The Steelers are 4-1, Big Ben is back in the saddle, and we're ready to ride into Miami next Sunday.
Plus, like I mentioned in the preliminary recap, and you've undoubtedly already celebrated at least twice, the Ravens lost to the Patriots in OT, so that puts them at 4-2, a game behind us in the division.
It's important not to look beyond the next week, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a good solid beatdown of the Gowns.
On a completely unrelated but necessary note, I've probably apologized at least several times, and will several more, but I realize I'm a super late on this recap. I don't like to get into the details of my life outside of this blog, but let's just suffice it to say things are still in flux, and as much as I love to dump my retardery on you as often as possible, some things have to take precedence. That said, I do very much appreciate those of you who still read and support these things, even when they're wildly off schedule. So much so that I'm not going to waste any more of your time with excuses. After all, I'm not a Ravens fan.
Anyway, the "big story" to come out of Sunday's game was not Ben Roethlisberger, but rather Silverback's murderous rampage...
There's pretty much no denying that James Harrissassin was out in full force on Sunday.
Personally, I don't think I'm in a position to say whether or not he should get fined. Frankly, that's between him and the NFL. I don't think his comments are going to help his cause any, and have probably made him sound like much more of an outlaw than he probably even realizes he wants to be, but hey, this is the same guy who didn't want to be honored with the team at the White House after Super Bowl XLIII, so it's not like it should come as a big surprise. James Harrison is a no-nonsense, love me or hate me because I couldn't care less either way, type of guy. It's one of the reasons we all love him.
The most unfortunate part of this situation - besides obviously the injuries to both Cribbs and Massaquoi - is we now have to listen to every blowhard with enough technical savvy to hit a button that says "publish" use James Harrison as a case study in helmet-to-helmet hits.
The league has already said his hit on Cribbs was clean, because Cribbs was carrying the ball, not catching it. But it is investigating the Massaquoi hit.
Either way, the bottom line is - he's going to get fined. If he doesn't, then I've severely underestimated James Harrison's Jedi Mind Trick abilities.
Why wasn't it flagged? I have no answer for you, nor do I need one. That's between the officials and whoever the hell else that isn't me. I just wanna make dick jokes.
So, speaking of, let's just go to the recap...all this talk about head injuries is making me thirsty.
I now give you the "Things That Were Awesome," "Things That Were NOT Awesome," and...well, "Other Things That Were Moderately Awesome"...because the positive to negative ratio is severely in our favor this week.
With his first grab on Sunday, Hines Ward tied Art Monk for the 4th most consecutive games with a catch all-time.
With his TD grab on Sunday, Hines Ward surpassed Jerome Bettis for 2nd most TDs on the Steelers all-time list.
Balls out is the only way Hines Ward knows how to play.
3. This.
It's a start, Ben.
4. James The Hitman Harrissassin (aka Darth Maul...emphasis on the MAUL).
For the record, I don't condone violence; just football.
And 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks is good football.
As for what happened with Josh Cribbs and Mohammed Massaquoi, that's nothing to celebrate.
Regardless of whether you think they were clean hits or not, I think we can all agree that concussions are no joke.
...unlike whatever is going on here...
Get a room.
5. Please Danny, don't hurt 'em.
Daniel Sepulveda.
4 out of 6 punts inside the 20, with one sailing 56 yards, and a long of 60 that resulted in his only touchback.
So what if we didn't want him to boot it 60 yards for a touchback? You try to punt a football 60 yards.
Mitch Berger. Never forget.
5a. The Fact That I've Had A Hard Time Narrowing In On Just 5 Things That Are/Were Awesome.
Gotta love the way this young season has progressed to date.
Things That Were NOT Awesome:
1. Me = Joke.
I can't lie to you, I accidentally napped through the first drive of the game.
That's the first time that's ever happened.
And hopefully the last.
Shame on my tired ass.
But at least I got to miss this...
2. Rookie Joe Haden Welcoming Big Ben Back.
This wasn't the last time Ben overthrew a receiver.
But how can you really be mad about one mistake at the beginning of the guy's first game of the season, and first in-game action in like almost two months?
3. Injuries.
The Browns weren't the only ones dragging bodies back to the sidelines on Sunday.
For the Steelers, Brett Keisel, Nick Eason, Chris Kemoeatu and Doug Legursky all hurt their massive bodies in some way or another, with Keisel missing the entire 2nd half due to his hamstring, which will also keep him out on Sunday against the Dolphins.
October is the month of attrition, as Tomlin likes to say.
This is when injuries start to happen more prevalently.
Let's just hope that the rest of these guys, especially Kemoeatu and Legursky, aren't effected beyond this week.
