Time for the combine

It's a bit of a quiet period in the NFL, what with free agency still a couple of weeks away and all.

But the eyes and ears of the league will descend upon Indianapolis this week for the combine.

For guys like me, who concentrate so much on the NFL game that they only get to watch snippets of college games all year, it's a chance to catch up on some of the draft stuff.

I'll watch all the coverage - several times, actually, since it will be re-run a number of times – on the NFL Network. Obviously, watching a guy play is completely different from watching him run around in shorts, but you get a feel for a guy as an athlete.

The teams, meanwhile, will be trying to get a feel for them as people during their one-on-one meetings.

Here's some of the guys I'll be focusing on as possible first-day draft picks for the Steelers:

Round 1
Alex Mack, C, California. Mack's 6-4, 315-pounder who has the size to line up at guard as well.
Eben Britton, OT, Arizona. Britton is considered the fourth or fifth best offensive tackle prospect in this draft. At 6-5, 310 pounds, he has the size of a LT. I want to see how he moves to determine if he can play that spot in the NFL.
Max Unger, C, Oregon. At 6-5, 305, Unger's not quite as big as Mack, but he's played OT at the collegiate level.
Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU. The 6-5, 290-pound Jackson has prototypical 3-4 defensive end size. But does he have the motor?

Round 2
Phil Loadholt, OT, Oklahoma. Loadholt lives up to his name at 6-7, 340 pounds. He looks like a RT. Can he move?
Derrick Williams, WR, Penn State. Nate Washington could be gone and Williams could challenge Limas Sweed for the No. 3 spot while also taking over in the return game.
CBs Coye Francis, San Jose State; Victor Harris, Virginia Tech; Bruce Johnson, Miami; Sean Smith, Utah; Keenan Lewis, Oregon State. All have second-round grades right now and it will be a position of need if Bryant McFadden leaves. Deshea Townsend isn't getting any younger and his contract is up after the 2009 season.

© The last word on Butler

Here's the last word on the Keith Butler-Arizona Cardinals flirtation.

It turns out my source in Arizona was right, the Cardinals did, indeed, ask for and receive permission from the Steelers to talk to Butler about their defensive coordinator opening.

According to the Arizona Republic, Butler decided to stay in Pittsburgh, declining the interview offer.

Smith speaks about free agency

Steelers free agent-to-be offensive tackle Marvel Smith was on Sirius's "Movin' The Chains with hosts Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan Friday.

Here's what the discussion was:

Host, Pat Kirwan: "Marvel, you know free agency is right around the corner. You're going to be a free agent tackle. I'm going to assume you're going to hit the open market. You know the first question I'm going to ask [is] 'How much gas is left in your tank?' Because you have to sell that idea. Because if you got three in you, I got the contract waiting for you."

Marvel Smith: "I'm actually feeling really good. It was difficult going through the injury but, like I said, its probably a blessing that it happened the way it did because I almost didn't play the whole season so it feels like my body is that much more fresher because I had a lot more rest time or what not. And now, it was weird because at the Super Bowl it was a little more frustrating because I felt healthy enough to play. But that was the cards I was dealt. So right now I'm feeling healthy, I'm ready to go, I'm out here working out, training everything already so I'm feeling pretty good."

Pat Kirwan: "All three tackles for the Steelers are going to be hitting free agency in some form or another. Would you like to go back to Pittsburgh? Have they talked to you about coming back?"

Marvel Smith: "I would definitely love to be back in Pittsburgh. I've been there my whole career. So I would definitely love to retire as a Steeler if that's possible. There's definitely been some talk about trying to bring me back and seeing what it's going to take to do that. So my first choice would definitely be Pittsburgh and if that doesn't work out I'll definitely see what other options are out there."

Host, Tim Ryan: "Any hankering to get back to the west coast?"

Marvel Smith: "I was born and raised in Oakland, California. So for me if it didn't, for whatever reason I can't go back to Pittsburgh, and I've been on the east coast my whole career, I would definitely love to be back on the west coast. No doubt about that."

Tim Ryan: "Realistically, where do you see your market value with the situation you're in right now versus the other free agent tackles that are out there?"

Marvel Smith: "To tell you the truth I haven't really paid much attention to it. Talking to my agent there's definitely some interest out there and we'll get a better idea of what that is after the teams go through the combine and sit down and look at there personnel and stuff like that. I really don't judge myself amongst the other guys. I'm just trying to get myself back playing the type of football I know I can play, and go out there and play at the level that I want to."

Tim Ryan: "When healthy - and if you're healthy and you sound like you are, at least getting close - do you still feel like you're an elite left tackle in the pro game?"

Marvel Smith: "No doubt about it. Anybody that's out there in free agency - I don't want to sound, I don't want my comments taken out of context or whatever - but if I'm healthy there's nobody in free agency that's going to be a better left tackle then I am."

Make LeBeau No. 1

The blog SteelersDepot.com and blogger Dave Cherry are making an effort to get Steelers' defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau to the top of IMDB (The Internet Movie Database).

LeBeau, for those of you who didn't know this, served as Michael Caine's stunt double in the 1970 movie "Too Late the Hero."

The move may be working. According to IMDB, LeBeau's searches on the site have increased 48 percent, while the movie's popularity has also increased.

Steelers add 10 players

Seven members of the Steelers’ 2008 practice squad were among 10 players signed today to the team’s offseason roster.

The Steelers announced today that WR Dallas Baker, C/G Doug Legursky, CB Roy Lewis, S Ryan Mundy, TE Dezmond Sherrod, RB Justin Vincent and LB Donovan Woods have re-signed with the team after spending part or all of the 2008 season on the club’s practice squad.

The Steelers also signed three players with no prior experience with the team to their offseason roster. The players include RB Stefan Logan – who I reported on last week – WR Brandon Williams and FB Ryan Powdrell (POW-drell).

Logan (5-7, 185) rushed for 889 yards on 122 carries (7.3 avg.) and caught 52 passes for 477 yards (9.2 avg.) and three TDs in 2008 with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League. He signed with the B.C. Lions as a free agent in May of 2008 after spending time in 2007 on the Miami Dolphins practice squad as an undrafted rookie out of South Dakota. The 27-year-old Logan spent five years out of football before enrolling at South Dakota in 2003.

Williams (5-11, 170) played in 23 NFL games with the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams from 2006-07. He was released by the Rams prior to the 2008 regular season and did not play with another team. Williams was selected in the third round (84th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft by the 49ers after a college career at Wisconsin. He signed with the Rams as a free agent in October of 2007. Williams has returned 35 punts for 245 yards (7.0 avg.) and 38 kickoffs for 888 yards (23.4 avg.) during his NFL career.

Obviously, the Steelers are still looking for help in the return game.

Powdrell (5-11, 254) originally signed as an undrafted rookie with the Green Bay Packers in 2007 but was released prior to the regular season. The 25-year old Powdrell, who played in college at Southern California, spent a week on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad in 2008.

What comes around

At the post-Super Bowl party the Steelers threw, I was talking to Dick LeBeau and mentioned to him how crazy the final five or so minutes of that game were.

"You lost one like that, right?" I asked, recalling he was on Cincinnati's staff when Joe Montana hit John Taylor with 34 seconds remaining in Super Bowl XXIII to beat the Bengals, 20-16.

"Yeah, and just like that play, where my guy just missed the pass by a couple of inches, we had the same thing tonight," LeBeau replied, his ever-constant smile on his face.

"That's the way the game goes."

Apparently, I wasn't the only one to make that connection.

The San Francisco Examiner's Tim Liotta compares the two endings in a Feb. 8 column.

© As expected, the Steelers don't have any plans to cut linebacker Larry Foote or ask him to take a paycut.

It's just not their way. Foote has been a steady starter on two Super Bowl teams. I know there's a lot of people out there in a hurry to replace him - and it will likely happen in 2009 - but he's a valuable backup to have around.

And his salary isn't outrageous.

The Steelers took a lot of heat for paying Max Starks $7 million in 2008. Look how that worked out.

A couple of interesting notes

In Peter King's Monday Morning QB, he breaks down the Steelers' game-winning drive in the Super Bowl and also dropped a couple of nuggets of information.

The first was Ben Roethlisberger said that he played with two cracked ribs in the Super Bowl.

My first inclination on that - having dealt with Roethlisberger throughout his pro career – is I'm not buying it until I get confirmation from somebody other than Roethlisberger.

Remember the broken toes? Remember the 103-degree fever.

Ben's something of a drama queen when it comes to injuries. I don't know why that is, but he's always one to play up injuries as worse than they are.

According to King per Roethlisberger, X-rays taken the week leading up to the game - something everyone denied - didn't show the fractures. They were revealed in an MRI in Pittsburgh last week.

© King also said the blood treatment used on Hines Ward, where concentrated levels of his own blood were injected into his injured right knee, was also done earlier in the season on Troy Polamalu's injured calf.

© If there is one beef I have with Mike Tomlin it is that he's not always forthcoming with injury information.

Bill Cowher would open his Tuesday press conferences by giving the entire laundry list. He had nothing to hide when it came to injuries.

But Tomlin has a little of Bill Belechick in him when it comes to injuries. Sometimes he won't mention an injured player unless you specifically ask him about that player.

Sometimes, he'll make it sound like it was an oversight on his part. But Tomlin's too smart to miss anything. If he doesn't mention an injury, there's a purpose behind it.

The entire NFL is turning into the NHL when it comes to injuries thanks to Belechick and former Denver head coach Mike Shanahan.

Either everybody should report all of their injuries or nobody should report any of them.

© After some checking over the weekend, I've determined that the Cardinals did not inquire about the services of Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler. My source in Arizona was mistaken.

Butler leaving?

The Arizona Cardinals have fired defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast and may be looking to the Steelers to replace him.

Arizona has contacted the Steelers for permission to speak to linebackers coach Keith Butler about the opening.

Given that it would be a promotion, the Steelers shouldn't be able to say no. But I've been unable to confirm that one way or another.

Butler was seen as the eventual replacement for defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau in Pittsburgh when LeBeau finally decides to walk into the sunset.

