Bleacher Report - Articles by Todd Fleming

Pittsburgh Steelers Lull AFC Into False Sense of Security

Todd Fleming — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:40:30 -0500

The abomination at Arrowhead was all part of “the plan".

So was the loss to the Bengals the week earlier.

The Steelers have set out to lull the rest of the AFC playoff field into a false sense of security. Any time now, they will spring their trap.

After all, no team can possibly give up four kickoff returns in five weeks, right?

That must have been intentional.

Maybe the special teams were just itching to set a record. Maybe they were feeling unappreciated since everyone was talking about the defense last year. Well, everyone is talking about them now.

A midseason swoon that looked like it was cooked up in the depths of hell worked so well in 2005 that it appears the Steelers have decided to pull a page out of their playbook from that season.

Actually, the loss to the Chiefs was not that surprising. There are a few things to consider before throwing in the towel on the 2009 season.

1. There are no give me games in the NFL.

Every team is loaded with elite talent, even the ones who inspire the most pity. Was it really that big of a shock that the St. Louis Rams, thought just a few weeks ago to be the worst team in the league, almost beat the New Orleans Saints, the top dog of most power rankings?

If a team doesn’t bring its “A” game, it can even lose to the Cleveland Browns.

Consider that if the Detroit Lions matched up against the Florida Gators, they would probably run them right out of the stadium…not that I wouldn’t pay to see a matchup of that kind if for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity. It would be a heck of a lot more interesting than the Pro Bowl.

2. These Steelers have a painful tendency to play to the level of their competition.

They did the same thing last year, rarely blowing out even their worst opponents. While some Steelers' fans were celebrating what appeared to be a much easier schedule, I was not at all sure that was a good thing for that reason.

A team that is comfortable winning ugly will lose some games. The law of averages says that some years you will win a majority of the close games and some years you will lose most of them. Last year, the Steelers won most of their close games. This year, the coin has flipped.

3. This year’s defense is plenty good.

But, last year’s defense was one of the best in the history of the league. It is easier to win the close games when a defense is nearly impenetrable.

4. Every game features two teams who want to win.

Sometimes, as fans, we forget this. All wins are attributed to the glorious might of our team. All losses are attributed to the glorious incompetence of that same team who we were burying in praise the week before.

Rarely do we ever shrug and say, “Oh well. The other guys played better today.” That was the primary answer as to why the Steelers lost to the Bengals. The Bengals’ coaches were better on that Sunday, and their players were a tad better. That is usually all it takes.

The loss to the Chiefs is one of those rare games that says more about the problems the Steelers’ are struggling through than anything to do with the Chiefs. There is no question which team was more talented. That was fairly obvious. But, the more talented team does not always win.

5. Spotting a team seven free points each game is a huge burden to overcome, especially for a team built to win close games.

That is essentially what these Steelers are doing by allowing a weekly kickoff return for a “torchdown.”

Last year’s kickoff unit was one of the best in the league. Now, they are the worst in the history of the league. That is shocking. It may indeed be time to start kicking the ball out of bounce, or perhaps trying a few onside kicks.

But, for all of that, there is still plenty of reason for optimism in Steelers Nation. The glass is still half full.

Here are five reasons why:

1. There is no dominant team in the AFC ready to run away with this thing come playoff time. So the Colts are 10-0. Big deal. They do not look at all impressive. Each week features their latest escape. Are they a good team? Absolutely. You don’t run off that kind of record if you stink.

Are they scary good? Not even a little bit. They are a consistently good team. In 2005, the Colts looked truly unbeatable and nobody thought they could be had come playoff time. They murdered almost everyone they faced. They looked invincible.

And they were promptly bounced by a Steelers’ team in the divisional round of the play-offs that suffered a similar mid-season run of futility, including being blown out by that Colts' team.

2. The Steelers’ offense truly has the potential to be something special. Mike Wallace, despite a subpar game, has the potential to be a real game breaker. Rashard Mendenhall is developing into an elite runner. And the offensive line has improved dramatically from last year, although the loss of a much improved Chris Kemoeatu will hurt.

For some reason, these guys can’t quite put it together for a full 60 minutes. But, the fact that they have not peaked is encouraging. They would be in a lot more trouble if they had already peaked and were still losing. There is still time for it to come together before the playoffs with six games left.

3. The Steelers are still well positioned for a playoff run. And that counts for something. They are 6-4. I think 10-6 will probably get a team in this year based on the current records. 11-5 will definitely land a team in the playoffs.

The Patriots were sent packing at 11-5 last year, which was a glorious thing, but that is rare. After the Colts and the Patriots, there are no sure things when it comes to the playoffs on the AFC side.

The Chargers and Bengals will probably land there. But, the other two spots are wide open. And this looks like one of those years when a wildcard team can do plenty of damage.

The Steelers were bad this past weekend. That is an undeniable fact. But, so were most of their primary competitors for the last two wildcard spots.

4. Adversity sharpens a team’s desire and prepares a team for the serious tests that await come playoff time. It also conditions a team to be able to handle pressure and respond when the going gets tough.

The Steelers have faced plenty this year. The Colts and the Saints have not faced much, other than a few injuries. That is a tribute to the fact that both are very good teams.

But, I think the best thing that can happen to either of the two remaining undefeateds is to lose, and perhaps even lose badly. Not only will that give them a taste of adversity, but would remove the pressure cooker that builds with each successive win.

It was the adversity that the Steelers faced as a team in 2005 that prepared them for their playoff run. It was the adversity faced by the Giants in 2007 that gave them the confidence to knock off a juggernaut.

The Steelers of 2008 also faced plenty of adversity with a viciously tough schedule and a few humbling losses, including that to the Titans that cost them the top seed in the AFC.

5. The Steelers are indeed built to win ugly. That doesn’t always look so hot during the regular season when other teams are lighting up the scoreboard seemingly at will. But, it becomes a much bigger asset during the playoffs when you need to be able to win close games when the pressure is sky high.

If you ask me which team is more likely to blow out the Detroit Lions, the Steelers or the Coltriots, the Coltriots would win in a landslide. If you ask me which team was more likely to lose to the St. Louis Rams, the Steelers or the Coltriots, the Steelers would win in a landslide. But, if the Steelers meet the Coltriots in the playoffs, I still like the Steelers and I would feel that way even if I wasn’t a fan of the team.

There are plenty of other reasons that go unmentioned here. The biggest is that I will never count out a Ben Roethlisberger-led team once it gets to the playoffs.

The Steelers will also likely have the best defensive player in the league back to his fully disruptive self.

For all that I wrote above, the Steelers desperately need the win this week, although not quite as desperately as the Ravens need it. Will they get that win? I like their chances. And if they do get it, they can easily get right back on the tracks.

Even if they lose, the clock will not have struck midnight just yet.

Cincinnati Bengals Success Linked To Shedding of Terrible Towel Curse

Todd Fleming — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:13:26 -0500

There has been plenty of commentary on the Cincinnati Bengals' sudden success.

One strain of thought is that Carson Palmer is finally fully back from his knee injury. Another school of thought is that the Bengals have had a string of good drafts that have replenished the talent on the roster.

Others have argued that the Bengals, a roster that once looked like a who’s who list of criminals in the NFL, have created a much more team-focused and disciplined roster.

And it would be foolish to overlook the impact of defense coordinator Mike Zimmer, who has built an AFC North caliber defense.

But, perhaps the most important reason that the Bengals are succeeding is because the curse of the terrible towel was officially lifted.

The curse was tied directly to former Bengals’ wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh, who had the audacity to wipe his feet with the towel following the Bengals’ victory over the Steelers in 2005. It was the last game the Steelers would lose that season and the start of nothing but trouble for the Bengals.

Incidentally, the Towel abusing incident carried out by the Titans in 2008 also marked the last time the Steelers would lose that season. So, the curse works in two directions. It brings fortune to the Steelers and ruin to the offender's team.

The Bengals chose not to resign he of the long last name in the off season, perhaps recognizing that it was time to move beyond the curse.

So, TJ took the curse and moved to Seattle.

The Seahawks, who had high hopes for recapturing he NFC West title, were last seen being smacked around like pinatas by the Cardinals for the second time this season.

The once proud 'Hawks are now 3-6 and effectively out of playoff contention, although Houshmandzadeh apparently hasn’t gotten the memo.

He was so inspired by the teams' beatdown that he boasted the Seahawks will not lose again this year, making that boast the very week his team is preparing to play at red hot Minnesota.

Who knew that the Terrible Towel Curse also kills brain cells?

The best thing the Seahawks can do is follow the Bengals lead and give Housh a one way ticket out of town. Only then can the healing truly begin.

The Titans might want to also consider dropping the cursed deadweight of Lendale White before he derails another promising season.

Come to think of it, that might not be altogether bad advice even aside from the curse considering his general lack of NFL talent.

Letting go of partner in crime Keith Bullock, who is a very good player, might be harder, but sometimes you have to make those tough decisions, like the Bengals did in letting the talented Housh fly the coop and take his troubles to the other coast.

The answer for how a team can get rid of the Terrible Towel curse is to get rid of the player or players that brought it on.

But, how can a player struck down with the curse shed it? Alas, there is no evidence that it can be done. Moving to a new city is clearly not the answer. Perhaps a pilgrimage to visit the grave of the late great Myron Cope to offer an apology would help.

There was some buzz this week about a group of Bengals’ fans burning the Terrible Towel and the potential return of the curse.

I’m not buying it. Fans drink beer and do nutty stuff. If you looked up NFL fan in Webster's, that is what it likely says. It is what makes the season so fun for the perpetual adolescents who form the core of most NFL fan bases, the Steelers' fans being a notable exception of course.

Imagine how you would feel as a Raiders or Browns fan if you couldn't drink beer and do nutty stuff. It just wouldn't be fair.

I don’t think a team can be held accountable, even by a curse, for something stupid done by a handful of fans with below room temperature IQs.

But, when a player makes the deliberate decision to desecrate and disrespect the towel, bad things always follow. It is one of the immutable laws of the universe.

So, congratulations to the Bengals for making the one decision that had to be made before they could pull out of the nosedive that has been their recent history.

The rest, as they say, is history. At least until they meet the Steelers in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh Steelers Ready to Roll Into Final Stretch

Todd Fleming — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:11:33 -0500

The day after the Steelers lose, the city of Pittsburgh and the extended Steelers Nation that circles the globe went into a collective and palpable state of depression. We are ready to grab pitchforks and all meet up at Bruce Arians' house.

Two days after the Steelers lose, we are still grumbling about all of the things that should have been done differently. But, at least this time around, some of our feelings have been dampened by having watched the Cleveland Browns on Monday night football. Who exactly was responsible for scheduling that team to play on Monday night?

I'm sure I'm not the only Steelers' fan who uttered a prayer of Thanksgiving that I'm not a Browns' fan.

Three days after a loss, we are well on our way to a full recovery. We start having thoughts like, "The game wasn't nearly as important as we thought it was." Or, "The Bengals? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut from time to time." Or, how about, "Big Ben was due for a bad day. Better to get it out of the way now."

Four days after a loss, our team is back to being a bullet-proof squad of immortals. There can be only one. Bring on the Chiefs! May they cower in fear. Canton should consider opening up another wing for these guys.

In all seriousness, Steelers' fans have plenty of reasons to remain very optimistic at this juncture in the season.

Except in rare cases, there is going to come a time during most seasons, even for the eventual Super Bowl winner, that the team is going to look nightmarishly bad. Ideally, that moment will not come during the playoffs.

The 2005 Super Bowl champion Steelers? How about a dreadful three game losing streak that dropped them to 7-5 in what appeared to be a much more competitive wild card environment than they face this year. They were declared dead and buried.

Even the most rose-colored glass wearing Steelers' fan had a hard time envisioning a scenario in which they could recover.

The 2008 Super Bowl champion Steelers? How about an early season thrashing by the Philadelphia Eagles that was one of the worst games I ever remember watching, a game in which Ben Roethlisberger should have received significant hazard pay.

If you would have told me after that game that the Steelers would win the Super Bowl, I would have suggested you stop skipping your meds. Take the feelings you had following the Bengals' game and multiply them by 10.

That is how I was feeling after that one.

Both of those Steelers' teams recovered just fine. And there is no reason to think that this year's team won't recover from the loss against the Bengals.

The defense is starting to resemble the squad that gave offensive coordinators and quarterbacks nightmares in 2008.

It's not there yet, but it is getting closer by the week.

The offense is more consistent and explosive than the 2008 version with an improved offensive line and a real running threat. And they have plenty of unrealized potential to improve. This is not an offense hitting its full potential just yet.

The special teams? Let's just skip on to the next point, please. Your best bet on kickoffs is to close your eyes and hope for the best. The good news? There is nowhere to go but up when it comes to the kickoff coverage.

While I don't think the Steelers will win the division, it is certainly not beyond the realm of the possible. They've already played all of their best opponents and are 6-1 against teams not named the Bengals. If they win out, chances are very high that they will win the division.

But, even if they go in as the sixth seeded wild card, do you really think that anyone will look forward to playing host to them in the playoffs?

It was a lesser Dick LeBeau led defense that treated Peyton Manning like a rag doll in 2005. I'm guessing Sir Peyton would rather not see the Steelers again in a critical playoff matchup. If he had happy feet with Joey Porter staring across the line at him, I'm not thinking he would relish staring into the axe murderer-like gaze of James Harrison.

The Bengals? I have a hunch that the third time would be the charm against Marvin Lewis's bunch. The Bengals are a very good football team, but I saw nothing in either game to lead me to believe that the Steelers can't beat them in Cincinnati.

The Patriots? That would be a tough matchup in Foxboro, but I'm guessing it would not be the Patriots' matchup of choice. Flashback to last year and remember the difficulties the Pats' offensive line had blocking the Steelers' linebackers.

Every team that wins a Super Bowl does it only after running a tough playoff gauntlet. This year will be no different.

There are plenty of very good teams in both the AFC and the NFC who have a good chance of coming out on top. The Steelers are definitely one of those teams.

There is plenty of football left, including two games against the Baltimore Ravens. But, if the Steelers get to the playoffs, they are built for success. They have a ton of playoff experience, a superb defense, and a quarterback who plays biggest on the biggest stages.

It is an unfortunate reality that only one fanbase will finish this season happy. I still like the odds that Steelers Nation will be celebrating come February.

Bill Belichick Shows Genius With Tough Call

Todd Fleming — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:39:24 -0500

Almost the entire sportswriting universe has turned on Bill Belichick with a vengeance. Peter King, who I think is a very good sportswriter, called his decision hubris. It was just Belichick pridefully showing off.

The irony is that if the Patriots had converted the fourth-and-2 and run out the clock, those exact same sportswriters would be gushing about the genius that is Belichick.

They would be saying how he operates at a completely different level. And they would be right.

As a Steelers' fan, I’m the last person who I ever thought would be defending Darth Vader, but I think it was a smart call. The hooded one played the percentages. In this case, he lost.

Belichick was armed with one of the best quarterbacks in league history surrounded by some of the some of the best receiving weapons in the game and needing to go all of two yards. If Derek Anderson was his quarterback, I'd be more inclined to question the call.

The Patriots barely failed to convert and the Colts scored to win the game. But, in no way does that make it a bad decision.

Too many people just want to look at the outcome when judging a decision. We can only see what happened as a result of the decision. We will never see, or know, what would have happened as a result of the decision he did not make.

And the percentages still favored him. If more coaches would adopt Belichick’s mentality, they would win more often. I wrote a previous article on how nearly all teams punt more often than they should. The math bears that up. The same concept is at work here.

It is impossible to run straight percentages, so if you have to make some shrewd guesses. The Patriots are talented enough on offense that I would put their chance of converting a fourth-and-2 at about 70%. Their defense is decent, although not exceptional. If they fail to convert, I put the Colts’ chances at scoring a touchdown at around 75%.

The Colts are an offensive juggernaut who would have had three timeouts and a two minute warning. If they had gotten the ball back, I would have put their chance of scoring at about 40%.

So, if this math is right, punting leaves you with about a 35-40% chance of losing. Going for it leaves you with about a 23% chance of losing, give or take a few percentage points.

I’m quite sure some will take offense at those numbers. Again, this is an inexact science, but I’d be surprised if any honest analysis, one that was taken without the benefit of hindsight, flipped the percentages to where it actually made more sense to punt.

Some of the writers, like King, pointed out how previous Colts’ drives had stalled out. But, that is a bad comparison. The Colts have an extra down to play with on a final drive. That is a 25% increase in offensive potential.

In today’s offensive oriented NFL, in a game featuring two offensive powerhouses, the last team with the ball has a huge advantage.

Nearly all coaches will punt in that situation because they don’t want to take the heat if the decision backfires. But, they shouldn’t. They should make the decision based on their own mathematical calculations guided by their instincts.

Frankly, I think a team is almost always better off going for it around midfield on fourth-and-2. Even on their own 40, I think teams should almost always go for it on fourth-and-2.

If a team is buried deep in its own end, say, at the 28? That’s where it gets a little harder. When a team has a powerhouse offense and a nonexistent defense, like last year’s Cardinals, they are probably better off going for it even deep in their own end.

If a team has a spectacular defense and a marginal offense, like last year’s Steelers, the numbers will work out altogether different. And, of course, you also have to factor in the competition. There are plenty of variables at play when making these decisions.

The primary point I’m making here is that this decision was not nearly as bad as it looked. It all comes down to a judgment call.

And I admire a coach that has the courage to go with his gut after analyzing the variables, even knowing that he will be criticized if the decision goes south.

A coach that is willing to make the tough calls without fearing the criticism of a fickle sportswriting community with a herd mentality is the coach who I want coaching my team in the biggest games.

Steelers Will Need to Follow 2005 Route to Return to Super Bowl

Todd Fleming — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:47:41 -0500

Every team has a mulligan in them somewhere. Sometimes a team survives its mulligan (see the Saints today). Sometimes a team doesn’t.

Today’s game was the Steelers’ mulligan, coming after an impressive five-game win streak. They were awful on offense and special teams.

Only a very solid defensive performance kept this from being a rout.

While the Bengals have a good defense, I don’t think they are as good as the Steelers made them look today.

Can the Steelers recover to win the division? Not likely.

Looking at the Bengals' schedule, it is hard to imagine a scenario where they lose more than three of their remaining games, and even that is wishful thinking. The toughest three teams left are the Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, and New York Jets, all of whom the Bengals play on the road.

The Vikings and Chargers will likely be favored at home later in the season against the Bengals. Those are likely the only two games in which the Bengals will be underdogs.

