Chuck Noll is the man behind Steelers' success
After Chuck Noll took over as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 - Joe Paterno rejected the job - his first three teams won a dozen games. In the day of the 14-game season, then, Pittsburgh began an inglorious 12-30 under Noll.
Just off the top, I'd say there are few better ways to become an ex-coach than to win barely a quarter of your first 42 games.
But here's the thing about the Steelers: a 28.6 winning percentage over three years wasn't really all that bad - for them. It was more along the lines of "sub-par," because the Steelers for the first 35 years of their life were one seriously putrid NFL franchise.
I'll try to go easy with the assault of numbers. Just understand that the Steelers - they were the Pirates from 1933 to '40 - from their birth until '68, won more games than they lost in a season just seven times.
Say what you will about ownership's famous patience with Noll, a patience long gone from sports by the way, but come on. What did the Steelers know about NFL success, except that it belonged to others?
Noll, of course, eventually made the investment in him pay interest that compounded again last weekend with Pittsburgh's record sixth Super Bowl title in 30 years.
Coach Mike Tomlin rightfully deserves his praise for shepherding his second Steelers squad to the top through a bone-shaking schedule and challenging injury circumstances.
The same, obviously, of Bill Cowher, who over 15 years won the '06 Super Bowl, nine division titles and 62 percent of his regular-season games. So, too, for the Rooney family that has famously hired just those three head coaches in 40 years, a staggering fact.
But we should remember that every triumph the Steelers have had, and any they will have, traces to Noll, who brought light and life to a barren land.
In 23 years, from the time he was age 37 to 59, Noll laid a foundation of selfless effort and punishing defense that constitutes the Steeler Way. Cowher, with his jutting chin and scowl, and Tomlin, with his intense glare, were natural successors in the House of Noll that finds itself dressed in confetti once again.
It's far from coincidence. Everybody knows what a Steeler is, and what is expected of a Steeler. The athletes who come to play in Pittsburgh understand, as do all wavers of Terrible Towels.
What's a Cowboy? A Lion? A Seahawk? It's all over the map. By and large, a Steeler presents one mental picture: that of a football player playing football hard and rugged and leathery. The more mud and snow flurries, the better.
That's Noll.
Noll's leadership kicked in in 1972, when the Steelers won 11 games for the first time, and it cemented two years later when they won the first of four Super Bowls in six years.
The real jump-start came from Pittsburgh's legendary 1974 draft class that included Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster. The Steelers drafted Mean Joe Green in '69, and quarterback Terry Bradshaw arrived because the Steelers won a coin flip for the top pick in 1970.
Those men were the heart of it, and they're all in the Hall of Fame. The head of it, also in the Hall, is 77 now and living purposely out of the spotlight. Noll coached the same way.
For him, the Steelers' play did the talking. That voice remains firm and strong.
(c) 1993-2009, HamptonRoads.com
Twenty-two seconds difference for Steelers
For only one play, everything Kurt Warner figured was wrong.
From the common sense approach he took to a bread-and-butter play, to the ill-fated throw he made that ultimately decided his team's fate.
For sure, his Arizona Cardinals played well. For more than 59 minutes, they may have been better than the Pittsburgh Steelers. And for all the drama and tension and sweaty palms and historically clutch plays that highlighted a raucous final three minutes in the fourth quarter, it was the 22 seconds the Steelers were better at the end of the first half that made them Super Bowl XLIII champions.
Don't forget that. Most Valuable Player Santonio Holmes' impossible touchdown reception with 35 seconds to go is what sealed Pittsburgh's dramatic, 27-23, victory. But it was that pass in the first half that made it possible.
The Super Bowl is so much about the hype that it almost never can live up to it. Yet, all the talk leading up to Super Bowl XLIII about the clash between the old breed of Steelers coaches and the new one turned out to be the story of a Sunday night that forever will be remembered as one of the best title games ever played.
It was the former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt - now the head coach of the Cardinals - against Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Whisenhunt, a genius of a play caller who helped guide the Steelers to an offensive resurgence and a Super Bowl championship after the 2005 season. LeBeau, the innovator of the fire zone blitz that has defined Steelers football and confounded opposing offenses for the better part of the last decade.
Whisenhunt knew everything about LeBeau's schemes from their days coaching on the same sideline. LeBeau had seen every trick Whisenhunt had up his sleeve for the same reason.
On that critical play in the final seconds of the first half, it came down to calls and execution. Whisenhunt's offense. And LeBeau's defense.
