Three Rivers Three Links: March 23

1. The NFL is likely to bring in 2 new rules that can be traced almost directly to Steelers players delivering vicious(yet perfectly legal) hits on the opposition. Hines Ward's hit on Keith Rivers and Ryan Clark's on Wes Welker are the targets of these rules, and there is one other rule being considered after Bernard Pollard's hit that tore Tom Brady's ACL. The lesson, as always, the Patriots are huge pussies and must be protected at all costs, and the Steelers are vicious cheap-shot artists and must be stopped at all times. These rules, especially the one about Keith Rivers, really piss me off. If an offensive player is running and doesn't have his head on a swivel and gets popped, it's hailed by all as a great defensive hit. If 200 pound Hines Ward obliterates a much bigger linebacker, it's dirty. Maybe Keith Rivers shouldn't be such an undisciplined hack and realize that blocking is allowed and that he shouldn't chase blindly after the ball. Argh. The sport of football is spiraling more and more into an overly officiated mess. I really worry for the league's future. I mean, really, how long before they outlaw tackling and we switch to two-hand touch?

2. Looking for a Live Blog of yesterday's Oklahoma State-Pitt game? Well naturally, the Pitt Blather has one for you of their usual high quality. But if that wasn't enough live-bloggage for you, how many other news sources would you have checked before going to the Wall Street Journal? 100? 1000? Would you have ever checked them? Yeah me neither. But they came through for us with a solid LB of their own.

3. Hey Look! I finally got my site linked on the Pensblog!!! Words can't express how fired up I was when I stumbled on that this morning in their sidebar, and then also noticed they mentioned me and 3 others in the recap! Probably one of the 2 or 3 most exciting moments in this site's history, as that is without question my favorite blog on the planet Earth. So thank you, Pensblog.
Oh, and their recap is spot on about the ridiculous Flyer-love being showered out by the announcing crew yesterday. Especially this little line: " This led to a McDouche rant about how Richards is the best young captain in the game. Get over him." Seriously, what a ridiculous statement by McGuire. Richards is 24. That ain't that young anymore in hockey captain world. Sid's 21. Toews is 20. I'd rather have either one than Richards considering how much younger they are, and it's not even close.

Also, the requisite standing-watch update:

In Honor of Valentine's Day, My Man-Crushes

After watching the Pitt hoops squad put together another win today over the middling Cincy squad that isn't yet ready to contend for the Big East, I'm just not sure I have it in me to write another "Sam Young is the man" or "Levance Fields is the best all-around point guard in college b-ball" or "Pitt's depth is what seperates them from past teams" post. I've written that enough this season, and Pitt didn't prove much of anything today that we didn't already know. A post like that seemed especially pointless because we'll have a real good idea about this Pitt squad after Monday night's showdown with UConn.

So instead I decided to go with a post that had at least a tiny bit of creativity and originality behind it. In honor of Valentine's Day, I put together my top Pittsburgh man-crushes. Don't judge me for it. These crushes are completely and totally heterosexual, they are just my infatuations with some of the many superb athletes in the Burgh.

10 James Harrison- Harrison is the ultimate underdog type of story. He's just an absolute beast on D as evidenced by his DPOY award and has a downright terrifying reputation as being one of the most ill-tempered people in football. He's just such a badass, you have to love him.9 Andrew McCutchen- I couldn't put together this list without at least including a Pirate on here somewhere. And while Cutch isn't technically a Bucco yet, he is the ultimate symbol of hope for this franchise. And in case you don't know, I'm always the optimist when it comes to the Pirates. Plus, this has to be the year he finally makes it to the show, especially with an incompetent like Nyjer Morgan playing left field.

8 Sam Young- Sam I Am has been an athletic marvel for 4 years at Pitt and will go down as one of the better scorers in school history (he holds the school single season record, is 10th in career points and has a good shot at cracking the top 5). He looks to have regained his swagger after some mid-season struggles and is playing terrific basketball right now. And did I mention he has a future in the NBA?

7 Hines Ward- How can you not love Hines Ward? He's the toughest wide receiver in football, is the most decorated receiver in Steeler history, is still putting up terrific numbers as his career has evolved into the form of a crafty veteran, and is almost universally adored by the massive Steeler Nation. And he's always smiling.

6 LeSean McCoy- Shady may not technically be a Pittsburgh athlete any longer, but I had to put him on here. He's one of the most dominant and incredible talents I've ever seen and if he doesn't evolve into a top-notch, 1000-yard rusher in the NFL I will be floored. The guy is a beast and carried Pitt football on his back to one of the biggest upsets in school history and the school's best season in 25 years despite an otherwise dreadful offense. So long Shady, you will be missed, dearly.

5 Troy Polamalu- Troy is one of the most unique and dynamic players in football. There isn't another defender who is quite like him. He changes the entire game of the offense just by dashing around like a mad man pre-snap. The signature long hair only adds to his legend. And when he gets the ball in his hands...look out.

4 Evgeni Malkin- Geno is just an absolute monster out on the ice. He is the best player in hockey, and I just don't see how you can make a winning argument for anyone else right now. The only reason he isn't higher is because he's been kind of a hard guy to connect with the last few seasons. He is starting to open up a bit but still has a ways to go. Still, its been good to at least get a glimpse of his personality in recent months.

3 DeJuan Blair- DeJuan is like the Hines Ward of college hoops. Always smiling, uses his physicality, passion and talent to overcome being a bit undersized, and it's next to impossible to hate him... unless you are playing against them that is. DeJuan gets a boost because of his local roots and because I can never remember a more beloved, more respected, and more connected college kid in the area. I imagine this is kind of what it was like when Dan Marino or Tony Dorsett were playing on their respective Pitt teams a few decades ago.

