It sure has been a busy week for Steeler Nation and not because the NFL draft is quickly approaching. It’s not even because of free agency moves made by the organization. The Steelers have been experiencing some unusual off-season publicity.

I’ll start by talking about the problems with Santonio Holmes. Holmes was traded to the New York Jets for a 5th round draft pick this past Sunday. I know what you’re thinking, a 5th round draft pick? The Steelers top wide receiver and Super Bowl XLIII MVP who is coming off his best season as a Steeler traded for a 5th round draft pick.

Actually, I’m not surprised by this, Holmes has been in trouble since his rookie season with the Steelers. He has had some domestic disturbance issues, substance abuse issues and was suspended once for possession of marijuana. Holmes was given several chances by the Steelers and told after the possession charge that the Steelers would not give him any more chances. Santonio chose to violate the league’s policy on illegal substances and the Steelers took action by sending him to NY for a 5th round draft pick.

On a side note, the Jets were the only team that showed any interest in Santonio Holmes, the rest of the league didn’t want to take the risk. Holmes is a great wide receiver but needs to think about how his off field actions affect his status in the NFL and right now, it’s not good.

Ben Roethlisberger continues to have serious issues off the football field. The issues go back to the motorcycle that almost killed him a few years ago. Ben has made some very bad decisions in his off time and the most recent allegations will probably lead to a suspension. Many experts believe Ben will face a minimum 2 game suspension, while others say as many as 4 games.

I really hope that Ben spends some time with someone like Tony Dungy and straightens up. I understand he’s a young, single guy but he’s also a very high profile NFL football player. He can’t put himself into situations like he has most recently in the Atlanta area and last summer in Nevada. The allegations against Ben may or may not be true and yes, the charges were dropped in both cases but, he will always have this hanging over his head.

You can see how I feel about both players, they are both young and made some very bad decisions and they both are going to face consequences. Holmes was cut loose from a city that has embraced him and would have been proud to see him retire in a Steeler uniform.

The people of Pittsburgh love Big Ben and want to see him succeed but this most recent fiasco will test Steeler Nation and really put him under the microscope this coming season.

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time we didn’t have to worry about other teams winning, other teams losing and all these “if” so and so wins, so and so loses, etc… We were in and I was confident we would make it through the playoffs and to the Super Bowl.

This year it’s quite a bit different, if the Steelers make the playoffs as one of the AFC Wildcard teams, they need some help. Here’s what has to happen for the Steelers to get in.

Pittsburgh clinches a playoff spot:
1) PIT win + HOU loss or tie + NYJ loss or tie
2) PIT win + HOU loss or tie + BAL loss or tie
3) PIT win + NYJ loss or tie + BAL loss or tie + DEN loss or tie

Winning against Miami is a given, we have to win or it’s over. The Houston game is a big one, the Texans play the Patriots at home and the Pats are fighting for a playoff spot themselves so, this isn’t one of those meaningless week 17 games. I think the Patriots will help us, hate to say it, but go Pats.

The Jets go up against the Bengals in NY, I’d say at home but they play in Giants stadium..lol This is a must win for the Jets and meaningless for the Bengals BUT.. if the Bengals lose to the Jets, they would have to play them again the following week. Playing a team twice, is not good, even if you rest your starters and take a dive. I would say, Go Bengals, but the Jets got a freebie against the Colts last week and will most likely get a freebie this week.

The Ravens face the Raiders in Oakland. This is the game that will decide our fate, if I were the Ravens, I would be very worried about this below average Raider team. They have played the AFC North well this year and have nothing to lose. Actually, almost every player on the Raiders roster is fighting for a starting spot, so they will be playing in top form at home. My prediction, the Raiders win in a shootout.

The other team that can help us but only if The Jets and Raiders lose and the Texans win, is the Broncos. I wouldn’t worry too much about this scenario because I don’t think the Texans will beat the Patriots but, if for some reason they can stop the Patriots, we would need the Broncos to lose. The Broncos play the Chiefs in what used to be a good old fashioned rivalry but I doubt the Chiefs have what it takes to beat the Broncos this year.