Arizona had the momentum, the ball inside Pittsburgh's 5-yard line, and a chance to take a 14-10 lead into halftime if it could just punch the ball through the Steelers defense and over the goal line.
The Cardinals had their play, too. Warner would take the snap under center, make a quick three-step drop, and try to glide the ball into the hands of Anquan Boldin, who would run a slant from the left.
Maybe they got lucky. Maybe all those practices during all those years together gave them every inkling as to what was coming next. But LeBeau and the Steelers concocted the perfect counter to Arizona's play.
They blitzed. All of them. All, anyway, except the one guy everyone in the world would expect.
During Super Bowl media day last Wednesday, Steelers linebacker and NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison complained - facetiously perhaps - that LeBeau's game plan called for too much pass coverage for his liking and not enough pass rushing.
"I don't like it," he repeated again and again. "I don't like it."
But on that key play, while every linebacker the Steelers had on the field stormed into the Arizona offensive line and toward Warner, he took a hard one-step fake and dropped back into the left flat.
It was right to the spot Boldin was running.
In the face of the angry rush, Warner did what quarterbacks are taught to do: He threw a pass to a spot that should have been open, a spot common sense said would be open. After all, what were the odds that the only linebacker who wasn't going to rush would be the only one covering a pass?
But Harrison was there. The pass sailed right into his chest. And he returned it 100 exhausting yards for a Steelers touchdown with no time left in the half.
It could have been 14-10 in favor of Arizona. It wound up 17-7 in favor of the Steelers.
A 14-point swing in a game that wound up being decided by four points.
It will go down as one of the most important plays in Super Bowl history. It should go down as one of the great calls ever by a defensive coordinator.
Symbolically, it's the story of these Pittsburgh Steelers. Who knows if this unit that led the NFL in total defense the last two seasons and has been one of the most irresistible forces in the league since 1994 will be remembered by history as the best ever? In all likelihood, it won't even be considered the best defense in Steelers history - the Steel Curtain of the 1970s may forever clutch that honor in their ring-loaded fists.
But these Steelers were as tough as they come when it mattered. All season long, with the game on the line and time on their side, they were the ones who made plays like this. They were the ones who wouldn't break when put to the test.
By Sunday's end, the Cardinals had a chance because they made almost every play they could against the nastiest defense the NFL had to offer.
They ultimately lost because they didn't make the one they had to have.
The Pittsburgh Steelers made that one. And they have the Vince Lombardi Trophy to prove it.
thetimes-tribune.com
Steelers, Cardinals Arrive In Tampa For Super Bowl Week
TAMPA - The Pittsburgh Steelers got to Tampa first. The Arizona Cardinals followed shortly after.
The Steelers arrived via US Airways charter at Tampa International Airport just before noon today to resume preparations for Super Bowl XLIII.
The Cardinals' Northwest charter came in about 2:45 p.m. As the plane taxied to a stop, the pilot waved a Cardinals flag out the cockpit window.
Before the Cardinals left Phoenix about 11:15 this morning, a pep rally was held at Sky Harbor International Airport. Team president Michael Bidwell, Coach Ken Whisenhunt, quarterback Kurt Warner and defensive end Bertrand Berry addressed the crowd.
"It's Arizona's time to shock the world," Whisenhunt told fans, who watched players board the plane after buses arrived on the tarmac.
Both teams will have news conferences today at their respective hotels, the Steelers at the InterContinental Tampa and the Cardinals at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.
Tuesday marks the annual media day for both teams at Raymond James Stadium.
The Cardinals will practice this week at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice facility. The Steelers will practice at the University of South Florida.
(c)2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC
Arizona Cardinals Are Going To The Superbowl And Jesus Is Happy
Of course I had the Arizona Cardinals as my preseason pick to go to the Super Bowl.
With the help of Kurt Warner's favorite drinking buddy, The Lord, the Cardinals were able to hold off a late Eagles surge and pave their way to the Home of Hooters, Tampa, FL.
I am truly believing that Kurt Warner has been given the green light from Jesus Christ to maneuver his way into yet another Super Bowl.
Warner, who will be making his first appearance in the Super Bowl since February 2002, when his St. Louis Rams were upset by New England and Stetson Man, Tom Brady in New Orleans.
They will face the Pittsburgh Steelers and their vaunted faithful allegiance of Thousands of Pittsburgh fans nationwide who will be annoying as hell wearing that damn Yellow and Black, whom they ripped off of the great Tag Team duo, The Killer Bee's.