2 Sidney Crosby- Up until a few weeks ago, Sid would have almost certainly been numero uno on this list. His talent is remarkable, he is incredibly charismatic, is the face of not just his team but his league, and never seems to get shaken by the off-ice demands. He's also the biggest reason the Pens have enjoyed their incredible renaissance and has inspired incredible hope in this franchise and its fan base.1 Ben Roethlisberger- But with his second Super Bowl win a few 13 days ago there's just no way that I can deny Big Ben his rightful status as my number 1 man crush. Ben is the most unique QB in the NFL, a guy whose impact and play can't be quantified by the slightly antiquated NFL statistics. His ability to extend plays and take the right chances at the right time and his uncanny two-minute drill prowess is a sight to behold. I will mainain until my death that there isn't another QB in all of football that could have won the Super Bowl with this particular offense. For these reasons and for so many more Big Ben Roethlisberger is the ultimate man-crush. Not that's there anything wrong with that.Do you have a man crush? Let me know who it is in the comments below or by e-mailing me THREERIVERSPORTS@GMAIL.COM

Steelers- Ravens AFC Championship Preview

First, some links in this super-duper Preview of the AFC Championship edition on TRS.
-LaMarr Woodley breakout game and the weeks leading up to it are chronicled tongue-in-cheek by James Walker. I mean he wasn't really over-eating and depressed as Troy claims. I did chuckle a little when I read the line about James Harrison constantly being double-teamed. James Walker, if by "double-teamed" you mean being held by two guys at once, then I agree.

-Unfortunately Bill Simmons picked the Steelers in his weekly gambling picks column. Bad news considering the Sports Guy went 0-4 last week on his picks and openly admits that his prediction is a kiss of death.

-An update on the Ravens injury report. Samari Rolle is apparently out for the AFC Championship and Terrell Suggs figures to be a game-time decision. I have a VERY hard time believing that Suggs won't play at all in this one. even if its just as a third down pass rusher or something like that, I think Suggs finds his way onto the field.

-Ron Cook is apparently in love with Ed Reed. Reed truely is probably the most disruptive defensive player in football these days, followed closely by our own Troy Polamalu. But I agree with Cookie, Troy is number two on that list, and there's not a ton of room for debate there. I'm not gonna lie, with Ben's penchant for taking chances downfield, Ed Reed scares the bejeezus out of me for the game tomorrow. And Gene Collier pretty much backs that up in his article about the game as well.

-In an interesting piece, Mike Smith, the Falcons Head Coach and reigning NFL Coach of the Year, breaks down the two league title games. He gives some interesting insights into both squads, but also points out some of the obvious, like Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco similarities.-The always superb Peter King makes his pick for the AFC Championship game, as well as making some points about the game worth reading. King thinks the biggest difference in this game is going to be the injuries for the Ravens. I tend to agree.

-5 subplots for Ravens-Steelers. I think someone really needs to explore the similarities between Flacco and Roethlisberger. That hasn't been covered nearly enough.

-The Baltimore Sun profiles the divider line between Steeler Nation and Ravens country. I always think Nation sounds bigger than country, especially when it's all capitalized like that.

-The Sun also put together a comprehensive list of who different media outlets are picking to win the game. I really don't like when the vast majority of experts pick the Steelers. The obvious game rarely goes the way its supposed to.

-David Steele of the Baltimore Sun predicts that Steelers-Rvens is about to become the pre-eminent rivalry in football and that these two teams are set up to have incredible success for the forseeable future. I hope he's right, as Steelers-Birdies is never dull.

-Sportsline's AFC Title preview. Nothing earth-shattering here.

-John Harris and Mike Prisuta's column from the Trib. As always if you only have time for one, make it Prisuta. He is probably the most underrated writer in the Burgh. Prisuta is right when he urges the Steelers not to take unnecessary chances and tk "keep it simple" as he says. He urges the Steelers not to make the first mistake, and when the Ravens make a mistake, be sure to pounce on it. He's exactly right. The one thing that could swing this game to the Ravens, as I've already said, is turnovers and mistakes. They feed off that energy and that momentum and will bury the Steelers with it if they can.

-From the Steelers Today Blog, the Ravens are, in fact, hypocrtical about Hines Ward. I fully agree with this thought. Hines is a Raven-type player through and through. They'd love to have him I'm sure.

-From the Steel Curtain Rising Blog, another fan is equally as pissed about the ridiculous amount of holding of James Harrison that NEVER gets called, only instead of bad-mouthing NFL officials and calling them names not fit for print, this writer got a bit more creative and spun it in a humorous way.

-A weird, and mostly unprofessional list of reasons for Ravens fans to hate Steelers fans. Each one is about 3 paragraphs long, at most, which leads me to believe that the writer A) Has very little material, B) Is Lazy, or C) Is Barely Literate. Actually, I'm thinking he may have the trifecta. Why don't you goofy newspapers leave the trash-talking where it belongs: on the Blogs. I mean it's not like these are even good trash-talking points on Pittsburgh. I mean, "Weird Bridges"? Really? You can't figure out why we have 446 bridges? I don't suppose its because we have three rivers in the city is it? Maybe we should just have one insanely long bridge that is constantly congested, is that how Baltimorons (I doubt that's the name for people that live there, but its probably close) prefer it? I'd rather have hundreds upon hundred of bridges with little traffic on most than the other way around. Thanks. Glad you aren't a city planner. And you are complaining about the Fort Pitt Tunnel being a claustrophobic's nightmare? I suppose we should just ignore the fact that the Baltimore Harbour tunnel is more than twice the length of the Fort Pitt and is UNDER WATER!!!! I imagine claustrophobes have quite the issue with that, thank you very much. But then again, you're just a newspaper writer, what do you have to worry about facts for? Yet another example of the dwindling respect level in papers. (END RANT)

-Halfway down this page, the excellent Mike Lombardi gives some insight on Steelers-Ravens. Its interesting the Ravens have not won the time of possession battle in either playoff game. Also interesting that the Steelers have never lost a playoff game when Fast Willie is the starter (5-0). I hadn't thought of that.

