One Day – Two Seasons End

With all due respect to David Volek and Alfred Pupunu, Sunday January 8th, 2012 may very well go down as one of the worst days in Pittsburgh sports history. In one day, two championship dreams came crashing down.

The painfully obvious, in your face case was the Steelers who lost on a stunning 80 yard touchdown pass in overtime to the woefully mediocre Denver Broncos. The more subtle case was the Pittsburgh Penguins who accumulated two more critical long-term injury losses to their already decimated line-up.

The common denominator in both cases is injuries; to an almost unfathomable degree.

In the case of the Penguins, we are now in season two of the most crushing rash of injuries I’ve ever seen in sports. As I write, the Pens are without the best player in the world, one of the best offensive defensemen in the game, their leading goal scorer, the best third line center in the game and several key depth players. The truly frightening part is that I cannot say definitively whether this is worse than the injuries that cost them Crosby and Malkin last spring.

The Steelers injuries were nearly as significant by the time they reached halftime in Denver. They played without their leading rusher, their all pro center, two starting defensive linemen and their starting free safety. Add to that an obviously hobbled Ben Roethlisberger behind center and Lamar Woodley on defense. The losses on the defensive line were particularly daunting and resulted in little or no pass rush against the living legend that is Tim Tebow.

Truth be told if the Steelers played any other team in football we might be lauding them for a heroic effort, especially in their 4th quarter comeback. Alas, since they played potentially the worst NFL team to ever make the post season (or a close second to Seattle last year) there will be quite a bit of offseason angst in the Burgh.

The Steelers are officially done. There will be no return trip to the Super Bowl; no chance to avenge either Baltimore or Green Bay this post season. We will not see them play a meaningful game again until September and the team will likely look a fair bit different. Several veterans including the venerable Hines Ward are likely to be gone due to age, salary cap or both.

The Penguins maintain some hope but are very much in survival mode. They need to revert to last spring’s agonizing philosophy of grinding out low scoring wins (or pathetic as it is overtime losses) in any way possible. The lone positive consideration on that front is a healthy Geno Malkin (although it’s hard to take health as a given at the New Energy Barn these days). The bad news is the Pens grinders are a step down from last year and the team is missing at least one critical defensive piece in Kris Letang.

Right now it is perfectly reasonable to suggest that the Penguins will be spectators when the NHL playoffs start in April. Their current line-up is simply not good enough to compete with the better teams in the eastern conference. And if today’s injury update is to be believed, there is no real help coming for at least a month, if not longer.

The reversal of fortune for Pittsburgh’s two signature sports teams is absolutely stunning, especially when you consider where we were at this time a year ago.

The Steelers had just wrapped up another 12 win season with division title and first round bye. They were on their way to a third Super Bowl in six years and were absolutely capable of winning. The Penguins were coming off a 12 game win streak, a record setting performance by Sidney Crosby, and an awe inspiring 8-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Our only hockey concern, and it was minor, was a “mild concussion” Crosby suffered that was expected to keep him out a week or two.

By the end of the day February 5th the Steelers had handed Green Bay the Super Bowl and the Pens were a rudderless ship without their two signature superstars. And it’s been all downhill since.

I make no bones that Pittsburgh sports fans have been spoiled rotten, at least if you ignore the abomination that plays all summer at PNC Park. Since 2004 the Steelers have arguably been the best team in football. Similar arguments could be made for the Penguins since about 2007. Both teams have delivered championships in stirring fashion.

We’ve benefitted from great organizations, superstar players, and an abundance of leadership and heart. The Penguins and Steelers earned their success and made their own breaks. But let’s be honest, there is always an element of luck when you win a championship. Whether it’s a missed field goal by normally reliable kicker or a lucky ping pong ball in a draft lottery, the black and gold in both sports have definitely gotten a break or two.

And right now I cannot help but wonder if that luck is finally changing. How can I not when Penguins and Steelers are being dragged off their respective playing fields in record numbers?

