Friday, September 08, 2006

Steelers-Dolphins Reax

Just a handful of observations:

Why do TV people think that fans who are willing to tune in for a pre-game show want to see stupid (and lip-synched?) musical acts?

Who had Charlie Batch starting as their Fantasy QB this week? Anyone? Anyone? I take it back that they would miss Big Ben. Very back.

For all of Nick Saban's rep as some kind of coaching genius, he sure pooped the bed on that late replay flag.

(But let's not overstate: The ball would have been on the 1; the Steelers would have scored a TD...)

(...Of course, with Butterfingers Batch under center, having the ball at the 1 is no gimme.)

Daunte's debut was solid (enough), but those 2 late picks should trouble everyone: He was forcing the issue. (Didn't he do that pre-injury last season in Minnesota when he racked up turnovers like they were paying money for them?)

If there was any solace I could take from blowing the game prediction, it's that Ronnie Brown was a fantasy revelation.

Quickie readers know I was struggling with an internal debate over whether to take him with the 4th overall pick: A large reach (considering the consensus support for Tiki at No. 4, which I couldn't deal with), though not insane given the muddle between the 4th and 10th RBs.

Well, if Ronnie B. can score 2 TDs for me every Sunday, I'll be VERY happy -- even if the Dolphins lose the rest of their games.

(That's a fantasy GM for you.)

Feel free to add your own analysis/reactions in the Comments section.

-- D.S.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chris Chambers looks like Chris Tucker.

Anonymous said...

Amazing how a quarterback who goes 15-for-25, 209 yards and three touchdowns gets called "butterfingers," while a guy who throws two game-killing interceptions is "solid enough."

Maybe Batch fumbled the ball (it looked like a a botched snap to me), but he responded on his next play with an 87-yard touchdown. How did Culpepper respond to his first interception? With an interception returned for a touchdown.

Care for some cream in your cup of bitter, Dan?

Anonymous said...

I told you yesterday, Dan. I'd have to see Culpepper in a real game before backing him. I was right.
The Steelers D looked great. If it keeps up that intensity, I don't see a whole lot of offenses scoring enough points against them.

Pittsburgh doesn't have the best or most recognized corp of receivers, but they are plenty good enough. It's fitting that Saban didn't get to review the play. Miller deserved the score just for that effort.

Anonymous said...

Gee, I guess last year really was a fluke. Haha! Wait til we get our starting QB back. If the team stays healthy, worst case scenario is 13-3. Mark it down, Danny boy. And if you doubt me, tune back in in 10 days to get another reminder.

Until then, how bout a bowl of Shut the F Up.

Jake C said...

You may be giddy now...but, I can guarentee you that 50 yards rushing will NOT get you a touchdown (let alone 2) every week.

Let's also give some credit to Pittsburgh's defense. It STILL is Pitt's D remember. Ike has 2 or so inches on Chambers and the defensive packages that the Steelers use beat up most teams.

As for the QB situation in Pittsburgh...like I've said over and over, this PROVES why Big Ben is overrated. He is a solid QB, plain and simple. In Pittsburgh, that's all you need is a solid QB because the team is so well developed and designed, a mid-level QB keeps the Steelers from losing.

Brien said...

I have Culpepper on my fantasy team, as well as Brett Favre.

The INTs off of forced throws alone should doom my team to a winless season ... despite the fact that I have Larry Johnson (next year, I'll have to make sure I don't do the auto-draft feature).

Help is on the way, however, as a league-mate dropped Ben Roethlisberger, and I placed a waiver claim on him. Favre's not long for the club, either.

Brien

Jon said...

I didn't think Batch could do it against Miami, but he looked ok. Parker had a nice game and Heath Miller is a monster...they should throw to him more often.

It didn't seem like Saban really wanted to get that red flag in there. I mean if you want to challenge the play that close to them kicking the extra point throw the flag a few feet in front of the ref, not 10 feet behind him.

Jon said...

True. The NFL was much better when NBC wasn't involved.

Anonymous said...

If Saban really wanted to challenge that play he wouldn't have just thrown the flag. His responsibility is to throw the flag, yes. But when he sees the refs not looking or blowing a whistle - run on the field and yell at them! The replay shows Saban throwing the flag and standing there with his thumb up his a-- waiting for someone to notice. Blame the refs, sure - but get in their faces, like you mean it...

Roge said...

