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[wolimammoth]

Another Week, Another Dissapointment

The Steelers dropped a crucial game today versus the Seattle Seahawks. They lost to the Seahawks 30-39 after leading the game until the fourth quarter. Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson showed the struggling Pittsburgh defense a rough time with 5 touchdown passes, setting a personal record for Wilson. For most of the season, the Seahawks are known as the team that broke down during the fourth quarter. Today, the Steelers were the ones that broke down and the Seahawks found a final burst of energy. In the final 8 minutes of the game, Wilson threw 2 touchdown passes to receiver Doug Baldwin to first take then seal the lead against the Steelers. Wilson celebrated his 27th birthday today, and also was extremely ill prior to the game. During the course of the game, Wilson managed find the time to take 3 IVs, which he needed to continue to perform.

Roethlisberger, on the other hand, did not perform in the fourth quarter. Although he put together his best passing outing ever against the Seahawks, he threw 2 interceptions in the fourth quarter (which killed my fantasy team this week) that led to the Seahawks victory. Big Ben has been showing his age in his 10th season as the Steelers quarterback, first with injuries and now with a pattern of inaccuracy late in the game.

In the second quarter, the Steelers stupidly tried a weird fake punt, which ended up in an interception. Steelers fans and announcers alike were astounded at the play call which cost the Steelers a touchdown and probably the game.

Next week, the Steelers face off against the Indianapolis Colts, who are 6-5 just like the Steelers. The Colts lead the AFC Southern Division and the Steelers are still holding on at 2nd in the AFT North Division. The Steelers are in the mix of multiple other teams for the wild card spot, and desperately need a win next week to continue to have a chance at the wild card.

[wolimammoth]

Bye Week // Dab

Its week 11 in the NFL, making it bye week for the Pittsburgh Steelers. With a new defensive coach for the 2015 season, not many people had high expectations for the steelers defense. However, the new coach, Keith Butler, has proved everyone wrong and built an above average defense with a 2014 shattered steel curtain. As apposed to the sub average defense of last season, the Steelers defense is ranked 5th in the league for sacks and are ranked in the top 10 to 15 for most other categories. They aren’t the best, but they are doing their best with what they have. The former steel curtain is made up of soft aluminum, so the new strategy is to bend, not break. The steel curtain was finally broken in the 2014 season with big names retiring, like Troy Polamalu, and Brett Keisel, and season ending injuries. Butler did an outstanding job of rebuilding it during the offseason.

Since its bye week, I decided to pick the best game (in my opinion) to report on. Cam Newton brought the Carolina Panthers from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the best. The Panthers moved to 10-0 today with a strong win over the Washington Redskins. Newton threw for a career high 5 touchdown passes in a 44-16 win. He performed his now famous “dab” dance after running for a first down himself in the third quarter. However, this week, the focus of the media was much more on his passing than his dancing. He brought the dance from Atlanta to the American public after rushing for a touchdown two weeks ago and rightfully dancing in the end zone for 30 some seconds. Surprisingly, not a single player was injured in the Panthers vs Redskins game today.

Hopefully, next week, we can see some more “dabbing” and a Steelers win against the 5-5 Seahawks.

[wolimammoth]

The Browns are still terrible :)

The age old Steelers- Browns rivalry, where the Browns cannot seem to win more than one game against the Steelers in a decade, continued this Sunday with a 30-9 Steelers win.  Ben Roethlisberger came off the bench from his foot injury after the 3rd string quarterback, Landry Jones, was injured, and instead of being rusty, he performed outstandingly. He threw for more than 375 yards.A As usual, the Steelers defensive line tore through the Browns offensive line again and again and gave Johnny Manziel a tough time. He was only able to find the end zone once late in the fourth quarter after being picked off in the end zone my Steelers safety Mike Mitchell.   Roethlisberger has not lost to the Browns at home in his entire 10 year career. 

Even though he was often double covered, Antonio Brown managed to gain 140 receiving yards over 10 receptions. The game was pretty much over at halftime, when Roethlisberger increased his lead to 18 points 21-3 with a fade pass to Martavis Bryant in the end zone.

