|
Leave YOUR Writing on the Wall! Send your postgame critiques, analysis, ranting and raving about the last game as well as your predictions, smak, & insults about our upcoming opponent. Whether your message is a simple "Go Steelers" or detailed, in-depth analysis, tell us what you think and we'll post it below.
|
|
|
 | Dig This Site?
to Your Favs! |
Steelers at Patriots (14-30)
 |
|
Fan Poll |  |
|
|
Who deserves the blame for this week's loss to the Patriots?
• Kordell Stewart
• Bill Cowher
• Our Defense
• Bill Belichik
|
|
|
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NE - TD, Fauria, 4 Yd pass from Brady (kick is good).
PIT - TD, Ward, 13 Yd pass from Stewart (kick is good).
Second Quarter
NE - FG, Adam Vinatieri 45 Yd.
Third Quarter
NE - TD, Hayes, 40 Yd pass from Brady (kick is good).
NE - TD, Branch, 22 Yd pass from Brady (kick is good).
NE - FG, Adam Vinatieri 28 Yd.
Fourth Quarter
NE - FG, Adam Vinatieri 27 Yd.
PIT - TD, Stewart, 1 Yd run (kick is good).
|
Steelers Offensive Leaders | |
PASSING |
ATT |
CMP |
YDS |
TD |
INT | |
Stewart |
37 |
24 |
242 |
1 |
3 |
|
RUSHING |
ATT |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
|
Bettis |
8 |
35 |
0 |
16 |
|
Stewart |
8 |
16 |
1 |
10 |
|
RECEIVING |
REC |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
|
Ward |
8 |
90 |
1 |
17 | |
Randle El |
6 |
87 |
0 |
27 | |
Bruener |
4 |
25 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
Patriots Offensive Leaders | |
PASSING |
ATT |
CMP |
YDS |
TD |
INT | |
Brady |
43 |
29 |
294 |
3 |
0 |
|
RUSHING |
ATT |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
|
A. Smith |
17 |
60 |
0 |
25 |
|
Edwards |
1 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
RECEIVING |
REC |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
|
Branch |
6 |
83 |
1 |
22 | |
Patton |
4 |
70 |
0 |
37 | |
Hayes |
3 |
54 |
1 |
40 |
|
|
|
Key Defensive Players | |
DEFENSE |
T-A |
SCK |
INT |
FF |
|
Gildon |
8-1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Farrior |
7-4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Porter |
6-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Flowers |
3-1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Washington |
3-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Key Defensive Players | |
DEFENSE |
T-A |
SCK |
INT |
FBR |
|
Law |
9-1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Phifer |
8-4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Buckley |
3-0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
Bruschi |
4-1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Vrabel |
2-1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
A Week Late?
Perhaps they thought it was still the preseason. Worse yet, perhaps they thought it was the POST season. Whatever the reason, Cowher & company choked HARD against the Pats Monday night.
|
Smell familiar?
Deja "Pew" all over again
Article by McMillen & Wife
We've been down this road before, folks. No, I'm not talking about getting our butts handed to us by the Patriots (although we've certainly had our fair share of that in recent years). I'm talking about the annual ass-whipping to open the season.
You don't have to look any further than last season, when the Jaguars handled us to the tune of 21-3, to find an example of Pittsburgh's opening day failures. In 2000, the Ravens utterly dominated us 16-0 in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score. In '97, the Dallas Cowboys came to Pittsburgh and thoroughly humiliated us 37-7. In '96, the expansion Jaguars shocked the defending AFC Champion Steelers, 24-9.
But wait, there's more.
In '94, those rotten Cowboys coasted to an easy 26-9 victory in Pittsburgh. And in '93, the 49ers finessed our pants off, 24-13 (and Jerome Bettis of all people helped the Rams bulldoze us 27-0 the following week).
The silver lining...
Other than 2000 when we came up just short, the Steelers made the playoffs following every one of those opening day flops. Oddly enough, the two worst campaigns of Cowher's tenure came after 2-0 starts in '98 and '99.
The moral of the story? We're still tied for first place in the AFC North!
Not that I'm making light of an unbelievably poor performance by Pittsburgh. Hell, aside from a few bright spots like Randle El, Gildon and Ward, we pretty much just crumpled into a helpless ball with our thumbs in our mouths during the 2nd half (let the record note that Kordell Stewart was sucking HIS thumb from the moment he stepped on the field). It was truly pathetic. I mean, when John Madden is going off on multiple, extended irrelevant tangents with a full 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, you know it hasn't been a good evening for your boys. But if history is any indicator of things to come, there's really no need to panic just yet.
