Pats/Steelers Thread (1 Viewer)

[Frenchy Fuqua]

Saw this on ESPN News wire where the Pats now have their own by-line on the ticker (MLB, NFL, Patriots, NBA):

The Pats/Steelers game Sunday will be the teams third consecutive meeting in which one of the team's enters with 12 or more consecutive wins. In both prior meetings the team with the win streak lost this game:

2004 Week 8- Pats enter game with NFL record 21 game win streak and lost 34-20 to the Steelers.

2004 AFC Championship- Steelers enter game with 15 game win streak and lost 41-27 to the Pats.

So the Pats current 12 game winning streak is suprisingly low for this game!

 

[icon]

Wheee.... another Pats vs Steelers thread.

17 is never enough.

 

[Frenchy Fuqua]

Wheee.... another Pats vs Steelers thread. 17 is never enough.

You're right. Maybe I should've started a thread that everyone would be interested in discussing...like FredTV.

 

[SteelCat]

I can't wait. Steelers have a good chance if they stick to being physical on defense without letting up and their o-line shows up. +Ben doesn't throw an ill advised long pass in the final 3 minutes.

 

[AIKENS BACON]

Steelers' safety Smith guarantees Sunday win versus Patriots

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Safety Anthony Smith not only thinks the Steelers have a chance to beat the undefeated New England Patriots Sunday, he guarantees it.

"We're going to win,'' Smith said today after practice. "Yeah, I can guarantee a win.''

Smith, a hard-hitting free safety who replaced injured Ryan Clark as the starter midway through the season, said he's not worried about any motivation he might be giving the 12-0 Patriots with his words.

"Now we have our swagger back on defense and we're playing great ball and they're playing great on the offensive side, too,'' he said of the Steelers. "I think we have a real good chance to win the game and we will win the game.''

Not only that, he said while New England's receiving corps of Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth is good, it isn't as good as the one the Steelers played Sunday against the Bengals , featuring T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson and Chris Henry.

"I think we were facing great receivers last week too and we shut them down,'' Smith said. "Those three guys, I don't think it gets much better than Cincinnati's corps of receivers. We've already seen the best."

Smith added a little more lumber to the fire when he said New England's receivers haven't been hit the way they will be hit on Sunday.

"They said Baltimore was their most physical game but I think we hit harder than Baltimore, so they haven't seen nothing like us yet.

"They should be worried about us. We never worry about receivers. We're the ones doing the hitting. They have to run routes. We're attacking them, they're not really attacking us."

 

[icon]

Wheee.... another Pats vs Steelers thread. 17 is never enough.

You're right. Maybe I should've started a thread that everyone would be interested in discussing...like FredTV.

Or maybe we could have discussed the game in any of the other half dozen or so threads that already exist breaking down the Pats/Steelers game.... I'm just sayin. And if you're going to look at my profile and make fun of the last thread I started, at least get it right.

 

[Frenchy Fuqua]

Steelers' safety Smith guarantees Sunday win versus PatriotsWednesday, December 05, 2007By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteSafety Anthony Smith not only thinks the Steelers have a chance to beat the undefeated New England Patriots Sunday, he guarantees it."We're going to win,'' Smith said today after practice. "Yeah, I can guarantee a win.''Smith, a hard-hitting free safety who replaced injured Ryan Clark as the starter midway through the season, said he's not worried about any motivation he might be giving the 12-0 Patriots with his words."Now we have our swagger back on defense and we're playing great ball and they're playing great on the offensive side, too,'' he said of the Steelers. "I think we have a real good chance to win the game and we will win the game.''Not only that, he said while New England's receiving corps of Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth is good, it isn't as good as the one the Steelers played Sunday against the Bengals , featuring T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson and Chris Henry."I think we were facing great receivers last week too and we shut them down,'' Smith said. "Those three guys, I don't think it gets much better than Cincinnati's corps of receivers. We've already seen the best."Smith added a little more lumber to the fire when he said New England's receivers haven't been hit the way they will be hit on Sunday."They said Baltimore was their most physical game but I think we hit harder than Baltimore, so they haven't seen nothing like us yet."They should be worried about us. We never worry about receivers. We're the ones doing the hitting. They have to run routes. We're attacking them, they're not really attacking us."

Beautiful! No need to watch the game now.

