FanHouse

Loss Is a Troubling Sign for Steelers

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-23T09:29:00 00:00

The Steelers have had a great decade. Two Super Bowl titles, two more AFC Championship appearances and six playoff berths is a record most teams would love to have.

But there have been some bad losses along the way as well, few worse than the loss to the Chiefs on Sunday. Here's a look at the worst five losses of the decade.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Entire AFC North Fell Apart Sunday

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-22T21:37:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Steelers, AFC North

It was a rough day around the AFC North. A day when all four teams lost games they should have won.

Baltimore came into Sunday with more to gain, and more to lose, than anyone in the division -- beat the undefeated Colts, and Baltimore would stay right in the middle of the AFC playoff race. Lose and the Ravens would be in danger of falling out of the mix altogether.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Baltimore looked ready to give Indianapolis its first loss. But with Baltimore needing only a field goal to take the lead, quarterback Joe Flacco was picked off inside the Colts 20 in the final three minutes of the game. The Ravens had one more chance, but Ed Reed lateraled into a fumble in the final 30 seconds. Now Baltimore sits at 5-5 with two games left against the Steelers and time quickly running out.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Steelers' Special Teams Flop Again

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-22T19:30:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Chiefs, Steelers, AFC North

It's fair to blame the Steelers defense for Sunday's shocking loss 27-24 overtime loss to the Chiefs -- Kansas City simply shouldn't be able to drive the length of the field in overtime to beat Pittsburgh. It's also fair to point fingers at a Pittsburgh offense that piled up over 515 yards of offense, but squandered all of it with two interceptions, a fumble and three costly sacks.

But as the Steelers' fans try to figure out what happened in one of the more embarrassing losses in recent Steelers history, the group that once again is most to blame is Pittsburgh's kick coverage unit -- easily one of the worst group of special-teamers in NFL history.

In fact, only one of the Steelers' four losses -- their first loss to the Bengals -- can not be blamed, at least in large part, on poor special teams play.

More: Roethlisberger Suffers 'Concussion-Oriented' Injury

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Steelers Should Survive Polamalu's Absence This Week

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-21T22:54:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Chiefs, Steelers, NFL Injuries

Pittsburgh has several easy games on the schedule over the final seven weeks of the season, but it's hard to think of a better week for strong safety Troy Polamalu to miss than this week's game against the Chiefs.

Polamalu will miss the game with a knee injury, although the Steelers are saying he should be back before too long. But even without Polamalu, the Steelers' secondary should be able to handle the Chiefs.

Kansas City is without wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who was suspended four games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug rules. Without Bowe, Kansas City lacks a viable No. 1 or No. 2 receiver. Chris Chambers, who becomes the team's No. 1 receiver, has only been a Chief for three weeks--he was picked up off the waiver wire when San Diego waived him. No. 2 receiver Lance Long was promoted to the active roster until three weeks ago as well. Tight end Sean Ryan is a true journeyman--he's playing for his fourth team in the past two years.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Winfield Can Afford to Take His Time Coming Back

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-19T13:31:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Vikings, NFC North, NFL Injuries

When you're 8-1, you can afford to be picky.

Antoine Winfield is starting to return to practice after missing three games with a foot injury. But since the Vikings right now have a three-game lead in the NFC North, Winfield can head into the weekend knowing that he doesn't have to rush back before he's ready.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Steelers Kick Coverage Team May Break Records ... In a Bad Way

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-18T22:32:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Steelers, AFC North, NFL Analysis

If you're a Steelers fan, you know that the Steelers kick coverage has been putrid, but considering how bad the Steelers coverage teams over the years have been, it's easy to not realize just how rank this year's special teams are. Thankfully, the Football Outsiders are able to give it some perspective.

In the 15 years of stats the FO guys now have data foor, the Steelers are coming up on a very dubious record. The 1995 Bills have the record for the worst kick coverage unit of all time--they are so bad that the difference between them and the second worst team is as much as the difference between the second worst and the 53rd worst unit.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Steelers Cut Arnold Harrison As Punishment for Kick Coverage Woes

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-17T22:47:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Steelers, AFC North

When you've given up three kick return touchdowns in the past four games, some heads are going to roll. For Pittsburgh, linebacker Arnold Harrison has been deemed the scapegoat, as he was cut on Tuesday when the Steelers started to shake up the kick coverage unit.