Their other opponents? The fearsome foursome of the Raiders, Browns, Lions, and Chiefs. Looking at the Bengals’ season, they have a tendency to play to the level of their opponents, both good and bad. But it seems a long shot.

Should the stars align and the Bengals lose three games, the Steelers would win the division if they only dropped one more game. It is possible.

The toughest team left on their schedule is the Ravens, who they play twice. The rest of their opponents range from the ghastly to just not very good. There is a home game against the Green Bay Packers, who handled the Cowboys today, but the Packers' offensive line makes the Steelers’ maulers look downright scary by comparison.

The most likely scenario has the Bengals winning the division at 12-4. The Steelers, at 11-5, would settle for the fifth or sixth seed.

With wins over both Denver and San Diego, the Steelers remain well positioned in the wild card race when it comes to tiebreakers. That means that their route to another Super Bowl will look a lot more like 2005 than 2008, with the Steelers forced to go on the road against some very good football teams.

A few thoughts on the game:

This was one of the worst performances I can remember ever seeing from Ben Roethlisberger. He was wildly off target all night, and that was only when he was able to find a Steeler even remotely open to pitch the ball at.

Getting knocked to the ground repeatedly will do that to a quarterback.

The closest comparison I can think of is the Eagles fiasco last season. That’s the silver lining. That game was even more wretched, and the Steelers recovered just fine from it.

Big Ben wasn’t alone in having his worst game of the year. Several of his offensive compatriots were right there with him.

One of the most perplexing questions from this game is the decision by the Steelers to not shift to a no-huddle approach to try to jump-start the offense and force the Bengals to adjust on defense. I think the most likely culprit for that is a mixture of pride and self-preservation on the part of Bruce Arians.

Arians has to realize that most people are noticing how much better the offense has looked when he isn’t the one calling the plays. Professional pride would dictate a desire to be the one calling the plays, especially since it is in his job description.

If that is the case, I think it is shortsighted by Arians. He will not survive as offensive coordinator with too many days like today.

Santonio Holmes has now dropped two touchdown passes that he has let sail through his hands this season. Both games finished in the L column. If it had been Limas Sweed who dropped that touchdown, we would be howling in outrage.

But Holmes built up a reservoir of goodwill following his performance throughout the playoffs last year. If he wants to emerge as a Hall of Fame-caliber receiver in this league, as he has stated, he has to make those catches.

The Steelers’ defense played exceptionally well for most of the game, but they had their worst moments with the game on the line. The retaliatory penalty on James Harrison was the backbreaker, pushing the Bengals into Steelers’ territory, allowing them to take more time of the clock, and ultimately resulting in three more points on the scoreboard.

I hate to see those kinds of penalties called. Harrison, who had his usual strong game up to that point, needs to be smarter than that.

Every kickoff for these Steelers is a horror show. We need to start cueing the Friday the 13th music whenever they kick off.

It was only a matter of time before a returned kickoff helped determine the outcome of one of their games. But the horror of the kicking game went beyond that.

Even on their “good” kickoffs, they still spotted excellent field position to the Bengals repeatedly. They have to fix that glaring problem, and fix it soon.

It is hard to find a single player on offense that actually played well. Monday night hangover? Maybe. A really pathetic performance? Absolutely.

The Bengals deserve acclaim for sweeping both the Ravens and the Steelers in the same season. That is an impressive achievement any way you look at it.

Congrats to Marvin Lewis and his squad. I always like to see a team who sticks with a head coach when everyone is saying he should be fired be rewarded for it. That appears to be the case for the Bengals.

If I was an owner and had a head coaching vacancy at the end of this season, I would give a serious look in the direction of Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

This is one that the Steelers need to put in the rearview mirror in a hurry. There is still plenty of football left to play, and who knows? They may get a third crack at these Bengals before we write the book on this season.

Steelers-Broncos: Random Thoughts on Pittsburgh's Slaying of Denver

Todd Fleming — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:29:20 -0500

The Pittsburgh Steelers served notice to the rest of the league with their 28-10 drubbing of the Broncos in Denver. That is no small feat.

They have now beaten two legitimate Super Bowl contenders and likely division winners in back to back games, including a lopsided affair in one of the tougher places to play.

This was the murderer’s row portion of their schedule and they are passing the test with flying colors.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the game:

One of my favorite plays was a quick sideline pass to Hines Ward that went for all of a few yards and had no impact on the game. Why that play?

Because Hines Ward was Hines Ward. Instead of falling down or heading to the sideline, he tried to run over Ty Law. Alas, Law was smart enough to get down before getting clobbered. Hines Ward may get voted dirties player in the league.

But that play epitomizes why players don’t always like him. Wide receivers are supposed to be prima donnas who avoid contact. Ward is unique as a wide receiver, a one of a kind. I’m not sure any other receiver in the history of the league has relished contact as much as Ward.

We will never see another Hines Ward play for the Steelers, the assassin with a million dollar smile, so I’m going to enjoy watching him while it lasts. He is what the Joker, of Batman fame, aspired to be but fell short. This guy has to be in the Hall of Fame some day. If he isn't, it will be a real travesty.

I am now a believer in the Steelers' offensive line. These guys are head and shoulders better than they were last year. The biggest improvement has been to Max Starks who has been veritable wall.

He has been absolutely superb at one of the NFL’s toughest positions while matching up against some of the league’s best quarterback killers. It is always great to see nice guys finish first. And Starks is a prince of a guy.

I remember meeting him when he visited troops as part of a USO tour following his first Super Bowl. More than any of the other players with him, most of whom were more well known than him, he really seemed to relish the opportunity to meet with troops with the smile never fading from his face.

I now officially feel guilty for questioning the Steelers for throwing so much money at Starks, who is earning every penny and then some.

While Rashard Mendenhall put in a superb effort running the ball, I was also impressed with his play in the passing game. He was quick at recognizing blitzes and more than ably held up against some of Denver’s best blitzers.

I had written Mendenhall off just a couple months ago. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so glad to have been wrong, except perhaps about the offensive line. Now, if only I prove to be wrong about Limas Sweed.

Mendenhall is not Hines Ward. By that I mean that he is quite content running out of bounds after breaking off a long run as opposed to turning inside and initiating contact. Ward wouldn’t do that. That’s why he is Superman.

There was a two-play defensive sequence that really highlighted what makes Troy Polamalu such a special player. On first down, he blitzed into the backfield and hammered the running back behind the line. On second down, he drops into coverage and makes a superb interception that was anything but routine that set up the back breaker touchdown.

It was reminiscent of the theft he made that sent the Ravens packing in the playoffs last year. The Tasmanian Devil might be the most appropriate nickname of any player in the National Football League.

It was nice to see Evander Hood make a key play. He came through and nearly knocked Kyle Orton into tomorrow, forcing the first interception that was returned for a touchdown. That is hopefully a sign of good things to come from Ziggy.

Speaking of rushing the quarterback, Orton looked shell shocked by game’s end. Every time he dropped back, he looked like he wanted to find somewhere to hide.

The media made a predictably big fuss this week about the Phillip Rivers versus Eli Manning matchup. But, in terms of the 2004 quarterback class, those two guys are playing for second place.

Neither can hold a candle to Ben Roethlisberger. The guy is just a player. When he makes a mistake, he is itching to get back on the field and atone for it, which he almost always does.

The classic Ben play was when he escaped a heavy rush to find Mike Wallace breaking free into the end zone.

Speaking of Mike Wallace, I see a very special relationship on the horizon between Big Ben and the young speedster. Those two look like they have been playing together for years. Considering that he is already armed with two Super Bowl MVPs, the chemistry that has developed between Ben and the rookie has been one of the biggest, and best, surprises of 2009.

I was absolutely thrilled to see Mitch Berger punting...for the Broncos. Go Mitch! Now, if only the Bengals would hurry up and sign him before next week’s game.

I thought that the loss of Aaron Smith was potentially devastating, a season killer. But a group of no-name defensive ends have really stepped up and picked up the slack. First Travis Kirshke and then Nick Eason.

Maybe the Steelers knew what they were doing when they cut defensive end Ryan McBean, who now starts for the Broncos, although he missed the game to injury.

I was really glad that Ryan Clark didn’t play in this game and would have been even happier if he was watching the game from his family room in Pittsburgh. I would have been just as happy with his decision if the Steelers lost due to bad free safety play.

Clark seems like a first-rate guy, whom I hope to see back in black and gold next year. It was nice to see him rush over to congratulate Tyrone Carter after his interceptions.

Speaking of Carter...and Eason...and Andre Frazier...and Keyaron Fox...these Steelers have some real depth on defense. Some of that is attributable to Dick LeBeau’s coordinating prowess.

But it is nice to see a team that can take several key injuries on defense and still keep plugging away at such a high level.

Last year, the Steelers’ running game occasionally, and by that I mean very occasionally, looked good, but only when matched against the league’s most putrid rush defenses. This year’s squad is running successfully against the best rush defenses.

That is a huge change and speaks to the noticeable development of the offensive line and the emergence of Mendenhall.

This Steelers’ offense now has the potential to be as good as any offense in the league, matching the defense. That is a scary thought if you aren’t a Steelers’ fan.

This served as a great prelude to the most important game of the year to date, when the Steelers host the surprising Bengals next week. Who would have thought that this midseason game would have such significance?

That will be three straight games that will have a playoff atmosphere. If the Steelers want to win the division, they really need to win that one. With the Bengals sweeping the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers have no room for error. Of course, the last time the Bengals won the division, the Steelers won the Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Who Represents Super Bowl Champs' Biggest Threat?

Todd Fleming — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:56:32 -0500

The NFL’s regular season is now eight weeks old. We’ve seen enough out of each team to have a pretty good idea which teams are clear-cut elite squads, which teams are maddeningly unpredictable, and which teams just plain aren’t very good.

And then there are the bad news Browns, who are well to the left of that last category. If only they could play the Washington Redskins for 16 straight weeks, they might be able to post a decent record since the Redskins are somewhat charitable to bad teams.

The categories are unstable since a single injury can mean the difference between being elite and being only much better than the Browns.

The year started with sky-high expectations for Steelers fans, who largely viewed the Patriots as the biggest threat to the Steelers repeating as Super Bowl champions. Those expectations remain high despite two frustrating losses in their opening three games.

It is a credit to the Steelers and their consistency that most fans are disappointed with the 5-2 start. Plenty of fanbases would kill for that level of futility.

Here is my take on which teams offer the biggest threat to the Steelers’ chances of repeating and which teams are the NFL equivalent of fool’s gold.

They way I see it, there are five teams who have a legitimate shot of winning it all and five teams who are likely to be exposed come playoff time. The Steelers are one of the core group of five who are the most likely to win the Super Bowl.

The four teams who join them among the elite are below.

1. The New England Patriots

I saw the Patriots as the biggest threat to the Steelers preseason. During the first few games, it looked like their time may have passed. But back-to-back demolitions of the Titans and Buccaneers have shown they have plenty of life left.

I know what some of you may be thinking—those were the Titans and the Buccaneers. It doesn’t matter. Even the worst teams have plenty of talent, and putting up a 59-0 score shows that you have something under the hood.

The main reason I see the Patriots as a threat is because they are very good at dinking and dunking their way down the field, which happens to be the one thing the Steelers are not particularly great at stopping this year.

Tom Brady is the one quarterback in the league with more Super Bowl rings than Ben Roethlisberger. He knows how to win big games.

All things being equal, I’d prefer to see the Steelers play the Patriots at home if they meet in the playoffs.

2. The New Orleans Saints

The Saints look nearly unstoppable at the moment and are the biggest surprise of the early season on the positive side of the ledger.

I’m actually a bit more surprised at the complete collapse of Tennessee.

The Saints combine an almost unstoppable offensive juggernaut with a more than respectable defense. That’s an impressive combination.

Conventional wisdom says that defense wins championships. But so do offenses that can put up 40 points a week.

Through the first half of the season, it has looked like everyone else is playing for second place. The Saints played a miserable half against the Dolphins and still managed to put up 46 points. That is a team to be respected...even feared.

Of course, if the Steelers are playing the Saints, it means that they are already in the Super Bowl, which is not an altogether bad thing.

3. Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens were a very good, and unlucky, team before their dismantling of the Denver Broncos. They lost a trio of very close games.

Add in the fact that the Steelers and Ravens players hate each other almost as much as their fans, and you can bet that the two games they play later in the season will be nasty and meaningful.

The teams know each other. There are no surprises when the teams play—just two teams trying to knock out their opponents, both figuratively and literally.

4. Minnesota Vikings

The Steelers are 1-0 against the Vikings, but a rematch at a neutral site would be a compelling matchup.

The Vikings are plenty good, pairing a very good and balanced offense with an equally stout defense. The Vikings have the best chance among the NFC teams to derail the Saints' machine.

However, they are also one injury away from falling back to earth. The key question is, “Will Brett Favre be healthy come playoff time?” I’m guessing no. But then again, I didn’t expect him to be playing at the level he is playing even at this point in the season.

The below five teams are the high–flying squads that represent a much lower threat level. I think all five of these teams have a variable in the equation that will prevent them from getting it done in the playoffs.

1. Indianapolis Colts

I may be one of the last skeptics when it comes to the Colts. For all of his accolades, I just don’t trust Peyton Manning to play at his highest levels come playoff time, especially if they are playing on the road.

They also have a new coach who will be experiencing the playoffs for the first time.

The Colts are not as good as their record. They’ve mostly played the dregs of the NFL. Credit them that they’ve managed to beat them all, some of them convincingly—but don’t overcredit them. They beat the Jaguars by two, the Dolphins by four, and the 49ers by four.

A win is a win, but they are not exactly the equivalent of the Saints or the Patriots of a couple years back.

They hammered the St. Louis Rams, 42-6, but the Rams are the worst team in football despite their win over the mighty Lions.

I’m reserving judgment on the Colts until I see them play the Texans twice over their next three games. My strong hunch is that this team is nowhere near as good as people think. But we'll know soon enough.

2. Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles appear to be one of the best teams in the NFC. They are playing well on both sides of the ball and followed the Saints' lead in dismantling the Giants.

But it is hard for me to get past their years of football futility, and I don’t completely trust Donovan McNabb to win a close game during the playoffs.

If the Steelers are to fall short, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Eagles win one. But I don’t think it is going to happen.

3. Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys are the flavor of the week after putting together a three-game winning streak and looking impressive in the progress. However, I refuse to believe a Wade Phillips-coached team is a threat to anyone in a single elimination tournament.

Ditto that for Norv Turner and the San Diego Chargers. They don’t even make the list.

4. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals are a very good football team. I will state that up front. Truth be told, I expected them to be tough this year. Carson Palmer is a very good quarterback, and they have a respectable defense.

But there has to be an odd man out in the AFC North, and I think the Bengals will be that team. As with Phillips and Turner above, I don’t really trust Marvin Lewis as a head coach.

They can go a long way towards changing my mind by beating the Ravens this week.

5. Denver Broncos

Every team has a bad game in them at some point during the season, and the Broncos were more than due to lay their stink bomb of an egg against an underrated Ravens’ team. That isn't quite as noxious as the stink bomb the Eagles left on the field against the Raiders or, for that matter, the Technicolor mess the Steelers left on the field against the Bears.

However, I just don’t think the Broncos, with Kyle Orton, are really that big of a threat. That being said, I don’t think anyone is going to want to travel to Denver come playoff time. Denver is a tough place to play.

There are a few other teams that could make some noise down the stretch. The Texans have a chance to cause some damage, and the Cardinals can still get on track in a weak division. But these are the core teams that should be clawing at each other come playoff time.

Brett Keisel: Pittsburgh Steelers' Biggest "Offensive" Weapon Against Vikings

Todd Fleming — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:23:31 -0400

Brett Keisel is often the forgotten man on the Steelers' vaunted defense. His injured counterpart, Aaron Smith, is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, 3-4 defensive ends in the league.

Keisel doesn’t get anywhere near the same level of credit. If he was a linebacker, he would be the 2008 edition of Larry Foote, the guy we all liked but didn't really consider to be that critical of a player.

The only thing he has on Foote is a cool nickname, "Diesel." But, both players assumed an "everyman" role on a defense loaded with high-profile stars.

I was actually mildly surprised when the Steelers re-signed Keisel, figuring he was expendable when they drafted Evander Hood.

At the time, I would have preferred to see them focus first on Ryan Clark or Casey Hampton, since neither player has an obvious long-term replacement on the roster.

I'm beginning to think we may be undervaluing what Keisel, a former seventh-round pick, means to the team.

Against the Vikings, he was the Steelers' most important "offensive" player. By my count, Keisel set up two touchdowns. That would be one more than Ben Roethlisberger, one more than the Steelers wide receiver corps, and two more than their corps of running backs.

It was Keisel who beat one of the highest regarded offensive linemen in football, Steve Hutchinson, to strip the football away from Brett Favre and set up the first defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter.

We'll all remember watching Lamarr Woodley weave and dodge his way to paydirt. But, it was Keisel who set the play up and Woodley who was the beneficiary.

Fast-forward to the second defensive touchdown. Minnesota was moving the ball seemingly at ease and looked poised to not just kick a tying field goal, but to put the ball in the end zone for the win.

If you didn't think that was going to happen as a Steelers fan, you have more faith than me.

The Vikings call a screen pass to Chester Taylor. Keisel smells it out, showing superb instincts.

He slides down the line, creating a traffic jam around the intended target. Favre throws it anyway.

Just as the ball arrives, Keisel hits Taylor, who lets the ball sail through his fingers into the waiting arms of Keyaron Fox. Again, we'll remember watching Fox zigging and zagging his way to the end zone while I shouted something resembling "Get down!" at the television.

But, without Keisel correctly diagnosing the play, the interception doesn't happen.

Keisel wears the number of my all-time favorite Steeler, Levon Kirkland. Today, he did that number proud.

A Couple Other Thoughts

• For all the criticism he seems to be taking on the loss, I was surprised at how good Brett Favre played. Despite heavy pressure and very good coverage on all but the underneath routes, he nailed big pass after big pass.

I thought he would be terrible this season. Judging on what I saw in today's game, I was wrong. If he can make it through the long season healthy, the Vikings will be a tough out come playoff time.

• Considering I never heard of him before this season, Sidney Rice is one heck of a wide receiver. Ike Taylor had him blanketed repeatedly, but Rice adjusted to the ball and made some very tough catches. That catch he made on the sideline was a thing of beauty.

The fact that Favre threw at him repeatedly, despite the tight coverage, showed a lot of trust in his ability to beat the cornerback one-on-one with the ball in the air. He was rewarded for that trust.

• No matter how great a running back is at moving the ball, none of that matters if he does not first take care of the football. I suspect Rashard Mendenhall, for all the brilliance he has shown as a runner, may be back in the doghouse that Mike Tomlin claims doesn't exist.

