The Haphazard Blog

What a difference  week makes!

The Patriots won their second coin toss of the year and chose to defer (I think this is a good strategy on the road since seats tend to be most empty at the start of the second half) and forced a 3 and out. Tom Brady went straight to Rob Gronkowski. It’s interesting how teams do this after a guy has a bad play and/or game. They’re professionals, but it seems like it makes a difference to confidence. I think this was the best opening drive of the season for the Patriots. They seem to start out slow this year, but this time, Gronkowski ended the drive with a touch down. People were very impressed with the pass Brady threw. At first I thought he made the pass tighter than it had to be, but seeing a replay of it today, I think it was either there or nowhere.

On the Steeler’s second drive, we saw a running theme appear. Zone defense and an easy 3^rd down conversion.  I think the zone defense is preventing big passing plays, but the players don’t quite have the instincts to make sure guys don’t easily find voids in the zones. It’s a good thing they’re good tacklers, well for the most part. Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders sometimes take some bad angles. Following this play, they played very well in coverage after the play broke down. They stuck to the receivers as they scrambled and kept Ben Roethlisberger in pocket getting 2 sacks in a row.

I thought it was odd that there were points (and even series) during the game where is Vince Wilfork wasn’t on the field. I wondered if he was injured and then he would be back. Not sure why he didn’t play as much considering he is the best defensive lineman they have. On the flip side, the defense played awesome for 3 quarters.

I think if  Brady leads Brandon Tate a little more on that deep pass, it’s a touchdown. Mike Rodak felt it was an accurate pass, but Tate had beat his guy and had to slow up in the end zone to catch the pass and the corner back was able to knock it away.

Brady was pissed at the end of a bad series. I thought they needed a lip reader and WEEI agreed. They didn’t really turn up much and Brady danced around it.

I don’t know why they Patriots are going for big hits instead of tackles at times. Bill Belichick should fine guys who go for the big hit and the opposing player gets away. Earlier in the game, Patrick Chung showed how to make a big hit and tackle by nearly stopping a first down.

Branch looks a lot healthier in this game. He looked really bad against the Vikings and still kind of slow against the Browns. Hopefully he’s back to 100% and will stay that way.

Coming out to start the 3^rd quarter, the Patriots had another good drive. The defense continued their stellar performance forcing a 3 and out and later getting another red zone stand. The only bad play I saw was the pass interference by Meriweather. I don’t think he is fast enough for the deep safety. He seems to be about one step late on a lot of deep throws. This time it cost him a lot of yards as he tried to go through a receiver for an interception. If he was faster, he could’ve beat him to the spot, but since he isn’t, he should’ve been smart enough to break up the catch instead.

Brady put together another good drive as the end of the 3^rd quarter approached to put them up 23-3.  He sneaked the ball in to score and Troy Polamalu (who was either invisible or guessing wrong all day) added some “extra sugar” as Matt Light called it with a hit to Brady after he scored. Brady got up and spiked the ball as hard as he could and stared down the fans. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him this fired up. Somehow the new kicker missed the extra point. The long snapper and kicker are new, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Better now that a real close game.

I think at this point, the Patriots let off on defense. Whatever they did, it wasn’t working. The Steelers moved the ball very quickly down the field to score a touch down. Fortunately a quick pick 6 and they opened the lead up again. I don’t know what they were thinking doing the stupid group celebration. It’s been banned since the Rams did the bob and weave. Who even thinks up or plans a group celebration?

One of my favorite plays of the game was Wilfork knocking down Emmanuel Sanders as he ran across the field. It shouldn’t have been a penalty since it was within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. I thought it was a smart, heads up play by him.

In the end, the Patriots were able to win, but the Steelers scored 23 points in 15 minutes. That is very bad when you have Peyton Manning coming to town this week. Hopefully it becomes a lesson to play a full 60 minutes against the Colts.  It was a nice bounce back game from Gronkowski.

After moving to West Virginia from Massachusetts, I was surrounded by Steelers fans. Being a Patriots fan, I couldn’t stand them. The most annoying fans I’d ever met. Their obsession with getting one for the thumb (before they got 2 more) and the stupid “here we go” song. Hate them more than any other team in the NFL.

I thought their fans were whiners too, but it turns out after seeing this article today about “Spygate“, they’re really just mimicking the entire organization. The owners, coaches and players just love to whine. They’ve been whining for 5 weeks about fines and illegal hits and still crying about “Spygate”.

So somehow the Steeler’s defensive signals helped Troy Brown return a punt and block a field goal that was run back for a touchdown in the 2001 AFC Championship game. Or the Steeler’s defensive signals helped the Patriots defense intercept 3 Kordell Stewart passes. Those signals sure helped the Patriots stop Lee Flowers from injuring Tom Brady. Oh wait, he did injure him.

Or maybe in 2004 the Steeler’s defensive signals helped the Patriots intercept Ben Roethlisberger 3 times and run one back for a touchdown. Tom Brady was all world with 200 passing yards and the running game racked up 126yards (to the Steelers 163). It’s amazing how they did so well knowing all the calls.

What’s their excuse for the opening day beating in 2002? Same signals as 2001? When is it their fault the players can’t handle new signals. They’re out in the open for any team to obtain. It was only the video camera that was illegal. If the signs are the same all season, anyone with a ticket or in a coaches booth can take notes.

Just admit it. You got killed at home in the AFC Championship game. The Patriots went through you twice to win two Super Bowls. You didn’t have to beat the Patriots once to get yours in the 2000s. The Patriots were the better team last decade. Stop whining.

To all my friends unfortunate enough to be Steelers fans, I still like you (and you’re not whiners, well maybe a few of you are :)).

From what I heard on Monday, it seems pretty clear that Ben Roethlisberger settled with his accuser to avoid prosecution.

From the facts stated by the district attorney, something happened in the bathroom, but the accuser decided she didn’t want to pursue the matter and Roethlisberger was not going to speak with investigators any further.

After the district attorney announced his decision, Roethlisberger made a statement to the media and took no questions. There was a very big difference in his tone compared to what he had to say when he was hit with a civil suit for sexual assault. He denied all of the accusations in no uncertain terms and even his teammates echoed similar sentiments. He was telling everyone it wasn’t true. This time, he did not apologize for any of his actions. He made no denials. He only spoke of the prosecutor’s decision being right, about himself and football.

From this, I gather there was a confidential financial settlement in which Roethlisberger paid some money; he agreed not to attack the accuser; and he agreed not to deny the allegations. The accuser agreed not to pursue charges and did not have to recant (and perjure herself). The final proof will be no civil suit will be filed. Given the evidence and facts that the district attorney laid out, Roethlisberger would’ve had a hard time winning that case.

He still has the other case to deal with. I would expect that during any depositions, he would be asked about a settlement in this case and would have to answer. So it may just be a matter of time before we all know if he settled and how much he paid.