Okay well that's enough of that, let's get to the breakdown.
5 Key Matchups

1. Ben Roethlisberger vs. Ed Reed
In case you skimmed through the above (and I don't blame you if you did), one of my key points was the work of the mighty Ed Reed. Reed can turn this game all by himself with one mistake by Roethlisberger. And with Ben's love of the downfield pass, that gravely concerns me. What we need to see is the Big Ben we saw in Round 2 who took great care of the ball, was quick to get rid of it, and any downfield chance he took was smart and had very low risk. Reed is as big of a gamebreaker as there is in football today, and probably has just as good a chance at scoring as the entire Ravens offense.
2. James Harrison vs. Joe Flacco
Some of Harrison's biggest games of his career have come against Baltimore, including that monster game a year ago when that catapulted him into a household name. Expect Dick LeBeau to unleash Harrison yet again and use him to try and rattle the seemingly unflappable young QB. As usual, expect Harrison to be illegally held every time he blitzes, and as usual I'm sure the refs will swallow their whistles whole.

3. Willie Parker vs. Ray Lewis
Obviously the matchup goes a lot deeper than this, but it's flashy symbolism for the Steelers desire to establish the run and the Ravens excellent run defense. Parker was superb last week, and I imagine Bruce Arians will do his best to try to get Parker going yet again in the early going of this one. And for that I wish him best of luck, because I can't imagine Ray-Ray and his crew letting up many yards, but if Willie shows that same burst I expect he'll be able to at least break off a few big gains even if he can't consistently pick up the yards.

4. Ravens Blitzes vs. Steelers pass protection
The Steelers O-Line was yet another pleasant surprise we got in Round 2, and if the Steelers are to win this game, they need to play well again. Expect Suggs, Scott, and Ngata to do their best to overpower and overwhem the much-maligned Steelers O-line. Max Starks has continued his fine work on the left side, but the rest of the line played very well last week as well, with the exception of the still-struggling Darnell Stapleton. Chris Kemoeautu was especially good last week as a pulling guard.

5. Dick LeBeau vs. Cam Cameron
Two of the very best coordinators in the game square off in what should be a very interesting matchup. I still think Cameron got a terribly raw deal last year in Miami and never had a shot to succeed. Still, he has been excellent handling Flacco this year and putting together great game plans for him to succeed. LeBeau meanwhile is one of the best defensive coordinators the NFL has ever seen and is known far and wide for his spectacular blitz packages that can confuse any QB, let alone a rookie.

Other Random Thoughts
-Something tells me that Hines Ward has a huge game in this one. We all know how well Hines and the Ravens get along. And we also know how Hines thrives in his role as an antagonist. He lives for games and moments like this one. He also has become one of the game's pre-eminent third down threats, and given the stingy Ravens D, I expect that third down situations will be a key to success for both squads.

-The Ravens injuries are going to play a factor in this, but I think the Samari Rolle injury is the one that hurts them the most. Rolle is a very good corner, certainly much better than his replacement, Frank Walker. With Santonio Holmes playing very well and Nate Washington turning into a legit downfield threat, having to play guys like Walker and Corey Ivy more than they otherwise would is going to end up biting the Ravens in the ass.

-I haven't watched enough Ravens games to know this intimately, but I'll be interested to see how Joe Flacco reacts to Troy Polamalu's pre-snap shifts. More experienced QBs typically audible or at least bluff audibling when they see Polamalu settle in somewhere, but I don't know if Flacco will do that, as I'm sure Cameron will have at least partially accounted for this and may not want Flacco overruling him on the field.

-I know he's been around for ages and can't possibly have a ton left in the tank, but I never like facing Derrick Mason. He's like Hines Ward without the ferocious hitting, and always seems to come up big against the Steelers.

-I'm not sorry to see Le'Ron McClain banged up. I figure Willis McGahee and (if he plays) Ray Rice will be mostly ineffective, although McGahee has had some moments against the Steelers D. What I don't want to see is a hungry, bruising runner like McClain barrelling through the middle of our D for 3 and 4 yards a pop. I don't know how effective we'd be at stopping him on a cold, bitter day like tomorrow.

-I'd like to see LaMarr Woodley build on that big game of a week ago. If James Harrison is getting doubleheld blocked by the Ravens, Woodley should be in single coverage and should be able to make the most of his opportunities to get to Flacco. I'd also like to see LeBeau deploy the unbelievably fast Lawrence Timmons get more snaps in place of Larry Foote. Sure Foote is the more stable and more sound player, but Timmons can make incredible plays happen, and can bring superb pressure from the middle of the field, as well as more than capably run with the likes of Todd Heap.