Of course, none of these scenarios mean anything if we don’t beat Miami. So, lets start the day off with a win against the Dolphins and see what plays out.

Go Steelers!

You guessed it.. Hines Ward!

It’s a rather long story but I approached Hines Ward’s business manager/ attorney a while ago offering to sell the domain to Hines. I’ve owned this domain since Hines was a rookie and used it for a fan site and affiliate site and Hines Ward branded www.MVP86.com

My thought and reasoning behind the sale of the domain was two-fold. I know Hines is getting near the end of his career and could use the domain for himself. The other reason is I didn’t want the domain to end up with someone other than Hines Ward.

After talking to his attorney and good friend Andrew Ree, we agreed on an undisclosed amount for the domain and a personalized game jersey. I’m not going to disclose the amount of the sale but it wasn’t an absorbent amount and I didn’t do this to make huge profits. I did this because I am a Steeler fan at heart and wanted Hines to have the domain.

Here’s a photo of the personalized jersey and the check made out to me from MVP86 LLC. which is his company. I’ve blurred out some of the information as I’m sure Hines doesn’t want his account number and address on the net. LOL

This will be a great conversation piece to add to my Steeler collection and a story to tell for a long time. It’s also an opening if I ever meet Hines in person.

This Season, being a Steeler fan has been very tough for a couple of reasons. First, I was at the Super Bowl last year with my Dad, Son and Cousin and celebrated for months after witnessing the best finish to a Super Bowl in History. Second, I live in Indiana and I have to hear about the now, 12-0 Colts that about to win a record setting 22 regular season games in a row.

I feel like my sports faith is being tested by the Football gods.

Especially, after losing 5 games in a row and the last 2 games to teams with a combined record of 5 and 20, the Browns and the Raiders. Two teams that all Steeler fans despise and would love to see lose 16 games in a row every year. Oh wait, the Browns have come really close to that the last few years in a row.

What can I say about last nights game? Not much except, I’m embarrassed to be a Steeler fan today and have been for 5 weeks. I really don’t know what’s going on within the organization and am flabbergasted by what I’ve seen this season. We haven’t had many changes in personnel and you can’t tell me that Troy being out has this big of an affect on the team.

Is it Super Bowl hangover?

It’s a shame because I still haven’t seen this team get “Beat” yet, they have “Lost” all 7 games on their own and that’s a reflection on the team and staff. I just don’t see the heart and pride that I usually see out of this team. Hell, when the camera shows the defense on the sidelines, they look like they would rather be somewhere else. I don’t see a team captain taking a leadership role, I don’t see any player trying to get them fired up, I don’t see a coach..well, um… coaching, I don’t see anyone look pissed off at losing, I don’t see any emotion from the former #1 defense in the NFL and it’s sickening.

The offense and special teams is the same story, I don’t see anyone taking control of this team (Ben has shown some leadership and shows emotion on the sidelines but it seems like he’s forcing it to please the fans), I don’t see guys like Ward, Miller or Ben or stepping up and getting in the faces of the younger players. I just don’t see any emotion at all except, ….acceptance, these players have accepted the fact that they don’t want to win another Super Bowl.

It’s seasons like this that make it hard to be a Steeler fan and not for the reason you think, it’s not because they have lost 7 games already or because they have lost 5 in a row (to terrible teams), or because the chances of making the playoffs are all but lost, it’s because this team is playing with NO HEART and NO EMOTION. If these games were going down to the wire with every player giving everything they have and “leaving it all on the field”, Steeler fans would still have respect for these guys. If this team was getting beat by the Colts, Saints and Vikings by a last second field goal and giving 100% on every play, I would be proud.

But, you know what, I am not proud of this team, I am disgusted with this team.