• Speaking of ball security, was anybody else mildly uncomfortable watching Santonio Holmes rumbling down the field with a "please strip me" sign plastered on the back of his helmet on his big catch in the fourth quarter?

While I appreciated the big gain, I hope the coaches point out to him how easily that play could have gone sour when reviewing the tape.

• The Steelers have a flair for the dramatic. They appear to be incapable of putting a game away before the final couple minutes, continuing a trend that was present to a lesser degree last season. I all but expected the Percy Harvin return.

I've gotten so used to the weekly fantastic finishes, that all I did was shrug. It had to happen.

• Speaking of that kickoff return, I almost think it would be a worth a roster spot to bring in a kickoff specialist who can put it in the end zone on a regular basis.

Jeff Reed was criticized heavily for his lame attempt at a tackle. Frankly, that didn't bother me.

Kickers aren't supposed to do much more than pretend to try and make tackles, although Reed at least should have pretended a bit harder.

But, the short kick is a different story. Even assuming the coverage doesn't fall apart, you are still likely spotting about 20 yards of field position to an already dangerous offense. Not good.

I know roster spots come at a premium, but the Steelers have now given up two potentially lethal touchdown returns and I'd be surprised if they don't give up a couple more before the end of the season with the short kickoffs.

Is there not a position we could afford one less active backup in favor of a guy with a canon for a foot who can kickoff?

The good news: I think these Steelers will be a better overall team than the one that won the Super Bowl last year. The bad news: they will have to be better because there are more elite teams this year than in 2008.

Considering how good the top 10 or so teams are looking, it will be tough sledding come playoff time.

The AFC North race is going to be can't miss television for the rest of the year. During both of the Steelers' recent Super Bowl runs, two teams from the division featured prominently.

In 2005, they won the Super Bowl while losing the division. It is not out of question that could happen again.

I'm not sure yet which team is the biggest threat, Cincinnati or Baltimore. I think Baltimore is better than their 3-3 record and will still make some noise before this season is all said and done.

Pittsburgh Steelers Face Tough Test Over Next Month

Todd Fleming — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:05:21 -0400

In their next three games, the Steelers will face off against two teams that are yet to lose this year and another team that has already beaten them once.

This is effectively the murderer’s row portion of the schedule, something that would have been impossible to predict at the beginning of the year when the Tennessee Titans game looked like one of the most ominous on the schedule.

And this comes before they’ve even played their first game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Steelers just finished up a somewhat impressive three game winning streak against the junior varsity portion of their schedule. They effectively beat a badly coached average team and two dregs of the league.

But, considering all three of those games were effectively must –win games, that is still no small achievement, not in a league in which anyone can beat anyone on any given Sunday.

Unless you are talking about the New Orleans Saints who look near unbeatable, or the St. Louis Rams who I’m not sure could beat my old high school junior varsity team.

Come to think of it, I’m not so sure the old adage that anyone can beat anyone on any given Sunday holds much water. With that in mind, that three game winning streak probably didn’t tell us much, at least not in the overall scheme of how the Steelers compare to the rest of the league at this point.

This is the make it or break it portion of the schedule. If they win their next two games, they are well on their way to another terrific season. If they lose them both, we can start obsessing about the draft a bit early while writing plenty of “what went wrong” post-mortem articles.

They still would have time to recover and make the playoffs. But, considering how good some of their AFC rivals are looking, it is hard to see a scenario where they can recover from that.

So, what should we expect over the next three games?

For what it’s worth, my guess is that the Steelers will go 2-1, beating the Favreings and Bengals and dropping to the Broncos. There isn’t much science applied to that. It is just a hunch.

Minnesota is the best of the three teams during that stretch with a balanced and very dangerous offense ably backed up by a very good defense anchored by the best defensive line in football.

But, the Steelers are chomping at the bit for this game, looking for a chance to prove that they are for real after beating up on twenty pound weaklings for the last couple weeks.

With the collapse of Tennessee, the only noteworthy win the Steelers have recorded so far this year was against a questionable and inconsistent San Diego team.

The Steelers can erase a lot of doubts with a win over the Vikings. I’m looking for the Steelers to attack the Vikings’ questionable secondary early and often and win this one more comfortably than expected, 31-17.

They will follow that up by losing a close game in Denver with Ryan Clark understandably choosing to sit that one out due to his medical condition which flared up the last time he played in Denver. Who would have thought that the overall success of the Steelers’ season could pivot on whether Clark was able to play in Denver? Not I.

The Steelers will be coming off a bye week, which may help avoid a potential letdown. If I was doing a power rankings purely on where I think each team should be at based on potential and ability, I’d put the Steelers ahead of the Broncos. But, with the Broncos playing at home against a potentially depleted Steelers’ secondary, I think this one will be tough. My prediction is a 24-21 loss.

The game against the Bengals is a near must-win game if the Steelers would like to repeat as division champions. They cannot afford to drop a second game to the Bengals. And they won’t.

They should have won round one but slipped into coast mode a bit early. That won’t happen in round two. The Steelers win that one, 38-21, in their best offensive output of the year.

That would leave the Steelers at 6-3, and relatively well positioned to win their division entering the final seven-game stretch, a stretch that will include two grudge matches with the Baltimore Ravens.

If I was a betting man, I think the Steelers will finish 11-5, dropping one game against the Ravens and a second one to either Green Bay or Miami. That will be good enough to win the division but not good enough to land them a first round bye in the playoffs.

The Steelers Anti-Injury Wish List: Which Losses Hurt the Most?

Todd Fleming — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:59:10 -0400

The Steelers clearly lost one of their most important players this week in Aaron Smith. He is indisputably one the best 3-4 defensive ends in the league. This is particularly tough position since that individual has to both hold firm against the run while also generating pressure on the quarterback. Smith is a master at it. Even in the most optimistic scenarios, it is a big blow to the defense but one that will be offset by the return of Troy Polamalu. These early injuries got me wondering which players were the most irreplaceable on the Steelers, meaning which potential injuries would cause the most damage to the team's chances of repeating as both division champion and Super Bowl champion. There are a few factors involved in trying to put this list together. The overall talent and impact of the player is a huge factor. But, another factor is who could potentially replace that player on the roster. In other words, do the Steelers have reasonable depth in place that would help mitigate the loss of that key player? There are some very good players who don't make this list for that reason, to include Casey Hampton and Lamarr Woodley. So, here it goes. This is my top ten list of potential most devastating season ending injuries.

Begin Slideshow

Mike Wallace Looks Like Next Steelers Star

Todd Fleming — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:07:41 -0400

Going into the draft this year, I thought the Steelers would likely draft a wide receiver in the first round. There were two reasons for this.

One, it was an area of need assuming that Hines Ward is unable to play until he is 86 years old. I also didn't think there would be any offensive linemen left worthy of a first round pick when the Steelers would be on the clock.

The player I thought they would likely grab was North Carolina wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, but he was off the board when the Steelers drafted, pegged to become one of Eli Manning's new best friends.

So, the Steelers addressed their aging defensive line in the first round and waited until the third round to grab their wide receiver, snagging Ole Miss speedster Mike Wallace with the 84th pick to go along with the offensive linemen (Kraig Urbik) and cornerback (Keenan Lewis) that shared the spotlight in that round.

What a grab it has been.

Mike Wallace has been one of the biggest surprises of this early season, supplanting Limas Sweed and becoming one of Ben Roethlisberger's go-to guys.

Way back in 1998, the best wide receiver in Steelers' history, Hines Ward, was also drafted in the third round. So, it would be fitting if his eventual replacement also came out of that round. Even their draft position was close. Ward was drafted #92 overall.

The normal expectation is that third round picks should eventually develop into solid starters by perhaps their third season. This is especially true of the wide receiver position where rookies are not supposed to make the kind of impact that Wallace is making—especially receivers drafted outside of the first two rounds.

It is one of the hardest positions to play and many pro receivers take time to make the
adjustment, to learn how to find the holes in the defense and adjust their routes.

Some highly drafted pass catchers can never make that adjustment, so if Sweed ultimately fails to make that adjustment, which seems like a good bet, he'll be in good company, joining a long list of receivers drafted in the first couple rounds that never amounted to anything, including plenty of former Steelers.

Wallace has shown a knack for getting open and making the tough catches. He has blistering speed, enabling him to run away from defenders, as he did when he burned Jonathan Joseph during the Bengals game for a 51 yard play that should have gone for a touchdown.

In a game that featured three highly regarded wide receivers (two Super Bowl MVPs and he-of-the-changed-name), the rookie was the best receiver on the field.

He has also shown good field awareness and strong nerves, coming across the middle to make a huge catch that helped the Steelers secure the win against the Titans. It is rare that a quarterback will look to a rookie receiver, especially with a game on the line, but Big Ben has looked his way early and often and has been rewarded for it.

Wallace is a legitimate offensive rookie of the year candidate. He has been the primary beneficiary of the extra attention demanded by Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward, and Heath Miller. It is hard to see that changing.

I thought Sweed was due for a bust out year for the same reason, but his Ike Taylor-esque hands have landed him in the doghouse and perhaps a permanent spot on the bench.

As teams take more notice of Wallace, Holmes and Ward will also become beneficiaries as teams have to pick their poison on how they will defend the receiving trio.

The disappointment that Sweed has become is easily being offset by the surprising development of Wallace.

Even the most optimistic of us rose-colored glasses wearing Steelers fans thought the most we'd see out of Wallace this year was the ability to contribute on special teams and perhaps get a couple looks in four and five receiver sets.

He has already destroyed those modest expectations.

While he isn't a tall receiver in the mold of Plaxico Burress that Big Ben used to dream about, his off-the-charts speed can lead him to becoming a Steve Smith type of receiver, a guy that is almost impossible to cover, who can turn even small plays into big ones.

Plenty of coaches, general managers, and owners have boldly proclaimed, "You can't teach speed," before drafting a guy whose only fault is that they were born without hands, a problem that plagues that species known as the speed receiver. Al Davis makes a yearly ritual out of it.

Alas, Limas Sweed appears to have that incurable disease.

Wallace does not appear to share that problem, catching anything that comes near him. So, let's see, he brings a combination of blazing speed, good hands, steady nerves, and solid route running.

Remind me why he was still there late into the third round?

I wrote a parody piece after the draft suggesting that Al Davis made a mistake and accidentally drafted Darrius-Heyward Bey, not realizing that Wallace is faster. In the parody, he was demanding a straight up trade. In retrospect, I think the Steelers clearly got the better receiver.

If the Steelers catch fire and make another deep playoff push with Wallace continuing to be an integral part of their offense, he will continue to gain prominence.

The development of Wallace is easily on track to become one of the most interesting side stories for the Steelers this year.

I can't wait to tune in over the next two weeks to see how he does against the Lions and Browns.

Even if the Steelers had lost to the Chargers and the season looked all but lost, I still would have tuned in faithfully week after week, and a big reason for that is to see the development of this exciting rookie playmaker.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Best Chance to Win Is to Play Like They're Losing

Todd Fleming — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:45:22 -0400

One odd fact that I’ve noticed while watching the Steelers over the last couple years is that I’m more comfortable when they are behind by a few points than when they are ahead with a small lead in the second half.

They seem to play with more intensity on both sides of the ball, which has led to repeated late game surges to secure wins.

On the other hand, when they get ahead, rarely does the team go for the kill.

If you asked me whether I’d like to see the Steelers ahead by three points in the fourth quarter or behind by three points, that would be a tough call. While it seems counterintuitive, I probably would opt for Option B.

The absolute ideal situation for these Steelers seems to be playing from behind by one or two points late in a game.

Common sense dictates that it is always better to have the lead—but that certainly is not supported by my experience as a Tums-popping Steelers fan.

This is a noticeable shift from the Bill Cowher years, when the Steelers rarely relinquished a second half lead, with a near perfect record of closing out games once they secured 10-point leads.

So, why are these Steelers playing better from behind while looking somewhat toothless when playing with a lead? I don’t think it is simply coincidence.

There are a few factors that I think are contributing to this phenomenon. The most obvious one is the lack of an even marginal running game. When you can’t run the ball effectively, you cannot run the clock when you have the lead.

I’m not talking about the total number of yards that a running back gets in a game. If a runner gets 100 yards by busting a couple big runs to offset a ton of negative or low-yardage runs, that is not an effective running game.

What I am talking about is having a running game that can consistently produce three- and four-yard gains on demand. That is the kind of running game that can keep the chains moving when you have the lead to set you up for the win.

That is what the Steelers are lacking.

The bigger part of the problem is an offensive line that isn’t getting enough of a surge in the running game to ensure the three- and four-yard pickups. The smaller part of the problem is that the running backs, perhaps because of the offensive line, are running tentatively and not hitting the holes hard.

In defense of the current crew of Steelers runners, I’m not sure that the perfect combination of Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, and Jerome Bettis could run effectively behind these blockers.

The second issue is that there is more parity in the league today than in years past. Just consider that the top three teams for 2008 (Pittsburgh, Tennessee, and Arizona) have combined for two wins and seven losses while plenty of perennial doormats are baring their fangs to some effect.

In this environment, you are sometimes better positioned to be playing from behind late in a game. When two closely matched teams are battling it out, whoever has the ball last in a close game has a great chance of winning it.

Considering the team that is ahead is usually calling low risk plays, this means that the team playing from behind will more often than not get the ball last with a chance to win the game.

Considering how many great quarterbacks and offenses there are in the league, playing conservatively while nursing a small lead is the perfect recipe for a frustrating loss. As much as I don’t particularly like Bill Belichick, there is something to be said about keeping your foot on the gas in today’s NFL and playing with a killer instinct.

What would be great is if the Steelers somehow instilled in their players the idea that they are always playing from behind in their play calling and intensity. Maybe their new motto should be, “Play like you are losing!”

The third issue aligns closely with the first one. The offensive identity of the Steelers has changed, but they are playing as if the old identity still exists.

They constantly run the ball on first downs, which leaves them in constant second- and third-and-long situations.

I know the old mantra about needing to run to keep a defense honest, but this running game isn’t keeping anybody honest. It is simply handing free downs to the defense in gift-wrapped packages, which they are only too happy to accept.

This is a team that excels when forcing the action with the passing game. But that is not how they play when they get ahead—only when they are behind.

Hence, almost every Steelers game see-saws back and forth.

What I don’t entirely understand is why they don’t rely more on Mewelde Moore and call frequent short passes, screens, and draws. His skill set seems to better support their current personnel than any of the other backs.

This may seem like odd advice given my first point on how a good running game helps you win when you are ahead. However, when you don't have a good running game, it is time to switch to Plan B.

For the Steelers, Plan B should include a much more pass-focused game that extends over all four quarters.

Plenty of teams have shown that not having a good running game does not mean abandoning high percentage plays that can ground out yards in small chunks. The Colts and Patriots have done it for years.

There is no real reason that third-and-short situations should be cause for nightmarish visions of a Steelers running back slamming into three defenders in the backfield. If you can’t run the ball, don’t pretend like you can. Nobody that matters is going to believe it anyway.

One final factor is that teams have learned to fear Ben Roethlisberger. They are playing to win the game on their final possession and not give him a chance to lead the Steelers back. Unfortunately, the Steelers defense has obliged in back-to-back games.

So, why does the defense seem to play better from behind? That is mostly explainable by most of the earlier observations, but in reverse.

When the Steelers are ahead, especially late, the other team’s offense is playing with desperation, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them while playing with an additional down. It is hard not to give up ground in that situation.

However, when the Steelers are behind, the other team’s play calling is more conservative, offering more chances to force a punt, especially considering the Steelers’ more than solid run defense.

If you keep handing the ball back to the offense because of the above mentioned problems, they will eventually score. It is a near certainty, even with the best defenses.

The season is still young, and the Steelers may have already learned a few valuable lessons along the way. They have certainly provided Mike Tomlin and his staff with plenty of teaching points.

Let’s hope we see a team playing with a new urgency when they meet up with San Diego in what is essentially a must-win game. Let’s hope they play like they are losing, even if they are up by 30.

Steelers 2008 Draft Ending With a Whimper

Todd Fleming — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:17:11 -0400

"This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper." So wrote T.S. Eliot in The Hollow Men.

The oft-quoted line in one of Eliot's most famous poems could have easily been referring to the 2008 Steelers' draft. It started with such high expectations, but is well on its way to ending in a whimper.

The Steelers entered that draft with its biggest need being the offensive line. But, after a depressing run on extremely talented offensive linemen preceded their pick, few blamed them for grabbing Rashard Mendenhall, thought by many to be the best player still on the board at the time.

But Mendenhall's career is off to a terrible start. He was injured early in his rookie campaign, but even during that year, he showed little during the preseason and during his limited playing time.

He has been so unimpressive in 2009 that Steelers fans are all but begging the top brass to bring somebody, anybody, up from the practice squad to carry the football. He did have a great run against the Bears, causing me to practically bounce off the ceiling.

But blasting for a 40-yard run after a string of no gainers and negative yardage runs is not a key to success.

By comparison, the player who was chosen one after them, running back Chris Johnson, has become the heart and soul of the Tennessee Titans' offense. I bet the Steelers would like to have that pick back.

In defense of Mendenhall, it is tough to have success on the ground when you constantly have to avoid tackles in the backfield.

The Steelers rarely miss with their first pick. That, along with a propensity for finding gems in the later rounds, is what has largely set them apart from their rivals. Hopefully, Mendenhall will still prove to be one of those guys, but it is now something of a long shot and I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.

While I didn't expect much out of Mendenhall this year, I had very high expectations for Limas Sweed. While he was plagued by drops in 2008, he showed plenty of athleticism and seemed like he might be ready to become an important component of the offense in 2009.

However, he has been all but invisible during the opening two games with the Steelers investing more playing time and looks into rookie Mike Wallace.

While it is great that they are showing such faith in Wallace, that bodes badly for Sweed.

The second year is an important one for receivers, when they frequently take a huge step forward after struggling to adjust to the pro game as rookies. If Sweed doesn't make that a significant step forward this year, chances are that he won't.

On to the third round. Third-round pick Bruce Davis has already been cut. He lasted one year. I found this to be staggering. Even if a player stinks and shows no upside, rarely will a team admit defeat so quickly.

I give them credit for biting the bullet instead of pretending they had something that they didn't in Davis.

Projecting an undersized defensive end to play as a 3-4 outside linebacker is more an art than a science. Sometimes, you are going to miss badly.

The Steelers have hit spectacularly at times on these projections with players like Greg Lloyd, Jason Gilden, Lamarr Woodley, and James Harrison. But Davis falls into the same junkyard category as Alonzo Jackson. He just couldn't make the switch.

