The outcome of Thursday night's game was about as much in doubt as the Republicans taking control of Congress in the most recent elections.
You knew both were going to happen, it was only a matter of how big the wins were going to be.
© Mewelde Moore and Jason Worilds both suffered knee injuries, the extent of which is not yet known.
© It was good to see James Harrison finally get to the quarterback again for a sack. Harrison had gone three games without one, his longest stretch this season.
The guy works way too hard and had been too close too many times not to get at least one more to close out the season.
© It's getting pretty obvious why punter Jason Kapinos was available for the Steelers to pick up when Daniel Sepulveda was lost for the season a few weeks ago.
He usually gets decent hang time on his punts, but the distance is certainly lacking in the cold Pittsburgh winter.
For a team that likes to play the field-position game, that's not a good thing.
© I'm not a fan of Mike Tomlin leaving starters in the game in a rout like this.
Though Tomlin began pulling starters midway through the fourth quarter, for some reason a banged-Ben Roethlisberger stayed in the whole way.
Same goes for Mike Wallace, who the Steelers threw a quick pass just before the two-minute warning to get him 100 yards.
If either of those two guys were injured, this team wouldn't win a single game in the playoffs, regardless of the opponent.
Yes, I know the Steelers went 3-1 without Roethlisberger to start the season, but that was a team that was relatively healthy on defense.
That's not the case now.
And Wallace means a heck of a lot to this team as well.
© Merry Christmas.
didn't realize carolina was so putrid.
ReplyDeletei agree, we were dumbfounded tomlin kept ben, mendy, etc in the game so long. just stupid
Agree about keeping some of the key players in into the 4th qtr. It made no sense at all with the game well in hand.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing about the starters being in during 4th qt. I assumed he left them in becouse of BR's fumbling & Tomlin didn't want fumbles stuck in BR's head for 10 days.
ReplyDeleteChad
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ReplyDeleteOur offense needs time on the field to work out some of their problems. There is always the chance of injury, you can't play scared all the time and take guys off the field. Plus the offense is young and less liable to injury.
ReplyDeleteI say take more of the defense off the field. They are older and need the rest. They have already more than proven themselves anyways.
Is it me or are the Steelers determined to keep Redman off the field? They guy is way more effecitve than Moore. He's bigger, just as fast and has goods hands as well.
I have no problem leaving starters in.
ReplyDelete1) We've watched too many 4th quarter meltdowns, though this would be epic even by steelers standards.
2) Our offense still is not clicking. They need all the practice they can get.
C'mon Browns, beat the Ravens. If we can hold Troy & Ben out next week to get healthy, that would be huge!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see Ben come out for the last possession, but as noted, maybe he needed the reps to figure out how to hold on to the ball. Mendenhall sat out the last 2 possessions, and guys like Snack and Farrior were sitting too. You only get 45 hats, some guys will look familiar no matter what. I too don't understand why Moore needs to get hurt for Redman to see more touches, he's clearly more effective and heck I'd say was more effective in the 4th than Mendenhall. He's the perfect 4th quarter closer.
ReplyDeleteDale,
ReplyDeleteHow did BR end up with a bloody nose in 1st qt? The jackwagons at NFL net did not show the replay of the sack. Did he get punched in the nose AGAIN without a flag?
Thanks, Chad
You can watch the replay on NFL.com. There was no late hit or blow to the head, but about 3 Panthers ended up on top of him. I imagine someone facewashed him on the bottom of the pile. I don't know how else they would get at his nose with that shield on. He seemed pretty pissed when he took his helmet off, too.
ReplyDeleteThe helmet got pushed into his face.
ReplyDeleteRedman was slated to finish that game off and then fumbled a handoff. Moore was sent out on the next series and got hurt on the first play, otherwise, Redman doesn't see the field again.
The guys on NFL network said it was a poor hand off by BR (too high), not Redman's fault. BR was back to wearing gloves on both hands. Maybe that also contributed and also to the fumbled snap.
ReplyDeleteI would have liked to have seen Leftwich at least get a few snaps under center. He hasn't played since the preseason and should at least have a bit of experience taking the ball from Pouncey in game conditions. Hopefully, if Clev wins Sunday, Leftwich will get to play a couple of quarters the last game.
The guys on the NFL Network may have blamed Roethlisberger. Tomlin blamed Redman. That's why he yanked him in favor of Moore.
ReplyDeleteTomlin makes the decisions on who plays and who doesn't, not the guys at the NFL Network.
Dale, Tomlin can blame who he wants, but the NFLN announcers and analysts said the ball was put into Redman's chest, not his belly, where, I'd guess, he was expecting the ball to be given to him.
ReplyDeleteit doesn't matter what anyone says, just watch the replay. #7 put the ball too high and it was his fault.
ReplyDeleteflat out stupid to be leaving some of the more important starters in the game so long. just stupid.
Dale, you do an excellent job on the blog. It's well appreciated. Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeletemerry christmas to you and yours Dale
ReplyDeletethanks for the blog
That type of fumble is on the running back. You put you inside arm up and your outside arm down so the ball doesn't squirt out the other side like it did. The QB's job is to get the ball there and the RB is supposed to clamp on to it. The ball is there in between Redman's arms it's his job to hang on to it from there.
ReplyDeleteI don't like having starters in either, but they do need to learn how to finish. A game that was well in hand started to look very sloppy!
Merry Christmas.
Let me just say that you guys are putting a lot of creedance into what Matt Millen and Joe Theisman say. Think about that.
ReplyDeleteTomlin is the guy who chooses who plays for the Steelers. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. He blamed Redman for the fumble.
FWIW, Tomlin rarely seems to blame BR for anything that goes wrong on offense.
ReplyDeleteIts alot easier to blame the UDFA than it is to blame the franchise QB.
ReplyDeleteIt was also Redman's fault that Ben took a dumb sack at his own one, thus ruining our chance of a shutout! Darn!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Tomlin has changed his opinion after re-watching the play. I don't know. All I know is that he blamed Redman at the time. Again, his is the only opinion that counts when it comes to the matter.
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