Dave’s Football Blog

So let me get this straight.

You’re down 7 with 1:42 left. You’ve got first and goal from inside the 10. You know that your defense is a little tired from being on the field for more than 34 minutes, and your opponent’s QB has a reputation for last-minute comebacks.

So what do you do? Run the play action pass and score the touchdown on the very first play, giving your opponent a lot of time on the clock to make something happen.

Which, of course, they did. Following a good kickoff return, Tom Brady lead his team down a short field and set up Adam Vinatieri for yet another clutch game-winning field goal.

On their way out the door, several Steelers fans here at Sammy’s just shook their heads and muttered about Vinatieri under their breath.

So give credit where it’s due. Brady put on an excellent performance today, completing 31 of 41 for 372 yards and completing 20 passes for first downs. The Pats’ D also put on a great show, pressuring Roethlisberger all day and keeping Willie Parker from breaking a big play — all of this AFTER Rodney Harrison went down with a knee injury.

On the down side, though, the Steelers’ play-calling today was frustrating to watch. They kept trying to hammer the ball through the tackles, despite an apparent lack of success, and they didn’t do enough to get the ball to their weapons in the open field. This is an offense that should have a lot more versatility than it does.

So the Steelers and Pats are both 2-1, and the Pats have a potential tiebreaker down the road. What’s worse, though, is that the Steelers have quickly fallen a game behind the Cincinnati Bengals, who beat the Bears in Chicago to go to 3-0 on the season. The Colts are also 3-0 after beating the Browns today.

This was such a good day when I got to Sammy’s, but it ended poorly all around. At least the pizza was good and the wait staff was hot…

The Steelers have a bye next week, while the Panthers will attempt to recover from today’s fiasco with a Monday night matchup against the Green Bay Packers, who have fallen to 0-3 after a one-point home loss to Tampa Bay today. As bad as the Packers look right now, there’s always a certain shiver you get when you have to face Brett Favre on a Monday night. I need to find a really good spot for that game…

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