No Heart

No Soul

No Emotion

Nothing… The 2009 Steelers are an embarrassment and the front office needs to look very, very hard at replacing whomever is responsible for the lack of heart, soul and emotion and find players and staff that have what it takes to be a part of the Pittsburgh Steeler Organization, an organization that prides itself on accepting the responsibility of being one of the most storied franchises in the NFL.

Pat Lovell

I haven’t been posting to the Blog that much but it’s not because the Steelers are stinking up the NFL. We are getting ready to sell our house and move out to the country so, we’ve been working on our house to have it listing ready.

These last few games have shown how vulnerable our secondary is and should tell the front office exactly where we need to draft or find a couple good corners via free agency.

Sure, Troy being hurt has been a big factor but our corners and back up safeties are not top caliber players. Townsend is getting old, Gay is terrible, Taylor is inconsistent, Clark and Carter are ok but, not what we need at safety, Mundy and Burnett are too inexperienced. You can see what I mean, our secondary is suspect and needs fixed.

Here’s the thing, Steeler fans go into every season with extremely high expectations and think we can win the Super Bowl every season. We love the Steelers and Steeler Nation puts everything they have into the game. Hell, sometimes I think the fans are more excited than the players each game and we probably are.

We don’t like losing seasons and this season we’ve lost 6 games and every one of them were winnable games. We didn’t get BEAT by any team, we beat ourselves every game, by terrible mistakes and most recently, horrible play by the secondary and special teams.

Don’t worry, I’m still gonna be rooting on the Steelers this thursday night when we travel to Cleveland to take on the Brownies. Cheap Steeler Tickets

Go Steelers

Pat Lovell

Last week when thinking about this game I was pretty confident that the Steelers would come out on top of a very close game. I didn’t think the Bengals were enough of a team to handle our number one defense. Well, the defense played a pretty decent game but I didn’t plan for our offense, Ben specifically playing like crap.

I’m going to start with this and get it off my chest. I defended Jeff Reed after the Chicago game, defended him after the last Bengals game and even defended him after his 2 scuffles with the law. But, it’s time for Reed to be cut! He is personally responsible for missing the kicks in the Bears and Bengals games, he is responsible for missing tackles in every return Touchdown scored against our special teams. What the hell was that yesterday, he had a clean shot at slowing down or knocking the returner out of bounds and he let him run by. He is also responsible for his actions off the field, it’s obvious he has an alcohol problem and I’ve had enough.

Dear Pittsburgh Steeler Organization,

Cut Jeff Reed now, he is costing this team wins and responsible for terrible publicity off the field!

Sincerely,

Pat Lovell “The Steeler Fanatic”

Ok, enough about “the kicker”, which is how I will now refer to this worthless player. What on earth happened to Ben and the Wide Receiver’s yesterday. If Ben wasn’t over throwing them, they were dropping the ball. I still can’t believe Miller dropped a pass that hit him in the hands. Every WR dropped catch-able passes yesterday.

Why not work on establishing the run? Why not Blitz? Why did the Steelers step out of their game plan and play to the Bengals. That is very out of character and it cost us the game. A team should never let the other team dictate their game, especially at home.

We have a lot to work on this week and now 1st place is, in reality, out of reach, unless the Bengals implode. We have to fight and work very hard to end up with a wild card spot.

Suck it up and learn from the mistakes made in this game and most importantly, start looking for a kicker, NOW!

Pat Lovell
“The Steeler Fanatic”

In front of a national audience and on Monday Night Football, the Steelers put a beat down on the Broncos in Denver. I’ll admit, I was a little uneasy about this game and thought there was a chance for the Broncos to come out on top in this one, if it was close in the 4th quarter.

Going into the 2nd half, I thought, here we go, another 2nd half collapse by the Steelers. This was one of those times I didn’t mind being wrong. After a few mistakes in the 3rd quarter, Ben decided he was going to take control of the game.

Wow, is all I can say about Ben and his performance last night. The guy gets a lot of criticism about his play and unwillingness to get rid of the ball. I say this is a good competitive trait and not a downfall. Ben played a damn good game last night and showed his critics that he is a good quarterback. Strike that.. a great quarterback.

