One if by Land, Two if by Sea, Three if by Defense. Steelers Win

Cassel takes a delay of game penalty after a 1st down incompletion because he crapped his pants over looking at the Steelers defense. Morris takes a short pass and turns it upfield for 12 yards. Somehow, the Pats offense always seems to get into a 3rd and short situation. However, the Steelers dodge another bullet as Cassel and Moss can’t hook up. Punt.

Ben goes play-action and goes deep for Nasty Nate against former Bungle Deltha O’Neal, but Nate can’t come up with the jump ball. It was worth the shot. Two more incompletions dooms the drive and brings out the Lob Wedge again.

The Pats offense started clicking and they made their way down the field on the short passing game. Kevin Faulk needed some advil after the first half, as he spent it carrying the team. Sammy Morris had 1 carry on the drive, which was good for a 4th and 1 conversion at the Steelers 21. 4-yard passes to Faulk and Welker got the Pats to 3rd and 2. In a play that signaled the beginning of the momentum shift in the game, Polamalu came unblocked through the guard-tackle seam and destroyed Cassel, who was on a 3-step-drop looking for Moss.

Cassel barely got the pass off, and Aaron Smith batted it down. Field goal. Huge stand holding them to 3 there.

With the game still within a score, everyone knew wee needed points. Enter Mewelde Moore. Moore picks up 10 on first down, snags a short pass for 5, then runs for 3 and 10 to get the ball down to the New England 35. After all that success on the ground and passing short, Ben tries to look a little deeper, but Ellis Hobbs comes unblocked from the blindside and sacks Ben. Richard Seymour gave us a break by jumping early, giving us 5 free yards. Ben hits Nate for 10 and Hines for 4 to move the chains as the clock winds under 3 minutes. Moore gets the rock again as the clock hits the two-minute warning.

Right off the break, Holmes puts an ankle-breaking move on Deltha O’Neal and Ben hits him in the front corner for the TOUCHDOWN.
10-10

With just under two minutes to go, you had to wonder if the Pats offense might score. You knew they got the ball to start the second half, and the situation had bad news written all over it.

Cassel hit Welker for a few, then Faulk busted off a big run against our nickel defense, getting the ball all the way to the Steelers 26. The Steelers caught a break when the Pats were penalized on 1st down, but an 8-yard snag by Welker and a 14-yard run by Morris erased the penalty and got the Pats inside the 10. Your heart was sinking but Randy Moss decided to pull a Chad Johnson and drop a touchdown pass over the middle. Cassel went right back to him, but Farrior was there to knock the ball out of Moss’s fragile hands with a hit. As if he was playing Moss on his fantasy team, Cassel looked for him again and Ike Taylor almost came up with the pick, but the ball slipped through his hands. Gostkowski comes on for a field goal, which from 27 yards should be a sure thing, but he pushes it wide right and the Steelers dodge a bullet.

Halftime

TOP was pretty even in the 2nd quarter. Halftime was highlights from the early games.
The Giants are good.
The Dolphins are lucky.
Buffalo’s kicker sucks.

Third Quarter

The Pats got another chance to take the lead and the momentum at the start of the 2nd half. Ike starts off the half by getting flagged for a pass interference penalty, even though it looked suspiciously like Moss was hanging on to Ike. Morris pounds for 6, then for 2 more. Casey Hampton is called for defensive holding, which basically meant he took two guys and gave them a big bear hug. However, the refs learned an important lesson here: don’t piss off a big man. After Faulk pulls in a pass for 9 yards, Hampton busts through the Pats line like the KoolAid guy through a wall and brings down Cassel.

After the play, Hampton turned to the ref and said “Hold that”

The Pats crap on themselves on 3rd down and Belicheat elects to punt. Hampton’s sack not only pushed the Pats out of field goal range, it also swung the momentum to the Steelers.

Moore comes out with a 20-yard run, then Ben finds Heath for 11 more to move up to the 45. Moore picks up 7 more and Ben hits Holmes on 3rd down to move the chains. After Moore gets stuffed going left, he goes around the right end for 13 yards and another first down. Parker comes in and gets 8 yards on 2 carries before Ben finds Heath to move the sticks and get inside the 10. Ben spent a timeout, and you spent the whole 30 seconds hoping it didn’t come back to bite us in the ass. Moore carried for 2, but 2 incompletions stalled out the drive, bringing on Jeff Reed to give us our first lead of the game.

13-10

And then, the Patriots came apart at the seams.

Keyaron Fox recovers a muffed kickoff, and the Steelers are in business.

Moore got stuffed in the backfield, but Ben fires a bulled to Hines, who shreds double-coverage on the goal line for the score.

20-10

The Pats put Kevin Faulk back, and he at least didn’t fumble the kickoff. However, now trailing by 2 scores the Pats had to throw. And when a team has to throw, that usually means they don’t keep extra blockers in. And without extra blockers, you’re asking offensive linemen to go 1-on-1 with the best linebacker in the game.

James Harrison dominates Pro Bowl tackle Matt Light and strips the ball from Cassel’s blind side. LaMarr Woodley falls on the ball and the Steelers offense takes the field again.

Ben hits Heath to get the ball inside the 10, and Parker runs twice to get it down to the 1. Arians calls a pass, and Ben is pressured into an incompletion, bringing out the field goal unit.

