- It took 15 games but I figured out the genius of
Mularkey's plan.� He purposely didn't
utilize Burress in red zone situations during the first 14 weeks, so that
defensive coordinators wouldn't have these plays on film.� Then in Weeks 16 & 17, Mularkey unleashes
his secret weapon - passes to Burress in the end zone.
- Maybe this game will be enough to bring Bettis back for another year, or
possibly 6 more.� Perhaps the Steelers
should give Bettis an extension, thus ensuring that in 2010 Bettis could break
Emmitt's record.� Then everyone in
Steeler nation can be proud to have the all-time leading rusher (which would
mean he's the greatest RB in the history of the NFL, right?).
- Who needs a speed guy like McAllister, Tomlinson, Portis, or even ~gasp Kevin
Jones when you can have the plodder himself.
- I think the Steelers pretty much killed any shot they had at Eli Manning by
beating the hapless Chargers.� Having
said that, I would love for Cincy to knock off Cleveland, giving the Steelers a
shot to keep the Ravens out of the playoffs.
- Jamal Lewis will need something like 154 yards against the Steelers to set
the all-time rushing record.� This just
in...Jamal Lewis is a power RB, who also happens to be a gazelle.� But thank goodness we have Bettis the Plodder.� They might have the single season rushing
record guy, but we could have the all-time leading rusher someday.
- Billick was right when he said before the season that the final game against
the Steelers would be for the AFC North Division.
- Anyone pay attention to Plax's second TD in the red zone.� As Mill pointed out, it was on a pump fake
by Maddox and Burress was wide open.�
Again, Mularkey and Maddox paid little heed to things like pump fakes
and play action in the first 14 games.�
That way they could unleash it all for the stretch run with opponents
simply thinking they couldn't do it since it wasn't on film.� I might be crazy, but double moves, pump
fakes, and play action can easily fool DBs (see Steelers DBs in 2002 &
2003).� So wouldn't it make sense to do
it more often?
- Peyton Manning and Chad Pennington are two of the headiest QBs around.� I say this on a week when they combined for
0 TDs and 5 INTs.� Are there better QBs
though at the mechanics of executing play action and pump fakes though?� What we saw from Maddox on one play
yesterday is something you'll see every week from Manning and Pennington.� Next to a guy named Vick, there isn't a QB
I'd rather have long term than those two.
- There will be a lot of discussion about Manning vs Roethlisberger in the
draft.� I reserve judgment on
Roethlisberger yet, but I know this much - Eli Manning has been groomed to be a
QB since he was a kid.� I can guarantee
you that in his first season he'll be more effective at play action and pump
fakes than 50% of the QBs in the league.�
I also know that I would take Manning over Roethlisberger without
thinking twice about it, no matter what Roethlisberger does at the
combine.� It's not a knock on
Roethlisberger, but rather a tribute to Archie's grooming of his kids to be NFL
stud QBs.
- On the aforementioned Maddox pump fake that
found Burress wide open in the end zone, did anyone notice that Burress did not
go up to get the ball, but rather waited for it to come down to his chest.� Maybe the Steelers should practice throwing
fades and jump balls to Plax in the end zone, and they should probably hire a
WR coach to teach him how to use his hands and frame to shield smaller DBs and
go up and get the ball.� Can you really
blame Plax, judging by the games I've seen, Plax is rarely in the game in the
redzone, so clearly there is no need to practice those plays.� Perhaps when Plax leaves as a FA, we will
see Mularkey shrewdly utilize the 5'9" Randle El for these jump ball
plays.
- It's a good thing Alonzo Jackson didn't play again, the Steelers might have
lost and regretted it immensely.�
Speaking of which, Alonzo Jackson is going to be an uphill battle to win
the LOLB job next season since he'll essentially be a 2nd year rookie.
- I place the odds of the events that transpired in the last 7 seconds of the
Saints game at 1 in a billion.� Can you
imagine being a Saints fan during that ordeal?�
Better yet, can you imagine a Saints fan with Carney as his fantasy
kicker and losing by 1 in a Fantasy Championship � yikes!