Week 2 - Entering Sunday's Week 2 match-up between the (1-0) San Francisco 49ers and (0-1) Pittsburgh Steelers, the Niners held a two game edge over Pittsburgh, having won 11 of 20 meetings between the two teams all-time. But San Francisco would dig themselves too big a hole to climb out of early on as the Steelers utilized something Minnesota didn't in Week 1 -- the deep pass. QB Ben Roethlisberger shredded the San Francisco secondary on numerous occasions, including pickups of 28 and 41 yards to convert on third down on each of Pittsburgh's first two drives, the second ending with a touchdown as Big Ben found Heath Miller in the end zone.
The only answer San Francisco was able to put up in the first half was a Phil Dawson field goal, only to watch the Steelers QB connect for a big gain once again with receiver Antonio Brown who hauled in a 59-yard strike, setting up an easy touchdown run by running back DeAngelo Williams. A week after holding one of the game's very best in Adrian Peterson to a measly 31 yards rushing and zero touchdowns, Pittsburgh's DeAngelo Williams humbled San Francisco's run defense by finding the end zone three times which tied a Steelers franchise record coupled with 77 yards. Heading into the game, the 49ers had initially thought they had caught a break with Steelers All-Pro running back Le'Veon Bell serving the final game of a 2-game suspension, but it didn't matter who Roethlisberger handed the ball off to on Sunday as they were bound to score. As for the 49ers who ran their way to victory in Week 1 with the help of Carlos Hyde's monster performance, the San Francisco bell cow who celebrated his 24th Birthday on Sunday, only mustered 43 yards on 13 attempts while leaving the game in the third quarter after being checked by team officials for head and leg injuries.
Facing a 29-3 deficit at the half, the blowout score coupled with Hyde's injuries forced the 49er offense to take a much different approach thru the air as they played catch up. Niner QB Colin Kaepernick logged career-high's in pass attempts (46) and completions (33) while throwing for 335 yards and 2 touchdowns. Though Kaepernick had himself a nice game overall aside from a lost fumble, his performance was overshadowed by the offensive-line's inability to buy him time as Kap was brought down for a sack 5 times and was constantly hurried. The 49er offense had two would-be touchdowns wiped off the board when Bruce Miller dropped a pass in the end zone on fourth down and Kaepernick came up short on a play that was reversed after initially being ruled a touchdown. The replay showed the knee of a diving Kaepernick touch the ground before he broke the plane of the end zone as the Steelers took over on downs from the 1-yard line and let the clock die down. Not even defensive coordinator Eric Mangini's familiarity with the Steelers could prepare his defense for the aerial assault Pittsburgh put on thru the air as Roethlisberger bombarded the Niner D time and time again as 195 of Big Ben's passing yards were caught by Antonio Brown who also hauled in 1 of 3 touchdown passes.
The Niner defense couldn't do much to stop Pittsburgh's pass game from close range either as Big Ben and company converted on both of their 2-point conversion attempts. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin might be the league's newest trendsetter with the 2-point conversion being strongly considered more often than years past with the league recently implementing a new rule which moved the traditional extra point back to the 15-yard line which has already ed to more missed PAT's this season thru the first two weeks than all of last season. The lone highlight for the 49ers in Week 2 came on a 75-yard catch and run touchdown pass from Kaepernick to his new receiver Torrey Smith who tallied 120 yards on 9 receptions and has been known to torch the Steelers throughout his career while playing in Baltimore. Still, it wouldn't be enough as the Steelers stormed their way to an easy 43-18 victory to claim their first win of the year and handing San Francisco their first loss.
Week 3 Preview - Week 3 will see the 49ers travel to the desert to take on division rival Arizona as the Cardinals remain the only undefeated team in the NFC West at 2-0. After lighting up the scoreboard in Chicago with a 48-23 win over the Bears, the 49er defense will once again have their hands full thru the air versus a Carson Palmer led Arizona team that is averaging a league-best 39.5 points per game through the first 2 weeks. The meeting will be 49ers first-year head coach Jim Tomsula's first taste at a division opponent as the two teams split the division series a year ago with both teams winning at home. A win for San Francisco would do wonders for the team's confidence considering they'll be given the daunting task of playing host to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Week 4.
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The Table Is Set - A week from today, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers will face one another on the NFL's biggest stage, as both teams prepare to take the field for Super Bowl XLV. Not only will the match-up feature two of the games elite quarterbacks as Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers oppose each other, but it will also showcase two of the more dominant defenses in the league. Though both teams and their respective leader have reached the title game behind completely different storylines, one thing they can relate to is the impressive obstacles they've had to overcome to get this far. While the Packers have won all three of their Postseason games on the road against higher seeded opponents (Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago), the Steelers won at home defeating two of the games premier defensive oriented teams, Baltimore and the Jets who similar to Green Bay, were also road warriors this postseason, beating both the Colts and Patriots away from home.If Pittsburgh plans to distance themselves farther from the field by hoisting a record seventh Lombardi Trophy, they'll have to do so without their rookie Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey. Though he hasn't officially been ruled out by team trainers who've described his status as day-to-day with a high ankle sprain, fellow teammate Chris Kemoeatu is already saying how much the talented young center will be missed, as his Steelers get set for their third Super Bowl appearance in six years. Pouncey, a first round pick out of Florida, suffered an injured ankle in the AFC Championship game during Pittsburgh's opening drive that lasted nine minutes long and resulted in a touchdown.
