Baltimore "Holds" On To Turn Out The 49ers Lights, 34-31

Sorry this took so long to get out there, folks. I watched the Beyonce halftime show again...and then I watched it again...and again...and again...and well, I needed more alone time after that...(ahem)

Even though it was the Baltimore Ravens winning the Super Bowl, I have to admit to it being a great game. In fact, as Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco said, "it was f***ing awesome!" - http://tinyurl.com/b2ga2t5

Flacco torched the San Francisco 49ers defense for 192 yards and three touchdowns, going 13 for 20 in the first half. Flacco went 22 for 33 overall for 287 yards and three touchdowns Sunday. In our pregame article where we broke down whom we thought would win, we picked the 49ers. But the Ravens (ahem) held on to win. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2013/02/will-another-running-quarterback-lead.html

After an average, middle-of-the-pack season when he finished only 12th in the NFL in passer rating with 87.7 - even when missing three games, Ben Roethlisberger had a 97.0 rating - and throwing 22 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions, he was perfect in the playoffs throwing 11 TD passes and no interceptions, tying the record previously held solely by Joe Montana. All told, Flacco went 73 for 126 for 1,140 yards.

He also went four out of five for 106 yards and two touchdowns on third down, with the play of the day offensively coming late in the second quarter when Flacco hit Jacoby Jones deep for a 56-yard touchdown pass.

Congratulations on the MVP, Flacco. It was certainly deserved. But "elite?" Slow ya roll, youngin'.

Like Hip-Hop artist Nas said,
"You went platinum?...Oh, that's nice.
Now let me see you do the same thing twice.
Three times, four times,
Then a couple of more times..." - "Classic"

Merely as a point of comparison, Tim Smith set a Super Bowl rushing record with the Washington Redskins in 1988, rushing for 204 yards and two touchdowns in the Washington Redskins' 42-10 blowout of the Denver Broncos. Smith last played in the NFL in 1990 with the Dallas Cowboys. Last I heard, he was living in the Grey Bar Motel after being busted for drug distribution in 2006.

Now I'm not saying at all that Flacco is destined to have a roommate named Ben Dover any time soon, but the point is that this is the same quarterback who had the two lowest QBRs in the recent memory, 0.3 and 0.4, both this season.

I had a 0.2 just sitting on my couch after throwing the remote at the t.v. in disgust on Sunday. So, let's wait on the "elite" talk. (By the way, sorry about that, sis. Tell my brother-in-law that I'll get that repaired asap.)

To this point, I thought this was going to be a blowout and decided to just focus (closely) on Beyonce. Then Kelly and Michelle and jumped on stage, too, reminding us just how "bootylicious" they all still are. When I recovered from that, the 2 Broke Girls special promo aired. After coming to, I awoke to find the lights had gone out.

I totally missed Jacoby Jones putting on his new Skechers Go-Run 2 shoes and making the 49ers special teams look silly as he sped through them untouched for a 109...ahem...108-yard kickoff return.

I thought I was still out cold when I saw the lights inside the Superdome were out. I don't know what had happened...a circuit breaker tripped...a blackout...Ray Lewis crying so much that his crocodile tears shorted out some wiring... (Yeah, he was there. I don't see him, either. I had to look his numbers up in the stat sheet.)

It was finally found out what happened...

Since San Francisco was used to the dark, they went out after the more-than-30-minute delay and quickly scored 17 consecutive points to make things interesting and eventually pull it to 34-29.

The Ravens found a way to "hold" on, though, eventually stopping the 49ers on a fourth-and-goal at the five-yard line.

Everyone in the Superdome, except the referees, could see that Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith held on the play causing the pass from Colin Kaepernick to sail over the head of Michael Crabtree.

A livid Jim Harbaugh argued that Crabtree got held and bumped by Smith: "There's no question in my mind that there was a pass interference and then a hold on Crabtree on the last one."

No question in anyone's mind, Jimbo. Well, no one outside of Baltimore anyway. It stood, though, ending 34-31.

Oh, well...I swear, the Ravens got away with murder.

