Still crazy after all these years

… too early to tell To say that all is not well in Patriot-land would be an understatement. New England fans are thinking the unthinkable: Is Tom Brady’s career finally coming to an end? That is the result of two back-to-back losses, the first to Jacksonsville last week (31-20) and the second to the Detroit Lions (26-10) on Sunday night before a nation-wide audience. ESPN explained how unusual that is. “This is the first time the Patriots have lost back-to-back games by double digits since Dec. 16-22, 2002 against the Jets and Titans. They've played 244 games during that stretch.” The concern for the Pats is the performance of Brady. He threw for just 133 yards and one TD, which gave him a QB rating of 65.1. That is pretty pathetic for a gunslinger who ended the past three seasons with QB ratings of 102, 112, and 102. He has a lifetime rating of 97.5, so that is more than 30 points below his lifetime average. When you score just ten points against the 0-2 Lions, who gave up 48 po...

… discipline is still horrible In many ways, the Pittsburgh Steelers improved significantly in Monday night’s victory over Tampa Bay on the road. However, they also demonstrated that the team has significant problems, some of which could be changed with some improved coaching and different mindsets and leadership. First, the positive A win is a win is a win. What they needed desperately was a win that would place them back in the AFC-North race. They are still a game back of the Bengals and Ravens in the win column with games against them both on the horizon. Second, they scored 30 points in the first half, with one TD a pick-six and another set up with turnovers. If they are going to win consistently, they will need to score at least 40 points because their defense is still shaky. The offense piled up more than 400 yards with two starting linemen out of the lineup (DeCastro and Gilbert). After throwing an early pick that the Bucs turned into their only first half TD, Ben Roethlisb...

… only two national titles in past 50 years Last Saturday illustrated how far the Big Ten has fallen over the last few years. When BYU defeats the sixth-ranked team in the country, Wisconsin (24-12), when Troy (who?) overwhelms Nebraska (24-19), when Temple destroys Maryland (35-14), and Kansas — yes Kansas — humiliates Rutgers (55-14), and when Northwestern loses to Akron (39-34), you know that the Big Ten is in deep trouble top to bottom. Overall, the conference lost seven games and won just six, and those seven losses were to unranked teams. According to the Associated Press, that is the first time that happened to the Big Ten since 1936, which is the first time that they started ranking teams. The Wisconsin loss in Madison was particularly galling for the conference since the Badgers were ranked fifth and sixth in the two major polls. However, it feeds a narrative that the Big Ten teams are traditionally ranked higher than they should be in the preseason polls. And, that is rei...

… are the minority owners restless? As if the Steelers 0-1-1 start and humbling loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was not bad enough, the team’s angry wide receiver lashed out of the team’s new offensive coordinator, then got into a Twitter spat with a former employee, and then skipped practice for no known reason; the team’s quarterback was named in a book by a porn star, who said that he terrified her in a swanky hotel 12 years ago; the team’s long-lost running back remained at large; and Coach Mike Tomlin said that nothing is amiss. Welcome to the soap opera of a group of guys who used to be a premier professional football team. Perhaps they can regain that moniker with a win over the red-hot Tampa Bay Bucs on Monday Night Football next week. But, if events this week are a prelude to that event, the Pittsburgh Steelers, whom almost everyone selected to breeze to another divisional championship, could be starting their season with an 0-2-1 record, something that is just eating away at...

 … I warned about this last year Many Steeler fans are frantic right now. They had picked their club to win 12 or 13 games at the start, and now they are facing the prospect that it could be 0-2-1 after next week's Monday Night Football game at undefeated Tampa Bay. And the Cincinnati Bungles are undefeated! The Ravens are 1-1, and the Steelers are tied for last place in the AFC-North with the Browns, who almost upset the Saints last Sunday. So, how did we arrive at this unpleasant juncture? It was a definitive change in “organizational philosophy” by management, which includes the head coach, after winning a Super Bowl and making its way back to another one two years later. At that time, Mike Tomlin was considered a young genius. But, those years, from 2008 to 2010, seem like eons ago. The Steelers have not come close since. Why not? What happened? In order to understand the situation in the 21st Century, you have to go back to the construction of what became the joy of Steel...