 

[ceisenhower66]

I posted this in the thread about how Ben might fair versus the Pats. Thought some of you might be interested if you are reading this thread:

On offense, versus NE, Baltimore ran the ball very well. The Steelers have not really been running the ball all that well. Yeah, the yardage numbers look good for Parker, but he has been very ineffective. Lots of runs for negative yardage or a yard or two gain. Meanwhile, Ben is having a very good season. So what does this mean? Well, in my opinion, the Steelers have been winning in spite of their o-line woes and inconsistent running game (the reason they will not go far in the playoffs). Ben has been mostly brilliant and really is the reason the Steelers are scoring points. A team like the Jets showed how to stymie his creativity, however. They blitzed from the edges and forced Ben to stay in the pocket. The result was that the defensive NT exploited the Steelers center Mahan and got sacks. Ben could not get outside the pocket to create. Fast forward to the Steelers/Bengals game and shifting to the running game, it was clear the Steelers were going to pass in the red zone. The weather was brutal, as was the field, but Ben/Arians were set on throwing to score. And that's what they did. This wasn't an anomaly. They have been doing this all season, which is clear when you look at the number of Parker TDs vs. the number of TDs by the tight ends and Ward. Holmes usually gets the longer TDs. They are a passing team in the red zone.

Shifting to defense, Baltimore got a lot of pressure on Brady. It looked to me like the Ravens trusted their CBs in man coverage and used one or two safeties back there depending on the situation. The rest of the guys blitzed all the time. I expect the Steelers to try to do the same. Ike Taylor will probably be on Moss and need the game of his life. McFadden will probably be on Stallworth, although they may switch that if Taylor struggles. The guy that worries me for NE is Welker. I guess Townsend will cover him, but he's not as fast as Welker. That means that the safeties...Tyrone Carter, Anthony Smith, and maybe Polamalu will have to help with the pass coverage. So obviously, that doesn't leave a lot of guys to blitz, but we all know the Steelers will find a way to try to get pressure. If they don't, Brady will dissect them.

I'm rambling, so to sum this up, I expect a shootout, which does not bode well for the Steelers. Neither team is going to run the ball well. Ben is going to have to match Brady, just like Feeley tried to do. I expect Ben to put up at least 250 yards with 2-3 TDs and 2-3 INTs. He's better than Feeley and Boller, but the Pats seem to have his number. Still, him playing well and putting up big numbers is the Steelers best shot of winning.

The other option is to jump out to a 14-0 lead with two Ben TD passes like they did in the playoffs vs. Indy a few years ago. And then hope the D is stout enough to maintain the lead...while sprinkling in a lot of FWP to kill the clock.

 

[Stillers Jr.]

Wheee.... another Pats vs Steelers thread. 17 is never enough.

You're right. Maybe I should've started a thread that everyone would be interested in discussing...like FredTV.

Ha I checked and it's FrankTVLove having icon around...Love it.

 

[twitch]

I posted this in the thread about how Ben might fair versus the Pats. Thought some of you might be interested if you are reading this thread:On offense, versus NE, Baltimore ran the ball very well. The Steelers have not really been running the ball all that well. Yeah, the yardage numbers look good for Parker, but he has been very ineffective. Lots of runs for negative yardage or a yard or two gain. Meanwhile, Ben is having a very good season. So what does this mean? Well, in my opinion, the Steelers have been winning in spite of their o-line woes and inconsistent running game (the reason they will not go far in the playoffs). Ben has been mostly brilliant and really is the reason the Steelers are scoring points. A team like the Jets showed how to stymie his creativity, however. They blitzed from the edges and forced Ben to stay in the pocket. The result was that the defensive NT exploited the Steelers center Mahan and got sacks. Ben could not get outside the pocket to create. Fast forward to the Steelers/Bengals game and shifting to the running game, it was clear the Steelers were going to pass in the red zone. The weather was brutal, as was the field, but Ben/Arians were set on throwing to score. And that's what they did. This wasn't an anomaly. They have been doing this all season, which is clear when you look at the number of Parker TDs vs. the number of TDs by the tight ends and Ward. Holmes usually gets the longer TDs. They are a passing team in the red zone.Shifting to defense, Baltimore got a lot of pressure on Brady. It looked to me like the Ravens trusted their CBs in man coverage and used one or two safeties back there depending on the situation. The rest of the guys blitzed all the time. I expect the Steelers to try to do the same. Ike Taylor will probably be on Moss and need the game of his life. McFadden will probably be on Stallworth, although they may switch that if Taylor struggles. The guy that worries me for NE is Welker. I guess Townsend will cover him, but he's not as fast as Welker. That means that the safeties...Tyrone Carter, Anthony Smith, and maybe Polamalu will have to help with the pass coverage. So obviously, that doesn't leave a lot of guys to blitz, but we all know the Steelers will find a way to try to get pressure. If they don't, Brady will dissect them.I'm rambling, so to sum this up, I expect a shootout, which does not bode well for the Steelers. Neither team is going to run the ball well. Ben is going to have to match Brady, just like Feeley tried to do. I expect Ben to put up at least 250 yards with 2-3 TDs and 2-3 INTs. He's better than Feeley and Boller, but the Pats seem to have his number. Still, him playing well and putting up big numbers is the Steelers best shot of winning.The other option is to jump out to a 14-0 lead with two Ben TD passes like they did in the playoffs vs. Indy a few years ago. And then hope the D is stout enough to maintain the lead...while sprinkling in a lot of FWP to kill the clock.

