Julius
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2004
- Messages
- 701
- Reaction score
- 413
Last weeks loss to Denver left me with a feeling of lost opportunity. At the time I felt that if we had won that game we could have handled the Steelers at home and beat whomever in the superbowl.
However after watching the Steelers the last two weeks I think that beating the Steelers at home would not have been easy for the following reasons.
1. Typically in a Steeler-Patriot game you could count on Bill Cohwer playing into the Pats strength when it came to offensive play calling. Run first straight into the line then repeat again. This was usually ineffective againts our run defense. This year in the playoffs the Steelers have been throwing first down and keeping defenses guessing. This has led to early leads which in turn plays to the Steelers strength which is power running clock control and pressuring a quaterback who is playing catch up. In short the Steelers coaching staff is doing a better job positioning their team to suceed.
2. A healthy and more experienced Big Ben as compared to last year has made a huge difference. Last year he was running on fumes in the playoffs and it showed. Rodney Harrison took advantage of his inexperience last year. This year might have been different without Harrison and with the better playcalling and Ben's veterens status.
3. Emotion is overated but the Steelers are certainly hungry this year and it shows. Last year we had a healthy Cory Dillon lusting after his first championship. Now the Steelers have the whole win one for the bus thing going for them.
In short maybe we would have won but it is by no means a sure thing and for me that lessens the dissapointment of losing to the Broncos. Personally I hope the Steelers crush the Seahawks and players like Bettis,Ward,Faneca,Hampton, and the Steelers fans get their championship. Go AFC
However after watching the Steelers the last two weeks I think that beating the Steelers at home would not have been easy for the following reasons.
1. Typically in a Steeler-Patriot game you could count on Bill Cohwer playing into the Pats strength when it came to offensive play calling. Run first straight into the line then repeat again. This was usually ineffective againts our run defense. This year in the playoffs the Steelers have been throwing first down and keeping defenses guessing. This has led to early leads which in turn plays to the Steelers strength which is power running clock control and pressuring a quaterback who is playing catch up. In short the Steelers coaching staff is doing a better job positioning their team to suceed.
2. A healthy and more experienced Big Ben as compared to last year has made a huge difference. Last year he was running on fumes in the playoffs and it showed. Rodney Harrison took advantage of his inexperience last year. This year might have been different without Harrison and with the better playcalling and Ben's veterens status.
3. Emotion is overated but the Steelers are certainly hungry this year and it shows. Last year we had a healthy Cory Dillon lusting after his first championship. Now the Steelers have the whole win one for the bus thing going for them.
In short maybe we would have won but it is by no means a sure thing and for me that lessens the dissapointment of losing to the Broncos. Personally I hope the Steelers crush the Seahawks and players like Bettis,Ward,Faneca,Hampton, and the Steelers fans get their championship. Go AFC