A Couple of Quick Things

Since I'm still on semi-holiday, just a few quick observations I thought were pretty funny:

I heard sideline reporter Craig Wolfley talking about this during Saturday's game and Deadspin has the story (and photo) to prove it.

Nice sweatervest-haircut combo, Roethlisberger.

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There will always be people who think that Roethlsiberger has had the good fortune of playing in an offense that doesn't ask him to win games by winging the ball all over the yard. Usually, Ben throws the ball 15-20 times a game, and let's the offensive line, running game, and defense take care of the rest. This certainly doesn't mean he's just a "game manager" and Cowher makes the point pretty well:

Q: How much of his success is due to the success of the run game?

A: It is all part of the process. When you look at any football team, I think that we do collectively is without a doubt a product of us being able to work independently with one another. Obviously, us being able to run the football creates balance for us. We only ask him to throw 15 or 17 times, but when you ask him to throw those 15 or 17, over half of them are third downs. I think that is a lot of pressure to put on a guy, to say we are going to throw now and you have to complete this so we can keep the drive going. I think in a lot of respects, it is probably a lot harder than a guy that is throwing the ball 25, 30, 35 times because he can throw a couple incompletions and all the focus isn’t just on that. In a lot of respects, I think what we ask him to do is probably a lot more demanding from that perspective than what other people in other systems are in. At the same time, that is how we play. That is the makeup of this team.

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This is from Dre' Bly's Q & A with the local Pittsburgh media. The next time you want to complain about the Steelers, just think back to this (and then thank god you're not a Lions fan):

Q: What was the atmosphere like in that last home game?

A: It was crazy to see all the orange and black. I knew that the fans were frustrated and they were going to make a point but I didn’t know that they were going to go that far. Basically the orange and black dominated the stadium. They were booing at times but it was frustrating because they’ve lost here for years and looking at our team on paper, we have a talented team. You look at where we’ve drafted and who we’ve signed free agent-wise the last three or four years, there’s no reason for us to be losing like we have. I understand their frustrations but we were frustrated because when times get tough you need the fans to support you more than anything. We needed the fans to support us in that last home game.

Yep, it could be a whole lot worse.