Steelers Keys to Victory vs. Jets

Ah the beauty of the NFL Playoffs.  Where heroes are scripted and "good" coaches become legends in NFL lore.  If the Steelers win, they have a chance to create space between the rest of the league with a seventh Super Bowl title (not that the Cowboys or 49ers are close to winning their sixth any time soon).  However, if the Jets win, they would go down as one of the most memorable and awe-inspiring stories of all time.  From HBO's Hard Knocks, to Darrelle Revis's holdout, to Rex Ryan's mouth during the playoffs.  And Rex Ryan is the author of the story.  He had the perfect gameplan against Peyton Manning and soon-to-be league MVP Tom Brady.
The Steelers are the more talented team in this matchup, but Coach Ryan will have a solid gameplan.  Regardless, here are the keys to the Steelers winning this weekend:

Score first
 The Steelers proved last week they could come back at halftime and  win against a good defense.  Scoring first, however, will force the Jets to use more of 2nd year quarterback Mark Sanchez instead of the running game.  The experts have been talking up Sanchez's play in this post-season, yet he ranks 7th in both completion percentage (60.7) and passer rating (91.6).  Not to mention, he's posted those numbers against weak pass defenses in Indianapolis (13th) and New England (30th).  If the Steelers go up by two scores, it will play into the hands of the defense.  The Jets MUST remain balanced on offense to beat the Steelers.

Prevent the Big Play on Special Teams
In Week 15, the Steelers lost 22-17 at home to the Jets.  Yes, Polamalu was missing.  But the defense only gave up 13 points.  Yes, Heath Miller was missing.  Yet the offense put up 378 total yards.  The game was won and lost on Brad Smith's opening kickoff return for a touchdown.  An easy 7 points to start the game allowed the Jets to run effectively and create short pass plays for Sanchez.  The kickoff coverage MUST not let Brad Smith reach the end zone.

Get to Sanchez Early and Often
Sanchez was only sacked once and hit twice in the first matchup between these two teams this year.  This time around, the Steelers will have Troy Polamalu which will allow Defensive Coordinator Dick Lebeau to blitz more.  With Harrison coming off a three sack game against the Ravens, he could be the fire starter on this defense.  The more they hit Sanchez, the louder the crowd gets and the more rattled Sanchez can get.  Make no mistake, Mark Sanchez can easily get rattled.  Many compare him to Ben Roethlisberger, but I compare him more to Joe Flacco.  When things are going well, Sanchez looks good.  But when things look bleak, he has a tendency to get nervous and make bad passes.  A couple of hits and an early turnover could put the Steelers over the top.


As for the other game:

Packers 23 Bears 21   
      

RAVENS VS STEELERS ROUND III

The rubber match between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers aims to be THE playoff game of the year and, in some regards, bigger than the Super Bowl. OK, I wont go that far but nevertheless, it is the most intriguing game of the weekend.  The Ravens defeated the Steelers in Week 4 of the regular season when Joe Flacco through a perfect strike to the back of the endzone to TJ Houshmandzadeh with 37 seconds to go.

 

The Steelers returned the favor with late game heroics of their own.  Troy Polamalu had a strip sack which resulted in Pittsburgh's game winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give the Steelers the AFC North Championship.  Since every sports writer in the country has been saying how even both teams are, given the point totals for the last 5 meetings, I figured I would break the two teams down by position.

Quarterback

Big Ben Roethlisberger has not lost to the Ravens as a starter in the past 3 seasons and he is a two time Super Bowl winning quarterback.  Every time the Ravens appear to have him trapped, he seems to break away and make a big play (just ask Terrell Suggs and Trevor Pryce).  Joe Flacco has been Mr. Cool as the season has progressed and he looks to be the guy to break Baltimore out of their slump with Pittsburgh.  He has the capabilities of leading his team to a late victory as mentioned earlier with the Week 4 touchdown.  However, until he defeats the Steelers in a big game with Roethlisberger and Polamalu healthy, he falls in second place in the division.

Advantage: Steelers

Running Back

Ray Rice is the better of the two running backs and he is utilized WAY more than Mendenhall is with the Steelers.  Rice totaled over 1300 rushing yards and over 60 catches this season and the Ravens look to go to him early and often.  His ability to make guys miss in the open field is probably Pittsburgh's biggest concern.  Rice can turn a 4 yard dump off into a 60 yard touchdown in the blink of an eye.  The Steelers have a bigger back with the same pass catching abilities, however they appear to use Ike Redman on short yardage and Mewelde Moore on third down.  The Steelers ability to contain Rice could be the difference between winning and going home.

