alittlejazzbird
09-25-2007, 01:04 PM
Time to Acknowledge That Steelers Are Back
By Tony Moss, NFL Editor
Run the football. Play great defense. Win.
Three tenets that have long been synonymous with the Pittsburgh Steelers, or more accurately, the Pittsburgh Steelers when the Pittsburgh Steelers have been good.
And this year's edition of the black and gold, which moved to 3-0 with a 37-16 cold-****ing of the previously unbeaten San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, are clearly very good.
So good that they've now humbled the first three opponents of the Mike Tomlin era by a composite score of 97-26, which no matter the collection of foes, you don't do in today's NFL without being strong to your core.
A run game? For all the talk of Ben Roethlisberger and his renaissance, it is the ground attack that has carried Pittsburgh offensively. The Steelers are No. 1 in the league in rushing offense (198.3 yards per game) as Week 3 begins, and are almost 25 yards per game better than any other NFL team in that category.
A defense? The Steelers have surrendered just 26 points through three games, nine games better than anyone else in the NFL, including those media-lauded New England Patriots.
The critics will argue, and rightfully so, that the Steelers' toughest tests are ahead. A Dec. 9 matchup in New England looms on the horizon, as do two games each with the last two champions of the AFC North, the Ravens and Bengals.
But let's get real about this. No one is questioning the staying power of the Patriots, but at this stage, Baltimore and Cincinnati are not in Pittsburgh's class and are unlikely to get there any time soon.
The Ravens (2-1) have already suffered several key injuries, and are simultaneously aging quickly and getting younger at key positions at the wrong time. Baltimore has struggled to win home games against the deficient Jets and Cardinals over the past two weeks, and turned the ball over six times in an opening-night loss to Cincinnati. Something's missing.
The Bengals (1-2), meanwhile, look like a disaster. The defense is atrocious, the offense has a terrific quarterback and some receivers but lacks the firepower to go on a serious run.
Which leaves us with Pittsburgh, which has showed precious few flaws in September and looks very scary, very real, after one uncharacteristic weak season. Tomlin is obviously trying to ensure that this team doesn't look too far ahead, but excitement is building around one of the league's great franchises.
"We talk a lot about how it's not the destination, it's the journey," said Tomlin after the win over San Francisco. "We have to appreciate the now and be who we are...This team is doing a nice job of living in the present. When you do that, you prepare, you have good men, you're capable of doing what they did today. If we continue to do that we'll continue to grow, because we are in the process of growing."
Yes, growing. Into a real contender.
THE WILL TO RUN
Of the six running backs named to the Pro Bowl this past February, you will find exactly one - Willie Parker - achieving anything close to his heroic pace of last season.
Parker's AFC cohorts, LaDainian Tomlinson (57 carries, 130 yards) and Larry Johnson (50 carries, 140 yards), have struggled mightily for disappointing teams. On the NFC side of the aisle, Frank Gore (52 carries, 175 yards) is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry after going for 5.4 a tote in 2006, Steven Jackson (69 carries, 233 yards) has frustrated fantasy managers everywhere by not scoring a touchdown through three games for winless St. Louis, and Tiki Barber is retired.
That leaves Parker, who leads the NFL with 368 yards, has six 100-yard games in his last seven appearances dating back to last season, and is averaging an impressive five yards per rush all while remaining somewhat anonymous in NFL circles.
If he keeps up his current pace, the North Carolina product won't blend into the woodwork for long. Parker is on target for 1,963 yards, which would shatter the team record of 1,690, set by Barry Foster in 1992.
THE LAST TIME...
It has been widely reported that the Steelers are 3-0 for the first time since 1992, when then-first-year head coach Bill Cowher led Pittsburgh to an 11-5 finish and a spot in the playoffs. But you have to go back much further to find the 4-0 start that Tomlin and company will be trying to match on Sunday in Arizona.
It was 1979 when the Steelers last led with four victories, and it is a testament to how long ago 1979 was that three of those four teams no longer reside in the same city. Pittsburgh opened with a 16-13 win in New England before taking down the Houston Oilers (38-7), St. Louis Cardinals (24-21), and Baltimore Colts (17-13), eventually finishing 12-4 and beating the Rams for the last of their four Super Bowl crowns in the 70's.
Looking ahead a bit, the Steelers' last 5-0 start came in 1978, when they opened with seven straight wins en route to a 14-2 finish and Super Bowl win over the Cowboys.
NEXT UP: FAMILIAR FACES
It shouldn't be difficult to stoke passions on either sideline this Sunday, as the Steelers face former assistants Ken Whisenhunt, Russ Grimm, and the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Whisenhunt and Grimm were both passed over for the head coaching position when it went to Tomlin in the offseason, and the duo would become Arizona's new head coach and assistant head coach/offensive line, respectively. Two more Cardinal aides, special teams coach Kevin Spencer and defensive assistant Matt Raich, were employed by Pittsburgh last season.
The Cardinals, who are 1-2 following losses to the 49ers and Ravens and a win over the Seahawks, also have five active players who could recently call themselves Steelers. Defensive end Rodney Bailey, tight end Tim Euhus, punter Mike Barr, wideout/special teams ace Sean Morey, and center Chukky Okobi all wore a Pittsburgh uniform at some point during the 2006 season, and all but Barr were on the active roster for at least a period of last year.
The Steelers lead the all-time series with the Cardinals, which dates back to the 1933 season, by a 31-22-3 count. Pittsburgh has won the last two meetings, defeating Arizona by a 28-15 count at Heinz Field in 2003 and taking a 26-20 overtime decision at Sun Devil Stadium in 1997. The Cardinals' last win over the Steelers came in 1994, a 20-17 overtime triumph at home.