The Steelers have moved to 6-4, and 4-2 at home, putting them in second place in the AFC North behind the Cincinnati Bengals who are 8-1. This puts them in a good place for playoff contention as a strong wildcard. As of right now, the Steelers have about a 70% chance of making the playoffs this season. It would be very disappointing for the team not to make it to the playoffs as it may be signaling the end of an era of amazing Steelers football with frequent Super Bowl appearances. I still have hope for the Steelers. They aren’t the best team in the league by far, but they still have a shot at making a nicely sized dent in the playoffs. Just like the Pirates two months ago, theres nothing anyone can do but sit, watch, and wait.

[wolimammoth]

A thrilling victory with a large disappointment.

To start the week, I found out for sure that Steelers’ star running back (and my top fantasy football pick player), Le’Veon Bell was sidelined for the remainder of the 2015-2016 season with his knee injury. The Steelers have continued to play above average football despite injuries riddling their 1st and 2nd string lineups. 

Today, the Steelers snuck past the Oakland Raiders with a thrilling 38-35 win that ended with a game winning field goal with seconds remaining on the clock. With 2 seconds remaining, Chris Boswell made a strong 18-yard field goal. The Raiders took an early 7-3 lead with a beautiful long pass to Michael Crabtree for a touchdown. From then on, the Steelers and Raiders traded touchdown for touchdown, with very few turnovers, until late in the fourth quarter when the Steelers won with their field goal.

Sadly, Ben Roethlisberger, who had just returned from a knee injury, was forced to leave the game with an injury to his left foot. His MRI results have not yet been reported. Because of this injury, the Steelers had to again rely heavily on 3rd string quarterback, Landry Jones (Vick is still out from his injury). Also, without Bell to serve as an easy yard machine, the Steelers had to put the ball in the air much more often. They relied heavily on the Roethlisberger/Jones passing connection with wide receiver Antonio Brown, who had an amazing game with 17 receptions which included a 57-yard run to set up the game-winning field goal.

The Steelers are already missing three key starting players, and if Roethlisberger’s injury is severe, the Steelers might finally keel over from all the wounds. Jones will now have even bigger shoes to fill, since he cannot just hand the ball off to Bell every other play. These next few weeks will test the strength of the Steelers 2nd string line. 

[wolimammoth]

Oh no :(

Today was not a good day for the Steelers (or my fantasy football team). In the 10-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers lost their star running back, Le’Veon Bell, to a severe knee injury. In the 2nd quarter, Bell was carted off the field after being unable to put any weight on his right leg after a play. The Steelers have not released any further information regarding the severity of Bell’s injury, but he will most likely miss at least 2 games. The injury could potentially sideline Bell for the remainder of the season. Coach Mike Tomlin did not seem optimistic about Bell’s injury during his post game interview. Michael Vick remained on the injured list this week after suffering an injury two weeks ago.

Bell’s injury early in the game was coupled with a shaky return by Ben Roethlisberger, and resulted in a loss in a game that should have been a relatively easy win. The Bengals scored a late 4th quarter touchdown to take the lead. Ben Roethlisberger threw two interceptions in the 4th quarter, preventing the Steelers from scoring again. The Steelers were in good field position to boost their lead to 13-9 with a field goal. However, the Bengals were able to intercept Roethlisberger and run down the field into their red-zone. The Bengals were then easily able to take the lead with a 10-yard touchdown pass.

The Bengals have moved to 7-0 for the first time in their franchise history, and the Steelers have moved to a measly 4-4. This game ended the Bengals 3 year losing streak to the Steelers. If the Steelers lose Bell for more than a game or two, the playoffs may not be reachable for the team. The Roethlisberger and Steel Curtain dynasty may be over, and it is very disappointing to realize. Hopefully the Steelers can turn this mediocre season into something special.

[wolimammoth]

Mildly Disappointing

Earlier today, the Kansas City Chiefs snapped their 5-game losing streak by defeating the Steelers 23-13. This game also ended Kansas City’s 4 year losing streak against the Steelers.