In the fourth round, the Steelers selected tackle Tony Hills. Despite having major problems on their offensive line, particularly in the run blocking, Hills hasn't gotten anywhere near the field.

The fact that the Steelers overpaid to keep Starks was certainly not a bid of confidence in Hills.

The Steelers' offensive line is the Bad News Bears of run blocking, although it has shown improvement in its pass blocking. Even at that, Hills remains in obscurity, locked out of the discussion.

None of the late round picks has proven to be much of a gem, although Ryan Mundy will see some playing time due to the injuries to Troy Polamalu and Tyrone Carter.

I thought Dennis Dixon, that year's fifth-round choice, had the potential to be a great change of pace quarterback who could be used as a wildcat style player. But the Steelers apparently gave a serious look at Michael Vick, making me question whether they think Dixon can ever be their quarterback, even as a backup situational player.

The bottom line: With each passing game, the 2008 draft is looking worse.

Drafting is hard business and every team has bad drafts. The key is to keep them to a minimum. A couple bad drafts strung together can put a team on a path to becoming the Detroit Lions or the Oakland Raiders; good drafting is one of the absolute cornerstones to a successful team.

The pain that comes hand in hand with galactically bad drafts does not become apparent immediately. But, the bill comes due at some point and it is paid in competitiveness.

A team that misses on an entire draft will end up with significant problem areas somewhere in the near future. Our expectations following that 2008 draft were high. But, unless something changes soon, they are ending with a whimper.

Heath Miller Signs with Steelers: Who's Next?

Todd Fleming — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:45:02 -0400

The Steelers made one last big preseason move with the signing of Heath Miller to a six-year, $35.3M contract, all but announcing that this will be their final big signing before the start of the season.

This was a signing that had to get done. Miller, a fan favorite, is still in his playing prime and is arguably the best tight end in the history of the team, a guy equally effective in both the running and passing games.

Back when he was drafted in 2005, I could not believe that Miller fell all the way to the Steelers at the bottom of the first round. Based on his college play, he looked like the perfect Steeler, and that is exactly how it has played out.

On a more selfish note, I had just ordered a "Heath Miller" Steelers jersey for a niece as a gift, so I'm glad that she'll be able to wear it for more than one year.

The Korean lady from whom I ordered the jersey originally misunderstood me, and my niece was almost the future proud owner of the only No. 81 Terrell Owens Steelers jersey in town. Not sure how I would have explained that one.

But Miller was the last Steeler entering his final contract year who I thought was a lock to be re-signed.

With the salary cap situation being what it is, the Miller signing signals that a lot of key players are likely entering their last season in black and gold.

The core Steelers who will be playing in their final contract year are Jeff Reed, Casey Hampton, Willie Parker, Brett Keisel, and Ryan Clark.

I think it's safe to say that none of these guys will be hitting the unemployment line at the end of this season. But some of them will almost certainly move on to new teams after one final Super Bowl quest in the black and gold.

Brett Keisel and Willie Parker are almost certainly gone after this year with their replacements already on the roster in Evander Hood and Rashard Mendenhall.

Both of these guys have been superb Steelers, and Parker remains a very dangerous running back. No doubt the Steelers' top brass would love to keep both guys around, especially Keisel, since you can never have too many good defensive linemen.

But with so many teams moving to a 3-4 defensive alignment, the price he will demand, especially when factoring in his age, will simply be too high.

As for Parker, he has age, durability concerns, and the presence of a viable replacement all conspiring against him. The only scenario I can see where the Steelers try to find a way to bring back Parker is if Mendenhall proves to be a disastrous bust and Parker’s value drops to the point where they can afford to bring him back.

That’s not a likely combination of events, nor one that the Steelers are hoping to see happen.

Considering Keisel and Parker were a seventh round pick and an undrafted free agent respectively, both guys have been absolute gems for the Steelers. But the odds are squarely against either of them returning to the Steelers after this season.

The Steelers will no doubt have a stronger interest in bringing back the other three core players that consist of Hampton, Clark, and Reed.

What Casey Hampton has going for him is that a likely replacement is not on the roster. He is ably backed up by Chris Hoke, but Hoke will be 34 at the end of Hampton’s contract, one year older than Hampton.

The other thing he has going for him is that good nose tackles who can play in a 3-4 defensive scheme are a real commodity, harder to find than a Browns fan in Pittsburgh, or Cleveland for that matter after last season.

Hampton also has gone on record as saying he would like to finish his career in Pittsburgh, which I think counts for something. What he has going against him is his age, the concerns about his weight, and potential durability issues.

Personally, I think the weight issues are a little overblown. When a guy's primary responsibility is to be an unmovable force gumming up the middle of the line, are a few extra pounds really that big of a problem?

The other factor that could work against his return to Pittsburgh is that even at 33 he would still command a hefty salary on the open market now that so many teams have switched to a 3-4 base defensive scheme.

In terms of Hampton, a potentially uncapped year would be a double-edged sword that would cut both ways. It would enable the Steelers to make him a respectable offer, but it would also allow every other team in the league to do the same, driving up the price.

The nose tackle is a cornerstone of that defense, the guy that hogs all the blockers in the middle so the linebackers can run free and make plays. And several of the teams that have adopted that defense don’t have anything close to a Casey Hampton on their roster to make the scheme work.

My gut feeling is that the Steelers, without an heir apparent on the roster for Hampton, will find a way to bring him back, but only if he is willing to take slightly less than he might make somewhere else.

Ryan Clark’s status is more challenging to discern and it will all come down to what it will cost to bring him back. Clark was an absolutely superb free agent signing for the Steelers and gave them a credible free safety to pair with Troy Polamalu, something they were missing ever since Chris Hope left town.

He is the hardest hitting member of their defensive secondary, and pound for pound one of the hardest hitting players in the league. He also is underrated as a cover guy, which is important since it frees up Polamalu to wreak havoc all over the field.

But playing such a key role on one of the best defenses in the history of the game may price him outside of what the Steelers can afford to pay. If the league does have an uncapped year, the Steelers will make a serious run at keeping Clark since I think he is largely undervalued outside of Pittsburgh.

If Clark does leave, I'm not sure if the Steelers have a potential replacement on their roster. If they do, it might be one of the rookie cornerbacks or a veteran cornerback, like Deshea Townsend, who could potentially convert to free safety for a few final seasons.

As for Jeff Reed, I don’t think the Steelers will let him go. I can sum up my primary reason for that gut feeling in two words: Todd Peterson.

If you don’t remember that name, he was the horror show of a kicker for the Steelers before Reed came to town. Think Mitch Berger as the punter and magnify your feelings of disgust by about 10. That’s what it was like watching Todd Peterson kick at Heinz Field.

In defense of Peterson, Heinz Field is a kicker’s nightmare. Even good and seasoned kickers can look foolish there. But, in reasonable distance situations, Reed is as close to automatic as you can get.

Kickers don’t command huge salaries and Reed’s steady kicking at Heinz Field has been instrumental in several key wins. While kickers aren’t drafted high or paid much comparatively, they have a huge impact on a team’s overall record.

What Reed has going against him is his flaky behavior.

Even factoring that into the equation, I don’t think the Steelers will want to roll the dice with another kicker and will bring back Reed.

So, in the final tally, my guess is that Keisel, Parker, and Clark will leave town in 2010 while Hampton and Reed remain with the Steelers. The best case scenario would have all but Keisel and Parker returning, but I would not be at all surprised if all but Reed ended up leaving.

Dennis Dixon Is Surer Bet for Steelers Than Michael Vick

Todd Fleming — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:38:37 -0400

The Steelers and Patriots are the two teams that sit atop just about all of the key pre-season power rankings as the teams most likely to win the Super Bowl this year.

The teams share something else in common. Las Vegas oddsmakers have made them the odds on favorites to sign Michael Vick, with both teams being given 4-1 odds.

While I realize that Las Vegas is a town where you can bet on anything and everything, I just don’t think it is in the cards for the Steelers.

And it has nothing to do with the team’s reputation for not bringing in low character players. Nor do I think there will be sizable protests or fan reaction against whatever team eventually signs Vick, which I think is a grossly overblown media concoction.

Michael Vick has served his time and certainly deserves the shot that he is being given. Americans are a forgiving people and we almost universally believe that after someone has paid the consequences for his actions, he deserves a second chance.

The exception in this case will be the PETA diehards. But, what are the Vegas odds on finding a PETA commando who is also a football fan or, for that matter, brave enough to protest at some of the less hospitable NFL venues on game day?

I have a hunch that Vick will be a model citizen when and if he comes back to the game, meaning that whatever team takes him could actually benefit from the redemption story that he will bring with him, especially with the almost universally beloved Tony Dungy staking his reputation on him.

After all, who doesn’t love a redemption story?

If movie fans could embrace Darth Vader, the ultimate villain, after he threw the wrinkly old guy with the weird eyes who shot lightning from his fingers into a pit, I'm guessing that football fans can welcome back Michael Vick, even if he is no longer a human highlight reel.

The bigger problem with Vick and the real reason that most teams will not look in his general direction is that he has been out of football for two years. His skills have almost certainly atrophied.

This is a bigger concern on Vick than it might be on some other quarterbacks because his game was always about his almost superhuman athleticism, and not about pinpoint accuracy. Those are the skills that are the first to go.

In the case of Vick, once his athleticism starts to slip, the party is over.

So, why not the Steelers as the team where Vick can write his redemption story? The short answer is Dennis Dixon.

When the Steelers drafted Dennis Dixon in the fifth round of the 2008 draft, I was intrigued by the pick.

I still am.

People forget how good he was in college when he was the signal caller for the Oregon Ducks. He was absolutely incredible until he was sidelined by injury with a torn ACL, arguably the best player in college football at the time.

Think Michael Vick, but with slightly less athleticism and a better passing touch. He was absolutely scorching the best defenses in the land, including Michigan, back before they became a national punchline, and USC.

If he hadn’t gone down to injury, Dixon was a very real threat to win the Heisman trophy and almost certainly would have been drafted in the first two rounds. For that matter, he may have led Oregon to a national championship.

But, because of the injury, he slid all the way to the Steelers in the fifth round. And with both a superb starting quarterback and a solid veteran backup, the Steelers were perfectly positioned to take a flyer on Dixon, giving him time to rehab from injury while improving his skill sets and learning the offense.

For their Super Bowl run in 2008, the Steelers had two savvy veteran quarterbacks behind Ben Roethlisberger in Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch. Leftwich is now gone and Batch is a year older.

Dixon is also a year older and one more year removed from the injury that upended his sensational senior college season. It is likely that Dixon will challenge for the backup role and may well be the surprise Steeler of 2009.

And if the Steelers truly are looking for a player they could utilize in a “Wildcat” role, Dixon is that guy, not Vick.

The key word in that last sentence is "if." While the “Wildcat” offense remains a popular topic, I’m not convinced it will have a huge impact this season.

Part of its early success was that it surprised defenses. It no longer has that working for it. And as an innovation, it doesn’t exactly rank up there with the forward pass, which was largely ignored despite being in the rules until Notre Dame unveiled it to shock then football power Army.

The “Wildcat,” which is used differently by different teams, is more of a back to the future wrinkle that uses a single-wing formation. It genuinely seemed to catch teams off-guard last season, working especially well for the Miami Dolphins.

But, its unexpected success may ultimately lead to an early demise. It was adopted by so many teams in one form or another that it won’t surprise anyone come next season. Defenses will no longer have to spend inordinate amounts of time trying to figure out how to scheme against it.

After this season, we’ll have a greater appreciation for whether or not it has staying power or if it was more of a one-hit wonder, the NFL's version of "Come on Eileen."

My bet is on the latter.

In the case of the Steelers, I’m also not sure offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is a “Wildcat” kind of guy. He did not show a knack for innovation in 2008, taking predictability to an art form at times.

If someone like Mike Mularkey or Ken Whisenhunt were running the offense, two innovative coordinators who were always looking for new ways to use their players, I would put more stock in seeing the Steelers put emphasis on adding those plays to their playbook and perhaps giving a brief look in Vick's direction.

But, Arians strikes me as more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

The other event that has caused speculation to surround the Steelers as a potential Vick suitor are Ben Roethlisberger’s current legal problems. But, this is also a red herring.

Roethlisberger is facing a civil trial. Even if he loses there, which seems highly unlikely, he will not be convicted of a crime, meaning he almost certainly won’t be suspended.

Even the no-nonsense commissioner is unlikely to suspend someone solely based on the outcome of a civil trial, especially one that is likely to devolve into a "he said, she said" affair.

The bigger football concern with Roethlisberger is whether he can stay healthy if he continues to get sacked 50 times a season.

And if Roethlisberger does go down, does anyone really think Michael Vick will be an ideal full-time starting quarterback this season?

The only quarterback I can think of who I would less like to see suiting up in the black and gold to lead the Steelers' offense is Brett Favre.

The bottom line: I don’t think the Steelers are likely to show much interest in adding a Wildcat flavor to their offense. But, if they do, they don’t need Michael Vick to do it. They already have an ideal Wildcat quarterback on the roster in Dennis Dixon.

Pittsburgh Steelers' Untradeables Set Them Apart

Todd Fleming — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:03:09 -0400

When I was a kid, I used to collect football, baseball, and hockey cards. Part of the fun of collecting cards was trading them with friends or flipping them in an attempt to win more cards.

But, I always had a few of my favorite cards that I kept back, never to trade or flip. They were the "untradeables."

You can apply a similar concept to an NFL roster in an attempt to gauge the strength of that roster.

You know you really have something special in a a player when you absolutely would not trade that player for a single other player at his position in the league. Nada. Not one.

Most teams are lucky to have one or two players that warrant this type of consideration. The Pittsburgh Steelers have at least eight and a strong argument could be made for a couple more.

There are a number of factors that go into this analysis. Skill is obviously the biggest factor meaning what kind of impact the player makes on the field.

Age is another critical consideration. How long will this player be able to play at his current level?

Leadership and character are also important considerations overlooked at a team’s peril.

The status quo wins out in all tiebreakers, simply meaning that you don’t want to trade away a current player and risk damaging locker room chemistry unless you are sure the player you get will succeed at a higher level in your system.

A star in one system can be a dud in another.

One final factor is salary cap implications. This must be factored in. No team can collect all the best players in the salary cap era, so sometimes the best player for a team at a given position is not the best in the league, but the best player for a given salary amount.

So, here are the core Steelers’ players that I would not trade for a single player at their position in the league and my reason why.

Ben Roethlisberger—This is something of a no-brainer. No player on the Steelers generates more comments from fans saying they wouldn’t trade him for anyone. And for good reason.

He is clutch, perfectly fits the Steelers’ system, is young, and is incredibly skilled. The guy just wins.

The two players who some would argue are better quarterbacks are Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Both are older than Roethlisberger and lose significant points for that reason.

Even apart from the age issue, neither, in my opinion, would flourish as well as Roethlisberger has in the Steelers’ offense.

Santonio Holmes—Holmes is being judged as the No.2 wide receiver here. Can you think of a better No.2 receiver in the league? Wes Welker? I wouldn’t do it. Anthony Gonzalez? No way. Anquan Boldin? Don’t make me laugh.

The argument could be made that Holmes should be considered a No.1 receiver since he may be transitioning to that role. But, it would be foolish to count Hines Ward out just yet. He likely still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

And, when Holmes does emerge as the No.1 receiver, he can then be evaluated against other No.1 receivers. Even if he was evaluated against the No.1 receiver, there are only a couple in the league who I would definitely take over Holmes, to include Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson.

Heath Miller—Miller has emerged as one of the elite tight ends in the league and arguably the best in the team’s storied history. He is an outstanding pass catcher and blocker. And he is still young. While there are a few tight ends, such as Jason Whitten and Antonio Gates, who are considered to be better, I wouldn’t take any of them ahead of Miller.

Troy Polamalu—Polamalu is easily considered the best strong safety in the league as well as being a high character guy.

The only safety even mentioned in the same breath as Troy is Ed Reed, a free safety. Those are not the same position and they play very different roles for their teams. Reed is more of the ball hawking center fielder. Polamalu is the ultimate hybrid safety who moves all over the field, acting as an extra linebacker on one play and then shifting into more of a cornerback role on the next snap.

He is one of the few defenders in the league who must be accounted for on every snap.

James Harrison—Harrison was named defensive player of the year in 2008 so his skill set is certainly not in doubt. The one knock on Harrison is his age since he is over 30. But, Harrison got a late start to his career, mostly playing on special teams when at all.

So, his age is not as big of a consideration as it might be if he had already started for several years in this league. He is also a workout warrior, showing a complete commitment to football.

Nobody is more intense than Harrison, who looks like a psychotic axe murderer when he stares across the line at the opposing quarterback. And nobody makes more game changing plays. Harrison has earned his spot on the untradeables.

Lamarr Woodley—Harrison’s partner in crime isn’t much of a downgrade. Woodley is still a kid, but he is an absolute wrecking ball, bringing a tremendous amount of pressure opposite Harrison. Quarterbacks have to pick their poison. If they shift away from the Silverback, Woodley is right there waiting.

While there may be a few outside linebackers who are better at this point in their career, Woodley’s combination of skill, youth, and tremendous upside land him safely on this list.

Ike Taylor—Taylor will probably be the most controversial player on this list. Why? Because he has hands of steel, meaning that anything that hits them bounces off like a pinball.

But, Taylor lines up against the best wide receivers in the league week after week and shuts them down, or at least limits their damage. He is still young, meaning he has many great years left.

So, given the chance, why not trade him for one of the more highly regarded cornerbacks, like Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha? Have you seen Asomugha’s salary cap hit? The Steelers couldn’t afford him even if they could broker a straight up trade.

Even at that, I’m not sure any cornerback in the league is that big of an upgrade over Taylor. He is the best shutdown corner the Steelers have fielded since Rod Woodson. Even when he gets beat (as all cornerbacks do), he is usually right there in the neighborhood.

Jeff Reed—No stadium in football is tougher to kick in than Heinz Field. Yet, Reed makes it look effortless time after time. When you find a kicker who is reliable at Heinz Field, you keep him at all costs. End of story. Reed is to clutch kickers what Roethlisberger is to clutch quarterbacks.

There are a few other players who would have made this list a couple years ago but due to age, have slid off the list. Hines Ward, Casey Hampton, James Farrior, and Aaron Smith are the players who certainly belonged on this list in recent memory.

But, because of their age, I can no longer fairly say that I wouldn’t trade them for another player at their position in the league if given the opportunity.

That is not to take away from what these players still mean to the team. And their skills have not dropped precipitously yet.