In the case of the Steelers it is at least somewhat explainable.

The quarterback acts weekly as a human target. I have unwavering respect for Ben’s ability and his toughness but it seems only a matter of time before he breaks down from the pounding he takes. The fact is the Steelers’ championship window lasts only as long as Big Ben’s prime and his prime gets shortened every time he gets creamed.

The defense is clearly showing its age. I give these guys immense credit for being warriors and true professionals. I’ve been bemoaning their aging for three years and they’ve done a phenomenal job of holding off father time. Alas it was bound to catch up to them eventually. It was hard not to notice both the inability to create turnovers this year and the increasing number of injuries to key defensive players; culminating with Hampton and Keisel suffering non-contact injuries today.

Losing today, in combination with significant oncoming salary cap issues may finally force changes on the defensive side of the ball. That may even include Dick Lebeau’s retirement. Of course cutting ties with the older guys is the easy part. Finding adequate replacements for players of this caliber is a whole different story.

On the Penguins’ side the injury bug is simply dumbfounding. There is no logical or reasonable explanation for it. And the ramifications are impossible to overlook.

The Sidney Crosby situation is untenable and cannot continue in perpetuity. The team cannot continue to operate having no idea when or if its best player will return; especially at $8.7 Million per year (and soon to increase). The Pens showed remarkable character and resiliency without Sid and Geno last year but I really believe the uncertainty of Crosby’s situation is starting to drag them down. The players just seemed to lose their edge when Sid bowed out for a second time. And Ray Shero has no cap room or free cash flow to address the resulting deficiencies.

I stated this over the summer and I know its absolute blasphemy but the Penguins need to determine whether Sidney Crosby can continue to be part of their future. The idea of trading Crosby may seem inconceivable on every level; but that ideal is based on Sid the healthy superstar. We are getting a free preview right now of how bad it could get if Sid struggles with concussion issues the remainder of his career.

That’s what is so disturbing about this. A year ago the Penguins’ future was as sure a bet as anything in professional sports. Now it is a perfectly logical consideration that the greatest player of this generation may be on the Eric Lindros road to career annihilation. The Pens have built every aspect of their organization around the idea of having a perfect one-two combination of superstars for the next decade. Right now that once certain ideal is very much in doubt.

I did not expect the Steelers’ season would end in Denver but I did not dismiss the possibility. There has been since opening day a troubling uncertainty around this club, even after a 12 win season. I freely admit I had doubts they were truly championship caliber.

Still, I figured even in the worst case scenario I could at least transfer my hopes to the Penguins. Now I’m not even sure of that. The calendar says January but it’s quite possible their season also ended today.

Steelers’ Offense Sticks it to New England, Just as Planned

There truly are not many feelings in sports better than sticking it to the New England Patriots.

There is a smug arrogance about that Pats that defies description.  It permeats virtually every player and coach in the organization.  The trail of arrogance and ego starts with their condescending, know it all head coach and filters down through their condescending pretty boy quarterback. I respect Bill Belichick’s success as a coach. I respect Tom Brady’s brilliance on the field. And I truly cannot stand either one of them.

They don’t inspire quite the visceral hatred of say the Baltimore Ravens, but they’re definitely a close second.

Even as I know that next week’s game with Baltimore is the most important of the season, I’m downright giddy about yesterday’s result. They don’t hand out the Lombardi trophy in late October mind you but understand this; there are moments in sports truly worth savoring that do not involving winning a championship.

Yes it’s childish, yes it’s petty, yes it’s vindictive. So be it. Watching Brady and Belicheat slump off the field in defeat is worth a little premature celebration. Especially knowing how this victory was accomplished.

For the first time in a decade, the Steelers clearly and unequivocally out schemed, out coached, and out played the Patriots with Brady behind center.

