First off, Buffalo has to have the best home-field advantage in the league. Here's why?
1. Who wants to ever be in Buffalo? Certainly no millionaire twenty-something athlete. It is a run-down city that only gets visitors because it is in everyone's way as they go to Niagara.
2. It is freezing cold and miserable out. Conventions say players love the elements, they love to play physical, and the cold enhances that. No they don't. It hurts to be cold. The ball is like a hunk of cement. Most of the guys in the league are from Florida, Texas, and California. Are you trying to tell me they prefer to play in the cold? No way. Why is the Super Bowl played in nice weather. Maybe the white guys like it cold because the games are played more at their speed.
Speaking of white guys and cold weather, Peyton "The Avalanche" Hillis is actually giving me a reason to check out the Browns box score on the ticker. I forget where I heard that he was being called The Avalanche, but that is a perfect nickname. He's white, runs downhill and destroys all in his path. The only time he could be stopped would be by Dennis Quaid who has a specialty in overcoming wintry disasters.
My dad was watching that movie before the game started so it was kind of stuck in my head.
Continuing with my tangent away from actually having to talk about this game, how about what has happened to the more successful and famous of the Quaids, Randy. He goes from destroying aliens with Will Smith, and living a luxurious life in the Vegas desert, to constantly being on the run from the cops. Something tells me this is his version of that Joaquin Phoenix stunt. Only a great method actor like Randy Quaid would cause so much turmoil in his life just to prepare for a movie role. Bravo Randy Bravo.
3. In Buffalo all of the fat asses on the team have to go out for wings. I love wings, probably my favorite food. If I was ever stranded in Buffalo, and I emphasize stranded, because no way am I going there on purpose, I would definately stop at the Mecca of wings. Loads like Casey Hampton definately put a few dozen back last night. What happens the morning after a wing binge. Wing shits. You aren't the same for atleast 24 hours.
4. The worst refs in the league. Why would the NFL send top officials to a Bills game. The Bills stink and thus the game will have no impact on the rest of the league, so you get the bottom of the referee barrel. Although Goodell is idiot enough to send good officials to Buffalo and say screw Green Bay and Atlanta, that game means nothing.
5. Kevin Harlan and Soloman Wilcotts. These two are completely worthless as announcers. Everyone has their favorites and the announcers they dispise, but these two jokesters don't even warrant a love/hate analysis.
For a good 2 minutes straight, King Soloman rambled on about how Mike Williams was a great receiver for the Steelers. I can understand an occasional slip of the tongue, but he went on about Mike Wallace for a two minutes and must have called him Williams 6-7 times. First off Soloman, Wallace is the Steelers biggest playmaker, and since you are doing the Steelers game, and have been preparing for it for a whole week, you should know that. Second, they kept flashing Wallace's image on the screen with the nameplate Wallace clearly in the shot. Third, Kevin Harlan is so clueless he couldn't even support his partner and make the correction.
Wilcotts continued his stellar game by crowing the Steelers Super Bowl champs in the first half, then all but declaring the Bills, behind Ryan Fitzpatrick's courage and Harvard education, as the next dynasty of the 2010s, and taking credit for warning the audience that they would put up a fight in the second half. It was actually hard to listen to these guys doing their best John Kerry flip-flop impersonation all game.
Although the alternative would be turning on the Steelers' Radio broadcast, which is so one-sided it would be like watching Jim Abbott in a rowboat.
6. You have to play the Bills. Especially for a team that has a huge game versus Baltimore next Sunday, it would be really easy to overlook the Bills. I don't care how much Tomlin says that they haven't overlooked this team, by the looks of their second half play, I would think that Casey was already looking forward to his Saturday night Maryland Blue Crabs.
After watching this game I have come to a few conclusions:
1. The Steelers will not win the Super Bowl, let alone play in the game.
1a. With an offensive line that consists of Jonathan Scott and Ramon Foster, this team isn't going anywhere. Sure they put up good numbers against the Bills and Raiders, but they still are the Bills and Raiders. I like Chris Kemoeatu, think he is a very servicable NFL guard, probably the meanest looking guy in the league, but there is a reason why the team never runs to the left. I think his performance against a no-name D-tackle today solidifies that point. Typing his name above I can across something I found funny. The last 4 letters in his last name spell EAT U.
