So, I've been at war with Verizon over the fact that my DSL still isn't freakin' hooked up after more than a week and I decided that I was going to wait until the Internet was actually working at my house before posting the review for the Super Bowl XL re-match.
However, it's a short season and I'm probably only going to be alive for another 60 years or so, so I figured I'd better write it at work.
The thing is that I was waaaaaay more excited about the win last Monday than I was this Monday. It could be the fact that spending 15 hours on the phone with someone named "Jason" but sounds like he's from Bangalore trying to get my DSL working has sucked all joy from my life, but it's more likely that the win is less impressive since the 0-4 Saints were able to kick the shit out of the Seahawks.
Seriously, Seattle is not good. Weidman left me a message on my phone last Sunday after the game that said, "Uh... weren't we supposed to be worried about these guys? Why were we so worried?" And, I agree.
Actually, I'm more worried that we were only able to beat them 21-0 at home, when the Saints were able to beat them 28-10 in Seattle. Yeah. They're bad. Steelers East and Steelers West might win their respective divisions this year. The AFC West is wide open and it's nice to know that the Browns are one of the "power" teams in our division. I'm not passing out any hats just yet, I'm just saying that we're well positioned to win the division this year.
And, the more I think about it, the more the 2007 Steelers remind me of the 2004 Steelers (instead of the 2005 Steelers). Ben's running around and making plays like he drew them up in the dirt, the receivers are banged up and injuries are mounting, but the reserves are stepping up, and we're winning a lot of games by just beating up on people.
The Big Drive against the Seahawks, which lasted almost the entire third quarter, reminded me of the opening drive in the second game against the hated Ravens in 2004. We took over nine minutes to punch the ball in there, over ten minutes to put it in this time. Both drives featured a lot of key third down conversions, overcoming penalties, and a steady diet of the running game. And, on both occasions, the other team's defense basically said, "You know what, fuck it. I'm going to go sit on the bus. I'm not showering. I just want to go home."
I think it was an important game (and an important drive) to announce that the Steelers of old aren't going anywhere in spirit, they just might be harder to recognize in all these fancy-schmancy schemes that the new regime has installed. This was especially important after we kinda got smacked in the face against Steelers West the week before.
Finally, any time you can get a defense to turn on an offense, you've done your job. After The Big Drive, the Seahawks went three-and-out on defense. Now, I can't swear to this, but I thought I saw Lofa Tatupu come up to Matt Hasselbeck as he was walking off the field and say, "You guys needed at least one first down. It's a hundred degrees out here and we were on the field for about an hour and a half. We're tired, dude. Me and the guys talked about it and we've agreed that every member of the defense gets one free cock-punch on every member of the offense. Just letting you know."
Looking ahead, the next six games look like a much easier stretch than they did at the beginning of the season:
at Denver (they're tough at home, but they just got beaten like rented red-headed step-mules at Mile High in Week 5. We're both coming off a bye, so that edge is even.)
at Cincinnati (they're looking more like the Browns than the Browns)
vs. Hated Ravens (they're 4-2, but look who they've played and look at how they won)
vs. Browns (they're still the Browns, for God's sake)
at Jets (bad, bad team. We might see Kellen Clemens in this game, which is bad for us, but still not that bad)
vs. Dolphins (0-6 and they just got blown out by the Browns. That should tell you something)
It looks like the only show-stoppers from now until the end of the season are the road date against the Patriots (those guys are really good; they might still be undefeated, so we may catch a break in that they'll be resting their starters at that point) and the home game against the Jaguars (but it's entirely possible that it'll be -3 degrees Kelvin outside and Jacksonville will be in full-on self-destruct mode by then).
Editor's Note: I didn't just write about everything from now until the end of the season because I don't anticipate posting anything until then. Hopefully, Verizon will stop sucking and I can get back on track.
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