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=/nfl/news/ABN4104338.htm
By Tony Moss, NFL Editor
Run the football. Play great defense. Win.
Three tenets that have long been synonymous with the Pittsburgh Steelers, or more accurately, the Pittsburgh Steelers when the Pittsburgh Steelers have been good.
And this year's edition of the black and gold, which moved to 3-0 with a 37-16 cold-****ing of the previously unbeaten San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, are clearly very good.
So good that they've now humbled the first three opponents of the Mike Tomlin era by a composite score of 97-26, which no matter the collection of foes, you don't do in today's NFL without being strong to your core.
A run game? For all the talk of Ben Roethlisberger and his renaissance, it is the ground attack that has carried Pittsburgh offensively. The Steelers are No. 1 in the league in rushing offense (198.3 yards per game) as Week 3 begins, and are almost 25 yards per game better than any other NFL team in that category.
A defense? The Steelers have surrendered just 26 points through three games, nine games better than anyone else in the NFL, including those media-lauded New England Patriots.
The critics will argue, and rightfully so, that the Steelers' toughest tests are ahead. A Dec. 9 matchup in New England looms on the horizon, as do two games each with the last two champions of the AFC North, the Ravens and Bengals.
But let's get real about this. No one is questioning the staying power of the Patriots, but at this stage, Baltimore and Cincinnati are not in Pittsburgh's class and are unlikely to get there any time soon.
The Ravens (2-1) have already suffered several key injuries, and are simultaneously aging quickly and getting younger at key positions at the wrong time. Baltimore has struggled to win home games against the deficient Jets and Cardinals over the past two weeks, and turned the ball over six times in an opening-night loss to Cincinnati. Something's missing.
The Bengals (1-2), meanwhile, look like a disaster. The defense is atrocious, the offense has a terrific quarterback and some receivers but lacks the firepower to go on a serious run.
Which leaves us with Pittsburgh, which has showed precious few flaws in September and looks very scary, very real, after one uncharacteristic weak season. Tomlin is obviously trying to ensure that this team doesn't look too far ahead, but excitement is building around one of the league's great franchises.
"We talk a lot about how it's not the destination, it's the journey," said Tomlin after the win over San Francisco. "We have to appreciate the now and be who we are...This team is doing a nice job of living in the present. When you do that, you prepare, you have good men, you're capable of doing what they did today. If we continue to do that we'll continue to grow, because we are in the process of growing."
Yes, growing. Into a real contender.
THE WILL TO RUN
Of the six running backs named to the Pro Bowl this past February, you will find exactly one - Willie Parker - achieving anything close to his heroic pace of last season.
Parker's AFC cohorts, LaDainian Tomlinson (57 carries, 130 yards) and Larry Johnson (50 carries, 140 yards), have struggled mightily for disappointing teams. On the NFC side of the aisle, Frank Gore (52 carries, 175 yards) is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry after going for 5.4 a tote in 2006, Steven Jackson (69 carries, 233 yards) has frustrated fantasy managers everywhere by not scoring a touchdown through three games for winless St. Louis, and Tiki Barber is retired.
That leaves Parker, who leads the NFL with 368 yards, has six 100-yard games in his last seven appearances dating back to last season, and is averaging an impressive five yards per rush all while remaining somewhat anonymous in NFL circles.
If he keeps up his current pace, the North Carolina product won't blend into the woodwork for long. Parker is on target for 1,963 yards, which would shatter the team record of 1,690, set by Barry Foster in 1992.
THE LAST TIME...
It has been widely reported that the Steelers are 3-0 for the first time since 1992, when then-first-year head coach Bill Cowher led Pittsburgh to an 11-5 finish and a spot in the playoffs. But you have to go back much further to find the 4-0 start that Tomlin and company will be trying to match on Sunday in Arizona.
It was 1979 when the Steelers last led with four victories, and it is a testament to how long ago 1979 was that three of those four teams no longer reside in the same city. Pittsburgh opened with a 16-13 win in New England before taking down the Houston Oilers (38-7), St. Louis Cardinals (24-21), and Baltimore Colts (17-13), eventually finishing 12-4 and beating the Rams for the last of their four Super Bowl crowns in the 70's.
Looking ahead a bit, the Steelers' last 5-0 start came in 1978, when they opened with seven straight wins en route to a 14-2 finish and Super Bowl win over the Cowboys.
NEXT UP: FAMILIAR FACES
It shouldn't be difficult to stoke passions on either sideline this Sunday, as the Steelers face former assistants Ken Whisenhunt, Russ Grimm, and the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Whisenhunt and Grimm were both passed over for the head coaching position when it went to Tomlin in the offseason, and the duo would become Arizona's new head coach and assistant head coach/offensive line, respectively. Two more Cardinal aides, special teams coach Kevin Spencer and defensive assistant Matt Raich, were employed by Pittsburgh last season.
The Cardinals, who are 1-2 following losses to the 49ers and Ravens and a win over the Seahawks, also have five active players who could recently call themselves Steelers. Defensive end Rodney Bailey, tight end Tim Euhus, punter Mike Barr, wideout/special teams ace Sean Morey, and center Chukky Okobi all wore a Pittsburgh uniform at some point during the 2006 season, and all but Barr were on the active roster for at least a period of last year.
The Steelers lead the all-time series with the Cardinals, which dates back to the 1933 season, by a 31-22-3 count. Pittsburgh has won the last two meetings, defeating Arizona by a 28-15 count at Heinz Field in 2003 and taking a 26-20 overtime decision at Sun Devil Stadium in 1997. The Cardinals' last win over the Steelers came in 1994, a 20-17 overtime triumph at home.
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=/nfl/news/ABN4104338.htm