The Pick: Steelers 20 Ravens 13 This is going to be a ridiculously physical and violent game and surely won't be for the faint of heart. i expect the Ravens to do their best to try to set the tone early on with their physicality on defense. I think they also have a fair amount of success shutting down Willie Parker in the run game. But the Steelers will be persistent in setting up the ground game, even if it means a few early punts. Setting up even a mediocre rushing attack will enable Ben to test the Ravens corners downfield, and I think Santonio has another big scoring play, this time on a long pass from Roethlisberger that not even the great Ed Reed can stop. As for the Ravens offense, I think Flacco gets hit early and often but does his best to avoid taking big loss sacks and making costly mistakes. I think eventually, though, he is forced into a turnover or two and the Steelers capitalize.

So Here We Go Steelers.

I'll leave you with this

Steelers Clinch the AFC North

How about those spiffy AFC North Division Champion hats the Steelers were sporting after this evening's W over the Ravens? Just kidding, anything other than a Super Bowl championship hat is unacceptable in my book in the NFL. But the NFL and the Steelers wanted to make sure they got their marketing dollars, so we were subjected to these:Whatever. The Steelers held off the Birdies in yet another nailbiting game that probably had yinzers the world over partaking heavily in some Iron Cities while worrying if that Primanti's sandwich combined with this game was going to finally cause a literal heart-stopping moment.

-This is one of the weirdest yet most successful teams that I can ever remember seeing in my many years of watching Steeler football. That offense will drive you bonkers for 57 minutes a game, but when it gets late in the 4th quarter is there anyone in the NFL right now you'd rather have leading your team down the field than our own Ben Roethlisberger? In my opinion, no. The guy is just a force of nature in the waning minutes, in what was, I think I saw, the 16th game-winning or tying 4th quarter drive of his career, a very large number for a guy with less than 5 years under his belt. It was also his 50th career W, leading to further cementing of his reputation as a winner, even if the gaudy stats aren't always there.

-And that defense... Good golly. Just flat out dominant, even when their studs are being mostly neutralized. James Harrison was held...err... I mean "blocked" all day long on double teams and Troy Polamalu was all over the field as usual, but the Ravens weren't willing to test him downfield much with the inexperienced Joe Flacco. So instead of those two leading the charge, guys like Lawrence Timmons (more on him in a bit), William Gay, Ike Taylor and Aaron Smith all had excellent days to help shut down the Ravens.

-On to Timmons. It's crazy to me that he isn't playing just about every snap these days. He is a freak of nature out there, and when he comes off the edge or up the middle on those surprised blitzes, he's next to impossible for an immobile lineman to fend off due to his incredible speed. I mean Larry Foote has had a nice run in his time in the 'Burgh, but he's lost a couple steps, and was never anything more than a nice complement for James Farrior. Timmons is a weapon all by himself, and gives Dick LeBeau yet another position on the field from which he can blitz in his zany zone schemes. And all this goes without even mentioning the help he can provide in passing situations with his defensive back type speed and the nasty way he delivers some of his hits.

-Even though I took a few shots at Willie Parker earlier today and his numbers against the Ravens today were only OK on the stat sheet, I thought he fared quite well in reality. That Ravens squad is very difficult to move the ball on, especially at home, and there's no shame in a 47 yards on 14 carries performance against them. While Big Ben continues to rightfully own the 4th quarter, I really wouldn't mind seeing a bit of a heavier dose of Parker in quarters 1-3, as his play today showed me the effectiveness is still there even against a great D like the Ravens.

-Hines Ward showed up today, as we knew he absolutely would against the Birds. And surprisingly, his biggest impact wasn't felt in the form of devastating block on some unsuspecting Raven. Whenever the Steelers needed a crucial conversion, Ward was their man. When they needed a big drive in the 4th quarter, Ward was one of the key cogs, and he put together his 3rd 100 yard performance of the season, all in the last 6 games. Ward now sits 136 yards away from his 5th 1,000 yard season, and first since all the way back in 2004. There's only two games left, so it will probably be close, but I hope he gets there, it would be cool to see him hit the mark yet again.

-Nate Washington and Santonio Holmes, meanwhile, continue to drive me bonkers. To his credit, Nate actually didn't have any terrible drops like usual, but he had difficulty reeling in some downfield passes in coverage. And Santonio... I mean the talent on that guy is ridiculous, but he nearly destroyed the Steelers day all by his lonesome. A costly fumble deep in the Steelers' own territory and a muffed punt that the Steelers lucked into were just a few more examples of his inconsistencies. But, he did snag the game-winning TD on a nice effort to get open when Ben was in trouble, so I've got to give him credit for that, anyway.
Back tomorrow with some links on the coverage of the Stilllllers.

Steelers- Ravens Preview

One of the NFL's best rivalries of the last decade gets its latest chapter written today, and no I'm not talking about that Seattle/ St. Louis clash of the titans. Of course, it's the Steelers/ Ravens, a game always filled with lots of trash talking, hard-hitting, defense, running plays, sacks, turnovers, and this year, bounties.

-Expect the spotlight to be on the one and only Hines Ward most of the day, as you know he'll be doing his best to level a bone-jarring block or draw a dumb penalty from whoever today's Jarrett Johnson is. And you also know that, as much as the Ravens may claim they aren't looking for a revenge shot on Hines, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and whoever else would love nothing more than to knock him into next week.