Even with the age issue, I still came close to putting Smith on the list because I think he remains one of the best 3—4 defensive ends in the league. But, I couldn’t quite do it.

So, that’s eight guys I would not trade for a single player at their position in the league. Considering a team has 22 starters on offense and defense, that means that the seven offensive and defensive “untradeables” count for about 31 percent of their two key units.

And that isn’t even accounting for such stalwarts as Farrior, Hampton, Smith, and Willie Parker.

No team in the league boasts as many “untradeables” as the Steelers. Some don't boast a single one. That’s why the Steelers have to be considered a good bet to repeat as champions in 2009.

The Steelers Should Run With the Idea of Mixing Play-Calling Up More

Todd Fleming — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:06:50 -0400

One common complaint on message boards and blog sites throughout 2008 was that the Steelers had gotten away from “Steelers football,” at least on the offensive side of the ball.

By “Steelers football,” the writer is typically referring to an offense built around a power “between the tackles” running game.

It also could mean lining up a hulking power runner behind a fullback and plowing full throttle into the middle of a line until the opposing defense is ready to wave the white flag in surrender.

This idea of “Steelers football” is all about lining up across from the defense and smashing them right in the mouth again and again and again.

But, this style of offense only works when you have the right kind of personnel to execute it.

There have been plenty of times in their history when the Steelers had the perfect personnel to play this style of ball.

Throughout much of the 70s, the Steelers had one of the best power backs in football with Franco Harris running behind a bruising run-blocking offensive line.

But, it is worth noting that nearly all offenses during this era were oriented around a power running game. The difference with the Steelers is that they did it better than just about everyone else.

But, the Steelers’ offense had evolved by the late 1970s. The Steelers’ offense that won the last two Super Bowls of that decade was not the same offense that captured the first two.

The Steelers slew the Cowboys in round two in the 1979 Super Bowl and the Rams in 1980 with an aerial circus attack that turned John Stallworth and Lynn Swann into household names.

Terry Bradshaw overcame three interceptions in his final Super Bowl to lead the team to victory and capture the MVP trophy.

John Stallworth and Lynn Swann are in the Hall of Fame today largely on the strength of their playoff performances during those two Super Bowl runs.

This was not the same risk adverse team that believed that three yards and a cloud of dust, when backed by defense that took no prisoners, was the ultimate play, as was the case with the 1975 squad that battered the Vikings.

In the 1980s, the Steelers tried to return to their power football roots out of a sense of necessity.

Their quarterbacks, with such headliners as Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone, were wretched. Unfortunately, their running backs weren’t a whole lot better with the highly touted Tim Worley serving as the last failure at that position of that decade.

The 1990s saw Bill Cowher take over the reigns of the team and reinstall a successful power running attack. He was able to put together the pieces that ushered in a return of “Steelers football” in the first half of the decade with running backs like Barry Foster and Bam Morris running behind very good offensive lines.

But, Cowher played to the strength of his players. The superb 1994 and 1995 Steelers’ squads relied every bit as much on its passing game, featuring Neal O’Donnell throwing to Yancey Thigpen and Andre Hastings, as it did on its running game. O’Donnell was the team MVP in 1995.

O’Donnell is arguably the most vilified player in the history of the Steelers, but we forget that he headlined some very effective passing attacks, especially when he was paired with the underrated Thigpen.

The Steelers acquired one of the best power runners in the history of the game in 1996 in Jerome Bettis in what might have been the best trade in team history, ushering in another era of power running football.

But, by the time the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2005, Bettis’ best days were behind him. The Steelers were not a power run team that year with Bettis filling a niche role on the team. It was an important role, but not central to their offense in any way.

They built their leads behind their passing game while featuring a speed back in Willie Parker that kept defenses off balance.

They primarily switched to the run game after building their leads through the air, using the run game to run the clock.

It is at best a myth and at worst an intentional slander to say that Ben Roethlisberger was along for the ride on a team that featured the run en route to the Steelers' 2005 Super Bowl title, although you hear that on a regular basis, even from sportswriters who should know better.

The story was much the same in 2008. When the Steelers offense was most successful in the playoffs, it built leads through the air before shifting to a run game that was mostly stuck in neutral.

The point I’m trying to make here is that, when it comes to the offense, “Steelers football” should be a fluid term.

While the team has frequently relied on power running games throughout the last four decades, it has also shifted to a more pass oriented attacks when the personnel were better suited to that style of offense.

The problem I had with the playcalling in 2008 was that the Steelers and Bruce Arians seemed to over commit to a run game that was not working.

Sure, the fullback was scrapped. But, I’m not sure the Steelers would have been much more successful running behind a fullback.

The playcalling was predictable enough that I had a pretty good idea what was going to be called on any given down. There was little ingenuity and flexibility.

As such, the Steelers were the No. 23 ranked offense in the league in 2008. Considering the dominance of the defense, it is not unfair to say that they were one of the worst offenses in the NFL during the regular season.

What I’d like to see in 2009 is a less predictable offense that maximizes the strengths of the players while minimizing their weaknesses. If this means largely scrapping the power running game until a future date when the personnel line up better with that style of offense, it wouldn’t be the first time.

If it means more screens and misdirection plays, that is what the Steelers should emphasize.

The Steelers current offensive strength seems more weighted towards the passing game. They have an outstanding quarterback, good receivers, and an offensive line that has shown more improvement in its pass blocking than in its run blocking.

In a healthy dose of irony considering its power running reputation, the team features two wide receivers who have both captured Super Bowl MVP trophies, making it the first offense in history to feature such a tandem.

While I’m not quite sure I want to see the Steelers try and imitate the Dan Fouts’ led Chargers of old or the team never to be mentioned’s aerial circus of a couple years back, I think they would benefit from relying a bit more on the pass.

I’d love to see Ben Roethlisberger given the opportunity to run a no huddle offense more often, not just when the game is on the line.

Flexibility should be the key attribute of an offense that seeks to attack a defense’s weaknesses while playing to its strengths.

If this means we have to reevaluate what it means to play “Steelers football” on the offensive side of the ball, that is a small price to pay for overall team success.

Steelers And Penguins Done: Surviving the Dog Days of Pittsburgh Sports

Todd Fleming — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:58:35 -0400

What an incredible rush of a six months it has been for Pittsburgh fans.

First, we watched the Steelers win the greatest Super Bowl in the history of the game, which was followed up by the ultimate encore: watching Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and the gang survive one of the best Stanley Cup runs in history to hoist their first Cup!

And then it all came to an end quicker than we could say, "Wow, another great catch on Sportscenter. Yippee."

This article is meant to help the faithful but now utterly bored Pittsburgh sports fans who need to somehow make it through a couple more month until the start of football season.

Here is a list of suggested activities to get you through those final couple months.

10. Try and figure out which local Pennsylvania beer is really the best. Is it Iron City or Yuengling or (insert locally microbrewed beer of choice)? Of course, you would need to drink quite a few bottles, or cans, to figure this out. I'd recommend starting with Iron City and alternating back and forth with Yuengling.

After about ten of each, you should have your answer. But, just to be sure, you might want to repeat it a few time to make sure the results are sound, and not just an anomaly. That would be keeping with the scientific method.

And, chances are that by the time you are finished, you won't really be thinking much about all those Steelers and Penguins games you aren't seeing.

And if your significant other questions the wisdom of this activity, tell them that this isn't about getting drunk for no reason. This is about finding the answer to one of life's more perplexing questions.

9. Try and figure out who will be playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow. When I lived in Colorado, we used to have a saying. It was, "If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it will change."

That pretty much applies to the Pirates. If you don't like the current Pirates, don't sweat it. It isn't a problem. Just watch for a few days and you'll see an entirely new team.

One of the all-time greatest sports movies is "Major League" where a bunch of no-name Cleveland Indians win the pennant.

But, even in that movie, the scrub team at least stays constant. A modern version of the movie featuring the Pirates would need more actors than currently work in California to account for the constant roster turnover.

If you want to know who is most likely to not be a Pirate within a week, just pay attention to who is playing the best. Then put your money on the fact that he will be wearing a different jersey in record time.

8. Make a dartboard of all your most hated players in sports. For me, this isn't terribly hard since most of those players play for the Baltimore Ravens. Ray Lewis makes for a great bullseye. You have the added bonus that he is a rather large guy, making it easier to score bullseyes.

I think I can also find a spot for Ocho Whatever, LenDale White, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Alex Ovechkin, and Kris Draper.

I would not recommend combining this activity with the "which is the best beer" test, especially if others are in the same room.

7. You can do daily google searches on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins with the hopes of finding any little scrap of news. And then jump for joy when you've seen they've resigned some special teams guy you've never really heard about.

Come on, we all do it. I've been known to turn to my wife with a triumphant look on my face and proudly proclaim, "Great news. The Steelers just signed their seventh round pick. We are set!"

Or, "The Penguins just signed some prospect from some country I never heard of to add to their AHL team. Now we have some real depth for next season!"

She typically responds, "That's great, dear."

Nothing like taking the wind right out of the sails.

6. Play the license plate game against your friends, but with jerseys. You know the license plate game that all parents with young kids play to keep them occupied on long trips, where you tell them to see how many different state license plates they can spy.

But, instead of looking for license plates, you look for different player jerseys. Give yourself bonus points for players no longer with the team.

Give yourself an even bigger bonus point for players no longer with the team that really stunk. So, popular jerseys, like Ben Roethlisberger or Sidney Crosby, are only worth a couple points. But, less popular players, like Mitch Berger or Hal Gill, net you a real windfall.

I was at Kennywood amusement park the other day and saw somebody wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers' Kordell Stewart jersey. That was 100 points right there!

At first, I thought he was wearing Santonio Holmes, which would have only netted about ten points. But, nope. The name "Stewart" was sewn proudly across the top of the back of the jersey. Jackpot!

I also saw a Zarley Zalapski Penguins' jersey recently. That's also got to be good for at least fifty points.

Can anyone top those?

5. Watch the highlight videos of the teams' championship runs. The Steelers' Super Bowl XLIII video was good.

After all, it was the best Super Bowl ever, far better than last year's installment of the greatest Super Bowl ever when that team never to be mentioned, sort of like the evil Lord Voldemort of Harry Potter fame, was unceremoniously beaten by the Giants.

But, it can't top the XL video. Why? Because the XL video was narrated by Magnum PI (aka Tom Selleck). And nobody in the history of television was cooler than Magnum.

4. Download the first two seasons of the television show "Chuck" off iTunes and watch them straight through.

Besides being one of the best television shows of all time, one of the episodes features a prominent guest appearance by none other than Jerome Bettis, playing a street smart con-man of a salesman at the local Buy Mart.

And, if you are also a Giants' fan, if such a thing is possible while being a Steelers fan (I think not, but, then again, they did beat that team never to be mentioned by name), Michael Strahan also makes a great cameo appearance.

3. Did you know Pittsburgh has a women's football team? And a really good one at that. They beat the Connecticut Crushers this year 76-0. Now that is what I call dominating the opposition.

They followed that up by beating the Philadelphia Firebirds 53-0. Now any team that batters a Philadelphia squad is alright in my book.

They won the championship in 2007. The did just lose in the playoffs this year to the D.C. Divas on June 27. But, that's OK. Chances are, you didn't even know this team existed.

So, you have plenty of times before the Steelers' season starts to read all about them. You can even become a groupie or a "special fan," also known as a stalker, if you really want.

But, in looking at pictures of some of the linemen, becoming a "special fan" is probably not a great, or safe, idea.

2. Follow the rising boxing career of Pittsburgh junior welterweight boxer Paul Spadofora. He just knocked out Argentine boxer Ivan Bustos on June 24 as he seeks to return to the top of his division .

Spadofora has posted a 42-0-1 record...so this guy is nobody's punching bag.

Spadafora's nickname is "The Pittsburgh Kid" and he is a former IBF world lightweight champion.

In reading his troubled history, this guy is not going to win any Mr. Congeniality awards any time soon. But, he obviously knows how to turn it on in the ring.

You can also search for secret meanings in the numerous cryptic tattoos that cover his body.

1. Read every NFL power rankings posted on Bleacher Report and various other sites between now and the start of next season.

They'll all say essentially the same things which can be boiled down to, "The Steelers and that team that shall not be mentioned rock and boy will the Browns and Lions really stink."

Or something like that. Of course, the power rankings written by Eagles' fans will have the Eagles at the top. And the power rankings written by the Ravens' fans will have the Ravens at the top. And the power rankings written by Lion's fans will have the Lions in the 28th spot, four above the bottom. Team inflation can only go so far.

And power rankings written by the Browns' fans will have the Browns....hmmm... Wait...I'm not sure there are any Browns' fans left to write power rankings after last season.

Other than that, they'll all say essentially the same thing.

Bonus: You can start getting protest signs ready for the upcoming G-20 conference in Pittsburgh. If you think the G-20 is the latest Honda sports car, then stop reading here. You are smarter for not knowing.

So, what should you protest? How about demeaning the City of Champions with such an inconsequential event. That's as good of a start as anything.

So, there you have it. Here are 11 things you can do to get through these dog days of summer, also known as the dark ages, when the Steelers and the Penguins are doing a whole lot of nothing.

And who knows? Maybe the Pirates will get hot and bring a third championship to Pittsburgh. Stranger things have happened. Okay, maybe not.

Pittsburgh Is the Nation's Premier Sports Town

Todd Fleming — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:47:24 -0400

Arriving at Pittsburgh International Airport on a trip back to the city to attend my brother’s wedding, we were greeted at the top of the airport's escalator by two lifelike mannequins.

One was of General George Washington suited for battle, celebrating his history in the area and the other was of Franco Harris, also suited for battle, a tribute to the city’s incredible sports legacy.

And those competing images are the perfect representation of a city whose history and culture is so seamlessly intertwined with its sports traditions.

Pittsburgh is a special place. I wasn't ready to admit that after leaving the city not long after graduating from high school.

Like many kids, I figured the grass was greener on the other side. There was a great big world out there to explore...the land of Rocky Mountain highs (natural of course), California Girls, Oktoberfests, and all such things.

But, after living all over the country and the world, I've come to realize that Pittsburgh is one of the most unique cities in the U.S. I think those of us who have left the city know best what we left behind.

No city generates as much civic pride in its residents as Pittsburgh. When people ask me where I'm from, I always feel a sense of pride when I establish my Pittsburgh "street cred."

Contrast this with the reaction when the President announced Pittsburgh would be hosting the G20 Summit.

The elitists in the White House press corps, a group collectively unaware that there are cities in the U.S. not named New York, Washington, or Los Angeles, actually laughed.

That, in and of itself, is also a point of pride, that some people will never understand why we love our hometown so much.

There are several factors that I think account for why Pittsburgh is such a fascinating place to both be from and to call home.

There is the very powerful historical narrative...the pride we feel in the city's blue collar roots. We take pride that our fathers and grandfathers worked in the steel mills as part of the industry that helped build our nation, even if that industry is no longer the lifeblood of the city.

The city and the surrounding area also played huge parts in the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars which were so important in forming the identity of our country.

There are the distinctly Pittsburgh traditions, like eating a hot dog at the Original "O" in Oakland or a Primanti Brother's sandwich, waiting in the long line to get in the back seat on the Thunderbolt roller coaster at Kennywood because it is the best seat, stepping onboard the Gateway Clipper riverboat to be ferried to old Three Rivers Stadium to watch the Steelers or Pirates, riding an incline up to Mount Washington on light up night, or listening to Donny Iris tell us that some girl named Leah "is looking better than a body has a right to."

There is the diverse flavor of so many different areas like the South Side, the Strip District, and Oakland, areas that hold so many memories for nearly all of us who ever called the city home.

There is the city's rebirth as an educational and medical leader.

There is the wide variation of distinct neighborhoods that generate not just civic pride, but pride in your neighborhood.

There is the quirkiness of one of the most unique accents in the country, an accent that resulted in plenty of wonder, and more than a bit of laughter, in my first year at college in Colorado despite what I thought were more mystifying ones all around me.

One of my friends would ask me to say the following sentence, "I'm going out downtown with yinz to the mountain to wash some clothes." He would then crack up.

There is the beauty of the Pittsburgh skyline outlined against the Point, where the three rivers come together.

Against this backdrop, it is the sports tradition that binds all of us together as one community.

Pittsburgh might be a small city whose contributions on the national stage are overlooked or even laughed at by those who should know better, but it has the greatest sports history and traditions in the U.S.

At the top of the list, the city hosts the greatest franchise in football in the Steelers.

What makes the Steelers so special when compared to other professional sports teams is the way that the team and even the players fit the image of the city.

The team has always been a "blue collar" team, emphasizing strong character and teamwork. The mentality of the team is all about slugging it out on the ground while playing excellent defense.

The city isn't about gimmicky bells and whistles and neither is its football team. No other team has generated the national following of the Steelers with the very real phenomenon of Steelers Nation.

In every single place I've lived, the Steelers were either the favorite team or the second favorite team.

Even in Colorado, in the heart of Broncos Country, the Steelers had a huge following, a fifth column ready to show up at the Broncos game whenever the Steelers came to town.

When I lived less than an hour from Cincinnati, the Steelers were the team of choice, not the local Bengals. Thanks to Hines Ward, my current home in Korea is even Steelers' Country.

Everywhere I've ever lived, if I throw on a Steelers' jersey and head out, I'm bound to be greeted by other Steelers' fans.

Clearly, the Steelers' winning tradition is a big part of this phenomenon. But, it is more than that.

It is the sense of identify that the team has established by being true to its Pittsburgh roots. It is the fact that when the city was struggling economically in the 1970s, it was the Steelers who became the glue that held everybody together and kept the sense of community intact.

That team has a mythic quality. Remember when Joe Greene shared a Coke with a kid and then threw him his game jersey? Oh, that was only a commercial. Nonetheless, that was cool.

The city also has plenty of great sports history with both the Pirates and Penguins.
We hang on to the heroes in all of our teams.

I grew up listening to stories about Roberto Clemente's exploits at Forbes Field, about how Harvey Haddix threw the best game by a pitcher in the history of baseball...and lost, and about Bill Mazeroski's homer that slew the mighty Yankees in the 1960 World Series, the most dramatic conclusion to a World Series in the history of baseball.

Speaking of Forbes Field, it is one of the most storied baseball field ever to open its gates to the public, the field where Babe Ruth hit his final home run.

I remember looking on the part of the wall that still stands in Oakland and wishing I had the opportunity to see just one game there. That stadium first opened its gates almost 100 years ago to the day and had a profound impact on the history of baseball.

