The Steelers are still dealing with losing the Super Bowl last weekend, but they are keeping a bunch of doctors busy right now. Tons of injuries by key players and all are looking to rehab and/or repair their problem ASAP. Here’s a rundown of injuries the Steelers are facing.
Troy Polamalu
Achilles tendon injury suffered during season (says he’s fine, no surgery needed)
Aaron Smith
Torn triceps suffered on Oct. 24th
Maurkice Pouncey
High ankle sprain suffered in AFC Championship
James Harrison
Shoulder surgery that he suffered against divisional playoff game against Ravens (scheduled to have surgery soon)
Emmanuel Sanders
Broken foot that he suffered in the Super Bowl
Hines Ward
Surgery for ligament damage in his thumb and cartilage cleaning in his knee
Ben Roethlisberger
[insert any injury here]
The Steelers are pretty banged up. With the CBA being ready to expire on March 3rd, players will not have healthcare until a new agreement is into place. I’m sure they’re looking to fix their ailments now, while they still have insurance that the league supplies them with.
Fifty thousand Packers fans filled Lambeau Field yesterday to welcome and thank their Super Bowl champions in bringing the Lombardi Trophy back to its original place. Despite the fact the it was 5 degrees with a negative windchill factor, fans paid the $5 and weathered the cold to get a glimpse of the team, the trophy and to celebrate.
I love my Ravens and I’ve been out in the cold many a times to see them play. But I’ll be damned if I can hang out in weather with a -14 wind chill factor. Packers fans are probably used to it, and I’m sure it was well worth the wait. I would surely watch that at home, though…
Even my new NFL crush Aaron Rodgers looked frigid out there in the cold….
Don’t worry, Aaron. I’m here to warm you up! (if you missed my new professed love for ARodg, check it out here)
Former Bears player William “Refrigerator” Perry is dealing with a major decline in health as he battles alcoholism. Perry is currently topping off at 400 lbs, doesn’t exercise and is dealing with the overwhelming need to have a drink every single day.
We hear about most former players battling pain killer addiction and other drugs, but never really alcoholism. Most of us know someone that’s battling this awful disease, so Perry’s struggles are too familiar to a lot of folks. Hopefully he can get the help he needs before it’s too late.
And finally, I found this pretty awesome video via courant.com. UConn QB Johnny McEntee did a video with a bunch of trick plays while throwing the pigskin around. The redshirt junior doesn’t have any stats to quote, which is probably why he made this video. Looks to me like he’s vying for some playing time for 2011. If he’s as accurate with blitzing LBs on him as he is in this video, I say give the boy a chance!
I tried to put this into words yesterday, but it was just too much. So I decided to put my thoughts on this vlog instead. I discussed everything that was a part of Super Bowl XLV. Pardon my excitement, as I stuttered a couple of times. I could have easily taken it out, but for what? My excitement took over, sue me! I hope you enjoyed my little production.
So we all know that Pittsburgh’s Wiz Khalifa has the hit, “Black and Yellow” blasting the airwaves all across the country. He even did a remix featuring T-Pain, Juicy J and Snoop Dogg (surprise, surprise… Snoop’s a Steelers fans).
Well now Lil Wayne wants to add his own version and remake the song for his Packers (which is shocking, since I seriously thought Weezy was a Saints fan, but I digress…..). Using the beat from the popular song, Wayne does a remix and calls it, “Green and Yellow”
So which one is better, the original version from the newbie or the remix from the fan fave?? You be the judge. (Disclaimer: Some of the language is NSFW)
As much as I love the game of football and the Super Bowl, I love the commercials that are played on Sunday. This year, commercials have been leaked on the world wide web, giving us an idea of what we can expect to see during those infamous TV timeouts. I would leak my commercial, too, if I paid a whopping $3 million dollars for some SB airtime.
Here are a few sneak peeks of what to expect this Sunday.
Doritos
Careerbuilder (FHL)
Pepsi Max
E*Trade Uncensored (Hilarious!)
To check out all of the other new commercials coming out this weekend, click here.
Okay so it’s not what you initially think. But it’s a crazy title, nonetheless. Former and current NFL players have joined forces with xxxchurch.com, a website that helps people with porn addiction. As we all know, this upcoming Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday, but the website has claimed this weekend as, “Porn Sunday”, using familiar players to help with the cause.
John Kitna, Matt Hasslebeck, Josh McCown and others voice their opinions about the crusade against porn.
Well alright!
My mama always said if you don’t stand for something, you fall for anything. Good luck on the crusade, guys. Not sure if anyone will consider this Sunday, “Porn Sunday”, though. If you haven’t heard, the Steelers and Packers are playing for the Vince Lombardi trophy that day. But hopefully it reaches those who are in need of help. Click here for more info.