~

TIDBITS: Remember the 'guarantee' by LaMarr Woodley made that the Ravens would never win the Super Bowl as long as he's in the league/the Steelers have something to do about it?: I Wonder What Humble Pie Tastes Like to Steelers Linebacker LaMarr Woodley. - http://nicepickcowher.com/2013/02/04/i-wonder-what-humble-pie-tastes-like-to-steelers-linebacker-lamarr-woodley/

~

What are the Steelers odds to win Super Bowl 48? According to Sportsbook.com they are 18 to 1.
These are the odds on the rest:

New England Patriots: 7 to 1
San Francisco 49ers: 8 to 1
Denver Broncos: 8 to 1
Green Bay Packers: 10 to 1
Houston Texans: 14 to 1
Baltimore Ravens: 14 to 1
Seattle Seahawks: 16 to 1
Atlanta Falcons: 18 to 1
New Orleans Saints: 18 to 1
New York Giants: 20 to 1
Washington Redskins: 30 to 1
Dallas Cowboys: 30 to 1
Chicago Bears: 30 to 1
Cincinnati Bengals: 35 to 1
Detroit Lions: 40 to 1
Minnesota Vikings: 40 to 1
Indianapolis Colts: 40 to 1
San Diego Chargers: 40 to 1
Philadelphia Eagles: 50 to 1
Carolina Panthers: 50 to 1
New York Jets: 50 to 1
Miami Dolphins: 50 to 1
St Louis Rams: 50 to 1
Kansas City Chiefs: 50 to 1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 60 to 1
Cleveland Browns: 66 to 1
Arizona Cardinals: 100 to 1
Buffalo Bills: 100 to 1
Tennessee Titans: 100 to 1
Oakland Raiders: 150 to 1
Jacksonville Jaguars: 150 to 1
http://www.sportsbook.ag/livesports/indexmember.php?sportsname=football

The Manning Parade Should Remind Steelers Fans What They Have

Peyton Manning was recently released by the Indianapolis Colts after playing for the team with the horseshoe on its helmet since his being drafted by them in 1998. Now a free agent, he's shopping his talents to the team with whom he feels he fits in best. One of the twelve teams vying for his services has even used the word "desperately" to describe how much they want those services.

With the recent release of Hines Ward also, Steelers fans have an understanding of what it is to lose a beloved veteran. A winner. A gentleman. It should as well help them to realize that the same could happen in a few years to another of their own. The same indeed could happen to Ben Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger had been in the news in the past few weeks himself because of a couple of things. Most notably because of team president Art Rooney II's comments. You've heard it oft repeated since Rooney II said it some weeks ago, Ben Roethlisberger needs to "tweak" his game.

Because of his "backyard football" style, his "John Wayne" save-the-day complex and his occasional Divo attitude, Roethlisberger, Big Ben to his fans, does have his share of detractors. And those detractors have taken the opportunity to take Rooney II's "tweak" comment and run with it. Even changing it to mean or say he should "change" his game.

Without a doubt, there are a lot of knowledgable fans out there. There are also, though, some troglodytes who should never be allowed to comment on anything football related, yet they still offer up their "wealth" of knowledge on Twitter and Facebook. These somehow have the tendency to influence otherwise intelligent fans.            

Constructive criticism rapidly becomes critical deconstruction when Roethlisberger holds the ball too long. Certainly Roethlisberger has his flaws, but the love-hate relationship can lean toward the latter more often than it should. There's simply no reason for overly harsh criticism of someone who busts his hump for the sake of his team like Roethlisberger does. In fact, we might be seeing a bit history repeating itself.

No Steelers player may ever have had more of a love-hate relationship with fans than Terry Bradshaw. Bradshaw was booed vigorously by fickle fans in Pittsburgh for the first five years of his career. Those same fickle fans wanted Joe Gilliam or Terry Hanratty to be their quarterback instead.

It's a good thing Chuck Noll ultimately didn't listen. Four Super Bowl titles, two Super Bowl MVPs, two Team MVPs, and one NFL MVP ultimately silenced the booing. Still, the echoes of boos lingered in his head. It took him years before he reconciled and returned to Pittsburgh after his retirement.

Naturally, the circumstances surrounding the two quarterbacks' situations are different. But it's still something to keep in mind. Let's not allow ourselves to forget what he's accomplished. The first seven years of his career were actually reminiscent of the numbers of Hall of Fame legend Joe Montana. I'll list some of those similarities and other accomplishments:

Roethlisberger has been one of the most efficient passers in NFL history. He has an all-time in NFL passer rating of 92.1, completion percentage of 63.1% and is 5th all-time in yards per attempt (8.06) among quarterbacks with a minimum of 1,500 career attempts. He also has the fourth highest career winning percentage (.708) as a starter in the regular season among quarterbacks with a minimum of 100 starts.

