Steelers Defense Dominant

Listening to the radio today, I heard a stat about the Pittsburgh Steelers defense that only furthers my feeling that the Steelers are going to win the Super Bowl. It is easy to see that their defense is fantastic but check out this statistic:

In the last 6 weeks, the opposing teams have been called for ZERO holding penalties against the Steelers defense.

If you watched the Steelers/Ravens slugfest last week, you saw the holding all over the field. I don't know why their hasn't been any called, but nonetheless it's only even more impressive. The Steelers defense has been terrific and Ben Roethlisberger only needs to manage the game for the team to get the win every week.

The Steelers have played a murderer's row of teams this year, especially recently. The Steelers play the NFC East and the AFC South. But they're at the end of a tough stretch where they won at New England, beat Dallas, and won at Baltimore and now they play at Tennessee. They're currently 11-3 and getting impressive win after win. They're going to be grueling in the playoffs because there's a good chance that all roads lead through them.

James Harrison is making a strong case for Defensive Player of the Year with almost 100 total tackles, 15.5 sacks, and 7 forced fumbles! Also Troy Polamalu has been tremendous, as usual. If they can get healthy, they should be the favorite to represent the AFC in the big game.

Eagles Roll Over Browns, Are They Good Enough?

On Monday Night Football, the Eagles finally did something that they were supposed to do this season. The trounced the lowly Browns who came into Lincoln Financial Field as one of the league's worst franchises. The Eagles still need some help from the Falcons or the Bucs, but first and foremost, they must help themselves and win out. Tonight was a step in the right direction.

McNabb and Reid both did enough to get a good strong win and look impressive while doing so. However, there are still some things that concerned me while watching this game, albeit minor things. Reid still struggled moving the chances on third and short. This is definitely going to be a problem moving forward as it has been all season. Also, McNabb's interception at the end of the first half was disconcerting. It was a wildly underthrown pass in a jump ball situation where you have to be looking to put the ball on the back pylon. An underthrown of that magnitude is unacceptable. However, McNabb did a good job managing the game and hitting receivers all over the field and Reid was constantly one step ahead of the Browns.

But we have to remember, this was the Browns, and that was supposed to happen. Let's see how they play at Washington this week which will be a much tougher game than advertised. The Redskins are falling apart but they are a division rival with plenty of talent to play spoiler to the Eagles' playoff hopes. The playoff picture will be a whole lot brighter for the Birds if they can go down to FedEx field and get a decisive victory but I remain convinced that either the Bucs or the Falcons will falter in the last two weeks.

Miami Dolphins... Playoff Bound?

After hearing nothing but Brett Favre's name on ESPN the last few weeks of summer, it got me thinking. Who benefited the most from this deal? Initially I thought it worked out equally for both teams. The Jets get arguably the best QB of all time, and the Packers get to move on and develop their star waiting to happen. Although it seems to be working out great for both teams, I feel like the Miami Dolphins got the best end of this deal. In 2007, they went 1-15 and were the laughing stock of the league. After bringing in mastermind Bill Parcells and hiring Tony Sporano to take over the head coaching duties, the fish are already 5-4, second in the AFC East and just 1 game out of first place. Even if the Dolphins lose every game from here on out, it would still be a tremendous turnaround. Now, how are the Fish doing it?

Yes Parcells is a football genius and knows how to turn teams around. And yes, Tony Sporano is proving to be a solid coach. But I'm pinning their success on Quarterback Chad Pennington. Yeah that's right, you read correctly, Chad Pennington is a major part in why the Dolphins are a legit contender this year. Miami got Pennington for basically nothing because the Jets dropped him. He is a veteran QB who knows how to manage the game and has been limiting his mistakes dramatically this year. Many critics (including myself) have bashed Pennington in the past for not being able to throw the ball down field, but after seeing him bomb a 40 yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn Jr, it seems that Chadwick has improved that area of his game. With Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams complementing him nicely in the "Wildcat" offense, and Joey Porter talking the talk and walking the walk on defense, Pennington and the Dolphins seem ready to make a serious run for the playoffs. From here on out, they have an easier schedule than any other team in the league. With games they should win against the Raiders, Rams, Chiefs, and the 49ers. Their other 3 games are division games against the Pats, Bills, and Jets. (Miami already beat New England and Buffalo this season) Don't be surprised if the Dolphins get into the playoffs with 10, maybe 11 regular season wins.

If this should happen, this might be the best 1 season turnarounds the NFL has ever seen. From barely winning 1 game last year, to potentially having a 10 win season and getting into the playoffs is something no fan, expert, or even the Dolphins could have imagined. So keep on eye on Miami from here on out, they really are a great story. Miami's last game of the season is at the Meadowland against division rival New York Jets. Wouldn't it be great to see Pennington and company have a shot at the playoffs in the last game of the season against the team that cut him? I sure think so.