Butler was on staff with Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm when they were in Pittsburgh.

Steelers to sign CFL running back

According to TSN.com, the Steelers will sign B.C. Lions running back Stefan Logan.

"When I tried out in January they said they wanted to sign me then, but we'd have to do it after the Super Bowl," Logan told TSN.

"They told me I had a good opportunity to make the team as a starting kick and punt returner and as a third down back," said the former South Dakota star.

The 27-year old Logan, was among the CFL leaders in rushing yards with 889 yards on just 122 carries. He also caught 52 passes for 477 yards and three touchdowns.

Finding a better option as a kick and punt returner will be a top priority for the Steelers this offseason.

Despite some strong punt returns by Santonio Holmes in the postseason, the return game struggled this season, ranking near the bottom of the league in both punt and kick returns.

Parade on Demand

Comcast will provide KDKA-TV’s coverage of Tuesday's Steelers Super Bowl Parade free to all digital subscribers through its On Demand service.

Immediately after KDKA-TV’s live coverage concludes, Comcast digital customers can select the “Your Town” folder on their On Demand menu and then select the “Sports” and “KDKA Steelers Parade” folders to view the celebration.

Comcast also provides its Sports Entertainment Package customers with a variety of Steelers content through the “Steelers 24/7” On Demand folder.

Comcast On Demand currently offers customers thousands of kids and family entertainment choices among the more than 10,000 programs available throughout the course of a month, including more than 1,000 choices in HD available at any time. 

Tuesday news

The parade today was a good look at how close this Steelers team is.

These guys really enjoy being around each other and there's no finger pointing between the offense and defense.

That wasn't always the case. I distinctly remember when there was a definite chasm between the offense and defense back in the early 90s. The defense, which was outstanding, didn't feel the offense carried any of load.

© The task of building for the 2009 season begins today for the Steelers. The Super Bowl is over and the NFL combine is in just a couple of weeks. Free agency begins Feb. 27.

No rest for the winners.

© Head coach Mike Tomlin, director of football operations Kevin Colbert and the Rooneys, Dan and Art II, will sit down in the next two weeks to discuss the team's direction.

Rebuilding the offensive line will be a big topic. Four players with starting experience will be free agents.

Signing outside linebacker James Harrison to a new deal - he's got one year remaining on his current deal - will also be a hot topic. That will be one of the team's offseason priorities.

Here we go again

After a short night to digest that game, I guess the one thing that does stand out about it were the number of penalties.

We didn't see many holding penalties period in the NFL this season, but we saw more than our share called in the Steelers' win over Arizona in the Super Bowl.

Most, however, were clearly holds.

In fact, after seeing it several more times, I'm actually of the belief now that Justin Hartwig's fourth quarter holding penatly in the end zone that resulted in a safety wasn't really a hold as much as he got bullrushed and the guy fell on top of him.

On the Harrison interception, I didn't see the hold on Warner until about the fourth replay. There was so much going on during that play that it just wasn't obvious. People complaining about that one have to realize that all of the officials were down in the other end zone and they have to immediately start trying to run with the play. I'm sure at that point, the officials on that side of the field are trying to watch and see if Harrison goes out of bounds, if there's any illegal blocks in the back, etc.

There was really none of the officials who would have had a proper angle to call a holding penalty at that point. Life goes on. You don't like it, don't throw the pick.

I thought LaMarr Woodley's sack and strip on the final play was clearly a sack and strip. The replay showed Warner's arm go back to throw the ball and then he's hit before it comes forward.

That made up for the horrible call on the previous sack and strip in the third quarter when the only reason his arm came forward was because he was hit. He wasn't attempting to throw that ball.

Cardinals fans have a legit complaint on the roughing the passer penalty on Karlos Dansby in the third quarter. That wasn't roughing. Nor, however, was it intentional grounding as some talking heads would have you believe. Ben Roethlisberger was outside the tackle box – he was at the hash mark and left tackle Max Starks was inside the hash mark by a yard when the play began - and the ball was thrown past the line of scrimmage.

© The Steelers were kind enough to invite me to their post-game celebration Sunday night and a good time was had by all.

It shows what a classy organization they are and it was really nice to see the players celebrating such a dramatic win with their friends and families.

It was also nice for the front office people - the ones behind the scenes that you never see - to get that opportunity to let their hair down after a long and successful journey.

The highlight of the night had to be seeing Snoop Dog freestyle a Steelers rap to the tune of Gin and Juice. I got part of that on my Blackberry as a recording. If I actually figure out how to get it off of my Blackberry, maybe I'll post the audio here sometime this week.

© Talking to some front office people last night we figured out there are five people in the organization with six rings, five with six I began to call them.

Team chairman Dan Rooney is the obvious one. Joe Greene has six as well, four as a player, two as a member of the front office.

The others are video coordinator Bob "Mack" McCartney, longtime college scout Bill Nunn and Human Relations/Office Coordinator Gerry Glenn.

Congratulations to them as well.

© I'm off to the airport to return to Pittsburgh. I'll check in again later when we arrive.

Wow!

I don't even know what to say about that one at this point.

I just finished writing five Super Bowl stories in roughly an hour-and-a-half.

I'm not complaining. I'm just saying, it's going to take me about 24 hours to completely digest this one.

© Before everybody kills me because the Steelers ran the wildcat in this game, let me say a couple of things:

A. I wrote about them doing it with Mewelde Moore, not Willie Parker as they did in the game.

B. I didn't give away the play because when the Steelers worked on it in practice a couple of weeks ago, it was with Ben Roethlisberger going in motion and pitching the ball deep.

So there!

© I'm happy for a lot of guys in that locker room. Covering this team from May through now – that's how long a season lasts – you see all of the hard work that goes into doing this.

© It would have been better for my blood pressure, however, if somebody would have stopped Larry Fitzgerald in the fourth quarter. Ike Taylor, you did a bang-up job on him for three quarters, but great players are great players for a reason.

I was getting ready to start tearing up all five of my stories and start re-writing. Not a fun job when you're working on an 11:45 p.m. deadline.

© I'm going to go and have a much-deserved – at least in my opinion – beer.

Cheers.

At the game

The skies are overcast here in Tampa with temps in the low 70s, high 60s.

There's a light wind, nothing too substantial.

Dennis Dixon, Anthony Smith, Fernando Bryant, Bruce Davis, Tony Hills, Jason Capizzi, Scott Paxson and Orpheus Roye are inactive for the Steelers.

Brian St. Pierre, Eric Green, Tim Castille, Victor Hobson, Elliot Valleo, Brandon Keith, Alan Branch and Jerame Tuman inactive for the Cards.

Saturday update

I ran into former Steelers PR guy Joe Gordon in the lobby of the hotel Friday night while waiting for a ride out to Tank's Tap Room - actually, we took a limo since it was the only thing available at the time.

Gordon, was, of course, the Steelers' PR guy during the 70s and was without a doubt, the best in the business.

He retired back in the early 90s, but has remained close with the team over the years.

He mentioned how much bigger the Super Bowl has gotten over the years and few would know more about that than Joe - a class act all the way.

© The crowd at Tank's Friday night was ridiculous - in a good way.

I think half of Pittsburgh was there. It's a good thing they don't get too concerned with open container laws down here - or maybe just not this week - because there was quite an overflow outside the bar.

Apparently, they weren't too concerned with fire codes, either, because there had to be about 500 more people in that bar than what was supposed to be there. And it's a pretty good-sized place.

© Just so the bosses don't get too worked up about the limo, the driver agreed to take five of us out to Tank's for $25. His scheduled fare didn't arrive until 9 p.m., so we were good to go.

© I really believe weather will be a big factor for the Steelers Sunday. They haven't played a good weather game in months and it's really affected their offense.

I believe that's been a big factor in Ben Roethlisberger's completion percentage being down from previous seasons.

© What's the over/under on the number of times Brenda Warner's face is seen on TV Sunday? I'm punching in at seven, which is about seven more times than she needs to be seen.

© Congratulations to Rod Woodson for his election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But how in the hell does Bob Hayes get in and not Dermontti Dawson?

I know some people will say that about Randall McDaniel, but if you look at his career honors, he's deserving. But so is Dawson.

Time for a pick

I guess since all the other media types are making their predictions, the time has come for mine.

I'm 8-2 in these playoffs against the spread and would hate to blow that by missing the Super Bowl pick.

That said, this is a tough game to figure because the Cardinals have been a tough team to figure. I did, however, pick them to beat Atlanta in the first round and Philadelphia in the NFC Championship game. I totally blew the Carolina game, however, as did most of the rest of the country.

I'm 2-0 with the Steelers this postseason, picking them to win and cover against both San Diego and Baltimore.

But I was put on the spot the other night on the radio and asked for my pick in this game and I'm going to stick with my first inclination, that the Steelers win and cover, 27-17.

I haven't seen an offense all season that's been able to figure out this defense and if the Steelers don't turn it over, the Cards will have a tough time breaking 20 points.

The Steelers, on the other hand, should be able to have some success against Arizona's defense.

Local ties

While walking into the Observer-Reporter's media booth at the media center today – we're tucked in here between the New York Post and Dallas Morning News – I noticed a policeman following me back.

I didn't think I had done anything wrong recently, but you never know.

Turns out, Detective Philip C. Eonda is a 1978 graduate of Trinity High School and grew up in North Franklin Township.

Det. Eonda is one of the many members of law enforcement on patrol here at the media center – Tampa's Convention Center. He has been here in Tampa for a number of years, but wanted to stop back and say hello to somebody from his hometown.

I've given his information to Mike Jones, one of our news writers who's arriving here in Tampa today, so I'm sure Det. Eonda will appear in some way, shape or form in the Observer-Reporter over the weekend.

Friday morning

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt held their final press conferences of the week Friday morning, much, I'm sure, to both men's pleasure.

I can't speak for Whisenhunt, but I know that Tomlin has spoken to the media every day – except last Sunday - since beating the Baltimore in the AFC Championship.

They've got to be talked out.

© Speaking of talking, I'll be on Fox 970-AM tonight live from Tank's Tap Room here in Tampa from 8:30 to 10 p.m. with Tim Benz. Our segment will follow one by Gerry Dulac and Joe Bendel.

