Pens Lose Again; Help On The Way

4 in a row and it's hard to say what has been the worst part of their game:

• Goaltending: Fleury isn't playing because his confidence is low. Not sure how he's supposed to get it back up without playing but Therrien thinks playing Sabo will do it, even if he does let in a cheapy every game and looks like a spinning top whenever he tries to play the puck.
• Scoring: Sid and Geno are exempt here but everyone else please get in line and take your punishment. Literally nobody else has stepped up. Sykora has scored a few and should be playing with Sid all the time. But where are Staal, Christiansen, Rechi, Roberts, Armstrong, and on and on....
• Defense: Orpik has been their best all year. Everyone else looks sloooow and has to rely on slamming the puck off the boards to get it up to the forwards. Even Whitney's breakouts have been turnovers as often as they've connected and he's been prone to some Gonchar like gaffes. Please never mention Whitney and Norris in the same sentence again. Eaton, Scuderi and Sydor all look slow in their end and Gonchar is his maddening self. But help is on the way!! Let the Letang era start!!
  

Good thing Pitt doesn't have QB issues

Ok, we all loved Tyler Palko's enthusiasm and sometimes his play bailed Pitt out of big jams. But he just didn't progress enough from his sophomore year when I was saying that he was a sure fire first round NFL pick. And now that he's gone, the Stull/Smith/Bostick era has gotten off to a rousing start.

But going back to 2005-2006: There was something else going on: nobody wanted to stick it out and be Tyler's backup.

First it was Luke Getsy who transferred from Pitt to Akron after losing the competition and proceeded to put up numbers that outdid Palko's.

Now, out the the Blue (Hens) comes the name of Joe Flacco, who just may be a first round pick in next year's NFL draft after putting some spectacular numbers at Delaware. He has has thrown for 3,040 yards, 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions this season to go with a 70.3 completion percentage.

I mean Joe Flacco? If Getsy and Flacco could do these things, why couldn't Palko, who beat out these two, do the same with a supposedly better team around him? Or was going with Palko really the right choice? Walt Harris and Davey Wannstedt will have to answer to that.

Palko was a Pittsburgh high school star and maybe love of our own was the clincher. But Getsy is also a Burgher and he bolted town as soon as he didn't win the job. Whatever the reason, it would have been nice to have Getsy and/or Flacco available over the last couple of years.

Ben Love

Look out, the love for Big Ben is flowing in! Who would have thought beating the Brownies would earn anyone such praise, but nary a bad word can be heard about Ben. Suddenly he's gone from being a 'game manager' who was surrounded by a good team and who happened to win a Super Bowl, into a legit MVP candidate who may be the 3rd best QB in the NFL.

For those who have been riding high on Ben since he went 13-0 in his rookie season, be prepared for a crowded bandwagon the rest of the way, they are all jumping on:

• Don Banks at si.com got on the wagon first Sunday night.
  
• Peter King at si.com jumped on in his MMQB column: "When I watched Roethlisberger last year, I thought, "Flawed quarterback.'' When I watched Roethlisberger on Sunday, I thought, "Franchise quarterback.''
• Pro Football Weekly has moved Ben ahead of a certain Super Bowl QB in their MVP meter (Willie Parker is 8th): "An MVP-like second half against the Browns. He willed them to victory, spurred by that 30-yard touchdown run."
• Clark Judge of cbs.sportsline.com gives his Judgement: "At some point, Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger joins the MVP conversation."

And Mondesi's House finds a few more who have climbed aboard:

• The Washington Post's Mark Maske: "I would have to go Brady first, Manning second and Roethlisberger third."
• Yahoo's James Black asks: "Was that Roethlisberger or John Elway taking off for a 30-yard scoring run in Pittsburgh?"
• Rich Cimini at msnbc.com climbs on: "In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger, whom the Giants could’ve (and should’ve) picked in 2004, continued his MVP-caliber season"

Thanks for the fresh insight guys, welcome aboard.

Steelers By The Numbers

Always fun to look at the numbers after a win. Here are a few that should not be overlooked with the Steelers sitting at 7-2:

• The Steelers are 5th in the NFL in total offense with 358 yards/game. The Browns are 11th. As we saw yesterday after their first drive, the Browns offense can be stopped.
• The Steelers lead the league in time of possession at just about 35 minutes/game. That is almost 1:30 more than the Patriots who are second. The gap between the Steelers and Pats is the largest gap between any two teams in the league.
• The Steelers are the best in the league at converting third downs at 53%. And they have had the 4th most 3rd down plays, so it is imperative that they remain excellent at converting on third.
• The Steelers are 5th in the league in points/game at 28.3, ahead of Favre's Packers.
• The Steeler defense is giving up the fewest yards/game in the league at 229. The gap between them and the #2 Titans is larger than the gap between the Titans and the #10 Packers.
• The Steelers are giving up the fewest yards/play in the league at 4.2 (FYI - the Bungles are last, allowing 6 yards per play).
  
• The Steelers lead the league in points allowed per game with 14.
• The Steeler defense is only 12th in the league at getting off the field on 3rd down at 41%.

• Heath Miller is tied with Dallas Clark for most TD's by a TE with 6.
• Willie Parker is 2nd in the NFL but leads the AFC with 873 yards, or 97/game. Interesting is that his longest run is only 32 yards.
• Ben Roethlisberger in 3rd in the league at yards per pass attempt at 8.3.
• Roethlisberger is now 11-3 (counting postseason) in games decided by 6 or fewer points.

Steelers rally to beat Browns, 31-28

Steelers win a close one at home that their special teams tried to give away. Except for the first drive, the defense was excellent and Big Ben was the difference, making great plays with his arm and feet. So much for being a "game manager".