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Tebow Throws for 300

Tim Tebow let it rip against Pittsburgh and won a game that many figured he could not. Going into the game, it was certain Tebow would have to pass effectively to win. Although the Broncos have one of the best run teams in the league, Pittsburgh does not give up enough running the ball for teams to win and have not in quite sometime. Tebow had to throw and he did better then he ever has while showing that he could pull the trigger. More importantly, he should have learned that good things can happen when he throws the ball. The throws were anything but pretty, but overall effective. Most were ducks wobbling all the way to the receivers appearing to be tipped at the line. They were accurate, however, and put right where they needed to be leading to huge plays at critical times. The steelers defensive backs were out of position all night up until the game winning 80-yard pass on the first play of overtime to get Denver the win.

All game Pittsburgh figured they would crowd the box and force Tebow to throw for a win. This was a great idea and would have worked just fine if there was any type of safety help or effective coverage. With safety Ryan Clark out of the game due to issues that would arise from a complicated sickle cell disorder he has, it forced Troy Polamalu to be needed for more coverage. This is something that has always cost the Steelers from time to time as Polamalu naturally guesses a lot and will take chances. This was made worse by corners who were getting beat all night by receivers that are anything but all-pros. In the end, Pittsburgh was just out coached and outplayed. Denver knew what the defense was trying and mixed things up at perfect times to strike.

Pittsburgh will now look to next season and try and figure out what will need to take place to continue to make the playoffs and compete. In the game several key Steelers were out and the team is aging. Many huge pieces still exist and the passing game looks to be morphing into the team's new frontier. This is a bit concerning due to the history of the team and their ground and pound style. Perhaps when the rest of the NFL made the switch to a pass happy league and they were beat by the Packers high powered offense in last years Super Bowl, they decided they needed to do the same. This may be the first team to show how you do not always have to change especially when what you have works. No one likes a copycat, but it is a copycat league. Maybe next year they will have to try and copy Tebow and the Broncos.

Steelers Want to Show Strength

Heinz Field will welcome the St Louis Rams to Pittsburgh Saturday at 1 pm as The Rams come to town to face the Steelers. After a tough loss in San Francisco on Monday, the Steelers will look to make a statement against the Rams who will limp into the game at 2-12. Speaking of limping... Ben Roethlisburger will sit out Saturday to heal an injured ankle that was twisted 2 games ago against the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers may take the opportunity to heal some other key players as well. Although they hope to still try and somehow get home field advantage, the Rams should be an easy victory even with Backups. In Ben's place will be Charlie Batch, a longtime veteran who has plenty of experience at the position.

The Steelers are tied with the Baltimore Ravens for the division lead with a 10-4 record, but Baltimore holds the tiebreaker against the Steelers since they won both games against them this season. Both teams are chasing the Patriots who are 11-3 and currently hold the best record in the AFC. Pittsburgh has won mainly with a pass game this season, which is very different for a team everyone is used to power football. They seem to be adapting to the times and throw around 60 percent of the time. This wee, however, you can bet that Pittsburgh will run much more since Ben is out. Look for Rashad Mendenhall to have a big game.

The Rams are just looking to play respectable football and be competitive. They have not had the success of recent years with Steven Jackson who has battled injuries. At QB, Sam Bradford has also not looked as good as last season and has been banged up also. The Defense has few bright spots and certainly St. Louis is in a period of more transition. The only thing that will keep this game somewhat interesting is the fact that the Steelers will look to stay healthy and rest some starters giving the Rams a better chance.

Prediction: Steelers 30 Rams 10

Steelers Fighting for Home Field Advantage

The Steelers will travel to West Coast to face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football. The game will feature two power house defenses who give up little yardage especially on the ground running. Pittsburgh will come into the game well rested after a ten-day layoff from their last game December 8^th. That Thursday game against the Cleveland Browns possibly left the Steelers without two key players who could be the difference in the game on Sunday.

Pittsburgh and San Fran both come into the game with 10-3 records, but for Pittsburgh the game is more important as they are fighting for home field advantage throughout the playoffs (The 49ers will not be able to get home field as Green bay has already wrapped that up). To do so will be a task as they have not played for awhile and are facing a tough team far away from home. To make matters worse, they may be without Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison.

Ben was injured in the December 8^th matchup after a hit by the Browns defense that caused a high ankle sprain on the quarterback. He is yet to practice but, knowing what we know about Ben, you can assume he will be playing on Monday. James Harrison, on the other hand, is less likely to start as he has been suspended by the league after a helmet to helmet kit on Cleveland Browns Quarterback Colt McCoy last Thursday. Harrison has appealed the suspension handed down by the NFL from his nemesis Roger Goodell, but it is unlikely to be overruled given his history. In the end, if Ben plays, the game should come down to the passing game and the advantage will go to Pittsburgh.

