Month: February 2006 (Page 11 of 14)

For as out of sync as the Steelers looked in the first half, Bill Cowher and his team made some excellent adjustments after halftime. Darrell Jackson ran wild through the secondary during the first quarter and had a TD called back on a penalty. They couldn’t break a big play offensively and the running game was stagnant. Most importantly, they weren’t getting any pressure on Matt Hasselbeck.

So what happens during the second half? Jackson is held without a catch, Parker breaks the long run and Randle El hooks up with Hines Ward, and Hasselbeck suddenly finds himself under fire. Game over.

Great teams don’t have to win the first half as long as they figure out how to win the second half. The Steelers just happened to do both tonight.

At least it seemed that way to me.

Take Darrell Jackson’s 16-yard touchdown grab at the end of the first quarter that was called back for offensive pass interference. Sure, he pushed off, but the Pittsburgh defender made contact first, and Jackson’s push off was more of a love tap. That call is rarely made.

Or how about the Hasselbeck to Stevens pass down to the Steeler two that was called back on a very questionable holding call? Seattle was in position to punch it in to go ahead 17-14, but instead the Steelers took over on Ike Taylor’s interception three plays later. And how about that unnecessary roughness call on Hasselbeck when he tackled Taylor on the interception return? That’s an easy 15 yards, setting up the game changing touchdown from Antwaan Randle El to Hines Ward.

It seemed like everytime the Steelers needed some help, the refs were there.

JP already detailed Joey Porter’s pointless ranting on this site, but after all the gum-flappin’ Porter did this week, he only had three tackles and hardly saw any screen time. In fact, the most we saw of him was during the pre-game, when they showed him walking around the field, t-shirt rolled up in an apparent attempt to show off just how many crunches he does every day, hollerin’ at what looked to be nobody in particular.

Guys like Porter are so easy to root against. I don’t care what team you play for: If all you want to do is pull focus from the game and onto yourself, you’re a waste of my time as a fan. I want to hear about the game, not about how pissed off you are that Jerramy Stevens said his team was going to beat your team. I want to watch the game, not you celebrating and jawin’ away every time you make a routine tackle.

The worst part about seeing someone like Porter or Terrell Owens or Shannon Sharpe win is they talk even more. Even as a Browns fan, I can admit that it’s cool to see someone like Bettis cap off his career so perfectly. But “Me!” guys like Joey Porter? I prefer to see them on the losing side of things.

Hines Ward caught five passes for 123 yards and the game changing touchdown. Other than “Fast” Willie Parker’s 75-yard run, no other skill players for the Steelers showed up to play. QB Ben Roethlisberger had an awful game, completing only nine passes for 123 yards and two interceptions. Jerome Bettis, for all the hype, had only 43 yards on 14 carries. But the Steelers are a team and that’s why they won the game. And Hines Ward is the best player on that team.

Ward made a couple of great catches – one was a shoestring grab that kept a Pittsburgh drive alive. Another put the Steelers in position to score the go ahead touchdown at the end of the first half. He is Pittsburgh’s MVP, without a doubt.

I don’t mean to paraphrase myself but I wrote the following in a previous post.

Everyone thinks that it is RB Shaun Alexander that makes the Seahawks go. But Seattle’s passing game is so important, especially against a stout rush defense like Pittsburgh. Seattle will not win if Hasselbeck doesn’t play well, and the quarterback from the other team isn’t in quite the same situation. Ben Roethlisberger can play poorly and the Steelers, with their outstanding running game and defense, can still get a win. Seattle’s offense is their strength and the pressure is really on Hasselbeck to play well.

Roethlisberger’s line: 9/21, 123 yards, 2 INTs

Ugh.

Hasselbeck’s line: 26/49, 273 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

But it’s that last stat that turned the game. With the Steelers leading 14-10, and the momentum definitely in Seattle’s favor, the Seahawks had a third-and-18 on Pittsburgh’s 27-yard line. Hasselbeck overshot his receiver and Ike Taylor intercepted the ball. Had he just thrown the ball away, Seattle would have had a chance at another field goal to pull within one. (Keep in mind that the Seahawks were only in this position because of a very questionable holding call three plays earlier on a pass to Jerramy Stevens that would have given the ball to Seattle inside the two yard line.)

After a horrible unnecessary roughness penalty on Hasselbeck’s tackle of Taylor on the interception return, Pittsburgh took over near midfield and eventually scored on the gadget play from Antwan Randle El to Hines Ward, which put them ahead to stay, 21-10.

Hasselbeck had to play perfect and he didn’t – Steelers win.