Some Hump Musings~
Larry Fitzgerald
We officially have a Man Crush on this dude. He is an absolute beast. Fitzgerald's 419 yards receiving broke Jerry Rice's one-year playoff record of 408 yards, set in 1988 (The same year that Cameo's Hit Single, Word Up was rocking the charts).
And his three-touchdown catches against the Eagles tied another playoff record, and set the mark for most receiving scores in one half.
Larry is Legend.
Pittsburgh Defense
These guys are a wrecking Ball of a crew. Troy Polamalu is a video game character. This guy throws his body around like a rag doll. (*Note~I never knew what a rag doll was and why it has been consistently being tossed around?) The only way to contain Mr. Polamalu is to yank on those locks of hair dude.
Neil Lomax
Somewhere, Somehow, Neil Lomax is going to be interviewed about the stretch of Cardinals mediocrity over the past 30 years. I am sure Mr. Lomax is somewhere playing golf wishing that he had one crack at a Super Bowl ring.
He is a pretty bad ass golfer on that Celebrity/Pro-Athlete golf tour. Lomax is the president of ProMax Event Management and is an avid golfer and a devout Christian (see-Kurt Warner).
For the 2005 OSAA Football season, Lomax served as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the Tigard High School Tigers in Tigard, Oregon. He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Thanks Wikipedia!
The Mentalist
I wasn't sure if you caught it, but apparently a show called The Mentalist was playing after the Ravens/Steelers game? Jesus Effen Christ did they run that commercial about 974 times last night. Well, it worked, because I tuned in and sat through an episode. Damn them Mainstream media outlets for making me watch these lame duck Crime drama's.
Simon Baker is the lead and stars as Patrick Jane, an independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his razor sharp skills of observation.
He also makes frequent use of his mentalist abilities to lead witnesses or offenders into offering the actual facts of the case, as known only to them. Clever CBS, and pretty sneaky sis.
Copyright (c) 2008 Bleacher Report, Inc
Ravens' offense needs to step it up
The Ravens victory over the Titans on Saturday night had a very familiar look and feel to it. When the Ravens traveled to Nashville back in January of 2001 to take on Jeff Fisher's No. 1 seeded 13-3 squad in a Divisional Playoff after winning a wild card game, they were beaten on the field convincingly in all facets of the game.
Back then, the Ravens were outgained to the tune of 317 yards to 134. In this year's Divisional Playoff showdown, six days removed from a wild card playoff victory over the Miami Dolphins, the Ravens again fell far short of the No. 1 seeded Tennessee Titans (again 13-3) in yards gained (391-211). In 2001 the Titans had 17 (23-6) more first downs than the Ravens while controlling the ball for 40:29. This time around Tennessee moved the sticks 12 more times than the Ravens (21-9) and held on to the ball for 34:07 even with leading rusher Chris Johnson on the sidelines for more than half the game.
Fortunately for the Ravens the striking similarities don't end there. Despite being beaten up and down the field, they outpaced the Titans in the only measurement that really counts - the scoreboard.
And again they've earned a chance to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
The feelings of deja vu are hard to ignore and it's difficult to not view the Ravens as a team of destiny particularly with the less than flattering expectations entering the season. But if the Ravens don't make philosophical changes to the way they approach Sunday's game offensively the only thing they are destined for is watching the Super Bowl at home on February 1.
Let's make no mistake about it, the '08 Ravens defense is not on par with the Super Bowl winning defense. Moreover, the '08 Pittsburgh Steelers are not the '00 Oakland Raiders. Put it together and the conclusion is clear and present - Rex Ryan's unit can't carry the team through the land of steel. The truth be told, they looked a bit fatigued against the Titans. You only need to look at some rather shoddy tackling for proof.
The Ravens offense must show up!
Cam Cameron must attack the Steelers defense and if he thinks for a second that he can bring the same conservative, unimaginative Billick-esque game plan to Pittsburgh that he traveled to Tennessee with and be successful, he is in for a rude Terrible Towel awakening on what promises to be a frosty night in Western PA.
If Cameron does employ the passive, play-not-to-lose approach in Pittsburgh, the Steelers will flat out make the Ravens one dimensional and force them into many third and long situations. That will be music to the pinned back ears of James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. And that will force turnovers and force the Ravens consequently into a long winter's nap.
During the regular season the Ravens were the fourth best rushing offense producing 148.5 yards per game on average - less than 9 yards behind the league leading Giants. On Saturday Titans' defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, just as he did in the '04 playoff game at M&T, dared the Ravens to throw. Regularly he jammed 8, sometimes 9 players in the box to choke off the Ravens' running game.
