Heart and Soul

     What kind of team are we?  Most will say the Stillers are a power running team and a defensive team.  Not in 2005.  The fact is that we are a team without identity this season or not living up to the reputation that the Stillers have set for the last 30 some years.

Running:  Before you call us a running team, here are some facts.

In the NFL, there are 11 backs over 1,000 yards after last week�s games.  Willie Parker is at 788.  He has a relatively small number of carries at 177.  Only nine RBs in the Top 30 have fewer attempts than Parker.  A 1,000 yard RB is a good metric to show a decent running game and highlight the play of the offensive line.  A look at our running success or lack thereof this season:

You have to go back to Cinci # 1, on October 23, 2005 to find a Stiller running back over 100 yards individually.  In 75% of our games this season, the Stiller RBs have failed to meet the century mark in combined rushing yardage.  When we did go over 100 yards, it was against average to low tier defenses.

It is befuddling that a team with the caliber of backs like Willie P, Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis has not produced.  Our running stats are meager at best.  Some can be contributed to injury and some can be attributed to the o-line.  I attribute it poor game planning and lacking the fortitude to grind it out.  I�m a balanced offense proponent but also understand that the Stillers historically win when the rushing yardage is high.  So for the rest of this season, please don�t call the Stillers a running team.  It will be doubtful to see us rush with success against the stingy Bear�s defense and it is also doubtful that the 2005-06 Stillers will have a RB crack 1,000 yards.

Heart:   An intangible but for anyone that has played organized sports, this is a must.  This trait is one that I have not seen a great deal of the past few weeks.  I just don�t see a spark or emotion necessary to win football games.  Our running game is without heart.  The French Army is more feared than the Stiller defense as of late.  Two players on the current roster typically display heart week after week.  They are Ben R. and Hines Ward.  Hines is the epitome of heart and plays with it weekly.  Ben R. showed a great amount of intestinal fortitude last Sunday trying to win while in a great deal of pain.  The rest of the team showed little interest in my opinion.  A quote from Ben R. that was tossed on the message board tells me, depending on how you interpret or the context:

"The offense would like to strike early against the Bears and not leave themselves in a position where they have to play come-from-behind football.�  OK, I�ll agree even though Ben has proven to be fairly reliable in comebacks. 

�We need to get a lead early on,� said Roethlisberger. �We need to get up and let our defense take over. If we can get up by three or seven, or 10, then I think we will have a good chance at controlling the tempo of the game.�  I interpret this as playing not to lose.  Maybe I�m reading too much into it but this portion doesn�t seem to fit a team that is in dire need of a win to gain a wild card slot.  I�ve seen far too many teams this season blow decent leads in the 4^th Quarter against lesser opponents than the Bears.  The Bears offense is horrid, but they are a Divisional Leader through a strong defense.  I�ve lost a good deal of confidence in our D.   Our offense needs a play to win attitude and maybe that will permeate to the lethargic D.

We�ve had much discussion on the penalty against Cinci�s Thurman on the hit he laid on Ben late in the second quarter.  It was a grimacing hit and I thought Big Ben was toast after that hit.  Late or not, tripped or not doesn�t matter.  Football is a tough sport and nowadays it is tough and faster than when a lot of us grew up.  I think Jack Lambert once said something to the tone that �QBs should wear dresses.�  The hit drew a flag and you can call it cheap or not; my point is that that hit should have lit a fire under our Defense.  This was a big hit against our QB.  The saint in me doesn�t condone intentionally injuring an opponent.  I�m a sportsman at heart and believe in good sportsmanship.  You can still be pissed and be a good sport.  You can still knock the living hell out of someone in a sportsmanlike matter.  I thought that hit would have fired somebody up on the field.  As it turned out the only ones fired up were us.

To set the record straight, Cinci has not been a pushover, historically.  Historically speaking, we should have split this series but won the tilt last week.  The Stillers are now 24-12 at home and 18-17 in Cinci.  There are a few periods in which we didn�t beat the Bungles in a single game for two-three years.  The series is now at 42-29. 

Back to the heart thing; our Stillers.com Grandfather or Uncle, Hesske, shared with us a story this week that exemplifies heart.  Most know he is a professor at a small school in Montana.  He is an avid Stiller fan but also a huge supporter of his University�s sports programs.

In early November his University�s women�s basketball team was returning from a game and was involved in a serious van accident while driving in the snow.  Several players were injured and some seriously.  Fortunately there were no fatalities.  To a small school, or big one for that matter, this incident could have ended a season and nobody ever would have questioned them giving up.  In fact, they didn�t quit, they regrouped and have played solid basketball since the accident, missing two of their top players and others recuperating from the accident.  These lady hoopsters would not let a tragic incident hamper their goals.  That, my sports fans, is heart.

I would love the Lady Skylights Basketball Team to travel to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center practice facility and give our beloved Stillers a motivational speech about driving on when things aren�t going well.  I hate Basketball but appreciate the attitudes and desire to compete and win that these ladies have demonstrated.  These gals are Hard Hat winners in my book.  Heart wins games and they are doing so.