The Steelers’ performance was eerily reminiscent of their playoff victory in Indianapolis in January 2006. That was the last time the Black and Gold went so out of character in a victory. It was also the last time they so thoroughly out played and out coached an elite opponent.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are built first and foremost with defense. They hire defensive minded head coaches and focus the greater percentage of their cap space and draft choices on the defensive side of the ball. The defense dictates games and the offense plays an important but often complimentary role. That’s Pittsburgh Steeler football and it has been for four decades.

Well, four decades with a few notable exceptions, such as yesterday.

Yesterday the Pittsburgh Steelers changed their identity, by necessity. It was the offense that dictated and controlled the game. Not only that, they did it almost entirely by throwing the football. The Steelers controlled the entire game with a high percentage passing attack that ground up yards and clock with equal proficiency.

In so doing, they exposed the obvious weakness of the New England defense, its inability to stop the pass. And they took out New England’s greatest strength, Brady’s pinpoint passing. I don’t care how good a QB Giselle’s husband may be, he can’t win football games standing on the sideline.

This is my 32nd year of watching Pittsburgh Steeler football and I cannot ever remember a game plan like this for a full game. Even that famous game in Indy where the Steelers went airborne for 30 minutes and then settled back in to running in the second half. More than that, the Steeler defense that day dictated the game to Peyton Manning. Yesterday’s defensive performance was solid, but very much complimentary.

To be clear, I’m not dismissing the defense in any way. This was bar none the best game plan Dick Lebeau has ever engineered against Brady. The Steelers got in the face of his wide receivers and did not allow Mr. Bundchen the easy completions of prior years. That’s a tribute to Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and a secondary that is considerably improved in 2011.

It’s also a credit to the substantially improved defensive line play, a wake up from Lamar Woodley, and a much needed shuffling out of aging players in the last four weeks.

On merit alone, the Steelers finally stopped Brady; finally stopped him from exploiting the obvious mismatch he presents to the typical Lebeau scheme. In so doing they validated a group that has been shockingly steady this season while rarely imposing its will on opponents.

At the same time, I cannot fathom this much success if Brady had the ball for 30 minutes instead of 20, especially given Woodley’s 4th quarter injury. We saw this on New England’s last touchdown drive where Brady went right back to slicing the Steeler D. Ask yourself this question. If Brady gets the ball back with two minutes left and at least one time out, are you confident in a Steeler win?

Simply put, the most effective scheme the Steelers used to stop Brady was to keep him on the sidelines gnashing his teeth. There is nothing wrong with that. As noted above, its brilliant total football strategy and solid execution, lead part and parcel by Ben Roethlisberger.

I continue to fight the dreaded and ignorant “game manager” characterization of Big Ben. I’ve come to resent even more those who say, “It’s not pretty but he finds a way to win.” Both labels unfairly demean the accomplishments of one of the truly great and truly under-appreciated quarterbacks of this generation.

On Sunday, Ben was brilliant and effective, and everything else his critics claim he cannot be. Excepting one truly awful interception, he played a tremendous football game. The Steelers ran a New England offensive game plan against New England. It worked because Big Ben out played Brady and made it work. Somehow I don’t see this game plan with Neil O’Donnell, Kordell Stewart or Phillip Rivers behind center.

He did not do it alone of course. He was helped by and offensive line that has improved ten-fold in the last four games. It’s amazing what a difference Max Starks has made since his return. He was helped by a young core of receivers that has matured brilliantly before our eyes. And let’s not forget Heath Miller whose great start today was reminiscent of that playoff game in Indy. Miller’s best effort of the year, hands down.

At the same time, kudos to Mike Tomlin for clearly out coaching Belicheat. Credit to the far too often maligned Bruce Arians for putting in place a great game plan. It’s not easy for a leopard to change its spots but the Steelers did it with shocking ease on Sunday.

Sadly we get less than a week to savor this victory. As great as this game was, Sunday night’s battle with the Ravens is the game of the season, a true must win. As is so often the case, this game will dictate the Steelers ultimate post season path. A victory makes home field advantage and a first round bye a realistic course. A loss almost certainly requires the arduous wild card route in January.

