Dave’s Football Blog

In his latest Monday Morning QB column, Peter King has it all wrong:

It’s a heady thing, wondering if [Sunday's Colts-Broncos game] was the best game of [Peyton] Manning’s life, which includes 144 pro games (135 regular-season, nine postseason), 45 college starts and 39 high school starts in New Orleans.

What our caffeine-addled friend should be asking is this: Why does Peyton Manning always perform like this in October, but rarely does this well in January? It’s the same story with the Colts every damn year. They run the table and clinch a playoff berth, a division title and quite possibly home field advantage weeks before Christmas, but when January rolls around, this team never delivers the goods. At least Dan Marino got to the Super Bowl once. What’s Manning’s excuse? An idiot kicker? He can’t fall back on that this year, can he?

Of course, King isn’t done yet…

Just last year he riddled two playoff teams in the span of three weeks on the road, putting up 40 in the monkey-off-the-back game at New England and 45 at Cincinnati.

Last time I checked, the monkey was still there, and those two games played right in the middle of autumn. Ho hum. This isn’t the English Premier League. Regular season success only goes so far. Wake me when Peyton Manning actually gets to a Super Bowl. Until then, you might as well call him Mr. October.

Remember during the offseason when all the pundits were saying that the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t really need Antwaan Randle El? I mean, he only caught 35 passes last year, and he only scored 8 touchdowns in four years. Sure, he was fast, and he was useful for trick plays, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t be replaced, right?

Tell me the truth, Steelers fans. You’d give up a pretty high draft pick to get Randle El back in Pittsburgh right now, wouldn’t you?

Think about it. Randle El gives you a veteran punt returner, one who’s far less likely to make the mistakes that Ricardo Colclough and Santonio Holmes have made this year. Randle El gives you a veteran third receiver who runs fast, runs clean routes, and knows how to get open down the field. Randle El gives you a threat to gain huge yardage on reverse plays, either with his feet or with his arm.

Oh, yeah, and he can also throw the ball with a little accuracy, something a certain Miami of Ohio alumnus did not do last Sunday.

I think too many people looked at Randle El’s numbers and began to undervalue his contributions to this Steelers team the last four seasons. Randle El isn’t just another receiver. He’s a pro on special teams, and he’s a threat to gain big yardage just about any time. He’s a YACrabbit, and every team needs a YACrabbit.

I admit I’m a little biased here, since I, too, attended Indiana University, but you show me a Steelers fan right now who has witnessed the disaster that is Pittsburgh’s special teams unit and not wished at least once that Randle El was still back there fielding punts. Take away Colclough’s fumble, and the outcome of that Steelers-Bengals game might have been a lot different.

Maybe Daniel Snyder can be convinced to trade Randle El back to the Steelers during the offseason. Given that this team is on pace to get a really high draft pick, Randle El’s salary will probably be a lot cheaper. And we know how the Rooneys like to save their money…

If you listen closely, you can hear an army of second-guessers marching in the distance, and their message can be heard loud and clear along the valleys of western Pennsylvania…

“Big Ben is brain-damaged. Put in Charlie.”

Everyone will question why Ben Roethlisberger was rushed back after suffering a concussion last week. Everyone will continue to suggest that all the bad luck that has struck the Steelers’ Super Bowl-winning QB has turned him into mush.

Are they right? Are they wrong? Doesn’t matter. They can just point to that one spot on Ben’s stat sheet in Pittsburgh’s loss to the Raiders: 4 interceptions, 2 returned for touchdowns. And the Steelers lose by 6.

Of course, 6 also happens to be the number of times Big Ben was sacked. That’s the offensive line’s fault. Who knew brain damage was contagious?

It certainly didn’t spread to the defense. The Steelers outgained the Raiders, 360 yards to 98. Oakland converted only one 3rd down and only had possession of the ball for 24 and a half minutes. Andrew Walter was sacked five times and intercepted once himself. By itself, the Steeler D only gave up six points. They did their job.

