I christen this thread with THIS video of the escapades of Pacman Jones and Chris Henry.

This just in!

Steelers to dominate league, make other teams their personal bitches.

You're getting awful excited over ONE preseason game.

I'm actually getting very excited over following the team for a great deal of time. Nothing in this game surprised me. The Steelers played far below their potential last year, but it still surprises me how people seem to have written them off so quickly (not that they are getting no respect, a fair number of writers are giving them consideration for winning a wild card birth). But people don't realize how talented this team is, and how hungry they are. You could see it last night: they got kicked in the teeth last year, and they are not happy about it. They showed up to this game looking to hurt people, and the Saints showed up like "hey, it's preseason! Where are the dancing girls?" Also, my last post was kinda tongue-in-cheek, in case you thought I think the Steelers are the best team in the league or something.

Actually, one thing about the Steelers last night did surprise me: Santonio Holmes. I love the kid, and he was great as a rookie last year, and I fully expected him to be better this year. But his speed and technique on the field was sort of startling. He has seriously improved this offseason. He was getting open like he was being covered by high-schoolers, and he was catching the ball effortlessly. From the four-yardline he ran a fade route to the right corner and was open by ten yards. That is amazing. Ben looked like the Ben from the Super Bowl run: he never hesitated.

I'm not going to predict the Steelers winning the division, because it's a tough row to hoe, and this may be the best division in football. The Ravens are a team where you have to worry about matching up with them physically. But we without a doubt outclass them at the skill position level. The Bengals are loaded on offense, but their defense compares unfavorably to a sieve. But I will tell you I have been planning on placing a $500, uh, "investment", on the Steelers winning the Super Bowl, and long before last night. I actually finally this weekend got around to setting up an account with a website that does that sort of thing, only to find out using a credit card there is a problem so I didn't end up getting the "investment" placed. When the Steelers came out smoking on their first drive I started cursing myself, because the odds have been fat and I'm afraid they're gonna start vomiting in the toilet.

I subscribe to the Steelers insiders info at Steel City Sports, and their main reporter described the shock from the national press over the Steelers first drive. I tell ya, I'm sometimes amazed how little these people really know the individual teams. They're surprised by everything. Of course, I don't know the other teams that well myself, and I wouldn't expect national reporters to know the Steelers as well as people who follow them on a daily basis, but they just don't know anything.

The Saints had the right perspective. It WAS a pre-season game.

Quasar wrote:The Saints had the right perspective. It WAS a pre-season game.

True that, but I think the focus of this Steelers team was evident last night. They are ready for the regular season to start yesterday.

Jack's Sorrow wrote:They are ready for the regular season to start yesterday.

That will be their undoing.

Yeah, who knows, they may burn out, or get rocked by injuries. I wonder how long they'll stay under the radar, though. Usually they play dead in preseason and then turn it on in the regular season.

Quasar wrote:

Jack's Sorrow wrote:They are ready for the regular season to start yesterday.

That will be their undoing.

Your faith in your friends is yours.

Here's an idea of the mindsets between the two teams going into last Sunday's game, and what happened when those minds met.

Even Reggie Bush knows what's up.

Of course none of it matters now that Bill Walsh is dead.

Dave, at the end of the season when the Saints have won the Super Bowl, you'll always have your little pre-season victory to console yourself with.

Yes, Rob, and it will feel good, too.

HERE is a six-and-a-half minute highlight reel from the game. You may wonder why that first play by the Saints is shown: it's because the pass was defended by Steelers second round pick LaMarr Woodley, who is a defensive end being converted into a linebacker (though his sophomore year at Michigan he also played linebacker, I believe), and he's supposed to be a formidable pass rusher/run stopper, but a novice at coverage. Also, every Steelers punt is included because we are in love with our rookie punter.

I was just visiting a Browns messageboard, and here are some of the pictures they like to post.











































Man, I can't wait for week 1.

I don't neccessarily condone those photos, but they're funny as shit.

Maybe this is Cleveland's year, eh? C'mon... it could happen.

(Ironically, the Browns/Chiefs game is on as we speak.)

And the Bengals lose thier new running back Kenny Irons to a knee injury. And they want the pre-season expanded?

The Browns won on Saturday.

Charlie Fry almost threw an interception on his first pass. I bet he's kickin' himself for spending his first year promoting McDonalds (Charlie Fry for fries) instead of, I don't know, actually practicing.

But, what do I know?

Obviously you don't know your players very well.

It's spelled Frye

oh, and the browns are going to suck again this year.

omicron wrote:oh, and the browns are going to suck again this year.

Yes, they will. Bizarrely, the Browns fans at the Scout.com messageboards continue to talk smack to the Steelers. How this is possible when the Steelers have beaten them six times in a row or more (it's hard to keep track) is bizarre. I expect the Steelers to steamroll them week 1, but it's hard to say. Strangely, the Browns get really pumped to play the Steelers. It's kinda cute and kinda weird. But they play us tough sometimes. Fortunately for the Steelers, the Browns quarterbacks are awful. It's also helpful that the Browns supposedly game-breaking tight end averages like 8 yards a catch (I know, it's unbelievable). The Browns fans apparently go to the Reggie Bush school of "number of catches counts more than productivity." Of course, I don't know what kind of success rate Winslow has as far as percentage of passes thrown his way that he catches. If he's catching some incredible amount, like say 80% of pass attempts, then that would mitigate his low average somewhat. I prefer to just think of him as horrendously overrated.

Yeah, well, you know...

I still have Michael Vick on my fantasy team.

Does that put me on some sort of a government watch list or something?

No, but anything else you do probably does.

Magnum wrote:No, but anything else you do probably does.

Speaking of which, you need to come up to Fayetteville for the Hogs-Auburn game.

I have a spare bedroom.

NFL prediction, Star Wars style.