Advantage: Ravens

Receivers 

This one is a wash, in my opinion.  Take your pick between raw speed and talent (Steelers) and quick, precise route running (Ravens).  Anquan Boldin and Derrick Mason play well against the Steelers shaky defensive backs.  However, the Ravens lack a player that can stretch the field.  On the other hand, the Steelers have Mike Wallace who is literally too fast to cover 1 on 1. If the Baltimore secondary gets caught sleeping, Wallace can put 6 on the board in a hurry.  Rookies Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown are also extremely quick and their biggest issue appears to be remembering the routes.

As for the tight ends I have to give the edge to Heath Miller.  I realize Todd Heap had an excellent game last week but the Steelers could mark him with Lawrence Timmons who has the speed to keep up in coverage.  Miller is just starting to come around and he could be the redzone threat the Steelers were missing most of the season.

Advantage: Steelers by a hair.

Offensive Line

The Ravens have the better O-Line, overall.  However, look for the Steelers line to be a little improved with a full two weeks to practice and a chance to develop chemistry.  Also, look for Michael Oher to jump a little early on the snap.  The loud crowd of Heinz Field could cause a few false starts for "Blind side".  

Advantage: Ravens

Defensive Line

Haloti Ngata and Kelly Gregg are constantly a thorn in the side of Ben Roethlisberger.  The Ravens have the healthier line but the Steelers are impenetrable against the run with Casey Hampton at Nose Tackle.  Ziggy Hood has been a pleasant surprise, filling in for Aaron Smith while Keisel will probably healthier tomorrow than he has all year.  Still, Ngata is as close to a 300 pound version of Polamalu as you can get.  He could make the big play in tomorrow's game.

Advantage: Ravens

Linebackers

Six or seven years ago I would have to give this to the Ravens because of big number 52 in the middle.  But we are in the year 2011 and Ray Ray is getting long in the tooth.  Big mouth Terrell Suggs is the best linebacker on this team now and he has given Ben plenty of fits.  But the Steelers have playmakers at middle linebacker and game-changers on the outside.  Former Defensive MVP James Harrison is actually overshadowed by his teammate Lamarr Woodley in the playoffs.  Yes, Harrison's 100 yard interception return was one of the greatest plays in NFL history.  Yet, Lamarr Woodley has been more consistent.  He boasts 2 sacks in each of the 4 playoff games he's played in thus far. He could blow up Joe Flacco on any given play.  Nevertheless, Harrison could be rejuvenated with a week off from playing after battling back spasms throughout the season.

Advantage: Steelers

Secondary

Despite popular belief, Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu are NOT on the same level heading into this game.  Reed may have 8 interceptions this year, but Polamalu is younger and faces far less distractions. Reed has to be a little emotionally unstable since it was a week ago his brother had jumped into the Mississippi River, never to be found.  Family tragedy aside, the Ravens are extremely weak at corner and while the Steelers do not appear to fair much better, Ike Taylor has been the most consistent out of any player on either team this season.  Polamalu has been the biggest nightmare for Flacco in his early career and it could be another big play from the long-haired warrior that could send the Steelers into the AFC Championship game.  

Advantage: Steelers

Special Teams

In a game that could easily come down to 3 points, the kickers could prove to be a huge advantage for either team.  Unlike Shaun Suisham, Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff has the leg to put the ball through the endzone on every other kickoff.  With the Steelers having sub-par kickoff coverage, the Ravens could start their offense on the 40 yard line while the Steelers could start on their own 20.  In a tough defensive battle, this could be a huge advantage for the Ravens.  It will be interesting to see how the Steelers decide to kickoff to the Ravens.

Advantage: Ravens             

Intangibles

The Steelers biggest intangible will be the home crowd which could feed energy to the team on every play.  The Ravens are trying to rally and win another Super Bowl for future Hall of Fame player Ray Lewis.  But I do not see the same defense I saw in 2000 and I believe Joe Flacco can get rattled easily when things go south on the road.  

I wont make a prediction on this game since I went 1-3 last week.  But I will make predictions for the other contests going on in the Division Round of the playoffs:

Packers 27 Falcons 17

Bears 34 Seahawks 14

Patriots 42321 Jets 13   

OK, so maybe I'm off on that last one, but I dont think it will be by much.


Lose your voice tomorrow

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2011 NFL Playoff Picks: Wildcard

Check out the link at the bottom for my playoff picks.


