Steelers Nation Week Six Newsletter 10/11/05

Steelers Nation Week Six Newsletter

We are a Super Bowl contender with Ben Roethlisberger at QB, a possible play off team with Tommy Maddox, and a big uncertainty with Charlie Batch. All of us took a deep breath last evening when Big Ben limped off the field, and then only half heartedly celebrated when Jeff Reed hit a field goal to win the game. If we expect to make a run at a fifth Super Bowl ring, we need Big Ben healthy and under center. If he is out for too long or possibly the season, the rest of the AFC is probably too strong for us to compete for our chance at another ring. No word has come out of Pittsburgh yet today, and it could be several days before they are sure of a diagnosis due to the swelling. Did anyone figure out why we were wearing white jerseys last evening since the game was being played at Heinz Field West??? There were an estimated 12-15,000 Steelers fans in attendance last evening. They made a reference to a lot of fans having traveled from PA, but I do not think this is correct. The Steelers have a huge national fan base and a strong Steelers fan club from that area. I think that some of the fans may have traveled with some sort of package to see the game, but I am willing to bet that 75-80% of the Steelers fans in attendance last evening live in California. Just my opinion.

The Bus Returns After a Tune Up…

Jerome only rushed for 54 yards on 17 carries, but this understates how big of a game he had for us last evening. He is one of our team leaders, and just seeing him on the field provided inspiration to the entire Steelers Nation. He picked up two crucial third and ones in the second half, and he allowed us to get physical and play our type of smash mouth football. We held the ball for 33:23 minutes to give us an important time of possession edge while on the road. In addition, he punched in his first touchdown of the season. Big Ben played another solid game before being injured late in the fourth quarter. He finished 17 of 26 for 225 yards and one touchdown. Hines had a big first half and finished the game with six catches for 83 yards. He clearly looked like he was hampered by his hamstring injury, but he gutted it out as he always does. The officiating crew overturned a touchdown he made, and I have to disagree with the officials, because I never saw where he was touched while he was down. First round draft pick Heath Miller had his biggest day as a Steeler finishing with four catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. For this upcoming Sunday the Jags defense is second in the NFL for pass defense allowing only 155.2 yards a game. They also are 28th in the league against the run allowing 130.4 yards a game on the ground. Look for a steady diet of Parker/Bettis this upcoming Sunday. Maddox hurt his calf muscle in practice on Friday and is expected to miss 3-4 games. I would highly doubt that Ben will be able to play this weekend, so it looks like the Steel Valley alum (Charlie Batch) will get the nod. This week’s game ball goes to number 36.

Defense Stands Tall Against the Bolts…

Bend but do not break seemed to be the game plan last evening. We held their version of the triplets in check for the evening. We were able to stop LT from being effective, and this allowed us to concentrate on Drew Brees and Antonio Gates. Brees finished 20 of 35 for 219 yards with one TD and one pick. LT had 62 yards on 18 carries and one TD to combine with seven catches for 68 yards. Gates finished with five catches for 61 yards and a TD. Troy was pretty well matched up on Gates the whole evening, and Troy definitely won the battle. Troy had Gates and the whole Chargers receiving corps concerned where he was due to be afraid of getting hit. It was fun to watch. Troy finished with eight tackles and one assist. A similar effort will have to be employed this upcoming Sunday against Fred Taylor and Leftwich. Taylor for some reason normally has a strong game against us, so the key will be able to control him the start and not allow him to get going. This week’s game ball goes to Troy Polamalu.

AFC NORTH

Da Bungles lost their first game of the season to the Jags 23.-20. Da Bungles are still in first place in the division with a record of 4-1 and head to Nashville to play the 2-3 Titans at 1:00. We are in second place by a half game and play the Jags at 1:00 at Heinz Field. The third place Brownies 2-2 head to Baltimore to play the 1-3 Ravens at 1:00 in a divisional match up. The Ravens are coming off a 35-17 loss to the Lions where they were “flagged” for 21 penalties.

Question of the Week???

Last week’s question was: “Who is your favorite Steeler of current and all time?”

“Favorite Steeler = tough choice, but I still have to go with Chad Brown!” (Chase Burnett of Sharpsburg, MD, formerly of Oakland, MD)
“Got to be Lambert old number 58 the man with no teeth but plenty of Attitude. Believe it or not Barry "Bananas" Foster runs second. I Wish I had the 92-94 highlight film. If he had a head on his Shoulders he would have been an all time great. Woodson and Lake come in as 3A and B. Franco finishes fourth and Levon "if Neil doesn't throw those to god-forsaken passes he's your super bowl XXX MVP" is Fifth. Sorry couldn't just give one. So have a top five. Honorable mention: Loyd and K. Greene they belong togetherSwann, Dawson, L.C., Bettis Needs more time: Fanaca, Troy and Hines” (Jason Keller of Myrtle Beach, SC, formerly of Cumberland, MD)

“current would be bettis or ward. all time??? well for the old days, someone like lambert or mean joe green. but all time? shit... I don't know. one thing's for sure, I hate odonnell & Krydell. If I were to buy a jersey today, I think I'd buy ward. so I guess the answer is ward. but if I had the $ to buy a bunch of jerseys... I'd buy a lot, frame them and put them up on the wall after forging all the autographs!!” (Patrick Bind of Baltimore, MD, formerly of Latrobe, PA)
“Hines Ward for his tough play but the whole holdout thing kinda pissed me off” (Greg Mummich of Monroeville, PA)
“my fav steeler would be alan fanaca and second runner up would have to be louey lipps” (Brian Koch of Wilmington, DE, formerly of Greensburg, PA)
“Growing up as a kid…Bradshaw or Lambert, when we were bad during the mid to late 80’s… Hoge, the 90’s…Woodson or Lloyd, current…Hines Ward” (JD of Baltimore, MD formerly of Oakland, MD)
“The Bus!” (Miss Anita from Baltimore, MD, formerly of Cumberland, MD)
Next week’s question will be: “Three Rivers or Heinz Field?”
Please send all replies to me by 5:00PM on 10/18 for next week’s edition.
Pics Of The Week…
There were not any pics sent in this past week so I will scrape up some old pics. Please forward any cool Steelers pics which you may have for future newsletters. Thanks.
“Bubby Brister’s Fan Club” was taken during the Steelers/Jets playoff game this past January. Last week I included a link how to find a Steelers bar in your area. This was taken at NcDevins in downtown Baltimore in an area of the city called Canton. Miss Anita is on the right, and the former President of the Bubby Brister Fan Club, Carissa Bowman, is on the left. There is an old story surrounding this. The way I understand the story to go is that Carisa was to have gone to her junior prom with Brister but was stood up at the last minute. She has sworn off anything black and gold ever since. PS…She is a huge Ravens fan!!!
“Just Another Ravens Bar” is NcDevins on the same day. Looks like a Ravens bar to me…
We now have to turn our attention to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Byron Leftwich. We won a thriller of a game in Jacksonville last year, so I am sure they would like to come to Heinz Field and enact some revenge. Keep your fingers crossed for Big Ben this week. Have a good week.
I wrote all of this during the morning. I have since learned that Ben was diagnosed with a hyper extended knee and a deep knee bruise. They are saying that it is possible he may play on Sunday. I think we all need to say a quick prayer and say thanks that it was not serious. Have a good week.