4. Silverback's Verbal Wizardry.
Probably not the best idea to be saying that you try to hurt people after you've concussed two different players in one football game.
Me, personally? I get it, James. And I applaud your enthusiasm.
I'm just not sure this strategy will lead to the minimum punishment.
But then, I guess since the league already fixes games for the Steelers, why wouldn't they just sweep this under the rug, right?
5. Colt McCoy.
So many people (including myself) had Colt McCoy already in a body bag before he even stepped onto the field Sunday.
But he took five sacks and was hit often, yet finished 23/33 for 288 yards and a TD, albeit with TWO picks.
You think Jake Delhomme or Seneca Wallace would have put up those kind of stats against the Steelers defense?
Well, maybe the picks.
When Cribbs went down, as brutal as the hit was, as a Steeler fan, you couldn't help but be happy that it put all the pressure on Colt McCoy.
I gotta admit, for at least this game, Colt McCoy was a horse.
Terrible joke.
Just shameful.
Other Things That Were Moderately Awesome:
I'm not even going to mess around trying to talk about the negatives when there really weren't that many to begin with. So, instead, I'm going to use this section wisely and give you the honorable mentions.
1. Offensive Line.
Maybe it's because we ran the ball 35 times.
Maybe it's because this year's line is just flat out better than anyone expected.
Maybe they were just on meth on Sunday.
Frankly, I don't care.
ZERO sacks on Ben is a hell of a way to start out the 2nd quarter of the season.
I dare them to do it again.
2. Discipline.
Capitalizing on red zone opportunities.
Minimizing penalties.
Who wants some?
3. Who Could Ask For Anything More?
Speaking of penalties, following two straight penalties on 4th down when we were punting from the Browns territory, Chansi Stuckey muffs a punt and Key Fox recovers.
You can't pretend that you don't have a life. We all got stuff to do, deal with, and accomplish. If that means you can't get this blog up on time, that's ok. It'd be better than anything I could try to do.
On to the game, as good as Ben was, you could def see the rust in some of his throws. I also thought that the Browns are def better than most people give them credit for. I mean, freaking Mendenhall didn't even get 100 yds. Of course, the problem with them is that they don't have much of passing offense, even when Cribbs was in there. But hey, the scoreboard didn't really reflect the struggle we had for the half. Of course, they crumbled later on, but Browns aren't much of a joke anymore, but still a couple of years away. McCoy should be a good QB.
Our D was solid, although I wish we hadn't given up the garbage TD, but we are still #1 in Scoring D, which is awesome.
As far as the hits and stuff, perhaps all the players should just stop training and gain weight, so that the contact won't be as hard. I'll be here all week.
|10-20-2010 17:24
tobiathan
- Damn
Wrong freaking thread.
How does this happen?
I'm apparently still in flux my damn self...
|10-20-2010 17:26
tobiathan
- Ugh...
..and now i replied to the wrong comment!
Damned flux...
|10-19-2010 13:37
Grumpy
As usual, the best recap around. We don't care if it's late; we're a patient bunch.
Now there is talk that Harrison may be suspended. That would be bullshit. They shouldn't legislate retroactively. Tell the players what the boundaries are and institute it going forward. And the hit by Dunta Robinson was way worse than anything Harrison dished out.
|10-19-2010 22:12
Noah
- Well Grumpy...
Harrison did not get suspended just 75 large taken out of his weekly paycheck. I agree with you, this retroactive punishment stuff has gone far enough. At least penalize the players that you're gonna take their money away.
|10-20-2010 08:12
leenis
Cotter, your job is too easy. Such a forgiving crowd you have become Complacent. However, i have to agree its the only recap i read anymore. i might be moving back up north not sure if its to philly area or to somewhere in between, where are you located these days hit me up at ltkennedy08@yahoo.com - by the way if you didnt know this is leenis from UD
|10-20-2010 10:04
Ladi Izz
Great recap as usual. Dude, we know you're super busy, so as long as it's up before the following game, it's cool.
I think I've whined about this before on here, but it's still relevant, but how come nobody gave a shit about concussions when Ben got that deliberate double head to head hit against Atlanta in 2006. It was Patrick Kearney and some other asshole who delivered it and those guys were neither flagged nor fined. Der Ginger Fuhrer is consistently inconsistent.
|10-20-2010 17:20
tobiathan
- Silverback
Didn't anything crazy to the media.
The way the fucking AP edits their headlines were what made him sound crazy.
In the actual live interview he said he wanted to hurt guys but NOT injure them.
AP promptly headlined that he said "I don't care if iI hurt anybody".
Bullshit. Cotter should know better, but maybe he gets a pass since he's in "flux". I've had some of that flux stuff; it's a rush at first but it gets old fast.
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