The #Steelers Are One the Hottest Teams in The NFL at The Midway Point Of 2012

[Kipper]

Just a few weeks back the Pittsburgh Steelers were under .500 and at least half of Steeler Nation was starting to focus their attention towards "next season". Now in the thick of a 3 game winning streak, that half of Steeler Nation is think Playoffs and Super Bowl again

The Steelers victory against the New York Giants was a Win through and through. The Steelers Offense, Defense, and Special Teams were commanding victors. They beat the Refs who gave the New York Giants 14 points. They threw the ball when they wanted to throw it. They ran the ball when they wanted to run it. The controlled the clock when they wanted and how they wanted. The Steelers did this on the Road, in a Stadium filled with fans that were in the thick of Hurricane Sandy, playing a team that was personally affected as well. The Steelers were walking into a Hurricane themselves, except that when all was said and done, the Steelers played like the confident home team with a chip on their shoulders.

This has been the Pittsburgh Steelers for the past 3 Weeks. This is a team playing with Confidence. The Confidence on Offense has been visible on the field for far longer despite any tension the media tries to dig up between Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley. The confidence has hit the Offensive Line and the Defensive Secondary as hard. This is a team that is imposing it's will on the opponents.

Playing on the Road hasn't been kind to the Steelers recently. They have blown 4th Quarter Leads on the road to Carson Palmer's Oakland Raiders and Matt Hasselbeck's Tennessee Titans this year. Neither are good teams or are good QB's. The Steelers had a 24-20 lead in the 4th Quarter against a good New York Giants team that came in at 6-2 and a Quarterback with 2 recent Super Bowl rings and shut them down. For the Steelers that is impressive, for the game, it was just another part of the story that could've been titled "Dominance"

Dominance

The Steelers outgained the Giants 349-182 (net yards) on their home turf. The Giants were handed 2 Touchdowns by the Referees who gave the New York Giants 41 yards in a Pass interference call that even made Phil Simms question it. Then after that the Steelers make a Red Zone stand and were ready to force the Giants to make a chip shot FG when Ryan Clark was penalized for a phantom "head to head" shot that once again, Phil Simms even questioned. It has to be blatant when Phil Simms sees unless the new England Patriots are on the other end of it, then he ignores it. That gave the Giants first and goal and the scored. Next was a Fumble returned for a Touchdown by the New York Giants. It was an obvious forward pass by Ben Roethlisberger as part of the tuck rule and it was upheld after review. You know who else said it was an incomplete pass? Mike Pereira :

‏@MikePereira Leavy felt ball was loose after contact by Osi. Very tight play. I think he still had control. In my opinion it was an incomplete pass.

I'm not much of a fan of Mike Pereia who too often defends Refs way more than they should be and tends to go out of his way to do so. When he says that it was the wrong call, it usually is, because he doesn't say it that often.

That's 14 points right there. Eliminate those 14 points and this is a 24-6 Pittsburgh Steelers win. Probably 27-6 since Mike Tomlin wouldn't have felt the need to sniff the Bath Salts and go for a Fake Field Goal. What the **** was that? If you're going to go for it on 4th and "1" then put Isaac Redman in who has been beating up the front 7 of the New York Giants and he will get you "1". Who has a better chance of getting you "1"? Isaac Redman from about 3 yards back or Shaun Suisham who is far deeper than that? There was absolutely nothing about that play that made sense. It was Mike Tomlin's biggest blunder since he ran Ben Roethlisberger on a gimpy leg/foot on an option needing 7 yards in the Playoffs against Jacksonville in 2007.

That is Dominance against a good team that the Steelers showcased and on the Road where they have struggled, especially Defensively.