Tank's is a Steelers bar here that's owned by a guy from Johnstown. It should be hopping tonight.

© I finally saw my first fans in Arizona Cardinals jerseys last night. I haven't seen a ton of Steelers fans here yet, but it had been 100-to-one before last night.

© People are saying economics are playing a factor in the lack of fans here. I think it had more to do with the weather in Pittsburgh this week. People just couldn't get out of town.

That said, there are still plenty of tickets available for this game and they should start going at discount rates soon.

© We had our first major rainfall here in Tampa last night. The monsoon-like rain lasted a couple of hours.

It wouldn't be a Steelers game this season without some poor weather.

It's in the 50s here today and threatening rain again.

The mouth that roared

Thursday, one of the Steelers took some shots at the Arizona Cardinals. And it wasn't somebody anyone would have expected.

It wasn't Anthony Smith guaranteeing a win over New England, but it was surprising none the less.

I was talking to center Justin Hartwig about the offensive line and if getting to the Super Bowl is some vidication for that group when he started questioning the Cardinals a bit.

I'm sure Hartwig didn't really think he was being all that disrespectful as he was doing it, but questioning the team's schedule and talking about how they got pounded by New England when the Steelers beat New England sure won't go over well in Arizona's locker room.

You can read all of Hartwig's comments in Friday's Observer-Reporter.

© These guys are obviously getting tired of the constant questions coming from the gathered media.

In fact, it's gotten to the point now where when they see a familiar face from Pittsburgh, you get a reaction like you're an old friend they haven't seen in years.

The two-week lag between the championship games and the Super Bowl is too long, but I really don't see any way around it.

The logistics of having a Super Bowl in different host cities just makes holding the game the week after the championship games unworkable.

© Head coach Mike Tomlin was named the Motorola coach of the year today. That one's voted on by the fans, so Steelers fans can give themselves a pat on the back for getting Tomlin that award.

© Tomlin put the word "Wetsu" on the black board in the team's locker room Thursday. It's short for We Eat That Shit Up.

Apparently, it's something his high school coach came up with to talk about big plays.

Thursday morning

I can't believe the week is only halfway complete. It already seems like we've been here forever.

The players are getting a little tired of the bombardment of questions as well. They probably wouldn't mind so much if many of the questions weren't so repetetive.

I can only imagine how annoying that gets. I know it annoys the hell out of me when I'm standing there and hear the same question three times from three different people - and it's something I covered in a story in, say, November.

© Did radio from Tank's Tap Room here in Tampa last night.

Tank's is a big Steelers bar here in Tampa. It's owned by a Johnstown guy (actually Southmont, I checked since I went to Pitt-Johnstown) and has about 60 different beers on tap.

I got a sandwich there, I believe it was called the Tankenator or something like that. It was roast beef, cheese, hot peppers, green peppers, onions and mushrooms.

I ordered the small - it comes in three sizes - and it was a monster. I can only imagine what the $20-plus sandwich looks like.

© A few weeks ago, I alluded to an interesting game plan the Steelers were working on for the Ravens.

During the season, we're not allowed to talk specifically about what we see in practice under agreement with the Steelers. We don't talk about what we see other than basic stuff and they keep their practices completely open - something few teams now do.

But since we're shut out of practice now, I can tell you they've been working a wildcat package with Mewelde Moore in the backfield. No more secrets.

Ward looking good

Hines Ward will wear a brace on his right knee Sunday, but it's looking highly likely that he'll play, not that it's a huge surprise.

It would be more surprising if Ward, a warrior, didn't play in a game of this magnitude.

© I just finished a huge feature story on Mike Tomlin for Sunday's paper.

Sometimes you just have too much information to delve through. Every word Tomlin has spoken publicly in the past two weeks is transcribed and put up on the net. It's also e-mailed directly to me along with all of the other quotes from this week.

You don't realize how much stuff that is until you open you e-mail and see 500 different collections of quotes. And that's pretty much just from the last two days.

© As the week wears on, there are more and more former players milling around.

I just stopped over at radio row - it's actually a big room - and Darrelle Revis and Franco Harris were being shuffled about to various radio shows.

I'll be on 970-AM tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. from Tank's Tap Room here in Tampa. But we won't have any big names, just me, Jim Wexell and Tim Benz.

I guess the listeners will have to live with that.

Wednesday morning

I went to the Tampa media party last night - probably the only party I'll get to this week. But it was worth it.

The food - from many of Tampa's best joints - and liquor were plentiful and the price was just right.

The event was held at the Cuban Club in Ybor City. When I found that was where it was going to be, I looked the place up on line to learn a little more about it.

It was an interesting place, much like a party being held at the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh.

Many of the buildings down here aren't that old - the city itself was barely a blip on the map 100 years ago. But cigar makers moved their production centers here around that time, turning this area into a giant smokehouse.

As such, there were gentlemen at the party last night rolling cigars on the spot. I'm not a cigar smoker, but some of the guys I was with are and they took advantage of the opportunity getting several different varieties.

Like everything else at the party, they were free as well.

The main entertainment was .38 Special, a band that I guess at this point would be considered classic rock. God, I must be getting old because I remembered every song they played from my high school days. But they were pretty good.

After that night, it's back to the grind today. There are more interviews to be done and plenty of stories to be written. Just thought I'd update you all on some of the non-football stuff going on here.

Sitting down with Rod

I sat down with length today with former Steelers cornerback and current Hall of Fame finalist Rod Woodson.

Woodson, now an analyst for the NFL Network, was very concerned about the Steelers' matchup with the Cardinals because of what Arizona can do offensively spreading a defense out.

I'll have more on that in Thursday's Observer-Reporter.

Media day madness

Media day has just ended. It should actually be called media/I'm just a guy who wants to be on TV or get my picture taken day.

The lunatics were out in full force as usual today.

Just a quick rundown of what I saw:

© A guy interviewing players in a wedding dress. (As Casey Hampton said, "that's f-ed up.")

© An idiot in a coonskin hat.

© Several female reporters - apparently all from Spanish-speaking stations – who were either scantily clad or wearing clothing so tight they apparently had it painted on.

© A ponytailed dude from the islands who got off getting the players to say aloha to him.

The craziness seemed a little toned down this year as opposed to others - or maybe I'm just getting used to it. I hope not.

I did get a chance to get a lot of interviews done with some people I normally don't get to speak to on the record.

Director of football operations Kevin Colbert is one of those people. Colbert doesn't speak to the media during the season because he doesn't want to be a distraction.

But he's kind of forced to talk today, so we had a nice long chat about the team's future and its current roster.

I'll have a story on it later this week.

© Today was when I saw a big difference in the two teams.

The Cardinals went first with their media day and they seemed a little tight. They didn't have a lot of fun with all of the silliness that goes on.

The Steelers were very loose. Even James Harrison was having some fun with it, sitting down at Mike Tomlin's table for a while before Tomlin came in.

Monday afternoon

We just finished up with the Steelers' portion of Monday's media schedule, as head coach Mike Tomlin, linebacker James Harrison, safety Troy Polamalu, wide receiver Hines Ward, tight end Heath Miller, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and defensive end Brett Keisel were made available to the media.

I had a nice moment with Tomlin and a couple of other reporters before he went up and answered questions from the masses as he arrived a little early.

Tomlin made a joke about making us work an extra week, to which I replied that at least he wasn't still working next week. My line of thinking was that if he were working next week, it would mean he would be coaching in the Pro Bowl - the job that falls on the losing coach in the conference championship game.

But he went another way with it, saying he wouldn't mind taking the Steelers and playing against the NFC in the Pro Bowl.

Tomlin really seemed to be enjoying the moment in the sun.

© I asked Keisel if the rumors about defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's retirement after the Super Bowl had been addressed.

He said they had and that they weren't true.

I'll have more in Tuesday's edition of the Observer-Reporter.

Greetings from Tampa

We touched down in Tampa at 11:55 a.m. after a quick and painless flight.

The players are having a lot of fun with this. A number of them are carrying camcorders to record the memories of this week.

Some even ventured back into our part of the plane to record us. I guess since we record them all the time, fair's fair.

After the plane touched down, a pillow fight was started in the front of the plane, with the little airplane pillows flying freely.

The team is very loose.

Ready to go

The bags are officially packed and the plane leaves in the morning.

Tonight will be the last night of normalcy for me for the next eight days until I return home Monday afternoon.

There's a lot happening at the Super Bowl – every day, in fact. I've gotten the schedule of events for the week from the NFL and will try to get to as much stuff as I can.

I'll be updating this blog several times per day, so check back often.

And I'll try to get to as many questions as I can - but the daily newspaper is my master and the master has me very busy this week.

Dale

What's the big deal?

From the AP: ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Jonathan Dekker was arrested early Saturday and charged with obstruction of justice.
Dekker, who injured his knee in August and spent the season on injured reserve, was released on $1,000 bond, police said.
Police said they responded to a complaint at 3:30 a.m. near Old Town Alexandria. When they arrived, police said, Dekker tried to flee but was apprehended.
Police did not provide details of the complaint. A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Dekker played three games for the Steelers in 2007. He was signed by the Steelers in 2006 as a free agent from Princeton and spent that season on the practice squad.
Pittsburgh plays Arizona in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.

The Steelers put Dekker on injured reserve after he tore knee ligaments, but his chances of making their final roster weren't great. He's a receiving threat at tight end, not a blocker.

But that won't stop some from saying this will be a distraction for the Steelers as they prepare for the Super Bowl.

Puhleez. Dekker has spent time in Pittsburgh rehabbing his knee, but he's hardly relevant in the grand scheme of things.

Record breakers?

Assuming he plays, Hines Ward has a good chance to set a franchise record for postseason receiving yards.

Despite playing just the first quarter last Sunday against the Ravens, Ward passed Lynn Swann for second place on the team's all-time posteason receiving yards chart.

Ward now has 1,021 postseason receiving yards and needs 34 in the Super Bowl to pass John Stallworth and become the Steelers' all-time leader.

