The Blitzburgh Report

James Harrison Voted Team MVP

James Harrison was voted team MVP by the Steelers players. My first reaction wass I am very happy for Harrison. He’s come a long way and has had a great season- one that is worthy of team MVP. But my second thought is, was it really worthy over Ben Roethlisberger’s season?

I know there are mixed feelings out there about profootballtalk.com, but they raised an interesting point today:

In 2005, we heard plenty of rumors that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn’t one of the most popular guys among Steelers players. A Super Bowl win diluted such talk, and his popularity took a back seat last season to his near-death experience after driving a motorcycle into a car.

This year, we’d assumed that everything had changed. Apparently, it hasn’t.

Though Roethlisberger wasn’t named a team captain at the start of the season, the fact that Hines Ward received the nod for the offense didn’t raise eyebrows. More recently, after having one of the better passing seasons of any quarterback in franchise history, Roethlisberger wasn’t named the MVP of the team.

But Harrison still is worthy none the less and both players have had remarkable seasons and deserve congratulations. The team has done co-MVP’s in the past, so it is even surprising that they didn’t share the honors. It really does make you wonder, but I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions just yet. Aside from this incident, all indications this season have been that Ben has won over a lot of people with his gutty performances and leadership on the field. We really don’t know what went on with the voting and why the players voted as they did. So file it away, but don’t necessarily get worried that everyone hates Ben or anything.

Ben Will Likely Sit Out Ravens Game

Speaking of Big Ben, the Post-Gazette is reporting that he is expected to sit out the game against the Ravens.

I think it is a good move by coach Tomlin. They mention that his ankle is still a bit sore from the Rams game, but I am sure he is hurting all over as well. The Steelers do have a bit to play for with trying to get the 3rd seed in the AFC, but not enough to risk having their star quarterback out or even more injured for the playoffs, especially with how physical Baltimore is and Ben’s history of getting knocked around by them.

It will be interesting to see how long Tomlin plays a lot of the starters. Will he also take other players out as the game goes on? You would have to think that if the Steelers jump out to an early lead they would. I just wish Charlie Batch luck with that offensive line as I am not sure that he is quite the Houdini that Big Ben is.

Marvel Has Back Surgery

The Post-Gazette is also reporting that Marvel Smith had back surgery and will miss at least the Ravens game and the first game of the playoffs.

Max Starks will take his place at left tackle. Starks has actually played quite well recently while filling in and Smith’s absence makes it the decision easy to sit him for Starks. He started the season as the line’s scapegoat, but after riding the bench for a bit he seems to be playing with a new sense of purpose.

The Post Gazette is reporting that Najeh Davenport was injured during an acupuncture treatment away from the Steelers’ medical facility. Apparently something went wrong that left his foot swollen and him unable to play last Sunday night.

The Steelers examined Davenport on Monday and determined that he should be ready to go against the Patriots. That means former Steelers running back Verron Haynes, who worked out for the team, won’t be resigned.

I still don’t know what to believe. We’ve heard a few different stories as to just what happened. First, we heard that Davenport got into a fight at a night club and was beat up. Then we heard that he was actually injured on an elliptical machine. Now we hear that it was an acupuncture procedure gone wrong. Whatever it is, something doesn’t seem quite right. They were tight lipped as to what happened for so long, and just now it is coming out that it was from an acupuncture treatment. I’m not sure that is something that they needed to be so secretive about.

(Update: Apparently, the final word is that he injured the foot on an elliptical machine, and then it swelled up after he received acupuncture treatment .)

I believe I caught someone on ESPN saying yesterday that the Steelers have won 12 Monday night games in a row at home, their last loss being in 1991. I am glad that trend seems to be continuing under the new head coach. That said, last night was a game that the Steelers could not lose. Monday Night Football is big enough, and the AFC North implications aside–how could you go out and lay an egg in front of all those great former Steelers? Fortunately they did the direct opposite.

Here are some thoughts from a thoroughly enjoyable Monday night:

• When is the last time you have seen a worse offensive performance than what the Ravens put up last night? It really looked like Steve McNair wasn’t even trying. On the flip side, when is the last time you have seen a performance like the one James Harrison put up…

• …With all due respect to the night Ben Roethlisberger had, James Harrison was flat out amazing. Nine tackles, three and a half sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and an interception. I think we as Steelers fans saw a game like this in James Harrison, but hopefully now the rest of the league takes notice. Check out a very humble Harrison after the game:

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There is no denying that the Steelers are pretty hot right now (at least against teams that don’t bring more intensity then they do) and after the Ravens’ games last year, they have to be looking to be the ones doing the beating this time around. It should be a tough game, as they always are no matter the standings of the two teams. But, the Steelers look like they have a real good shot at going 2-0 so far in their three game tour of the AFC North. Here are some things to look for in the game Monday night:

• Which offensive line will show up? If the “run for your life, Ben!” version shows up, the Steelers could be in serious trouble. Just look at their losses so far this year and, of course, the two Ravens’ games last year. The offensive line really dictates how this offense plays and they need to have a good game against a strong defensive team like the Ravens.