… which Steeler team will show up?  In past years, when the Kansas City Chiefs came to town, the Pittsburgh Steelers knew what to expect. Former starter Alex Smith, who was traded to the Washington Redskins,  was a conventional QB, sort of a middler, and the scores of the games were usually low for some reason. The opposite may be true today because the Chiefs are led by a second-year QB named Patrick Mahomes. What is scary for Steeler fans is that Mahomes is entering the game after having completed 15 of 27 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns, allowing him to compile a QB rating of 127.5. Compare that to his opponent on Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger, who compiled a QB rating of 60.5 against the worst team in the NFL in 2017. Roethlisberger completed 23 of 41 passes for 335 yards and one touchdown, with three picks and two fumbles. So, this game may come down to an interesting matchup: The 15-year veteran who is trying to prove that the first game was just an aberration, o...

… sportsmanship is important to me  During the tough years, I supported James Franklin — even during the rape allegations at Vanderbilt when he was there. Yes, I am an alumnus of Penn State, but I have been critical of its football program in the past. Still, I felt that Franklin was a good man, a good choice for Penn State head football coach. He had me rooting for Penn State again — though that has now ended. While he finally convinced the nay-sayers of his ability two years ago when his team roared from behind to beat Penn State and then win the Big Ten title, a tremendous accomplishment since they were still suffering from the NCAA sanctions, I felt good about that. However, I have gradually been questioning some of his decisions — and particularly, his attitude, which I believe has become arrogant. Still, I supported him until I watched what he did last Saturday night. It was not so much that he ran up the score on Pitt, which was 14-6 at the half but ended up 51-6. It was t...

… an IQ of 150 When a quarterback in the NFL compiles a passer rating of 156.2, people are impressed. When that passer leads his team to an upset of a very good team, they are impressed even more. When that QB completes 21 of 28 passes for 417 yards and four TDs, with no interceptions, and run for 36 yards on 12 carries … well, that is impressive. However, what impressed me even more than that was that Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was the NFL Offensive Player of the Week for the Bucs 48-40 victory over New Orleans, is a graduate of Harvard. So, not only is the 35-year-old a pretty good passer, he is bright, a brainiac. Actually, Fitzpatrick has been around for a while, starting in 2005 with the St. Louis Rams, then the Bengals, the Bills, the Texans, the Jets, and now Tampa Bay — seven teams. The journeyman has thrown for 27,408 yards entering the season, completing almost 60 percent of his passes. However, with Jameis Winston suspended for the first three Tampa Bay games, Fitzpatrick has b...

… Le'Veon who? [I apologize for being late with posts this week. Had eye surgery on Monday, just getting back into the groove.] Many Pittsburgh Steeler fans believed at the start of the season that the team could win 12 to 14 games. I was not one of them. I was saying 11. I will hold to my prediction, but I am relatively certain that they will win 13 again. When I asked last week on this blog if the Cleveland Browns could win the opening season game against the Steelers last Sunday, I was being only facetious. Not completely, because last week was horrible with the Bell fiasco while the Browns were improving. Overall reaction to the Steelers’ woeful performance: Remember: This was a team that was 0-16 last year. Le’Veon who? James Conner is a beast who will do great because he has an outstanding offensive line in front of him, just like Bell did. And, he is very talented with a much better team attitude than Bell has. Whenever the Steelers’ franchise QB has a rating of 60, ...

... Lyke provides Pitt with some vision Who will win the battle at Heinz Field this evening between the Pitt Panthers and Penn State Nittany Lions? That could be a challenge for both teams. However, in the Pitt-Penn State saga, one university has taken a significant lead in one particular area: Athletic Leadership. In that area, the University of Pittsburgh made a great hire in Heather Lyke in March 2017. She inherited a veritable mess caused by her two predecessors, Scott Barnes and Steve Pedersen, and she has been required to make some tough decisions. However, she has shown some tenacity in demonstrating leadership in shaking up a department that needed it. Sandy Barbour, conversely, hired by Penn State in 2014, cannot seem to outrun the previous controversies that she created in her tenure as A.D. at the University of California-Berkeley. The Daily Collegian, the student newspaper at Penn State, succinctly summarized the problems that have arisen in the past six months with Bar...