It seems almost unfair for the Steelers to run this schedule gauntlet; to face their two most hated rivals in back to back games. Not to mention the surprisingly improved Bungles before the bye.

Such is life. If there is one team in sports that can overcome this it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers. The standard is the standard as coach Tomlin says, regardless of the opponent(s). Beyond that, the Steelers should be pretty frosted about their horrific performance on opening day against Baltimore. Avenging that embarrassment should bring added levels of motivation, focus, and determination to a team that does not lack these traits to begin with.

For now, let’s savor a tremendous victory; one that showcased the talent, heart, and brilliance of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Let’s enjoy truly sticking it to Brady and Belicheat for once. The Ravens can wait…at least a few days.

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO !!!

Coaches Coach, Players Play, Fans Complain

Sometimes I wonder who has the tougher job, Barack Obama or Bruce Arians. Yes Obama has to deal with the daily challenges of being leader of the free world. Is that any harder than dealing with the angry Steeler Nation that blames Arians for every play that does not result in a Steeler touchdown?

Okay, that might be a bit over the top but I think the point has been made. I have to go all the way to the White House to find a high ranking executive getting more criticism than Arians. Thankfully there are no midterm elections for NFL assistant coaches.

As I often do, let me clarify a few points here before I go any further.

First, this blog is not and will not be Arians’ personal advocate. My position on him remains that he is neither the best nor the worst offensive coordinator in the NFL. I would not put him in the top ten or the bottom ten. He’s somewhere in that middle 22 of guys that were good enough to earn these rare positions but are effectively interchangeable.

Second, I’m not suggesting Arians is alone in this plight. Quite the contrary. I’m not sure there is a worse job in sports than being an offensive coordinator in the NFL. That includes being a head coach in the NFL (a subject for another blog), although just barely. Take a read through blogs in Chicago, Green Bay, Miami, and Dallas if you don’t believe me. Their OC’s take the same beat down. The only difference of course is that the Steelers tend to win more than those teams.

There are three reasons that plays fail in the NFL; the offense does not execute, the defense flat out stops it, or it was a bad call. I will not attempt to assign arbitrary percentages to this but I’m guessing choice number three is the least frequent reason; and the number one choice of most fans. It’s just so easy to look at any play that fails and say a different call would have worked better.

Keep this in mind. If it were so easy to move the ball in the NFL, they would not give you three plays to go just ten yards. It’s the NFL, not the Arena league.

Here is a question that Bob Smizik often poses in his blog. Why is it that when Dick Lebeau’s Steeler defense smoothers an offense, fans call it great defense, but whenever the Steeler offense scores less than 24 points its because Arians is an idiot?

I don’t agree with every call Arians’ makes. In fact, I disagree with a lot of them. That being said, I try to look at it logically. First, I don’t think I would agree with every call that any offensive coordinator would make. And second, much as I would like to believe otherwise, I doubt I would do any better.

Keep in mind that the Steelers biggest problem offensively is not Arians, it’s a mediocre offensive line. That’s been the problem for the last three years. Football games are won in the trenches and the Steelers are just not good enough in that area. The problem is that it’s hard for fans to see that. Anyone can tell that Arizona’s offense went in the tank after Kurt Warner started his dancing career. Offensive line play is far more subtle, and just as critical.

But I digress.

The age old question in football is what is more important, play calling or execution. Both are important. That being said if you accept the notion that the Steelers’ play calling is at least competent by NFL standards, and I believe it is, then you have to take a look at the players on the field. That’s ultimately what determines the success or failure of an offense no matter how much the arm chair QB nation thinks otherwise.

Let’s take a look at Sunday night’s loss to New Orleans. The Steelers lost and scored less than 24 points so Arian’s is being annihilated by a large contingent of the fan base. Here’s my take on the situation.