The offensive line gets a ton of criticism from everyone (me included) but they are creating some huge holes and running lanes for Mendenhall. I was impressed with the time Ben had on a lot of the passing plays, sure they collapsed a few times and made some assignment mistakes but overall, they played well.

The defense played at their level of smash mouth football and completely stopped the Broncos from running the football. Actually, they stuffed the run and with the pressure on Orton they controlled the flow of the game. Troy brought his A game, Carter made some big plays, Kiesel played a great game and the line backers kept Orton hurried and under pressure.

This creates some urgency with the Bengals coming to town this weekend, I think this is a MUST WIN game for the Steelers, they have to beat the Bengals at home to stay on top of the AFC North and set themselves up to win the division.

The Vikings and Brett Favre came into Pittsburgh this Sunday, 6-0 and confident. Riding the wave of a resurgent, recently out of retirement, aging Quarterback that is having an incredible year.

Enter, the Pittsburgh Steelers Defense…

The Steelers love to face teams like the 2009 Vikings. The Vikings were unbeaten, boasting a very tough defense, and have the best running back in the league. Oh, yeah, they have Brett Favre.

I talked to several people this week and I was very confident that we could beat the Vikings. We just need to accomplish a few small tasks. Stop Adrian Peterson and pressure Brett Favre into making bad decisions. Sounded easy enough to me.

In the first quarter, we did just that. We stopped Peterson and we hit, hurried and sacked Brett Favre. The battle of the punters/kickers was about to start and I was confident that our kicker Jeff Reed would take a “fighting stance” and win this game for us. (Sorry, had to get that in there some how).

However, Reed almost cost us the game near the end of the 4th quarter. The Steelers defense, led by Brett Kiesel, forced a fumble and Woodly returned it for a touchdown to go ahead by 10 points, 20-10. Forcing the Vikings to score twice to tie or take the lead. On the kickoff following the TD, Reed had a chance to tackle, knock down or divert the runner and pretty much gave up on the play thus allowing the Vikings to score and bring the game back to 3 points, 20-17.

Enter, the Steelers Defense, again….

The defense saved the game once again, intercepting Brett Favre in the closing minutes, Fox returned the interception 82 yds for the touchdown and putting the game out of reach for the Vikings. 27-17.

This was a great win to head into the bye week and gives our players a much needed rest.

Bring on the Broncos…. (could they still be undefeated on Nov. 9th?)

The Steelers went into Chicago as the reigning Super Bowl Champs and riding the high of beating the Titans in overtime at home 10 days ago. They came out and dominated the first quarter controlling the ball for over 12 minutes and scoring on their first possession of the game.

Then came the 2nd quarter and the rain. I don’t know if it was the weather or the adjustments but the Bears turned around and dominated the 2nd quarter tying the game and going into halftime tied 7-7.

Well, you know how it ends….. Jeff Reed misses 2 field goals in the 4th quarter and Robbie Gould hits one with 30 seconds left in the game to win it.

I don’t know what to think about this game. We looked good for the most part, ran the ball decent (for a change), stopped the run (as usual), special teams played well and Ben played well except for a few under thrown balls but, I’m not sure that wasn’t from the rain.

The defense…. It’s funny how a team can take advantage of a starter being hurt and the Bears did that, well. They abused Aaron Carter all day long.

We are feeling the loss of Polamalu right now and Carter and the rest of the Defense need to step up. Did you notice the big plays took place right in front of Carter? I don’t think the two TD’s happen either, if Troy is in there. I don’t think the big pass plays to the Tight End happen either. We need Troy back and fast.

I’ll go easy on Reed after this game, he has done way too much over the last few years to get crap for missing a couple field goals, on the road and in the rain.

The loss stinks but it’s a long season and we know where the weaknesses were in this game. Time to regroup and go into Cincinnati and beat the Bengals.

Go Steelers.

Pat Lovell

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