While many of us weren't alive to see these incredible moments or watch Clemente play at Forbes Field, listening to our elders tell the stories helped shape our character and first fanned the flames on a passion for sports that unites nearly all Pittsburghers.

The Pirates of the last several years may be a bunch of bums but they are our bunch of bums. And we remain ever hopeful that they will once again live up to the legacy of the players who came before them.

Pittsburgh has also become one of the nation's most exciting hockey towns. This is because the Penguins have featured three of the most dynamic players ever to lace up a pair of hockey skates, turning rabid football fans into puckheads, at least during hockey season.

In hockey, we also have our stories. The greatest of them is the story of Mario Lemieux, one of the greatest players to ever play the game, a guy who would later save his team from leaving his adopted hometown and lead it back to glory while mentoring a new champion and all-world leader in Sidney Crosby.

And the team just drafted the son of one of my all-time favorite Penguins, Ulf Samuelsson. Now that is cool.

Perhaps the part of sports I miss the most since leaving Pittsburgh is Friday night high school football. I used to love watching the highlights on the Fedko Zone to see who came out on top in the Woodland Hills-North Hills grudge match.

I've never lived anywhere where high school football is as important as it is in Pittsburgh.

When I was in high school, there were two things in high school football you could count on...North Hills was going to win, and my team, Baldwin, was going to lose. Everything else was up for grabs.

Our sports teams touch every fabric of our lives. They bring fathers and sons together. And we all have our stories associated with those teams.

You know the stories. Like meeting that really cool girl at a Pirates' game and scoring her number even though the Pirates lost.

Or seeing your favorite player at an area restaurant. Or walking by "Badger" Bob Johnson on your way to a baseball game and having him nod and say, "Have a good night, boys."

The players that come to Pittsburgh understand that special relationship between player and fan that, if not unique to Pittsburgh, is at least at its highest form in the Steel City.

That is why so many Pittsburgh greats adopt Pittsburgh as their hometown when their playing days are done; players like Lynn Swann, Franco Harris, Rod Woodson, and Mario Lemieux.

It is why Troy Polamalu did not hesitate for a second when answering whether he sees himself as a Californian or a Pittsburgher.

All of this and so much more is part of the spirit of Pittsburgh. That is why Pittsburgh is not just one of the greatest sports towns in the United States, but one of the most special places in the entire country.

Pittsburgh Steelers Will Field a Better Team in 2009

Todd Fleming — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:04:33 -0400

The 2008 Steelers overcame several handicaps to win the Super Bowl. The playcalling for much of the season was uninspiring, the punter was only mildly better than the kid who punts for your local pee wee team, and the offensive line was stitched together with bubble gum. Yet, this squad navigated one of the toughest ranked schedules in league history to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at season’s end. Yet, these Steelers are not being picked by many experts to win the Super Bowl next year. These experts may very well be right. Thirty-two teams will begin next season with the Lombardi trophy as their ultimate goal, even the Lions and the Browns. It is easy to predict that the Steelers won’t repeat based on sheer probability. I don’t know if they will win the Super Bowl or not. There are several really good teams in this league and, come playoff time, a fluke bounce one way or another could determine which one of those teams comes out on top. But, there are plenty of reasons to believe that next year’s black and gold squad not only will be better than the 2008 team, but might be significantly better.

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Philadelphia Flyers Overpay for Chris Pronger to Challenge Penguins

Todd Fleming — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:17:35 -0400

A man who stands 6'6" tall casts a big shadow.

On draft weekend, the shadow of defensive giant Chris Pronger and the blockbuster trade that moved him from Anaheim to Philadelphia was so big that it pushed every other story to the back burner.

Pronger is a superb defenseman, bringing a vast arsenal of defensive and offensive skills to the table.

He has a nearly unparalleled mean streak, making life miserable for offensive players who share the ice with him.

He is a sure fire Hall of Famer who still brings plenty of leadership to the table.

But, he is also a guy with a receding hairline who isn’t getting any younger, a chap who will soon turn 35-years-old.

Is he the same player who won the Hart and Norris trophies in 2000 while leading the league in the plus/minus category?

Only in the sense that the two players share the same name and look vaguely similar.

The Philadelphia sportswriters love the move, and why not?

It gave them a story to write about nonstop for the next few years.

The media comments that are especially amusing are the ones that argue that this was a good move because it shows that Philadelphia is committed to winning and isn't content to get bounced from the playoffs.

What team doesn't want to win?

A comment like that says nothing about the actual value of the move, only that it was good because it happened.

It would be charitable to say that the rest of the hockey media doesn’t appear anywhere close to as high on the move.

For those who try to take the easy way out and claim that it was a great move for both teams, I don’t buy it.

There is always a winner and a loser in blockbuster trades like this.

The Flyers and general manager Paul Holmgren gave up a ton to bring Pronger and his $6.25M one year contract to the City of Brotherly Love, another bloated contract on a team that already has a couple of them.

And, they mortgaged their future to do it.

They gave up what essentially amounts to four first round picks to Anaheim.

I’d always bet on the team getting the host of top young prospects over the team that traded them for an aging star getting the better end of the deal, especially in an era in which salary cap management is so important.

Depending on how those picks and players develop, this could very easily look, in five years, like the hockey version of the Herschel Walker trade that turned the Dallas Cowboys into an NFL power while netting Minnesota nothing in return.

In that time, we’ll know if Anaheim was able to parlay the treasure trove of young prospects into a salary cap manageable hockey force.

And Pronger will be nearly 40, either out of the game or close to it.

The trade is the equivalent of somebody going on a credit card binge. He may enjoy the big screen TV and the Jacuzzi in the short-term, even as utter misery waits right around the corner when the bills come due.

For the Flyers, that bill will be paid in competitiveness a few years down the road.

This trade only makes sense if the Flyers are able to parlay the acquisition into a Cup in the next couple years.

Holmgren is betting his job and reputation on it.

I can understand giving up forward Joffrey Lupal, the seventh overall pick of 2002, who, despite being a gifted young player in his hockey prime, has a sizable contract.

Holmgren couldn’t have pulled off the trade without shedding at least one big contract as part of the deal, and Lupal was that sacrificial contract.

But, they also gave up a defenseman loaded with potential in Luca Sbisa, who was their first round pick from 2008, their first round pick from 2009, and their first round pick for 2010.

So, why make a move that smells like utter desperation?

My guess, for what it is worth, is the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Flyers were booted from the playoffs in two consecutive seasons by the team they and their fans hate the most.

Despite having two very good defensemen in Timmo Kimonen and Braydon Coburn, the Flyers were tormented by the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in back to back playoff outings.

But, the move is shortsighted even when considering those two playoff series. In last year’s playoff matchup, neither of those top two defenders was healthy.

In this year’s series, the two teams were closely matched and, but for a monumental Game 6 collapse, nearly went to a deciding seventh game where anything can happen.

I’m guessing the Flyers’ top brass watched the Stanley Cup Finals closely, and saw how well the Detroit Red Wings were able to use matchups to limit Crosby’s damage.

But, those matchups cut both ways also limiting the Red Wings’ offensive output since so many of their top players were focused defensively on trying to limit the damage of the Pens’ stars.

The Flyers’ hope is that Pronger will give them a guy who they can also use to try and limit or erase transcendent talents like Crosby, Malkin, and Ovechkin.

Will it work?

Maybe.

Mike Richards can play the role of Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk as the shut down forward with Pronger playing the role of Niklas Lidstrom.

But, count me as a skeptic.

The Flyers don’t have much flexibility to adjust if the plan doesn’t work out quite as planned.

This might very well essentially amount to a one year rental.

The Flyers are butting up against the salary cap with seven players earning more than $5 million to suit up in orange and black next season.

It is not at all a sure thing that they’ll be able to resign Pronger, who may very well ask for well north of $7 million for a long term contract despite the likelihood that his play will decline.

He is currently making slightly less than fellow blue-liner Timonen.

Pronger's agent has all of the leverage to push for absolute top dollar knowing that the Flyers' brass absolutely has to re-sign him. If not, there's the risk of fan mutiny after giving up so much to acquire him.

They've essentially put all their eggs into a 78 inch high basket.

The Flyers almost certainly have to bid a fond farewell to talented forward, Mike Knuble. Any hope of re-signing him went out the window with Pronger.

It would be more than ironic if Knuble signed with the Penguins, a team that is showing plenty of interest in him, and came back to haunt the Flyers in next year’s playoffs.

The Flyers have significantly impaired the pipeline of cheap young developmental players to fill in the cracks if this goes south.

They may have improved their chances at competing for the Cup for the next couple seasons while almost certainly hurting their long-term chances over the next decade.

Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team...Sort Of

Todd Fleming — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:44:17 -0400

All of us members of Steelers' Nation love to remember our all-time favorite players.

But, this list is a tribute to the players we loved to hate.

They also filled an important role and aren't always appreciated for the sheer ineptitude they brought to the table.

These are the guys that made us want to throw-up those nachos we were eating while watching the game. These are the guys we cursed as we kept thinking, "Wait until next year. He just needs one more year to develop."

I'll give a tribute to Sergey Zikov who gave me the idea for this one by writing a similar article on the Pittsburgh Penguins. They are not necessarily listed in order.

1. Troy Edwards. The Edwards' 1999 draft pick was one of the most perplexing of the Bill Cowher years. The guy was small and not particularly fast. He wan’t even projected to go in the first round. But, the Steelers were desperate for a wide receiver and when they went on the clock at No. 13, Edwards was their guy.

Even EA Sports knew enough to make this guy a slug on the Madden video game, which is odd since even bust rookies on that game are usually really good.

Edwards would go on to become the go-to receiver for the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena League.

Scratch that. He wasn’t particularly good for them, either.

Edwards was a poster child for why drafting for need over best player is not always the best idea.

He was one of Cowher's rare misses. But, you have to give it to him. When he missed, he missed huge. The Steelers would add Superman Hines Ward to the roster the next season with a third round pick so, to quote Shakespeare, all's well that ends well.

2. Tim Worley. We all had high hopes for this guy who was selected No. 7 overall in 1989.

And we were in for quite a show since he was a real magician, taking every carry and magically making the ball disappear from his hands, as it rolled somewhere across the football field for any lucky defender to find.

He was slightly worse than Walter "Abracadabra" Abercrombie, the No. 12 pick from 1982 who shared Worley’s magic ability to fumble away seemingly every carry.

Wow did the Steelers have some really bad drafts in the 1980s. Worley was the icing on the cake... their last first round pick of a somewhat forgetable decade.

3. Kordell Stewart. We loved him as a wide receiver and despised him as a quarterback.

To be honest, the Steelers had far worse quarterbacks than Kordell. Kent Graham may have been the absolute worst, beating out such legendary throwers as Mark Malone, Cliff Stoudt, and Bubby "I don't mop up" Brister.

But, Stewart had that odd ability to come up with his absolute worst moments when the stakes were highest. You could bank on it.

And he was a one-man drama production. The enduring image for me of Stewart was him walking to the sidelines after his 73rd interception of the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos with a stunned Bill Romanowski pointing his finger at his head as if to say, "That was the dumbest throw I’ve ever seen…and I have an IQ of 12."

And people wonder why Steeler fans like Ben Roethlisberger so much.

4. Jamaine Stephens. The Steelers were in desperate need of a tackle to replace stud blocker Leon Searcy and took Stephens in the first round in 1996.

The problem with Stephens was that he couldn't even get down into his stance without becoming seriously winded. He may have been the most out of shape person on the planet.

Oh…and he couldn't block.

5. Huey Richardson. I think rock singer Huey Lewis would have been more productive for the Steelers than this first round 1991 pick at linebacker out of Florida. Truth be told, it would have been impossible for him to be any less productive.

There may have been some back luck involved in this pick, or if you are in a less charitable mood, some poor planning. All of the players the Steelers were targeting were picked right before their turn, leaving them completely at a loss for what to do when it became their turn to pick somebody.

I think they scribbled down the first name that crossed their mind. For you conspiracy theorists out there, maybe Chuck Noll, knowing it was his last season, decided to really stick it to his replacement.

If you forget him, you could be forgiven since he played in all of five games for the Steelers during his rookie season not recording a single statistic.

Cowher thought so little of the guy when he took over the team in 1992 that he shipped the No. 15 overall pick to Washington for a seventh round pick, which was more than he expected anybody would give him for the guy he desperately wanted off his roster.

How often does a team give up on a first round pick after one season? Almost never.

6. Ricardo Colclough. I was intrigued when the Steelers drafted small school prospect Colclough (pronounced "cokely") out of Tusculum in the second round of the 2004 draft. All of the draft guides said he was the best small school prospect in the draft and talked about him like he was the second coming of Mel Blount.

I was pumped. Until I saw him play. The lesson: Don't draft a player whose name isn’t pronounced anywhere close to how it is spelled.

His most memorable play was blocking a punt against the Bengals that he promptly mishandled and fumbled right back to them, letting them go on to win the game. I'm not sure if the Bengals have won a game since.

7. Alonzo Jackson. The Steelers almost never miss when drafting a tweener defensive end they plan on converting to linebacker. The key word, though, is "almost".

Jackson was a rare miss, never able to make that transition except during the preseason, when he looked pretty good.

8. Dewayne Washington and Chad Scott. The toast twins get grouped together for this one.

The Steelers had some great defenses when Washington and Scott were in town, but it was not due to the skills of either of these guys.

Washington also gains points for making one of the biggest mistakes in Steelers' playoff history after giving the Titans' a second chance to kick a game winning field goal after he ran into the kicker.

One of the all-time great mysteries of the universe is the fact that, for some inexplicable reason, Deshea Townsend was stuck behind these two guys on the depth chart. They must have had some serious dirt on Cowher.

9. Mitch Berger. The Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2008 with the worst punter I’ve ever seen.

He averaged about twelve yards a punt, which after factoring in the fact that he lined up about ten yards behind center, meant that the Steelers netted about two yards of field position with each punt.

Then again, at times he was a real weapon since his punts were so short that they would bounce off the helmets of unsuspecting opponents just running down the field looking for someone to block.

The Steelers' 2008 defense was so good that it overcame a punter who couldn't net more than five yards per punt and an offense that was stuck in reverse through most of the season.

These guys were constantly put in terrible situations, where they would promptly make a ridiculous game changing play. I suspect it may very well have been the best defense in history, overcoming more than any other defense in leading a team to a championship.

10. Sean Mahan. The Steelers signed Mahan to a relatively sizable five-year $17 million contract to become their next stud center in 2007.

He was destined to follow in the giant footsteps of Mike Webster and Dermontti Dawson. Alas, he came up just a bit short of their proud legacies.

Mahan was the worst player on the Steelers’ weakest unit. He could hold off a defender for about .3 seconds when pass blocking, and only after blatantly grabbing that said defender.

And his average push while run blocking was measured in centimeters. The Steelers traded him to Tampa Bay in 2008 for a jug of Gatorade if I recall correctly. They definitely got the better end of that trade.

There you have it. That is my Steelers NOT all-time team. Who did I miss? Who did you have the most fun cursing at while watching your beloved black and gold warriors?

Jordan Staal a Shopping Possibility for Penquins?

Todd Fleming — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:50:21 -0400

Jordan Staal was easily one of the most important Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals.

His short-handed goal in Game Four may have been the single most important goal of the series, with the goal he notched in Game Six coming in a close second.

But the majority of his work is recorded not in goals scored, but rather in what he brings to the table as an outstanding defensive presence on the Penguins’ third line.

But watching the Penguins’ cap situation unfold, I’m wondering if the Penguins might be wise to trade him now (when his trade value may be at its highest) before they are forced to trade him later when they have less flexibility.

Is a superb third line center a luxury the Penguins can continue to afford?

I really like Staal. He is a great team player who has never uttered a single word of complaint about playing behind the two best centers in the league.

He has a non-stop motor and works hard on every shift, whether he is trying to keep the other team's top scorers off the board or trying to kill a penalty. He also logs a ton of minutes.

But with both Crosby and Malkin now counting $8.7 million against the salary cap, I’m not sure the Penguins really have the flexibility to keep a $4 million center on their third line without a significant impact on one of their top two lines.

At this point in his career, Staal is a second line center talent playing on a third line. At 20 years of age, he has the potential to develop into a first line anchor.

That means he may already be leaving a lot of money on the table. His brother, Eric, earns a salary ($8.25 million) in the Crosby/Malkin range, showing once again how underpaid the two are for the Penguins.

As a second line center, Staal would likely warrant a salary north of $5 million.

I also wonder how happy he will be playing for the Penguins long-term, seeing as his name is already etched on the Cup—he might be happier as a front line leader for another franchise.

At his young age, Staal has incredible upside and has only begun to show what he is capable of doing in this league.

Plenty of teams would love to have him on their roster. He would likely draw plenty of interest if the Penguins looked to trade him, likely netting a good player in return—probably a winger, and at least one solid developmental prospect or high draft pick.

Why do I think the Penguins should consider moving one of their best young players?

Because I think they are going to have a hard time finding high quality wingmen to pair with either Crosby or Malkin, who they can fit under the salary cap.

A good, proven wingman in the prime of his career typically earns at least $4 million, which is actually on the low side. The Penguins will struggle to pay any of their wingmen that kind of money while investing so much at the center position.

Out of their current crop of free agents, they will likely have to choose between bringing back Bill Guerin or Ruslan Fedotenko. My money is on Guerin returning for less than his market value to play a full season as Sidney Crosby’s top wingman.

That leaves a big hole on Malkin’s wing, which will likely be filled by a high profile AHL prospect—perhaps Janne Pesonen.

Staal’s salary is actually a secondary problem.

Chris Kunitz is scheduled to count nearly as much against the cap this year and is also a player the Penguins may look to trade. But he doesn’t hold the same value as Staal does, and would likely net less in return.

I would not be surprised if Ray Shero, the Penguins' general manager, looks to move Kunitz to free up some room.

Another option would be to sacrifice salary at the defenseman position, but the Penguins already trail much of the league in the overall amount they are paying their blueliners with two of their defenders, Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill, already likely to be wearing different color jerseys for the 2009-2010 season.

So, this isn’t a viable long-term option.

The Penguins may consider shedding Sergei Gonchar’s $5 million salary, but that’s not likely to factor into their thinking this year. The Penguins were clearly a better team with Gonchar in the lineup, especially on the power play.

But with Gonchar becoming an unrestricted free agent after this season, this may be his last season as a Penguin.

The fulcrum of the debate is whether the Penguins should look to improve their top two lines at the expense of their third line, or continue to try and field three quality lines.

Now that Malkin is earning closer to his worth, can the team retain two outstanding scoring top lines while keeping Staal in the fold?