I am kind of surprised that no one mentioned this yet... but was anyone else disturbed by the lack of arm strength Culpepper displayed? Every ball seemed to float to the intended receiver. Nothing was crisp. He was chucking rainbows all over (examples: the ball Polamalu should have intercepted for a TD, and the floater he threw into the end zone that Ike Taylor should have intercepted.) He was SCARY tonight.

Anonymous said...

I may be among the few, but I thought Culpepper looked pretty awful. He made a few decent throws to the outside with db's giving his receivers some cushion in the 3rd, and made one legitimately great pass to Welker down the sideline. BUT, he bounced a number of oasses i the flat, threw a terrible near interception to Chambers in the end zone, and completely telegraphed the two interceptions in the fourth--there was more than one receiver on the field....right?

Brien said...

What's worse is that the Dolphins, despite hiring Mike Mularkey to run their offense, kept almost all of Scott Linehan's playbook ... simply because it's the old Minnesota playbook that Daunte is already familiar with.

So, they keep a system in which Daunte really stunk last year ... so he can stink again this year.

I thought QBs were supposed to be intelligent enough to learn any new offense you throw at them.

Brien

Anonymous said...

I think that any QB could be a success with the Steelers - even Joey H.
The defence and Willy "Mo" Parker are the real keys to this team and anyone who thinks that Big B is the heart of this team are crazy.
Ben played solid, mistake free ball last year when it counted the most, but he was not the factor in winning the Super Bowl.
If he stays out any length of time...and gives the Chazinator more chances like this....Big Ben will be the clipboard guy for the rest of the season.

BTW - Go Miners!!! UTEP over Tex Tech WILL happen!

Anonymous said...

What Culpepper did last night was pretty much a summary of his entire career. Completed quite a few passes. Looked very good for most of the game. Crumbled and made two HORRIBLE mistakes with the game on the line. That's what we came to know the past few years in Minny. I think Daunte will have a good year in Miami, he will feast on some weak D's -- but the Phins will not win a title with him at QB. Plus, at his size and with him getting hit a fair amount, it's gonna be tough to get 16 games out of that knee.

Anonymous said...

OK I'll try not to gloat too much ;-)

First, I have to agree that NBC is lame, Pink is a skank, and losing NFL PrimeTime on ESPN is a great loss.

As a Steeler fan who predicted a win, my thoughts:

Jake C - is Big Ben overrated? Or is Charlie Batch underrated? The rest of the Steelers offense couldn't keep Tommy Maddox alive last year, so it's probably some of both.

Great list idea a co-worker came up this morning: How many teams would (should?) trade today for Charlie Batch after last night:

Buffalo
Chicago
Houston
NY Jets
Oakland... and others?

I was worried after the drive that gave Miami the lead - why were all the Steelers falling down on their home field? - I was ready to cry after the fumble on the 1 - but Culpepper returned to form - as Don Banks said today a turnover machine - and the pass to Miller was perfect, who did they run through there to clear the area for him? Zach Thomas as good as he is could not run the field with Miller.

Fast Willie got it together in the second half. Ike Taylor has to get some hands and hold on to those interceptions!

Oh and does ANYONE think that if it was Cowher throwing the challenge flag that he would not have been in the middle of the field screaming at the officials! If anyone wants blame on that one, hand Saban a mirror!

Thanks Dan for giving us a place to see your work, and keep picking against the Steelers, Joey Porter needs the motivation!

Anonymous said...

It looks like the RSN is posting here, with some of these smarmy posts ripping you for picking against Pittsburgh. I still hope that the Steelers fans are too blue-collar to fall into a sense of entitlement from their Super Bowl win.

Culpepper was back to his normal, shaky self, Pittsburgh's D was great, and Chaz kept it together and had a good game. I also like how writers are starting to question Saban, they are beginning to realize that he isn't the next coming, yet. Not saying he won't be great, but make the guy try first.

Lastly, quit pimping your Ronnie B. pick. I have him too, and I don't need you to put the kibosh on my season.

Pete said...

I was nervous starting Heath this week at TE but then that 87 yeard run- whew! I am kicking butt b/c of him- thanks Heath!

Anonymous said...

The quick sum up...

Batch made enough throws against a Defense that didnt know what was coming..