We can go back 2 games to the matchups against the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington redskins and the results were fairly similar. The Steelers outgained the Washington Redskins 355-255 yards (net) and held an extremely hyped Robert Griffin III to just 177 yards passing. Facing the Cincinnati Bengals on the road (which is as close to a home game away from Heinz Field as you can find at Paul Brown Stadium), the Pittsburgh Steelers once again just flat out beat up on the opponent. The Steelers outgained the Bengals 431-185 yards (net). The Steelers held Andy Dalton to a mere 105 yards passing and a 50% completion percentage. The score appear close than they should be but in mostly all phases of the game the Pittsburgh Steelers are really beating up on the opponent.

Next up is a terrible Kansas City Chiefs team. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a few injury concerns and if there's any doubt or slight question about those players they should be sat. The Steelers don't need Antonio Brown to beat the Kansas City Cheifs in Heinz Field. They came from behind against the New York Giants on the road to win with Antonio Brown on the sidelines and Mike Wallace only being visible for 2 passes an entire Football game. If Jonathan Dwyer isn't 100% then rest him, The Offensive Line is opening up holes for everyone and Isaac Redman took advantage of it against the New York Giants for 147 yards. Chris Rainey? Let Barron Batch do his job. The Steelers have a more important matchup just 6 days later Sunday hosting the Baltimore Ravens. The game will decide the Division Lead. Heal the players so that they are ready to go out and help beat the **** out of a deservedly beaten and bruised Baltimore team. A victory there will cast aside any lingering doubts about the 2012 Pittsburgh Steelers.

Right now, the Steelers are getting good, really good!

[Steelreign]

It sure does feel like the Steelers have or are turning the corner in the last three weeks. Everything that was a weakness has become a strength or is much stronger than at the finish of the Tennessee game, the O-Line and the Secondary most notably. They should get even better when the injured make their way back, especially Troy. I just hope Troy is inclined to do what he does within the structure of what is going on now.

[Steelreign]

By the way, it was a really good read

[bdeff]

I was ready to start my mock draft version I. Figuring on the 6th overall pick. Agree with the bath salts/fake field goal assessment and I forgot about the call v. Jacksonville in the Playoffs.

[exNCite]

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I was ready to start my mock draft version I. Figuring on the 6th overall pick. Agree with the bath salts/fake field goal assessment and I forgot about the call v. Jacksonville in the Playoffs.

Hate to pile on after a tremendous win, but let's not forget the fact that the Steeler's not only had a 4th and 1 when they tried the fake FG, but also had a 3rd and 1 when they tried the underneath pass to Redman. At that point point in the game you're in 4 down territory, running the ball well. Pound the ****ing ball down their throats.

[logopogo]

A couple of observations.

That was a complete licking the Steelers inflicted on the defending Super Bowl champs and their official accomplices --- and on their turf. So, how do the "experts" at NFL.com rate the Giants 3 notches above the Steelers?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100...-nab-no-3-spot

I believe that early in the game announcer Jim Nantz remarked that there was hardly any evidence of the famous Steeler Nation traveling fans, yet my local Tampa Tribune newspaper feed from the Associated Press claimed that 25% in attendance were twirling Terrible Towels. So, what's up with that?

How many are surprised that third year receiver Emmanuel Sanders is 29 years old? He's a great asset but his age means he's going to be retiring about six years sooner than I would have guessed.

http://www.pro-football-reference.co...S/SandEm00.htm

[Steelreign]

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A couple of observations.

That was a complete licking the Steelers inflicted on the defending Super Bowl champs and their official accomplices --- and on their turf. So, how do the "experts" at NFL.com rate the Giants 3 notches above the Steelers?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100...-nab-no-3-spot

I believe that early in the game announcer Jim Nantz remarked that there was hardly any evidence of the famous Steeler Nation traveling fans, yet my local Tampa Tribune newspaper feed from the Associated Press claimed that 25% in attendance were twirling Terrible Towels. So, what's up with that?

How many are surprised that third year receiver Emmanuel Sanders is 29 years old? He's a great asset but his age means he's going to be retiring about six years sooner than I would have guessed.

http://www.pro-football-reference.co...S/SandEm00.htm

Sanders is only 25, that's a mistake

[Blackandgold]

Are we that good or did the Giants just have a bad night? We'll see when we play KC. We should win that game but we should've beaten Oakland too.