23-10

The Patriots try to get something going on their next drive, but it’s all about the defense. Morris is stopped, then on 3rd down Ryan Clark sends Wes Welker into next week.

BOOM.
Clark was flagged for unnecessary roughness, however the League said this week that the hit was legal and should not have drawn a penalty.

With Welker out, Cassel hits Moss for a short gain, then hits Faulk on a swing pass, but Aaron Smith and Nick Eason blow it up in the backfield for a loss. 3rd and long? James Harrison time. Harrison gives Matt Light the Luca Brasi treatment and whacks the ball away from Cassel again. Farrior falls on it this time, giving the Steelers their 3rd consecutive turnover.

Parker carries for nothing as the quarter ends.

3rd quarter TOP: Steelers 10:05, Pats 4:55

Fourth Quarter

Ben hit Hines to keep things rolling to start the 4th, then Parker got a few carries before Ben did it himself on 3rd and short to move inside the New England 25. Parker gained a few on first down, but two incomplete passes stalled the drive, and Jeff Reed barely missed a 40-yard field goal, keeping the game at 2 scores.

Faulk and Watson went back and forth to get the Pats across midfield. Cassel missed Moss once, but hit him on a quick hitch. Moss turned it back to the middle of the field…

Where Chris Hoke brings him down. Why do I bring this up? Because how often does Randy Moss get tackled by a defensive lineman. Not very.

On 3rd and long, Cassel went down the middle for Ben Watson, but the ball hits the tips of his fingers and lands right in the hands of Polamalu, who had come close to interceptions earlier in the game.

Troy turns it upfield and shows off some moves as we are reminded that he leads the league in interceptions. That makes 6, son.

With 10 minutes to go, it was the Willie Parker show. Parker picked up 7, then turned the corner…

…and ripped off a 31-yard run capped off by lowering his shoulder and plowing into the NE defensive back.

Parker’s next run got called back on a hold, but he came back for 7 more on 1st and 20. Ben finally throws Spaeth a bone, and he picks up 4, but an incompletion on 3rd down brings Reed out again. Solid.

26-10

The CBS guys, who were fellating the Patriots all game, harped on the fact that it was still only a 2-score game and that the Pats had plenty of time to get 2 touchdowns and 2 2-pointers.

Cassel goes deep, but Gaffney can’t come up with it. Ike apparently taunted him (or told him the truth), and picked up a 15-yard penalty. With the ball in Steelers territory, Cassel hit Faulk on a short pass that he takes inside the 30. The CBS announcers can hardly contain their raging boners over the Patriots when Kevin Faulk picks up 9-yards on a run to get down to the 15. Hoke stuffs Cassel on a QB-sneak on 3rd and 1, but the Pats have no choice, and Cassel converts the sneak on 4th down. With 4 minutes to play, we felt okay, but nothing close to secure.

But Lawrence Timmons reminds us why the Steelers defense might be the best defense this town has seen since the 70s. Timmons jumps a pass for Faulk and rumbles all the way down the field, picking up a few big blocks….

…but he runs out of gas at the 5-yard line and Ben Watson catches him from behind and drags him down at the 1.

No matter, The Bulldozer comes in and finds paydirt on his second try.

33-10

With just under 3 minutes to play, this thing was over. The Pats ran the ball once to wind the clock to the 2-minute warning. Cassel hit Gaffney on a short pass on 2nd down. After two incompletions, the game should have been over, but the refs flagged Deshea for defensive holding. The crowd, which at this point was only Steelers fans, booed loud enough it was audible on the TV feed. After another run, Cassel decided to try another pass, but LaMarr Woodley had seen enough and buried Cassel in the turf. The Pats ran another meaningless play as time expired.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Players of the Game
Offensive Game Balls: Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore
Defensive Game Ball: James Harrison Did we mention he had a sprained back in the second half? What did he do in the second half? Only had 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 5 tackles
Honorable Mentions:
Troy Polamalu
LaMarr Woodley
Lawrence Timmons
Ben Roethlisberger
Hines Ward
Heath Miller
Santonio Holmes

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game
The CBS Announcing Crew

These guys were on the Pats balls. I guess it should be expected since CBS just built a new regional complex in Gilette Stadium. But I guess I had hoped for at least a little unbiased announcing. I mean, I’m used to biased announcing against the Steelers, but this was something else.

• Time of Possession: Steelers 35:05, Pats 24:55
• Berger’s punts: 39, 38, 38…everyone who bashed us for drafting Sepulveda should have to answer for this.
• Ryan Clark’s hit was legal. Suck it Patriot fanboys.
• Santonio and Nate remembered how to catch passes.
• Heath Miller is always the answer.
• If there is such a thing as a “perfect half” it was the second half.
• Darnell Stapelton is the unsung hero of this season.
• The offensive line is better without Smith and Simmons. Stapleton and Starks need to be kept.
• Steel Curtain or 2008 defense?
• Defense wins championships. Period. Our defense is scary good.
• Ike Taylor is turning into a shutdown corner.
• The defense has allowed 10 points in each of the last 3 games.
• Is anyone concerned that the Ravens are the only team currently in the playoffs that we’ve beaten?
• Huge victory, always good to beat up on the Pats.