rock solid, take. for a Pittsburgh fan.

 

[ceisenhower66]

Haha, thanks. My post reeked of didn't it?

I haven't made up my mind on a prediction. I am thinking Pats 31, Steelers 27 right now...unfortunately...

 

[twitch]

Haha, thanks. My post reeked of didn't it?I haven't made up my mind on a prediction. I am thinking Pats 31, Steelers 27 right now...unfortunately...

Im guaranteeing a win! By one of these 2 teams.

 

[Frenchy Fuqua]

Actually Ben fared pretty well against the Pats his ROOKIE year.

In two games:

32/48 (67% completions)

422 yards

8.8 YPA

4/3 TD/INT

96 QB Rating

 

[bumpman]

Holmes put in a full practice today.

"Starters return

All three starters who missed the past two games with injuries returned to practice yesterday.

Offensive tackle Marvel Smith (back), strong safety Troy Polamalu (knee) and wide receiver Santonio Holmes (ankle) put in a full practice and should start Sunday."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07340/839592-66.stm

 

[Davej626]

Well, no matter what the final scores is, a couple of things will happen:

1) Losing team will be upset about something. Whether its the refs, or "The Play", or something it will be discussed in depth on Monday.

2) Winning team will hold its head up high, but losing team is still going to the playoffs. If nothing else, this could be a preview of the AFC Championship game. How many times will we hear that?

3) BB will come out as the next mass murderer either way. Tomlin will look like a genius. Doesn't matter who wins/loses on this one...

 

[Ghost Rider]

My pick: NE wins by a score of 31-14.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Anthony Smith should be shot by Tomlin. As it would seem that the fire from the Jets/Spygate seems to have died down some in recent weeks, now Smith by spouting his mouth off just added gasoline to the smoldering fire. I was hoping with Porter gone that the Steelers would lay-low on the smacktalk but I guess there's always one fool to fill those shoes.

Pats 34 Steelers 17.

 

[Copeman]

Anthony Smith should be shot by Tomlin. As it would seem that the fire from the Jets/Spygate seems to have died down some in recent weeks, now Smith by spouting his mouth off just added gasoline to the smoldering fire. I was hoping with Porter gone that the Steelers would lay-low on the smacktalk but I guess there's always one fool to fill those shoes.Pats 34 Steelers 17.

It is football. What's wrong with smack talk? He didn't dis-respect the Patriots in anyway. If anything, he showed the confidence he has in his own team. Steelers 23Patriots 20Lat minute drive, Brady will lead his team down the filed as usual, and throw a perfect pass to Moss, where upon Anthony Smith will layeth the smack down on ol Randy. Randy will lie there for a bit, get up, and the camera will pan on Brady where he will be whining as usual.Just my opinion......

 

[twitch]

Here's a pretty intereting read from the Piitsburgh Tribune-Review.

Steelers deny Patriots mystique

 

[parrot]

One thing I notice in looking at the Steelers schedule is that they haven't played a lot of quality defenses. They played one top 10 defense, Baltimore and admittedly shredded them in memorable fashion. But after that their schedule is full of teams that range from really mediocre to downright bad. The next best defense statistically is Seattle at 13.

