Can you smell it? Smells like football!! We are finally back to a point in the year where the doldrums of summertime sports dullness (yeah that's a word) subside and the NFL football season gets underway. Of course I am a big fantasy football player and participate in a number of leagues so I take an interest in almost every game on the schedule. However, the only games that matter are the ones that involve the black and gold.
Week 1's opponent was the Atlanta Falcons and it took an extra stanza to get the job done. Both teams rely heavily on the running game to guide them to victory and this was going to prove to be a smash-mouth style game. All I can say after this one is, Ben who?
Rashard Mendenhall was the big hero in this one with his 50 yard TD run in overtime to propel the Steelers to a 1-0 start for the season. Mendy had 22 carries for 120 yards and the only TD of the game for either team. Ward also put up 108 of his own for his 26th career 100 yard game. As for Double D, he was alright but appeared pretty wobbly at times. He only had one completion over 50 yards and that was to Mike Wallace and was a beauty. He finished 18 of 26 for 236 yards with an interception and had several other potential sure picks that were dropped. Obviously this isn't enough to win every week but it was enough today and he didn't play bad enough to lose.
As for the Steelers defense...THE BEASTS ARE BACK!! The Defense has bounced back in my opinion from the lackluster performance last year. The Falcons have a fairly balanced offensive attack and the Steelers were able to counteract most of what they saw. As for Troy, 4 tackles, an assist and a pick at a critical point in the game to set up a Jeff Reed field goal for the win (he Norwood'ed it though).
Despite my initial concerns for my team, if the Steelers can hold on and play like this for a few more weeks, relying on the running game (Steeler Football) and some aggressive, shut-down defense, I think everything will be fine.
I didn't get to see the game out in the midwest so I am glad to hear that the defense looked good because I thought they looked horrible in preseason. Not as bad as last year but still not up to par with Steeler football. Can't wait till Oct 31 when they play the late game and I will actually get to see them in action.
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