1b. William Gay is still on the field. I would like to see someone figure out the statistics of DBs who are beaten on touchdown passes. This guy has to be in the top-2. If the Steelers are beat deep for a TD there is a good chance good ol' Willie Gay is chasing from behind.
1c. They will likely be a Wild Card team. I like Baltimore to win the AFC North and get a bye, which will mean Pittsburgh will have to go on the road on Wild Card weekend, and most likely stay on the road for the duration of the Playoffs. This is going to be too tough a task with this year's batch of AFC contenders.
2. Ben Roethlisberger is an elite QB. Sure he has a thing for not so attractive girls, but he can still play the game he is getting paid $100 million for. Honestly, I don't rank him ahead of Manning, Brady, Brees, Rivers, or Rodgers, but of those 5 only Rodgers would have success with the Steelers, and that is because he can move. The other 4 are statues in the pocket that rarely get hit and have all the time in the world to pinpoint receivers. Ben doesn't have that luxury. He is always running for his life, escaping the grasp of defenders, and completing passes. His 18-yard scramble for a first down that set up the go-ahead field goal was amazing. Brady couldn't do that, neither could have Brees, Rivers or Peyton. If only the girls in Georgia bars had the elusiveness of Ben.
You can't tell me his doesn't throw a nice deep ball. I'd say one of the best in the league, and with Williams, I mean Wallace, running fly routes, he needs to be able to rocket it far enough to not underthrow him. Ben also is great with checking down to lesser optioned receivers. A play is never dead with Ben, he can always find someone. He is the reason the Steelers even have a hope to make a run at the Lombardi.
3. Where did Mendenhall's spin move go? I was an avid opponent of him using it every play, but now it has completely disappeared and I kind of miss it. The guy is a beast in OT. It seems like he knows that is his time to shine. Luckily for him the Bills stink and the Steelers actually had a chance in overtime.
4. James Harrison will probably get suspended for this latest hit. I guess there is nothing you can do with Adolf Goodell in charge. I don't think he has something out for the Steelers, but his policies certainly hurts a team that focuses on physical play. The guy has been playing the same way for 20 years. His toughness and tenacity got him into the league and made him into an All-Pro. I don't think there is any way he can change and still be the most dominant defender on the field. Something has to give, and unfortunately, I think Harrison is going to have to ease up and soften up his game, which is a shame.
5. The people of Buffalo and Niagara need to watch out for a barrel going over the Falls tonight. In it, Steve Johnson. 5 dropped passes and one of those was to win the game in OT. Steve Johnson was a no-name 7th round pick out of Kentucky 3 years ago, and now has become a household name in the Fantasy Football world. A great season is now blemished by this play. And what was up with them calling him Stevie? I thought it was Steve. Guess I don't know him as well as I thought I did.
6. In some North Carolina bar, Jeff Reed creeps on some coeds, flashes some of his $2.8 million franchise contract, and bypasses the toilet for the convenience of pissing in an alley.
As for the game, the Steelers really let the Bills hang around by only scoring 13 points in the first half. They had the ball for 24 or the 30 minutes and could only mangage to hang 13 points. Everyone knew the Bills would come back. It's the Steelers' season in a nut shell. They can't put teams away, they give them a chance to come back at the end. Luckily only Baltimore was able to beat them in the waning seconds, but one of these games they will lose to a bad team because they can't close.
The 2010 Steelers are like this season of Always Sunny. There are some high points that get you excited, like today's opening drive, but the rest of the time you are confused as to why you even like watching them. For example in Always Sunny, in the white trash episode, when Mac and Charlie are stuck in the pool, that banter is funny. Dee as a drama teacher, not funny. Charlie dressed as the Phantom of the Opera and saying he is a sexy vampire, funny. Dennis getting married, not funny. Steelers opening the game with a 14-play, 8:00 TD drive, exciting. Steelers giving up a 13-point lead, then going into OT and are a dropped pass, that even Roy Williams would have held on to, from losing the game, gets you wondering as to why you are even watching.
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