Quick Hits from Orchard Park

Good gracious, the Steelers are just determined to take years off of our lives aren't they!?

Sunday's game was a tough one and Buffalo definitely proved its record doesn't matchup to its talent. Fitzgerald looked great and really burned us on the short routes and let's talk about that:

Overheard at the Grille "I can't understand why Dick (LeBeau) keeps his job allowing those routes." Seemingly every week our defense is stymied by these short "dinky" routes in the flat and in the middle of the field. The reason is simple: We play a zone and use our linebackers to provide pressure on the quarterback. We did win the game, and I cannot argue with a defensive juggernaut such that LeBeau has put together, but can we get some coverage inside? I'm just asking.

Apparently, my pleading with the NFL to stop the horrible play calling went unanswered. Holding calls, and let's face it, a BS roughing the passer call, hampered the Steelers again. I wonder when Goodell is going to realize he's in the entertainment business and I, for one, am getting bored.

I want Isaac Redman on my All Anderson team this year. This pride of Bowie State came into camp undrafted and managed to carve out a spot in the roster. His short runs, his moving of the pile and his heart really showed at the end of the game. Hat's off Redman.

It has to be rough to be Stevie Johnson right now. Not only did he have five drops in the game, but his drop in the end zone at overtime of a perfectly thrown pass was the definition of fail. As he said: "I had the game in my hands and I dropped it." You sure did (and thank God for that!)

Shaun Suisham, aka New Skippy, is performing well and I'm pleased to see Jeff Reed gone from the roster. Suishman looks pretty much automatic on field goals, but is it too much to ask to have someone that can actually kick off? The kick off team looked horrible today and special teams are starting to look bad again. Please don't blow this for us guys!

Did anyone else see Ben Roethlisberger limping into the locker room at half time? Maybe it's because it took him nearly the entire game to figure out he can, indeed, throw away a pass. But all joking aside, I hope he's 100% for next week.

We want to thank Dilworth Neighborhood Grille for again providing great service and a great venue in which to watch the games. As always, we're so happy to be at DNG and the entire staff and management deserve a hats off. BTW, please tip your waitstaff!

On to next week...I'm still celebrating, so we're going to put off any further discussion about rat birds and Baltimore until later on this week.

Until then, thanks for the Black and Gold fellowship! We'll see yinz Sunday!