Now that the wait is over and we know who’s going to the Super Bowl, it’s a little bitter sweet for fans. Let’s face it: the supposed “big” game is rarely all it’s cracked up to be. It’s usually the lead-up to the championship that keeps everyone on their toes.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, although they’ve won 6 Super Bowl titles and have appeared now in 8, are an old-school team, boring and slow on offense with a ground-and-pound approach and a stingy defense that, like usual, is ranked high in the NFL (#1 in 2010 for total YPG).
The Green Bay Packers, led by the now-free-of-Favre’s-shadow Aaron Rodgers, are a more explosive team on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, but yet they’re still not the sexy choice for NFC representatives.
It is what it is, however, and while this isn’t a Drew Bress vs. Peyton Manning rematch, or even a Tom Brady vs. Matt Ryan showdown, Big Ben and Mr. Rodgers are certainly nothing to sneeze at. Sure, it’s not that great on paper. No one expects the over to exceed around 35. But with these teams in this atmosphere, we might just see the best Super Bowl in a long, long time.
Currently, the Green Bay Packers are favored by about a field goal universally. Of course, betting on football—especially the Super Bowl—isn’t like betting on online blackjack games. Nothing’s set in stone, nothing’s quantifiable; it’s all up for grabs. Even still, that’s a fairly safe bet as we see it.
Pittsburgh’s run defense is monstrous, stuffing everyone, but it’s also exploitable by way of play action and an ironically Roethlisberger-like mobile quarterback, ala Aaron Rodgers.
One thing neither the Ravens nor the Jets had was a playmaker at the QB position. Sanchez and Flacco are both pretty good pocket passers, but their ability to extend a play is about as good as that can of Crystal Pepsi you have in the basement. Rodgers, on the other hand, was second only to Michael Vick in rushing yards from the helm, and he has put the belt on all season long with rushing TD after rushing TD.
The Steelers are exploitable here because they’re not fast enough to cover all the bases. They will stuff the run, surely, but quick slants, deep outs, broken plays, and potential third down conversions all work in the Packers’ favor due to the type of dynamic, switch-‘em-up O they bring with them to Cowboys Stadium.
The game should remain very close, however, as the Steelers’ offense is definitely not a pushover. We all bore witness to what Rashard Mendenhall did to the third-ranked defense in the league, the New York Jets (Just Envy the Steelers?), and Big Ben can also turn broken plays into sandlot football and pick up key yardage in tough situations.
Many feel as if this game is a toss-up, the proverbial roll of the dice or a spin on the no download slots reel. But just like Pittsburgh did to the Jets in the first half, the Green Bay Packers should be able to dominate time of possession and keep the Steelers off the field.
Other than a forced throw in Chicago that resulted in an Urlacher INT, Rodgers has been playing out of his mind. Roethlisberger, conversely, threw 2 INTs vs. the Jets and should have thrown 4 to 6, and he wasn’t exactly Troy Aikman in his previous playoff game against the Ravens.
In the first half with the Ravens and the second half with the Jets, the Steelers were only on the field physically. Their spirits were in the locker room or off somewhere trying to send Jenn Sterger photos of their junk.
When Super Sunday rolls around, the Steelers will need to play all 60 minutes – something they’re not really accustomed to, whereas Green Bay has yet to take a down off all postseason.
When it’s all said and done, the Packers can keep the ball away from the Steelers and hold on to a lead late. True, Pittsburgh is going to score on Green Bay’s defense. They can’t match the Steelers’ physicality. But the object of the game isn’t to score; it’s to score more than your opponent.
This is something that the Steelers will fail to do, and we predict that the final score will be Green Bay 30 and Pittsburgh 24 – covering the spread but still a great game that comes down to some fourth quarter heroics.
I was asked to take part in voting for the “NFL’s Midseason Best” by my brother bloggers at Ed The Sports Fan. We were polled with who our MVPs were on offense and defense, along with other categories. Of course, not all of my selections made the cut (I put my boo Philip Rivers as Offensive MVP. Who’s played better than him?). Nevertheless, Ed and Kenny did a great job at putting the panel together and creating this article. Check it out and let me know what you think:
Its hard to believe that we are already at the halfway point of this tumultuous 2010 NFL season. There’s been chaos (Favre), anarchy (Moss release), tomfoolery (McNabb benching), and chicanery (suspensions and fines for hits), and the weather hasn’t turned frigid yet. Somehow the Jets have become almost a non-story, the Cowboys and Vikings have become afterthoughts, and the Chiefs, Bucs, Seahawks, and Rams are all surprisingly in playoff contention. This has been as a wacky a first half of the season as I can remember.
