that for as good a player this former #1 Draft Pick was for the Steelers, those abilities paled in comparison to his amazing, inspiring, and almost miraculous recovery over the past three years.

He said that he plans to leave football for "awhile", do some work on a football podcast, and finish up getting his college degree from Pitt.  I won't be surprised to see him coaching in the NFL at some point in the future.  Anyone who was inspired by Ryan Shazier can do nothing but wish him a long, happy, and successful Life's Work.

And I loved what Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said to him at his announcement on Wednesday:  "You can retire from the game of football, but you will never retire from being a Pittsburgh Steeler."

#Shalieve

To Absent Friends - Diana Rigg

Diana Rigg

1938 - 2020

If you were a normal teenaged boy in America in the 1960's, you were well aware of   British actress Diana Rigg, who died yesterday at the age of 82.

Miss Rigg, of course, played the sexy and lethal British secret agent Emma Peel in the 1960's TV series "The Avengers", and like I said, what hormonally charged teenaged boy of that era didn't want to watch that show?  She went on to have a distinguished career in movies and the stage, primarily in Great Britain, but not exclusively.  She won a Broadway Tony Award in 1994.  What I didn't know until I read her obituaries is that she was an American television star once again as recently as the 2010's, starring in HBO's "Game of Thrones", and, in fact, had received multiple Emmy nominations for her role in that series.  (Sorry, but I'm not a G.O.T.  Guy.)

She also was a "Bond Girl" in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."  That was the one where George Lazenby played 007, so it's probably the least-viewed movie of the Bond Franchise.  Certainly through no fault of Diana Rigg.

Her acting credits in IMDB begin in 1959 and end in 2020.  That's eight decades in which Diana Rigg was acting before her public.  That is one terrific run.

RIP Diana Rigg.

September 11 Birthday Boys

 Bear Bryant

Tom Landry

The Grandstander

• All have September 11 birthdates
• All look great in a hat
• One of them would have been a TERRIBLE football coach

Pre-Season GPR and College Football

One of the wildly popular features of this blog has been my weekly Grandstander Power Rankings for the NFL, wherein I rate the NFL as if it were college football - the Top Four teams only.  I usually begin issuing these after the sixth week of the NFL season in order to give the League (or as Booger McFarland would put it "our League") time to shake off early season kinks and let the dust settle, and that is what I shall do in 2020 as well, but what the hell, here's a pre-season look at the GPR.  Along about Week 6, I'll get serious with this, and we'll see how accurate I might have been.

1. Chiefs
2. Ravens
3. Saints
4. Titans

No real surprises there.

******

Now for college football.

Alabama to defeat Clemson for the National Championship in the CFP.  This comes after hours upon hours of reading voluminous scouting reports and analyzing hundreds of hours of game films of schools throughout the Power Five.  It was tough call, but I figured, BE BOLD in my predictions!

I'm not going to wade into the topics of the decision of the Big Ten and the PAC 12 to postpone their seasons.  That's been discussed and over-discussed, and we can always revisit it later, especially (a) if schools continue to cancel and postpone games, which has already happened with some frequency, and (b) if the Big Ten caves to financial and political pressures and backtracks on their decision not to play.

So the, let's just stick to the local scene and the Pitt Panthers.

Pre-pandemic, all signs pointed to 2020 being the year when all of Pat Narduzzi's building of a program would come to fruition.  The defense would be experienced and very good, and the offense would be led by senior QB Kenny Pickett.  The thought of a possible canceled season was quite frustrating to Pitt fans, because it would be yet another stroke of bad luck for Pitt.  You know, "THIS is the year we were really going to be good, and now we can't play."

Well, Pitt and the ACC are going to play, and it begins in three days against Austin Peay at Heinz Field.  There then follows a revamped ten game ACC schedule, which includes a games against Clemson and its sanctimonious coach and Notre Dame and its grumpy coach.  No divisions in the ACC this year, and the top two teams will meet for the Conference Championship in December.   However, as I alluded to a few paragraphs back, we are already seeing some college games being postponed or cancelled due to COVID concerns, so that while we are pretty sure that Pitt and the ACC and other conferences will begin their seasons, there is no guarantee that they will finish them.

Will Pitt be in the mix?  I have no idea, and the only prediction that I will make is that if Pitt turns in another 6-5 or even a 7-4 season, the heat on HCPN will be turned up considerably.

Sadly, there will be no one in attendance at Heinz Field to see the Panthers this year, at least at the beginning of the season, and even if fans are allowed to gather at some point, it will be without me and my fellow ticket holders in our group.  We have elected to roll our 2020 payment towards our tickets in 2021, hoping that circumstances will once again allow large gatherings in our society.

#H2P

All Hail DJ!

 

How about that run Dustin Johnson had leading up to the Tour Championship and winning the FedEx Cup?

In the first tournament of the Playoffs, he shot 30 under par - THIRTY UNDER PAR!!!! - and won by eleven strokes.

