Well, the lockout finally ended, the players and coaches are going back to work, and there have been roughly 6,054 transactions in the last few days.
The big question on everyone's mind -- at least in this little corner of the Internet -- is: How do the Steelers look?
The answer to that question is that they look both good and bad and that we'll know more on August 4th, which is the deadline for all teams to get under the salary cap. In 2009, the cap was around $127 million, there was no cap in 2010, and the cap sits at about $120 million this season. Heading into the post-lockout era, the Steelers were about $10 million over the new cap.
Out of those 6,054 transactions, the Steelers re-signed Shaun Suisham, Ike Taylor, Willie Colon, and Jonathan Scott. The signings of Colon and Scott were particularly important, since they also cut Flozell Adams and Max Starks. They cut Randle-El, but I'm not sure that's really important. Without Scott and Colon, there was a .03 percent chance that I might be starting for the Steelers at left tackle this season. While this would be an awesome development for me, it probably wouldn't have worked out too well for the Steelers.
Rumors that I've seen on Twitter and elsewhere say that LaMarr Woodley is close to signing a long term contract and there are five guys on the team that will probably restructure their contracts so that no one else will need to be cut from the roster. In addition, it looks like Starks and Adams may come back eventually at a more palatable rate. All these things will help them field a full team.
Taylor's contract was the biggest news of this truncated offseason. He may not be a shutdown cornerback and he may have the worst hands in the league, but he's the best cover player on the team and was the best option available by far, if you assume they weren't going to sign Nnamdi Asomugha (they wouldn't, not in a million truncated free agent periods). I didn't think the Steelers would pony up the money to re-sign Ike and I'm extremely happy that he's back.
With no mini-camps, rookie camps, and OTAs this offseason, everyone they drafted in April doesn't stand much a chance of contributing in 2011. But, Tomlin hates rookies, so that's not a huge loss. Maurkice Pouncey is not walking through that door. Cameron Heyward will probably get some playing time after Aaron Smith goes on injured reserve and Curtis Brown and Cortez Allen will probably play on special teams and maybe, possibly, Baron Batch will get some third down reps as Verron Haynes Junior.
Currently, the starting five on the offensive line looks like this: Scott, Kemoeatu, Pouncey, Legursky/Foster, Colon. That's not good. I'd rather have Starks and Adams in there and I don't trust Scott, but that's mainly because he's an unknown quantity. The offensive line actually played pretty well last season and held themselves together despite a rash of injuries, so lightning might strike twice. If everyone stays healthy, they'll improve and grow together throughout the course of the season. At least we know who's starting at center.
That's where they look bad.
Where they look good is everywhere else. Mendenhall may be a fumble machine, but he has also performed well as the starter the past two seasons. Ben Roethlisberger is an alleged rapist and a newlywed, but he's also one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Mike Wallace and Hines Ward got the job done last season and Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown get the chance to build on what they accomplished late last season.
Everyone from last season's #1 scoring defense returns. Troy is healthy. James Harrison is angry. Hopefully, Woodley will be happy after signing a sweet deal. Clark, Taylor, McFadden, Keisel, Smith are all back and healthy. I haven't heard anything about Jerry Springer needing to rescue Casey Hampton from being trapped on his couch. Ziggy Hood had a great year last year and is currently starting ahead of Smith. If they're lucky, Farrior won't have a letdown in 2011 after a solid 2010 like he did in 2009 after a solid 2008. Lawrence Timmons is an outstanding player and should once again act as team assassin.
I have a feeling that we are going to see some absolutely sucktastic football in the month of September. Guys haven't had the offseason to get ready. Their timing will be off. There will be blown assignments on defense. There will be a lot of pre-snap penalties. Any team that has been in the same system, running the same plays for years, will have an advantage.
Here are the guys that have been in the defense since Dick LeBeau took over in 2004: Smith, Taylor, Hampton, Keisel, Farrior, Polamalu, Harrison. Of the remaining guys, Hood, Woodley, and Timmons have played their entire careers in the system. And Clark is the free safety. The Steelers will have a decided advantage over most of the rest of the league because of their familiarity with the system.
On offense, here are the guys that have been in the Arians system since he took over in 2007: Ward, Roethlisberger, Miller. Well... that list isn't as long. But, Mendenhall, Wallace, Sanders, and Brown have been in this system their entire careers. Everyone else is on the offensive line and we already talked about that.
Add in what, ostensibly, looks like an easy schedule against the AFC South and NFC West, and the Steelers are sitting pretty.
And... that's it.
Wait, what? Off the field and the what now?
Ward got busted for a DUI, Mendenhall Tweeted some unfortunate things, and Harrison had bad things to say about everything going back to the Big Bang. Many experts that make way more money than me have postulated that these distractions will erode the chemistry in the locker room and eventually tear the team apart.
For the most part, these experts view an NFL locker room as a delicate ecosystem where, if Mendenhall flaps his wings (get it? Flaps his wings? Birds have wings? Birds tweet?) then a tsunami is going to destroy the team. Well, that could be in different locker rooms. But, these guys have all been showering in front of each other for a long time. They know each other. They trust each other. They all work together and have managed to keep off field stuff off the field.