I’m not sure of the answer to that question, but I don’t think they will fully benefit from the incredible talents of Crosby and Malkin unless the two players have at least one very good forward playing beside them. This is especially true for Crosby, who excels as a setup guy.

Any forward playing besides these two guys is going to look better than they really are, due to the tremendous talents of their center man.

Regardless of who was penciled into the lineup next to Mario Lemieux in his prime, those players always became instantly better. That same phenomenon is certainly in play with both Crosby and Malkin.

But there is a comparative effect.

While any winger slotted next to Sid or Geno will outproduce their talent level, it will be in comparison to their own ability level, making good players look great and average players look good.

During last offseason, the Penguins clearly seemed to be trending towards trying to focus on their two top lines at the expense of Staal. That was Option A.

If Marian Hossa had accepted the long-term contract he was offered, there is no way the Penguins could have kept Staal onboard beyond this past season. No amount of crazy cap math could have produced that result.

But the Penguins just won the Stanley Cup with Option B, by relying on three outstanding centers and a bunch of good, but not necessarily elite or high-priced, wingers.

The caveat is that they were able to pull off that strategy before Geno's salary peaked.

I’m guessing the Penguins try and continue with an Option B approach, but would not be surprised if Shero isn’t at least considering trying to move Staal.

Sidney Crosby Derangement Syndrome Strikes Again

Todd Fleming — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:20:42 -0400

There is not a player in all of sports who is more unfairly vilified than Sidney Crosby, the Penguin's on-ice leader.

The guy can't catch a break. Every thing he does results in the spewing of hatred in his general direction.

That's why this latest controversy that has resulted in a chorus of "unsportsmanlike" calls is so illustrative.

Even I underestimated this one, figuring the silliness would quickly blow over. But, Sidney Crosby Derangement Syndrom (SCDS) should never be underestimated.

I've even seen articles comparing Crosby to LeBron James, who angrily marched out of the stadium following a playoff loss without congratulating a single member of the opposition.

Comparing the actions of a guy who was caught up in the moment after winning his first championship with someone who was intentionally and defiantly a sore loser borders on delusional.

Let me stipulate up front that Crosby made a mistake. He should have been at the front of the Penguins' handshake line.

On that point, I agree with the critics. No doubt when the Penguins win their next Cup, Crosby will be out front leading them in the traditional handshake.

But, he got caught up in the moment and celebrated just a little bit longer than perhaps was appropriate before heading to the hand-shake line after the Penguins claimed the Stanley Cup.

Can anyone blame him? That is, other than some disgruntled Red Wings' veterans and their media enablers.

This guy has had the weight of the world on his shoulders from the moment he stepped into the league.

This was the biggest moment in his life, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. He was overcome with both joy and a healthy dose of relief at the same time.

The guy was simply lost in the moment. Anyone with a shred of common sense could see that.

Nobody has had more pressure on him than Crosby, a key savior of hockey in Pittsburgh and the face of the NHL. The new Arena going up in Pittsburgh is frequently referred to as the "House that Sid Built" for good reason.

Despite his tremendous success up to this point, the "will he win a cup?" nonsensical monkey was forever off his back.

Was it really asking too much for the Red Wings' players to let Sid enjoy this magical moment without trying to poison it?

This guy has carried himself with class far exceeding his 21 years on this planet, handling media availabilities under even the most trying circumstances with grace while being a community leader in Pittsburgh.

Crosby ultimately made it to the handshake line, shaking hands with much of the Red Wings' team and their fiery head coach, Mike Babcock, who congratulated Crosby on his leadership.

No doubt Sid would have been more than happy to shake the hands of the Red Wings who had already left for the locker room.

It is never hard to shake hands when you are the winner.

And, let's not forget that a devastated and emotionally exhausted Crosby shook hands with every last Red Wing last year. He didn't miss a single one of them.

He politely waited for them to finish their celebration and then did his duty.

Do the Red Wings' veterans really forget how it feels to win that first Stanley Cup?

Ironically, it was much vilified ex-Penguin Marian Hossa who brought some sanity back to the discussion.

"After the game, when I start shaking their hands, I did not think, 'Who is there and who is not there?'" said Hossa.

"After, I think about it and I thought that I did not remember shaking hands with Sid. I'm sure he was caught in the emotion and did not know where he was. I know him. He wouldn't do it deliberately. He is a great guy. I think he was just excited and caught up in the emotion."

Bingo. Hossa may be the least liked Red Wing in Pittsburgh, but he was plenty insightful in this situation and showed some real guts in coming to the defense of a former teammate over his current mates.

In his defense, Niklas Lidstrom echoed this sentiment, although not quite as eloquently, carrying it a bit too far in calling it a learning experience for Crosby.

True. But, it didn't really need to be said by a Red Wing.

While Crosby made a mistake, his accusers have displayed a complete lack of sportsmanship in how they have responded to that mistake.

No doubt the Red Wings' veterans are fully aware of the SCDS phenomenon and knew they could stoke the fires with just a few words, since there is a veritable army of Crosby-haters ready to jump on the bandwagon of any faux controversy.

Kris Draper started the latest Crosby hate parade.

Said Draper, "Nick (Lidstrom) was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn't come over to shake his hand. That's ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that!"

Well, we now all know that you said it, Kris, just as you wanted.

Hope you feel better about yourself.

And did it ever occur to you to go seek out the young and overly exuberant Penguins' captain to offer your congratulations to him? Apparently not.

If it was that important to him to shake hands with Sid, he could have gone over to the visitor's locker room, as the classy Brian Rafalski did so that he could offer further congratulations to former teammate Petr Sykora.

Henrik Zetterberg decided to add his own bit of poison to the punch bowl, later commenting, "I think you should do it after a series, shaking hands. I think it's disrespectful. I don't know the reason he didn't do it, but I hope he has a really good one."

Got to give it to him, he's a profound one, that Hank. He thinks you should shake hands after a competition. Even your average five-year-old understands that.

Did it escape his attention that Crosby shook hands with plenty of his teammates?

The insult be Zetterberg was all the more poisonous because of the tremendous individual battle that played out between the two players.

So, Crosby was called ridiculous and disrespectful by two of the Red Wings' leaders. What a classy bunch they are, these Red Wings.

Crosby has chosen to not apologize to the Wings. Good for him.

Any right to an apology was forfeited when they started spewing technicolor vitriol at him.

In my eyes, Zetterberg and Draper have forever been diminished.

Draper let his mouth get the better of him following a tough loss. Fine, it happens. But, I'm not sure what really motivated Zetterberg's comments long after the final game was played.

Part me me thinks he may be trying to further fan the flames of a rivalry that doesn't really need it, giving the Red Wings a reason to find the passion that so often eluded them against the Penguins, at least in the early stages of the games.

But, I don't think he is that calculating.

I suspect he is just bitter at having lost.

The only thing good to come out of this is that there will be even more intensity in what is developing to be the most compelling rivalry in the NHL.

If these two teams meet in the Finals next year, the spotlight that burned on the Crosby-Zetterberg individual battle in this year's series will be blazing smoke-coming-from-the-screen hot.

It is possible that Crosby-Zetterberg may even be eclipsing Crosby-Alex Ovechkin as the league's most compelling individual rivalry.

Sportsmanship is one of the great traditions of hockey.

Too bad Draper and Zetterberg missed one of its key lessons.

Pittsburgh Penguins Beware: The Salary Cap Reaper Cometh

Todd Fleming — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:10:00 -0400

The 2009 hockey season is in the books. All is right in the world.

The Penguins stand alone atop the hockey universe, as champagne continues flowing out of the Cup in Pittsburgh.

But there is a voice in the back of my head yelling, “Danger!”

Something wicked this way comes, and it is the salary cap, hovering over Mellon Arena like the specter of the Grim Reaper with sickle raised.

I think the offseason may turn ugly for Penguins fans, or at the very least, uncomfortable.

I would like to start with a brief thank you to Marian Hossa. Had he accepted the long-term offer from the Penguins at the end of last season, not only do I not think they would have hoisted the Cup, they’d be sitting squarely in Salary Cap Hell with no hope of parole.

I have no idea how they would have managed that situation. It would have made Mission Impossible look like child’s play.

As it is, Ray Shero has a tough task ahead of him.

The biggest challenge from a salary cap perspective is that the Penguins have two of the top young hockey talents in the world.

Even after taking a hometown discount, Sidney Crosby is still being paid as a hockey immortal.

Evgeni Malkin is also about to see a nice bump in his salary, as it climbs up into the $8.7 million range, putting him on par with Crosby.

It’s hard to argue with that. I'd hazard a guess that most Penguins' fans don't begrudge Geno for the raise that is coming his way.

However, after spending some time analyzing the numbers on capgeek.com, a fascinating site that lets you play around with the salary caps of all of the NHL teams, I don’t envy Shero one bit.

As it stands, the Penguins have nearly $47 million committed to 14 players on their roster for next season, with the cap expected to stay at $56.8 million. If they didn’t need 23 players on a roster and could get by with three defensemen, they’d be in splendid shape.

Alas, I don’t think Brooks Orpik is ready to average 56 minutes of ice time a game. Slacker.

That means the Penguins have about $10 million to sign at least eight, probably nine, players. Needless to say, the ageless Billy Guerin will not be earning $4 million next season as a Penguin.

Some key Penguins who are not signed for next season are Guerin, Rob Scuderi, Ruslan Fedotenko, Philippe Boucher, Miroslav Satan, Hal Gill, Craig Adams, and backup goaltender Mathieu Garon.

Kris Letang is a restricted free agent who may very well get an offer.

In looking at that list, things aren’t that dire.

However, unless fan favorite Guerin is willing to take a huge pay cut down to the $2 million range, he is gone.

I also think Scuderi’s outstanding play in the playoffs has priced “The Piece” right out of Pittsburgh.

There are plenty of other teams looking for that special piece who can't help to have noticed that Scuderi can play some mean defense and even double as a goalie from time to time.

Shero will certainly try to re-sign him, but somebody will make a bigger offer than the Penguins can afford to match.

The decision will ultimately rest with Scuderi, but I won’t blame him if he takes the big raise and chooses to lace up his skates in another city.

Satan and Petr Sykora will probably be relocating to finish their careers in other locations. Fedotenko will only come back if he accepts less than his market value to return to the fold.

This is not a one-year problem, but will be an ongoing challenge for the Penguins. With 37 percent of their salary cap tied up in their top three centers, there will never be enough money left to invest in really skilled proven wingers or blue-chip defenders.

The Penguins will likely have high roster turnover every year now that Crosby and Malkin each require their own armada of armored trucks just to deliver their paychecks to their doors.

Frankly, I think they both are absolute bargains, taking less to play for the Penguins than they could be making on other teams.

I suspect plenty of teams would offer contracts north of $10 million a year for the services of either player. If Hossa can demand more than $7 million a year, does anyone doubt that?

The market determines a player’s true value, and frankly, Sid and Geno are being underpaid even with the eye-popping numbers they are pocketing.

Sid and Geno are the types of magical players who fill every seat in an arena. As a comparative value to what other players are being paid, these two guys are some of the best bargains in the league.

The unfortunate side effect of having two transcendent all-universe players in a salary cap era is heavy roster turnover.

You can't have one without the other.

Do not expect Shero to even look at any of the big names hitting the market this year. He will be far too busy just trying to figure out how to fit enough low-money players under the cap to fill out a roster.

The Penguins will need to rely on veterans willing to accept under-market value contracts, or unproven young players who have not shown enough yet to warrant a high salary.

Smart drafting will be absolutely essential, and hopefully the Penguins have found a good coach to replace Dan Bylsma in Wilkes-Barre to develop that talent.

The good news is that I think plenty of veterans will take a pay cut for the chance to play alongside Crosby and Malkin for a run at a Cup.

Guerin will be a great test case. If he accepts less than he is worth to stay on Crosby’s right wing, that is a great sign that attracting veterans dreaming of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup is a viable strategy.

Maybe Mario Lemieux will step out of the owner's box and accept the league minimum to play on Crosby's wing for a year or two. I'm guessing he can still slap it around.

For that matter, Wayne Gretzky may be looking for a change of scenery following the Phoenix debacle. Maybe he wouldn't mind seeing if he still has game while pairing up with Geno.

Okay, back to reality.

Targeting veterans looking for a Cup run for under market value has certainly been a decent strategy for the Red Wings, who have not been relying on the city of Detroit’s unmatched reputation as a happening town to attract top-flight talent.

Incidentally, the Detroit Red Wings are facing many of the same problems due to the huge contracts commanded by their stable of veteran superstars.

I don’t see how they can re-sign Hossa without wrecking their own salary cap structure.

So, maybe the Penguins should invite Hossa back for the league minimum and give him another shot at that coveted Cup.

I expect the Soldier of Misfortune will be suiting up for his fifth team come next season—quite an accomplishment for a guy yet to turn 30.

While I think the Penguins have to be the odds-on favorite to win the Cup in 2010, Mike Babcock’s warning about the salary cap potentially getting in the way of a long run of success is not just a bunch of hot air.

If you want to follow the salary cap impacts this offseason, I hope you were paying attention back in Mrs. Smith's ninth grade algebra class, because it may all come down to some very creative and innovative math.

Pittsburgh Penguins' "Role Players" Earn Improved Label: Champions

Todd Fleming — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:46:07 -0400

Did you know that the Penguins only have three "real" players on the roster?

They are the ones with the names Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury sewed on the back of their jerseys.

Everyone else is some odd creature known as a "role player."

What the heck is a role player? And how can a team have only a few people who aren't constantly called role players?

Based on the constant commentary that accompanied the Penguins' run to glory, I gathered that it was important that they "step up."

Based on the constant commentary that accompanied the Penguins' run to glory, we all became aware that the Penguins "role players" needed to "step up."

That was one of the keys to just about every game.

Nothing is quite as inspiring as slinging together a bunch of nonsensical clichés to make a point.

The "role players" had a lot of nerve hoisting the Cup so high over their head. They should have shown an appreciation of their limited "roles" by lifting the Cup only half way.

What a slap in the face of the "real" players. Some guys just don't get it.

For that matter, why do they get to wear the same jerseys as the real players? They should at least make them a different color so casual fans can tell the difference between who they should regard as real players, versus the role players.

Maybe the Penguins' "role players" should have worn those powder blue outfits they wore in their outdoor matchup. Then none of us would have made the mistake as regarding them as being above their station.

Maybe we should put a scarlet "R" on their jerseys in the same spirit as the "C" and the "A."

To be fair, I'm sure most of the writers who have used the term meant no disrespect by it, but it really sells the contributions of every member of a team short.

It is the one term I wish we would banish from our hockey vocabulary.

Calling someone a "role player" implies they are somehow less than a real player, being suited to fill a single role.

Jay Caufield was a true Penguins' role player back in the day. When he came out on the ice during the Super Mario years, chances are he was filling one distinct role, to throw his gloves on the ice and get his butt kicked by the other team's resident goon.

I never quite understood why the Penguins couldn't find a better goon.

Rob Scuderi, Max Talbott, Jordan Staal, Sergei Gonchar, Brooks Orpik, and the rest of the Stanley Cup swigging Penguins are definitely not "role players."

It reminds me of the movie Sky High with Kurt Russell when students at the Superhero school are loudly broken into two groups, heroes and sidekicks, on their first day of class, defined for the rest of their lives.

But, in this case, the hero class would be absurdly small, while the sidekick (aka role player) class would be overflowing with bodies.

I can even see the players standing before Don Cherry as he decided whether to deem them "heroes" or scream "sidekick" in their face.

"Max Talbott. All you can do is grow a really impressive beard, fly around the ice, and score critical goals? SIDEKICK!!!!"

The Pittsburgh Penguins took turns emerging as heroes during the Stanley Cup playoffrun. They were all "the piece" that was needed, the term made famous by a Rob Scuderi slip of the tongue when, ironically, he was trying to make the same point I'm trying to make here.

Scuderi's point was that every player is a piece in an overall puzzle that turns into a championship team. He made the unfortunate mistake of saying he was "the" piece instead of "a" piece, earning himself a first-rate nickname in the process.

Could the Penguins have won the Cup without Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby? No way, although they did win the most important game of the season with Crosby injured on the bench for over half of it.

Still, those two may be the best one-two punch in the history of the league and they deserve every accolade they receive, and then some.

Could they have won the Cup without Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill, or Tyler Kennedy? Perhaps.
But, that doesn't mean those players weren't a huge part of the team's success.

Pittsburgh's third line scored the two key goals in a pivotal Game Six, while Rob Scuderi took his turn at goalie, channeling his inner Patrick Roy to wipe two potential Red Wings' goals off the board in an elimination Game Six.

A goal scored is no more important than a goal kept off the board. Both have the exact same influence on the overall outcome of the game. In that sense, what Scuderi achieved in Game Six was every bit as impressive as if he had scored twice.

He was just being a good role player.

Mad Max Talbott, a guy who is becoming an absolute legend, scored the only two Penguins' goals of the decisive final game, converting a nifty pass from fellow role player Chris Kunitz into the winning goal.

Nice job, Max, on maximizing your inner roleishness.

Jordan Staal scored arguably the biggest goal of the series, his short-handed equalizer in Game Four that sparked a three goal rally and lifted the Penguins back into the series.

Again, heck of a job Mr. high-paid Role Player.

Were all of those Penguins' defenders forcing everything to the outside in Game Seven simply filling a role?

Brad Stuart also had a role to play, gift wrapping a couple turnovers to the Penguins as part of the league's conspiracy to give the Stanley Cup to the Penguins. Just kidding.

Considering the amount of money locked up in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Marc-Andre Fleury, there will be high turnover on the Penguins' roster each year. That is an unfortunate side effect of having such elite players in the salary cap era.

But, the new guys coming in will not be "role" players. They will simply be players, and the Penguins' success or failure will be largely determined by how they fit into the overall team concept.

The contrast when the media talked about the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins was striking.

With the Red Wings, it was always about their incredible depth. None of their players were relegated to second-class citizens as part of the Hank Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk hit parade.

But, with the Penguins, it was always about the fantastic two and their merry band of role players.

No team is going to win a championship with a couple elite players and a bunch of slugs.

But, far too often, that was the tone of the commentary when talking about the Penguins.

It takes a true team effort to win Lord Stanley's Cup, the greatest trophy in all of sports. And, for that reason, it is time to retire term "role player" and appreciate the synergistic contributions of every member of the winning team.

Otherwise, get used to the idea of seeing a steady parade of "role players" lift the Stanley Cup over their heads in the years to come as they earn the more impressive moniker of "champions."

Time for Another SI Classic Cover Celebrating Pittsburgh As Title Town

Todd Fleming — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:29:18 -0400

The Penguins winning the Stanley Cup capped off an incredible year of sports in Pittsburgh, as two out of three of Pittsburgh’s professional sports teams captured titles.