Coming into the season, there were very few people who figured on Arian Foster as the premier running back in the league. Foster is, without question, the Offensive MVP halfway through the NFL season. All the preseason talk was about Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson. It is no secret that Peterson and Johnson have been the premier backs in the league since LaDainian Tomlinson surrendered that title.
The astute football aficionado saw this breakout coming at the end of last year when Foster had over 200 yards in the Texans’ last two games of the season. Well on opening day Foster picked up where he left off and ran roughshod over the Colts, gaining 231 yards on 33 carries and he hasn’t looked back since. The undrafted, second year, 6’1” 230 pound running back out of the University of Tennessee is pure speed and power. He looks as if he is gliding through the hole, and when he finds a crease, he explodes like he was shot out of a cannon.
He is a classic back with a classic style all his own. If you wanted to compare his style to any, the first name that comes to mind is Eric Dickerson. Those are some mighty big shoes to fill as he begins his quest to be recognized as one of the leagues elite backs. I don’t think the pressure will bother him though, as he is built for the position.
There’s a part of me that wants to give DPOY to The Heisman (Charles Woodson) again, just off of general principle. Granted, the man isn’t leading in any statistical category, but he’s still making an impact. The problem is he may not even be the best defensive player on his team, since he’s playing with Clay Matthews. After tabulating the results for the ETSF Most Valuable Player, we were left with a man who one voter (The Rev) absolutely refuses to acknowledge, and another (Ed) who finds the irony in him being named so hilarious that he couldn’t breathe when he told me who it was. The man has been the butt of so many jokes for years now, but all of a sudden, he’s had a renaissance and is now the player we all envisioned he could be when he came out of Virginia Tech. Ladies and gentlemen, your ETSF MVP, at the halfway point, is none other than D’Angelo *bleeping* Hall.
I mean, this has to be some kind of sick joke. At least, that’s what you’re led to believe when you associate Hall’s name with the best at anything. Allow me to make something very clear; I’m a fan of D’Angelo Hall. I was a fan in college, and despite the fact that he’s been more bite than bark in his career, I remain a fan of him. Maybe it was seeing him force a fumble and return it for a touchdown at the half against the Cowboys that set things off. Perhaps it was the four-INT game he had against the Bears a while back (including one pick returned for a TD) that caught people’s eye. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s living up to his potential when he signed that ridiculous contract with the ‘Skins. Either way it goes, the man is leading The League in picks and has scored off a fumble and an interception. Plus, his team is in the mix of their division.
No matter how awkward this looks, and whether we really wanna believe it, the best defensive player in the NFL so far is D’Angelo Hall, and if this keeps up, he’ll be the Defensive MVP for the entire year.
Sam Bradford has silenced the critics with great play and a gosh gee willikers look to him. Being the die hard Sooner fan that I am I must admit I was worried about him. The Rams have sucked over the past few years point blank and I didn’t want Sam going into that situation especially with their offensive line. Sam is showing us why he’s making 50 million bucks.
My friend CJ Clayborne said for 50 million bucks, Sam better take the team the playoffs, the players out to eat, their wives to the spa, and their kids skating. I think he should just have a good season which he is doing. Bradford has the Rams in prime position for a playoff spot at 4-4. It’d be easy to compare him to other rookies playing this year, but what about Peyton Manning. How does Bradford, the 2010 No.1 overall pick stack up to the leagues greatest QB of all-time(we can debate about that later folks) who was also the No. ! overall pick in 1998.
Peyton wasted no time throwing for 302 yards in his first game but at the same time he only threw one TD vs. three picks and lost the game. Sam faced baptism under fire also by throwing the ball 55 times and tossing one TD pass and three picks also as his team lost to the Cardinals. Let’s play guess the stat line…
Take a wild guess at who’s who….Peyton Manning is up top and Sammy B is below. Crazy huh…they both have attempted the Sam number of passes through eight games. Peyton has more yards, but that’s about it. The telling stat is the interceptions. Right now Sam has half as many picks as Peyton and his QB rating is much better because of that. The most important stat isn’t shown and that’s win loss record with Peyton going 1-7 vs. Bradford’s 4-4 through the first 8 games.
Who knows if Sam goes into a sophomore slump next year, but all I know now is that he’s on a Rookie Rampage and taking names, pride, and wins when all he was expected to do was break like glass under his skinny frame.
With all due respect to guys like Eric Berry, Rolando McClain, Nate Allen, Javier Arenas and all the other defensive rookie, Ndamukong Suh is, without question, the Defensive Rookie of the Year so far. There’s no debating that at all. In fact, he may be as good as any defensive player in the entire league already. Yeah, I said it. Through seven games, Suh already has seven sacks, trailing only Clay Matthews (9.5), Osi Umenyiora (eight) and DeMarcus Ware (eight). Those three guys are defensive ends/outside linebackers. Suh is a defensive tackle. He already has an interception – against the man who is the favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year no less, as a defensive tackle.
