Steelers vs. 49ers Review

Well, I'm still undefeated! And, the Steelers are 3-0 for the sixth time in their history.

How'd those other five teams do? They five playoff appearances and two Super Bowl wins. Not bad. Not. Bad. At. All.

Thus far, we've outscored our opponents 97-26. We're not just beating people, we're not just kicking their asses, we're destroying them. The 4-1 or 5-0 prediction that I made for Steelers entering the bye is starting to look more and more feasible. And, since my Fantasy teams are more fucked than a hooker at a USO dance, the Steelers had better come through with a division title.

The offense was balanced, the defense was downright stifling (any time you hold Frank Gore to 37 yards, it's a victory), and HOW ABOUT THAT ALLEN ROSSUM? Told you that was a great pick-up. Not only does he not fumble punts (although he seems a little too fond of the fair catch), he's still a dangerous return man. He's not one of those "gamebreakers" like Eric Metcalf or Jermaine Lewis in their primes (or Devin Hester today), but he's just dangerous enough to make things interesting. I enjoy that.

On offense, I have to say that I think they came out a little sluggish, but then made it count when they had to (the drive at the end of the first half, the drive at the beginning of the second half, the nail in the coffin by Najeh in the fourth quarter). Fast Willie continues to impress. They're finally throwing to the tight end (Heather was the leading receiver). 7 for 12 on third down. Ben completed 13 of 20 passes. The scary thing is that it usually takes a couple more games for the offense to get on track than it does the defense. This means that, having scored 34, 26, and 37 points, we could actually get better. That's very encouraging. Especially since...

The defense looks amazing. There was a scuttlebutt early last week that Dick LeBeau was held back in his scheming by Cowher. I don't know if that's true or not, but I am going to say that they've been more creative with their blitz packages and coverages. The linebackers (yes, even Clark Haggans) are playing much better and pressuring the quarterback. The defensive backs are playing well, too, as evidenced by the number of coverage sacks the defense has already tallied this season. And, per usual, the defensive line is the best 3-4 line in the league. Hands down. They're just incredible.

We've got a tough road game coming up against Steelers West (I think that's going to be tougher than the Seattle game, which is at least at home), so we should enjoy it while it lasts.

I seriously think we can go into the bye at 5-0. With how crappy everyone else in the division looks, that bodes very, very well for the Steelers.