Doesn’t matter. Look at the stat sheet. Ben Roethlisberger threw four interceptions, and two were returned for touchdowns. The army’s war cry is still loud and clear…

“Ben is brain-damaged. Put in Charlie.”

Teams don’t recover from losses like this. The Steelers have to go 6-3 the rest of the way just to get back to .500. Take a look at the schedule. Do you see six wins on there for this team? I don’t, and I’m as big a homer for this team as you’ll find anywhere. I love the Pittsburgh Steelers, but man, they just dropped into the shitter like a big steaming turd this year — right next to Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston, Oakland and Tennessee. All those teams are 2-5, too. The only worse team in the AFC is Miami at 1-6.

That’s the Adrian Peterson sweepstakes, folks. The Steelers aren’t supposed to compete in that race, but there they are, and unless they can somehow pull off another 8-game winning streak, the army of second-guessers will keep on marching, and the calls will get even louder…

“Ben is brain-damaged. Put in Charlie.”

It won’t happen. Fans could chant Charlie Batch’s name in Heinz Field, and it won’t happen. Bill Cowher won’t bench Ben Roethlisberger. It will take another concussion to put Ben out of commission. Hey, winning a Super Bowl gives you a lot of leeway. Just ask Brian Billick.

I can’t talk about this one right now. I’m sorry, Steelers fans. I’m never coming back to Champps for a Steelers game. Nothing against the place, but damn…

Meet me at the Panthers FanHouse for the Sunday night liveblog. I sure hope that one turns out a little better.

Joey Porter gets an interception. That’s good. Steelers drive until they get 1st & goal at the 1 yard line. That’s also good.

Two runs get stuffed. That’s bad. A false start penalty pushes the Steelers back to the 10. That’s also bad. The 3rd-down pass play gets stopped at the 3, and on 4th & goal, Big Ben takes off running, then decides to toss it to Santonio Holmes.

Forget it. The pass is broken up in the end zone. The Raiders take over on downs.

The Steelers appear to have one more shot with 36 seconds, no time outs and 61 yards to overtime. I’d like to say I still have hope, but…

3rd & goal from the Oakland 7. Ben Roethlisberger drops back to pass and hurls a bullet right into the waiting arms… of Chris Carr. Who plays for the Raiders. And returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. Oakland’s lead is now 20-6…

Wait, it’s now 20-13. While I was typing my apology to all Steelers fans for coming to Champps today, Pittsburgh ran a two-minute drill and scored a touchdown. Willie Parker scored with about 7:00 left. That was quick. Maybe it’s not quite over yet…

The defense is doing its job, but the offense so far is a nightmare, and the interception return for a touchdown is still the difference in the game so far.

I’m trying very hard not to feel responsible for this. It keeps happening, though. I come to Champps to watch a Steelers game, and they play horribly. It can’t be because I came to Champps. There cannot be a cosmic connection between my ass sitting at this particular bar and the Steelers sucking. There just can’t.

I don’t know. Maybe this year’s Steelers just aren’t very good…

Big Ben just opened the 4th quarter with his third interception of the game. Heavy sigh.

Peyton Manning has two TD passes against a defense that hadn’t given up a TD all season. In other news, it got dark an hour earlier than usual today…

With 5:00 left in the 3rd, the Colts lead the Broncos, 20-14.

On the Raiders opening drive of the 3rd quarter, Larry Foote and Joey Porter were both flagged for 15-yard Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalties. Someone must have called Justin Fargas a cocksucker.

When Bill Cowher wanted his team to come out of the locker room fired up, I don’t think that’s what he had in mind…

Those two penalties set up Sebastian Janikowski for a 41-yard field goal. The Raiders still lead, 13-6. Sigh.

Champps as a DJ in here to play music during the commercials of the main game. Just a moment ago, he played “Award Tour” by A Tribe Called Quest. For a moment, I forgot how much the Steelers stunk up the joint in the first half…