Steelers 20, Ravens 19

As Dave noted a few weeks ago, the Steelers have a knack for winning ugly, and this game was one of the ugliest wins that I have seen in a while. Big Ben was hit early and you could tell that he was playing in pain - although Ben at 50% is still preferable to Maddox at 100%, yet we'll not go there. Heath Miller caught 3 passes for 18 yards and 2 touchdowns while Fast Willie and The Bus combined for 85 yards rushing on 22 carries. The defense kept giving up yards to an offensive Ravens offense, but mostly limited them to field goals (4/5 and 1 touchdown).

Hines Ward once again showed that he is tough as nails and worth every penny that the Steelers are paying him. Hines put on a clinic Monday Night, demonstrating what it means to run tight routes, to watch the ball all the way in, to take wicked hits and bounce right back up - grinning. Hines Ward is certainly my favorite Steeler as well.

Thanks to a mental lapse by Rookie long-snapper Greg Warren, Chris Gardocki had to do his best Garo Yepremian imitation from Super Bowl VII. It turns out that Gardocki is Yepremian's equal in the passing game.

This was an ugly game, but in the end Big Ben drove the Steelers down for the winning field goal and the defense stopped the Ravens on 4th down when it counted, with an assist from Anthony Wright whose last pass was about as accurate as a Zedekiah (son of Kenaanah) prophesy. The Steelers did what was necessary to win, but just getting by will not get us to Super Bowl XL. The Steelers were supposed to blow the Ravens out of Heinz field - especially with them missing Ed Reed and Ray Lewis - and we barely escaped with the win. It's time to step it up - Brett Farve is next on the To-Do List, and he has something to prove after imploding this week against the Bengals. Don't let the 1-6 record fool you - sleepwalk against Green Bay and we will walk out of Lambeau Field with a big fat "L" next week.

Week 8 Newsletter