Think of it like any working relationship. Would your company fold if Bill in sales got a DUI? Do you care about what Connie in marketing does on Twitter? If Joe in operations said that everyone in HR was a bunch of idiots, would someone in HR refuse to give him a leave request form? No, everyone would work together and do their jobs, because it's their job to do their jobs.
Tomlin is too strong a leader and this locker room is too unified for some offseason indiscretions to tear it all down. I think that they will have moved on from everything that happened during the lockout by the time the season starts, if they haven't all moved on already.
So, overall, the Steelers look good. With a Woodley signing and some much-needed cap relief, they could be even better.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Barber and Buress
There have been rumblings that Tiki Barber is interested in the Pittsburgh Steelers. These rumblings have been fueled primarily by... Tiki Barber, to the point where, if you Google "tiki barber" the first suggestion you get is, "tiki barber steelers." He wants to play for a competitive team and the Steelers are a competitive team with a lot of veteran players. Well, Tiki, I'm sorry to say... no. Emphatically. No.
Take away the fact that he's 36 and left his wife to go bang an intern. We'll just take that right off the table (after mentioning it, because it's still important). The fact remains that he's a tailback and he's well over 30. Take away that and you are still faced with the fact that he retired following the 2006 season. You know who else retired following the 2006 season? Bill Cowher. Right? Seems like a long time ago. That's because it is.
You know who else retired in 2006? My Dad. Six months after he retired, we were supposed to meet at his house on a Saturday to move some stuff. He called me and left me a message at work that Saturday, saying that he needed to push the time back and asked if that would work for me. I had been working a 9-5 job for six years at that point. This is not to say that my Dad is a feeble-minded old man. He's not. This is just making the point that, when you're out of the game, you lose things. You lose your "edge" for lack of a better word. In games played at the NFL level, you cannot afford to lose that edge. Most teams know this and Barber will discover it. On top of all that, the Steelers would really only have interest in Tiki's brother Rhonde, since he plays cornerback and they need more of those. They should be all set at running back, especially if they retain Mewelde Moore.
For similar reasons, the Steelers should -- and probably will -- say no to Plaxico Burress. Take all the "out of the action" stuff for Barber and add, "because he was in prison." Remember when Jamal Lewis went to prison? There you go. For every Michael Vick example, there are a bunch of Jamal Lewis examples. Actually, Vick is the only guy that came back from prison and was worth something. That was also in his second season after he returned. The Steelers have enough talent at receiver -- and enough holes to fill elsewhere -- that they can afford to pass on Burress.
According to NFL.com, Burress is going to meet with the Steelers on Friday or Saturday. He has a history with the team and my guess is that Ben Roethlisberger rallied pretty hard for Coach Tomlin to meet with Burress. I thinking this is just a courtesy meeting, but there may be something there. I'm also thinking that the Giants will be able to offer Burress a better contract, since the Steelers were already over the salary cap before they signed Ike Taylor.
This team needs to get younger, not older. They usually sign their guys before signing free agents. For all these reasons, I don't think there's anything there.
Take away the fact that he's 36 and left his wife to go bang an intern. We'll just take that right off the table (after mentioning it, because it's still important). The fact remains that he's a tailback and he's well over 30. Take away that and you are still faced with the fact that he retired following the 2006 season. You know who else retired following the 2006 season? Bill Cowher. Right? Seems like a long time ago. That's because it is.
You know who else retired in 2006? My Dad. Six months after he retired, we were supposed to meet at his house on a Saturday to move some stuff. He called me and left me a message at work that Saturday, saying that he needed to push the time back and asked if that would work for me. I had been working a 9-5 job for six years at that point. This is not to say that my Dad is a feeble-minded old man. He's not. This is just making the point that, when you're out of the game, you lose things. You lose your "edge" for lack of a better word. In games played at the NFL level, you cannot afford to lose that edge. Most teams know this and Barber will discover it. On top of all that, the Steelers would really only have interest in Tiki's brother Rhonde, since he plays cornerback and they need more of those. They should be all set at running back, especially if they retain Mewelde Moore.
For similar reasons, the Steelers should -- and probably will -- say no to Plaxico Burress. Take all the "out of the action" stuff for Barber and add, "because he was in prison." Remember when Jamal Lewis went to prison? There you go. For every Michael Vick example, there are a bunch of Jamal Lewis examples. Actually, Vick is the only guy that came back from prison and was worth something. That was also in his second season after he returned. The Steelers have enough talent at receiver -- and enough holes to fill elsewhere -- that they can afford to pass on Burress.
According to NFL.com, Burress is going to meet with the Steelers on Friday or Saturday. He has a history with the team and my guess is that Ben Roethlisberger rallied pretty hard for Coach Tomlin to meet with Burress. I thinking this is just a courtesy meeting, but there may be something there. I'm also thinking that the Giants will be able to offer Burress a better contract, since the Steelers were already over the salary cap before they signed Ike Taylor.
This team needs to get younger, not older. They usually sign their guys before signing free agents. For all these reasons, I don't think there's anything there.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Power Vs Soul: the Pride is Ours
Well, if we had to end our season before the playoffs, this was the game to go out on. The Power cruised to a decisive 61-48 win, and controlled the whole game. We can now proudly say that we've beaten every team in our division at least once, and we vanquished the ghost of our season opener.