Here's their schedule and the rank of the opposing defense at this point;

@CLE 32

BUF 30

SF 23

@ARI 14

SEA 13

@DEN 27

@CIN 29

BAL 6

CLE 32

@NYJ 25

MIA 16

CIN 29

IThis may not mean anything come Sunday, but I think it's notable anyway. They've had some big days but I think partially the jury is still out on that offense.

 

[Bad_Mo]

Last minute drive, Brady will lead his team down the filed as usual, and throw a perfect pass to Moss, where upon Anthony Smith will layeth the smack down and get torched by on ol Randy. Randy will do his open-the-curtains TD celebration manuever lie there for a bit, get up, and the camera will pan on Brady where he will be whinning as usual.

Just my opinion......

Fixed.

 

[Copeman]

Last minute drive, Brady will lead his team down the filed as usual, and throw a perfect pass to Moss, where upon Anthony Smith will layeth the smack down and get torched by on ol Randy. Randy will do his open-the-curtains TD celebration manuever lie there for a bit, get up, and the camera will pan on Brady where he will be whinning as usual.

Just my opinion......

Fixed.

Either way, I hope it's an entertaining game.

 

[oneohh]

As generic as this may sound, this game is going to come down to execution. The pats are a great team and the one thing they do better than anyone in football is they don't beat themselves. An opposing team pretty much has to play the perfect game right now to beat the pats. When the pats want to win there is not a lot you can do about it. They gameplan probably better than anyone; their QB is as good as it gets. They don't really take chances in the secondary and they run the ball just enough and in such a way that it keeps teams honest. That said the steelers are a phyiscal team on both sides of the ball. I personally believe they are a better team when they are running the ball first but Ben wants to pass and Tomlin seems to be obliging. They are going to have to be a bit more balanced to win this game. It can be done but it will certainly take some big plays.

 

[mozzy84]

Pitts will be lucky to cover the spread.

 

[icon]

NE 214

PIT 3

Interceptiberger is decapitated by Harrison after being flushed out of the pocket in the 2nd quarter..... after starting the game 2 for 14 wtih 6 INTs (4 returned for TDs) and 2 FL

Willie Parker goes 16 for 19 Yards and 4 FL

 

[Alias]

The best team the Steelers have played this season is Seattle and they beat them 21-0 while losing to the Cardinals, Jets, and getting blown out by the Broncos until late in the game.

Meanwhile the Patriots had to face the Chargers, Colts and Cowboys and beat them by a combined score of 110-61.

Stillers are overrated.

37 Pats

21 Stillers

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Here's a pretty intereting read from the Piitsburgh Tribune-Review.

Steelers deny Patriots mystique

Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in the 2001 AFC Championship Game. The Patriots were up, 4-0, in takeaway/giveaway and won, 24-17.

The 2001 game also is infamous from the Steelers' perspective because of a punt returned for a touchdown and a blocked field goal returned for a TD by New England.

I still get pissed off thinking about that game, and we're near 6 years past now.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Steelers' safety Smith guarantees Sunday win versus PatriotsWednesday, December 05, 2007By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteSafety Anthony Smith not only thinks the Steelers have a chance to beat the undefeated New England Patriots Sunday, he guarantees it."We're going to win,'' Smith said today after practice. "Yeah, I can guarantee a win.''Smith, a hard-hitting free safety who replaced injured Ryan Clark as the starter midway through the season, said he's not worried about any motivation he might be giving the 12-0 Patriots with his words."Now we have our swagger back on defense and we're playing great ball and they're playing great on the offensive side, too,'' he said of the Steelers. "I think we have a real good chance to win the game and we will win the game.''Not only that, he said while New England's receiving corps of Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth is good, it isn't as good as the one the Steelers played Sunday against the Bengals , featuring T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson and Chris Henry."I think we were facing great receivers last week too and we shut them down,'' Smith said. "Those three guys, I don't think it gets much better than Cincinnati's corps of receivers. We've already seen the best."Smith added a little more lumber to the fire when he said New England's receivers haven't been hit the way they will be hit on Sunday."They said Baltimore was their most physical game but I think we hit harder than Baltimore, so they haven't seen nothing like us yet."They should be worried about us. We never worry about receivers. We're the ones doing the hitting. They have to run routes. We're attacking them, they're not really attacking us."

Random thought from Assani...If I were a pro athlete and on a very good team like the Pats, just to be funny I'd come out and guarantee victory before we played the real bad teams like the Dolphins and Jets.