[exNCite]

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Are we that good or did the Giants just have a bad night? We'll see when we play KC. We should win that game but we should've beaten Oakland too.

Yes we should have, but I still stick to the old adage that it's better to peak later in the season than at the beginning of the season. I think offensively they are getting more comfortable with Haley's gig and defensively they are learning how to adapt. They will be fine as long as they can stay relatively healthy.

[Indiana Pittsburgh Fan]

This week vs the Chiefs, we just need to avoid getting banged up any more. We have a matchup with the gayvens after this game, and it is not to be taken lightly. Partly because I can't take losing 3 straight to these ****ers.

[War Machine]

This has been a good little run of consolidation with wins. The Chiefs game is a potential trap but, after the last two times we played them, I hope it'll be an avoidable trap, especially as this time it's a home game for us.

Really encouraging in the games so far has been the upswing in red zone productivity. Under the Arians regime, the O was becoming notoriously unproductive in the red zone, with us seemingly having to hope for a 25 yard touchdown pass to score. I realise it's still early days with Todd Haley, but I think I see an improvement.

I hope this can be sustained until, say, the second week of February.

[Steelreign]

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Are we that good or did the Giants just have a bad night? We'll see when we play KC. We should win that game but we should've beaten Oakland too.

With the way the defense has been playing lately, we've given up less than 500 yards passing in the last 3 games to Dalton, RGIII, and Manning and have been getting more pressure on the QB, yeah the defense is playing pretty **** well. Consider they aren't even close to 100% healthwise either.

It doesn't look like the game has passed LeBeau by either. He has adjusted nicely to the defenses circumstances. I like Dick.

I don't believe this team is going to have a let down at all against KC. They have their eye on regaining first place which means they have to win. Add to that that Haley is going up against the team that fired him. Look for him to call a great game against a weak team that he knows how to attack.

[Steelreign]

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Yes we should have, but I still stick to the old adage that it's better to peak later in the season than at the beginning of the season. I think offensively they are getting more comfortable with Haley's gig and defensively they are learning how to adapt. They will be fine as long as they can stay relatively healthy.

So true. Scary part is that I don't think the Steelers are close to peaking yet. I figure they are at around 75-80% healthwise and they left at least 14 points on the field against the Giants. Add that to the fact that if you take away the 14 points the refs gave the Giants and it could have been a blowout of 38-6. Yeah I know you can't count what ifs like that, but the fact is that the game wasn't as close as the score indicated against the world champion Giants. That's a good indicator of where this team is at.


By the way, I'm glad to see you made it through Sandy ok. Hope you didn't have too much trouble.

[exNCite]

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So true. Scary part is that I don't think the Steelers are close to peaking yet. I figure they are at around 75-80% healthwise and they left at least 14 points on the field against the Giants. Add that to the fact that if you take away the 14 points the refs gave the Giants and it could have been a blowout of 38-6. Yeah I know you can't count what ifs like that, but the fact is that the game wasn't as close as the score indicated against the world champion Giants. That's a good indicator of where this team is at.


By the way, I'm glad to see you made it through Sandy ok. Hope you didn't have too much trouble.

Appreciate the thought. No power for 8 days sucks but you learn to adapt. Lucky that we didn't have the losses that a lot of people here suffered. Sucked to have another storm last night. This one was a foot of wet, heavy snow. 100K people in the 2 surrounding counties went down again. Think I'll move to Alaska. Just have to deal with the cold.

[Steelreign]

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Appreciate the thought. No power for 8 days sucks but you learn to adapt. Lucky that we didn't have the losses that a lot of people here suffered. Sucked to have another storm last night. This one was a foot of wet, heavy snow. 100K people in the 2 surrounding counties went down again. Think I'll move to Alaska. Just have to deal with the cold.

when it rains it pours, no pun intended, but hopefully the worst is over for yinz on the east coast.