-Lots of worries and concerns from all over Steeler Nation about the little divide that has emerged between Fast Willie and our beloved Head Coach Mike Tomlin. The thing I'm not sure Willie understands here is that, if the Steelers had a consistently productive back who could be counted on to move the ball late in games, I'm sure Tomlin and Bruce Arians would be falling all over themselves to use it a lot late in games. Unfortunately, our running backs have been nothing short of inept the past few weeks, and being that they are playing a team today that has almost always shut down the Steelers' backs in the past, I don't think we will see a heavy dose of the Parker/Moore/Russell trio. In a late season, frozen game like this one, with Parker still clearly not 100% against a very hungry and dangerous defense, this reeks of one of those games where Parker has about 25 yards on 14 carries midway through the third quarter. Anyway, I guess my point is this: someone needs to tell Willie that if he stepped up more consistently and played like he did for the better part of the last three seasons, be quite certain the Steelers would be feeding him the ball 20+ times a week.

-It's crazy that in all likelihood neither Troy Polamalu nor James Harrison will wind up with the Defensive Player of the Year, when really I think they should be finishing 1-2 in that voting. They will most likely take votes away from each other, because just when you think you've figured out which one is more important to the Steelers D, the other one goes and makes a game-changing play. For my money, even though I campaigned for Harrison for MVP earlier this year, Polamalu is the guy right now, though that could change if Harrison single-handedly destroys the Birdies like he did last season. Harrison may have more plays on the stat sheet and is a force of nature coming off that line of scrimmage, but Polamalu has been the best player in football the last several weeks, and continues to re-define the safety position as we know it.

-In case you weren't aware, this is a matchup of the top two defenses in football, which means this could be one of those games where first team to 14 wins or something like that.

-While Joe Flacco was certainly nothing special in their first meeting, I was impressed by his poise and think he definitely showed all the reasons why he was highly touted coming out of Delaware. I think he will develop into a nice QB down the line, and I will be very interested to see how he fares today with some game experience against this ferocious defense in a late-season, incredibly important ballgame. And of course, every time I see his name, I curse Walt Harris and the early Dave Wannstedt for allowing this kid to leave Pitt so they could instead start the great Tyler Palko and then suffer through last season, what would have been Flacco's senior season, with the sinfully bad Pat Bostick/ Kevan Smith/ Bill Stull trio of quarterbacks.

-As always against the Ravens when Ben Roethlisberger's involved, I expect to see them get to our beloved number 7 a decent amount, and I can pretty much guarantee he'll drive Steeler fans to scream at their TV at least 2 or 3 times: "Get rid of it Ben!" as he scrambles around with 4 Ravens chasing him down before heaving one downfield to a covered receiver. But hey, if you are expecting him to change at this point in his career after all his successes, then you clearly aren't familiar with the man.

-Harrison, Polamalu, Woodley, Farrior, Reed, Lewis, Suggs, Scott. Some of the best defenders in football go toe-to-toe today, and though the offenses will certainly have something to say about this one, I think one of the two defenses ends up taking a turnover back for 6, and I'll be hoping it's the black-and-gold. My bet is Steelers 17 Ravens 13.

That wraps things up for me, I'll leave you with this:

Steelers-Bengals Preview

Okay folks, with the Steelers and Bengals playing Tomorrow (Thursday) in Pittsburgh, naturally, I am headed to Cincinnati for the weekend. Doesn't sound quite as dumb as it seems, though, as I am off to see my beloved Pitt Panthers in that great all-time college football matchup known only as The River City Rivalry. With that in mind, I am traveling most of the day tomorrow, and likely won't get into Cincy until just before the game, so here is my preview for tomorrow night's game. Obviously, any info that breaks tomorrow will not be in here, so forgive the lapse in info. I will have a preview of the Panthers huge game Saturday evening up sometime Thursday night of Friday morning. For now, enjoy this little preview, and wish me luck in coming home victorious.

Thursday the Steelers and Bengals become the latest installment in the continued efforts of the NFL to shove their NFL Network down our throats. Look guys, our cable bills are high enough, we don't want the NFL Network year round, and even then, if not having your Network means we miss a few Thursday night games, I think you are grossly overplaying your hand. The NFL is the most ridiculously over-analyzed league to ever exist. Every Sunday morning three different networks put together pre-game shows for us with about 15 analysts a pop, and every Sunday night two networks put together recap shows following games while two others put on all-out highlight shows. If we miss out on the NFL Network, I think we can survive. And for the real sickos who want to see the results of the NFL Combine and unbelievably pointless pre-draft coverage, mini-camp coverage, and training camp coverage, I have this message: Get a life! If you can't get all the information you require regarding this league over the internet then you just aren't trying hard enough and there's no two ways about it.

Anywho, on to our preview of this evening's little matchup on the North Shore.

Random Thoughts
-Willie Parker wants to get back to "Steeler Football" meaning, of course, an overly steady dose of the ground game. Frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing this myself. I'm not saying I want the old days back where our Franchise QB would throw the ball 11 times in a game while the offense controlled the clock for 40 minutes with 20 consecutive run plays in the second half. We don't have that kind of team anymore, and with Roethlisberger, there is no need for it either. Still, if Willie shows early on in games that he can produce like he did against San Diego a few days ago, I would be all for giving them a steady dose of Willie and mixing in the promising power back Gary Russell and the shockingly productive Mewelde Moore.

-I think everyone is going to be keeping a close eye on Hines Ward and the Bengals defenders early on in this game. Ward is not one to be too worried about this type of thing, and he is also not going to be the least bit intimidated by the Bengals openly pining to get a piece of him, so you can be sure he will look to deliver a thunderous hit or two early on in the game. The Bengals defenders, for their part will certainly have their heads on a swivel, and if Hines is out in front on a run play or goes across the middle, there could certainly be some extra-curricular activity in the works. These teams haven't liked each other for some time and with the Bungles having nothing to lose, this thing could get chippy if the refs don't do their jobs.