Figuring, I guess, that there was no reason not to, the Power started their new acquisition Bill Stull at QB, and he played well, if a bit conservatively. He was slightly better than 50% on his passes in mostly short distances, but still totaled 260 yards, 6 touchdowns and no interceptions. I'm not sure, really, how much it means as next season is a long ways away, and who knows if he'll even still be on the team. For right now, it was nice to watch us controlling the game, no matter who was behind center.
So where was big Mo this game? Was he riding the bench and taking it easy? Of course not. He was playing wide receiver of all damn things, and he had almost 40 yards and a touchdown. He looked like he was having a great time, and got to lower that shoulder and charge like he's been wanting to as quarterback all season. Again, it means nothing for next season, but it was good to see the guys having fun out there.
Mike Washington continued to scare me that he's not going to be here next season. Him going to the CFL is a strong possibility with his performance this season. This week, he put rival WR Donovan Morgan's 112 yards and a touchdown to shame with 155/4. All season, he has been an electrifying player, from the first game on. I'd be sorry to see him go, but if he has to, I'm happy for him.
The defense had a respectable night, holding the Soul on several key drives. They also snagged a pick and harried Vena. There wasn't a lot of flashiness, but there weren't a lot of stupid mistakes either. They could walk off the field with their heads held high.
Season in retrospect
It was a lot of ups and downs for the Power's inaugural season, and it passed far too quickly for me. We struggled a lot for identity, but it was a good start. They were able to end their season 50/50 and sat at the top of the division for a number of weeks. More so, a lot of characters were created for the fans to follow.
Joystick Washington, Nightrain/Power Tool DeWalt, Total Chaos Carter, Da Bully Butler and Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuue! National announcers picked up the nicknames, something that I rarely see in other teams. Why is this? Because the fans enjoyed themselves at the arena. Announcers make stuff like this up all the time, but if no one cares, it fades away. Not here.
Here, our fans responded to the Power. They might not have fully understood the game, might have found it a bit weird and certainly didn't show up every game - but when they did, there was a core group of characters that they felt they knew. Almost more watched for than wins and losses, people seemed to show up to see what these characters would do this week.
This is a good sign.
I think that we need to pull more in and get more asses-in-seats, but it's a start. It's still a tough sell in this town where this will always be thought of as fake football, but we can hope that changes. If no one gave a crap about the Power, those nicknames would have gone nowhere. It's the seed that can grow. Right now, people are coming for the spectacle, the fun and the cheap night out. Eventually, that might grow into pride for another home team.
The lockout ended today, and the NFL is going to do its best to pick up like nothing ever happened. Summer will pass into fall, and a lot of people are going to forget all about the Power. But, come next spring, in all likelihood they'll be back for a new season. Original fans will remember and come back, and hopefully they'll bring friends.
I've already got my season tickets reserved.
The Power season may be over, but there are still playoffs to go. I will keep covering the league through then, so stay tuned for more Arena Football action.
Figuring, I guess, that there was no reason not to, the Power started their new acquisition Bill Stull at QB, and he played well, if a bit conservatively. He was slightly better than 50% on his passes in mostly short distances, but still totaled 260 yards, 6 touchdowns and no interceptions. I'm not sure, really, how much it means as next season is a long ways away, and who knows if he'll even still be on the team. For right now, it was nice to watch us controlling the game, no matter who was behind center.
So where was big Mo this game? Was he riding the bench and taking it easy? Of course not. He was playing wide receiver of all damn things, and he had almost 40 yards and a touchdown. He looked like he was having a great time, and got to lower that shoulder and charge like he's been wanting to as quarterback all season. Again, it means nothing for next season, but it was good to see the guys having fun out there.
Mike Washington continued to scare me that he's not going to be here next season. Him going to the CFL is a strong possibility with his performance this season. This week, he put rival WR Donovan Morgan's 112 yards and a touchdown to shame with 155/4. All season, he has been an electrifying player, from the first game on. I'd be sorry to see him go, but if he has to, I'm happy for him.
The defense had a respectable night, holding the Soul on several key drives. They also snagged a pick and harried Vena. There wasn't a lot of flashiness, but there weren't a lot of stupid mistakes either. They could walk off the field with their heads held high.
Season in retrospect
It was a lot of ups and downs for the Power's inaugural season, and it passed far too quickly for me. We struggled a lot for identity, but it was a good start. They were able to end their season 50/50 and sat at the top of the division for a number of weeks. More so, a lot of characters were created for the fans to follow.
Joystick Washington, Nightrain/Power Tool DeWalt, Total Chaos Carter, Da Bully Butler and Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuue! National announcers picked up the nicknames, something that I rarely see in other teams. Why is this? Because the fans enjoyed themselves at the arena. Announcers make stuff like this up all the time, but if no one cares, it fades away. Not here.
Here, our fans responded to the Power. They might not have fully understood the game, might have found it a bit weird and certainly didn't show up every game - but when they did, there was a core group of characters that they felt they knew. Almost more watched for than wins and losses, people seemed to show up to see what these characters would do this week.
