My Hines Ward Blog

The Pittsburgh Steelers started the 2007 season off properly defeating Cleveland 34-7. The Steelers dominated Cleveland in every aspect of this game. The Browns never really had a chance.

Pittsburgh scored early and often against the Browns. Cleveland went 3 and out on their first possession. Cleveland looked as Brownesque as ever on a 4th down punt in which 4 penalties were called against Cleveland on a single play. The Steelers first possession began on Cleveland's 32 yard line. A couple of plays later Big Ben found Hines Ward in the corner of the end zone. Ward made an acrobatic catch to give The Burgh an early 7-0 lead. Cleveland's next possession didn't go any better for them. Deshea Townsend intercepted Charlie Frye and returned the pick 21 yards to the Cleveland 17 yard line. The Steelers had to settle for 3 this time, as Jeff Reed converted on his first field goal of the season to make it 10-0 Steelers.

The Steelers weren't content with 10 first quarter points. The first play after recovering a Jamal Lewis fumble, Big Ben found a Santonio Holmes wide open on a play action pass. Roethlisberger and Holmes connected for a 40-yard score. At the end of the 1st quarter it was 17-0 Steelers.

Both offenses struggled for the majority of the 2nd quarter. Pittsburgh was plagued by dropped pass syndrome. Fortunately Cleveland didn't do any better. Charlie Frye was benched after starting the game 4/10 for 34 yards with 1 int. His replacement Derek Anderson looked equally baffled by the Steelers D. By the 2nd quarter the Steeler Defense had already recorded 6 sacks by 6 different players. At half-time the score was still 17-0 Steelers.

The Steelers got their offense back on track early in the 3rd quarter. After a 23 yard completion to Ward, and a 23 yard Willie Parker Run; Roethlisberger found Matt Spaeth in the end zone to make it 24-0 Steelers. Cleveland was able to gain some momentum on their next possession. After a couple of Kellen Winslow receptions, Anderson found fullback Lawrence Vickers for a 1 yd touchdown pass. Cleveland finally got on the scoreboard making it 24-7 Pittsburgh.

The Steelers retaliated quickly though. Roethlisberger found Ward wide open across the middle of the field for a 22 yard gain. A couple of plays later, Cleveland got embarrassed by Najeh Davenport. Davenport caught a dump pass on 3rd down, and he was wrapped up well before the first-down marker; however Najeh was on a mission breaking 4 tackles en route to another Steeler first down. Roethlisberger then found Heath Miller for a 23 yard touchdown pass making it 31-7 Steelers. Jeff Reed tacked on one more field goal to make it 34-7 Steelers. Game Over.

Roethlisberger finished the game 12 of 23 for 161 yards and 4 touchdown passes. Roethlisberger set a career record with 4 TD passes. Fast Willie rushed for 109 yards on 27 carries. Hines Ward hauled in 3 passes for 51 yards. The Steeler defense smothered the Browns. Neither Frye nor Anderson looked comfortable against Pittsburgh. Brady Quinn looked visibly nervous on the sideline holding a clip board as well. Pittsburgh soundly defeated Cleveland in week 1.

Chris Cullinan writes for the Steeler Maniacs blog at http://www.SteelerManiacs.com Steeler Maniacs is a fansite for die-hard Steeler Fans.

It's week 6 in the NFL and the Steelers have a bye. Going into a bye and being 4-1 is fantastic for the Steelers who need the extra time off for Hines Ward and Troy Polomalu to heal up. Were playing great on both sides of the ball right now and getting Ward and Polomalu back will make us that much better.

Let's take a look at the AFC picture at this point in the season. The Steelers are the top dawgs in the north division at 4-1 and they are 2-0 in the conference which is huge. NFL teams have to win there conference games. Baltimore is on our heels at 3-2 and they are 1-2 in the conference. Cleveland is 2-3 and the Bengals are 1-3.

New England is on top of the AFC East at 5-0 and they look tough again this year. I figured the Patriots getting caught cheating would have put a damper on their winning. The Colts are 1st in the AFC South at 5-0 just like the Patriots. I think the Colts look weaker than the Patriots and I look form them to lose a game before the Patriots.

The AFC West is comical with the Raiders on top at 2-2 and all the other teams are tied for 2nd at 2-3. I truly believe that the Patriots, Colts, and Steelers are the only heavy weights in the AFC this year. I know things can change on the fly and a team like Tennessee could emerge as a contender in the next few weeks. As a Steeler fan I don't care about the NFC standings because it does not affect us.

The week 6 game that is huge for the Steelers is the Patriots - Cowboys game on Sunday afternoon. We want the Cowboys (who we despise) to knock off the Pats so we can hang with them in the overall AFC standings. I'm always thinking playoffs and a first round bye at the end of the season. The Cowboys - Pats game should be a wild one and I will be tuning in to watch. Lucky for me, I have the NFL package and I get all the NFL games each week in my home! That way I never miss a Steeler game and I get to watch all the big time match ups like the Cowboys-Pats game on Sunday.

The Steelers have the #1 ranked NFL defense by giving up 9.4 points per game. The Defense is giving up 72 rushing yards per game and 163 passing yards per game. These stats tell me that we have a one damn stingy defense right now and we need to maintain this level from here on out! The stats for the Steelers offense are not as impressive as the defense but they are solid.

We are the 6th ranked offense averaging 26.4 points per game. The stat that astounds me is that we are averaging 167 rushing yards per game! The only team that has more rushing yards per game is the Oakland Raiders at 194 yards per game. We are only averaging 184 passing yards per game but when you run the ball effectively you don't have to throw a lot.

The stats show that the Steelers are playing tough defense and the offense is pounding the ball with an effective running game. Our running game is keeping the opposing teams defenses on the field for extended periods of time and our swarming defense is holding opponents to very few points.

I know it's early in the season my fellow Steeler fans but you have to be jacked up by what we've done so far. It looks as though Mike Tomlin is the real deal and the players are motivated and well coached and the game plans are sound. I still miss seeing Cowher's jaw on the sideline but Tomlin and his winning ways are growing on me.

Pray to the football gods that the Pats get spanked by the Cowboys and the Colts have a lousy bye-week!