DBR96A

The first-quarter sequence of Markus Wheaton dropping a TD pass followed by a blocked FG attempt basically set the tone for this game. David DeCastro just had the worst game of his career. Losing Ramon Foster didn't help either. The Steelers have an athletic offensive line that's susceptible to getting pushed around by strong, physical defensive lines. That's how they lost to the Jets in 2014; Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson just destroyed the offensive line. Today it was Fletcher Cox. The defense better find answers quickly. They have one sack in three games this season, and they've done a piss-poor job of tackling. Now there's an injury problem too, with three of the four starting LBs and the starting SS all injured. Get well soon, guys. Is the Eagles secondary that good, or is the Steelers WR corps overrated? Ben Roethlisberger played OK, all things considered. He was simply the last domino to fall. In fact, he, Antonio Brown, Stephon Tuitt and Jordan Berry were the only ones who even showed up. I want to say that DeAngelo Williams showed up too, but the game spiraled out of control so quickly that he didn't get many opportunities to run the ball. I thought the INT call in the end zone was bullshit, but whatever. It wasn't going to make a difference at that point. The 1976 Raiders, 1979 Steelers, 1994 49ers, 2003 Patriots, 2006 Colts, 2011 Giants, 2012 Ravens and 2014 Patriots are all teams that won the Super Bowl after losing a game by 25 or more points (four or more possessions) during the regular season, so while there is cause for concern with the Steelers, it's not necessarily a bad omen. Carson Wentz has played like a stud so far. It's still way too early to judge him, though. He could be another Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger, with continuous success after a fast start but he could also be another Robert Griffin III or Nick Foles, who had one good season and then fell apart. Only time will tell, though the initial indications are that the Eagles have found a legitimate franchise QB.

Well people have sure done a lot of crying about "teh rulez" lately, so I figured I'd show A.J. Green breaking a rule and getting away with it to illustrate how not one-sided the officiating was. By the letter of the law, they should have been moved back to the edge of FG range instead of being awarded six points and the lead. If that was Antonio Brown, the wailing and gnashing of teeth would never end.

Wow, the Steelers have fucked your mind, haven't they? You say they haven't proven or earned anything? Bitch, they're in the playoffs, like it or not! And they got there in spite of a) their elite franchise QB missing four games in the middle of the season, b) their backup QB missing the entire season, c) their third-string QB and an emergency QB each starting multiple games, d) their All-Pro C missing the entire season, e) their All-Pro RB missing the last eight games of the season, f) their starting LT missing the last 10 games of the season, g) their #2 WR being suspended for four games and missing a fifth due to injury, h) only three of the 11 starters on offense playing all 16 games, i) two of their four best players on defense each missing multiple games, j) two PKs missing the entire season, l) a third PK missing more FG attempts than he made and directly contributing to a loss before getting cut, m) having the seventh-highest Injury Impact to Team of all teams in the NFL (second-highest among playoff teams), and n) having the hardest schedule of all playoff teams in the AFC based on their opponents' combined winning percentage this season. So if you don't think they've proven or earned anything, then seriously, go fuck yourself. By the way, if you want to bitch about the refs, then bitch about them letting A.J. Green get away with a false start right before he scored the go-ahead TD for the Bengals. The TD clearly shouldn't have counted, but it ultimately doesn't matter to me since the Steelers won the fucking game anyway, despite the refs spotting the Bengals the lead with less than two minutes left in the game.

Sir, you just detonated a nuclear device that ended this discussion.

Johnny Manziel doesn't have the dedication required to be a QB in the NFL. He picked the wrong position if he wanted to be a party animal. QBs simply don't get to have as much fun as their teammates; their level of responsibility to the team is far greater than any other position. The fact that he's still flying off to Las Vegas during the season is proof that he doesn't get it. It's not even the partying that I have a problem with; it's the fact that he's doing this during the season when he should be with his team, offering moral support and learning more about how to play the position properly at a professional level. Tony Romo and Andrew Luck have been injured, but they're not flying off to party in parts unknown. They're right there on the sideline with their teams. And I don't ever hear about QBs throwing money around and making spectacles during their bye weeks either. Plain and simple, Johnny Manziel is an immature, unprofessional loser who doesn't take his job seriously enough to deserve another opportunity in the NFL. I hope he's out of the NFL after the Browns get rid of him, because his tenure wouldn't even qualify him for a pension from the league. Heaven knows he has more than enough money already. He and that "affluenza" dipshit can share a cell together later. (What is it with rich kids from Texas anyway?)

