(no subject)
pittsburgh steelers
ix - x - xiii - xiv - xl - xliii
2009 : 9 - 7
week one : titans
won : 13 - 10 overtime
comments: It seemed like a good start to the season. We beat the Titans who everyone expected to be a serious team this year. Although it went into overtime it never should have. Ward fumbled the ball going in for a touchdown and the Titans recovered to force overtime. I suppose that was a sign for things to come. Also a bad sign was the injury to Troy. He already had one interception in the game and it seemed he would have another season of excellence. However, he suffered a knee injury half way through the game and never returned. Our defense instant looked different without him in there.
week two : bears
loss : 14 - 17
comments: It was certainly a foreshadowing game for how the rest of the season would go down. Going into the forth quarter the steelers are winning. Then suddenly the unthinkable happens. OUR DEFENSE falls apart. The number one defense from last year allows a team to come from behind a win the game. Granted the Steelers only had a 4 point lead. However a year ago that was like a 40 point lead. Things were changing.
week three : bengals
loss : 20 - 23
comments: This loss was even worse than the week before. First it was in the division, which has implications for the playoffs. Second, OUR DEFENSE! Once again it was the defense that fell apart. This time there was a 13 point lead and we loss. It was unbelievable. Although the Bengals had to use a trick play to convert a forth down it was still a terrible loss. Now the Steelers are 1 - 2 and look nothing like the defending champs many thought they were going to be this season.week four: chargers
won : 28 - 38
comments: Although we won this game, its easy to see several flaws in it. For the first three quarters it was utter domination by the Steelers. Yet the Chargers almost came back to win in the forth quarter. This time the defense did step up so in the end it doesn't seem that bad. It also brought the Steelers back to 2 - 2. We broke even and were just a game behind the Ravens and Bengals in the division. Things didn't seem terribly bad in the end. week five: lions
won : 28 - 20
comments: I said before the game started that the Steelers need a 21 point lead to win going into the forth quarter. I was joking. The Steelers had a 21 point lead and barely held on to win. Damn. Once again the defense seemed to fall apart when the forth quarter came. And while everyone wants to point fingers at the defense my dad and I pointed to the offense as well. The Steelers turned into a pass happy offense which means the drives are quicker and the defense is back out there. But then there is a coaching issue. Is the defense not physical or mentally tough enough? Yet the Steelers D came through in the end. They sacked the quarterback on three consecutive plays just when the lions started to drive down the field. week six: browns
won : 27 - 14
comments: No forth quarter issues this game. Then again the Browns had not won a game at this point in the season. Now the Steelers are 4-2 and things are feeling good. Even though there are obvious issues things aren't that bad.Troy was back from this game and damn did it make a difference.
week seven: vikings
won : 27 - 17
comments: OMG! This game was love for Steelers fans everywhere. The dominate defense that everyone was crazy about was finally back. The defense outscored the offense 14-13. Woodley returned a fumble for an touchdown and Fox returned an interception for a touchdown. To top it all off, the Steelers sacked Farve on the final play of the game. It was beautiful. week eight: broncos
won : 28 - 10
comments: Everyone was surprised to see the Broncos go 6-0. Then they hit the Ravens. And then us the following week. This was the one game this season I felt the best about. The Steelers owned both offensively and defensively. There was no issue in the forth quarter. Everything just fell into place for the game. Such a refreshing change.
Mid Season : The Steelers are 6 - 2 and looking to be a dangerous team in the AFC. They had games against the Chiefs, Browns, and Raiders that seemed like victories already. The Steelers were poised to defend their title in the playoffs and maybe even keep it for another year.
week nine: bengals
loss : 18 - 12
comments: The Steelers really dominated this game and yet they lost. It doesn't help when your team goes pass happy after having a successful running back. And that leads to an interception when you are in the red zone. Another new issue was also forming. SPECIAL TEAMS! The Steelers started to have kick offs and punts returned for touchdowns. It started in the Vikings game and it is still happening. week ten: chiefs
loss : 24 - 27
comments: Well this was not the easy victory everyone expected. Instead the Steelers lost the freaking game. Hmm I wonder how it happened? My guess would be another forth quarter let down. Now we have fallen to 6-4 which isn't bad. But its not great. There was still hope to be division winner since the Bengals were stumbling and we still had a better record than the Ravens. So all in all it was an embarrassing loss but things were still okay at this point. But at the same time we completely owned them until the forth.
week eleven: ravens
loss: 17 - 20 overtime
comments: Big Ben was out for the game so Dennis Dixon was in for the game. And the Steelers almost won it. However they really didn't let Dixon do what he does best. They didn't let him run as a whole when he has been successful the few times he did. In the end it was an interception in overtime that cost us the game. It didn't hurt that bad since we almost owned them with our backup. However it was the same old story. We dominated and then allowed the other team to come back and win. Although it didn't put us out of the playoffs it hurt. It was a division and therefore a conference loss. Which helped destroy out tiebreaker chances. RAWR.week twelve : raiders
loss : 24 - 27
comments: This loss really hurt. And it followed the same old story. The saddest part? The Raiders averaged ten points per game AND the most they ever scored was 20. Until this game. In the 4th quarter the Raiders scored 21 points. More than the ever scored in a single game all season. That is beyond sad. For three quarters the Raiders did nothing. What hurt about this one was it could have been avoided. Mundy was thrown a perfect interception. Right into his hands....and he dropped it. Then the Raiders went on to score a touchdown with 6 seconds left in the game. It hurt so bad. At this point we are 6-6 and I gave up on a playoff run.