Placekicker Jeff Reed needs one field goal to tie the franchise postseason record of 14 held by Roy Gerela and Gary Anderson. Reed is two back of Gerela’s record of 34 extra points.

He's got a ways to go to catch Gerela in career postseason attempts, though. Gerela had 27. That's right, the great Roy Gerela was 15 of 27 on field goal attempts in his career.

Put up those kind of numbers these days and you won't last very long.

© Here's a did you know: Troy Polamalu's interception return for a touchdown was the first in Steelers' postseason history.

An injury report already?

In a suprising move since the game won't be played until Feb. 1, the Steelers issued an injury report for the Super Bowl.

Hines Ward and linebacker Patrick Bailey are questionable, Ward with a knee injury, Bailey with an ankle problem.

Oensive tackle Max Starks and linebacker Lawrence Timmons all returned to practice Friday after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday.

Center Justin Hartwig still isn't practicing to rest his injured knee, but is listed as probable for the Super Bowl.

Running back Mewelde Moore (ankle) and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (back) are also listed as probable despite returning to practice Thursday.

I realize head coach Mike Tomlin wanted to treat this week as if the Steelers were playing Sunday, but this is a little ridiculous.

But the Steelers aren't alone in the craziness.

The Cardinals issued a practice report for Wednesday, even though they did not practice, but did not issue one Thursday, even though they did.

The league doesn't require them this week.


© The Steelers are making an extra effort to help Ward recover quickly from his sprained MCL suffered in the AFC Championship against the Ravens.

The Steelers are sending Ward's hyperbaric oxygen chamber to Tampa to help with his rehab regimen.

Thursday update

Ben Roethlisberger and Mewelde Moore were back on the practice field today after sitting out Wednesday. Roethlisberger had a sore back, Moore an ankle injury suffered against Baltimore.

Linebacker Patrick Bailey (hamstring), center Justin Hartwig (knee), offensive tackle Max Starks (knee), linebacker Lawrence Timmons (illness) and wide receiver Hines Ward (knee) missed their second consecutive day.

© Interesting note out of Arizona:

The Cardinals are using former Steelers backup QB Brian St. Pierre to simulate Ben Roethlisberger's scrambling ability in practice according to coch Ken Whisenhunt.

“We have Brian St. Pierre who was in Pittsburgh, so he has seen Ben do that. I’m not saying that physically he can do the things that Ben can do, but as far as scrambling and moving around in the pocket and those kinds of things, extending the play, we are trying to give them a picture for that. I think it’s not just Ben. It’s their receivers too because they are on the same page as Ben as far as where they are going when he scrambles. You are trying to give (the defense) that look, but it is not always easy.”

© The Pittsburgh Steelers will host a Super Bowl Pep Rally Friday, January 23, at Heinz Field in anticipation for the team’s trip to Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday, Feb. 1, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

The following is a schedule of events for the Pep Rally, which is being presented by PNC Bank and Comcast.

Here's the schedule of events rundown:

Admission - FREE
3 p.m. – Stadium lots and Carnegie Science Center lots open (parking for $5 available)
3 – 7 p.m. – WDVE live broadcast (Coca-Cola Great Hall)
5 – 7 p.m. – KISS FM live broadcast (Coca-Cola Great Hall)
5 p.m. – Gates A & B open
Highlights to be shown on Jumbotron
Concession stands will be open
Official Steelers merchandise will be available
5:40 p.m. – Performance by Pittsburgh Poison All-Stars Dance Team
5:45 p.m. – Performance by South Fayette Marching Band
6 p.m. – Free concert by The Clarks
7 p.m. – Pep Rally to begin
Big Machine Recording Artist Dusty Drake to perform 12th Man song
Hosted by KDKA-TV’s Bob Pompeani and Ken Rice, along with Steelers’ Radio Network talent Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley
Steelers’ players and local dignitaries will be on stage
7:30 p.m. – KDKA-TV Live Steelers Super Bowl TV Special
8:05 p.m. – Pittsburgh Fan Club performance – “Here We Go”
8:10 p.m. – Pep Rally to conclude

Wednesday update

The Steelers are treating this as a regular work week - albeit with five times the media – as Mike Tomlin had said.

Wednesday was a normal practice day, though a number of players sat out, including Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Aaron Smith, Deshea Townsend, Patrick Bailey, Justin Hartwig, Mewelde Moore and Willie Parker.

For Roethlisberger, Townsend, Smith and Parker, Wednesdays is a normal day off - a veteran's day off as I call it. Hines Ward is usually included in that group, but he's actually nursing a knee injury this week.

The others who sat out Wednesday are injured as well.

© The crush of ticket requests and such is great on these players, but usually abates toward the end of the week as players let people know they don't get a bunch of tickets for free. Yes, they have to pay as well for anything above the two they normally get.

You can imagine the friends and family that come out of the woodwork for something like this.

But pulling a Nancy Reagan and just saying no is probably the best tact to take. If you get tickets for one friend or family member and not another, I'm sure it can lead to hard feelings.

© The worst thing about covering a team that reaches this point - at least for the guys who cover the team regularly - is the crush of national media that descends.

Suddenly, guys you've spoken privately with all season long are no longer available even for a quick word.

What they're playing for

Just in case you think NFL players are only there for the payday, consider what they actually get paid for the playoffs:

Wild-card games (division winners): $20,000.
Wild-card games (fifth- and sixth-seeded teams): $18,000.
Divisional games: $20,000.
Conference championship games: $37,500.
Super Bowl winners: $78,000.
Super Bowl losers: $40,000

That may seem like a lot of money, but when you consider the cut the government and their agents get, it's really not.

If the Steelers win the Super Bowl, the players will have pocketed an extra $135,500, of which they'll probably actually get between $60 to $70 thousand per player.

It's a nice chunk of change, but when you consider the risk involved – ask Willis McGahee – it's not all that great.

This is much more about winning a championship to these guys than anything.

Injury update:

Here's what Mike Tomlin has to say about injuries Tuesday:

"Hines Ward has a right knee sprain. We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure he gets the medical attention he needs. In his mind, he’s playing. So chances are, he is. It’s not going to be comfortable between now and game day in terms of making that happen. But it’s not about comfort, particularly for Hines. This guy, this morning, was down there aggressively getting after his rehabilitation and putting himself in position to help this football team. We’re definitely not going to count him out. We’re going to save a seat on the bus for 86."

Other injuries are:
Mewelde Moore right ankle sprain.
Darnell Stapleton ankle sprain.
Patrick Bailey hamstring strain.
Justin Hartwig knee
Max Starks knee sprain

Post AFC Championship thoughts

Sunday's game was the seventh AFC Championship I've covered, but it was perhaps the best one that I've seen.

If you like football, you liked this game. The hitting was phenomenal. The chess match between the two teams was interesting to watch. And there were some great plays made out there.

That was the good.

The bad was the length. It just shouldn't take four hours to play an NFL game under any circumstances.

The officiating crew was an "all-star" group that included Tony Steratore at back judge. Tony is, for those of you who don't know, a Washington business owner and a McMurray resident.

Part of the problem with the length of the game, in my opinion, was that these guys weren't accustomed to working with each other. It led to a few more post-play huddles than usual.

© I thought going into this game that the play of Joe Flacco would be the difference – and I didn't mean that in a good way.

These really were two pretty evenly matched teams, with the only glaring difference being Flacco's inexperience. That proved to be the case.

Flacco never solved what the Steelers' defense was doing to him. Even though the Ravens generated more of a running game than the Steelers did, they couldn't take advantage of it.

© Limas Sweed, you've got to catch that deep ball. There's just no excuse for a guy who's paid to get open and catch the ball not to catch that pass.

On the plus side, that's two weeks in a row he's gotten himself wide open.

And he did come up with some catches later in the game while also making a crushing block on a catch by Heath Miller.

But you've got to catch the ones when you're wide open like that behind the defense.

© LaMarr Woodley has six sacks in three career postseason games. That's called a money player.

© We got a glimpse of what the Steelers offense might look like without Hines Ward and it wasn't pretty.

But Ward's got a few more years left in him and should be back for the Super Bowl. That gives some other guys – are you listening Sweed? – some time to polish their game.

© Ryan Clark's hit on Willis McGahee may have been the exclamation point on this game, but it was Carey Davis' decleater of Daren Stone on the opening kickoff that was the opening statement.

© Listeing to the radio on the way into the game, I heard my good friend Joe Starkey say that nobody has a winning record picking games in these playoffs.

Joe must not read this site – I don't know why – because I'm now 8-2 in these here playoffs picking games.

With that said, I'm picking … well you're just going to have to wait to see who I pick in the Super Bowl because I'm not even sure how I feel about this one yet.

Tampa beckons.

Game-day updates

I've been here at Heinz Field for an hour or so now and, of course, it's snowing. It's not real cold, however, and the win seems light.

Word is that Suggs, as expected, will play today on at least a limited basis.

I'll update with any other tidbits I find out throughout the day.

Will they or won't they/picks

Cornerback Samari Rolle is doubtful to play Sunday against the Steelers, while linebacker Terrell Suggs is questionable.

I expect Suggs to play, or at least try to, with his shoulder dislocation. How long he lasts, is the only thing in question.

Rolle, on the other hand, won't play, which will leave the Ravens very thin at cornerback considering Chris McAlister is already on injured reserve. I don't think the Steelers are too concerned with Frank Walker and Fabian Washington at cornerback.

Troy Polamalu and Justin Hartwig are both probable for the Steelers and are their only players on the injury list.

© I'm 6-2 in the playoffs thus far after my 4-0 opening weekend. I blew it changing my mind and picking the Giants over the Eagles based on the early weather report. I should know by now that you can't trust a meteorologist.

This week we have a couple of intruguing matchups.