This is a good sign.
I think that we need to pull more in and get more asses-in-seats, but it's a start. It's still a tough sell in this town where this will always be thought of as fake football, but we can hope that changes. If no one gave a crap about the Power, those nicknames would have gone nowhere. It's the seed that can grow. Right now, people are coming for the spectacle, the fun and the cheap night out. Eventually, that might grow into pride for another home team.
The lockout ended today, and the NFL is going to do its best to pick up like nothing ever happened. Summer will pass into fall, and a lot of people are going to forget all about the Power. But, come next spring, in all likelihood they'll be back for a new season. Original fans will remember and come back, and hopefully they'll bring friends.
I've already got my season tickets reserved.
The Power season may be over, but there are still playoffs to go. I will keep covering the league through then, so stay tuned for more Arena Football action.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Power vs Soul: For pride
The last game of the season is upon us already. Seems like just yesterday that we were playing the Soul with our whole season ahead of us. It also seems like just yesterday that we lost to the Soul to start the season. Now it's time to play them again to close it.
At this point, we have beaten both other teams in our division at least once and have a better record overall than the Soul. By most accounts, the Power is the better team, but the Soul has pulled off some upsets before. Coach Ho has made it clear that they're still playing for their fans, even if their season is over. I'm not sure that the Power is up to the same standards at this point, especially on the road.
Last time they played, they made fools of the Gladiators, whom you might remember, rather handily beat us. Also, given that they've already beaten us once, I'm sure they'd love to beat us again and have a sweep to add to their record.
When they won against Cleveland, it happened because they were able to beat the Gladiators, literally, at their own game. They owned the field, destroyed Rocco and pressured him at every opportunity. If they bring it at the same level against us, then we should expect even more pressure than the Gladiators gave us last week.
Larry Brackins and Keith Stokes stepped up big time to fill the shoes vacated by the impressive Donovan Morgan, who departed for the UFL. Unfortunately, pretty much during the game last week, he announced his departure from the UFL to come back to the Soul. So...that's great for us.
The fact of the matter is, this game is on the road, and the Power have little to play for. However, winning would give the Power - if not a winning season - an even record. For psychological reasons, both for the team and for the fans, I think that this can't be discounted. Same thing goes for beating the one team left in the division we haven't beaten yet.
Tune in tonight at 7:05 on NiftyTV and catch the Power's last game until next season!
At this point, we have beaten both other teams in our division at least once and have a better record overall than the Soul. By most accounts, the Power is the better team, but the Soul has pulled off some upsets before. Coach Ho has made it clear that they're still playing for their fans, even if their season is over. I'm not sure that the Power is up to the same standards at this point, especially on the road.
Last time they played, they made fools of the Gladiators, whom you might remember, rather handily beat us. Also, given that they've already beaten us once, I'm sure they'd love to beat us again and have a sweep to add to their record.
When they won against Cleveland, it happened because they were able to beat the Gladiators, literally, at their own game. They owned the field, destroyed Rocco and pressured him at every opportunity. If they bring it at the same level against us, then we should expect even more pressure than the Gladiators gave us last week.
Larry Brackins and Keith Stokes stepped up big time to fill the shoes vacated by the impressive Donovan Morgan, who departed for the UFL. Unfortunately, pretty much during the game last week, he announced his departure from the UFL to come back to the Soul. So...that's great for us.
The fact of the matter is, this game is on the road, and the Power have little to play for. However, winning would give the Power - if not a winning season - an even record. For psychological reasons, both for the team and for the fans, I think that this can't be discounted. Same thing goes for beating the one team left in the division we haven't beaten yet.
Tune in tonight at 7:05 on NiftyTV and catch the Power's last game until next season!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Buccos on the Brink
It's July 21st and the Pittsburgh Pirates are still relevant. If NFL players and owners weren't still arguing over a new CBA, Steeler training camp would be opening soon, which has generally signaled the end of the Pirates season.
The Buccos are currently six games over .500 and only half a game back of the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. People are starting to pay attention to the Pittsburgh Pirates. People are starting to write articles about them. Not just schmucks like me, but actual people that work for actual big websites and get paid and everything. On Monday night, when the Pirates visit the Atlanta Braves, the game is going to be broadcast on ESPN. That will mark only the third time since the turn of the century that the Pirates have appeared on the World Wide Leader.
The only trouble is that they're also currently shin deep in a 13 game set that could turn into a pool of awesome or a quagmire of suck. These 13 games pit the Pirates against teams with a combined winning percentage of .558. They've gotten this far with solid pitching and defense, timely hitting, and beating up on the crappy teams in the NL Central, posting a 24-14 record against teams in their division. Take out their 0-5 record against the Brewers out of that and the Buccos are 24-9 against teams in the Central that aren't from Wisconsin.
They've already escaped the "easiest" part of this stretch with two wins against the Reds. That series was a microcosm of the season thus far. The Pirates won the first two games 2-0 and 1-0 on solid pitching, excellent work by their middle relievers, and timely hitting. They lost the third game 3-1 because the offense fizzled out and Jeff Karstens allowed two unearned runs. They trusted in the defense and the defense let them down.