1) Failure to score on first and down from the 1 yard line

This is abysmal. The idea that an NFL team can not move the football ½ yard in three plays is unacceptable. In case you have not noticed, this has been going on for three years. I remain amazed that the Steelers won the Super Bowl a few years back in spite of being completely inept in short yardage offense. Say goodbye to four points right there.

This problem is directly attributable to the offensive line. Keep in mind that five plus running backs have struggled in short yardage behind this line. Last year Arians tried to compensate by throwing more in these situations. He got blasted for it by fans, media, and Art Rooney Jr. This year they’ve gone back to trying to run. And again he’s being blasted.

I personally would like to see the Steelers consider a play action pass or QB sneak on at least one play. That being said, there is no guarantee those plays would have succeeded. What is guaranteed is that whatever way the Steelers offense failed in that situation, Arians would get most of the blame. Keep in mind that the Saints also failed in goal line and they did pass on several plays.

2) Jeff Reed Misses a FG

In other news, Tuesday was a bad day for democrats, Jordan Staal is having a rough year and Cookie Monster likes..oh you get it.

Look, I don’t expect Reed to make every kick and 51 yards is a long attempt. In a vacuum, I could handle one miss. The problem is that Reed has been missing from all over the place this year. And this was in a dome.

Mike Tomlin has been criticized a lot this year for trying long kicks with Reed right before half time. The argument is that if (or when) he misses those kicks it puts the defense in a bad position. That’s a loser’s lament. Reed is supposed to be one of the best kickers in football. Not withstanding his warped perspective on his measly $2 Million contract, Reed is paid to make those kicks. It’s not Tomlin’s fault he continues to fail. My guess is that Tomlin is at the end of his rope with Reed which means he may very well start bailing on him beyond 45 yards.

3) Emmanuel Sanders Converts to Defensive Back

I realize the Steelers defensive backs have been shaky the last two years. Maybe Sanders figures he has a better shot to play there than at WR. I’m not sure William Gay has made a defensive play all year as good as the one Sanders made on Heinz Ward on 4th and 4.

Tomlin is taking a lot of abuse for going for it in that situation. Not from me. It’s good aggressive coaching. It’s a coach who believes in his defense and his quarterback and is taking a calculated risk. If you want a coach who never takes chances or always goes by the book, I assure you Dave Wannstedt will be available in a few years.

Is Tomlin at fault for the decision? Is Arians at fault for the call? Or is Sanders at fault for stepping in front of a well thrown ball that Ward probably would have taken for a touchdown? I say the latter and there goes another 3 to 7 points.

4) Heath Miller fumbles

I’m not bagging on Miller who is one of the Steelers most reliable players. That being said, ball security is paramount when you are driving late in the game. I said the same thing about Ben’s fumble in Miami, you just can’t let that happen there. I’m guessing Heath agrees with me since he James Harrisoned himself in the cranium after the play. Notwithstanding all my Reed criticism above, that’s at least 3 and maybe 7 points lost, at a very key time in the game.

If the Steelers execute those four situations above, they likely pick up somewhere between 13 and 21 points...and win the game. All of those plays were there to be made, as were many others the offense failed to execute.

I’m not blindly absolving the Arians and the coaches; they play their part in any loss. Successful teams win because of a combination of three factors; 1) The organization brings in the right personnel 2) The coaches put players in a position to succeed and 3) The players execute properly. Bad teams usually lose for the same three reasons. And while I admit that any one phase if bad enough can destroy the other two, I just don’t see it on a team that’s gone 39 and 20 and won a Super Bowl with this coaching staff.

If you really hate Arian’s, ask yourself who would be better. Bear fans hailed Mike Martz as a genius when he arrived. Instead his offense has proved a poor fit for a team with a bad offensive line and a head case QB. No matter how much Steeler fans don’t want to believe it, Arians’ offense works to the talent of the players we have. Alan Faneca is gone and Jerome Bettis retired.

To repeat, I neither love nor hate Arians. In the long run, I don’t care if he stays or goes. All I know is this, I would not want to be his replacement.