The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Gerry Dulac handed out grades for the 2010 Steelers this morning:

His grade for the quarterbacks? An A!

Considering everything that transpired, Ben Roethlisberger’s on-field performance might have been the best of his career. His command of the offense and understanding of opposing defenses is one of the reasons he threw a career-low five INTs. His comeback victories vs. the Ravens, especially in the playoffs, were the pivotal points of the season. What’s more, the 3-1 record Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch compiled during Roethlisberger’s suspension is an accomplishment that is not to be underestimated.


To read Mr. Dulac’s full team report card, click here.



Also Today:

The Beaver County Times‘ Mike Bires looks at the future needs of the Steelers here.

Update on Shea –

I received several emails from fans with prayers for 15-year old Shea Shaw, whose photo and story I included in a “shout out” on the Super Bowl XLV messages post last week.

For those who are unfamiliar with her story…

Shea, a sophomore at Los Gatos High School and a “big fan” of Ben and the Steelers, was struck by a hit-and-run driver while walking in a crosswalk on January 8th in San Jose, California.

She has been in a coma at Valley Medical Center Hospital since that time.

But on Sunday, February 6th, she was taken off the respirator and is now breathing on her own! She still has a tough battle ahead, but Sunday was definitely a win for her and her family.

“Those thoughts and prayers are helping and we all thank you,” said family friend Marcelena Stanford. “We have all come together as friends and family to bring love and support her way, in hopes that she will wake from this coma and be able to live and thrive in her future… what has happened to Shea has touched many people in this small community, including myself. I have known Shea and her mother since March of 2000 when Shea was 4-years old. Being the mother of a 3-year old myself I simply could not imagine this happening to me. What it must feel like to my friend Cari, Shea’s mother, absolutely breaks my heart.”

She asks that you continue to keep both Shea and her family in your thoughts and prayers!


You can also visit Shea’s website and post them to her.



Also Today:

A “Lil Fan” with a Big Heart –

Seven-year old Garrett Cagle celebrated his birthday last weekend with a Steelers-themed party, wearing his favorite jersey and treating his friends to some delicious “Terrible Towel” cake. He even had black & gold balloons!

But according to his mother, Tammy, he wanted his guests to bring something for others….

Garrett asked everyone to bring a canned food item for the food pantry at his church because he said, “Ben would want us to do something […]

From the NFL blog of Luis Deloureiro of NFL Stat Analysis, which appeared in the New York Times today:

Before Super Bowl XLV, many experts and pundits started speculating about Ben Roethlisberger’s Hall of Fame credentials if the Steelers defeated the Packers. Some thought that a third Super Bowl title would mean very close to automatic enshrinement; others thought it was too soon to discuss the topic, given Roethlisberger’s limited body of work.

But Roethlisberger failed to get his third ring, so the conversation is moot, right?

I looked at Roethlisberger’s career – even with the loss in Super Bowl XLV – and there is a pretty compelling argument that Roethlisberger is all but in the Hall already.

I compared Roethlisberger’s career with two quarterbacks who were recently enshrined in Canton as first-ballot Hall of Famers: Jim Kelly and Troy Aikman.

At the risk of oversimplification, I conducted my research under the premise that a player’s credentials are based on a combination of statistics and winning…


To read Mr. Deloureiro’s argument, click here.

at the best moments from the 2010 Steelers season:

After ending the pre-season 3-1 the Steelers won their first 3 games…


September 12th – Steelers 15, Falcons 9

“The chips were against us there at the end . Troy made a great play, and you think you just kick the field goal, and you win. Sometimes that doesn’t happen, and you have to go back out there and make a stop. That was big.” — Brett Keisel, during his post-game comments.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Ray Fittipaldo:

For a while there Sunday afternoon the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons was looking a lot like many games for the defense last season. The offense handed the defense a lead in the fourth quarter, and the defense allowed a tying score.

But when the game was on the line the defense created two opportunities for the offense to win the game.

Dennis Dixon has started two games and both have gone into overtime. Dixon was the quarterback Nov. 29 when the Ravens beat the Steelers, 20-17.



September 9th – Steelers 19, Titans 11

“We are pleased to be 2-0, but we are not astounded by it. We’re capable.” — Coach Tomlin after the win.

From the Beaver County Times‘ Mike Bires:

That the Pittsburgh Steelers sit atop the AFC North standings after two weeks is surprising in itself. But how they got there is nothing short of mind boggling.

They’ve won two games, but have scored only one offensive touchdown.

They ascended to first place in the division with basically their third and fourth quarterbacks.

They lost Dennis Dixon with a left knee injury in the second quarter and had to play Charlie Batch.



September 23rd – Steelers 38, Buccaneers 13

“We knew he had a good arm. It did kind of surprise me they made those plays down the field.” — Buccaneers strong safety Sean Jones, talking about the play of Charlie Batch.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review‘s Scott Brown:

Charlie Batch, with his sizzling play, evoked a different time than the recent period in which […]

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Ron Cook today:

As the NFL season progressed and big offensive tackle Flozell Adams continued to show up for the Steelers despite a new and different part of his 35-year-old body aching every week, his teammates made it their goal to win Super Bowl XLV for him and get him the championship that had eluded him for 12 long years as a pro.

When they came up a little short in the 31-25 loss to the Green Bay Packers Sunday night, the devastation in their locker room was evident in every corner.

But it was Adams who found the strength to set aside the pain from a loss that cost these Steelers a chance to take on dynastic proportions with a third Super Bowl title in six years, not to mention a bum right shoulder that was badly damaged early in the game. He put things in just the right perspective.

“Even though we lost, it was still a great season.”

A fabulous season, actually.

I hope you can see that through your tears…


To read Mr. Cook’s column, click here.

Steelers 25, Packers 31

Ben threw 25-40 with 263 total yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get a rally going in the final two minutes.


“It’s on my shoulders,” Ben said in an interview that aired on NFL Network after the loss. “We didn’t play good and we dug ourselves a hole…No excuses. Just can’t do it. Regardless of the situation, you just can’t turn the ball over.

“This game, it’s a crazy game. The ball’s got to bounce your way sometimes. And sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. You’ve got to give them credit. They’re a good football team and they got after us.”


You can watch his interview here.


From his press conference:

On the loss –

“It was hard-fought. Obviously, it’s disappointing to lose.For me, it’s even more disappointing because you feel like you let a lot of people down that stood up today to fight – people like Doug Lekursky, Trai Essex, Ramon Foster, Antwaan Randle El. Personally, I feel like I let a lot of people down.”


On not getting a win for Hines Ward –

“I mean, it’s hard to…people like that just play with grit and determination. We’ve got guys like Chris Kemoeatu who’s cramping in both legs, yet he still gets out there in the last couple of drives. We’ve got guys that just are not going to quit fighting. Mike Wallace hurts his shoulder early on. I mean, we’ve got so many things that banged us up. Emmanuel Sanders does something to his foot and can’t play the rest of the game. Guys have got to step up and they did that. That’s why I’m so proud of these guys, because you’ve got leaders like Hines that no matter what just keep taking shots and just keeps getting up and keeps fighting to win it.”


On how confident they were that they would be able “come back” as they did in their last two Super Bowl appearances –

“Yeah, you feel pretty good. You like your chances obviously. We either had one timeout or no timeouts and it was going to be tough, but you never stop believing.”


On the play to Mike Wallace in the end zone that may have changed the game –

“This is a tough game […]