-For all the great things James Harrison has done and the impressive statistics he has posted, I just recently re-watched Sunday's Chargers game and there were some egregious non-holding calls that hurt Harrison. I'll be looking at this game with a watchful eye to see if the refs keep a closer eye on it, because hopefully these moments have been pointed out to them pre-game.

-While William Gay certainly was no Champ Bailey in his first NFL start, he hardly embarassed himself out there. This may not sound like a big deal, but it signifies just how deep this Steeler secondary really is, that there 4th corner can go out and put together a solid stint in his first career start is truly remarkable, and shows that corner, and not linebacker or running back, is probably the deepest position on the roster.

-Two key matchups for the game:
TJ Houshmandzadeh vs. Ike Taylor/ William Gay: In years past, it was Taylor matching up exclusively with Chad Eight Five, but this season Housh has been undoubtedly the Bengals top receiver, and really their only consistent weapon. While I don't expect that to mean that Taylor will be matched up exclusively against the Rat Tail, he certainly will see some time. Factor in that Gay is still a relative newbie at playing every snap and that Housh has been a Steeler killer all his career, and Housh is the key to any monster upset the Bungles may try to pull.

LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison vs. The Bungles excuse for an O-Line: Cincy has given up a downright shocking 38 sacks this season. They make the Steelers O-Line look like a fortress by comparison. And of course, Woodley and Harrison are the ultimate dynamic duo of sack mastery. This game could well end up with the family members of Bengals QBs Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jordan Palmer being called in to identify the disfigured remains.

-It has been speculated from numerous Steeler sources that the strategy from last week's game against the Chargers, tons of short, safe, underneath passes and almost zero downfield activity, was a result of Ben Roethlisberger's lack of arm strength due to his injury. Certainly, this makes sense, as Big Ben showed a bit of difficulty in putting serious zip on the ball, but I think there could be more to it. If you watched that game in person, as this was not as evident on TV I don't think, the safeties for the Chargers spent all night playing deep, almost like a prevent type D. As always happens, this left the area across the middle and short very wide open. I think that this was every bit as much a factor in the game plan as anything. It will be interesting to see if this is how the Steelers offense works early in the Bengal game, as I highly doubt that the Bengals will even remotely be as strangely passive as the Chargers were.

-With all this said, this game has all of the makings of an old-school division rival embarassment. The Steelers linebackers are going to be feasting on Ryan Fitzpatrick all night, the Bengals have possibly the worst running game in football, and their receivers are definitely talented but have underachieved. For the Steelers offense, they have had only one real weakness all season, and that has been the continued struggle of the offensive line to keep Ben Roethlisberger on his feet. This doesn't figure to be nearly as difficult Thursday night, though, as the Bengals lowly pass rush has generated just 11 sacks all season long. The matchup just looks too heavily one-sided in our beloved Black and Gold's favor, and so while I don't usually pick games to be cakewalks, I'm going to take the risk and go for it here: Steelers 35 Bengals 7

Steelers Live Blog for MNF!

8:27 Here we go Steeler fanatics, my first live blog in my revival of the Three River Sports Blog. The game is just about to get underway, and I'll be coming at you with the Live Blog of my evening watching the game in my apartment with some of my thoughts and (hopefully) humorous anecdotes on tonight's festivities. The ESPN "Experts" pick slightly in favor of the Steelers, with 48 of their in-house panelists favoring the Steelers and 47 with the 'Skins. Just kidding of course, it was actually 4-3 Steelers but approximately 12 different people spoke on ESPN in some sort of panel fashion. I will never understand why they hire so many different people. Just baffling. Oh, and by the way, Chris Berman just reminded us for approximately the 59th time in the last half hour that his interviews with Barack Obama and John McCain will be airing at half-time.

8:32 Thankfully, we have a very solid crew doing our announcing. I truly enjoy the MNF booth of Tirico, Jaws, and Kornheiser. Tirico pointedly mentions that the NFC East has been a house of horrors for the Steelers, Kornheiser pointedly makes observations about Ben Roethlisberger being the breaking-the-mold guy from the traditional Steelers image, and Jaws pointedly mentions that Redskins blitz like no one's business and Ben could take another beating this evening. Just a very pointed start, apparently.

8:39 Say did you know that there is an election tomorrow? Apparently there is, as Kornheiser and Tirico have spent the vast majority of their pregame talk with weird little tidbits about elections from the past, a weird little history of the Redskins for the candidates, all while poor Jaws sat quietly. The wheels are hurtling off of a promising booth in a hurry. I'm not sure I'm prepared for 214 different Tony Kornheiser/ election jokes tonight. Guys, seriously, I have to get up at 8:00 AM tomorrow, can we get this thing moving? I was promised an 8:30 start.

8:41 Finally! Kickoff! And it's an onside kickoff? Uhmm... what the hell Mike Tomlin? Are we really in full-on desperation mode before the game even starts?

8:45 The defense does their job and only gives up 9 yards to force a 3 and out and a pu... oh wait that's right, we tried a friggin' onside kick and the Skins are in good enough field position to kick a field goal. 3-zip Washington. This one's squarely on you there, Tomlin.

8:49 Oh boy, Large Benjamin throws a pick after his pass at the line is batted, and Max Starks, apparently under the impression that the ball is an icky vegetable, does his best to avoid touching it, only to have it bounce off his clumsy self and get picked. Ugh.