Over the course of the next ten games, we'll get a chance to see if the Pirates can play with the big boys. After three games at home against the Cardinals, they hit the road with a four game set in Atlanta and three games at Philadelphia. The Phillies currently hold the best record in the majors, though the Pirates did take two out of three from them earlier this year at PNC Park. The Braves aren't far behind the Phillies in the NL East and would be leading the NL Central by five games if the divisions got realigned tomorrow.
To this point, all the experts that are paying attention have stated that the Pirates have either overachieved or gotten lucky thus far. They claim that they're not full-on believers yet and that defense, pitching, and timely hitting is not sustainable. They think that a collapse is probable, if not imminent. Colin Cowherd mentioned on his radio show last week that the current 13 game string-of-death was the make-or-break point of the season for the Buccos, with a firm declaration that they would end up on the "break" side of that scenario.
But, the fact remains that they're three games in and they're 2-1. If they can at least split these next ten games -- with a preference towards winning the three division games against St. Louis -- then the experts will have to admit that they're just achieving, not overachieving.
I think that they're straight-up achieving right now. We're 96 games into the season -- almost 60 percent of the way there -- and, though the lug nuts have been loose at times, the wheels don't seem to be coming off. After the make-or-break segment of the schedule, the Pirates have it fairly easy. They will face teams with a collective winning percentage of .484 in the second half, which is one of the easier schedules in the major leagues. That .484 percentage includes these 13 games against .558 teams, so the balance of the remaining games is below that mark.
This is not to say that the Pirates are a perfect team and will easily win the division. The rotation could unravel. The defense could implode. The offense, strange as it may sound, could actually get worse. Some guys are coming back from the disabled list, but that will only help so much. Getting Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata and Chris Snyder back will only add blush and eyeliner to the pig, it won't make it pretty. Ultimately, the Pirates need to trade for a bat before the trade deadline, but the make-or-break segment will end around 10 p.m. Eastern time on July 31st, which is past the 3 p.m. deadline for trades.
The other issue is that, right now, the Pirates are playing with house money. If they don't win the division -- and, given the fact that Atlanta is five games up in the wild card race, the Buccos will need to win the division to make it to the playoffs -- then they were never expected to win the division and isn't it nice that they played hard and got close after all these years? If they do nothing and somehow win the division, then Nutting and Huntington will look like geniuses for not sacrificing the future to win now.
It's a dicey situation, so it will be interesting to see how the next ten days play out.
The Buccos are currently six games over .500 and only half a game back of the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. People are starting to pay attention to the Pittsburgh Pirates. People are starting to write articles about them. Not just schmucks like me, but actual people that work for actual big websites and get paid and everything. On Monday night, when the Pirates visit the Atlanta Braves, the game is going to be broadcast on ESPN. That will mark only the third time since the turn of the century that the Pirates have appeared on the World Wide Leader.
The only trouble is that they're also currently shin deep in a 13 game set that could turn into a pool of awesome or a quagmire of suck. These 13 games pit the Pirates against teams with a combined winning percentage of .558. They've gotten this far with solid pitching and defense, timely hitting, and beating up on the crappy teams in the NL Central, posting a 24-14 record against teams in their division. Take out their 0-5 record against the Brewers out of that and the Buccos are 24-9 against teams in the Central that aren't from Wisconsin.
They've already escaped the "easiest" part of this stretch with two wins against the Reds. That series was a microcosm of the season thus far. The Pirates won the first two games 2-0 and 1-0 on solid pitching, excellent work by their middle relievers, and timely hitting. They lost the third game 3-1 because the offense fizzled out and Jeff Karstens allowed two unearned runs. They trusted in the defense and the defense let them down.
Over the course of the next ten games, we'll get a chance to see if the Pirates can play with the big boys. After three games at home against the Cardinals, they hit the road with a four game set in Atlanta and three games at Philadelphia. The Phillies currently hold the best record in the majors, though the Pirates did take two out of three from them earlier this year at PNC Park. The Braves aren't far behind the Phillies in the NL East and would be leading the NL Central by five games if the divisions got realigned tomorrow.
To this point, all the experts that are paying attention have stated that the Pirates have either overachieved or gotten lucky thus far. They claim that they're not full-on believers yet and that defense, pitching, and timely hitting is not sustainable. They think that a collapse is probable, if not imminent. Colin Cowherd mentioned on his radio show last week that the current 13 game string-of-death was the make-or-break point of the season for the Buccos, with a firm declaration that they would end up on the "break" side of that scenario.
But, the fact remains that they're three games in and they're 2-1. If they can at least split these next ten games -- with a preference towards winning the three division games against St. Louis -- then the experts will have to admit that they're just achieving, not overachieving.
I think that they're straight-up achieving right now. We're 96 games into the season -- almost 60 percent of the way there -- and, though the lug nuts have been loose at times, the wheels don't seem to be coming off. After the make-or-break segment of the schedule, the Pirates have it fairly easy. They will face teams with a collective winning percentage of .484 in the second half, which is one of the easier schedules in the major leagues. That .484 percentage includes these 13 games against .558 teams, so the balance of the remaining games is below that mark.