When the Steelers gave up a kick return touchdown to Browns' returner Josh Cribbs, it was a minor setback in what was an easy win. Percy Harvin's kick return against the Steelers gave Pittsburgh a scare, but once again, the Steelers figured out how to survive anyway.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Brett Favre Breaks Record for Most Wins By 40-Plus Quarterback

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-16T09:22:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Vikings, NFC North, NFL Analysis

I'll admit, I was wrong. During the offseason, I wrote here at FanHouse that the Vikings' pursuit of Brett Favre was foolhardy. Between his age and the poor finish to his 2008 season in New York, it seemed too risky to put the Vikings' season in the hands of a 40-year-old quarterback.

Brad Childress' gamble has paid off big-time. Favre is one of the key reasons that Minnesota is battling New Orleans for home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs, and he is the reason Childress is talking contract extension instead of worrying about his job security.

Obviously, Brett Favre isn't the average 40-year-old quarterback. He's having the best season a 40-year-old QB has ever had in the NFL and it's not even close.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Bengals, Steelers Remaining Schedules Are Extremely Favorable

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-16T07:29:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Bengals, Steelers, AFC North

When the Bengals beat the Steelers on Sunday, they came about as close as is possible to wrapping up a division in the middle of November. Cincinnati now effectively has a two-game lead in the division (thanks to their head-to-head tiebreaker advantage) with seven games to go. But more than anything, the easy schedule for the AFC North make it clear that we'll likely see at least two AFC North teams in the playoffs.

As we mentioned last week, the remaining Bengals schedule puts Cincinnati in a very clear driver's seat in the AFC North. Cincinnati's next three games are against the Raiders (2-7), Browns (1-7) and Lions (1-7).

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Ochocinco Takes Steelers Fan on a Shopping Spree

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-15T06:27:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Bengals, Steelers, AFC North

Chad Ochocinco is always looking for the spotlight, but say this for the Bengals wideout: he's more original than anyone else when he's trying to hog the spotlight. And some of his attention getters are pretty nice.

Over at his Twitter account on Friday, Ochocinco tweeted: "Hotel manager name is Jesse, first person to say my name Ocho Cinco to Jesse at the Marriot we about to act a donkey in the mall."

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Between the Lines: Sacks Allowed Sorted By Team

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-13T11:22:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: NFL Analysis

We ran the listing of individual sacks allowed ranked by sacks allowed, but for fans who just want to check out their team, here's the table sorted team-by-team.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Between the Lines: Who's Allowing the Most Sacks?

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-13T10:00:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: 49ers, Chicago Bears, Packers, Panthers, Steelers, NFL Analysis

Every week FanHouse looks at some aspect of NFL line play for the weekly Between The Lines feature.

Because of bye weeks, most teams are halfway through their season even as we're getting ready to watch Week 10. The halfway point seems like as good a time as any to roll out complete sacks allowed stats.

These stats were culled by watching each and every sack that has occurred in the NFL this season (with the exception of a couple of minutes of a Redskins-Chiefs game that was lost because of a broadcasting problem). In going back and watching every sack, I timed the time from the snap to the initial hit on the quarterback (then rewound it and timed it a couple of more times to confirm the time) and tried to assign blame to the person responsible for giving up the sack.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Rashard Mendenhall's Already Better Than You May Think

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-12T20:50:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Steelers, AFC North

Just a month and a half ago, Rashard Mendenhall looked to be a big bust. He missed almost his entire rookie season with a broken collarbone, then was benched for the Bengals game in September after Mike Tomlin said he lacked focus.

But in the past month and a half, Mendenhall has shown he is clearly the Steelers running back of the present and the future, but even Steelers fans may not realize just how good he's been.

In his first five starts, Mendenhall has two of the 20 best rushing games in modern Steelers history (going back to 1960). His 165 yards against the Chargers in his first career start was the 11th best game of the past 50 years -- better than any game Jerome Bettis had as a Steeler. Last week's 155 yards against the Broncos was the 18th best game of the modern era.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Wallace's Rookie Season Ranks Among Steelers' Best

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-11T08:15:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Steelers, AFC North

For a team that has had three wide receivers earn Super Bowl MVP honors and has placed two wide receivers in the Hall of Fame, the Steelers have had very few receivers put together standout rookie seasons. Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress all went on to have excellent careers, but none of them finished their rookie years with 300 yards receiving.