I don't have the patience, desire, or TIME to break Monday night's horrors down mistake-by-mistake, but here are a few general comments before I file this one away in the annals of poor Steeler openers.
Kordell Stewart, welcome to the NFL.
Rumor has it that this is Stewart's 8th NFL season, but NO veteran could possibly have eyes that wide, could they? Friggin' huge white saucers, baby. Aside from one drive, this was quite possibly the most horrific game I've EVER seen Stewart stumble through, which says a lot, because he's had some doosies. Two interceptions in his first three passes? Way to set the tone, Kordell. Nine or ten men on the line for every play, and Stew can't find an open man? I didn't realize our receivers were so utterly incapable of beating man coverage. Kordell had a horrific night even by rookie standards. I mentioned on the site during the preseason that Kordell's play was what worried me more than anything else I saw, and last night bears out my fears. He was embarrassingly awful. I'm sure Cowher isn't eady to yank him just yet, but if I'm Tommy Maddox or Charlie Batch, I'm licking my chops. Opportunity could be knocking. Hey, Kurt Warner and Tom Brady came out of nowhere to win Super Bowls... why not Tommy Maddox?
The O-line was miserable.
The Pats stunted our asses off. Bad enough to have a QB that is completely freaked out by the fact that he's on the field. Compounding that with a disorganzied offensive line that allows 8 friggin' sacks spells certain death. Typical of Bill Cowher teams. I'm not so sure about Kordell, but the O-line WILL come together (although if I were Oliver Ross, I'd be stocking up on pants with splinter-resistant seats in them). On the bright side, I noticed a few running plays (particularly on the pair of long Bettis blasts up the gut) that these guys had a hat on everyone. The Bus came through the line untouched for a good ten yards on both plays. Too bad he coughed it up. That highly unusual fumble was a coffin nail. Still, Bettis looked pretty good to me. I think the groin injury really is behind him.
At least we can still count on our defense, right?
Man, this is the thing that REALLY pains me. Where was the tackling? Are Brent Alexander and DeShea Townsend (Tom Brady's personal whipping boys) a couple of pacifists? Where was the agressiveness (other than the "pass interference on every other play agressiveness" we saw from Scott & Washington)? Where were Greg Lloyd and Rod Woodson when we needed them? Gildon was the only guy out there who played his game, and even he was beaten for a TD.
It's the pass rush, stupid!
Does anyone else think it was incredibly stupid to only rush three defensive linemen (all of them run-stoppers rather than pass rushers) against an accurate, rhythm passer like Brady? At some point, shouldn't Tim Lewis have at least TRIED to adjust to New England's 5-wide set by throwing some blitzes? Until New England went to that formation, I thought the Steelers were actually in control of the game (and if not for a phantom false start penalty at the goal line followed by a series of other penatlies and a missed FG, things might've been different). But the 5-wide simply killed us. I mean, the defense was playing like WE were leading 30-7. We were completely caught off guard, never pressured Brady, couldn't cover the receivers and worst of all, couldn't tackle. I'm every bit as disgusted with the defense as I am Kordell Stewart. They were totally unprepared. Absolutely pathetic.
Outsmarted again.
You have to give Belichik credit for this one. He used the QB's helmet headset to perfection. It was utterly brilliant, and to my knowledge, it's the first time I've ever seen a team that wasn't trailing go exclusively to a no-huddle, 5-wide offense that early in the game with absolutely no pretense of running the ball. It worked brilliantly. People will blame Cowher, and rightly so... but I think the majority of the credit belongs to Belichik. He saw his offense struggling a bit in their base package, and he had a game plan in place to deal with it. What a novel idea!
Play of the game:
No, it wasn't the interceptions or fumbles or penalties or long TD passes. Troy Brown's tiptoe sideline catch on 3rd & 17 (the one that was first challenged by Cowher, then by Belichik) was the play that I think finally sapped the last glimmer of life out of us.
This just in...
Ted Peterson = Kris Brown with no leg power. Oh, the shame.
Don't dispair... things HAVE to improve.
We match up far better with the Raiders, and I suspect we'll se a significant turnaround by next week (unless the Raiders decide to go 5-wide, that is). If not, be glad we have a bye in week 3!
Until then, bruthas & sistas!
Tim McMillen
Webmaster, McMillen & Wife
Mac & Wife is Hosted and Sponsored by Pittsburgh's Finest!
|
|
|
|
Fan Smak & Analysis
| |
The following articles are listed in the order they were received (with the most recent entries at the BOTTOM). This isn't a "guestbook" format... I read and manually insert every message, so you may not see your submission show up immediately. Thanks a million for your comments, people!
|
|
Author: Steel Town
Comment: Well Said!!!!!!!!
