Welcome to Earth

So much for this season. The Steelers were obliterated last night by the league leading Indianapolis Colts, who held the struggling Pittsburgh offense to under 200 total yards. It was pathetic. The Steelers looked very strong earlier this season, but the offensive line, and subsequently the running game, have fallen apart. Gone is the dominant, clock-controlling rush attack from last year. The defense did all they could - including an interception by Polumalu that set up the only Steeler points of the night - but with an offense that can't even get a first down, it's tough to win games. Peyton Manning was perfect as always - the very first offensive play by the Colts was an 80 yard touchdown- Edgerrin James easily rushed for over 100 yards - the first back to do so against the Steelers since early last year - and the undersized Colts defensive line beat up on the uninspired Steelers.



All is not lost - the Bengals come to town next week, and the Steelers whooped them in the last meeting. This will be the biggest remaining game on the schedule, and the Steelers absolutely have to win it to hold on to their playoff hopes. Earlier in the season, I'd be confident that Pittsburgh would squish the Bengals, but right now, I'm not so sure. I can only hope that the Steelers find their offensive rythm again - they look like the friggin' Ravens right now.

On a personal front, I've got a job interview coming up, part-time job with great pay. I'll write something on this forgotten blog of mine if I get the job.

Here's Steelers wideout Antwaan Randle El, dropping back for a pass. He was a quarterback in college - and it showed here. The Steelers pulled off a reverse (a play in which the running back takes the ball in one direction to get the defense to follow him, then hands it off to a receiver, who runs in the reverse direction), but instead of taking off down the field, he bombed a pass to Hines Ward downfield for a monster 51-yard touchdown. Highlight reel stuff, but it's not getting much play on sportscenter due to Nate Vasher of the Chicago Bears pulling off the longest play in NFL history. It made me jump off the couch, at least.
The Steelers looked great on Sunday night, putting together big plays using a lot of backup players. Roethlisberger is probably out for next weeks' game in Baltimore, and with backup Charlie Batch's hand broken in Sunday's game, we'll likely have to rely on Maddox again. Maddox's first pass downfield Sunday (he played the second half) was directly into the arms of a Cleveland Brown. Not good, especially against a solid defense like Baltimore. I hate to say it, but I don't think the Steelers can win with Maddox behind center. I'll be pretty pissed if they lose a game to the worst team in the division. Given the accuracy of Randle El's pass, I'd almost be tempted to stick him in, instead of Maddox. Probably not realistic, but I like Randle El, and everyone knows he's just dying for a chance to play at QB.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Nothing interesting happening on this side of town. The only real news is that I managed to somehow bomb the police qualifying tests, so that's out of the picture for now. There's a local bureau hiring that I might stick my name into, but I'm no longer going to be putting all my eggs in one basket.

Now I'm stuck somewhere between conventional, scholarly pursuits such as getting into a grad school for whatever subject strikes me as appealing, or going completely insane and traveling around the world. I've looked back on the past year or so and realized that I've accomplished absolutely nothing, so it's time to get moving again. Whether I start getting in with the professors at the local university or taking a job in Alaska shooting pictures of fish, I need to get off my ass and do it.

As for the Steelers - they're heading into Green Bay this weekend to face off against the struggling Packers, who are 1-6. Normally I'd be comfortable with this game, but Monday night's game against the Ravens was a nail-biter when it should've been a blowout - and now our quarterback, Roethlisberger, is injured, and out for Sunday's game. Which is a very, very, bad thing. We'll see how it goes.