Some individual records Roethlisberger possesses are: most regular season wins in a season, rookie QB -- 13 (2004);

Longest regular season win streak to start a career for a NFL QB -- 15 games (won all 13 starts in the 2004 season, won first 2 games of the 2005 season);

Most wins as a starting quarterback in first five NFL seasons (reg. season only) - 51 (from 2004–2008); highest passer rating, rookie season -- 98.1 (2004);

Highest completion percentage, rookie season -- 66.4% (2004);

Highest single-game completion percentage, rookie season (min. 20 attempts) -- 84.0% (completed 21/25 passes at Dallas on 10/17/2004);

Most games with a completion percentage of 70.0% or higher, rookie season (min. 10 attempts) -- 6 (2004);

Most games with a completion percentage of 80.0% or higher, single season (min. 10 attempts) -- 4 (2007);

(Tie) Most touchdown passes, Monday Night Football game -- 5 (11/5/2007 vs. Baltimore Ravens);

Youngest starting QB ever to win the Super Bowl (2005), and the second-youngest quarterback to win two Super Bowls;

and the fourth-fewest starts by a quarterback to reach 80 regular season wins -- 113 (behind Tom Brady, Roger Staubach and Ken Stabler).

Make no mistake, the sun has reached it's apex in Roethlisberger's career. He has some incredible accomplishments behind him, but also a still bright future in front of him. In fact, Roethlisberger is hoping he is just entering his prime: http://t.co/I6e7eCul

Tweaking his game isn't a negative thing, it just refers to minor adjustments that will help elongate his career. He's a veteran and proven winner. Just like a few other quarterbacks of note. Let's just he continues those winning ways in Black and Gold for a long time.

BEN IS ELITE

Written By Jayden Matthews and Melissa Fetty

Well there is a lot of talk about Ben not being Elite and this and that.  Well this is a little bit of info that I think does put him right up there.  Joe Montana is considered one of the Greats.  Bens stats in his first seven years are eerily in comparison.   Stats do not lie folks.  I have always looked at Ben as one of the Great ones in the league right now. Top five easy, even with that joke of a list on NFL Network.  Ben is a proven winner and this shows what I and alot of Steeler fans already know .

All Stats shown are compiled from both Quarterbacks first 7 years as a starter. Montana 1980-86 seasons. Roethlisberger 2004-2010 Seasons.


Montana 21.402 passing yards
Ben 22,502 passing yards
Montana 2855 passing attempts
Ben 2800 passing attempts
Montana 7.5 yards per attempt
Ben  8.0 yards per attempt
Montana 140 TD passes
Ben 141 TD passes
Montana 5.0 TD Percentage (percentage of passes that go for Touchdowns)
Ben 5.1%
Montana 1805 Completions
Ben  1766 Completions
Montana 63% Completion percentage
Ben  63% Completion percentage
Montana 66% win percentage
Ben 68% win percentage
Montana 2.7 Interception percentage
Ben  3.1 Interception percentage
Montana 11.8 Yards per Completion
Ben 12.7 Yards per Completion
Montana ‘s team averaged 4.1 Yards per rush
 Ben's  team averaged 4.1 yards per rush
Montana’s team averaged 31 rushing attempts per game
Ben's  team averaged 31 rushing attempts per game
Montana’s team defense allowed 477 points in the two SB seasons in his first 6 years
Ben's  team defense allowed 481 points in the two SB seasons in his first 6 years
Montana 13 4th Quarter comebacks in first 7 years as a starter
Ben 19 4th quarter comebacks in first 7 years as starter
Montana 12 game winning drives in first 7 years as starter
Ben 25 game winning drives in first 7 years as starter


Postseason Play through first 7 seasons

Montana 10 post season games
Ben 12 post season games
Montana 7-3 Record in Post season
Ben 10-2 Record in Post season
Montana 0-3 record on the road in Post season
Ben  3-0 record on the road in Post season
Montana 2562 Passing yards in Post season
Ben  2598 Passing yards in Post season
Montana 59.9% completion percentage in post season
Ben 61.9% completion percentage in post season
Montana 7.6 Yards per attempt in Post season
Ben 7.9 Yards per attempt in Post season
Montana 202 Completions in post season
Ben  201 completions in post season
Montana 17-14 TD to INT ratio in Post season
Ben 17-14 TD to INT ratio in Post season
Montan’s defense allowed 21.1 points per game
Ben's defense allowed 21.5 points per game
Montana’s team averaged 22.5 points per game in the post season
Ben's team averaged 27 points per game in the post season