I’ve been meaning to get some predictions for this weekend’s football games out there but have been really busy this weekend.
For Green Bay vs. Chicago I’ve been mixed all week. I am having hard time visualizing this game. I think I’m going to pick Green Bay 35, Chicago 24 though I guess I could easily see it the exact opposite.
Now, onto the real game this weekend: When the week started, I was picking the Steelers to crush the Jets. As the week wore on, I began second guessing. I think I am underestimating Rex Ryan as a coach. I think the Steelers are by far a better team than the Jets, but they did get to the AFC championship and I think Ryan is a big part of that. That said, if the Jets win this game, which they could, I think it will be because Ryan outcoached Tomlin. However, I don’t see it happening. But I will adjust my original score of Steelers 27, Jets 10 to my new prediction of Steelers 21, Jets 14.
GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!
-David
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
First Round Picks
I was reading an article today that was talking about how well Steelers Defensive End Ziggy Hood has stepped up this season with Aaron Smith being out most of the season with an injury. That got me to thinking about our number one draft picks for the last few years. Check this list out:
2010: Maurkice Pouncey (C), starter
2009: Ziggy Hood (DE), starter (due to Aaron Smith injury)
2008: Rashard Mendenhall (RB), starter
2007: Lawrence Timmons (ILB), starter
2006: Santonio Holmes (WR), starter for NY Jets
2005: Heath Miller (TE), starter
2004: Ben Roethlisberger (QB), starter
2003: Troy Polamalu (SS), starter
Wow, look at that list. I guess you can argue that Holmes has some character flaws, but you can’t deny he is good.
The Steelers front office is currently 8 for 8 in with their most recent first round picks by my scorecard!
-David
2010: Maurkice Pouncey (C), starter
2009: Ziggy Hood (DE), starter (due to Aaron Smith injury)
2008: Rashard Mendenhall (RB), starter
2007: Lawrence Timmons (ILB), starter
2006: Santonio Holmes (WR), starter for NY Jets
2005: Heath Miller (TE), starter
2004: Ben Roethlisberger (QB), starter
2003: Troy Polamalu (SS), starter
Wow, look at that list. I guess you can argue that Holmes has some character flaws, but you can’t deny he is good.
The Steelers front office is currently 8 for 8 in with their most recent first round picks by my scorecard!
-David
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Coach of the Year
I’m not sure if the Pittsburgh Steelers have an award within their organization for coach of the year, but if they do I think hands down Offensive Line Coach Sean Kugler should win.
No one would ever mistake the Steelers Offensive Line as being the most talented group of football players. To call them (as a group) average would arguably be stretching it. The best guy on the unit, Center Maurkice Pouncey, is a rookie. The next best two guys, Tackles Max Starks and Willie Colon both missed basically the entire season. But that’s what makes what Kugler has accomplished with this unit all the more amazing.
Essentially he’s taken an Offensive Line that is starting its #3 and #4 tackles (Flozell Adams and Jonathan Scott) and while he hasn’t made them studs, he has at least prepared them enough to not be a detriment to the team. The fact that the Steelers have gone 12-4 this season with this rag tag group of guys is a testament to Kugler’s ability as a coach.
To make his challenge even more ridiculous, last afternoon, in the AFC Divisional Championship game against the Ravens, the Steelers lost both Adams (for the rest of the game) and Scott (for about 1 series as far as I can remember (I was quite drunk)). When Adams went down, Kugler plugged in Trai Essex at Right Tackle (NOTE: Or maybe he plugged him in at Right Guard and moved Ramon Foster over?). Then, when Scott went down, I think he put Trai on the Left Tackle and to be honest, I’m not even sure who went over to Right Tackle or Guard. I remember seeing Doug Legursky on the field, I assume to play Right Guard, which leads me to think Ramon Foster slid over to Right Tackle.
So when you step back, we won that game last night with our #5 and #6 Tackles in the game. If I’m not mistaken, at that point, the five guys we had out there were the only 5 Offensive Linemen active and healthy for the Steelers. Granted, Scott came back into the game at some point but the Steelers were still driving the ball with this crew on the field against what some feel is one of the best defenses in the league.
Knowing how important chemistry is for an Offensive Line, the fact that Kugler can have the whole unit ready to the point where we can plug in our #5 and #6 Tackles while shifting the rest of the unit around to compensate and still see success on the offense against a very good defense just shows you how good he is at is job.
The most ironic part of this story is Kugler’s recent history. The Steelers picked him up from the Buffalo Bills at a time when the Bills clearly had the worst Offensive Line in the NFL. At the time I thought, “What the hell are we doing hiring this bum?” But I guess it just goes to yet once again prove my buddy Paul’s theory about the Buffalo Bills: All Buffalo Bills are great players… once they leave the Buffalo Bills! The poor guy is one of only two Bills fans left on the face of the Earth.
Way to go Sean, this next beer is for you!
-David
No one would ever mistake the Steelers Offensive Line as being the most talented group of football players. To call them (as a group) average would arguably be stretching it. The best guy on the unit, Center Maurkice Pouncey, is a rookie. The next best two guys, Tackles Max Starks and Willie Colon both missed basically the entire season. But that’s what makes what Kugler has accomplished with this unit all the more amazing.
Essentially he’s taken an Offensive Line that is starting its #3 and #4 tackles (Flozell Adams and Jonathan Scott) and while he hasn’t made them studs, he has at least prepared them enough to not be a detriment to the team. The fact that the Steelers have gone 12-4 this season with this rag tag group of guys is a testament to Kugler’s ability as a coach.
To make his challenge even more ridiculous, last afternoon, in the AFC Divisional Championship game against the Ravens, the Steelers lost both Adams (for the rest of the game) and Scott (for about 1 series as far as I can remember (I was quite drunk)). When Adams went down, Kugler plugged in Trai Essex at Right Tackle (NOTE: Or maybe he plugged him in at Right Guard and moved Ramon Foster over?). Then, when Scott went down, I think he put Trai on the Left Tackle and to be honest, I’m not even sure who went over to Right Tackle or Guard. I remember seeing Doug Legursky on the field, I assume to play Right Guard, which leads me to think Ramon Foster slid over to Right Tackle.
So when you step back, we won that game last night with our #5 and #6 Tackles in the game. If I’m not mistaken, at that point, the five guys we had out there were the only 5 Offensive Linemen active and healthy for the Steelers. Granted, Scott came back into the game at some point but the Steelers were still driving the ball with this crew on the field against what some feel is one of the best defenses in the league.
Knowing how important chemistry is for an Offensive Line, the fact that Kugler can have the whole unit ready to the point where we can plug in our #5 and #6 Tackles while shifting the rest of the unit around to compensate and still see success on the offense against a very good defense just shows you how good he is at is job.
The most ironic part of this story is Kugler’s recent history. The Steelers picked him up from the Buffalo Bills at a time when the Bills clearly had the worst Offensive Line in the NFL. At the time I thought, “What the hell are we doing hiring this bum?” But I guess it just goes to yet once again prove my buddy Paul’s theory about the Buffalo Bills: All Buffalo Bills are great players… once they leave the Buffalo Bills! The poor guy is one of only two Bills fans left on the face of the Earth.
Way to go Sean, this next beer is for you!
-David
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