Outstanding read on the game....great observations, are game plan was horrible, we never adjusted, and were totally out physicalled in every aspect, and Cowher was totally out coached, give the world champion new england patriots and there coach belichick credit, they kicked are butts bad....now, that said, we need to prepare for oakland, there a pretty tough team also, hope we tighten the sh*t up...Kordell must show ALOT more in this one.
|
Author: Keith "K.T." Thomas
Comment: Opening day
In 1996 the Steelers got clobbered in New England by the Pats in a game
that would signal the end of an era when the likes of Woodson and
Lloyd could dominate a game by the force of their will (hell, Lloyd was
on IR.). In 1997 we faced off against the Pats twice, once in the
regular season, with the Steelers winning on OT in one of the most
exciting games in the Cowher-era, and again in the playoffs, in a
classic good defensive game. In 1998 we dropped one to the PAT's
in the midst of a 5 game losing streak – losing a game where we'd
been given every chance to win, a loss that would signal another
year of heart-wrenching pain for the Steelers. Most recently we
lost to the PATs in the AFC Championship, in a game where we got
man-handled in the first half, came back to play some decent offense
and defensive football in the second, only to have the later efforts
wasted by special-teams self-destruction.
Regardless of how the respective seasons of the Steelers and Patriots
turn out to be, there wasn't much extraordinary about last night's game
to earn it a place with the other notable Steelers/Pats showdowns of
recent years.
For the record let me state that I'm taking nothing away from the New
England Patriots. It wasn't so much that the Pat's didn't do anything
spectacular, its that they didn't need to. We gave them ample
opportunities
to win, and to their credit, they took full advantage. I'm solidly in
the
camp that says their Lombardi Trophy is just as shinny as those that any
other team has, and that they are legit defending champions. To that
end
Tom Brady, who I didn't see in the regular season last year an
impressed
the hell out of me in the playoffs, continued to impress last night.
This kid's a keeper. The Patriots offensive and defensive units show
solid effort and solid execution last night and this team'll go far in
2002.
I really don't know what to say about the Steelers on the other hand.
After they gave up the ball twice within the first 5 snaps, effectively
spotting the World Champs 7 points, I thought, "oh God, HERE we go
again." Those fears were temporally allayed as they bounced right back
and almost mechanically moved down the field to tie the game. Things
continued to go well on both sides of the ball until the end of the 2nd
quarter, when we ended up going down to the one and came away with
ZILCH.
(For my money I thought the pass interference call was bogus; in the
same vein, I thought the false start penalty which nullified the TD was
a classic make-up call.)
Herein' lies the issue. When the Steelers weren't busy turning over
the ball, they were making good runs, good defensive stops, or good
receptions that got called back on penalties. I mean, they got the ball
to the one, and then ended up having to kick, what, a 37 yard field
goal
or something?
In spite of all that, I thought they were doing well to only be down by
three at the half, and the stat's backed me up. But when Bettis
fumbled in the third quarter, I don't remember what the score was, but I
flat out said, "its over."
In an otherwise ugly performance I thought some individual performances
stood out. I thought James Farrior did a good job, and we weren't
missing
a beat w/o Holmes in there. The rookie James Foote seemed to play well
too.
Lee Flowers will never be an All-Pro, but he played with his normal
intensity.
Amos played well, and
the Bus did alright when they made holes for him (9 carries or whatever
it is
isn't enough to make a judgement.) I REALLY like the kid El Randel.
I've
read a lot about this guy during training camp, and man, he looks good.
On the negative side, the run blocking on the offensive line concerns
me.
Not sure if its Oliver Gibson, but while better than the AFC
championship,
its still left a lot to be desired. The play of Brett Alexander also
seemed a little suspect, although perhaps I'm being a little harsh.
Doug Perderson missing not an automatic, but nonetheless quite makeable
field goal is a cause for concern.
And what can we say about Kordell. This comes from a man who took a
lot of heat defending him through the years, thought he was done after
1999, was very impressed by his come back in 2000, observations which
were vindicated by all accounts in 2001 (remember, I only saw two
regular
season games.) There's no sugar coating it, those first two passes
were
ugly beyond belief, every bit vintage of 1999, and his coughing up the
ball was just as bad. His running was a little tentative, but the Pat's
seemed to have him covered on that account. I can't remember the third
pick – it seemed like there was a tipped ball on that one, but I was
getting tired at that point. He played well, and showed poise after the
first two picks, but well, I don't know. I didn't worry about what
Timmy Mac (host of "MacMillen and Wife, the BEST Steelers fan website
out there) called, "the ghosts of the AFC Championship game" but now
I'll say that question remains open.