John Madden hit us with the old "You can't quit on the run, even though you're down" routine when the Fins took that lead halfway through the third... and for once I actually agreed with him

Culpepper and Farve... so similar its scary, Brett has been getting by all these years because he won a super bowl and has a cannon that (used to) bail him out of 90% of the bad decisions he made in a game. Both QB's are gunslingers that lock in on recievers (both picks last night were off of poor defensive reads and not throwing to a check down) and live and die by their ability to move the pocket and make plays. Sorry, it needed to be addressed.

if MIA were listed on the NASDAQ... they would have a red arrow next to them

if the Fins brought another linemen in and let Jason Taylor play like a "flex" Linebacker in the 3-4... they would masacre people

Does anyone else have a Waiver request in for Wes Welker?

Dan Shanoff said...

I've never cared all that much for RB yards in FFL: I had Ronnie last year on my team and know he's not a yardage guy -- I mean, maybe, but I'm not holding my breath. I did, however, figure that even if Culpepper throws the team down the field inside the 5, Brown is getting the ball. His 2 TDs are worth MORE than an RB with 1 TD and 100 rushing yards. (At least in my league.)

Anyway, great comments by everyone about this game -- lots of intrigue. (And I cannot WAIT until Monday when we can comment on the entire Sunday schedule. Still thinking about how to handle that. I'd rather not put each game in its own item. I'll probably have stand-alone items for any huge individual storylines, then otherwise open up the entire scoreboard to your comments, even though it might get a little Wild West.)

Anonymous said...

Those that think Big Ben is just an average QB or that the Steelers don't need him just haven't seen the man play.
I'm a Miami (OH) homer, for sure, but I saw him play enough to know the aura he brings. He's a playmaker and although he had a bad game personally in the SB, he had great games earlier in the playoffs that helped his team get to the SB.
The Steelers offense doesn't call for a 300 yard QB, but Roethlisberger could do that if needed...he had to all the time in college.

Anonymous said...

Mark said...
Yeah so I stand corrected this morning, the Steelers can score with Batch at QB.



NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!

an 80-something yard play to a tight end and a 50-something pick returned for a touchtown isnt the most sterling indication that Batch can put up points. Lets see what he (or Ben for that matter) do when somebody comes along that can keep their ground game under control without commiting 8 defenders (like JAX in week 2 or Denver in week 9)

Anonymous said...

Dan, c'mon.
You can talk about the game and everything. But nothing about Charlie Batch's Mom's hair?!?!?!?!
I'm sorry, how does a person sitting in a stylist's chair sit back and let that happen to them? Or worse yet, say, "Yeah, that's it. I want my hair to look like ribbon candy."
Should I bother Simmons for a comment about this?

Sergio A. Calderon said...

It didn't bother me the way Charlie Batch, even with the fumble and all that, he still the back up, but what's up with her mom? She did this in purpose, I mean did you see her hair?
Damnn!!!

Anonymous said...

Man did we miss Ricky W last night!
With a decent RB to share the load Ronnie could be the man, not on his own. Culpepper had me longing for Frerotte on the fourth quarter...

The Bizza said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
The Bizza said...

Do you realize that during the halftime interview between Chris Collinsworth, Peyton, and Elisha Manning... at some point, we had 3 of the most loathed twerps in the NFL in one room, but no sniper on the roof?

Tacomaker said...

"I think that any QB could be a success with the Steelers - even Joey H."

Yeah, you're right. That was proven in the Kordell and Maddox days. As far as calling ben overrated, I'd have to disagree. You can't have a 27-4 along with multiple game-winning drives and be called "overrated." Look for Mr. Overrated to bring them further than all the "experts" predict.

Anonymous said...

Hey Paul - what are you smoking? Could you share?

Batch - 15/25, 206, 3 TD

He did deliver points. Case closed.

Hmm, I don't remember Denver stopping the run in the playoffs last year, Jacksonville maybe - but the only reason Jacksonville beat Pittsburgh last year - three words - Tommy "Turnover" Maddox. I'm ready to see the game next Monday, bring on the Jags!

Anonymous said...

Geo B said...

Hey Paul - what are you smoking? Could you share?

Batch - 15/25, 206, 3 TD

He did deliver points. Case closed.

Hmm, I don't remember Denver stopping the run in the playoffs last year, Jacksonville maybe - but the only reason Jacksonville beat Pittsburgh last year - three words - Tommy "Turnover" Maddox. I'm ready to see the game next Monday, bring on the Jags!


nobody is attacking your boys, they played well... I'm just the Wolf in "Pulp Fiction" man

"lets not start sucking each others D#@k$ just yet"

Anonymous said...

Paul -

LOL! Good point!

Hoping the Steelers look just as good next Monday!