U.S. Code, Title 8, Chapter 12, Subchapter II, Part II, Section 1182 (Inadmissible aliens):

Actually, Donald Trump's popularity is the equal and opposite reaction to the expressions of cultural and religious superiority by Muslim supremacists. A Muslim supremacist does not come here to be one of us. (S)He comes here to destroy us; therefore, (s)he doesn't belong here. And there's absolutely nothing in the U.S. Constitution that gives any foreigner the right to immigrate here; immigrating here is a privilege. Furthermore, any pro-immigration sentiment by any of our Founding Fathers was based on the belief that those immigrating here wanted to better their lives and become one of us, not destroy our lives and become the rulers of us. Their pro-immigration sentiment does not apply to Muslim supremacists for this reason. If believing this makes me a nationalist, then so be it. I'd rather be a nationalist than a globalist anyway.

Donald Trump can't possibly make a bigger joke of the presidency than it's already been made by Barack Obama.

I like sitting on the couch in my living room with a big TV to watch football. It's not the same if I'm holed up in my bedroom on my dinky computer. Besides, my fucking internet connection likes to die for 30 seconds at a time every 10 minutes anyway.

Justin Tucker.

I believe the Jets will finish with the worst record because they have no offense, and they play in a tough division. The Patriots are the best team in the NFL until proven otherwise. The Cardinals are the most complete team in the NFL, and the Packers have the best QB in the NFL. The Cowboys have the best offensive line in the NFL, and an improving defense. The Broncos have a tough defense that can compensate for the decline of Peyton Manning. The Falcons and Panthers have weak schedules, and the Panthers are the most complete team in their division.

I believe the Colts will finish with the best record because they play in a weak division, and they have a franchise QB, while the lack of a franchise QB for the Texans contributes to the weakness of the division. The Ravens are missing Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs, and they have a tough schedule. The Seahawks are missing Kam Chancellor, and they play in a tough division. The Lions are missing Ndamukong Suh, and they have to deal with the Packers in their division. The Eagles and Giants have glaring deficiencies that will prevent them from overtaking the injury-ravaged Cowboys. The Saints are finished. The Bears could be the worst team in the NFL.

Fuck.

Teddy Bridgewater = BUST

I admire athletes for their athletic accomplishments, and the way those accomplishments represent the city, state or country they play for. Beyond that, I don't necessarily admire them for their personal lives, and I'm actually critical of their personal lives in many cases. I've even been critical of Michael Phelps despite the fact that he's done something that no other Olympic athlete ever has, and represented the United States while doing it. The amount of admiration that athletes get for their athletic accomplishments often goes to their heads, and they become very arrogant as a result, which can create chaos in their personal lives if they have sociopathic tendencies to begin with. This discussion hits very close to home for me, because lately I've been left dealing with the mess created by a segment of Steeler fans who, over the years, have somehow conflated "the Steeler way" with some holier-than-thou competition of personal righteousness. They were the ones who were busy casting stones at Michael Irvin, Nate Newton, Ray Lewis, Jamal Lewis, and various Bengals during the mid-2000s, but went scattering for the hills when James Harrison had his domestic dispute, and Ben Roethlisberger had rape accusations made against him. And that's left all of us who have known better all along to withstand all the fans of other teams casting stones back at us, and being uniformly labeled hypocrites because of the bigmouth idiot contingency's flawed interpretation of the Steeler way. Any Steeler fan with a clue should have known that the Steeler way was never about being a Boy Scout the moment Ernie Holmes -- a beloved Steeler among many older fans -- fired shots at a police helicopter on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and managed to stay with the team after spending time in a psych ward. Ultimately, I think that if there's a moral aspect to the Steeler way, it's in redemption, though replaceability undeniably plays a factor too, given both the business and competition aspects of the NFL. The Rooneys are generally good judges of character, but given the troubled backgrounds of so many young football players, there are bound to be some who go astray for any team. The Steelers have kept their fair share of athletes who have behaved badly, and performance on the field has played a factor in whether or not a player stays or goes, but also a factor is whether or not they believe the player can redeem himself. It's why Santonio Holmes was traded away for a relatively minor transgression, and Ben Roethlisberger was not traded away despite the gravity of the accusations against him. No doubt replaceability played a significant role, but given the positive changes in Roethlisberger's personal life versus Holmes becoming a locker room cancer elsewhere, redemption had to have played a significant role as well. One reason why I don't get super-emotional over sporting events anymore is not only because I'm older and better able to control my emotions, but also because I'm wiser than before. I'm genuinely happy when my favorite teams win, but I'm not euphoric about it, nor do I become upset or depressed for days after a loss. Whenever the media does a human interest story about some athlete's charity, I always remember that these athletes are probably doing things that aren't so charitable on Friday or Saturday nights. Conversely, I don't call for fire and brimstone whenever an athlete is caught in a shameful act either. As despicable as Jerry Sandusky's behavior was, simply removing him from polite society is punishment enough. There's no need to cut his balls off and feature him get gang-raped in prison on pay-per-view. There's a fine line between justice and revenge. I also don't believe in punishing a person beyond the legal system. If Michael Vick still has what it takes to play football, then he can still be hired to play football now that he's paid his debt to society. If a plumber goes to jail, he can get back to plumbing when he's out of jail.