Obviously the Steelers, who are now 4-3 should not have lost to a team that is 2-5 if they had Roethlisberger or even Vick. Roethlisberger is still sidelined with his knee injury and Vick is out after being injured in last week’s game. Its tough to win a game with a 3rd string quarterback. Landry Jones gave his best effort in today’s game for the Steelers, throwing for over 200 yards and throwing a touchdown. However, Jones also threw two interceptions and fumbled, leading to 3 crucial turnovers in the loss today. Jones has huge shoes to try and fill. Both Roethlisberger and Vick have legendary careers behind them, and no one can expect Jones to perform to that caliber. Tomlin had the Steelers offense keep the ball on the ground as much as possible. Jones went the entire 2nd quarter without attempting a pass.

On the up side, Running Back, LeVeon Bell, ran for over 120 yards for the Steelers, and Antonio Brown had 6 catches for over 120 yards for the Steelers. Also, Coach Mike Tomlin has told reporters that Roethlisberger will start in next week’s game against the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. Keeping up the positive news, it looks like the Steelers have found a new solid kicker, Chris Boswell. Boswell proved his worth with 2 field goals from a decent range today. Anything is better than former (terrible) kicker, Scobee, at this point.

The Steelers lost two cornerbacks to injuries during the game today. William Gay left the game with a shoulder injury and Antwon Blake left the game with a concussion. There is no news on how many weeks they will be sidelined.

[wolimammoth]

Winner Winner (Chicken Dinner)

I have two Steelers games to cover, because they played last Monday against the Chargers, and today, Sunday against the Cardinals. Serving as a nice mood booster, the Steelers pulled out two wins this week. 

The normally strong Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger,(and sadly my fantasy football quarterback) has been out with a knee injury for the past three weeks. Since then, Michael Vick has stepped up to the plate in the past few weeks. Vick was acquired at the beginning of the season as a back up quarterback to Roethlisberger. No one expected that Vick would play more than a few snaps this season, let alone step into Roethlisberger’s shoes for multiple wins. 

On Monday, Vick played a below average game, until the fourth quarter. San Diego took the lead with about 2:30 left in the game with a field goal. Vick brought back his nostalgic style of long risky passes to get the Steelers down the field with the short amount of time remaining. With one play left in the game, the Steelers were on the 1-yard line. Vick formed the offense into a very risky Wildcat formation, where the quarterback starts as a wide receiver. Steelers star running back, Le’Veon Bell, took the snap and fought his way across the goal line as time expired. The Steelers won 24-20.

Today, the Steelers stunned the Cardinals 25-13, with an outstanding performance from the Steelers third string quarterback. Vick, who did not have an amazing game, suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter and was replaced by Landry Jones. Jones surprised Steelers fans and Cardinals fans alike, by completing 8 of 12 passes and producing two touchdowns. The Steelers also relied on their new kicker, Chris Boswell, for three long field goals. Boswell replaced Josh Scobee, who was released soon after being acquired at the beginning of the season.

[wolimammoth]

One and done...

There is an obvious flaw in the MLB’s playoff system if the 2nd best team (by record) in the entire league doesn’t make it into the playoffs. It is a problem that the 2nd and 3rd best teams (by record) in all of baseball have to play a one game play in, when both of those teams would have won any other division except for their own.

As I have expressed , I am thoroughly upset with the way that the current Wild Card system works within the MLB. Had the Pirates won against the Cubs Wednesday, instead of losing 4-0, my feelings would not be so strong towards this, but, the Pirates did lose 4-0, so I am upset. 

Just like the Cubs planned, Jake Arrieta delivered a stunning shut out 9 inning outing. The Pirates could only scrap together 5 hits in the 9 gruesome innings. It wasn’t until late in the game (bottom of the 7th) that the Pirates had their one and only real opportunity of the game to produce any runs (other than a solo home run). The bases were loaded with only 1 out, and it seemed that only a double play would stop the Pirates from scoring at least a run. Sadly, that is exactly what occurred. It couldn't have been a more routine hard ground ball to the Cubs shortstop, Addison Russell, to easily flip to the second baseman and have him turn a quick double play. 

The double play killed what little fire the crowd still had burning. The last 2 innings had fans slowly retreating into their seats, with depressed looks on their faces. It would be the 2nd consecutive year that the Pirates would be beaten at home in the Wild Card game. Opening day is only 176 short days away.

