Steelers Home Opener Photos

Some photos from the Steelers home opener on Thursday, Sept. 10th, 2009

Written by Pat Lovell - The Steeler Fanatic
Pat has been following the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 30 years and is known worldwide as "The Steeler Fanatic". If you are interested in contributing to this website or would like Pat to contribute to your Blog, Website or Publication, Click Here.

Steelers Win Home Opener in Overtime

What a day.

I started the day getting up at 5am, eating breakfast, checking email and heading out on the road to Pittsburgh. I arrived at my Dad’s house around 1pm and was on the road to the game by 2:30. We got to our spot in the parking lot around 3:30.

We headed into the stadium around 6:30, walked through the Great Hall to see the new Super Bowl XLIII trophy (it was awesome and I’ll post a photo here in a while). We headed to Club West early for some food and and were in our seats early. It’s not every year, you open the season as the reigning Super Bowl Champions. I knew they would have a great opening ceremony and I was right. They started with a video montage of the Super Bowl, raised a giant 6 time champs flag and fireworks. The crowd was loud, proud and ready for some football.

Leading up to the game there were many activities going on around the stadium. Tim McGraw was live in Point state park, The Black Eyed Peas were there as well and they both played songs for the beginning of the game. I’m not a big fan of either, so it was ok for me. The excitement and enthusiasm of the crowd was great though.

Kickoff!

This is a good place to start the critique of the game, ladies and gentleman, we have a kick/punt returner and probably the best since Randle El left. Logan started off with a 40 yd kickoff return and did a great job all game. He’s going to be a big help this year.

The Offense was a little flat at first but Ben hooked up on a few nice passing plays. He also proved to me that he needs the pressure of the clock to make him very good. He was exceptional at the end of the half, the end of regulation and the OT. He is cool as a cucumber when the clock is ticking.

We are going to be in trouble unless Tomlin gets this running game in shape and that starts with the offensive line. We have 4 healthy running backs and need to take advantage of this now. Total Offense Grade = C (the running game brings this average way down) Big Ben and the WR crew Grade = B+

The Defense… wow. Troy came out and took control of the game early. He was in on every play, made some great tackles and a highlight reel interception. That one hand grab was incredible. We stopped the run and until Troy went out hurt, we dominated the Titans. After Troy went out, the Titans took advantage and did very well. Defensive Overall – Grade B+

The punter… Sepulveda was a stud and I am glad he is back. He backed the Titans up several times and bailed us out of some situations with his leg. Special Teams Grade = A

We played well when we needed to and walked away with a big overtime win but it cost us Troy Polamalu and the O Line is going to be criticized for a week. I think they are down playing Troy’s injury, the official report is MCL ‘sprain’ and after seeing that injury on tape, he is going to be out 8-12 weeks (in my opinion) and that will hurt us.

A great day and I’m glad I went to the game, it was a great time.

Go Steelers.

Pat

Written by Pat Lovell - The Steeler Fanatic
Pat has been following the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 30 years and is known worldwide as "The Steeler Fanatic". If you are interested in contributing to this website or would like Pat to contribute to your Blog, Website or Publication, Click Here.

The NFL Season is Here! I’m Ready for Some Football

Ok, first let’s remember that The Steelers are going into this season as the defending Champions and 6 time Super Bowl Champs! I’m still riding the high of going to the Super Bowl with my Dad, Son and Cousin, it was a weekend that will go down in history as one of the best weekends of my life.

I’m also very excited to be going back to the game and seeing the 6th trophy and welcoming the Champs back to the NFL! We are definitely in contention to make a repeat visit to the Super Bowl. Yep, I said it. We have a very good chance with pretty much the same team as last year. Actually, right now we are a better team than last year.

But I digress, I’m ready for some football and glad the pre-season is over at the same time. Thank goodness, we got through the pre-season with minor injuries but a couple do worry me.