• Steve “The Steelers Killer” McNair looks like he will be starting the game. For whatever reason, this guy has always played well against the Steelers, to the tune of an 11-4 record. But at the same time, McNair is not quite the same player that he was back in the Titans (update: apologizes for an earlier reference to his celebration; should have researched it better). Still, you have to be nervous any time this guy goes against the Steelers.

• James Harrison says that the Steelers’ lessened sack production over the last few games has been more by design, especially against the Bengals. It will be interesting to see if the team brings more pressure this week, especially against a Raven’s line that is a little banged up. Some have suggested that the lack of consistent pass rush has been because of Aarron Smith’s absence, but he could be back this week so keep an eye on that.

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Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated wrote a great piece about Ben Roethlisberger and how he is playing this season for Terry Hoeppner. Big Ben was extrememly close to Hoeppner, his coach from Miami of Ohio who died earlier this year from complications from a brain tumor.

Adam Schein of FOXSports.com gives the Steelers an “A” for their midseason grade.

Bill Cowher says that if the Patriots continue running up the score, “At some point if this continues, someone’s going to take a cheap shot.”

Levon Kirkland and Hardy Nickerson are new additons to former Steelers players and staff in the running for the Hall of Fame.

D.C. Steeler Nation takes a look at why this week’s Ravens game should be different then the beat downs from last year.

Casey Hampton has been practicing and will start tomorrow against the Broncos. Bryant McFadden (ankle) and Jerame Tuman (back spasms) are both doubtful.

The Steelers sure have been talking a lot this week this week about how much they are going to run the ball against the Broncos. Blitzburgh over at Behind the Steel Curtain thinks they might be bluffing. I agree, but are the Bronco’s buying it?

Neal over at Die Hard Steel notes how the Broncos have become quite the train wreck. Let’s just hope that the Steelers don’t come in overconfident, however.

When you play the Broncos, the two things you are going to hear about are the altitude and cut blocks. We already know coach Tomlin isn’t worried about the altitude, and defensive line coach John Mitchell isn’t concerned about the Bronco’s diving at the knees either.

I’m not from Pittsburgh. I have no ties to the city and, in fact, have spent my whole life in Connecticut. I saw the Steelers playing the Bills in the playoffs back in 1993 and something about them struck a chord with my young mind. I’ve been a Steelers fan ever since. Something about their style of play and character just hit me, even though they lost that game big time. But it is not always easy being an out of town Steelers fan.

Anyone who has spent a game-day afternoon watching helmets move across their computer screen knows what it’s like to be an out of town Steelers fan. We hope for as many Sunday and Monday night games as possible. We check TV guide every week in the hopes our local teams happen to be playing a night game and that they might be show the Steelers game in their place.

In the “old days”, before the internet provided streaming radio or the moving helmets Game Center- we had to watch the ticker at the bottom of the screen for score updates. Remember the days when networks only had the scores at the bottom every 15 minutes or so? CNN was always a better bet because they had a constant scroll. Then you had to stay tuned to Prime Time on ESPN Sunday night to catch all the highlights.

As the internet progressed, streaming radio became available and you could tune into local Pittsburgh stations to catch the radio broadcasts. The mid to late 90’s opened up the world of Myron Cope to me and I couldn’t imagine listening to games any other way.

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- Some Power Rankings:
-ESPN - Steelers at #4
-Fox Sports - Steelers at #4
-Coletrain Report via Die Hard Steel - Steelers at #4
-Vic Carucci via NFL.com - Steelers at #3
-CBS Sportsline - Steelers at #4

- J.J. Cooper says Mike Tomlin’s extra work with Ike Taylor may be paying off.

- The Heinz Field Hop? Eh…

-Mike Tomlin seems to be serious about making good his goal to run Willie Parker until his wheels fall off.

J.J. Cooper has last week’s offensive line performance analysis up. Against the Cardinals, the line had their second worst performance since J.J. has been keeping track.

Steelernotebook.com takes an amusing look at some of the dumber questions asked at Mike Tomlin’s recent press conference.

Bruce Arians will run the no-huddle when he damn well feels like it.

It is too easy to make a joke at them being called “expert picks” so I won’t, but everyone except Mike Golic says the Steelers will beat the Seahawks on Sunday.

Adam “Oh yes it is” Schein says the Seahawks still hold a grudge against the Steelers.

The Steelers jump to #5 (from #9) on ESPN’s power rankings.

Fox Sports agrees and also puts the Steelers at #5.

Linebacker James Harrison is cleared to play Sunday after his scary injury against the Bills. Die Hard Steel has a take on what went down at the end of the first half.

Dale Lolley fills us in on what we learned from the Buffalo game.

Ed Bouchette of the Post-Gazette says Ben Roethlisberger is back to his old self once again.