This is not to say that the Pirates are a perfect team and will easily win the division. The rotation could unravel. The defense could implode. The offense, strange as it may sound, could actually get worse. Some guys are coming back from the disabled list, but that will only help so much. Getting Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata and Chris Snyder back will only add blush and eyeliner to the pig, it won't make it pretty. Ultimately, the Pirates need to trade for a bat before the trade deadline, but the make-or-break segment will end around 10 p.m. Eastern time on July 31st, which is past the 3 p.m. deadline for trades.
The other issue is that, right now, the Pirates are playing with house money. If they don't win the division -- and, given the fact that Atlanta is five games up in the wild card race, the Buccos will need to win the division to make it to the playoffs -- then they were never expected to win the division and isn't it nice that they played hard and got close after all these years? If they do nothing and somehow win the division, then Nutting and Huntington will look like geniuses for not sacrificing the future to win now.
It's a dicey situation, so it will be interesting to see how the next ten days play out.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Cleveland vs Power Review
*sigh*
Well, that's it. Our season ended in Cleveland this week in a hard-fought game against our now-hated rivals, the Cleveland Gladiators. We entered with the question of what kind of quarterback Kurt Rocco really is, and now we know: A good one. Although we brought some pressure on him early, he was largely unflappable the whole game, where-as Morris proved to be very flappable indeed.
It can't be said that the Power played a bad game - they were just out played. We trailed almost the entire first half, and we down almost 20 points at one juncture - but the Power managed an impressive comeback in the third to briefly take the lead. Morris was firing on all cylinders, Willis, Campbell and DeWalt were on fire, and even Paul Edinger was nearly perfect on the night.
It all when wrong when Morris had two huge fumbles in the fourth. Granted, one of those was a lousy snap, but he still lost two of them that led to scores. It's a problem Morris has had all season: When he unexpectedly goes down, he's terrible at protecting the ball. After that, he panics, beats himself up and everything goes downhill from there. This, unfortunately tends to overshadow the fact that he's accurate, mobile and long-range. It certainly did in this game.
To the Power's credit, they never gave up - until the end, they were still playing hard and trying to pull this one around...but once they were down by three scores, it was all over but the crying.
Again, by the numbers, it was an incredibly close game. Should these two teams remain more or less intact next year (always a big "if") then this is going to shape up to be a great rivalry. Morris was 28 for 41, Rocco was 25 for 35, and neither of them threw a pick the whole game. Rocco threw for 297 yards and 8 touchdowns, where-as Morris had 318 for 7. Tipping the balance was Morris scrambling for 28 yards - more than all of the Gladiators together.
On the receiving side, our players were equally as matched. Where Goodman was deadly all game for Cleveland, we answered just as well with Willis. Future NFLer Troy Bergeron was simply an Irv Campbell in a Gladiator uniform. Redd and DeWalt rounded out the matchup. Once again, they mostly shut down Washington, but that doesn't mean he wasn't out there hustling.
On special teams, it looked again like they were going to fall to poor kicking. They missed two PATs and failed to convert on a 2pt attempt. Edinger was a brilliant 7-8 on the night. Both teams were near equal on kickoff averages (55.9 for PIT and 57.0 yds for CLE.)
The fact of the matter is, that age-old mantra: Turnovers. Lose. Ballgames.
Without those three fumbles in this game, we would most likely have won - but those fumbles happened, and we lost. What's more, we deserved to. The better team is going to the playoffs, but they aren't that much better. We need to retain that knowledge going into a long off season after next week.
Next up, Philly, in a game that is only about bragging rights, such as they are.
If the Playoffs were today
Well, they might as well be. Not a single game matters next week, and the brackets are set.
The National Conference will see Arizona matched up with - and likely beating - Spokane in one match, and Dallas traveling to Chicago for the other. Chicago secured home-field advantage this week in the preview game against Dallas. This is a huge advantage for them on several levels. Not only did they already beat this team and not only will they have home-field advantage, but they secured this with their backup QB. Michna should be back for the playoffs, and aside from some rust, this will be bad, bad news for Dallas.
In the American conference, those lousy, stupid, no good, sons of syphilitic camels, the Cleveland Gladiators will be meeting up with the Georgia Force. It's going to be a very close game, as the Force has struggled at times this season, and Cleveland has already beaten them once this season. On the other hand, the lockout looks like it will be over by playoff time, which means that they will not have Bergeron.
The Sharks will be playing the Predators at home in probably the most exciting game of the first round. Sure the Sharks were the biggest force in AFL most of the season, but they've dropped three in a row, and the Predators hate them with the burning passion of a thousand dying suns. Were as I would have said - and did say a few weeks ago - that they would win the Arena Bowl this year, the Sharks are starting to look rather mortal.
So, just because the Power doesn't have anything left to play for, doesn't mean that there's not still football to watch.
Well, that's it. Our season ended in Cleveland this week in a hard-fought game against our now-hated rivals, the Cleveland Gladiators. We entered with the question of what kind of quarterback Kurt Rocco really is, and now we know: A good one. Although we brought some pressure on him early, he was largely unflappable the whole game, where-as Morris proved to be very flappable indeed.