Big Ben and Willie Parker both are going into week 1 with injuries that could end up much worse if not healed properly before they start playing. I’m really hoping Ben stays healthy and this injury doesn’t bother him all season. Willie, on the other hand, can be replaced pretty quickly with Mendenhall, so that’s not too bad.

I’m not going to critique the pre-season play, I’ll wait until after Thursday before I give a review and prediction of this year’s team.

Go Steelers!

Written by Pat Lovell - The Steeler Fanatic
Pat has been following the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 30 years and is known worldwide as "The Steeler Fanatic". If you are interested in contributing to this website or would like Pat to contribute to your Blog, Website or Publication, Click Here.

2009 Steeler Pre-Season is Underway

I’ve said this every year for the past 5 years on the Blog, I hate the pre-season. Sure, it gets me somewhat excited for the upcoming season but what a waste of time for football fans. It is very clear that pre-season NFL football is for revenue generation ONLY. I can’t wait until the NFL gets rid of 2 games and adds them to the regular season.

Why do I hate the NFL Pre-season?

It’s pretty obvious to most NFL fans, I would imagine. The starters rarely play and it’s nothing but a chance to end a players season before it even starts.

I’m not sure why anyone would spend the cash to go to a pre-season game. Why would I want to watch players that I’ve never heard of, that will never play again and watch a game that means absolutely nothing in the pursuit of the Lombardi Trophy. I just don’t do it. Heck, I don’t even watch the games on TV.

Having said that, I am getting stoked for the 2009-10 football season. There are a couple of reasons I’m excited. Reason 1, The Pittsburgh Steelers are the defending Super Bowl Champions! That should be reason enough but..Reason 2, we are coming back with relatively the same team as last year, actually, I think we have a better team than last year and an easier schedule.

I know, it’s very hard to repeat as champions in the NFL but this is the best chance we’ve had in a very long time. Since the 70′s anyway. LOL

Is it too early to start the SEVEN slogans??

Is it a coincidence that Polomalu’s jersey number adds up to 7?

Big Ben is #7

Win # Seven for #7

Win # 7 as Myron smiles down from Heaven!

Written by Pat Lovell - The Steeler Fanatic
Pat has been following the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 30 years and is known worldwide as "The Steeler Fanatic". If you are interested in contributing to this website or would like Pat to contribute to your Blog, Website or Publication, Click Here.

Steelers Beat Chargers 11-10

The Steelers and Chargers made NFL History today and finished today’s game with the first ever 11-10 score in 12,837 NFL Games. When I heard that statistic, I didn’t think it could be true but I guess it’s not really easy to score 11 points in an NFL game.

The game was a defensive battle with the Steeler defense doing what they do best, stopping the run, creating turnovers and creating havoc on the QB. Except for the incredibly stupid penalties, the Steeler defense played very well.

I have been busing Big Ben’s chops for a few weeks for below average play, so today I’ll give been some credit. He played a very good game and made some excellent throws. He also had his first game over 300 yds passing at home since 2006. Great game Ben.

It was nice to see Fast Willie Parker back today, he definitely took the pressure off Ben and made the defense play the run on 1st and 2nd downs. I would like to see a power back on 3rd and short and inside the 10yd line, that hurt us today.

Hines Ward is back! I love it when Hines has a big game and today he was all over the place. Great catches, great blocks, and he is hard to take down after he makes a catch. Great game Hines!!

Matt Spaeth also stepped up and made some great catches today in place of the injured Heath Miller. He was crucial on 3rd down and made some great blocks as well.

The Defense… too many big plays to mention but I’ll give props to Polomalu, Harrison, Woodley, Smith, Foote, Kiesel and the newly acquired Bryant for stepping up and making some big plays.

After last weeks disappointing loss to the Colts, this was a big win for the Steelers.

Written by Pat Lovell - The Steeler Fanatic
Pat has been following the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 30 years and is known worldwide as "The Steeler Fanatic". If you are interested in contributing to this website or would like Pat to contribute to your Blog, Website or Publication, Click Here.