In the second tournament of the Playoffs, he forced a playoff by making a miraculous thirty-two foot putt on the seventy-second hole, only to lose on the first sudden death hole when the other guy, Jon Rahm, made an even more miraculous sixty-six foot putt.

In the Tour Championship, he led from the opening round and had a five stroke lead going into the final round.  He got pushed by a couple of guys in that round, but no one ever got closer than two strokes from the lead, and he ended up winning by three shots.

He is the Number One player in the world right now, and he will no doubt be heavily favored in the US Open at Winged Foot next week.  He's a terrific player who has overcome a lot in his past, and while he may not be the most charismatic guy on Tour, he's one who is easy to root for.

Welcome Back, Football!

 

Against all odds and considering what the landscape looked like back in March and April, The National Football League will be kicking off it's 2020 season in two days when the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs take on the Houston Texans in the Thursday Night league opener.  Locally, we will have to wait until Monday night to see the Steelers open their season in New Jersey against the Giants.  Who knows what lies ahead, and we all wonder if the corona virus and public health concerns will allow the NFL to finish it's season?  A few months ago, I wouldn't have bet on it happening, but the NBA and NHL are making it work in a bubble environment, and even Major League Baseball, after a few fits and starts appears that they will play their abbreviated season to a championship conclusion, so I am guessing that the NFL, the 800 pound gorilla of North American sports, will be able to pull it off in 2020.

So, assuming that we will be seeing a full season, here is what The Grandstander is most looking forward to.

• Quarterbacks.  Watching the continued development of exciting young QB's in the League like Patrick Mahomes, DeShaun Watson, and Lamar Jackson, as well as rookies Joe Burrow in Cincy and Tua Tagovailoa (hereafter to be known only as "Tua") in Miami.  Also, will there be an ongoing Aaron Rodgers - Jordan Love soap opera in Green Bay?  Will Phillip Rivers find new life in Indy and will he continue to whine incessantly to the refs?  And most importantly from a local standpoint  will Ben Roethlisberger be able to come back for the elbow surgery that limited him to six quarters of action in 2019?
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Will Tom Brady continue to excel in a new setting without Bill Belichick as his head coach?
• The New England Patriots.  Will Bill Belichick continue to excel as the game's greatest coach without Tom Brady as his quarterback?
• Speaking of soap operas, the Washington Football Team (hereafter to be known only as the "WFT"), how will the investigation into the sleaze and rot of the front office culture down there affect the team on the field (probably not so much), and will Dan Snyder be forced to sell his team?
• Betting.  With the introduction of legalized sports wagering in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania last year, I took great delight in placing small wagers on games throughout the season.  In all, I made 45 separate wagers on football games, and ended up winning on 27 of those bets, a .600 winning percentage.  I actually made money on betting!!  Of course, I didn't make a lot of money, as my bets were usually in the five dollar range, and my largest bet was a $20 wager on the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.  It really made the games more fun and interesting when you had five bucks or so on the line, and I look forward to continuing that into 2020.  I don't expect to do nearly as well as a 60% winning clip, but even if the W-L figures are reversed - a far more likely outcome -  it won't be sending me to the poor house.
• The Unknown.  There have been no exhibition games and all practice sessions have been pretty much in a bubble for all teams.  More than in any previous season, we really have no idea as to what to expect for any team.  When the teams kick it off for real this weekend, it will be new for everyone.  It will also tell a story as to just how important all those preseason practice games really are.

Okay, that's a look at the NFL on a macro-level, so what to expect about the local gridders?

The Steelers are coming off of an 8-8 season where they had to start two different back-up quarterbacks in the final fourteen games of the season.  That they managed to stay in playoff contention through fifteen games and finish at .500 may have been one of Mike Tomlin's best coaching jobs with the Steelers.  

They had one of the League's better defenses last year, and there is no reason not expect that to continue with guys like Cam Heyward, Devin Bush, Bud Dupree, TJ Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Joe Hayden leading them.  Watt in particular has a strong chance of being the League's Defensive Player of the Year. 

On offense, it all rests upon the return of Ben Roethlisberger.  All reports from training camp say that Big Ben's surgically repaired elbow has responded perfectly and that he's as good as ever.  He is also starting his 17th season, is 38 years old, and hasn't played  in a real game in twelve months.  You have to be realistic in your expectations, but let's assume and hope for the best, and if that happens, I like the Steelers chances to battle the Ravens for the ACF North and to make a deep run in the Playoffs.  Plus, I just like the look in this guy's eyes:

It would also be nice to see James Conner be able to be on the field for all sixteen games.  If we can be sure of that happening, then I REALLY like the Steelers chances.

You want a prediction?  Steelers to go 10-6, make the Playoffs as a Wild Card, and win at least two games in the post-season.

Another prediction:  Baltimore to win the AFC and defeat Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl.

Don't know about you, but I can't wait!