week thirteen : browns
loss : 6 - 13
comments: This was the one game all season where the Steelers were dominated. They were truly out played...by the freaking Cleveland Browns! A one win team at this point. Big Ben was sacked 8 times. One game on a potential game winning drive that ended up as nothing in the end. The Steelers are now 6-7. Amazingly they are still in the playoff hunt. However at this point they have to win out and then get some help from other teams. I stopped watching this game half way through to watch the new episode of the Mentalist. It was that painful. It takes a lot for me not to suffer through a game. And the saddest thing? I saw it coming. It just seemed like we were going to loose to every terrible team we played. week fourteen: packers
won : 37 - 36
comments: The Steelers won the first 37 - 36 game. But it was way closer than it should have been. Everyone was praising the Steelers following the game. Oh yes he threw for over 500 yards but we barely one the game. Once again the Steelers were pass happy. Just as they were for the past 5 games in which we lost. On top of that, this game really showed where the weaknesses were. Gay and Carter. Carter got beat every play and Gay played so far back that the Packers got at least 5 yards every play. Mike Wallace was amazing though. He has been a great deep threat and this game he had the game winning touchdown as time expired. week fifteen : ravens
won : 23 - 20
comments: This game was exciting. I was watching it in a sports bar at home so every play seemed so intense. The most annoying part? Seeing Gay on the full screen. Thankfully he was not a starter but he was still used at points. And that was way too much. It felt good to beat the Ravens since we should have the first time. Playoff hopes still alive but need a lot of help. The main issue is the teams we want to win are already in the playoffs and therefore will rest their players.
week sixteen : dolphins
won : 30 - 24
comments: This game felt great. Although another 17 point forth quarter lead diminished. The Steelers got three interceptions. With Troy out there was really a drought in turn overs. So to get three in one game was awesome. It also gave the Steelers a winning season. Which means they did better than the last time they won the superbowl [8-8] In the end the Steelers didn't make it into the playoffs. They didn't get the help they needed and the season is over. And it was one filled with both ups and downs.
So the Steelers can't defend the title. They will just be handing it over in the end. Eh. I love them anyways.
THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY OF THE 2009 SEASON
the good
LAMARR WOODLEY:
He was a beast defensively. He lead the teams in sacks at 11.5, has a defensive touchdown, and has forced fumbles throughout the games. When the defense was looking bad, he helped provide the kinds of plays the fans were dying to see.
MIKE WALLACE:
Rookie receiver and looked better than most of the ones we have. He is an awesome deep threat and the main issue is that Big Ben actually under throws him! not the other way around. He does try to cut back when that happens and sometimes he does catch the ball but it won't go for the touchdown he could have. I can't wait to see what he does next year I know it will be epically awesome.
the bad
BEN ROETHLISBERGER:
He is a love him and hate him quarterback. This season the Steelers decided to become a pass happy team. Big Ben is awesome most of the time. However he threw several interceptions in the end zone. That denied us atleast three points. Also, when he had 400+ games we lost them all. Except the 503 yard game against the Packers. Ben can win games. He can drive down with 2 minutes left and win games. That does not mean that you should turn to him all the time when you FINALLY get a good running back. I love Ben and we would not have gotten to the Superbowl without him last year but had the offense been balanced we'd be going to the playoffs. He went over 4000 yards and look where we are.
SANTONIO HOLMES:
Santonio was the hero of the Superbowl. He had the crazy catch with less than a minute left. But this season its a different story. Although he has over 1000 yards he left a lot of balls on the field. I have been really disappointed with him the year. It seems every game there was a drop that could have given us a first down and kept a drive alive. So while everyone is amazed with his yardage I say it could have been way better.
GAY & CARTER:
The Steelers defense was known for not being giving up the big play. Yet this year it seemed like anyone could. And the reason is these two. Carter was replacing Troy. And that was the worst thing ever. And then there is Gay. He played 5 yards back on a receiver and then he got duped by them when they took off running. The Steelers D finished 6th overall but no thanks to these two.
the ugly
TROY POLAMALU:
He is an awesome safety and he is not what is ugly. Troy got injured half way through the first game. He eventually came back only to suffer a different injury and leave that game half way through. So all in all he played in 5 games that essentially add up to 4. So whats ugly? THE FACT THAT HE LEAD THE TEAM IN INTERCEPTIONS. In 16 games people could not be as effective as he is in 4. That is why we did not seem to have such a fearful defense.
RASHARD MENDENHALL:
He got over a 1000 yards this season so why is it ugly? Be cause he NEVER got the ball! He could have had many more yards and instead he'd get the ball 10 or 15 times a game and Big Ben would throw for 40+ attempts. And then we would loose the game. Hmmm. We finally got a solid running back and our offense suddenly turns into a pass attack.
Everyone keeps saying "these aren't your parents Steelers" and that is certainly true because our parents Steelers went on to win back to back Superbowls TWICE. Our Steelers go 8-8 and 9-7 following their Superbowl runs and definitely won't be back to back champions.