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First Post/Pittsburgh Sports Resolutions

So this is it!

The first post on what hopes to be a very long and lasting blog.  My name is Jon Pennline and I am using this blog to report interesting sports stories that mainly have to deal with Pittsburgh athletics, particularly professional sports.  I have been a Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins and Pirates fan my whole life and have been actively involved in sports since I was four years old.  Without further ado, I would like to get to the topic at hand for this evening.


New Year's Resolutions for the Pittsburgh franchises

The Steelers have not only rebounded from a disappointing 2009 campaign, they shocked the NFL nation by going 12-4 en route to a two seed in the AFC Conference and a first round bye.  The Steelers did all of this despite Ben Roethlisberger missing the first four games of the regular season due to suspension and the distractions surrounding the legality of James Harrison's tackles.  Nevertheless, Pittsburgh fans measure success by Lombardi trophies, not regular season accolades.  The first resolution by the Steelers will be to win a seventh Super Bowl.

The only true flaws on this team are in their secondary (minus Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor) and their offensive line.  Although the total defense was ranked 2nd in 2010, the passing defense was 12th which included games against the likes of rookies Colt McCoy (twice) and Jimmy Clausen.  Against New England, they allowed 350 yards and 3 touchdowns at home.  A draft priority and second resolution for this team is to draft a solid cover corner to rejuvenate a weak secondary which could get weaker if Ike Taylor leaves for free agency.  The Steelers will likely look after the first round.

The offensive line has looked horrendous at some instances, and decent in others.  Everyone was so quick to point out how bad the O-line has been this year but let's take a look at the stats:

Rashard Mendenhall rushed for nearly 1300 yards and 13 touchdowns this year.

Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 42 times, which ranked eighth in the league.  Although that number appears to be high, we must take into account that Ben has a tendency to hold onto the ball too long which results in some of those sacks.  Nevertheless, the steelers will look to a draft class stocked full of offensive linemen to improve even further.  Many are thinking Maurkice's brother Mike Pouncey out of Florida.  However, after his play in the Outback Bowl, it appears Mike Pouncey could be moved up to a top 15 pick.


As of right now, the Pittsburgh Penguins are first in the Eastern Conference with 56 points and second in the NHL behind the Vancouver Canucks (57).  After a slow start to the season, the Penguins rebounded with strong play in net from Marc Andre Fleury and a 25 game point streak with Sidney Crosby.  The offseason signings of Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek have contributed greatly in shutting down some of the NHL's top scorers.  Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin, in two games against Pittsburgh, has zero points and is a -1.  After a disappointing loss to the Capitals in the Winter Classic, the Pens rallied to methodically destroy the Tampa Bay Lightning 8-1.

The Penguins New Years resolution is simple in thought and extremely difficult in practice:

Win the Stanley Cup

The Penguins addressed their 2009 Cup run problems in the offseason by beefing up their defense.  With their star forwards Crosby, Malkin and Staal (not to mention solid third-line play from Mark Letestu, Chris Conner and Max Talbot) should provide maybe the most complete team out of the East.  With Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Kunitz and all seven defensemen locked up through next season, the Penguins really wont lose a whole lot after the 2010-2011 campaign either. 




Oh boy, where do we start? The Pittsburgh Pirates came off an abysmal 2010 season with a final record of 57-105 extending the streak to 18 straight years of losing seasons.  However, as the saying goes, "It's always darkest before the dawn."  The Pirates brought up young outfielder Jose Tabata (21), third basman Pedro Alvarez (23) and second baseman Neil Walker (25).  The three rookies played well down the stretch but the biggest issue was pitching and defense.  The Pirates had the highest ERA in the league at 5.00 and the 27th ranked defense with a .979 fielding percentage.

For the third straight year however, the Pirates were among the top 3 in money spent on draft prospects and there is hope for talented young arms now that first round pick Jameson Taillon, second round pick Stetson Allie, and mexican phenom Luis Heredia have all been signed.  The New Year's resolutions for the Pirates will be to continue to develop their young core of players (Alvarez, McCutchen, Tabata and Walker) while continuing to build their team through the draft.  With the first pick in the draft this year, expect the Pirates to go after Rice third basemen Anthony Rendon.  His bat and slightly better defense will inevitably move Alvarez to first which gives the Pirates true power on the corners.  Of course, the biggest issue will be holding on to all of these players (which they will not be able financially) however,  that is a bridge we will cross once we get to it. 


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