In the NFC, Philadelphia is favored by four points at Arizona. The over-under for running plays in this game combined are 35. Neither team runs it a whole lot. The Eagles trounced the Cards earlier this season in Philadelphia, but I don't see that happening again. Anquan Boldin will be back for Arizona, which could make a big difference. And the Cardinals are 7-2 at home this season. Take Arizona, 31-27

In the AFC, the Steelers are 6-point favorites over the Ravens. That would seem strange consideing the Steelers beat the Ravens twice this season by a combined seven points. And we all know how tough it is to beat a team three times in a season - OK, not really. The team that won the first two matchups is 3-1 in this situation in championship games and there's no reason to think the Steelers won't make it four out of five. They're the better all-around team. Joe Flacco will make a rookie mistake or two in this game and the Steelers will win, 24-10.

Thursday notes

Troy Polamalu was back at practice today and looks good to go Sunday against the Ravens. Center Justin Hartwig participated on a limited basis with his sprained knee. He should also be ready to go against Baltimore.

Le'Ron McClain was back at practice today for the Ravens, but Terrell Suggs and Samari Rolle were not. Wide receivers Derrick Mason (knee) and Mark Clayton (thigh) also missed their second day of practice.

© Dermontti Dawson and Rod Woodson will be the Steelers honorary captains on Sunday. Both are finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It's a good move for the team to get the duo out there in the public eye, especially in this setting. Woodson obviously doesn't need the exposure, but it can't hurt Dawson.

© Suggs said today he's unsure if he'll be able to play - a stark contrast to his guarantee earlier this week that he would play.

It could be the Ravens just trying to play some games with the Steelers. But the Steelers expect Suggs to play.

Suggs said today that he could have some ligament damage in the shoulder. He'll be a free agent after this season, so there may be some concerns there.

Sorry so late

What a night in Pittsburgh.

Heavy snows that began in the afternoon blanketed the roads and made getting home from the Steelers offices an adventure.

Those of you who have been on the Southside can appreciate the fact it took me nearly two hours to get from the Steelers offices to Greentree hill.

I-79 wasn't much more fun. The roads weren't all that bad and I didn't see a single wreck, but everybody was driving like we were in Washington D.C. and there was an inch of snow on the roads. It was ugly.

© Leaving the Steelers' practice this afternoon, I couldn't help but laugh as a number of the players remarked about the amount of snow falling. Several of them had never really spent much time in the snow.

It's been cold in Pittsburgh this winter, but the snow really hasn't stuck all that well - particularly in the city.

This snow, however, isn't going anywhere and will be there for this weekend's game.

© The Steelers look to have an interesting game plan from what I saw at practice today. Because we agree not to report what we see in terms of plays and such, I can't share it with you, but suffice it to say, it will be interesting if they do some of the stuff they were working on.

Now, maybe they were just taking a look at it live to see what things looked like, but with in a situation with one game for all the marbles, there's no reason to leave any plays in the book unused.

© Troy Polamalu will play Sunday, though he didn't practice Wednesday. Justin Hartwig was the same.

Polamalu, by the way, did not have the flu Sunday against the Chargers as was reported somewhere. Don't know where that one came from.

© As this week wears on, I'm really liking the Steelers more and more in this game. They are very loose and confident.

James Farrior called it a different feeling than, say, 2004, when the team was 15-1 and expected to beat the Patriots.

They expect to win Sunday, but with the majority of this roster having already won a Super Bowl, they know not to look past this game.

They've beaten the Ravens twice and largely shut their offense down doing it. They know if they don't turn the ball over or give up a return or two, they'l beat the Ravens again.

Ravens' coach John Harbaugh, on the other hand, seemed a little uptight when we spoke to him today.

Tuesday Tomlin

Mike Tomlin said today that Troy Polamalu played with a strained calf against the Chargers Sunday.

Tomlin said Polamalu suffered the injury in warm-ups and he wasn't sure Polamalu was going to play until he saw him run onto the field.

Polamalu will be limited in practice early in the week, but will play Sunday in the AFC Championship.

Center Justin Hartwig suffered a slight knee sprain in the first half Sunday, but was fitted with a brace and finished out the game. He'll be limited as well early in the week, but will play.

© Word out of Baltimore is that linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs expects to play with his injured shoulder, but head coach John Harbaugh didn't sound as sure.

It will be interesting to see if Suggs does play, how long he's out there or if he's out there on every play.

The big injury for the Ravens, though, will be running back Le'Ron McClain. McClain sprained his ankle against the Titans and only carried the ball a couple of times after that. He wasn't effective after the injury.

If McClain is limited, so is the Ravens' offense.

Samari Rolle has a groin injury as well, which could definitely affect Baltimore's secondary. If Rolle can't play, Baltimore will be without both of its starting cornerbacks.

Post-San Diego thoughts

I'm hoping all those people who wanted to trade Willie Parker this offseason will now officially shut up.

Parker punished the Chargers Sunday for 146 yards on 27 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns.

It was the third-highest rushing total in Steelers' playoff history. And that's a long and storied history.

Parker's finally feeling healthy and confident. He's running decisively and with speed.

All that may change next weekend against Baltimore, but as we've seen over the years, it's tough for any running back to have a lot of success against the Ravens.

© If LaMarr Woodley did hit a wall at some point this season, he crashed through it – and Philip Rivers – Sunday.

Woodley was a force, picking up two sacks, the second of which left Rivers dazed and confused. That was also Woodley covering speedy Darren Sproles out in the flat early in the first quarter, forcing Rivers to throw the ball high.

In two career playoff games, Woodley has four sacks, just in case you were wondering.

© The worry all week long was that the Chargers would handily defeat the Steelers on special teams.

Didn't happen.

In fact, the Steelers handily won the special teams battle, with the much-maligned Mitch Berger more than holding his own against Mike Scifres.

In fact, the Steelers used Scifres propensity to hit booming punts against him on Santonio Holmes' return for a touchdown. Holmes had a nice running start by the time any of the Chargers had gotten downfield.

© The third quarter was the strangest I've seen in 16 years of covering the NFL.

Pittsburgh ran 25 offensive plays compared to one for San Diego.

That just doesn't happen at this level.

© Can't wait for the third Steelers-Ravens matchup. If you like football, this is the game for you.

There doesn't promise to be a lot of offense, but the hitting should be outstanding.

Tomlinson a scratch

Tomlinson is scratched for the Chargers today, but Antonio Gates is active.

No surprises on the Steelers' list.

The weather here is cold with a light wind. There has been some light snow on and off, but no accumulation.

Friday's news, Weekend picks

Both Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson missed practice again Friday - as did placekicker Nate Kaeding – for San Diego, putting their status for Sunday's playoff game in doubt.

Tomlinson, in fact, is listed as doubtful to play. Gates is questionable. Kaeding is probable, but will likely be limited.

I wouldn't expect Tomlinson to play with his torn groin and even if he does, he won't last long.

Gates, who already had a high ankle sprain, now also has a sore Achilles tendon. I would expect him to try to play, but he will be very limited.

With that in mind here are the much-awaited playoff picks for this weekend:

Baltimore at Tennessee: I've gone back and forth on this game all week long. On the radio Tuesday, I picked Tennessee, 17-13, then I started leaning the other way later in the week, especially if Tennessee center Kevin Mawae is unable to play. That looks as if it will be the case, so I can't see the Titans pulling this one out without perhaps their best offensive lineman. Baltimore will shut down Tennessee's running game and force Kerry Collins to win the game. I don't see that happening again - though he led them to 10 fourth quarter points in a 13-10 win over the Ravens earlier this season. Take Baltimore, 17-10

Arizona at Carolina: To me, this is the easiest game of this weekend to pick. Arizona manned up and won last week at home as I expected, but on the road at Carolina, that's not going to happen again. Carolina played awful at home offensively in the first half and still managed to beat the Cardinals at home earlier this season. The Panthers should be able to do so again. Anquan Boldin will try to play with his injured hamstring, but it's going to be difficult. Take Carolina, 31-17

Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants: This is another game I changed my mind about this week, but this time due to the weather forecast. There's supposed to be sleet and snow at the Meadowlands Sunday. That will make things awfully difficult for a team that doesn't run the ball - like Philadelphia - to get anything going. I think the Giants are ripe for the picking without Plaxico Burress in the lineup and picked the Eagles in an upset earlier this week. But I don't see that happening now. Take the Giants and their running game, 20-16

San Diego at Pittsburgh: My thoughts on this game really haven't changed since earlier in the week. I just don't know how San Diego is going to score much once the Steelers make them one dimensional, as they will do stopping Darren Sproles. Philip Rivers and the boys have been a nice comeback story, but people forget, this is where this team was supposed to be all along. They just underachieved for much of the season. The Steelers defense will lock the Chargers down and Willie Parker and the running game will control the clock. Take Pittsburgh, 24-13

All in

The Steelers had everybody back at practice Thursday as wide receiver Hines Ward returned from taking Wednesday off.

The Chargers are not so fortunate. While defensive tackle Jamal Williams was back after sitting out Wednesday, running back LaDainian Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates were still out – Tomlinson with his groin injury, Gates with a high ankle sprain.

They were joined on the sidelines by placekicker Nate Kaeding, who also has a groin injury.

I thought earlier in the week that the Steelers win this game 24-13 and I've seen nothing that has changed my mind.

The Steelers likely expect the Chargers to play a lot of cover-2 against them as they did the first time. That will allow Willie Parker and the running game some lanes working against a seven-man front.

It will also allow tight end Heath Miller and wide receiver Hines Ward to work the underneath stuff. So long as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger doesn't get greedy and try to force the ball downfield – and I saw nothing at practice to make me feel he will – Pittsburgh should win this one going way.

Wednesday update

Another nice quiet day for the Steelers. Everybody practiced today, with the exception of Hines Ward, who got his usual Wednesday veteran's day off.

San Diego could not say the same. LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates and Jamal Williams were among the Chargers not practicing - though Williams was non-injury related.

Tomlinson is unlikely to play against the Steelers, while Gates continues to struggle with a high ankle sprain that has bothered him for a number of weeks.

Placekicker Nate Kaeding has a groin injury that could be troublesome as well.

© The Steelers are a very loose bunch right now. I think this team has a lot of confidence heading into this game with San Diego.

They know they dominated the Chargers on both sides of the ball in the first meeting, rolling up twice as many yards and holding the ball for over 36 minutes.