Needless to say, I am going to need to find another team to follow with this weekly blog. I have chosen to follow the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 2nd in their division at 2-2, and face off against the San Diego Charges on Monday.

[wolimammoth]

And so the Next Obstacle Arrives

      Finishing as the second best team in Major League Baseball is nothing to be ashamed of. The only problem with this is, the best and third best teams both happen to be in the same division as the Buccs. The Cardinals finished with one-hundred wins, which is a rare event in baseball. The Pirates have finished with ninety-eight wins, which is an outstanding accomplishment within itself and would normally win any division. The Pirates played a mediocre week with three wins and four losses, which was short of what they needed to take down the Cards. In the series with the Cardinals, the Pirates dropped two of three, which sealed the 1st place position for the Cardinals. Luckily, the Cubs, who astonishingly won their last eight in a row, finished short of 2nd place with ninety-seven wins. 

     All of this boils down to a Pirates vs Cubs one game play-in at PNC park on Wednesday at 8pm. The Cubs’s ace, Jake Arrieta, has shown the Pirates a tough time this season. Arrieta has torn up the Pirates and other teams, pitching with a 0.80 ERA in the second half of the season. Luckily, the Pirates have their ace, Gerrit Cole, to dampen the Cubs hot bats as well. 

    The Pirates have two consecutive years experience in Wild Card Games, and PNC park fans have made huge differences in these games. The 2013 Wild Card Game featured the loudest and biggest audience that PNC Park had ever seen. Fans rattled veteran Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto enough to force him to drop the ball before a pitch, and give up a home run on the next pitch. Hopefully, Pirates fans will be able to rattle the younger, Jake Arrieta in his first playoff game of his career. Whether Arrieta is great or not so great, Gerrit Cole will allow the Pirates to keep the game close. 

Wednesday night can’t come sooner.

[wolimammoth]

Can’t Complain

Its hard to be negative when your team doesn’t lose a game. The Pirates won all 7 of their games this week, bringing their win streak to 8 games and their record to (95-60). This week brought the Pirates within 2.5 games of the Cardinals, who went (6-1) this week. Tomorrow, the Pirates and Cardinals open up a 3 game series at the Pirates’ PNC park. These 3 games may be the most crucial games of the year. If the Pirates can play the way they are and take 2 of 3 or all 3 of the games, they can finally overtake the Cardinal’s and claim first place in the National League Central. (Fun fact of the week: The 2015 NL Central is now statistically the best division in baseball in the past 30 years.) The Pirates have raised their chances of winning the division from less than 5% last week to 13.5% (as of today, September 27).

In less statistical news, Andrew McCutchen has announced that he is never bringing back his iconic dread locks that he shaved off for charity at the beginning of this season. Also, AJ Burnett has been preparing for his soon-coming retirement by doing his own thing instead of following standard team routine before games. This morning, instead of arriving in the visitors clubhouse at Wrigley field and resting his arm before his start tonight, Burnett decided to throw frisbee in the outfield with a teammate simply because he may never get to be on Wrigley field again. 

I’m very optimistic that the Pirates can make a nice dent in the playoffs this season. Many major league enthusiasts believe that the Pirates are the best team in baseball; it has been 36 years since the pirates have last won the world series (1979), but this year just might end that long drought. Buctober is coming.

[wolimammoth]

Bleh Pirates Bleh

The Pirates are riding a sine curve into the post season. Week by week, they change back and forth from a winning week to a losing week. Following this trend, this week was a losing week for the team. The Buccs started the week promisingly well with two wins, the first over the Brewers and the second over the Cubs. However, the next four games did not end well. Four straight losses... Two to the Cubbies and two to the Dodgers. The Pirates capped the week with an extra innings come back against the Dodgers, salvaging their week with a (3-4) record. The Cardinals pulled away from the Pirates by performing well this week, winning four of six games. This brings their lead over the Pirates to four games, which is becoming harder and harder to overcome as the final weeks of the regular season come to an end. The Cubs are riding a five game win streak and have caught up to the Pirates in the NL Central. They sit just one game behind the Pirates and five behind the Cardinals. Luckily, the Cardinals and Cubs are playing each other today, so the Pirates will benefit with either a win from the Cubs or the Cardinals. This coming week, the Pirates face off against the Rockies and the again the Cubs after finishing their series with the Dodgers today. The Rockies are well below 0.500 this season, so a sweep by the Pirates isn’t out of the question. However, the Cubs play the Phillies this week, who are even worse than the Rockies this season. It will take a very good week for the Pirates and a very poor week for the Cubs for the Pirates to reaffirm their place as second in the NL Central. The biggest problem the Pirates have right now is the Cardinals schedule for the rest of the season. The Cardinals have a series against the Reds and the Brewers, who are both sub-average teams and have not performed well versus the Cardinals. Just like last season, though, the Pirates and Cardinals play their final two games against each other. This year, the Pirates have home field advantage for these two games, which could be the two most important games of the year. Pressure pressure pressure.