It was time to break out the Iron City Beer, or if you are a more cultured sort, the green-bottled Rolling Rocks.

Pittsburgh is Title Town…the City of Champions.

It is also the City of Parades. And who doesn’t love a parade, especially when your favorite players come bearing championship trophies?

The city came dangerously close to capturing another of sports’ most coveted titles when the Pitt Panthers’ hoopsters advanced to the Elite-8 during the NCAA Tournament.

Alas, that team met its Waterloo against Villanova but should be positioned to make another great run in 2010.

Now, all we need is for the Pirates to catch fire and finish the Trifecta.

That is less likely to happen than seeing Raiders’ owner Al Davis suddenly announce that speed is a vastly overrated commodity in NFL wide receivers or finding a Washington Capitals’ fan who doesn’t think Alex Ovechkin is the best player in hockey.

Some things just aren’t going to happen.

Regardless, Pittsburgh sits alone once again at the top of the sports universe. There are 32 teams in the NFL and 30 teams in the NHL. And Pittsburgh’s two squads are number one in both.

That is an amazing accomplishment, especially in a relatively small city that is all too often overshadowed by behemoths like New York, Los Angeles, and Boston.

Pittsburgh, a traditional football town, is now also hockey town.

It effectively has been a hockey town since 1984 when some guy named Mario Lemieux came to town, but nothing quite reignites that hockey passion in a city as seeing your team win the Cup.

There is a whole new generation of Penguins’ fans to join those of us who became diehards during the Super Mario years.

As for us more seasoned fans, I doubt most of us thought we’d actually get to see three once-in-a-lifetime players suit up for the Penguins in Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin.

Even before the Penguins finished their historic run, I started to think about what it would mean to recapture the City of Champions label…and Sports Illustrated covers.

One of my all-time favorite SI covers, and there have been some great ones, was the cover from December 1979 in which the late great Willie Stargell and Terry Bradshaw appeared together as SI’s Sportsmen of the Year.

The time has come to for SI to once again honor Pittsburgh, and what better way to do it than with a new version of that cover?

I realize this can’t happen immediately.

The Penguins deserve to have a cover all to themselves after finishing up one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of sports.

Living in Korea, that magazine should be in my mailbox in about two months. I’ve promised the SI with Tom Brady on the front to a Boston coworker, but it has also yet to arrive.

No doubt Sports Illustrated will also want to squeeze in a cover or two inspired by the Los Angeles Lakers capturing the NBA crown.

But, after they check off those boxes, the magazine should put together a tribute to the City of Pittsburgh as the latest, and historical Title Town.

The Steelers and Penguins are both popular teams nationally, so the cover would have national appeal.

Those who don’t love it will probably really hate it, causing them to buy it so they can attach it to their dartboards, especially if it features Sidney Crosby and/or Ben Roethlisberger.

Either way, the cover will sell magazines.

So, who should it be Pittsburgh fans? Who would you pair on an SI cover honoring the City of Champions?

My vote would be for a cover in which Crosby appears with either Roethlisberger or Troy Polamalu.

That cover would feature two of the leaders of this generation of Pittsburgh sports icons to take the place of two of the beloved sports figures of a past generation in Bradshaw and Captain Willie.

They could even one-up it and put Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the cover together with Roethlisberger and Polamalu.

I wouldn’t even be adverse if they chose two underrated players, like Mad Max Talbot in his full ZZ Top beard or “The Piece” Rob Scuderi paired with Casey Hampton or Aaron Smith as part of a story that highlights the unsung heroes that brought two titles back to the ‘Burgh.

Perhaps the best option would be a cover that featured Mike Tomlin and Dan Bylsma, with Tomlin wearing his Penguins’ jersey and Bylsma donning a Steelers’ jersey.

That story would practically write itself. Pittsburgh wins two titles by going with young no-name coaches while passing over a host of better known coaching retreads.

Just as Tomlin’s success started an NFL trend of teams looking for the next great young unknown assistant to become their head coach, Bylsma’s success will no doubt cause plenty of teams to eye the AHL ranks for potential breakout coaches who can relate to and inspire the players to greatness.

That one might actually be easier for SI since by the time they can get around to running a “City of Champions” cover, the story will have turned somewhat stale. Using the coaching angle would keep it fresh and provide a new news angle.

It would become an instant classic, at least in Western Pennsylvania.

I’m already visualizing it framed and hung in my office.

So, how about it SI? Can you give us the cover that Pittsburgh fans want?

If you honor the city in that way, I would not be at all surprised if you win some subscribers for life.

It worked the first time, why not bring back an absolute classic?

Stanley Cup Playoffs Bring Back Memories of the "Miracle"

Todd Fleming — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:24:59 -0400

NHL executives could not have asked for a better 2009 Stanley Cup playoff run. They got their dream team matchups and their dream player matchups.

There was the Pittsburgh Penguins-Washington Capitals series that became the Sidney Crosby-Alex Ovechkin-Evgeni Malkin slugfest.

The Stanley Cup Finals featured a compelling rematch, a dream second pairing of a veteran, dynasty Red Wings squad against the upstart young-gun Penguins, whom they had taken to the woodshed the year before for a lesson in championship hockey.

Nearly all of the superstars played like superstars, while plenty of less known players took their turns in the spotlight.

The playoffs featured all three of the finalists to win the Hart Trophy, honoring the regular seasons's best player, in the Russian trio of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Pavel Datsyuk.

Evgeni Malkin would go on to become the first Russian player to win the Conn Smythe award as the MVP of the playoffs, while becoming the first player since Mario Lemieux to be the point leader in both the regular season and during the playoffs.

Another Russian player who deserves special mention is Sergei Gonchar, who came back from nearly having his knee taken off by a vicious Ovechkin hit to be a major factor for the Penguins on their surprisingly strong defensive corps.

Watching these three superstars, and a host of other superb Russian players, I had a few flashbacks to 1980. I kept wondering, how did a bunch of U.S. college kids beat these guys?

The miracle of that day got even bigger in my eyes, if that was possible, as watching the magic of these guys increased my appreciation for the magnitude of what was accomplished on that day in 1980.

Obviously, the U.S. squad never played against Ovechkin, Malkin, and Datsyuk, which is probably a good thing for them. But, they played against the Malkins and Ovechkins of their day.

The skill and ability of Russian hockey players is obviously not a new revelation. Two of my favorite non-Penguin hockey players while growing up were snipers Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny, two of the early heralds of what Russian players could do in the NHL.

But, 2009 represents something of a pinnacle, a high watermark moment when three of the most dominating players in the game are Russian superstars.

And that is why it this year's Stanley Cup playoffs that turned my mind back, perhaps for the last time, to 1980.

That Olympic win was one of the greatest achievements in the history of sports. It was a true miracle, something that appeared almost impossible.

Nowadays, we throw around the word "miracle" to describe just about any sports achievement.

But, a miracle implies that the achievement was considered impossible, even beyond comprehension.

Very few sports moments truly qualify for such a powerful word.

But, the 1980 Olympics win was a rare exception.

It shouldn't have happened. Nobody outside of that U.S. locker room truly believed it could happen.

The Soviet Union was loaded with all-world players. They were amateurs in name only.

While they didn't have anyone named Malkin, Ovechkin, or Datsyuk, they had other players who were just as heralded at the time.

Their goalie, Vladislav Tretiak, may very well have been the best goaltender in the world.

Plenty of other players on the team would have starred on any NHL team of that era, including Boris Mikhailov, Valeri Kharlamov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Krutov, and Sergei Makarov.

While some of these players eventually did go on to play in the NHL, it wasn't until they were long past their playing primes.

The Soviets were a true Goliath in hockey at that time. Their club teams were better than most NHL teams and their national team had walloped the NHL All-Stars 6-0 the year prior.

The U.S. was thought to be a 15-pound hockey weakling, not even registering on the radar screen just yet, despite the obvious strides the nation was making in its hockey programs.

Next to zero U.S. players were yet starring in an NHL that was almost completely dominated by Canadian players.

That isn't to say that the U.S. players on that Olympic squad were not highly regarded. They were the best amateur players in the country, and several would later go on to have excellent NHL careers.

Herb Brooks had plenty of talent at his fingertips to mold into the cohesive and dynamic unit that would eventually shock the world.

But, nobody thought they had a prayer of challenging the mighty Soviet lords of the ice.

When the two teams met in an exhibition match earlier that year, the Soviets squeaked by the American squad by a mere seven goals in a 10-3 blowout, a score that could have been a whole lot worse.

En route to that historic Olympics matchup, the U.S. team had to work for just about every win, while the Soviets mostly won just by showing up.

They were the intimidators. Everyone knew they were the best. It was unquestioned.

The gold medal was theirs. Everyone else was playing for the silver.

The U.S. squad only got through their opening round game against Sweden with a tie thanks to a goal they scored when Jim Craig went to the bench for an extra attacker during the game's final minute.

Meanwhile, the Soviets beat Japan, the Netherlands, and Poland in the preliminary rounds by a combined score of 41-5.

If the two teams had met 20 times, the Soviet squad probably would have won 19 of those games. But, on the day they met in the Olympics, the Soviets rolled snake eyes.

The game was miraculous, not just for the final result, but also in how it unfolded. The U.S. squad fell behind 1-0, and then 2-1. It looked like the Soviets would blow it open at any moment, as they literally pelted Jim Craig with a storm of pucks.

The Soviets were well on their way to taking that lead into the locker room.

Literally as the final second remained on the clock, the U.S. squad found the equalizer, with only three Russian players still on the ice.

The team had already cashed it in and headed to the locker room when Mark Johnson pushed the rebound into the net.

The fact that the game was tied after the first period was such a shock to the Soviet coach that Viktor Tikhonov pulled the best goalie in the world from the net, replacing him with Vladimir Myshkin.

The move was almost certainly a mistake, sending a signal of doubt to the superior Soviet squad.

The U.S. would fall behind again for a third time, 3-2, when Aleksander Maltev scored the only goal of the second period.

But, the U.S. would rebound in the third period when Mark Johnson notched his second goal to tie it. Mike Eruzione, the team captain, scored the game winner.

The Soviet coach was so befuddled in the game's final minutes that he didn't pull his goalie, being caught completely flat-footed while facing a situation that had never even crossed the darkest recesses of his mind as a possibility.

It simply was not supposed to happen. It couldn't happen. It was inconceivable.

The U.S. squad was dominated throughout all 60 minutes of the game. They were outshot 39-16. But, Jim Craig put together one of the greatest games ever played by a goalie.

And, somehow, by some miracle, the U.S. squad won. A bunch of college players thrown together a few months before beat arguably the best hockey team in the world.

The significance of that game was obviously heightened by the political context in which it was played.

It was also one of the rare cases when the background story and the actual drama of the game lined up so perfectly. It also came at a time of great national doubt.

On that day in 1980, the Soviet Olympic hockey team was Goliath, a manifestation of the enemy in a geopolitical struggle of competing superpowers.

We've come a long way since that day.

The Russian stars of the NHL are now our heroes, as we marvel at their incredible skills, determination, and sportsmanship.

They are the miracle workers with what they can do with the puck while flying around the hockey rink with reckless abandon.

They are part of the fabric of the U.S. cities in which they play, with Malkin being both a Russian superstar and an adopted Pittsburgher.

Detroit Red Wings fans show near reverence for favorite adopted son Datsyuk, while Washington fans flood the message boards with "Ovechkin is better than Crosby" lunacy.

Then again, who knows? If I was a Capitals' fans, I might suffer from the same dementia.

One thing that we all have in common is the shared belief that it is our privilege to see these guys play.

Pass me the Vodka, please.

Pittsburgh Penguins Bask in Lord Stanley's Glory

Todd Fleming — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:11:36 -0400

Mad Max Talbot had rehearsed a Game Seven of a Stanley Cup finals plenty of times as a kid, dreaming of one day making a difference in the penultimate game. Apparently, he learned a trick or two that he stored away for just the right moment.

Unfortunately for the Red Wings, that moment was now.

Talbot score one more goal than the Red Wings in leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to claim their third Stanley Cup.

The Penguins capped off one of the most unlikely runs to a championship in the history of sports.

In the middle of the season, this team was left for dead. They Stanley Cup curse had struck.

They were playing without passion, seemingly adrift with no idea how to right the ship.

Ray Shero had finally seen enough, replacing Michel Therrien, the man that guided the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals last year, with Dan Bylsma, who was coaching in Wilkes-Barre at the time.

Doubt was replaced by belief. The players believed in their coach and they believed in each other.

The Penguins, under Bylsma, caught fire. They gunned down playoff team after playoff team while just trying to climb back into the playoff standings. They went from way outside the playoff standings to capturing home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Along the way, article after article appeared, even among Pittsburgh sportswriters, declaring them dead after each setback.

But, the team never stopped believing. And by the time they made it to the playoffs, they weren't the only ones believing.

Nothing came easy for these guys.

They were in danger of going to a seventh game against the Philadelphia Flyers in a first round matchup before catching fire to put them away in the third period of Game Six.

They were on life support against the Washington Capitals on several occassions. First, they climbed out of a two game hole, surviving a pivotal Game Three by winning in overtime.

They bounced back from a home-ice loss to put the Caps away in Game Seven in Washington.

Against, the Red Wings, they again found themselves in a two-game hole. No team had ever climbed out of two game holes twice in a playoff run.

Sportswriters and NHL talking heads were practically tripping over each other to write the Penguins' obituary.

They just weren't experienced enough, didn't have the same discipline, didn't yet have what it took to beat the Red Wings.

But, they still believed and so did we. The Penguins rewarded our faith by winning the next two games.

After being blown out in Game Five, they were declared dead for the final time. But, the operative word for these Penguins since the mid-season turnaround was resilience.

And they bounced back to win Game Six in a gutty performance on home ice.

Still, plenty of people thought winning Game Seven in Detroit was a bridge too far. They were a great team and should be proud of what they had accomplished, but the universe would right itself in Game Seven.

The Penguins would hear none of it. They still believed this was their Cup to lose.

Energized by Marc-Andre Fleury's best game of the playoffs, the Penguins rose to the task one final time.

The game's pivotal moment happened in the second period. The Penguins were up 1-0, had just lost their captain for the game, and now were facing a crucial power play.

The game was on the line.

If the Red Wings score there, the Stanley Cup probably stays in Detroit. But, the Penguins played with heart and soul, finding just enough to kill off that penalty and the surge that followed.

Fleury threw himself all over the ice, as puck after puck stuck to him like glue.

There is nothing quite as frustrating as running into a red hot goalie at the worst possible time and that frustration became more and more evident for the Red Wings and their fans as the game progressed.

Fleury may still be standing in front of the net in Joe Louis Arena, daring the Red Wings to try to beat him with his signature smile hidden behind his hockey mask.

The Red Wings found themselves in an odd position, down two goals entering the last period of a Stanley Cup Finals.

And they responded as a champion should, by raising their game and attacking like there was no tomorrow.

The depleted Penguins, clearly feeling the loss of Crosby, hunkered down and continued to battle as the minutes winded down, barely hanging on.

The Red Wings finally beat Fleury with about six minutes left in the game, setting up one final frantic finish between these two teams.

In the final minutes, it appeared for a moment that the Red Wings had tied it. They finally got a puck by Fleury that bounced off the top crossbar. Time stood still for just that moment as the game hung in the balance.

And then the Penguins had pushed the puck back up the ice for a much needed reprieve.

It had to end this way for the Penguins, with one last gut check of a performance against a true hockey Dynasty.

As the playoffs progressed, I rooted for every team the Red Wings played out of sheer respect for the Red Wings. I believed, and still do, that they were the toughest possible matchup for the Penguins.

But, in the end, the the quality of the Penguins' opponent made the victory all the sweeter.

The Penguins wanted to be the best and did it in the ultimate way, by beating the team that everybody thought was the best.

The win was secured when Fleury hurtled himself in front of one last guided missile as the final second ticked off.

Penguins flooded the ice to celebrate one of the greatest achievements in all of sports.

While the Red Wings played with plenty of passion and pride, this was the Penguins' night.

Evgeni Malkin claimed the Conn Smythe after a sensational two-way effort in Game Seven that capped off his superb playoff run.

Sidney Crosby took the Cup and lifted it over his head, literally beaming as he carried it around the ice before handing it off to the old grizzled vet who played on his wing, Billy Guerin.

Guerin, like Brian Trottier seventeen years ago, looked like a kid in a candy store as he lifted the Cup up high, smiling from ear to ear, thrilled that fortune had handed him one last chance to lift Lord Stanley's cup over his head.

Marian Hossa looked on in disbelief as his old mates celebrated, trying to comprehend the hand that fate had dealt him.

The war was over.

The two teams met at center ice to shake hands as the champion torch was past from the veteran Red Wings to the young gun Penguins, at least for this year.

Mike Babcock was heard congratulating Sidney Crosby on his leadership, a class ending to a memorable series between two great teams.

Each of the Penguins took their turn with the Cup as they basked in one of sports' greatest accomplishments.

After Crosby took the first turn with the Cup as the youngest captain to ever secure that honer, the older vets got their turn to hoist it high before it finally made its way down to some of the younger players.

A surprising number of Penguins' fans were there to watch the celebration.

Nearly every player on their roster took a turn playing the hero during this playoff run which is exactly what it takes to win the Cup.

The March of the Penguins was over.

They were the champions.

And this was their night.

Pittsburgh Penguins Twenty Minutes From History

Todd Fleming — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:55:15 -0400

What an amazing two periods of hockey setting up what should be a furious final 20 minutes to the NHL season.

The key moment of this game so far came right after the injury to Sidney Crosby. The Penguins were up a goal but facing serious adversity.

There Captain and leader had just gone to the locker room and there was no knowing if he could make it back.

And, then came the penalty. The Red Wings fired off a flurry of shots, some at point blank, off Fleury. He stood firm.

In fact, this is the best he has looked during the entirety of these playoffs, making some incredible saves.

The finals seconds ticked off the penalty with the Penguins still nursing that critical one goal lead.

Not long after the penalty kill, Mad Max Talbot added to his legend, firing off his second shot that beat Chris Osgood.

Pittsburgh 2, Detroit 0.

20 more minutes. This game is far from over which was evident during the final two minutes of the second period.

The Red Wings attacked with a fury, controlling the play in the Penguins zone and getting off plenty of great shots in the process.

But, the Flower said "No...not tonight." At least not yet.

One more period for heroes to emerge. 20 more minutes that these guys will remember for the rest of their lives. 20 more minutes of pulse racing hockey.

Go Pens!