They also know that the Chargers are 3-5 on the road this season, with those lone road wins being at Oakland, Kansas City and Tampa Bay.

Only Tampa Bay would be considered a strong opponent and that win came in late December, when the Bucs had mailed in their season.

Tuesday Tomlin

Not much to report from Tomlin's press conference today.

Everybody's healthy. The Chargers are great. And the Steelers have a huge challenge ahead of them.

On the other hand, the big news of the day was twofold.

© The Chargers' Vincent Jackson was arrested early Tuesday morning for driving under the influence.

San Diego head coach Norv Turner is unlikely to suspend Jackson – and there won't be any league punishment at this time if at all - but it has to be a bit of a distraction, something the Chargers didn't need.

© The Steelers' Rod Woodson and Dermontti Dawson were both among the 15 finalists for the Hall of Fame.

Woodson is a shoe-in. Dawson should be.

But my best guess is that only Woodson gets in this year.

Monday news

Ben Roethlisberger has been cleared to play Sunday by team doctors and should be good to go against the San Diego Chargers.

That, of course, was just some of the big news for the Steelers today.

Linebacker James Harrison became the fifth member of the Steelers to win the AP's Defensive Player of the Year award.

Harrison joins the elite company of Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount and Rod Woodson as Pittsburgh players who have won the award. The first three are in the Hall of Fame, while Woodson will be voted in this year.

Harrison outpointed DeMarcus Ware by nine votes. Troy Polamalu also garnered two votes.

Steelers-Chargers initial thoughts

The Steelers rolled up 410 yards to 213 for the Chargers and held the ball for more than 36 minutes in an 11-10 victory.

Yet the Chargers talked after the game as if they had dominated the Steelers.

That could come back to haunt them.

I don't expect LaDanian Tomlinson to play, which means Darren Sproules will have to carry the load. I don't think he'll have a lot of success against this Pittsburgh defense, which does a great job of closing down gaps.

Sproules could hurt Pittsburgh on some swing passes, though. He's very fast when he gets the ball on the edge.

Punter Mike Scrifres is also a weapon. He only punted twice the first time, but pinned the Steelers at the 6 and 15. He's a guy who changes field position every game.

But at this point, I like the Steelers, 24-13.

They'll get after Phillip Rivers and Willie Parker had 115 yards rushing in the first meeting. It's a good matchup for the Steelers.

Round 1 playoff picks

Here's what I see happening in this weekend's playoff games in which all four road teams are favored. All four road teams won't win. You can bet on that. The trick is figuring out which home teams will hold serve.

Indianapolis at San Diego: These two teams met earlier in the season, with Indianapolis pulling out a 23-20 win. Both teams are hot. Indianapolis has won nine straight, while the Chargers won four in a row to get in when Denver stumbled. But I like the home team here. San Diego's weakness is rushing the passer. But Peyton Manning doesn't get sacked anyway, so that won't hurt them here. The Chargers can certainly score with the Colts and have the better running game. San Diego 27, Indianapolis 24

Baltimore at Miami: Another rematch that was won, 27-13, by Baltimore. I don't see that changing much here as the Dolphins will have a heck of a time moving the ball against the Ravens. The Dolphins used the Wildcat five times in that first meeting, gaining four yards. That won't work here. To beat Baltimore, you've got to be able to spread the Ravens out and challenge them down the field. Miami doesn't have the weapons to do that. Baltimore 20, Miami 10

Atlanta at Arizona: Arizona was 6-2 at home, 3-5 on the road. Yes, the Cardinals stumbled down the stretch, but I think that was largely because they weren't challenged in the NFC West. Their offense will be too much to handle at home for Atlanta. And if the Cardinals can turn this into a track meet, they could win going away. Arizona 30, Atlanta 24

Philadelphia at Minnesota: The Vikings' strength on defense is their run defense. But that won't help them against the Eagles, who don't even try to run the ball. Philadelphia's defense may be the most under rated unit in the league. These guys can get after it and their corners are excellent. Adrian Peterson is also having ball control issues, which won't help. I like Brian Westbrook to have a big game catching the ball out of the backfield. Philadelphia 23, Minnesota 14

Tuesday update

Ben Roethlisberger was on the practice field today, but did not work. He seemed lucid speaking to his teammates and left the locker room without speaking to the media.

Speaking to players in the locker room, they said Roethlisberger's concussion was mild.

Mike Tomlin said he expects Roethlisberger to be fine and wouldn't rule him out of returning to practice this week.

© Ryan Clark, James Harrison, James Farriror, Willie Parker, Aaron Smith and Hines Ward were the veterans who did not practice Tuesday as the team held its first bye-week workout.

Tomlin is not having the team spend a practice on each of their possible opponents. They are instead focusing on their own play.

Tune in to Fox 970

I'll be hosting the Steelers' show on 970-AM Tuesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. the next two weeks with Jim Wexell.

Give us a listen. Don't be afraid to call in.

© As expected, Bill Cowher will sit out another year before coming back to coach in 2010 – though he will talk to the Jets about their opening. Though, I don't expect anything to come of that, either.

There was no way Cowher was going to go to Cleveland.

Cowher coached against the Browns enough times to know what a mess that team is. And considering it traded half of next year's draft away this year to acquire a couple of picks, there's no quick fix.

© The Giants are 2-1 favorites to win the Super Bowl according to Las Vegas.

You can get 4-1 odds on the Titans, while the Steelers are third at 9-2.

The Arizona Cardinals are the biggest longshots for the title at 40-1; in the AFC, the Miami Dolphins have 30-1 odds.

The two preseason favorites — the New England Patriots (2-1) and Dallas Cowboys (7-1) — failed to reach the playoffs.

Not unexpectedly, all four road teams are favored in this weekend's wildcard games.

Post-Cleveland thoughts

The big news coming out of this one is, of course, Ben Roethlisberger's injury. Word is that Roethlisberger is expected to be just fine, however.

He should be ready to go in two weeks when the Steelers host their AFC Divisional playoff game, probably against Indianapolis. At least that's my best guess at this point.

© After a slow start, you could see Willie Parker start to gain confidence Sunday. He had just 22 yards on his first 10 carries and finished with 116 on 23 attempts.

That was what the Steelers really wanted to accomplish in this one.

Parker's knee is fine, but he didn't have a lot of confidence making the cuts he needed to be effective.

He does now.

So what if it was against the Browns. The Steelers need the threat of a running game to be effective in the playoffs. And a confident Parker gives them that.

© The Steelers really wanted to lead the league in scoring, total, rushing and passing defense but will have to settle for three of the four.

That's not bad. And considering that the Browns really made no attempt to throw the ball Sunday, it's not all that bad.

The Steelers allowed 156.9 yards passing per game this season, their best since 1990 when they gave up 156.3 per game.

For a team whose weakness was supposed to be the secondary, that's not bad.

© Would I have played Roethlisberger Sunday? You bet.

Roethlisberger was coming off a four-turnover game and needed some positive plays as well heading into the playoffs.

Harrison out

James Harrison will join Ryan Clark on the sidelines today as the Steelers finish off the regular season against the Browns.

It's not a bad move, as Lawrence Timmons will start at OLB and get plenty of work there, something he hasn't had a chance to do a lot of.

Everybody else will play as usual - at least until the Steelers get a big lead, which against these Browns could be 7-0.

Christmas Eve news

Whilst the children are all nestling in bed - OK, not yet – I was toiling away at the Steelers offices today.

Here's what we learned.

© It comes as no surprise that James Harrison was named team MVP for the second year in a row.

Harrison was a near unanimous choice with Aaron Smith getting some votes as well.

© Ben Roethlisberger took all the snaps today at practice and it appears as if he will see the majority of the playing time Sunday against the Browns. Roethlisberger had a wrap on his right ankle, but appears no worse for the wear.

© Ryan Clark (shoulder), Harrison (hip pointer), Willie Parker, Smith, Deshea Townsend and Hines Ward did not practice Wednesday.

Clark is out for Sunday's game, while Parker, Smith, Townsend and Ward were getting their regular veterans day off.

© The Steelers worked a lot against the wildcat package today. I would guess they're figuring to see a lot of Josh Cribbs at QB Sunday.

Tuesday Tomlin

Safety Ryan Clark won't play this week after injuring his shoulder in thte fourth quarter against Tennessee. He'll be the only starter who won't play, though.

Mike Tomlin said today that Tyrone Carter would start in Clark's place, but that Anthony Smith would see some time at free safety as well.

© James Harrison (hip pointer) and Ben Roethlisberger (ankle) will be limited at practice early in the week, but are expected to play.

© The Steelers finally gave up on getting Marvel Smith back this season and placed him on IR Tuesday.

To replace him on the active roster, the team signed Jason Capizzi to its roster. Capizzi was on the practice squad of the St. Louis Rams.

© Tomlin refused to address whether he stood behind offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and took offense at the question.

It was a poor time to ask about Arians. The team is 11-4 and readying for the playoffs, not 4-11.

Post Tennesee thoughts

The final score was 31-14, but this game was much closer than that.

Four turnovers to none will do that.

© I know Ben Roethlisberger said he was going to go into this game loose after the Steelers clinched the division title and a bye in the first round of the playoffs but I didn't realize he meant he was going to be loose with the football.

© Chris Kemoeatu had an awful game. Ike Taylor too.

© Mitch Berger actually had a good game, for those of you keeping track.

That was one positive to take out of this one.

© The Titans were pressing the Pittsburgh receivers a lot to take away the short passes that had been working so well in recent weeks. That opened some stuff up downfield, but it also caused Roethlisberger to get sacked and pressured on three-step drops because his primary reads were covered.

© Stomping on Terrible Towels is really a meaningless act, but you can bet Mike Tomlin will use it as a motivational tool the next time these teams meet - in about a month.

Yes, the Steelers and Titans will meet in the AFC Championship - unless Baltimore goes to Tennessee and beats the Titans.

© Tomlin said he will play the Browns next week as a regular game.

The guess here, though, is that he'll play it more like a preseason game. Once the Steelers get up 21 or so points - roughly three minutes into the second quarter - he'll start pulling some key starters.