He has 22 solo tackles, 27 overall, as a defensive tackle. And last week, he scored his first NFL touchdown to ice the game.
Did I mention he’s a defensive tackle? He’s also the NFL Rookie of the Year. And a Pro Bowler. No question about it.
With a strong running game, solid defense and great special teams, the Chiefs are one of the mid-season surprise teams of 2010.
Not to be paralleled with the 2009 Denver Broncos (who started the first half of their season 6-2, then promptly came out in the second half and went 2-6), Todd Haley is out to prove that the Kansas City Chiefs’ 5-2 record is anything but a fluke this season. A win over the Oakland Raiders this weekend could further widen the gap of the division and lean even closer to clinching a spot in the playoffs. I’m sold, I think the Chiefs are for real, and its because of Todd Haley (and an awesome coaching staff made up of former Patriots’ coordinators Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis) that they’ve done so well thus far.
Coming into this season, the Cowboys were a team many thought had a shot at hosting this year’s Super Bowl. Eight games into the season and the Cowboys harsh reality is this: they’re not going to even make the playoffs.
What Wade Phillips has failed to understand is that it takes more than just a jumbled collection of talent to win football games; it takes chemistry, accountability and the ability to run the damn football. If you can’t run the ball or stop the run, you’re not winning football games — and you’re not doing your job as the head coach. These principles are as basic as they come, and if you can’t recognize that, not only do you not have any business coaching America’s team, but you don’t have any business coaching football at any level.
His stats aren’t gonna jump off the page at you, but all the kid does is win, win, win; no matter what. Well, win as much as a Buccaneer can. From his first career start in Week Seven of last season, he was a winner. In that game, as a 21-year-old starter, he broke a Tampa Bay 11-game losing streak that spanned two seasons. In fact, he won his first game in the way that he’s won most of the games in his career: by leading a fourth quarter comeback. He’s won eight out of the 17 games he’s started, and six of those eight wins were fourth quarter comebacks. I know a QB going winning eight out of 17 might seem mediocre, but keep in mind that these are the Bucs we’re talking about. Check their wiki. They have a section called “2003-2008: Period of Struggle”. Can’t make this stuff up. Anyhow, Freeman has led 5-2 Tampa to four fourth quarter comebacks this season. He’s almost single-handedly taken the Bucs from cellar dwellers to division contenders in the cumulative span of one full season.
Somebody cue that DJ Khaled track up for me one time.
While many of the Bengals faithful may blame the woes of the team on owner Mike Brown. The reality of the situation is the problem should be placed firmly on the shoulders of Carson Palmer. Who else gets booed when they pass the career 20,000 yards passing mark?
Palmer is sporting a gaudy 83.0 quarterback rating with 12 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. Last year, it seemed the common perception was that it was a good year that would have been better if he had more weapons after Chris Henry (RIP homie) passed. This year he is surrounded by T.O, @ogochocinco, Jermaine Gresham, Jordan Shipley and Cedric Benson in company. It’s not surprising to see that he is ranked 7th in the league in total passing yards but the win loss record of 2-5 is what’s most telling.
When it was announced during the game that Carson Palmer surpassed 20,000 yards passing in his career, it was somewhat surprising. It’s not like he was playing in Pittsburgh, where anything Bengals related would get booed, or in Baltimore where anything Bengals related would have Ray Lewis suddenly foaming at the mouth, because he likes foaming at the mouth. But it was his own fans booing him. Why? Because despite being ranked 7th in passing yards he’s making terrible decisions at crucial moments in the game. Normally the blame is unfairly placed on the QB, but no really…it’s Carson’s fault. T.O. is balling like he’s 23 again, Ocho is nowhere to be found because Carson isn’t going through his progressions and everyone else gets lost in the suck sauce of Palmer as well.
At the end of the day Palmer needs to step it up because we all know the Bengals defense wont.
This is how its supposed to be in the Super Bowl. You bring in arguably one of the best offensive teams in the NFL to face-off against arguably one of the best defensive teams in the NFL. The Ravens and the Saints represent excellence on one side of the ball, and they each have another side of the ball that’s continually searching for respect. Truth be told, they are probably the two most balanced teams in their conference, and they have the leaders anyone would want to have leading them into the ultimate battle on the gridiron in Ray Lewis and Drew Brees.
Wait, so you’re telling me you wouldn’t get hype as all get out if you saw Ray-Ray do his dance and Cool Brees chant his battle cry? I’m already hype over here hitting the dougie John Wall style and hitting that Houston southside simultaneously.
Disagree with our list? Let us know in the comments section…HUGE thanks to all of our contributors! Enjoy the weekend.