8:51 The Steelers defense very, very quickly forces another three and out and a pu... whoops my bad again, this time the offense screws them as the Skins are already in field goal range a second time and take a 6-0 lead. This one's on you Large Benjamin and even Larger Max Starks

8:59 Critical third down for the Stillers, and a backbreaker of a sack on 'berger as the Skins bring the damn house and take down the Large One as he tried to escape pressure and ended up running right the hell into it.

9:02 Definitely no 3 and out for the Steelers D on this drive, as Portis goes off for 22 yards, apparently the longest run of the season against the Steelers D. I think everyone missed that damn tackle.

9:04 Two interesting headlines just ran by the bottom of my screen... hold on while I double check what I just saw. Yup, the Brownies are starting Brady Quinn this weekend. In a game that takes place in 3 days. So he gets short rest to start for the first time in his career. Nothing like putting your hopeful franchise QB in a position to potentially fail miserably. The other headline? Well it's a little deceiving. I could have sworn ESPN's crawl thingy said Matt Schaub had a torn MCL and will only miss 2-4 weeks, an annoucement that nearly made my jaw hit the floor, as those are usually season ending. However, ESPN's website says it's only an MCL injury and the 2-4 weeks injury number is correct. How about a little consistency folks?

9:07 As mentioned, for the first time all night, the Steelers don't force a 3 and out... and get their first punt of the evening. Seems like we may be in for a weird one. Let's see what the Big 'berger can do out there.

9:11 Two drops for Santonio already. I thought about a few different jokes here, but none could live up to the hype. Give me time, though, I'll get a good one before the night's up.

9:13 Mitch Berger's second gawd-awful punt of the night. Mike Tirico mentions that Mitch Berger has not one, but TWO injured hamstrings. Uhmmm....maybe we should have looked into getting a new punter for this week. I mean I have buddies that can kick it more than the 28 yards Berger just pooched out. Tony Kornheiser wisely points out that having two injured hamstrings means that Berger (not Big Ben 'berger, Mitch Berger) has 100% of his hamstrings injured. Good call.

9:19 Nate Washington drops a pass! Since when does that happen? Mitch Berger out to punt, and after Mike Tirico makes a "hamstrung" joke, Berger puts together a serviceable 40 yard punt. At least we're not losing yards on our punts this week.

9:24 We just had a Jason and James sandwich, with the Jameses Farrior and Harrison being the bread and Jason Campbell being our meat. Ouch.

9:25 Good news, Santonio Holmes hangs onto the ball, ending his dropsies streak of two balls and one dooby into the ash tray when the 5-0 showed up.

9:25 Okay, so that wasn't exactly a good Santonio joke. Don't worry, it's still coming. I have faith.

9:28 Yet another atrocious punt by Mitch Berger. I've got to believe that Jeff Reed could probably punt the ball further than this bum right now. Now, if the Steelers are at the Redskins 35 and need to pin the Skins at the goal line, Berger is their man. I mean they can just tell him to go in their and kick it as hard as possible and they should be good.

9:31 Large Benjamin's numbers thus far: 1/9 9 yards. I hope you're not relying on him for a W in fantasy this week.

9:40 You need a 3rd down conversion, you go to Hines Ward. I'm not sure how we (especially the coaches) haven't learned this yet. The guy is just downright tough and a real horse out there.

9:43 Strangely, the Redskins aren't fooled by Roethlisberger's 8 different pump fakes and as he tries to escape on a crucial third down... he gets sacked... again... despite having ample time... again. Still, Jeff Reed drills a field goal, and this sucker is 6-3 and the Steelers offense finally developed a pulse.

9:51 Ron Jaworski refers to Ben Roethlisberger only as "Ben" four times in about 20 seconds, a trend that has become increasingly common for announcers to drop our beloved number 7's last name. Not sure why or how this happened.

9:52 YIKES! Near pick for Ben, and Slick Willie (not sure if he's fast but he is Slick right now) rips off a nice little run and is having a nice night with 10 carries for 45 yards despite a little gimpiness when he walks off the field.

9:54 Remember what I said about going to Hines Ward on 3rd down? Yeahhhhhhhhhh, maybe that was a misprint as he gets absolutely lit up and drops a crucial third down pass. Mitch Berger is carted onto the field to punt and is carted back off.

9:56 HUGE SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY!!!! Andre Frazier storms in and blocks a punt as Mike "Miss Cleo" Tirico says the words "maybe we'll need to see a big special teams play" and Ike Taylor bumbles over it immediately after and William Gay ends up with it as the Steelers have a golden opportunity.

9;57 Sensing the importance of the moment, getting-smaller-by-the-moment Benjamin is promptly sacked as we head to 2 minute warning.

9:59 Okay here's a question for you: How are they still making Transporter movies? I have absolutely no recollection of the first one being released, I heard the second one was terrible and did rather mediocrely (is that a word?) at the box office. And can we officially end the Jason Statham as a leading man movement? Hey, I like the guy as a supporting badass (like in the Italian Job) but he's no star. And what's up with him always being involved in driving? Talk about a bizarre typecast. I half-expected him to be in the new The Fast and the Furious movie.

10:02 Direct quote from yours truly- "TOU-OHHHHHHHHhhhhh...." I thought Hinesy had it, but he was literally millimeters away, if not micrometers. Steelers should just have Ben fall forward on this one.

10:06 TOUCHDOWN!!! Ben uses his infamously large stature to surge into the end zone and just like that, despite a miserable start to the game, the Steelers are up 10-6 as we near the half, very encouraging last several minutes for a team that clearly got off to possibly the worst start that they could have imagined.