Sunday morning

The Steelers have solved their short-yardage problems. Jerome Bettis was on the team flight to Nashville Saturday.

Bettis, however, was just hitching a ride to the game.

© There's ice on the field here at LP Field. The crew has been busy all morning scraping it off.

It rained here last night and apparently - though the field was covered - the cover is not heated. The water on the cover froze up and in the spots where there were gaps, there were large patches of ice on the turf.

© Anthony Smith is among the inactives today in something of a surprise.

Friday's update

Brett Keisel practiced again today, but it listed as questionable to play Sunday at Tennessee. Best guess is that he plays, albeit rotating generously with Travis Kirschke.

Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley are all probable. All but Woodley, who has a sore knee, have foot problems.

© The money in Vegas is heading the Steelers way. This game opened with the Titans favored by one, but now the Steelers are favored by two, a swing of three points.

That's a big swing for an NFL game, but as people looked at the Titans' 3-13 record without Albert Haynesworth, it made sense.

© It's been 24 quarters and counting since an opposing offense has had a holding call against the Steelers.

That's six games for those of you with problems in math.

But, as laid out in my story in Friday's O-R, that's a trend that's league-wide. NFL officials just aren't calling holding penalties - though I did see a couple in Thursday night's game.

In the same six games, the Steelers have had eight holding penalties called against them.

But for the season, the Steelers have had 19 holding penalties called on them, opponents, 21.

Thursday thoughts

Everybody was back at practice today, leaving Marvel Smith as the only player out.

This team is getting healthy at just the right time.

Win this week and they get to play Cleveland's JV team next week in what will likely be treated like a preseason game. Starters play a half, get a big lead and take a seat.

Cleveland hasn't scored a touchdown in more than 200 offensive plays and won't likely do so against the Steelers, either.

One of the dumbest questions bandied about the locker room this week by my media brethren was why do the Steelers want the No. 1 seed?

Sure, the Steelers have lost four of their past five AFC Championship games at home, but that was with Bill Cowher as head coach.

Really, only a couple of those games were upsets.

And I was there for each one of Cowher's crushing moments.

In 1994, they were big favorites over an average San Diego team and choked.

In 1995, they struggled with an average Indianapolis team before pulling it out.

In 1997, Denver was a wildcard team, but went 13-3 in the regular season. One of those losses was to the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium, but the Broncos were a very good team.

In 2001, the Patriots were big underdogs, but a couple of fluke plays got them a win. And as we would later find, the Patriots were pretty good - and also cheating.

In 2004, the Steelers took a rookie quarterback - albeit a good one - into an AFC title game against the aforementioned Patriots and lost again.

So of those four losses, three were against he eventual Super Bowl champion. The only team I see in these AFC playoffs that's capable of winning it all other than the Steelers is Indianpolis. And, as the No. 1 seed, if the Steelers play the Colts, it would likely be in the divisional round.

Wednesday update

Sorry this is so late, but I'm trying to fit Christmas shopping in among everything else.

Quite a few bodies missing from practice today, but none are really considered serious.

Ryan Clark was hobbled today by a sore foot, but it's not expected to keep him out of Sunday's game at Tennessee.

In fact, foot injuries were the craze today as James Harrison and Troy Polamalu also were out with them. Again, they aren't considered serious.

© Speaking to some different guys in the locker room, I got some interesting answers to why they thought there hadn't been a holding penalty called against a Steelers opponent in 23 quarters – a span of nearly six games.

I'll have that story in Friday's Observer-Reporter.

© There were more than a few guys ticked off about the team's three Pro Bowl selections. But, as was pointed out, last year's Giants had just one Pro Bowl representative.

These guys will take a Super Bowl over a Pro Bowl every day.

© James Farrior offered to take anyone from the defense with him to Hawaii who wants to go.

Tuesday Tomlin

Brett Keisel will again try to return this week from his sprained MCL and has a pretty good shot of being ready to play at Tennessee.

That would leave the Steelers with just one starter out from the lineup they began the season with - Marvel Smith.

His back injury remains the same.

But Max Starks has played well in his absence, justifying the team's decision to put the transition tag on him in the offseason, despite a $7 million salary that came with it.

Not too many people complaining about that now.

Lost in the win was the fact the offensive line held up pretty well last week against a very good Baltimore defense.

The Steelers didn't move the ball great throughout the game, but they only had a couple of three-and-outs and those came at the beginning of the second half.

© Tomlin again refused to say what he would have done on fourth and goal at the end of the game against the Ravens. I don't blame him. It serves no purpose.

Though I was told they were preparing to go for it.

Had Santonio Holmes not been ruled in the end zone, the ball would have been placed at the one-inch line. I'm guessing Ben Roethlisberger gets into the end zone in that situation on a sneak.

© Tomlin brought up the fact that Kerry Collins has only been sacked seven times and thrown seven interceptions this season. That's all well and good, but he's also only thrown 11 touchdown passes.

Teams aren't going to beat the Steelers running the ball. Collins is going to have to beat them through the air.

Post-game thoughts-Baltimore

Was it a touchdown or not?

I didn't think so when Santonio Holmes first caught the pass from Ben Roethlisberger with 43 seconds remaining.

But after seeing the overhead replay and the side view, I thought the ball did reach Holmes hands just across the goal line.

People in Baltimore will obviously think otherwise, but that's water over the bridge as Bill Cowher once said.

© Ben Roethlisberger will go down as this generation's John Elway.

That's five times this season he's led the Steelers to game-winning or tying drives in the fourth quarter.

The crazy thing is that he can look awful at times, but when the game is on the line, he becomes a totally different quarterback.

The players and coaching staff believe in him and that's perhaps the biggest thing.

© We heard all week that Joe Flacco hasn't looked like a rookie of late.

He certainly looked like one Sunday.

Maybe that's the difference between playing the Bengals and Browns or playing the Steelers.

© Then again, the Ravens coaching staff didn't allow Flacco to try much downfield until they needed to.

They played not to lose instead of playing to win.

© That was one excited locker room after the game.

Most of the players on this team had never before won in Baltimore.

To get that monkey off their backs while also winning the division and locking up a first-round bye in the playoffs was a pretty good day for the Steelers.

© I said Saturday night when another writer asked me why I liked Pittsburgh to win this one that I felt if the Steelers could keep things close, the more veteran quarterback would win it. That proved to be the case.

That won't be the case next week in Tennessee. I don't think Kerry Collins can beat the Steelers. I just don't see it happening.

© Holmes was fortunate the Steelers came back and won this one – and he had the game-winning score - or he may have gone down as one of the biggest goats in Pittsburgh sports history.

Beautiful day in Baltimore

What a beautiful, sunny day here in Baltimore. There's practically no wind and the conditions look great.

I didn't see many Steelers fans here running around Fells Point or on the drive in to the stadium. This will truly be a hostile environment.

Pretty much every national media personality that covers the NFL is at this game, which is somewhat surprising considering the Cowboys are playing the Giants, and the Falcons are hosting Tampa.

Keisel won't play

Brett Keisel was unable to practice again today and won't play Sunday against the Ravens.

Fullback (?) Carey Davis did practice and is questionable to play.

James Harrison was also back at practice today after sitting out Thursday with a sore knee.

© While doing my weekly picks, I iniitally picked Baltimore to win this game.

But I've been thinking about it and Bob Prince's hidden vigourish comes to mind. The more something happens, the more likely it is that the opposite will occur.

The Steelers are due to win in Baltimore. And Ben Roethlisberger has only started one of the five games the Steelers have lost there.

I like Pittsburgh, 14-13.

Parker fallout

"Every morning when I come to work I walk past five Lombardi’s, not five rushing titles. The issue is winning, so do we need to get better in terms of running the football? Absolutely. The reason is this, because it increases our chances of winning. So that is my response to it and he needs to be a little more careful with the things he says and how he says it because they can be misinterpreted as uninformed or selfish, of which he is neither."

That was Mike Tomlin's response to Willie Parker's statements on Wednesday.

Tomlin said he also addressed the team about keeping its eye on the prize.

Certainly some of what Parker said about the problems with the running game are true. But some of it was also said out of frustration.

Tomlin also said that Parker didn't have a big problem running out of the two tight end sets last season when he was leading the league in rushing before being injured in the team's 15th game.

He has a point there.

But last year's offensive line was probably a little better with Alan Faneca in there and Parker wasn't banged up like he is now. Ben Roethlisberger was also having a better season, keeping opponents from stacking the box.

© Aaron Smith, Troy Polamalu, Deshea Townsend and Hines Ward returned to practice today, while James Harrison sat out to take a break.

Brett Keisel and Carey Davis both worked out a bit before practice, but did not practice. They could give it a shot Friday.

Parker blows up

Willie Parker went off for about the fourth time this season about the Steelers' lack of a running game.

Only this time, he was a little more specific with his complaints.

Parker said Wednesday that he prefers to run with a fullback in front of him - something the team rarely does - and that until the Steelers do that, the running game is going to look sporadic.

We'll see how Parker's outburst flies with the head coach.

When Parker complained to me and a couple of others following the Washington game about the team's lack of running, he promised to meet with head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians about his unhappiness with the rushing attack.

But then Parker was injured, so the meeting never happened.

But he's healthy now.

© Brett Keisel will try to practice Thursday, while Troy Polamalu (calf) may wait until Friday as he did last week before practicing.

Tuesday Tomlin

Once again, not much injury news to speak of at the Tomlin PC today.

Brett Keisel will try to go this week, which would give the Steelers their healthiest lineup since opening day.

Marvel Smith is still out - and Carey Davis is questionable with a calf injury - so they won't have everybody back.

But considering how much they use Davis and the fact that Smith hasn't played in two months, it's about as healthy as they could be.

It's a good thing, too, with the Ravens up next.

Even a loss in this game doesn't hurt the Steelers all that badly, though.

As I laid out in today's Observer-Reporter, the Steelers have a good shot at winning the division and the No. 2 seed in the AFC even if they lose to Baltimore and Tennessee.

The Ravens would need to go to Dallas and win - something they probably have a 10 percent chance of accomplishing - if the Steelers lose to Tennessee - which isn't a given.

