New Yorkers are obnoxious, go figure: Steelers Lose

Big Stick and Farrior stop Jacobs for a loss on first down. Manning goes after Deshea and dumps off two short passes, but Deshea is a solid tackler and helps the defense off the field. Punt.

Mewelde Moore gets interfered with, but the refs don’t call it, so it goes down as an incompletion. Ben goes to the bank and reminds us that, even in troubled times, Heath is a sure thing. 22 yards. Moore is inches from breaking one as he gets tripped up for a 6-yard gain. Then it happens. Moore goes off right tackle…

…stiff-arms a defender…

…and takes it 32 yards to the HOUSE.

7-0

4 plays, 60 yards, 1:27 off the clock. Great drive.

Manning comes out and hits Hixon, who turns it upfield for a big gain. Jacobs pounds for 5 and Big Stick hurries Eli into a bad throw on 2nd down. But Eli comes back and finds Ward, who turns a short gain into a big gain on 3rd down to move the ball into field goal range. Jacobs runs twice to set up 3rd and 5, which Eli converts again by finding Steve Smith at the 9. Jacobs fumbles a handoff, but the Giants fall on it. Apparently, Eli thinks the best way to score in the red zone is by short passes. He doesn’t even throw for the end zone and the Giants are forced to kick.

7-3

Hines gets called for a false start on first down, but comes back with a 14-yard gain on the next play. Moore picks up the first down on a short run to move the chains. Things are looking good, but Ben doesn’t see a hanging safety and throws one within reach that gets picked off, killing our momentum.

Eli comes out and hits his big tight end for 15 yards, but the Giants are set back by a personal foul after the play, putting them back in the same position. Manning hits Amani “It is not a” Toomer for 9, then Jacobs runs twice for 15. The Diesel stops Ward on 2nd and short, but Eli picks it up on a QB sneak on 3rd down.

First Quarter TOP: Giants 11:47, Steelers 3:13

Second Quarter

With a fresh set of downs at the far end of the field, it was Brandon Jacobs time. He picks up 13 yards on the first play to get the ball down to the 2. It looked like the momentum was starting to turn, but the Giants decide to go to the air. Harrison forces a bad pass that Troy gets a hand on, but there was no way he could have picked it off. Troy and Big Stick apply some heat, forcing another incompletion, but Woodley was offside, giving the Giants the ball at the 1. On second down Ryan Clark plugs the hole and stops Jacobs. Jacobs appears to get in on third down, but Tomlin challenges the call and it gets overturned. With 4th and goal, you know it’s going to Jacobs. But the defense is there. Everyone piled on for the stop. Dicklin challenges the play, but the refs tell him to screw off and uphold the ruling on the field.

Huge goalline stand by the defense.

With momentum still on our side, the offense took the field. Ben hit Davis out of the backfield to get some breathing room. Moore got nothing on second down and Ben fired a pass to high for Limas Sweed on a slant route on 3rd down, bringing on the Lob Wedge. Hixon brings the punt back 28 yards to give the Giants the ball inside the Steelers 20.

Ward carries for 2, then Eli throws two incompletions, the first caused by pressure by Timmons, which, sadly, is the closest we got to Manning all day. Carney came on for the field goal.

7-6

The Mewelde Moore show took center stage as he took full control of the motif offense. The 3rd down pass was incomplete, but Moore got rocked by Kenny Phillips, for which Phillips got a penalty, giving us a first down. Moore was a little shaken up, so Ben took to the air and took a shot deep for Nasty Nate who couldn’t hang on to the ball. Gary Russell countered with an 8-yard run on 2nd down to set up a short 3rd down. Ben hits Nate over the middle who gets rocked by a safety and the ball gets knocked free, landing in the hands of a Giant for Ben’s second INT of the game.

Eli hits Jacobs on a short pass then Jacobs gets stuffed by the Diesel on 2nd and short. Eli converts a 3rd down with a pass to Ward to get the ball inside the 20. Jacobs goes nowhere on 2 carries, forcing Eli to call a time out to set up a 3rd down play. No-catch-ico made his first appearance but got stuffed by Ike on a quick out, forcing a field goal.

9-7

And right when you though things couldn’t get worst as the Giants took the lead…

Ben is sacked by Justin Tuck. But Ben redeems himself by going to Mr. Reliable Heath Miller to get the yardage back and move the sticks. Moore runs up the middle for 9 yards to take us to the 2-minute warning. Moore comes back after the break with a 10-yard run to get the ball into Giants territory. Ben hits Hines on a short route for 6 more. Moore picks up 2 to give us a 3rd and short at the 36.

But our hopes for a halftime lead come crashing down as Ben gets sacked. Lob Wedge comes in and drops one down inside the five.

Our boy Patrick Bailey is there to down it at the 2, forcing Eli to make a difficult kneel-down to end the half.

Third Quarter

At halftime, the people behind me asked what the Steelers could do to get things going again. I gave the obvious answer of “throw it to Heath and Hines. When Heath gets the ball, we move down the field.”

The Steelers got the ball to start the second half, and went right to the ground. Moore picked up a few, then Ben hit Heath for 11 yards, which prompted some smiles and wise nods from those sitting around me. But then things fell apart.

Moore stopped in the backfield. Ben forced into a bad pass by pressure. Ben sacked. Punt.

Lob Wedge manages a 41-yard punt, but a personal foul after the play sets the Giants back inside the 20.

After an incompletion and a stuff of Jacobs on second down, Derrick Ward takes a draw play for 15-yards on 3rd down, but it gets called back on a holding penalty. Manning hits Ward on a swing pass, but the Steelers are able to bring him down before he gets to the sticks. Punt.

On the first play from scrimage, Ben goes play action and finds Nasty Nate with single coverage heading for Grant Street. He throws a great pass that Nate hauls in, then puts a move on a safety and strides into the end zone.

1 play, 65 yards, 10 seconds
14-9

Jacobs drops a pass on 1st down but Harrison gets called for pass interference, giving the Giants another first down and only 3 more yards. Ward comes in for a change of pace and picks up 10 yards . Ward gets stuffed on first down, which prompts Eli to take a shot deep for Steve Smith, but Ryan Clark lays a lick on Smith and knocks the ball out. Clark was injured on the play with a dislocated shoulder. Manning hits Boss for the first down and more as the Steelers do a terrible job of tackling. No-catch-ico pulls in a short pass, but Ike is there to bring him down. Ike got injured on the play but would return later. We were running out of defensive backs at this point in the game. Ward came back for 4 yards to set up 3rd and 1. But the defense stood strong again, stopping Jacobs in his tracks.

The Giants take a timeout to talk over their 4th and 1 play. Eli comes out and doesn’t like what he sees, but by rule can’t call another timeout and is forced into taking a delay of game penalty. On 4th and 6, in a gamechanging play, Manning goes down the sidelines and drops a perfect pass into the hands of Amani It Is Not A Toomer for 30 yards to get the ball down to the 4. The Steelers defense stepped it up again as the Diesel stopped Ward in the backfield, Eli couldn’t hook up with No-catch-ico or Boss, forcing a field goal.

14-12

With a little over 8 minutes left in the game, you knew we needed points. Apparently, the offensive line didn’t.

Pressure on Ben forces an incompletion.
Moore stopped in the backfield for a loss of 4.
Ben sacked back at the 18.

Why is it important where he was sacked? Because we don’t have a long-snapper any more. James Harrison, in an incredible display of sportsmanship, stepped up and volunteered to be the long snapper. But the job is a little harder than it looks. Harrison’s snap goes over Lob Wedge’s head and rolls out the back of the end zone. Safety.

14-14