Prediction: Pittsburgh 17 San Francisco 9

Steelers face the Pats in AFC Showdown

The game will take place at 4:15 p.m. EDT on Sunday afternoon (October 30th) at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to have a touch day Sunday as they face the New England Patriots. This should be a terrific matchup as the Steelers are 5-2 and the Patriots are 5-1. The Ravens and Bengals are right behind the Steelers as they are both 4-2. This game features two top tier quarterbacks along with their 2 main go to receivers in Wes Welker and Mike Wallace.

Wes Welker is having an amazing season thus far with already 785 receiving yards along with 6 TDs. Mike Wallace is right on Welker’s heels though with 730 yards receiving and 5 TDs. These two receivers are two of the best in the game this 2011 season so far. There is no reason these two guys should not continue their productive seasons in this upcoming game Sunday.

The Patriots beat the Steelers last year 39-26, and Tom Brady is 4-1 against the Steelers in the regular season in his career. That trend may continue this week or the Steelers might find a way to outlast the Patriots at Heinz Field. These two teams have had poor rushing games this season, and neither has an all-star running back. BenJarvis Green-Ellis and Rashard Mendenhall haven’t been all that this season, so many wonder if these two teams will crack in the playoffs without a tough running game. These two teams are basically one dimensional but will that hurt them later on in the season?

This game does not look like it will be a disappointing game Sunday. This will be the best game to watch this week so be ready to be on your toes the whole game.

Steelers look to increase win streak to 2 games against Jaguars

The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping to win this Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars and make it 2 wins in a row. The Steelers are coming off of a 38-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans this past week, and a win over the Jags would not be too big of a stretch. Ben Roethlisberger is coming off of a 5 TD game and is looking for that to jumpstart him for the game this upcoming week. The Jaguars beat the Titans opening week, and that is their only win all season.

The Steelers are (3-2) and the Jaguars are (1-4), and the Jaguars are also on a 4 game losing streak. This game is not expected to be a pleasant won, especially since it is being played in “Terrible Towel” city. The Steelers are looking to absolutely demolish the Jaguars, and what will stop them from doing just that? The Jaguars are a struggling team, and their only win on the season was only a 2 point victory in a low scoring game.

If Maurice Jones-Drew can get going, then there might be a glimpse of hope for a win. Blain Gabbert has been struggling miserably this season with less than a 50% completion rate. The Jaguars do not have many big player names on the team besides MJD and Paul Posluszny.

The Pittsburgh Steelers look like they will have plenty in the tank to be able to pull off this win. It may not be that exciting of a game to watch, but hey it’s football in October, that is what fall is for.

"Terrible Towels" need to come to life Sunday against Titans...

The Pittsburgh Steelers look to face off against the Tennessee Titans at home this Sunday, in a game that should be nothing less than thrilling! The Steelers are not off to the best start of the season with a record of (2-2) but look to change that this coming Sunday. The Titans (3-1) are looking to revenge a loss to the Steelers last season at home, and it may help that Ben Roethlisberger is not 100% healthy. This game is not expected to disappoint football fans across the nation.

The Steelers are having trouble getting their game going early this season. Many people are surprised to see them tied for last in their division, even though it is still early in the season. Pittsburgh is 27^th in the NFL in points scored, and this week does not look to help that statistic get any better, as the Titans have allowed the fewest points in the whole league. If the Steelers want to make it to the playoffs, they need a win this Sunday to get their momentum back. The Steelers need to help Ben with the running game, and Issac Redman might get his chance to prove himself at running back even more than his 4.9 yards a carry already shows.

The Titans on the other hand have surprised many experts with a 3-1 start and most shocking is that Chris Johnson has not been a big part of that record. Matt Hasselback has carried most of the workload for the Titans, posting multiple 300 plus yard passing games. Chris Johnson finally had his first 100 yard game of the season last week against the Browns, and he will be looking to continue with that momentum for this upcoming game. Even without star receiver, Kenny Britt, the Titans still managed to pass for over 300 yards and come out with a big victory in Cleveland on Sunday.

This matchup looks like an interesting contest. These two teams have had history in the past, and does not look like this week will be an exception. This does not look like a promising week for the Steelers to rebound their season against a stout Tennessee squad, on both sides of the ball. The Steelers fans "Terrible Towels" need to show up big for the home team this week, in order to have a chance. Every football fan across the nation should make this game a priority of theirs to make sure not to miss this game, because it will be sure not to disappoint.

Pirates Play Two in the Burgh Against Streaking Brewers

The Pirates began a double-header at home tonight against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC park. Coming into the games, the pirates were 59-66 with just 29 of those victories coming at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Pirates’ ship has sunk since being in contention the first half of the year. They have fallen off mightily and are in a serious funk that all Buccos’ fans hoped thought they were going to avoid this season. What happened in game one showcased the Pirates woes on both sides of the ball. In game two, however, they showed what kind of baseball they are capable of playing.