Both teams will win their finales - Pittsburgh versus Cleveland, Baltimore against Jacksonville.

But if they finish in a tie, the Steelers have beaten teams with better records - assuming San Diego finishes with a better record than Oakland and New England at least matches Miami.

The two teams currently have identical schedules except for those games - though the Ravens own a win over Philadelphia, a team that beat Pittsburgh.

The Steelers own a win over Dallas, however, that would pretty much cancel that out.

Post-Dallas thoughts

Two games into their supposedly make-or-break four-game stretch the Steelers are 2-0.

But this offense continues to look like it's stuck in neutral.

One week they come out and run the ball like they really want to establish a running game, the next, it's run, pass, pass, or pass, run, pass.

Even when the run on first down picks up four or five yards, they still go right back to the air. You just can't establish a running game that way.

You also can't establish a running game when you hand the ball off to the backs just 21 times.

Maybe they were afraid of getting into third-and-longs against the Dallas pass rush. But because of the weather conditions that limited the passing for both teams, they did anyway.

Dallas picked up five sacks Sunday, but really, only two were the fault of the offensive line.

The first sack came on a corner blitz and two others were a case of Ben Roethlisberger holding the ball well past the point he should have.

Then again, Roethlisberger made a play scrambling around in the fourth quarter, so once again, things have a way of evening out.

But it sure is frustrating at times to watch him hold the ball and take a sack when he could have gotten rid of it.

Roethlisberger did throw a couple away Sunday as well, but all of this passing against a team that rushes the passer well just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

© Was there a worse use of a challenge in the history of challenges than Wade Phillips’ decision to challenge whether Roethlisberger’s knee was down late in the third quarter?

Phillips had already used a challenge in the first half and loss and even though he won the second challenge – giving Jason Hatcher a sack – was there really any difference between second-and-10 from the 18 and second-and-18 from the 26?

Phillips probably realized that with about five minutes to go when Nate Washington had a questionable catch in front of the Dallas bench on the Steelers’ game-tying touchdown drive.

© Mike Tomlin is the first coach in team history to win 10 games in each of his first two seasons.

Just in case you were wondering.

Can he win a playoff game in his first two seasons as well? Bill Cowher didn't do that either.

Not that anyone is keeping track of such things.

© The Steelers defense has now held 13-straight opponents under 300 yards of offense this season, the second-longest such streak since the NFL merger in 1970.

Dallas finished with 289 yards and rookie running back Tashard Choice hurt them a couple of times. But forcing five turnovers in back-to-back games against quality competition more than makes up for that.

The Steelers are a good bet to make it 14 in a row next week at Baltimore.

In fact, the first team to 200 yards or 10 points wins.

© Fans who were booing punter Mitch Berger needed to take a closer look at the conditions.

The wind was definitely in their face going into the close end of the field and when both teams were moving in that direction, that’s when bad things happened.

All three touchdowns were into the open end zone - including Deshea Townsend’s.

And every bad punt in this game was booted toward the closed end. That’s why the Steelers deferred after winning the coin toss and chose to open the game kicking toward the open end zone.

That's not to say Berger is a great punter. He's not.

But let's be realistic. It's not like the next Ray Guy was out there waiting to be signed after Daniel Sepulveda was injured.

© The Steelers’ kick coverage teams are the best that I’ve seen in the 16 seasons I’ve covered this team. And I’m talking about opposing teams as well.

And we’ve even begun to see some flashes in the return game in recent weeks, most notably Santonio Holmes’ 35-yard punt return in the fourth quarter.

Rookie linebacker Patrick Bailey has been a big part of that, which is why he'll get my vote as the team's rookie of the year.

© We’ve now seen James Harrison and DeMarcus Ware on the same field together and Harrison is by far the more disruptive force.

Ware had five tackles and a sack Sunday, while Harrison had eight tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. He also had a big stop on a fourth-down run.

And then he nearly killed Adam Jones on a punt return early in the game.

Harrison has to be the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.

He'll get a chance to be on the same field in a couple of weeks with another of the leading candidates, Tennessee's Albert Haynesworth.

Here's guessing he dominates that performance as well.

Friday news and notes

Troy Polamalu was back at practice today as expected and will play Sunday.

Only two players out for the Steelers are Brett Keisel and Marvel Smith, neither of which is a surprise.

For Dallas, it's looking like Marion Barber won't play. He's listed as questionable, but didn't practice all week and the Cowboys activated a running back from the practice squad to back up Tashard Choice, the only other back on the active roster.

I'd be shocked if the Cowboys beat the Steelers on a cold, wet Heinz Field turf with Tashard Choice at running back.

© Speaking of the Heinz Field turf, it got the highest vote (27 percent) as the worst in the NFL in a player's vote taken by Sports Illustrated.

But that's doesn't bother me as it does some others.

The turf at Heinz Field is a home field advantage for the Steelers. It's obviously in the heads of opposing players.

Watching films at training camp this year of games played in the 70s and on up through the 80s, there were some bad fields around the league at that time. Certainly Heinz Field is better than them.

And there's something about playing football in the mud that's just so natural.

The Steelers? Other than Willie Parker, I've never heard any players grousing about it. They're used to it and it really does give them a home field advantage.

The second-place finisher was Oakland at 13 percent.

Thursday thoughts

As expected, Ben Roethlisberger practiced today and is on schedule to start Sunday against the Cowboys at Heinz Field.

Roethlisberger, of course, was slightly injured Wednesday when he slipped dropping back to pass during practice and hyperextended his right knee.

© Aaron Smith, Travis Kirschke and Willie Parker were back at practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday and should be ready to go Sunday.

Strong safety Troy Polamalu did not practice Thursday with his sore calf, but is expected to play, perhaps even if he does not practice Friday.

© DeMarcus Ware was back at practice Thursday for Dallas, but in a limited fashion.

That's better news than Dallas had on running back Marion Barber and cornerback Mike Jenkins. Both missed their third day of practice this week Thursday.

In fact, head coach Wade Phillips said Barber is very doubtful this week, though he will be a game-time decision.

Down goes Roethlisberger

OK, maybe Ben Roethlisberger didn't go all the way to the ground at practice Wednesday, but he certainly slipped and hyperextended his plant leg a little bit dropping back to pass.

Roethlisberger didn't finish practice and his backup, Byron Leftwich, also slipped a couple of times dropping back on the outdoor practice field - falling to the ground once .

Why work outdoors when you have an indoor facility?

First, it was a nice afternoon.

Second, since many of the players aren't from the northeast, to get them ready for the cold weather, they've got to practice in it.

Third, the soft field can't be any worse than what it could be like at Heinz Field if it gets wet this weekend.

Since the Steelers play a warm-weather team this weekend - Dallas - they want to be as ready for the weather conditions as possible.

Roethlisberger will be fine, but the team certainly got a scare.

© It looks like Bryant McFadden will be back this week, which will leave the Steelers with an interesting problem.

William Gay has played well with Deshea Townsend and McFadden out. Now, both are back, but who starts and who goes to the bench as the fourth corner.

The bet here is that Gay starts Sunday, with him shifting to the slot in the nickel with McFadden playing the outside and Townsend going to the bench.

© A number of players took the day off with some minor injuries, including Aaron Smith and Willie Parker.

But it was pretty much a veterans day off.

The only players the Steelers will be without this weekend are Brett Keisel and Marvel Smith.

Tuesday Tomlin

Not a whole lot on the injury front from Tuesday's Mike Tomlin press conference - and that's a good thing.

Marvel Smith and Brett Keisel are the only two players who are out.

Tomlin did speak more at length than he has in weeks about Smith's back problems and how the team is holding out hope that it will get Smith back at some point.

Willie Parker may not practice Wednesday, but should be back on the field Thursday.

Tomlin expects Bryant McFadden back this week. That will be a big addition against a Dalllas passing game that is even more dangerous than New England's.

The Steelers will prepare as if Marion Barber and DeMarcus Ware will play. Barber has a toe injury, Ware a knee.

Tomlin called Ware the best defensive player the Steelers have faced this season and also talked at length about how dangerous the Cowboys' offense is.

Post-New England thoughts

OK, so maybe the Steelers can run the football.

They just need to stick with it as they did Sunday in the rain. Of course it took them a half to figure that out.

After dropping back to pass 19 times in the first half - with 14 runs - the Steelers had Ben Roethlisberger drop back 14 times in the second half, with 20 runs.

As Willie Parker told me after the victory, that's Steelers football.

Those 20 second-half carries netted 121 yards as Parker ripped off a 31-yard run and Mewelde Moore had a 20-yard carry.

The two alternated possessions, wearing the Patriots down.

Parker told me after the game he didn't know that was the plan going into the game, but was OK with it since he's still not 100 percent. He certainly looked good Sunday.

© Some credit has to go to the offensive line, which allowed just one sack in addition to opening holes for 161 yards on the ground.

And that sack came on a corner blitz that, had Roethlisberger picked up a second earlier, would have gone for a nice gain to Nate Washington, who was standing in the flat by himself after the blitz.

© That was a vicious hit Ryan Clark put on Wes Welker and he's probably going to draw a fine. But it was a hit that needed to be made.

Clark left his feet on the play, otherwise it would have been perfectly legal. Brutal, but legal.

© I've said it before and I'll say it again: James Harrison is the best defensive player in the NFL.

That was an All-Pro left tackle he was beating like a red-headed stepchild Sunday in Matt Light.

I think Light is overrated - always have - but his resume says he should be able to handle Harrison. He couldn't.

© The Steelers special teams coverage teams are outstanding and make up for some return problems - though that phase is starting to come around as well.

© Don't be too hard on Lawrence Timmons for running out of gas on his 89-yard interception return.

Remember, he started in the middle of the field, sprinted into the flat to pick off the pass intended for Kevin Faulk and kept on sprinting until he got to about the New England 20, where he slowed down.

He probably ran about 110 yards on the entire return after running around for an entire game.

© Timmons had a blitz earlier in the game where he came from the outside and crushed Matt Cassel just after he released the ball. Cassel gave Timmons a look like, "what the hell was that?" Timmons hit him hard.