Steelers 11, Chargers 10
They say this is the first NFL game in history to end with the score 11 to 10, which is amusing and surprising. We nearly missed out on this, since Polamalu came up with a dropped lateral during the Chargers' last-second kick return razzle-dazzle (following Jeff Reed's winning field goal) and ran it back into the end zone from the 15 or so. But the refs called an illegal forward pass in there someplace, so the unprecedented score remains.
But this really hasn't happened before? Really? All you need is solid, ten-point defense (happens all the time!) plus one safety (courtesy James Harrison here), three field goals, one missed field goal, and one 4th-and-goal from about a foot out where Mewelde Moore doesn't even come close. Unless I'm reading this wrong, that particular play appears to have gotten Gary Russell installed as the third-down back, incidentally. It also set up the safety, so, I guess it's one little thing contributing to numerical history.
The whole offense, when it was running, was the happily familiar sight of Roethlisberger hitting Ward for clutch catches (and occasionally Holmes) and Willie running for 115 yards. Short to medium yardage, and some healthy chewing up of the clock. But penalties all over the place, and the usual disturbing amount of pressure on Ben from a defense that can't usually muster it.
Polamalu outdid his one-armed interception against the Eagles and, early in the game, managed an unbelievable sliding pick from a deflected pass that he tipped up into his arms from the fingers of one outstretched hand. Harrison had an easier but more important interception close to halftime near the end of a would-be drive by the Chargers.
Snow and a slippery field, too. Hard to tell what to make of this one: you're 7–3 now, but it doesn't feel all that more confidence-inspiring than the close loss last week. Not very clarifying.
This is kind of Nate's sense of humor in a nutshell, really. He's already aware that I think it's baffling how many Tecmo Bowl jokes he makes. I'm also curious about who the other 66 people are who watched this on YouTube.
But this really hasn't happened before? Really? All you need is solid, ten-point defense (happens all the time!) plus one safety (courtesy James Harrison here), three field goals, one missed field goal, and one 4th-and-goal from about a foot out where Mewelde Moore doesn't even come close. Unless I'm reading this wrong, that particular play appears to have gotten Gary Russell installed as the third-down back, incidentally. It also set up the safety, so, I guess it's one little thing contributing to numerical history.
The whole offense, when it was running, was the happily familiar sight of Roethlisberger hitting Ward for clutch catches (and occasionally Holmes) and Willie running for 115 yards. Short to medium yardage, and some healthy chewing up of the clock. But penalties all over the place, and the usual disturbing amount of pressure on Ben from a defense that can't usually muster it.
Polamalu outdid his one-armed interception against the Eagles and, early in the game, managed an unbelievable sliding pick from a deflected pass that he tipped up into his arms from the fingers of one outstretched hand. Harrison had an easier but more important interception close to halftime near the end of a would-be drive by the Chargers.
Snow and a slippery field, too. Hard to tell what to make of this one: you're 7–3 now, but it doesn't feel all that more confidence-inspiring than the close loss last week. Not very clarifying.
* * * * *
This is kind of Nate's sense of humor in a nutshell, really. He's already aware that I think it's baffling how many Tecmo Bowl jokes he makes. I'm also curious about who the other 66 people are who watched this on YouTube.
1 Comments:
Well, thanks for that humor analysis, I guess. I didn't see this game as I was out shopping with Kyle, which considering the circumstances featured a decent range of activities both stereotypically gendered ("boyfriend waits in an Ann Taylor while girlfriend tries on clothes!") and not stereotypically gendered ("girlfriend stands by while boyfriend selects a slow cooker from the kitchenware outlet!").
This one was clearly less maddening to watch in highlight form, though, and highlights there at least were on defense. Watching Troy Polamalu play when he's healthy is one of the purest joys of being a Steelers fan -- I don't know of any mere NFL mortal this season who has more than one insane fingertip interception. A close second this year, or maybe a close first, would be the equally insane playmaking of linebacker / former President James Harrison, who will still never land a safety-inducing sack that I like as much as this.
Every single snap that Ben Roethlisberger takes, meanwhile, is a lot like watching the current season of The Office: Cringe-inducing, yet hard to turn away. Also not as good as it was three years ago.
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