I haven't read any of the Pittsburgh sports media's comments about the
game yet. Some of them are likely pronouncing the season dead on
arrival,
carping about Cowher's faults and decisions, and generally forecasting
gloom and doom.
Keep this in mind however. We've gotten our butt kicked on opening day
more than once. ‘93 was bad, ‘94, ‘96 (lost Lloyd), ‘97, were ugly,
thorough, ass kickings. We got out teeth kicked in 2000 against the
Ravens, and 2001 wasn't much better. In 1995 we won but lost Woodson.
In each of those years we had a strong finish and in all but 2000,
we made the playoffs (and we would have made the playoffs in 2000, if
that idiot Bubby Brister wouldn't have come in the game for Minnesota.)
In contrast we won on opening day in 1998 and 1999, and I shant remind
you of how those campaigns ended.
This year it wasn't so much that we got dominated, but rather we were
all
around sloppy and snake-bitten.
How this year's opening day loss affects the rest of the season will be
determined in the weeks to come.
That's all for now folks,
Keith Thomas,
President,
Pittsburgh Steeler Fan Club
|
Author: Nat LaBorde
Comment: Steelers vs. Pats the aftermath
Nothing shocking here,they got thumped in the opening game again.It was bad,REAL BAD but the Steelers will be okay.I know this team and I say what took place Monday night will turn out to be a blessing in disguise!Now everyone will jump off the ''Steelers are going to the Super Bowl '' band wagon,then come January the Steelers will be in the Playoffs hopefully against New England and they[the Pats] will overlook us and they''ll lose!
This will work out just fine for the Steelers,wait and see!!!! Have faith!!!
GO STEELERS!!! |
Author: Les Hamlett
Comment: Postgame
Well guys, you can take all of your comments and stuff them. Yeah, position by position Pittsburgh has more stars but football is a team sport. Defense, special teams, preparation and mental toughness wins ballgames. New England may or may not win it all this year but they'll be right there and end all of the "one year wonder" talk for good.
P.S.--Forgot to mention. Great Site!!
|
Author: G. Brown
Comment: MONDAY NIGHT
I thought that we would lose Monday ,but Bill Cowher needs to be ashamed at the way he was out coached.New England may have the best coaching staff in the league.
Here in Titan country, I said that the Titans were never the same after losing to Baltimore in the 2001 playoffs.The same may be said about us & New England.
|
Author: Ken Hoffmaster
Comment: Week 1
Well, the Patsies did it to us again. I'm not going to rag on Kordell, but after 2 straight INT's, I sure wish Cowher would have put Tommy Maddox in. I think our boys would have had a better chance of winning. Anyhow, bring on the Raiders, we're playing in Our House for this!!
|
Author: gspook
Comment: New England owns us
Hey Mac and wife,
First let me tell you I love the site. I of course watched the game and got the same bad taste in my mouth that I have had for years.
Lets just get it out on the table:
It is time for a new quarterback. Tommy Maddox has looked good in all the preseason games he played in and Kordell once again didn't. Kordell is a great athlete don't get me wrong, but he can't read defenses to save his life and he chokes on a steak bone every time. I don't understand why they are so scared to pull him, you can't do any worse than throwing 2 ints out of 3 passes. Mike Shanahan was going to pull Griese the other night, and he is in my opinion a lot better than Kordell is. It is time to suck it up and give someone else a shot.
The defense was too busy talking and didn't play, but they come to play every game I have watched over the last 20 years so I will let them slide.
One thing that killed me is when the no-huddle offense was started. Tim Lewis decides to take an idiot drug. I am going to say this once and once only because this pisses me off. The steelers have never and will never be a good team playing that prevent defense it only prevents you from winning. We have always been an aggressive defense with great results so if its not broke don't fix it. Why would we rush 3 guys when we know two facts they aren't going to run the ball because first of all no running back in the backfield and the second thing is Tom Brady always stays in the pocket. We made Tom Brady look like Joe Montana, and their receivers looked like Jerry Rice. The reason why is an average QB in the NFL has no problem completing passes when they have 1 minute to throw the ball. Kordell doesn't have that ability even when he has time.
The other thing. Somebody find Lester Hayes have him come to practice and teach the DB's how to bump and run the receivers.
Quick ideas:
Bench Kordell give Tommy Maddox a try. Did anyone know who Kurt Warner and Tom Brady where before they lucked into a chance.
Second never rush less than 4-5 guys especially if the offense is letting you know it is a pass for sure. Third since Plaxico Burress is 6'6 or 6'5 throw at least 2-3 balls a game deep to him and just let CB's like Otis Smith prove how good they are. Sorry it was so long, but I hate losing to the Pats.
|
Author: Your name here!
Comment: Coming soon!
Send us your comments!
|
|
