Steel Balls

What do you think of the Steelers’ picks today? Is there anyone you wish they had picked up? Anyone you wish they had not drafted? Anyone who you knew they wouldn’t, that you believe will be a good pro?

Put it down in the comments. This will make for an interesting look back conversation in a year.

0

These are some of the best things about the 2013 season:

• Big Ben and Troy Polamalu both played 16 full, healthy games and were as impactful as ever in their careers.
• Antonio Brown proved he is worthy of his contract.
• Le’Veon Bell showed why he was an excellent draft choice.
• The offensive line finally got it together and played credibly.
• Several players emerged into playmakers, including Cameron Heyward and Jason Worilds.
• The coaching staff, front office, and players remained focused and never gave up despite the dismal start. Indeed, they only grew stronger.
• Todd Haley and Ben seem to be on to something.
• Ben and Antonio are proving to be as good a tandem as any in recent memory, with the kind of chemistry we used to see with Ben and Hines.

Some other things for which I am grateful:

• Every game was meaningful and the Steeler season relevance extended, ever so briefly, beyond their final game.
• Although finishing at 8-8, I feel much better about this season. The 2012 edition ended in futility, while the 2013 edition ended with three credible wins.
• It wasn’t the Steelers’ kicker in a Steelers game who failed to kick a routine field goal in ideal conditions and thereby ending the Steelers season. That would have been much worse.
• The Ravens not only went from champions to a team missing the playoffs, but actually completely fell apart to end their season, finishing with two dismal losses and a raft of questions on both sides of the ball.
• The Ravens finished in third place, behind the Steelers, but the Steelers will get a better draft position.
• The Ravens are stuck with a ridiculous contract for an above average quarterback who reverted to his more mediocre self.
• Ray Rice seems to have lost it.
• The Browns are still the Browns – yet another coaching change is on the way.
• I don’t know what Goodell will do about the threatened draft penalty (but given the Ravens shooting themselves in the foot, plus the egregious failure of the league’s officiating forcing the Steelers out of the playoffs, there should be no penalty), however the Steelers should be in position to have a lot of decent picks from the upcoming draft.
• The Beard went out strong with a couple of excellent games (assuming he doesn’t come back).
• The team has evolved from the immaturity and selfishness that had become more common the past couple of years.
• We have a good group here at Steel Balls.

What did you think was the best thing emerging from this season? Vote below. If you have other items to add, please post a comment.

[poll id=”14″]

+1

No, I don’t mean this perverted drug-addled gasbag to the left. Rather, I was startled to learn from an article at ESPN that the Ray Rice Ravens have been a worse rushing team than the Steelers so far this season. Newly minted Steelers rusher Le’Veon Bell has a paltry average of only 2.8 yards, but that is exactly the same average of both Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce. Bell at least has the excuse of being a green rook with only a couple of partial games under his belt. As the chart shows, the Ravens overall yards per rush is actually worse than the Steelers, and that’s saying something.

+10

“Watch God work! What the devil meant for evil God will turn it around. The fight for right has just began. Stay tuned.”

Link: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/11/deion-sanders-is-fired-by-deion-sanders-school/

Ok, this is the part where I get up on my soap box and piss some of you off and then send Jason “Chico and The Man” off on a rant.

Whether you are religious or not, and I am, you have to see the absolute hypocrisy, not to mention douchebaggery, in trying to use the “God is on my side” Defense for any episode for which you are criticized, much less one for which you are being investigated criminally and have been fired for.

What you are basically saying is, “I don’t have a salient argument to defend what I have done, so I am going to tell you that you are wrong and that I don’t have to listen to you because I believe that what I did was right. Further, since you disagree with me, you are a part of the problem. I will disregard what you have to say and do everything in my power to render your views completely irrelevant. Because, while they might make sense if I actually stopped to consider them, they also contradict my own views and I’m too small minded to consider the possibility that I could be wrong.”

This one situation is a microcosm of what is wrong with our society right now. From a political and social standpoint, we figuratively run around with our fingers in our ears yelling, “Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, I’m not listening to you!” anytime someone says something we disagree with.  This doesn’t even touch on the fact that most religious people don’t try to hide behind their religion when they’ve acted badly because they know it’s hypocritical and sends the wrong message to people who are inherently distrustful and intolerant of organized religion.

And I also posted it just because Deion Sanders is a F%^king Jagoff.

+6

It’s easy to rip on Romo. Lord knows, any good Steelers fan despises anything having to do with the Dallas Cowboys. But in the wake of Romo’s recent epic game and epic choke, the point was made that Romo never comes through in the clutch. The statistics seem to show otherwise, and I’d enjoy hearing arguments on this question.

Ben started his career with an unbelievable run, including five 4th quarter comebacks (4QC) and six game winning drives (GWD). He’s also had many amazing comebacks and drives since then, including many postseason stunners. But what has he done lately? In 2011 he had one 4QC and 1 GWD. Last year he had two 4QD and three GWD. So far this year, of course, he’s on a pace for zero and zero. (Roethlisberger GWDs)

In 2011, Romo had four 4QC and four GWD. Last year he had five of each. (Romo GWDs)

Maybe two years don’t make a trend, but in a league that craves instant gratification, the trend cannot be ignored.

Certainly the ability of the QB to mount heroic drives is not on the QB alone. He needs to have reliable targets who get open and go after the pass, and he needs to have at least a modicum of blocking assistance. Even so, as Ben would be the first to admit, he’s got to find a way to engineer 4th quarter drives without all the fumbles, picks, and overthrows we’ve been witnessing for the past couple of years.

Would I take Romo over Roethlisberger? No way, absolutely not. I know Ben can do it and hope he will get the mojo back. But if you look at the stats alone, he seems to have hit a ceiling.

Now, where did I put that asbestos suit?

Romo vs Roethlisberger

+3