Game one of the doubleheader was won 8-1 by the visiting Brewers who were impressive at the plate especially in the late innings against Pirate relievers. The Brewers came into the game with a 77-52 record and have been on a huge winning streak. Away from Milwaukee this season, however, they were just 30-36 at the start of game one. Milwaukee’s bats hit well in this away match-up as Ryan Braun belted his 25^th homerun of the season for the Brew Crew who had 11 total hits on the night. The Brewers really got hot in the 8^th and 9 innings when they got 6 runs across combined against shaky relief pitching.

Pitching for Milwaukee was equally as impressive as their offense. They surrendered just the one lone Pirate run, which did not cross until the bottom of the 8^th. That run came off a solo homerun from Ryan Ludwick who increased his season total to 12 this year. The Pirates were able to get 8 hits in all. The win was credited to Brewer’s pitcher Chris Narveson who raised his record to 9-6 this year. Pittsburgh Jeff Karstens was dealt his 7^th loss of the year to go along with his 9 victories this year.

The tides turned in game two of the double-header as the Pirates came up in a huge way in the 7^th inning to seal the game and make up for their earlier outing. In the end the Pirates won 9-2 by stringing together hits in the 7^th to take a big lead. The relievers would not falter, as they did in game one of the double-header, and held on to the big lead to get the win.

The game began where game one left off as the Brewers got two runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. The Pirates would tie things up scoring a run in the bottom of the first and another in the 4^th inning. It was the 7^th inning, however, that made the difference as the Pirates hit the ball all over the field resulting in 7 runs. In all, the Pirates got their 9 runs off of 10 hits. Ryan Doumit was able to get his 7^th homerun of the year. Pitcher Daniel McCutchen got credit with the win, which improved his record to 4-3 as the Pirates team collected their 60^th win of the year.

Their pitching staff pitched great giving up just 4 hits and the two runs the Brewers got in the 1^st inning. After the first, the Pirates’ pitchers shutout the Brewers though and Brewer pitcher Zack Grenke was handed his 5^th loss of the year. The Brewers runs came off a Corey Hart homerun, which was his 19^th of the year and, at the time, looked to be an omen of another loss for the Pirates. They battled back in a big way though to get the win.

Pirates Face Tough NL East Teams

The Pirates beat the Braves 5-2 July 28^th to improve to 54-49 on the year and keep pace in the division. They beat a good team and a good pitcher and got a lot of help from their star Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen had 3 hits in all including a homerun to nearly single-handedly take care of the Bravos. The win also brings the Pirates away record to an impressive 28-24 away from PNC Park.

The Pirates got 9 hits in all for the game. McCutchen’s homerun was his 15^th of the year and was the dagger in the coffin for the Braves. The hit came in the top of the 9^th and gave some insurance runs to the Buccos. They were insurance runs they would not need though as closer Joel Hanrahan came in to shut the lights out on the Atlanta crowd. He recorded his 30^th save of the year and continues to dominate when coming into games. Pirate pitcher Kevin Correia got credit for the win and improved his record to 12-8 this season.

The Braves got 11 hits in the game, but could not string them together and left a lot of players on the bases in the game as Pirate pitching got out of a few jams. The loss brought the Braves record to 61-45 on the season and came at home where they are 32-21. Derek Lowe was effective for the Braves, but did not have enough help from the offense to get the win and dropped to 6-9 this season.

The Pirates have now moved onto face an even tougher Phillies team who beat them 10-3 in game one of their series July 29^th. The Phillies win puts them at 66-39 on the year and drops the Pirates to just 4 games above 500. The Phillies got a hot start against the Pirates Charlie Morton who struggled against the tough lineup.

The Pirates 3 runs came from just 4 hits on the game as Roy Halladay was lights out on the mound for Philly. The loss brings Charlie Morton to 8-6 on the season. He gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the first and the Phils got another 5 runs across in the second to open up to an early 8-0 lead. The Pirates pitching then calmed down only giving up 2 more runs in the next 7 innings.

The Phillies got 11 total hits including 2 homeruns. The homers came from Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley and got the Phillies an early lead. Rollins homerun was his 12^th of the year while Utley got his 8th. The win for Halladay was his 13^th of the season as he has been arguably the leagues best this season.

The two teams will meet again July 30^th in Philly where the Pirates hope to show themselves and the MLB that they can hang with what is arguably the best team in baseball. Pittsburgh will send McDonald to the mound to face the Phillies Cliff Lee. Lee has been good, but has not gotten much run support in games he has pitched. He is 9-7 in all this season with a 3.05 ERA. McDonald comes into the game at 7-4 with a 3.95 ERA.

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