… a Steelers history lesson for Dummies, Art Rooney, II At one time, the Steelers could play hard ball. But, that was in 1984 when the CEO was Dan Rooney, son of the legendary founder Art Rooney, Sr., “The Chief.” Today, his son is in charge, and with Dan Rooney’s passing, the truth is that the Steelers are a far cry from the glory years. What did Dan do? He cut running back Franco Harris, a former Super Bowl MVP and the winner of four Super Bowl rings, in 1984. That was not surprising because Harris, despite his great career, was 34-years-old. The message in the 21st Century should be clear, but it is not. In short, “Le’Veon, you’re no Franco Harris.” However, what angered Steeler fans about the move was that the running back, who became beloved in 1972 because of the Immaculate Reception, was just 364 yards short of establishing a new NFL rushing record that was held by the legendary Jim Brown. He would have broken that mark during the 1984 season. What angered Dan Rooney was that ...

… nah, but someday those picks may change them On paper, this should be a mismatch, a team that has dominated the AFC-Central against a team that did not even win a game last season. In fact, the Cleveland Browns have won just four games in the past three seasons and have not had a winning record since 2007. Conversely, the Steelers won 13 games last season and are expected to coast to another divisional title this year. Yet, there are dissenting voices. The illustrious Peter King said that the Steelers have major problems, including the fact that the mercurial running back Le’Veon Bell has not yet shown up for camp and may not do so for a while. However, he, and some others, have pointed to the defemsive problems at linebacker, where the Steelers lost two former number 1 draft picks who turned out to be outstanding LBs in the past two years. Ryan Shazier may never play again after sustaining a spinal injury, and Lawrence Timmons went to Miami after the Steelers decided not to re-...

… teammates finally hammer him Let’s place the Le’Veon Bell fiasco as the Steelers are preparing for their first game on Sunday squarely where it belongs: On Coach Mike Tomlin. Bell, just a few days before the first game, has still not shown up for practice. For the second consecutive season, Bell has skipped preseason camp. What does that do for the morale of the team, regardless of how good you are? After he skipped last year, Tomlin did not discipline him. Just as he did not discipline Antonio Brown for his Facebook fiasco prior to the AFC championship game two year ago. Just as he …. in short, Tomlin, who came in as a tough disciplinarian 11 years ago, has lost control of his team. And Bell’s teammates are outraged: “He’s making 7 times what I make twice as much as Al (Villanueva) is making and we’re the guys who do it for him.” That is from guard Ramon Foster, who is outraged, along with center Maurkice Pouncey, who praised James Connor, who will take Bell’s place in the startin...

… will probably erect a statue to Urban Meyer  Something is wrong with this story. A July article on the Deadspin website said that “Michigan State will pay a total of $425 million to the 333 survivors who have already come forward, with an additional $75 million set aside for any survivors who are not yet known …” This is the result of decades of abuse by former Dr. Larry Nasser, who has been convicted of a variety of sexual abuse crimes and will spend the rest of his life in prison. In January, the Detroit Free Press newspaper reported that after investigation by ESPN’s Outside the Lines reporters and one by the paper itself, Michigan State has covered up not just the Nasser case, but also sexual abuse by athletes in both the men’s basketball and football programs. “What isn't murky is that school officials left out damning evidence in the 2014 Title IX report regarding Larry Nassar, the doctor who was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison earlier this week for sexually abu...

… Lions struggled with Appalachian State? On paper, Saturday’s Pitt-Penn State game looked to be one that the Nittany Lions should dominate. After all, Jeff Sagarin had the Lions ranked tenth in the power rankings while Pitt was 45th. But, that was then, and this is now. Penn State escaped from Beaver Stadium with an overtime victory over Appalachian State on Saturday, and escaped was meant literally. The Nittany Lions down by a touchdown a minute and change left Saturday before pulling off an overtime win over the AppalachianState Mountaineers, ranked 71st by Sagarin. Pitt, meanwhile, coasted to an was win over Albany, a former Northeast Conference power that was ranked 174th by Sagarin. So much for the rankings, which are actually meaningless and based on previous years. Now, with Pitt having a superb QB in Kenny Pickett to counter PSU’s alleged Heisman candidate, Trace McSorley, and seeing how vulnerable Penn State was in its opener, what could have been a yawner is now a bona fid...