It can't be said that the Power played a bad game - they were just out played. We trailed almost the entire first half, and we down almost 20 points at one juncture - but the Power managed an impressive comeback in the third to briefly take the lead. Morris was firing on all cylinders, Willis, Campbell and DeWalt were on fire, and even Paul Edinger was nearly perfect on the night.
It all when wrong when Morris had two huge fumbles in the fourth. Granted, one of those was a lousy snap, but he still lost two of them that led to scores. It's a problem Morris has had all season: When he unexpectedly goes down, he's terrible at protecting the ball. After that, he panics, beats himself up and everything goes downhill from there. This, unfortunately tends to overshadow the fact that he's accurate, mobile and long-range. It certainly did in this game.
To the Power's credit, they never gave up - until the end, they were still playing hard and trying to pull this one around...but once they were down by three scores, it was all over but the crying.
Again, by the numbers, it was an incredibly close game. Should these two teams remain more or less intact next year (always a big "if") then this is going to shape up to be a great rivalry. Morris was 28 for 41, Rocco was 25 for 35, and neither of them threw a pick the whole game. Rocco threw for 297 yards and 8 touchdowns, where-as Morris had 318 for 7. Tipping the balance was Morris scrambling for 28 yards - more than all of the Gladiators together.
On the receiving side, our players were equally as matched. Where Goodman was deadly all game for Cleveland, we answered just as well with Willis. Future NFLer Troy Bergeron was simply an Irv Campbell in a Gladiator uniform. Redd and DeWalt rounded out the matchup. Once again, they mostly shut down Washington, but that doesn't mean he wasn't out there hustling.
On special teams, it looked again like they were going to fall to poor kicking. They missed two PATs and failed to convert on a 2pt attempt. Edinger was a brilliant 7-8 on the night. Both teams were near equal on kickoff averages (55.9 for PIT and 57.0 yds for CLE.)
The fact of the matter is, that age-old mantra: Turnovers. Lose. Ballgames.
Without those three fumbles in this game, we would most likely have won - but those fumbles happened, and we lost. What's more, we deserved to. The better team is going to the playoffs, but they aren't that much better. We need to retain that knowledge going into a long off season after next week.
Next up, Philly, in a game that is only about bragging rights, such as they are.
If the Playoffs were today
Well, they might as well be. Not a single game matters next week, and the brackets are set.
The National Conference will see Arizona matched up with - and likely beating - Spokane in one match, and Dallas traveling to Chicago for the other. Chicago secured home-field advantage this week in the preview game against Dallas. This is a huge advantage for them on several levels. Not only did they already beat this team and not only will they have home-field advantage, but they secured this with their backup QB. Michna should be back for the playoffs, and aside from some rust, this will be bad, bad news for Dallas.
In the American conference, those lousy, stupid, no good, sons of syphilitic camels, the Cleveland Gladiators will be meeting up with the Georgia Force. It's going to be a very close game, as the Force has struggled at times this season, and Cleveland has already beaten them once this season. On the other hand, the lockout looks like it will be over by playoff time, which means that they will not have Bergeron.
The Sharks will be playing the Predators at home in probably the most exciting game of the first round. Sure the Sharks were the biggest force in AFL most of the season, but they've dropped three in a row, and the Predators hate them with the burning passion of a thousand dying suns. Were as I would have said - and did say a few weeks ago - that they would win the Arena Bowl this year, the Sharks are starting to look rather mortal.
So, just because the Power doesn't have anything left to play for, doesn't mean that there's not still football to watch.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Two Will Enter, One Will Leave - Power vs Gladiators Preview
Here we go again - Once more, we meet up with the Gladiators in a game that will help decide the division. This time, once and for all.
Friday night, the Power travels to Cleveland for our second match-up with our division rivals, and everything is at stake. Fittingly, it's a featured Friday-night game on the NFL Network. Neither team has won an NFL-broadcast game yet, although, for the Power this our third try. Needless to say, I'm a bit concerned that this will get in their collective heads.
Writing columns for a second match-up is somewhat easier with the Power, because they haven't changed a lot since the last one. For better or worse, things are going to play out much the same as they did last time.
Cleveland has had a quarterback's carousel this season like many other teams, but Kurt Rocco has been their Bernard Morris and stuck around the most. Last time we played him, our defense was able to hold him down to just 32 points as well as force several turnovers on downs. Granted, they did nearly the same thing to us, but the point remains that they were one of the teams, and he was one of the quarterbacks, that we had an answer for.
Last week in Philly, he was beat senseless. Sacked seven times and held to but 2 touchdowns and 200 yards, it was a shameful performance. Now, there is an outside chance Ryan Vena is going to pull an O'Hara and sub in at backup quarterback at the last second, but I doubt it - Rocco is their QB, and this game has a lot more riding on it than Orlando did. Therefore, we're going to play a QB who is bruised and humiliated on national television having to face it again.
Honestly, we're going to find out a lot about Rocco this week, and what kind of man he is. IS he the type that won't accept defeat and will come out aiming to banish recent ghosts and win one for the gipper? Or is he the type that's going to come out Friday night so scared silly that it's going to happen again? It's tough to say, but we're going to find out.
