Cromartie starts the talk!

Finally some noise.

Antonio Cromartie decided to send a message to Hines Ward. Really? This is the guy you want to piss off? This is the team you want to piss off? 

When Pittsburgh plays Baltimore... it's a war. They like it that way. No whining, no crying, just hit somebody. It would appear that at least one Jet is not too interested in getting hit. I for one hope an abrupt pick, err I mean block is waiting for HIM early in the game. Then we can see just how they "take care of things".


That is my idea of fun. Let's have some fun!

Heinz Field Advantage?

Since 1994 the Steelers are 2-4 in AFC Championship games at home (they are 1-0 on the road). Granted Blitzburgh won the last one, so the monkey is off their back to a degree....

Why is home field not a bigger deal for Steelers? In the old grind it out games, they could ill afford to fall behind by  much and that happened a few times. Against the Chargers and Colts (in '94 & '95) they allowed inferior teams to stay alive by not executing early and this was a regular rap on Cowher's teams in the playoffs. Tomlin on the other hand is 1-0 in home playoff games and his teams do seem more at ease "in the moment".

Ultimately though I think the biggest problem for the Steelers historically is one of match ups. Had the Pats won last week, they would have been in the same boat. The Jets on the other hand offer the type of team Pittsburgh plays best against... those who wish to run to set up the pass. The Jets are not a passing offense ESPECIALLY if their ground game gets stymied.

I like the Steelers to win going away, probably with a pick six in the 4th to close it out.

Fifteen

By beating the Ravens, the Steelers set another NFL record... most appearances in a conference championship game. They were previously tied with Dallas at 14 (who have been stuck on that number since '95), but now they stand alone at 15 and alone in first place. Their eleven home games are 3 more than the Niners.

While the black and gold are only 7-7 (with one of course not yet played) the faithful are regularly treated to an up close viewing of the battle. To win the Super Bowl more times than anyone else you need to be in position a lot and the Steelers certainly have.

Box score?

Often times a look at the box score of a game will tell the story a game, and sometimes it won't. The Steelers vs Ravens AFC Divisional playoff game was a little of both.

389 of total offensive for both teams combined. check
106 yards rushing combined  (only 35 for Baltimore) check
11 sacks
5 turnovers... check, check.

So what was that final score? 10-7? Nope, try again... how about,

31-24

What? How in the hell? Umm, yeah, let's just say that the "over" was the play, who knew.

Of course those turnovers fueled the lion's share of the points. The defenses were beasts even if the scoreboard says they were soft.

Steelers get... we still don't know

Going in I felt like the Steelers wanted the Chiefs the most, the Colts next and the Ravens least. I guess I still feel that way, but now we know we won't get the Colts and part of me wishes we would have.

When Vinatieri made the 50 yarder, I felt a sense of relief, thinking "hey I like our chanced a lot!". After all the Colts are still seriously banged up and the Jets pounded them mercilessly, would have been kinda fun to see if we could have held the ball for like 59 minutes. It was not meant to be though as the Jets had just enough left and Folk didn't choke (even a blind squirrel and all that). 


Now we will most likely get the RatBirds and it should be classic. 

Ravens vs Texans

The Ravens should win this game, they should be pissed off and a little desperate after losing the game and division lead to the Steelers last week.

But they are also beat up and probably tired. Not a great recipe for success against a potent Texans offense. The thing that still has me leaning the Ravens way is just how good they are against the run. If they can stuff Foster then Schaub has to step up, will he?

I'm guessing Flacco and Co. leave Houston with a win on Monday Night Football, extending the division race another week at least.

Steelers vs Bengals preview

Pre-season favorites to win the AFC North??? I questioned it then and I thought to myself.... the bungles? Really? The experts were picking the bungles to do something they haven't done in twenty years and that is have back to back winning seasons.

Yeah, not so much. 

The Steelers were picked third and expected to miss the playoffs.

Yeah, not so much.

What does all that have to do with Sunday's game?

Yeah, not so much. 

As much as I do love reveling in Cincinnati's ineptitude, I am still concerned that this is a trap game for Pittsburgh. We just came off a physical, emotional win and it would be easy to look past Cinci and towards the Jets. That said it looks like the Bengals have mailed it in, they believed their own press clippings and thought, "we are an elite team". Man, it's gotta hurt to fall from a ten story building like that, ouchie.

Cedric Benson is going to get stuffed all day and Carson Palmer will make a few plays and few more mistakes. Mendenhall should get going early and have a solid twenty carry day. I'm hoping Ben can get a day off and we cruise, but I don't think it's going to be a blowout.

Steelers should win a fairly low scoring game, my pick 24 -14.