Filling the void of Pouncey at the center position will be Doug Legursky who was called upon in Sunday's 24-19 victory over the Jets. Despite a number of bad snaps including one in the end-zone that resulted in a safety, Legursky has two weeks to practice and make both himself and Big Ben comfortable. However, the latest speculation surrounding Pouncey has the Pro Bowler as a game time decision. Personally, I think Mike Tomlin and company is trying to throw the green and gold off a bit, by getting them to prepare for the less experienced Legursky and make them think Pouncey will not play. There's no doubting he's injured, but do you honestly think he's going to miss the biggest game of his life? I don't.
Unlike years past, this Super Bowl could hugely impact the legacy of the winning quarterback. For Ben Roethlisberger, another Super Bowl triumph can put him in the elite category with New England's Tom Brady as the only active QB's to win three Super Bowl's. For Rodgers on the other hand, a Championship ring in only his third season at the helm would match the Super Bowl success long time Packers QB Brett Fave was able to accomplish in his 16 seasons with Green Bay, capturing his lone title in 1996. If playing the past two seasons with the rival Minnesota Vikings hasn't made Packer fans forget about Favre, perhaps a Rodgers led Super Bowl victory might be the perfect antidote to do the job.
Prediction - Playing away from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field will be nothing new for the Pack, as they've played and won all three games this postseason on the road as mentioned. As for Pittsburgh, playing outside of Heinz Field might make them a little homesick. But if I'm going to bring that point up, I might as well bring up the point that Pittsburgh has the experience of being in this situation before, which means the location will have little to no effect on the outcome. Prior to the start of this season, I predicted a Ravens-Packers Super Bowl. Given my AFC pick has been bounced out of the Playoffs, I'm sticking with my NFC pick, Green Bay over Pittsburgh, 24-20. With that said, GO PACK GO!
As we learned in one of my older posts -- Big Ben's Big Mistake, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was in a world of trouble with the law. But as it turns out, the 28-year old quarterback will not be charged after all, for his alleged sexual assault case which took place in Milledgesville, Georgia just over a month ago. Although Roethlisberger will not be facing jail time like many including myself think he deserves considering he's been ducking and dodging a handful of off-the-field incidents since being drafted by the Steelers in '04, the results of whether or not NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will discipline Big Ben are not yet known. With those results pending, former QB and Steeler great Terry Bradshaw spoke out, calling the relationship between the two "No good." Bradshaw also went on to say, "Ben doesn't like me and I'm learning not to like him, but he needs to realize who he is."As if the Big Ben incident isn't a big enough distraction to the organization, other off-the-field issues will be sure to plague the team as WR Santonio Holmes is being sued by woman in Florida who says she was attacked by Homes in an Orlando night club on March 7th. The Superbowl hero who caught the game winnings touchdown just 2 years ago not only has a civil lawsuit filed against him, but he also has a suspension waiting for him once the 2010-2011 NFL season begins. Holmes will be suspended for the teams first 4-games without pay by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Well aware of the issue, the New York Jets decided to take a chance and have agreed to a trade sending the former Superbowl MVP to the Big Apple in exchange for a 5th round pick in this year's Draft. Holmes, the recipient of the game winning touchdown pass in Superbowl XLIII has his own wide-stretched resume of off-the-field issues, having been arrested twice, once for disorderly conduct and domestic violence in 2006 and again in 2008 for possession of marijuana. Not to mention his most recent altercation where he threw a glass at a woman in an Orlando nightclub. By trading him, the team has proved to be fed up with his problems and are letting it be known that they now have a zero tolerance policy for such incidents. But could it also serve as a sign and a warning for Big Ben? After mutually agreeing with the Steelers that Roethlisberger's presence would be too much of a distraction when reports of his most recent legal issues first hit the airwaves, Ben reported to the team's training facility today for his first offseason workout with teammates. It seems as if a spell has been cast upon the Pittsburgh Steelers and their players who can't seem to avoid running into trouble during the offseason. Last October, Pittsburgh's tight-end Matt Spaeth was being sited by police outside of a bar for urinating in public, when Steelers kicker Jeff Reed interfered and attempted to fight the officers. After resisting arrest, Reed was slapped with 40 hours of community service for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. All charges were dropped however, on the same day it was learned that Roethlisberger wouldn't be charged with sexual assault. So hats off to not one, but two of the Steelers franchise players for not only getting into trouble, but for getting away with it. It just goes to show what kind of winners there really is in Pittsburgh. When Roethlisberger isn't out on the field throwing passes, he's riding his crotch rocket and lurking for his next victim. And when Holmes isn't out catching balls, he's out throwing bottles at woman and taking naked pictures of himself in the shower. *Tisk Tisk*
Making airwaves in the world of sports, is the breaking news of Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger being committed of sexually assaulting a 20 year old college student over the weekend. According to the female victim, while partying at a nightclub in Milledgeville near the campus of Georgia College & State University, Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her in the women's restroom. Although the 28 year old star quarterback denies all allegations, saying "No sexual assault occurred", Milledgeville police are still investigating. The woman who has not been identified claims to have been attacked by Roethlisberger, but his story differs. Ben claims the woman slipped and injured her head after the two had contact.Roethlisberger, a 2-time Superbowl Champion and 2-time Pro Bowler who's better known as 'Big Ben', is facing a similar incident which occurred in July of '09. According to Andrea McNulty, Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her in his hotel, while in Lake Tahoe for a celebrity golf tournament. Big Ben has also been the unfortunate victim of a motorcycle accident, in which he suffered numerous broken bones to the face. The accident took place just four months after winning his first of two Superbowl's. All together, Big Ben has made just as many if not more headlines off the field, than he has on it. And with yet another run in with the law, it'll be interesting to see whether or not his team will finally take action and if this will effect his career in the NFL.The media will nitpick at anything, especially those filed under scandalous. Although this may not be the equivalent of sleeping with 12 other women while being married, could this possibly ease some pressure off of Tiger Woods?