His receiver corps are still tough, and ready for action - even if they were shut down last week. Bergeron, Redd and Monk are all dangerous, but the good news is that we've played them before and have film to review. As long as the defense does what they did last time, we should be able to contain them. Also, if the NFL lockout ends tomorrow, Bergeron is a Dallas Cowboy. At long last, we have a reason for wanting the lockout to end!
On our side of the ball, everything I just said about us is true for them. They controlled us last time just as much as we controlled them. Also, the Gladiators - last week not withstanding - have the best pass blocking offensive line in the league.
Last time, we commented that Cleveland was running the anit-DeWalt defense. There is no reason that should change. More frighteningly, they shut down Mike Washington. We have other options, but he has been our prime, go-to guy this season and that is scary. Thankfully, last time, Morris adjusted and went with Willis. Now, we've also got both Mathis and Hall. If anything, we're stronger at receiver than we were last time. This is going to be the deciding factor - if the Power steps up and embraces its options, we'll have this one.
Sadly, last time we were hampered on defense by - everybody together now - stupid procedural penalties. We're just going to have to accept that they're going to happen again and move past it. At this point in the season, nothing's going to change there, so instead, we'll have to make up for it on offense.
Lastly, the game came down to kickers last time, and we came out on the right side of it. Surprisingly, Edinger has been fairly good and consistent recently. If he can hold it together, then I have the sneaking sense that we can hope to not worry about him.
So there it is. Two very equal teams, both playing for their season on national television. The Power office set up a field trip to bus fans out to Cleveland, vuvuzelas in hand. If we're lucky, a lot of people signed up and Power nation will start to represent like Steeler nation. Go Power!
Friday night, the Power travels to Cleveland for our second match-up with our division rivals, and everything is at stake. Fittingly, it's a featured Friday-night game on the NFL Network. Neither team has won an NFL-broadcast game yet, although, for the Power this our third try. Needless to say, I'm a bit concerned that this will get in their collective heads.
Writing columns for a second match-up is somewhat easier with the Power, because they haven't changed a lot since the last one. For better or worse, things are going to play out much the same as they did last time.
Cleveland has had a quarterback's carousel this season like many other teams, but Kurt Rocco has been their Bernard Morris and stuck around the most. Last time we played him, our defense was able to hold him down to just 32 points as well as force several turnovers on downs. Granted, they did nearly the same thing to us, but the point remains that they were one of the teams, and he was one of the quarterbacks, that we had an answer for.
Last week in Philly, he was beat senseless. Sacked seven times and held to but 2 touchdowns and 200 yards, it was a shameful performance. Now, there is an outside chance Ryan Vena is going to pull an O'Hara and sub in at backup quarterback at the last second, but I doubt it - Rocco is their QB, and this game has a lot more riding on it than Orlando did. Therefore, we're going to play a QB who is bruised and humiliated on national television having to face it again.
Honestly, we're going to find out a lot about Rocco this week, and what kind of man he is. IS he the type that won't accept defeat and will come out aiming to banish recent ghosts and win one for the gipper? Or is he the type that's going to come out Friday night so scared silly that it's going to happen again? It's tough to say, but we're going to find out.
His receiver corps are still tough, and ready for action - even if they were shut down last week. Bergeron, Redd and Monk are all dangerous, but the good news is that we've played them before and have film to review. As long as the defense does what they did last time, we should be able to contain them. Also, if the NFL lockout ends tomorrow, Bergeron is a Dallas Cowboy. At long last, we have a reason for wanting the lockout to end!
On our side of the ball, everything I just said about us is true for them. They controlled us last time just as much as we controlled them. Also, the Gladiators - last week not withstanding - have the best pass blocking offensive line in the league.
Last time, we commented that Cleveland was running the anit-DeWalt defense. There is no reason that should change. More frighteningly, they shut down Mike Washington. We have other options, but he has been our prime, go-to guy this season and that is scary. Thankfully, last time, Morris adjusted and went with Willis. Now, we've also got both Mathis and Hall. If anything, we're stronger at receiver than we were last time. This is going to be the deciding factor - if the Power steps up and embraces its options, we'll have this one.
Sadly, last time we were hampered on defense by - everybody together now - stupid procedural penalties. We're just going to have to accept that they're going to happen again and move past it. At this point in the season, nothing's going to change there, so instead, we'll have to make up for it on offense.
Lastly, the game came down to kickers last time, and we came out on the right side of it. Surprisingly, Edinger has been fairly good and consistent recently. If he can hold it together, then I have the sneaking sense that we can hope to not worry about him.
So there it is. Two very equal teams, both playing for their season on national television. The Power office set up a field trip to bus fans out to Cleveland, vuvuzelas in hand. If we're lucky, a lot of people signed up and Power nation will start to represent like Steeler nation. Go Power!
Elsewhere in the league
- One of the few games with any meaning this week is Chicago vs Dallas in a first-round playoff preview. Both teams are in, and this game will probably tell us a lot about the first round.
- The Talons are still in the hunt, and meet the Preds on Saturday. I don't see that one going their way, but they have a lot on the line.
- The Shock tentatively have a spot right now, but they are meeting up against the desperate Sabercats this weekend, where anything can happen.
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