Mission accomplished.
The Ravens ran thirty times for a paltry 50 yards. They ran it 12 times out of a possible 18 first down plays and produced 34 yards. Eight of their rushing plays were for losses and one went for no gain. The failure to run effectively forced the Ravens into many difficult to manage third down attempts. Overall they were 3 of 13 on third down with six of those attempts being from 10 or more yards away from the first down marker. On average the Ravens' faced third down attempts of 8.3 yards.
Something has to give here and it probably won't be the Steelers. They've done a nice job of protecting the football of late and didn't turn it over once against the Chargers. The Ravens have feasted on turnovers thus far in the playoffs but such treats will likely be few and far between at Heinz Field.
The Steelers front 7 is as good as there is in the league. And as solid as Troy Polamalu is inside the box defending the run he is almost equally vulnerable defending the intermediate and deep pass. Bryant McFadden and Ike Taylor aren't exactly prototypical cover corners and they've been protected to a large extent by Pittsburgh's impressive defensive front and their ability to get after the quarterback, particularly when opponents are forced to pass.
In the first half yesterday, Philip Rivers was 4 of 5 for 77 yards and a TD on first down passes. On first down runs, the Chargers managed 6 yards on 6 carries. On the entire day even as San Diego saw the game slipping away and being forced to throw, Rivers was 10 of 16 for 133 yards, 2 scores and an interception when throwing on first down.
Against the Steelers it's important to set up the run with the pass.
The Ravens cannot be meek or sheepish. The meek may inherit the Earth but they don't win in the NFL during the postseason.
Yes the Ravens have played with a ton of heart this season. Their perseverance is impressive and their will inspiring. But to advance to the Super Bowl, they need to unleash Joe Flacco. They need to stop buying into the "he's just a rookie" discussion.
So what, he's a rookie - but he's an uncommon one and they need to let him make plays. They need to let him be a quarterback and not just a caretaker. If the Ravens stare down third downs of 8.3 yards on average against the Steelers, Flacco will not stay clean and he will be forced into game altering mistakes. Make no mistake about that!
So Cam it's up to you... get busy living or get busy dying.
Get busy attacking or watch your quarterback be attacked.
The choice is yours and hopefully you will make the right one come Sunday.
Copyright 24x7 Network, LLC
Redemption for Hochuli
No, you weren't imagining it. That was indeed Ed Hochuli officiating an AFC first-round playoff game between Baltimore and Miami. You'll recall Hochuli was the referee who all but cost San Diego the game in a 39-38 loss to Denver in late September by admittedly blowing a call.
So what was Hochuli doing anywhere near Dolphins Stadium on Sunday?
Turns out Hochuli and his crew, despite that memorable gaffe, were rated the league's best during the regular season and thus earned the right to call a playoff game. Amazing considering how much vitriol San Diego fans directed at Hochuli in the days following perhaps the most infamous missed call in pro football history.
The call in question came with the Broncos at the Chargers 1-yard line in the final minute. As quarterback Jay Cutler dropped back to pass, the ball slipped out of his hand and bounced into the arms of linebacker Tim Dobbins.
Hochuli ruled it an incomplete pass. Replays clearly showed Cutler had fumbled, but the ball was spotted at the 10-yard line where it had hit the ground, with Denver retaining possession. By rule the play was not open to a coach's challenge because Hochuli had whistled it dead.
The Broncos went on to score a touchdown and added a two-point conversion to win by a point.
The Chargers struggled thereafter until December, when they won four straight games to win the AFC West. Hochuli must have been the happiest man outside the Chargers locker room on Saturday after San Diego rallied to beat Indianapolis, 23-17, in overtime in the first round of the AFC playoffs.
What a fitting game for Hochuli to be officiating on Sunday too. Neither Baltimore nor Miami were supposed to be in the playoffs either, but both teams defied long odds to get there. The Ravens were 5-11 last season and earned a wild-card berth with a rookie quarterback and head coach. The Dolphins, meantime, were from 1-15 to 11-1 champions of the AFC East with another rookie head coach.
It was a satisfying resolution for Hochuli, who proved one bad call doesn't make a bad official.
Hochuli did what nine out of 10 officials wouldn't do after a blown call: He held himself accountable. Hochuli took the time to answer hundreds of presumably profanity-laiden e-mails from Chargers fans and spoke openly about the mistake.
