To add to John’s post below, some brief observations from somebody who was at the game:
* Whoever thought it would be a great idea to unfurl a gargantuan American flag (“salute the troops”) at the same time as the Dolphins ran onto the field needs to find a new line of work.
* I don’t know whether anybody seriously wondered whether Pittsburgh remains a world-class team. Maybe I’m calling out the fictional “some” that administration officials love to rail against. But if those people exist they should notice that Pittsburgh more or less dominated Miami despite an average performance by our backup quarterback.
* Speaking of which, I had a hard time choosing an MVP for last night’s game. There were too many standout performances to pick one and call it the game winner. Polamalu and Joey Porter did what we what we expect from those two. Batch completed enough to give Ward and the other receivers a chance to work their usual magic, although if there was a single MVP, that one-yard-line fumble pretty much rules out Batch. Parker stepped up a bit from last year’s habit of either making big plays or else falling down at the line of scrimmage. How to choose?
* I was kidding about that last point. Heath Miller’s 85-yard touchdown reception completion (thanks guys) disputed run that was ruled a touchdown simply defied belief. In my view the conclusive turning point of the game happened when a 6’5”, 260-pound tight end outran both of Miami’s safeties all the way to the end zone. After that Miami seemed to play like a team resigned to lose.
Overall this bodes very well. In semi-related news, I have it on good authority that Ronald Ramon’s Pitt basketball squad will finally bring down the Mountaineers this year.
Punchy
Fixed.
Blue Neponset
The Steelers are a good team but an 11 point win against the Miami Dolphins at home on opening day isn’t really evidence that they should be regarded as ‘world-class’ just yet. Perhaps we can address the issue of ‘world-class’ness on November 6th the day after Pittsburgh plays Denver, in Denver. (Does Denver ever play away games?)
Blue Neponset
Dammit. Scratch that. The Steelers are playing Denver in Pittsburgh.
Punchy
Tim–
I think you were technically correct the first time. I was being snarky, b/c replays clearly showed his foot stepped out of bounds around the 2. Saban’s red flag challenge was ignored by the refs, thus giving him a touchdown.
No biggie.
Tim F.
Punchy,
Ah. One disadvantage of being at the game is that you miss most of the replays and informed commentary so I had no idea there was even a dispute. Honestly I was too busy shouting my lungs out.
fester
First — lucky bastard Tim for being able to get tickets.
Second, I agree with you, the redefinition of the tight end position towards atheletic freaks over the past seven or eight years is amazing. Heath Miller is just one of the dozen or so wide receivers in linebacker bodies that are out there on the field creating massive mismatches. This is one of the reasons why I am so confident about the Patriots’ offense, as they have two guys who fit into this category (Graham and Watson)…
I am still not sold on Willie Parker as I still think he is too prone to negative yardage plays, but the 4th Quarter clockkilling was pretty solid when he had to be a consistent positive yardage back.
Joey
Dominate might be a bit of a strong term. I would say it was more Daunte beating the Dolphins than the Steelers. He played like shit, and cost me valuable fantasy points by seemingly being unable to throw an accurate pass to Chambers in the end zone. He really looked awful most of the game.
Vince Lombardi
“More or less dominated”?
How about less:
Time of Possession: 25:27 Miami, 24:33 Pittsburg
Total Yards: 339 Miami, Pitt 278
First Downs: 20 Miami, 15 Pitt
And so on.
Only a Shameless Homer would believe that Pitt was anything other than lucky to squeak by a mediocre opponent in their home opener.
Vince Lombardi
Crap, that was 35:27 ToP for Miami.
Full stats here:
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20060907_MIA@PIT
Jon
Did you know Jerome Bettis used to play for the Steelers?
Word??
(facepalm)
I think the only way I will be able to watch NBC’s coverage is the same way I watch FOX and ESPN’s – on mute. (I can’t speak to CBS because the Skins are almost never on there…)
Tim F.
Joey,
I would say that Daunte had more problems with third down conversions than touchdown passes. Did somebody tell him the receivers catch with their feet?
Joey
That’s true too. I just paid more attention to the awful throws at Chambers in the red zone for fantasy reasons. He really was pretty awful last night, I thought(Daunte, that is).
jg
Why don’t we have a Balloon Juice fantasy football league?
Jim
Vince Lombardi:
What the hell is going on out there? All the stats you gave are backwards (e.g. the Steelers had possession for 35:27; and so on).
Culpepper's Mom
STFU about Dante. Did you see how tight his shave was last nite? That Kerry Ligtenberg shiz-nizzle carved into his peach fuzz? I’m sorry that he spent all nite worried about his tight end, and Randy McMichael, and hasn’t throw a spiral since he used to toss around those binders in high school.
He’s still Dante, the man, not the peak, and you shall respect his weak arm, terrible reads, and throws to Chambers like Chambers is 9-foot-4.