Divisional Round: Chargers @ Steelers

Two more wins.

There, I said it.

This was an impressive win over a good team, but if the Steelers don’t win next week, nobody will care.  Once your team makes it to the AFC Championship game, all bets are off.

Us and fellow bloggers always overanalyze things, but now it’s getting pretty simple. Beat Baltimore, beat another Bird Team and the Pittsburgh Steelers are Super Bowl champions.

If the thought of Mike Tomlin handing a trophy to Dan Rooney doesn’t give you chills, you are reading the wrong blog.

But before we proceed full speed ahead to what Baltimore will bring next week, let’s look at the good and bad of the San Diego game and Mike Tomlin’s first playoff win as a head coach.

This recap is a little different than the others. The new format is more of just a list of some different stuff. Thoughts are always appreciated in the comments.

Observations

1. The beginning of the 1st quarter had half of Steeler Nation on the verge of a heart attack. I won’t lie, the demons of past Steeler failures at home were at the top of my mind when DUI Jackson scored the first touchdown. All of a sudden, Chad Scott and Dewayne Washington were patrolling the secondary again. In the end, it really was just a bad dream as the secondary rebounded and played reasonably well. The secondary wasn’t tested much during the 2nd and 3rd quarters which were totally dominated by the Steelers’ defense, but they tackled well when the game was still competitive and didn’t pull a choke job like some of the past teams.

2. Please, please, please stop saying something is wrong with Willie Parker already, Steeler fans. He was injured during the year and it took him a while to find his footing again, but he is a still a great runner; the times he struggles is because of the offensive line. He didn’t get a step slower and become less powerful this season. It’s all based off of the blocking and today the Steelers owned the line of scrimmage from the first series.

2a. If the Steelers keep getting consistent play from the offensive line like we saw today, Pittsburgh will win the Super Bowl. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I really think it’s that simple. The defense is not going to falter or be overpowered by any of the teams left, Ben has been there done that, and the offensive skill players are solid. Time to man up and go back to work for few more weeks.

3. Did Darren Sproles even play offense? I’m not really sure.

4. Don’t care what Bolt Talk said earlier this year, Phil Rivers is a stooge. He spends way too much time yelling and trash talking. It was fine and well to take Bolt Talk at their word when they said that the Rivers trash talking stuff was overblown, but every single game I’ve seen him play, he goes nuts.

5. What a great game by Big Ben. He missed a couple throws, but made no mistakes. Having the line protect around him showed the kind of QB that he really is. He didn’t have to put on the Superman cape today, but if my team is down late in the 4th quarter, I’m taking Big Ben over McNabb, Warner, or Flucco. Don’t underestimate the importance of quarterback play this late in the playoffs. When the lights are on and the game is close, Roethlisberger has a look about him that he refuses to let his team lose…think Tim Tebow, except Big Ben won’t be playing indoors on a 50 yard field in a couple years. Ben has proven he can manage a game, but he’s showed throughout his career that he can go nuts and throw the ball all over the place when the situation is right. He’s playing with confidence right now and no one on the corner have swagger like Ben.

Play of the game

As awesome as Santonio Holmes punt return was, the biggest play in my eyes was Ben’s 41 yard strike to Hines Ward with under a minute to go in the first half. Not only was it the best throw by either QB during the game, but it helped the Steelers take a lead going into the half. 14-10 is SOOOO much better than 10-7 or 10-10, especially when you get the ball to start the second half. The game was pretty much over when Parker scored on the play following Ward’s clutch reception. With the way the defense had played after the opening drive, four points were a wide enough margin to feel comfortable.

On playcalling

I thought Bruce Arians did an excellent job today; probably his best performance of the year. Arians stuck with the run most of the first half and played things pretty close to the vest after Holmes’ return made it 7-7. He wouldn’t let the offense make any mistakes and just kept pounding the ball at the Chargers. Aside from keeping field position in PIttsburgh’s favor, Arians wore out the defense and the clock. I thought the play action throws deep came at the right times as well, even if all of them weren’t successful.

A lot of people were probably upset about the fake punt call, but I actually didn’t mind it. Something we’ve stressed at Blitzburgh Blog is that when determining if a play call was “good” or not, you can’t factor in the outcome of the play. The execution is up to the players. The Steelers were at midfield and the offense was having trouble moving the ball. On the other side, the defense had been dominant enough that the chance of the Chargers getting more than a field goal out of a failed attempt were pretty slim. So, worst case: you allow 3 points to the Chargers. Best case: You gain at least 3 points, most likely.

In the end, the Chargers had the punt block on and the play didn’t work, but I think it caught San Diego by surprise and could have went for a big gain. The call shows Tomlin isn’t shying away from anything in the playoffs and that he has a ton of trust in the defense, as he should.

You know everybody would be loving that fake punt if Ryan Clark breaks through for 20 or 30 yards. Just because it wasn’t executed properly doesn’t mean the choice was a bad one.

MVP

Steelers offensive lineman. Easy choice here. As deserving as Parker and Roethlisberger are, so much of what they accomplish is based on the play of the offensive line. The pass protection was excellent and the run blocking was even better. Seeing Pittsburgh drive the ball right down a team’s throat with 7 or 8 consecutive run plays was a sight for sore eyes. As much crap as they have dealt with this year, the line had their best performance of the past season in the biggest game.

Two more wins.

Here we go.