"I'm getting hundreds of e-mails -- hate mail -- but I'm responding to it all," Hochuli wrote to several Chargers fans, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. "People deserve a response. You can rest assured that nothing anyone can say can make me feel worse than I already feel about my mistake on the fumble play. You have no idea. . . Affecting the outcome of a game is a devastating feeling. Officials strive for perfection. I failed miserably. Although it does no good to say it, I am very, very sorry."
Other officials would do well to follow Hochuli's example. He certainly earned the respect of coaches and players around the league for not just admitting his error but talking frankly about it. Here's hoping Hochuli gets to work more playoff games and has many years of officiating left in him.
(c)Copyright 1996-2009 The Washington Post Company
Lions fire Marinelli after record-breaking season
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -- Rod Marinelli will be remembered as the first and perhaps only coach of an 0-16 team in NFL history.
If someone recognizes Marinelli for that dubious distinction in the future, he won't put up a fight.
"I'd accept it and move on," Marinelli said Monday being fired by the Detroit Lions. "I wouldn't give an excuse and I wouldn't give an explanation."
Even on Marinelli's way out, he wouldn't blame former president Matt Millen for making his job moot because of the talent-deprived roster he had for three seasons.
"I've said it all year long, `It starts with me,'" he said.
The Lions started their offseason Monday morning, a day after they became the NFL's first 0-16 team, by firing Marinelli and promoting the leaders of the front office.
"You can't go 0-16 and expect to keep your job," Marinelli said.
The leaders of Detroit's front office, though, did just that.
Lions owner William Clay Ford elevated Tom Lewand to team president and Martin Mayhew to general manager.
Ford also dismissed defensive coordinator Joe Barry, Marinelli's son-in-law, assistant offensive line coach Mike Barry, his son-in-law's dad, and secondary coach Jimmy Lake.
Defensive line coach Joe Cullen's contract was not renewed and offensive coordinator Jim Colletto was demoted to offensive line coach.
The Lions now will search for their sixth coach since 2000. They have received permission to interview Washington Redskins secondary coach Jerry Gray, who was a teammate of Mayhew's in 1993 with the Buccaneers.
Other possible candidates might include Brian Billick, who helped the Baltimore Ravens win a Super Bowl, and New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
The Lions completed their winless season with a loss to Green Bay on Sunday, pushing aside Tampa Bay's 1976 season of 0-14 as the league's worst. Marinelli, though, said the team was not the worst ever in his opinion because the players didn't quit, pout or point fingers.
He won only one of his last 24 games and was 10-38 in three years after Millen gave the former Bucs assistant his first head coaching job.
Marinelli was the third coach Millen hired - following Steve Mariucci and Marty Mornhinweg - in what has been the NFL's worst eight-season stretch (31-97) for a team since World War II. Millen inherited Gary Moeller in 2001, fired him, and had Dick Jauron as an interim coach after firing Mariucci.
Millen was fired as team president three months ago, but the players he left behind, coupled with the former Tampa Bay players Marinelli wanted, created the perfect storm for a historic season of futility.
Marinelli acknowledged he misjudged what some of those former Bucs had left in their playing careers. He also, in a rare second-guessing moment, wondered if he raised the bar too quickly after Detroit started 6-2 last season.
"I've wrestled with that one a lot and I go back to that following week," he said. "We talked about the playoffs. I don't want to believe that was it, but once I started down that road and I have not done that before ... we lost something."
The Lions dropped seven of their last eight games last year, foreshadowing the miserable season that just mercifully ended.
Marinelli waited for three decades to be a head coach. He finally got his chance with a franchise in the middle of one of the worst eras of futility in NFL history.
"I can't say he's a bad coach," quarterback Dan Orlovsky said. "I just think he was put in a really difficult situation."
The Vietnam veteran's relentless ways helped him make a deliberate rise through life and the coaching ranks.
The 59-year-old Marinelli grew up in Rosemead, Calif., a working-class town near Los Angeles. His coaching career started in 1973 as an assistant at his alma mater, Rosemead High School, where the football field is named after him.
Marinelli went on to work on the staffs at Utah State, California, Arizona State and Southern California before Tony Dungy gave him a shot in 1996 to work in the NFL as defensive line coach in Tampa Bay.
A decade later, Detroit was desperately looking for a coach to turn around the laughingstock of the league. Millen hired Marinelli after an extensive search.
Now, the Lions are looking for another coach to take on the monumental task of turning them into a winner.
Again.
Copyright (c) 2008 The Associated Press
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