[wolimammoth]

Light at the end of the Tunnel?

This week, the Pirates manages to win 5 of their 7 games, starting the week with a momentum changing win over the Cardinals 7-1. The combination of a great week of baseball by the Pirates and a terrible week for the Cardinals, who went 1-6 this week, has reduced the Cardinals lead over the Pirates in the NL East to just 2.5 games. Last week, it seemed like the Pirates had a very slim chance of winning their division, but with a few weeks left in the regular season, the Pirates have another chance to claim their long long place at the top of the NL East. The Pirates ended the week with a commanding win over the Brewers 10-2. Jeff Locke, Pirates off and on lefty who has had many more bad moments than good this year, pitched a solid 6 1/3 innings and only allowed 1 run on 3 hits. Josh Harrison came through with a matching career high 4 hit game, and Michael Morse earned his first career home run as a pinch-hit grand slam. 

Last November, the Pirates were looking for a replacement for the amazing but expensive Russell Martin. The Pirates, who are still operating on one of the smallest budgets in the MLB, found a cheap alternative to Martin. Francisco Cervelli, back up Yankees catcher was traded for a Pirates reliever last November. Cervelli was expected to be a short term average catcher, much like the catchers that preceded Martin. However, Cervelli has bursted out of his dirty shell, revealing a hidden gem. He has hit 0.303 this year and has made a very positive impact on many Pirates wins this year

No one can know how these last few weeks of regular season baseball will turn out for the Pirates, but one thing is for sure: the Cardinals are looking in their rear view mirror and watching the Pirates getting closer and closer. The only question is, do the Pirates have enough momentum to squeeze past the Cardinals in this short time span.

[wolimammoth]

This Depressing Week in Buccos Baseball...

I can barely stay calm and collected while writing this. In this past week, the Pirates dropped 5 of their last 6 games, including a sweep from the Brewers. The Pirates horrific week has given the Cardinals a 6.5 game lead over the Pirates and allowed the Cubs to catch up to the Pirates, sitting just 3 games behind. This week has dropped the Pirates W-L record below 0.600, with a record at 0.597 of 80-54. A sweep from the Brewers embarrassed Pirates fans and players alike, and killed the momentum that the Pirates entered the week with.The Pirates ended the week with two games against the Cardinals, scraping out a win on Friday and dropping another one yesterday (Saturday), losing 4-1. In Saturday’s game, Cardinal pitcher Jaimie Garcia doled out another gem, winning in his last 7 starts and bringing the Cardinals to 6-2 at home versus the Pirates this season. Garcia allowed only 4 hits, 3 of which came from Pirates 7-hitter, Sean Rodriguez, who has been a new hot asset to the Pirates lineup this year. Despite Rodriguez spotting up Garcia’s pitches well, no one else in the lineup could seem to make solid contact. With just 26 games left in the regular season, and the Pirates clawing to stay within 10 games of the Cardinals, it looks like the Pirates will be forced to play in their third consecutive Wild Card game. Even though the Wild Card makes it seem like the Pirates don’t have playoff potential, their record shows differently. With the second best record in the NL, and the third best record in all of baseball, the Pirates definitely have a chance to make a dent in the playoffs if they can make it in.  As long as they can fend of the Cubs, which seems to be a viable goal, they should be able to have home field advantage again, which means I’ll be flying back to PNC Park to watch another thriller.

[wolimammoth]

Pittsburgh Pirates Blog 1 8/29/15