Charlotte Steelers Blog

Quick Hits from Orchard Park

2010-11-28T14:21:00.001-08:00

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!

Blowout Time

2010-11-21T13:55:00.001-08:00

Despite the Oakland Raiders and the officials' best efforts, the Steelers hosted a blow out Sunday at Heinz Field. The celebration has already started and it was great to see the defense and offense step up in true Black and Gold fashion. That said, there are a few things to be considered before we go into next weekend's game at Buffalo:

1) The Offensive line is banged up and banged up bad. Many of the "penalties" called Sunday were holding calls on second-stringers brought in to bolster the line. We can only hope that the O line is in better shape next Sunday and, possibly more importantly, in two weeks when we take on Baltimore.

2) C'mon refs, please let them play! The refs were the story all day Sunday. This is an entertainment business and Goodell needs to sit down with this officiating crew and get some things straightened out. We're already on egg shells this year with fines and the like, but these bozos were calling penalties I've never heard of. Picking someone off of the pile? Putting his full weight on the quarterback? Something seriously needs to change or the NFL is going to have more problems than it's going to want to deal with this off season. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that the collective bargaining agreement comes to an end at the close of the 2010 season. Hmmmm....

3) We had an awesome day at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille. Service was awesome as usual and the food was outstanding!

Thanks to everyone that came out. We'll see you next Sunday!

Cmon Man?!

2010-11-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

OK, so the officials in this game need to settle down. So the NFL has apologized to the Steelers a few weeks ago. This is crazy...and yet another flag. The NFL needs to address this NOW! Wake up Goodell. You're in the entertainment business and I, for one, am losing interest in a hurray.

Steelers Left Licking Our Wounds

2010-11-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

OK, so the Steelers looked terrible last night. Here are a few things to consider as we lick our wounds and prepare to take on Oakland next Sunday:

1) William Gay looked lost. In face, our secondary generally looked lost and that short pass in the flag burned us every time.

2) Jeff Reid. C'mon man! It's time for us to start shopping for a new kicker. I'm not sure what the problem is, but his missing seemingly easy field goals, especially at home, is becoming alarming at best.

3) Polamalu needs to slow it down! Troy bit on the play action way too often last night.

4) Protection. We have so many injuries on the offensive line that it's making me sick. It may well be time to move some guys up from the practice squad and give them a shot.

5) Hines Ward is that important. The lack of Hines Ward in the lineup early may well have spelled doom for the Steelers. Despite the fact that he hasn't been catching near the number of passes as in the past, his blocking and his leadership is crucial.

And now, a few words about Dixie's Tavern. Dixie's claims to be Charlotte's home of the Steelers. Apparently, it's also home to people who expect reserved seating, bad service and bad attitudes. We ran in to some folks visiting from New Orleans and they told us Dixies had NO tables, and the manager was extremely rude to them.

We've heard this quite a bit lately, so if you're a Dixie's regular, come see us Dilworth Neighborhood Grille. We can always make room. We have at least two huge projection screen TVs available, and the service and food is always great.