Pittsburgh Steelers (RIP) Rest In Pieces

The 8-8 Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow beat the 12-4 Pittsburgh Steelers 29-23 and eliminated them in the first round of the NFL AFC wildcard playoffs in OT. The severely injured Steelers limped into Denver only to be carried out on a slab. The NFL's #1 defense played it's worst game of the season and a hobbled Big Ben Roethlisberger was careless enough with the ball to help the Denver defense secure a 23-23 tie and move the game into overtime.

Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas on the first play from scrimmage after the overtime kickoff to secure the win for Denver. You could tell as the game progressed, the Broncos wanted it more. Tebow had his best game of the season and took advantage of a soft Steelers defense. The Broncos will face the New England Patriots next on the road to an improbable miracle run to an AFC championship and maybe the Super Bowl!

Is Troy Polamalu The Player He Once Was?

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu looked more like the player he was before he injured his Achilles’ tendon last season. Arguably the Steelers strong safety seemed to be in top form.

This was his first appearance since the Super Bowl and Troy looked like his old self with some amazing plays in the first half of Thursday night's 24-14 win over the Philadelphia. It was vintage Polamalu when he intercepted Michael Vick and returned it for 36 yards. He also broke up a couple of other passes throwing his body around and flying all over the place.

This is good news for the Steelers and Steeler fans who are hoping he will be the same force he was before his injury. In the off season Polamalu was able to rehabilitate the injury and avoided having surgery.

In 2010 he had a partial tear of the Achilles’ tendon that prevented him from getting up to speed and kept him from showing off his explosiveness. He played in the Super Bowl, but wasn't much of a factor.

The defense looked good against Vick and the Eagles were confused all night. Vick threw three interceptions and that allowed big Ben and company to spend more time on offense. Let's hope they keep this up when the season starts with the Baltimore Ravens on September 11th.

Steelers Win Ugly In OT - Ravens Next!

     I've been trying to let the memory of the Steelers game Sunday fade into oblivion. I know they got the win, but if not for a dropped perfect pass in the end zone in overtime, it could have easily been a loss. It's amazing how the Pittsburgh Steelers can have 426 yards of offense and only score 19 points.

     With that kind of offense they should have gotten at least 30. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 151 yards, Hines Ward had 107 receiving yards and Big Ben Roethlisberger threw for 246. Besides that, they held the ball for 45 minutes to the Buffalo Bills 27. So, how did they just barely win 19-16 in OT?

     Well, the penalty bug bit them again. The Steelers were penalized for the 2nd week in a row for over 100 yards. I'm not saying that the Refs and the League have it in for the Steelers, but they might. Besides the penalties, Ben was sacked a few times and suffered an ankle sprain, while Mendenhal's fumble almost cost them the game. There were also some dropped passes, especially the one by Emmanuel Sanders that would have resulted in a long gain.

     If they can play like the did against the Bills, but without the mistakes, they can beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. If they want to reclaim the AFC North crown, they'll have to have their heads in the game against Ray Lewis and company. Troy Polamolu's interception late saved the victory for the Steelers. Let's hope they don't need any late game heroics when they play the Ravens.

Penalize Refs Steelers 35 Raider 3

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a nice bounce back win against an Oakland Raiders team that was tied for the lead in the AFC West. Although the Steelers offense scored 35 points and the defense allowed only 3, the game was riddled with penalties. Some of the penalties were pretty ticky-tack and at least two were ridiculous. Five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour was ejected for punching Big Ben in the face.

I know the NFL is trying to crack down on malicious hits, but now they're calling routine defensive stop as blatant, vicious and intentional. When does it begin to breakdown the integrity and intensity of the game? I'm beginning to agree with former Steelers linebacker, Jack Lambert who said "You might as well put skirts on the quarterbacks".

The Steelers set a franchise record of 163 yards in penalties, while the Raiders had only 183 yards of offense. Give credit to the Pittsburgh Steelers toughness as they overcame the penalties and continued to play aggressively. This game was played the way Steeler fans expect their team to play, minus the refferees' total lack of discretion. Maybe the league should penalize the NFL refs after they review this game!