10:09 Okay folks we've reached the half and managed to set the game of football back 40 years in the process. I'm not blogging the half, as I need to focus both on this presidential interview nonsense and on some finance homework. Back in a bit.

10:23 Aaaaand we're back. Aaaand Mickey Tafoya is reporting that Ben is injured and is in the locker room getting X-rays and that Byron Leftwich will open the second half. Roethlisberger is infamous for exaggerating injuries on the field, but it's incredibly rare when he misses time due to injury, so you know this must be semi-serious. We'll see.

10:25 One other update: Not surprisingly, the halftime interviews were lame and pointless and told us absolutely nothing about the candidates except that they are both infinitely more intelligent then our current president.

10:26 Roethlisberger is bak on the side line, no helmet on or anything though. We'll see what happens....

10:27 The Dump Truck (Najeh Davenport, emphasis on the first word) enters the game and gets a 3rd and 1 conversion. Also, Heath Miller is injured. By the way, they tossed it to Tafoya for an update on Roethlisberger and she gave us nothing.

10:28 Byron Leftwich tosses a gorgeous pass to Nate Washington for 50 yards. Huge play for the Steelers.

10:29 Tafoya now reports that Ben's right shoulder is the injury and that he is questionable. He has the backwards cap on though, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

10:29 I hate to keep blogging so frequently, but Tony Kornheiser just made a vague reference to the Bengals being a Super Bowl contender prior the season. It's worth noting that this must be the most insane statement of the season.

10:31 TOUCHDOWN STEELERS!!!! Slick Willie Parker from a yard out. This guy looks real good today, and Byron does a real nice job managing things. And by the way, 'berger's shoulder is being held almost like it is in a sling. Not such a good sign.

10:32 Uhmm.... Jeff Reed just missed a PAT! Quick, sign Conor Lee!!! He never misses!

10:37 It's been open season on Jason Campbell tonight. LaMarr Woodley is absolutely untouched and obliterates poor Campbell for the Steelers' 5th sack of the night.

10:46 The one thing you've got to love about Tony Kornheiser: Just when you hear the subject of a mildly inappropriate joke being discussed, the Korn man comes through with the obligatory joke you'd make with your friends. Just delightful. In this case, it was Mike Singletary's struggle to stay fully clothed.

10:50 A pick by Deshea Townsend! Jason Campbell's first I-N-T of the season. Of course, Townsend promptly fumbles it, and while he does recover, a potential question (though I don't see the validity) is raised by Jaws as to whether or not it was a pick. We'll see.

10:52 Yep the Skins are going to challenge it. It really, really looks to me like Deshea Towsend has it. Jaws doesn't think so but Deshea does the old "football move" and I'd be stunned (and very pissed) if this sucker gets overturned.

10:55 Take THAT Jaws! Townsend's pick is upheld, Steeler ball! They could make things awfully tough on the skins with a nice long scoring drive here.

10:58 Michelle Tafoya claims to have a "source" that told her Ben felt his shoulder pop out in the first half. I wonder if this is the same soure that butchered Roethlisberger's injury report when NBC came to town and had all sorts of false injury info for Messrs. Michaels and MAdden.

11:00 Another nice third down conversion for the righty Leftwich, that's two in a row in this drive.

11:06 Tony Kornheiser makes another mention of the Steelers fans there, as if this somehow surprises him. Hey Tony, the Steelers fans travel better than anyone. Yet this is roughly his 30th reference of the evening.

11:08 Apparently Leftwich is a little banged up after getting lit up a few moments ago, but he's not leaving the field it appears. Nonetheless, Dennis Dixon is warming up. It'd be interesting to see him out there to see what he can do.

11:09 TOUCHDOWN!!!! Byron Leftwich to Santonio Holmes and the Steelers are on an absolute roll right now. Jeff Reed's PAT is good this time and it's 23-6 Steelers and they have now scored all 23 unanswered by the suddenly hapless Redskins.

11:17 James Farrior gets docked for the helmet-to-helmet hit on Jason Campbell and you can be darn sure that he will be having a little something deducted from his paycheck this week for that one.

11:23 Jason Campbell gets in for a touchdown, but call me skeptical. I think I'd challenge it, as it appeared as though he was pushed down before the goal line and stumbled into the end zone.

11:23 Yep, Tomlin challenges.

11:26 Yep, it's overturned

11:28 The Redskins are going to go for it here on fourth down from the 1 yard line and.... it's stopped! They tried a weird play action pass to... a defensive tackle??? What? Naturally when the game is on the line on offense you want to throw it to an awkward overweight defender with no experience catching the ball. That's right, ignore your steady and reliable tight end and your league leading running back to throw to a defensive tackle. That's the NFL in 2008 for you. Always overthinking things.

11:31 Woah Willie! Slick Willie nearly gets safetied in the end zone.

11:33 Mitch Berger's hamstrings collapse underneath him as he attempts to punt. I think someone needs to take poor Mitch out back and shoot him just to put the guy out of his misery.

11:37 On another fourth down, the Redskins bizarrely refuse to kick a field goal even though it would have gotten them within two scores and they could have tried the onside kick. Instead, they go for it, and Lawrence Timmons comes up with a big sack. And MAN is that guy fast. He runs like a defensive back, and is going to be one heck of a weapon when he finally takes Larry Foote's job.

11:44 Two minutes until we lock up that first NFC East W.

11:50 And that will do it from my apartment and from Washington. I hope you enjoyed our festivities this evening, and don't forget folks, it's imperative that you vote tomorrow.