Rookie Mike Wallace has already topped that, and he's on pace to put together one of the best rookie seasons in Steelers history. His season may not fully eclipse Louis Lipps' excellent 1984 debut and Jimmy Orr's rookie receiving record (way back in 1958) is at the outer edge of what Wallace could do this year, but Wallace is on pace to put finish with 50 catches and 874 yards, which would rank second in both categories among Steelers rookies.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Bengals a Win Away From Controlling AFC North

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-09T08:22:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Bengals, Ravens, Steelers, AFC North

The AFC North is not shaping up as expected. After three black and blue Steelers-Ravens games last year, everyone expected that Pittsburgh and Baltimore would face off for the control of the division again this year. But when Cincinnati finished off its sweep of the Ravens on Sunday, they put themselves in prime position.

The Bengals effectively have a three-game lead against the Ravens -- two games in the standings plus the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. Baltimore and Pittsburgh also have two head-to-head games left on the schedule while Cincinnati only has one game against the Steelers and one nearly guaranteed win against the Browns left in the division.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Between the Lines: Who Sends the House and Who Plays It Safe?

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-06T09:41:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Jets, Saints, NFL Analysis

Every week we analyze line play in a new Between The Lines feature.

In watching line play around the league, it's obvious that there's more than one way to pressure the quarterback. The Jets and Eagles generate pressure with confusion. Teams don't know if they're sending three or eight and they don't know where they will be coming from. The Vikings send their front four most of the time, but with Jared Allen and Kevin Williams, they don't need to confuse people as much as just beat them off the line. It generally works and drives Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers insane (14 sacks in two games).

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Hines Ward's the NFL's Dirtiest Player?

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-04T13:52:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Steelers, AFC North

It's accurate to say that there aren't a whole lot of players around the league who like Hines Ward. When he's not going over the middle to catch passes, he's always looking to lay a hit on an unsuspecting defender. Heck, the NFL even passed a new rule after Ward broke linebacker Keith Rivers' jaw last year.

So it's no surprise to learn that Ward has been voted as the NFL's dirtiest player in a survey by Sports Illustrated, topping former teammate Joey Porter. With Rodney Harrison now retired, Ward was the obvious choice, which in some way is a badge of honor for the Steelers wideout. After all, how many receivers are tough enough and physical enough to be considered dirty?

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Hines Ward: Ryan Clark Should Sit Out This Week

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-03T08:55:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Steelers, AFC North, NFL Injuries

No one will ever accuse Hines Ward of being soft on the football field.

He's caught passes over the middle with busted ribs; he's been dragged off the field by the training staff only to return and put his body on the line again. He regularly blocks defensive ends that outweigh him by 70 pounds and he's somehow stayed healthy despite being every defensive back's top target. So when Hines Ward says that if he was Ryan Clark, he wouldn't play this weekend, it means something.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Vince Young Takes a Step Forward, but Has a Long Way to Go

JJ Cooper — 2009-11-03T08:48:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Titans, AFC South

Vince Young did everything he needed to do on Sunday to stake a claim to the Titans' starting job for the rest of the season, but did he really do anything to show he should be around in 2010 and beyond?

Young clearly gave the Titans a spark. In the most important stat of all, Young is 1-0 this season as a starter while Kerry Collins is 0-6. The inaccuracy that has plagued Young in the past wasn't visible. Young arguably had two bad passes all game, and only one of those -- a near interception on a deep ball to Justin Gage -- was a true mistake.

But before people start annointing Young as the Titans quarterback of the future again, it's worth noting that Young was 15-of-18 for only 125 yards, and almost all of his passes were of the dump-off variety.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Steelers Fans Need to Be Patient with Ziggy Hood

JJ Cooper — 2009-10-31T22:07:00 00:00

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Steelers, AFC North

When the Steelers lost defensive end Aaron Smith for the season, it wasn't too much of a shock that the Steelers turned to veteran Travis Kirschke instead of first-round pick Ziggy Hood.

But now that Kirschke is also likely to be sidelined for next Sunday's Broncos game, it looks like the Steelers would turn to Nick Eason next week as the starter instead of Hood. Essentially the Steelers are saying that Eason, who battled Sunny Harris for a spot on the roster during training camp, is a better bet as a starter than the Steelers first-round pick this year.

That would normally be a sign that the first-round pick is on the path to being a big-time bust--first-round picks should be contributors, not the No. 5 defensive end on a team that normally carries five defensive ends.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments