Black and Gold

Business as usual: Win

2012-02-01T03:17:00.000-08:00

By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
February 1, 2012

Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin (71) gets a shootout goal past Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. The Penguins won 5-4. (AP)

In a conference room Tuesday night high above the Consol Energy Center ice, Penguins general manager Ray Shero and upbeat superstar Sidney Crosby spoke hopefully about the future but stopped well short of predicting when it might arrive. At the same time, the other Penguins players prepared to play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the here and now. It was business as usual for them. It's always business as usual for those guys, isn't it?

I want to focus on that group of players. They deserve our attention and respect. They command it, actually.

The Penguins started the unofficial second half of the NHL season by stealing a 5-4 shootout win. For much of the game, they played horribly, allowing one odd-man Toronto rush after another and torturing goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury as they fell into a deep, dark 4-1 hole that easily could have been 6-1 or even 8-1 if not for Fleury's brilliance. But in the final 11 1/2 minutes, against a team that had been 18-0 when leading after two periods, the Penguins got goals from Steve Sullivan, Joe Vitale and -- who else -- Evgeni Malkin with 6.6 seconds left to force a 4-4 tie. They then won in the shootout when Malkin scored a goal and Fleury made three more saves. It was their eighth consecutive win.

"I'm not sure we deserved the fate we got [Tuesday night]," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "That wasn't a lot of what we want to see on the ice."

OK, so maybe the Penguins failed technically. Maybe they didn't play Bylsma's system to anything close to perfection. Certainly, they were lucky to win. Certainly, they will have to play much better tonight in the second half of the home-and-home against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

But I can't help but think this game was symbolic of what the Penguins have been able to accomplish without Crosby, not just this season but last. Against tough odds, they find a way a lot more often than not. They are 24-15-3 without Crosby this season, 47-28-8 in the 83 regular-season games he has missed in the past 13 months because of his concussion-like symptoms.

I don't know about you, those numbers amaze me.

Sure, it has been a brutal ride for Crosby, wondering if, when and for how long he will be able to play again. "He's a hockey player ... He wants to play hockey," Shero said. But the ups and downs of Crosby's increasingly bizarre recovery also have been tough on his teammates. They, too, have had a turbulent journey.

The latest Crosby medical news is positive, at least as it was presented in that conference room. Crosby doesn't have and never had a fracture in his neck. Instead, the most recent diagnosis is a soft-tissue neck injury, which could be causing his concussion symptoms and can be treated. It's encouraging to Crosby because "it's something I can work on rather than sitting around and hoping [for the symptoms to subside]."

The other Penguins also are optimistic that Crosby now will be able to make a quick return to the lineup. It's not just that he's their captain, their leader, their best player. He's their friend. They want the best for him. They want him to be happy.

"Our only hope at this point is that he gets healthy," winger Matt Cooke said after scoring the Penguins' first goal against the Maple Leafs, his first in 20 games.

But the Penguins have been hopeful before about Crosby only to be disappointed. They were hopeful he would make it back last season after he left the team Jan. 6 after his concussion was diagnosed. He never did. They were hopeful he was back to stay this season when he returned Nov. 21 against the New York Islanders. He lasted just eight games.

"There's not always a lot of answers with this [concussion] stuff," Crosby admitted.

The other players have the right approach this time. They are eager to get Crosby back. "Believe me, we'll welcome him with open arms," Cooke said.

But until Crosby returns?

You got it.

Business as usual.

Finding a way without him.

"If we wonder or question or worry or put more emphasis on his return, we won't be as focused on the task at hand," Cooke said. "That's Toronto [tonight]. That's all we're looking at."

That's all the Penguins can look at.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author

Highlights: Penguins 5, Maple Leafs 4 (SO)

2012-02-01T02:55:00.001-08:00

The Penguins' midseason report card is in

2012-01-31T03:55:00.000-08:00

By Josh Yohe, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

OTTAWA, ON - JANUARY 28: (L-R) Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and team Chara kneels on the ice with Kris Letang #58 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and team Alfredsson during the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition at Scotiabank Place on January 28, 2012 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Penguins endured quite a rollercoaster ride during the first half of the season. There was a four-game winning streak, which was followed by a six-game losing streak, which was followed by the team's current seven-game winning streak.

There was The Return.

Then came the news release that changed everything, when the Penguins announced Dec. 7 that Sidney Crosby's concussion symptoms had returned.

There were plenty of disappointments, countless injuries and a brief stint removed from the playoff picture.

Evgeni Malkin reminded everyone that he is a superstar, and James Neal became one.

Kris Letang won a game 20 minutes after sustaining a concussion. Crosby may have played eight games without knowing his neck had recently been broken.

The first half of this season was truly unlike any other. Here are some grades for the Penguins, who begin the unofficial second half of their season Tuesday night at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Forwards

Evgeni Malkin, A+: Completely recovered from ACL and MCL surgery last season, Malkin is the game's greatest player and has carried the Penguins this season. He is on pace to land his first Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.

James Neal, A+: Has evolved into a legitimate star, and isn't just a great goal scorer. Neal plays a well-rounded game that blends perfectly with Dan Bylsma's system.

Jordan Staal, A: Before he was injured, was on pace for 35 goals. His game has evolved. The Penguins won't last long in playoffs without a healthy Staal.

Chris Kunitz, A: The Penguins' most steady performer. Plays well with stars, terrific on the power play.

Pascal Dupuis, B+: Scoring touch not always consistent, but has enjoyed an excellent season. Invaluable two-way player.

Steve Sullivan, B-: Hasn't been great in five-on-five situations, but is steadying influence on power play.

Richard Park, C+: When healthy, has scored a couple of big goals. Perfectly solid fourth-line center.

Joe Vitale, C: Plays hard, physical game. Needs to produce a bit more offense.

Matt Cooke, C: Great start, and deserves credit for cleaning up game. But hasn't scored a goal in 19 games.

Craig Adams, C: Never going to produce much offensively, but penalty killing remains elite.

Arron Asham, C: Handled enforcer role well, just can't stay healthy. Usually produces in playoffs.

Tyler Kennedy, D: Not close to last season's production or level of play.

Eric Tangradi, D: Hasn't been given chance to play on top lines, nor has he done anything to warrant such an opportunity.

Sidney Crosby, Incomplete: Producing 12 points in eight games speaks for itself. So does the fact that Crosby only played in eight games. His health will likely determine how the Eastern Conference playoffs unfold.

Dustin Jeffrey, Incomplete: Shows great potential.

Steve MacIntyre, Incomplete: Hard to grade a fighter who no one will fight.

Defensemen

Kris Letang, A: One of the NHL's five best defensemen; he was sorely missed during seven-week absence.

Matt Niskanen, A-: Along with Neal, the team's most improved player. Strong all-around game.

Deryk Engelland, A-: Rarely makes mistakes. Physical. Knows his limitations. Solid as a rock.

Simon Despres, A-: No reason to think he won't be a very good NHL defenseman.

Brooks Orpik, B: Not having his best season, but has been very good during past month. Remains indisputable voice of team.

Ben Lovejoy, B-: Full body of work pretty good. When he does have a bad game, it's noticeable.

Paul Martin, C-: Improved lately, but needs to be way better.

Zbynek Michalek, C-: See Paul Martin.

Goaltenders

Marc-Andre Fleury, A: No question he is one of the NHL's five best goaltenders.

Brent Johnson, C-: Needs to be much better in second half. Fleury will need a break soon.

Coach

Dan Bylsma, A: Has fixed power play impressively and again showcased ability to keep team competitive despite injuries to so many stars.

Without Crosby, Malkin takes over for Penguins

2012-01-30T02:22:00.000-08:00

By Nicholas J. Cotsonika
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl
January 29, 2012

OTTAWA, ON - JANUARY 29: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Team Chara poses prior to the 2012 NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Place on January 29, 2012 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

OTTAWA — The only appearance Sidney Crosby made at the NHL All-Star Game was on the scoreboard screens. During a break Sunday at Scotiabank Place, there he was in a Gatorade commercial. The slogan? “Prime. Perform. Recover.”

That last part, of course, can be tricky.

The news that Crosby had a neck injury along with a concussion overshadowed this marketing event, along with other doom-and-gloom stuff like the future of the Phoenix Coyotes, the financial problems of the New Jersey Devils and the looming labor negotiations.

But if there is a silver lining, it is this: Even though the Pittsburgh Penguins don’t have the best player in hockey, they still have the best player in hockey.

His name is Evgeni Malkin .

Remember him? He once won a scoring title and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player. He finished second for the Hart Trophy as the regular-season MVP in back-to-back years.

He’s healthy for the first time since 2009, seems more comfortable in the spotlight and right now is the favorite to win another scoring title and his first Hart Trophy. He leads the NHL in scoring with 58 points. He went on a tear before the break, racking up nine goals and 13 points in six games. That helped turn a six-game losing skid into a seven-game winning streak, lifting the Penguins from ninth in the Eastern Conference to fifth.

Asked if he could win the scoring race, Malkin pointed out he wasn’t injured anymore and said: “Why not? I have great confidence now, and I try.”

Crosby hopes to come back this season, at least for the playoffs. The Penguins are cautiously optimistic. Maybe he will, and maybe he’ll pick up where he left off as he did Nov. 21, when he ended a 10-and-a-half-month absence with a two-goal, four-point performance. If he does and the Penguins’ other injured players return to full strength, Pittsburgh should have the best team in the league.

But Crosby has played only eight games in more than a year’s time now. Maybe he won’t come back, or maybe he won’t be the same when he does. We just don’t know. Hell, we don’t even know what his injury problems really are anymore, let alone the outlook.

What we do know is that Malkin is capable of carrying a team.

“It’s not easy, but he can,” said the Detroit Red Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk , a fellow Russian and a teammate at the All-Star Game. “He’s so hungry now, you can see. Every game, he have points, he have good plays.”

Malkin had them Sunday – a goal and an assist. In the first period, he finished a give-and-go with Jarome Iginla even though Iginla passed the puck into his skates. Malkin kicked the puck to his stick in close, then chipped it over the left shoulder of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on the short side. He made it look ridiculously easy. He said he didn’t even look where he was shooting.

“I think nobody understand how I got the puck in,” Malkin said.

It’s one thing to do that in a half-speed event like the All-Star Game. But Malkin does things like that at full speed. You don’t need to know anything about hockey to know if Malkin is on his game. Just grab your remote.

“You can see from even watching the game on TV that when he’s playing his game, he’s got the puck all the time,” said Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen . “Some way the puck finds him, and he’s coming through the middle.”

Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin – who won the scoring title and the Hart Trophy in 2009-10 – said he and his teammates often catch the Penguins’ 4 p.m. ET faceoffs.

“Pittsburgh’s the one team we like to watch, because they’re a good team,” Sedin said. “We watch them quite a bit. He’s got everything. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s got a great shot. He makes the players around him better. I think he’s the whole package.”

Timonen said Malkin was probably the best player in the league right now. So did Sedin. So did several other all-stars. It was almost unanimous at media day on Friday, with some honorable mentions for guys like Datsyuk and the Flyers’ Claude Giroux .

“Obviously everybody knows he’s right now the best player in the league,” said the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa , a former Penguins teammate, who is five points behind Malkin in the scoring race. “You can see the points, but also when you look at his game. He just dominates most of the games, if not every game.”

Remember that Malkin won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year in 2006-07. Remember that he didn’t miss a game the next two seasons, when he put up a combined 82 goals and 219 points – winning that scoring title and that Conn Smythe, almost winning those Harts, lifting the Cup over his head.

He played 67 games in 2009-10, dipping to 28 goals and 77 points. He played only 43 games last season, fading to only 15 goals and 37 points. He had shoulder, knee and conditioning issues, and then he suffered torn knee ligaments Feb. 4.

“I have big surgery and tough work in summer,” Malkin said.

But that tough work paid off. Before the season, Malkin told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review not to call it a comeback, because this was a new Malkin, a recommitted Malkin, not the one who was admittedly “lazy before.” He reported to training camp in top shape. He said his “motivation is now very good.”

His English isn’t very good yet, but it’s getting better. Malkin started a Twitter account. He started doing more interviews. He allowed some of his sense of humor to come out during All-Star Weekend, goofing around with reporters and teammates.

“What people don’t know about him, he likes to joke,” Hossa said. “When I was [in Pittsburgh], he just liked to joke around. Maybe you couldn’t understand everything he said, you know, but it was just fun to be around him.”

Crosby’s absence continues to cast a shadow over the NHL. If and when he does come back, he will be monitored shift to shift. He might be for the rest of his career.

But the Penguins still have to play no matter what happens, and even though their injury problems have gone deeper than Crosby, they have not lowered their goals at all. They still have Kris Letang , Marc-Andre Fleury , James Neal and company. They still will have Jordan Staal when he returns from a knee injury.

“I want Crosby be here,” Malkin said. “I know fans miss him, of course. But we play very well now, and we try do best without Crosby.”

Their best means only one thing.

“With the lineup we have, the expectation is always high,” said Letang, who came back from a concussion and played in the All-Star Game. “We don’t see anything less than the Cup.”
Even with the injuries?

“Even with the injuries.”

Especially if Malkin can lead the way like this.

“I don’t worry what people think about Pittsburgh,” Malkin said. “I know we can do it. We can win the Stanley Cup.”

Nicholas J. Cotsonika is a hockey writer for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter. Send Nicholas a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

How do you miss a broken neck?

2012-01-30T02:13:00.000-08:00

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Monday, January 30, 2012

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 5: Sidney Crosby (notes) #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins controls the puck as Zdeno Chara (notes) #33 of the Boston Bruins gives chase in the third period on December 5, 2011 at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Boston defeated Pittsburgh 3-1. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

One can choose to study the Sidney Crosby injury saga through the maddening prism of its particulars. One could dissect every detail of every visit to every doctor to what now might be every state in our union, and that's to say nothing of possible paddle-boat excursions to see medicine men in the jungles of Brazil and Burundi.

Just wait till those hit the Canadian tabloids.

But, honestly, I'm as weary of all the minutiae as most Pittsburghers. It's becoming increasingly difficult to make sense of the big-picture perspective.

So let's try something simpler and focus solely on two dates.

On Jan. 1, 2011, Crosby was blindsided in the head by Washington's David Steckel during the Winter Classic. The Penguins' captain crashed to the ice and was, by his recollection ... well, actually, he had no recollection.

"I couldn't even tell you what happened," Crosby said that night, his dazed eyes visible to most of us in Heinz Field's news conference room. "The puck was going the other way, and I turned. Next thing I know, I'm down. So I can't really comment."

Crosby went on to say he felt some "neck soreness." That soon became the official diagnosis.

On Jan. 28, 2012 — that was Saturday — the Penguins commented on reports swirling around the NHL's All-Star festivities in Ottawa that Crosby had sustained a neck injury. The Tribune-Review's Rob Rossi reported that this injury consisted of cracks in his two uppermost vertebrae, the C1 and C2.

Sticking with the simple theme, that's what we commoners call a BROKEN NECK.

This was the Penguins' statement, not attributed to any individual: "The diagnosis of Dr. Robert S. Bray, a neurological spine specialist based in Los Angeles, is that Sidney Crosby had suffered a neck injury in addition to a concussion. Dr. Bray reports that the neck injury is fully healed. Those findings will be evaluated by independent specialists over the next few days. The most important goal all along has been Sidney's return to full health, and we are encouraged that progress continues to be made."

Well, that's reassuring.

But, hey, if it's all the same to that unnamed soother of souls, I've still got a couple of small questions based entirely on the two events just cited:

1. A BROKEN NECK?

Really?

Fractures do get missed, even in the high-stakes world of sports medicine. Last summer, for example, the Pirates took embarrassingly too long to diagnose first baseman Derrek Lee and outfielder Jose Tabata with hairline fractures of the wrist.

But after the athlete complains on a global stage about "neck soreness?"

If Bray's findings are correct, the various people assembled by the Penguins and Crosby to treat his ailment have some serious explaining to do.

2. Fully healed?

The Penguins' statement specifies that Bray deemed the vertebrae "fully healed," which means he either peered back into Crosby's past to determine they once were cracked, or the BROKEN NECK was found in the same week that it mystically healed itself in the California sunshine.

It's understandable that the Penguins want other specialists to confirm a retroactive diagnosis.

But it's telling, yet again, that the team and Crosby clearly still aren't in sync on the issue of his health.

Even with regard to the $8.7 million question as to whether Crosby sustained a concussion Dec. 5 when elbowed by Boston's David Krejci, there remains a fundamental disagreement: The Penguins have stated repeatedly that Crosby is out with "concussion-like symptoms." But Crosby's agent, Pat Brisson, was quoted by Canada's CBC network as saying Crosby did, indeed, sustain a second concussion. Brisson later denied saying that.

This sort of thing has been going on for several months now, and it must change.

It's very much the intent of team owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, as well as general manager Ray Shero, to sign Crosby to a long-term contract before the current one expires in summer 2013. I believe front office personnel when they say that, just as I believed Crosby when he told me a couple weeks ago that he loves Pittsburgh and wants to stay. It's the right move, even with Crosby's health questions.

But all concerned would benefit from a come-to-Mario moment right about now, and the word Sunday that Lemieux and Crosby watched the All-Star events on TV at Lemieux's place might be an encouraging precursor.

If nothing else, it could be a sign that Crosby doesn't blame the Penguins for failing to diagnose a BROKEN NECK.

End of an era for Steelers defensive line

2012-01-27T02:35:00.000-08:00

By Mike Bires
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
January 27, 2012

Brett Kiesel, Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith (Duane Reider/Whirl Magazine)

PITTSBURGH — Although it wasn’t a full-blown retirement dinner, Chris Hoke couldn’t have asked for a better farewell meal.

Not only did Hoke break bread with team president Art Rooney II and coach Mike Tomlin, but also seated at his cafeteria table at Steelers’ headquarters Thursday were a trio of veterans sure to be remembered as three of the finest at their positions in the franchise’s proud history.

Aaron Smith. Casey Hampton. Brett Keisel.

Over the past several seasons, those three provided excellence on the defensive line. They comprised the second-best defensive front in the team’s first 79 years of the existence.

The “Steel Curtain” of the 1970s is one of the most famous front fours in NFL annals. But the Smith, Hampton and Keisel collaboration has been special, too.

Smith and Keisel, defensive ends in the Steelers’ 3-4 scheme, have each played in one Pro Bowl. Hampton, the burly nose tackle, has played in five NFL all-star games. They’ve been part of three Super Bowl experiences, including two won by the Steelers.

However, that trio will probably never play together again.

Smith will likely follow Hoke’s lead.

Hoke, the 35-year-old back-up nose tackle, announced his retirement Wednesday. Like Hoke, the 2011 season ended prematurely for Smith because of a neck injury that required surgery. Hoke cited his health reasons for calling it quits.

Smith, who turns 36 in April, should do the same. After all, he’s missed 33 of the last 48 regular-season games with injuries. His body is clearly breaking down.

Hampton, who’ll be 35 in September when the Steelers open the 2012 season, has no intentions of retiring. However, there are no guarantees he’ll be back. He’ll have surgery Friday to repair a torn knee ligament. That doesn’t bode well for a man of 350 pounds or so who’s had trouble making weight in recent years.

Plus, Hampton is due to make $4.89 million next season. With the Steelers close to $20 million over the proposed cap of $125 next season, Hampton may be cut for financial reasons.

Keisel, who’ll be 34 in September, has job security for at least one more year. But as just as Ziggy Hood replaced Smith this year, Cameron Heyward is destined to take away Keisel’s starting job in a year or so. After all, Hood (2009) and Heyward (2011) are former first-round draft picks.

And although it’s a bit early to say who the Steelers will draft in the first round this year, there’s a chance it could be Dontari Poe, a mammoth defensive tackle out of Memphis.

“History will look back very fondly on that group of guys,” Hoke said at his retirement press conference Thursday while Smith, Hampton and Keisel stood by his side in a show of support.

“You have these guys ... Casey, Brett and Aaron ... all they did was go out and work every day. They did their jobs. They will be compared and be in the same class as those (“Steel Curtain”) guys in the 70s.”

After the press conference, those four defensive linemen who bonded so well on and off the field for so many years, headed to the cafeteria.

It may have been their last lunch together.

Unflappable Malkin leads surging Penguins into all-star break on a high

2012-01-26T07:19:00.000-08:00

The Canadian Press
http://www.thehockeynews.com/
26 January 2012

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 11: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins brings the puck up the ice against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center on January 11, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Dan Byslma isn't a doctor, even though the Pittsburgh Penguins' coach sometimes sounds like one while running down his team's lengthy injured list.

So forgive Bylsma if he can't say for certain whether star centre Evgeni Malkin is fully recovered from the torn ACL in his right knee that prematurely ended the Russian's 2010-11 season.

Malkin's entertainingly broken English doesn't lend itself to adjectives, anyway. Ask Malkin how he's feeling and the Russian just smiles and says "good."

All Bylsma knows is what he sees. And at the moment he sees the 25-year-old all-star playing arguably the best hockey of his career, heady territory considering Malkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy while helping the Penguins to the 2009 Stanley Cup.

"I don't know if he's going to have another couple levels to get to 100 per cent," Bylsma said. "(If so) in six more months it's going to be really scary."

It already is.

Two weeks after Pittsburgh's season seemed on the brink of unravelling in the midst of a six-game slide, the Penguins have turned things around in the blink of one of Malkin's slap shots.

Pittsburgh enters the all-star break riding a seven-game winning streak, the franchise's longest since ripping off 12 straight in November-December 2010.

Yet that run came with the team nearly at full strength, before Sidney Crosby's odyssey to recover from concussion-like symptoms began following a pair of hits last January, before Malkin's season ended abruptly with knee issues.

This run has come with Crosby out indefinitely—again—as the symptoms returned in early December. It's also come without forward Jordan Staal, likely out another month with a knee injury.

It has come mostly on the strength of the top line of Malkin, James Neal and Chris Kunitz, who have been nearly unstoppable in the last two weeks.

The trio has scored 16 of Pittsburgh's 24 goals during the run, with Malkin's nine over the span propelling him into the NHL's points lead.

He's scoring in a variety of ways. If he's not rifling slap shots from his favourite spot in the right circle, then he's weaving through traffic or posting up in front of the net to slam in loose rebound after loose rebound.

"He's controlling the game so well right now," Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin said of his countryman. "He knows that without Crosby (their) team is good, but not that good. He's handling it well."

So well Malkin's barely batting an eye at the massive amount of ice time Bylsma is throwing his way. Malkin has played more than 20 minutes in each game during the streak, including topping 25 minutes twice, a remarkably heavy workload for a forward.

Part of it is out of necessity—he's easily the team's best player with Crosby sidelined—and part of it is out of luxury.

"There are times when he's probably gotten a lot of ice and he's still ready to handle more," Bylsma said. "He's demanding the ice time by his play."

For proof, Bylsma pointed to a pair of hustle plays by Malkin last week that helped preserve the winning streak.

In a 5-4 shootout victory over Montreal last Friday, Malkin went to the ice to block a shot, a rarity for him during a regular-season game. He preserved the tie, then won it by scoring the only goal in the shootout.

He was just as fresh in the third period against Washington on Sunday, picking himself up after getting checked, then chasing down the puck and fending off three Capitals before feeding Neal for the game-tying goal. The Penguins would eventually win in a shootout.

"The way he's playing right now, it doesn't look too much like he's getting overtaxed," Bylsma said. "There's not a cheat in the effort in those 25 minutes, and that's what you see in his game on both ends of the rink."

It's the kind of on-ice leadership the Penguins needed following a miserable stretch at the beginning of the month in which a team considered a Stanley Cup contender two months ago looked like a veritable pushover.

Six mostly lifeless losses dropped Pittsburgh to the fringe of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, with goals becoming scarce and whispers about Crosby's silence leading to questions about his commitment.

Crosby joined the team for a three-game swing through Washington and Florida, even donning his skates for the first time in over a month during a couple of light practices.

While his teammates point to the captain's presence as encouraging, they also know they couldn't wait around for No. 87 to swoop in and save the day.

Defenceman Brooks Orpik says a well-timed team meeting just before playing at Washington on Jan. 11 served as a turning point.

"I hate using the word soft, but at times we'd become easy to play against," he said.

With Crosby out of the lineup, the Penguins were so focused on trying to manufacture goals, they forgot about the other parts of the game, namely checking.

"We may not go out and fight every night but teams are going to feel like we forecheck and bounce pretty well," forward Matt Cooke said. "I think we got away from that."

Though the Capitals won 1-0 the next night, Orpik noticed a change.

"If you ask (Washington), I think they'd tell you it was one of the harder games they'd played all season," Orpik said. "When you're missing (defenceman Kris) Letang, Crosby, Staal, there's not going to be a lot of goals scored. You've got to find other ways to be hard to play against and get better in certain areas."

Lopsided wins in Florida and Tampa Bay followed, and the Penguins haven't looked back. Letang is in all-star form since returning last week, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been exceptional.

The optimism inside the dressing room has returned, led by the hottest player on the planet.

"I have great confidence now, you know?" Malkin said. "I just am enjoying the game, you know? And having fun."

Highlights: Penguins 3, Blues 2 (SO)

2012-01-25T03:36:00.000-08:00

Arians' firing makes little sense

2012-01-24T03:55:00.000-08:00

By Mark Madden
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
January 23, 2012

Is Art Rooney II qualified to run a football team in any way that goes beyond his birthright?

That doesn’t matter. The birthright does.

That truth was held to be self-evident this past week as the Steelers president, after doing a round of media self-promotion, decided to use his thunderbolts to smite Bruce Arians, relieving the offensive coordinator of his duties.

The Steelers say Arians retired. That’s a lie. The Steelers decided to not renew his contract.

Head coach Mike Tomlin wanted Arians back, having reportedly told him that since the playoff loss at Denver. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is an Arians supporter and friend, having saved his job two years ago, and is said to be miffed that Arians got dismissed. Can’t wait to hear what Roethlisberger has to say at the Pro Bowl (where Arians and his wife will be Ben’s guest).

So, who’s left? General Manager Kevin Colbert? Colbert wouldn’t overrule Tomlin in this situation.

It looks like Rooney, after saying it was “Mike’s decision,” dropped the guillotine.

Why?

The Steelers’ red-zone efficiency was dismal at Denver, leaving lots of points on the table in the first quarter. But the Steelers’ defense was pathetic all day, adjusting not one bit as Tim Tebow carved them to ribbons. Arians is the scapegoat. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is Teflon.

Looking at the regular season, the Steelers were 12th in the NFL in yards gained, just 21st in points. Not a good contrast. But the Steelers’ offense was doubtless hurt by a defense that collected just 15 takeaways, fewest in the league. The offense didn’t get many short fields, or easy points.

Receivers Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown each caught over 1,000 yards worth of passes. Roethlisberger threw for over 4,000. The Steelers sent four offensive players to Pro Bowl. That hadn’t happened since 2004.

You can’t knock the running game, either: It averaged 4.4 yards per carry, the best mark since 2001.

Looking at Arians’ five-year tenure, his offense helped the Steelers get to two Super Bowls, winning one. His successor will not have done that, or do that. Guaranteed.

Arians hasn’t always had the best players to work with, particularly on the line. When it comes to excellence, the Steelers spend on defense first. You can’t cook gourmet meals when half your ingredients are from 7-11. All things considered, Arians did fine. Overachieved, even.

So why was Arians fired? For a few debatable play calls? Why not fire Tomlin for consistently poor clock management? Or LeBeau for the debacle at Denver?

Or why not leave pretty good alone? An early playoff exit aside, 12-4 is an excellent season.

This is bizarre. This seems like a decision made by a talk-show caller. Knee-jerk. Hasty. Against the grain.

In 2010, Rooney said that he wanted the Steelers to run more. This season, they ran on 43 percent of their offensive snaps. Is that enough? Arians is the man who minimized Steelers’ icon Hines Ward. Perhaps that didn’t sit well with upper management. Word is the Steelers may bring back Aaron Smith despite injuries that sidelined him for most of the last three seasons. Tradition counts.

Maybe it counts too much.

Maybe Rooney wants to pay Roethlisberger $102 million to hand off more.

Maybe Rooney wants to pound the ball on the ground, just like granddaddy’s team. According to ESPN.com, sources say Arians was canned with an eye toward shifting “the offense back toward its blue-collar identity of years past, in line with the desires of Steelers president Art Rooney II.”

Anybody got Jerome Bettis’ number?

Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).

Highlights: Penguins 4, Capitals 3 (OT)

2012-01-23T03:27:00.000-08:00

Crosby staying the course as Olympic glory fades

2012-01-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/
January 21, 2012

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby skates during practice in Sunrise, Fla., Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Crosby skated with his teammates for the first time in more than a month on Friday but still has no idea when he'll be cleared to practice, let alone see action in a game. (AP)

PITTSBURGH (AP)—Sidney Crosby’s overtime shot to win the 2010 Olympic ice hockey final was supposed to be the last step in an ascension that seemingly began the second he laced up skates in Nova Scotia as a toddler.

The Canadians were Olympic champions. Order to the ice hockey world had been restored with one brilliant flick of Crosby’s wrist.

Sitting on the U.S. bench after the 3-2 loss, defenseman Tim Gleason watched Crosby be swarmed by his teammates and did his best to put his disappointment aside and drink it in.

“That kid is Hockey Canada, so it was almost like a too-good-to-be true story that he scored the goal,” Gleason said.

Flash forward two years. The roars have quieted, replaced by questions the ever-patient 24-year-old has grown weary of answering.

The truth is, Crosby doesn’t know when the concussion-like symptoms that have limited him to eight NHL games over the last 12 months will abate.

He doesn’t know when he’ll be able to practice at full strength, let alone play in a game. While he remains certain he’ll return to the NHL, until he’s cleared by doctors his routine will continue to consist of occasional tests, light exercise and watching the Pittsburgh Penguins fight for a playoff spot without him—then going to bed wondering how he’ll feel in the morning.

While the Penguins spent the week trying to right their season following a six-game losing streak—the team’s longest in two years—Crosby was in Atlanta visiting the chiropractic neurologist who successfully treated the 2009 NHL MVP for lingering concussion-like symptoms in mid-2011.

Crosby didn’t intend to become the league’s model on the need for increased player safety and the nexus for a harder stance on shots to the head. Yet here he is more than a year after taking a pair of vicious hits in consecutive games last January, still limited by a frustrating and frightening injury.

It’s not the way Crosby wanted to spend his prime. It’s an exquisite kind of torture.

“It’s got to be really hard on him,” Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “That’s something that people have got to know about him. I mean, at home he watches other hockey games. It’s always hockey. To take hockey away from him has got to be a lot harder on him than most of the other guys in the league.”

It’s part of the reason why Sid the Kid has become Sid the Ghost.

Though blessed with unique talents and a nearly unmatched work ethic, even in good times Crosby could be a reluctant superstar. Polite and accommodating to the last, Crosby is keenly aware of his status as the face of the NHL and all that that means.

Orpik likes to tell a story about the day after the Olympics ended, when the two Pittsburgh teammates were sitting on an airplane, Crosby with a gold medal, Orpik toting silver as a defenseman for the U.S.

Throughout the flight other passengers came up to Crosby, congratulating him and asking to see the latest addition to an already overflowing trophy case—a collection of honors that includes having his name on the 2009 Stanley Cup. Crosby wouldn’t do it. Not because he wasn’t proud, but because he didn’t want to show up his teammate.

“He’s so conscious and so worried about what people think of him he’s really careful,” Orpik said. “He didn’t want to rub it in my face … he would never be the kind of guy that would do that.”

That’s just not Crosby’s way.

He technically doesn’t even have concussion, having passed the IMPACT test administered to detect head injuries.

And there’s the problem. He looks healthy. At least on the outside. He doesn’t limp. He doesn’t need crutches. He doesn’t wear a special helmet.

He looks fine, even if he’s not.

Crosby’s not ready to call it a season much less a career. There are still nearly three months to go before the playoffs. On his good days, it doesn’t seem that far away.

Crosby won’t go out on the ice, however, unless he’s 100 percent healthy. The standard he’s set for himself is impossibly high. He won’t play if he thinks he can’t live up to it.

He needed only three shifts to put any doubts about his ability to rest during his last comeback, scoring a spectacular goal in his season debut against the New York Islanders on Nov. 21, part of a four-point night in which he showcased that yes, indeed, he does still have it. He rolled up 12 points in eight games before getting jostled around by Boston on Dec. 5 and going back to square one.

He’s running out of ways to say that he’s frustrated. He remains adamant his condition can be manageable and understands whenever he returns he could be one hit away from putting more than his career at risk.

Still, he presses on. Rumors and snarky tweets from detractors who insist on calling him “Cindy” aside, Crosby remains as popular as ever. His black No. 87 jersey is the top-seller at the Penguins’ arena. The second most popular jersey is the blue No. 87 jersey he wore at last year’s Winter Classic.

Crosby’s return against the Islanders was the second-highest rated Penguins regular season broadcast ever, only outdone by Mario Lemieux’s comeback in 2000. He finished sixth in the All-Star game voting among Eastern Conference forwards despite playing just two weeks all season.

When the league’s luminaries gather in Ottawa next weekend for the annual midseason showcase, the NHL’s brightest star will continue to hide in plain sight back in Pittsburgh, waiting for the day when the doctors tell him he can get back to being Sidney Crosby.

When Sid the Ghost can become Sid the Kid again, order to his life will be restored

Malkin mania puts Ovechkin in the shadows

2012-01-22T05:47:00.000-08:00

By Josh Yohe, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Sunday, January 22, 2012

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 19: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins reacts after scoring a goal against Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers during their game on January 19, 2012 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Alex Ovechkin's relationship with Evgeni Malkin has ranged from brotherhood to belligerence, from Olympic roommates to NHL rivals. But the Washington Capitals' falling star has no trouble reaching the consensus these days regarding his Russian countryman.

"He's the top player in the league," Ovechkin said Saturday at Consol Energy Center.

Ovechkin's tone was that of admiration.

"Malkin," he said, "right now dominates."

Almost eight years following one of the most top-heavy drafts in NHL history, the first two players selected are moving in opposite directions. Malkin, chosen No. 2, has jumped into the NHL scoring lead and is a leading candidate for MVP honors. All the while, Ovechkin's star has faded.

"The stats aren't important to me," Malkin said. "I don't worry about that. I just want to win games."

Entering Saturday's games, Malkin led the NHL in scoring and points per game. Ovechkin led the league in no categories -- except theories about his inexplicable descent. His 36 points ranked 43rd in the league, and his points-per-game average is down more than half a point from his career average.

"It does startle me," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "I am surprised that his numbers aren't there."

Bylsma said Ovechkin looks the same on the ice, but maybe that's the problem. Consider defenseman Kris Letang's assessment: "I don't think he's any different. I think that's why his numbers went down a little bit. It's always been the same. Always been the same move, same spots on the ice. I think teams watch him through the years and kind of notice and pay attention to everything that he does."

There also are whispers in Washington that he parties too much and doesn't work out during the summer. Whatever the case, the dynamic efforts that once defined his game are a thing of the past.

Ovechkin, 26, who claimed two Hart Trophies as MVP and an Art Ross Trophy as scoring leader during his first six seasons, hasn't scored more than two points in a game all year. He has two goals and one assist in the past eight games, all of which he played without his regular center, Nicklas Backstrom.

Ovechkin averaged 6.7 shots per game during the 2008-09 season. He is averaging 3.6 this season.

"He's not cheating offensively as much," Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "I think he's playing more of a well-rounded game, and it's taking away from his offense."

Malkin's game has been well rounded, too, but nothing is stopping his ability to score. He has eight goals -- including two game-winners -- and is 2 for 2 in shootouts in his past five games, all victories. He has six third-period goals in his past four games, and highlight-reel tallies have become common.

"We are all spectators," right wing Pascal Dupuis said, "of the 'Geno Show.' "

Even Ovechkin, who roomed with Malkin at the 2006 Olympics before they had a temporary falling out, admitted this is the best he has seen his countryman play.

"I think he's playing great right now," he said. "Last year (when he missed the second half of the season with an ACL tear), he missed hockey a lot."

The hockey world misses Ovechkin, and no one knows when or if his dominance will resurface. Times have changed since 2004 when, the day before the draft, almost every reporter gravitated to the charming Ovechkin. Malkin, who remains shy, essentially was left alone.

He's still alone today -- at the top.

"Watching him right now, he's been so impressive," Penguins center Dustin Jeffrey said. "He sees things out there, does things out there, that no one else can do. He's been unbelievable."

Josh Yohe is a McKeesport Daily News staff writer and can be reached at 412-664-9161, via e-mail or on Twitter.

Highlights: Penguins 5, Canadiens 4 (SO)

2012-01-21T03:31:00.000-08:00

Steelers wants more from offense than Arians gives them

2012-01-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

By Mike Bires
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
January 19, 2012

Last week when I saw Bruce Arians at Steelers headquarters, I asked if he'd be back in 2012.

"Yeah, I'll be back," he said.

But as it turns out, it doesn't look like he will return. There's growing speculation that Arians is being forced out. His five-year run as offensive coordinator is all but officially over.

Word is that either team president Art Rooney or coach Mike Tomlin - or perhaps both - have told Arians he must resign or be fired.

So it appears that all those Arians critics, and there sure are plenty of them, will get their wish. That won't have B.A. to bash any more.

If indeed Arians is done, it will be interesting to see Ben Roethlisberger's reaction.

They are very close friends. They golf together. They play cards together. They even own homes in the same golf course community near Atlanta, Ga. They are so close that Roethlisberger is taking Arians and his wife Christine to Hawaii next week for the Pro Bowl.

To be sure, there have been some prolific offensive performances under Arians' watch.

Roethlisberger set franchise records with 32 touchdown passes and a 104.1 passer rating in 2007 and 4,328 passing yards in 2008.

Willie Parker led the NFL in rushing in 2007 before breaking his leg in the 15th game of the season.

Rashard Mendenhall's 1,273 yards in 2010 rank fifth on the team's all-time rushing list.

Twice under Arians, the Steelers had a pair of wideouts who both racked over 1,000 yards in receiving yards (Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes in '09, and Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown this season).

And don't forget that the Steelers did play in the Super Bowl twice in the past four years and won one of them.

However, the Steelers have never been an dynamic high-scoring offensive machine under Arians.

Only once under Arians have the Steelers ranked in the top 10 in total offense (No. 9 in 2009). Only once have the Steelers ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense (tied for ninth in 2007).

And this year, the Steelers only averaged 20.3 points per game. That's their lowest point production since 2003 when they averaged 18.8.

Granted, the Steelers seem to always had issues on the offensive line. That certainly was the case again this season. But ultimately, the coach is man who's most accountable.

That's why someone with authority is forcing Arians out. Either Rooney or Tomlin or both want more from the offense.

Arians, who's 59 and a prostate cancer survivor, did consider retirement a year ago. But he was talked out of it by Roethlisberger.

Last February, Arians didn't even join Tomlin and the other Steeler coaches in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine as he spent time deciding whether or not to return for the 2011 season.

This year, it appears he has no say in the matter.

Mike Bires can be reached online at mbires@timesonline.com or by phone at 724-622-4284

Steelers' NFL offensive rankings under Bruce Arians

YEAR=TOTAL YARDS=SCORING

2007=17th=tie 9th (24.6 ppg)

2008=22nd=20th (21.7 ppg)

2009=7th=12th (23.0 ppg)

2010=14th=12th (23.4 ppg)

2011=12th=21st (20.3 ppg)

Highlights: Penguins 4, Rangers 1

2012-01-19T21:28:00.001-08:00

Malkin-Neal-Kunitz line best show in town

2012-01-18T03:51:00.000-08:00

By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
January 18, 2012

Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin (71) celebrates with Chris Kunitz (14) and James Neal, right, after scoring in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. (AP - Gene Puskar)

Semi-desperately seeking their first home victory of the calendar year, the Penguins brought back to Pittsburgh the highly accommodating Carolina Hurricanes, the previous team they were somehow able to beat at Consol Energy Center, should you happen to remember late 2011.

Pitt should try this very thing in basketball by putting in an emergency call to Saint Francis (not the actual saint, although that couldn't hurt), as Saint Francis is the most recent team Pitt beat in town, there, or anywhere.

I hesitate to drag Pitt into this, and it's really only because the Penguins missed so many open nets Tuesday night it just reminded me so acutely of Pitt's inside game.

Through two periods, the only Penguins player who didn't miss was the again resplendent Evgeni Malkin, who caught Eric Staal's clearing effort in his skates near the bottom of the right faceoff circle and flicked it over the near shoulder of Carolina goaltender Cam Ward at 18:38 of the first period.

All that did for the moment was erect a 1-1 tie that would persist all the way to the other side of overtime, but it also buttressed the swelling notion that the best show in Pittsburgh at the moment and probably in all of hockey is the spectacle of Malkin skating with James Neal and Chris Kunitz.

Theirs is deep-zone, high-precision, connect-the-dots hockey at its perspicacious best right now. Each of them seems to know without visual evidence the exact location, direction and intention of the other two, backhanding the puck blindly to coordinates programmed into their hockey intelligence.

Or something.

"It's amazing," Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said of No. 71 [Malkin] after the morning skate, "how long he can carry the puck."

For all of that, the Penguins more resembled the team that left town last week with six goals in its previous six games, not so much the one which whipped two teams on two Florida coasts in three days and scored 10 times in the process, the final three off the blade of Malkin.

Still, when they fought off back-to-back-to-back Hurricanes power plays, the latter one on a suspect interference call against Brooks Orpik as he leveled Carolina's Jeff Skinner, the looming shootout brought nothing remotely ominous, only the raging confidence with which Malkin and Neal and Kunitz are currently electrifying this team.

"[Tuesday night Carolina] had a matchup line and an [assigned] defensive pairing against them," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said, "but when they play like there are, they're scoring goals on the forecheck, playing very physical and playing with the puck, it's very hard to totally keep them away from the puck. The way Geno can do that it's hard to keep him out of the offensive zone.

"That's just a tough matchup anyway you look at it. That's a challenge."

The challenge would eventually fall to Ward, generally one of the Penguins' established net-minding nemeses; he was 11-5-2 with a 2.41 goals-against average against the Penguins when the puck dropped Tuesday night, but when the shootout started, he was at the exclusive mercy of Malkin, Kunitz and Neal in that order.

Malkin took the first turn, carrying the puck in a long languid loop to his right and then back between the circles, from where he drew Ward into his web and beat him with a backhand. Jussi Jokinen evened things with an almost identical victimization of Fleury, and then Kunitz and Skinner failed with wristers that thumped into pads.

To the spotlight came Neal, or actually to extreme stage left, as he started his approach almost 180 feet away in his own left circle. Like Malkin, Neal swung wide right in the offensive zone, floated back toward the middle and buried it. That put Fleury in position to win it if he could stop Staal, whose backhand he smothered in front of the goal line.

Malkin said there was nothing premeditated about the circuitous routes he and Neal took to the goal cage in the shootout, but it was only further proof that they seem to telepathically compatible as the overall Penguins profile has begun to right itself.

"It was not a game plan, we were just using our speed," Malkin said in a game he pulled even with Vancouver's Henrik Sedin for the NHL scoring lead with 52 points. "That's long to not win at home [since Dec. 27] and we always play a hard game against Carolina."

Unfortunately, much like Saint Francis, Carolina has other commitments. The Penguins now must visit Madison Square Garden in New York, where on Thursday night the Rangers will provide a much more comprehensive test of their viability.

Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author

Neal's All-Star snub a misfire

2012-01-18T03:42:00.000-08:00

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Pittsburgh Penguins' James Neal gets the game-winning shot past Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward during the shootout in an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. The Penguins won 2-1. (AP - Gene Puskar)

As James Neal dashed down the ice Tuesday night for the decisive shootout try, having started from what seemed like another ZIP code, he had a singular thought once he finally sized up Cam Ward in the Carolina crease.

"I usually pick what I'm going to do," Neal recalled. "I usually have something in my head."

He did this time, too, but adjusted at the last second.

"I just kind of switched up at the end."

You'd never have known by its smoothness. The Penguins had been aiming at Ward's glove all night, but Neal neared, then swept across the slot — no pause, no hitch — and buried a forehand flick past the blocker side to seal a 2-1 victory at Consol Energy Center.

That's what goal scorers do. They can have a plan, but ultimately, they simply take what's there.

That led to my own singular thought: This guy's an All-Star.

In every sense except the one that counts.

It's hardly earth-shattering news when the NHL makes any boneheaded decision, but the one by the league's hockey operations department to omit Neal from the All-Star Game on Jan. 29 in Ottawa still staggers the imagination.

There are snubs, and then there's leaving out a player who:

>> Is tied for second in the NHL with 24 goals. (That stayed the same last night, as shootout goals don't count.) Steven Stamkos has 30, and Phil Kessel and Jonathan Toews each have 24. All of those players, plus Marian Gaborik and Milan Michalek — each with 23 — are All-Stars.

>> Leads the league with 192 shots, including a half-dozen more last night. And these aren't blue-line flicks or cheapies from the boards. More often than not, he's powering his way through the circles or slot.

>> Ranks seventh with 64 missed shots. I love this one. It looks like a negative, but any good youth hockey coach preaches to his forwards that, as long as you're getting chances, you're playing well. Add up Neal's shots and misses for a total of 247 attempts, and no one in the NHL generates more.

>> Leads the league with 12 power-play goals.

>> Has yet to net a hat trick, a glowing sign of his consistency accompanied by producing at least a point in 30 of 45 games.

>> Still hasn't benefited from an open net.

>> Is clutch as clutch gets: Eleven of his 24 goals have come in the third period, including six tying or winning goals.

I could do this all day.

Bottom line: This terrific young player, the Penguins' most dangerous winger since Jaromir Jagr and a native of Whitby, Ontario, eminently deserves to be in his nation's capital with the game's best.

It's been nearly a decade since anyone who finished among the NHL's top three in goals was snubbed from that season's All-Star Game. That was in 2002-03, when Milan Hejduk led the league with 50 but inexplicably was left out. The previous year, Bill Guerin and Glen Murray finished tied for second with 41 goals, and both were left out. But there's been nothing of the kind since.

Neal wanted this, too. As the season's gone on, he's spoken in more confident terms about his ability, about how he would handle the additional glare of the spotlight. And he's backed those sentiments with production.

"I know there will be expectations," Neal told me Dec. 23 in Winnipeg, "and I'm OK with that."

I asked Neal yesterday if the snub — rosters were announced last Thursday — was still on his mind.

"I've kind of put that behind me," he replied. "Really, I'm not thinking about that at all. We've got too many things right here to be focused on."

Is he playing on a level with the announced All-Stars?

"I hope I am. I feel good out there. I'm getting my chances to score every night, shooting the puck, and it's so great to be part of a team like this."

As if on cue, fellow winger Pascal Dupuis, at the next stall, jumped in: "Stay home! Rest up!"

The man had a point: Neal is playing on a fractured foot, one that's probably causing him more pain than one might guess from watching his play of late. Still, there is no lighter version of hockey on this planet than the All-Star Game, and Neal could beg off the tougher aspects of the skills competitions.

Be sure the Penguins would love to see Neal honored that way, should a current selection withdraw. This is a player they'd love to see appreciated, locally and broadly, as a rising star. General manager Ray Shero acknowledges he's done his share of lobbying, but he also recognizes that Phoenix's Radim Vrbata (22 goals) and Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell (20) are in that mix, too.

You'd have to think Neal is atop that list.

If not, you'd have to think that suddenly something has become more important in hockey than scoring goals.

Highlights: Penguins 2, Hurricanes 1 (SO)

2012-01-18T03:27:00.000-08:00

Penguins GM on temporary captain with Sidney Crosby out: ‘I’m saying that would never happen’

2012-01-17T00:55:00.000-08:00

By Greg Wyshynski | Puck Daddy
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/
January 16, 2012

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby skates during practice in Sunrise, Fla., Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Crosby's recovery is back in the hands of chiropractor Ted Carrick. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Monday that their captain will meet with Carrick this week. Crosby spent a week getting treated by the father of chiropractic neurology in August and credited him with helping accelerate his return from a concussion earlier this season. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Alan Diaz

Mark Madden's fun. The Pittsburgh WXDX radio personality/hockey columnist interviewed Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero on Monday and gleaned some interesting information: Like the fact that Shero expects injured defenseman Kris Letang to return to full practice on Tuesday.

But the juiciest stuff was, naturally, the Sidney Crosby stuff. Shero said Crosby is visiting Ted Carrick — that chiropractic neurologist that "Sid's a big believer in, [so] so are we," according to Shero — to correct some balance issues related to his concussion protocol.

Will he play again this season?
"I think so," said Shero. "Whenever he comes back, we'll have a spot for him and he'll be a huge addition."

There was also the matter of that players' meeting regarding Crosby's absence from the lineup; a meeting reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, seconded by Madden prior to the interview and denied by the Penguins.

After a joke about his having led the meeting, Shero also denied its existence. But even if the Penguins had met about a temporary captaincy, Shero explained why it would never happen.

To reset: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote an incendiary column about Crosby's recovery last Friday, that included news that "a group of players held a 45-minute meeting to discuss a temporary captaincy."

Here's Shero and Madden from Monday on WXDX:

SHERO: "Here's my take on this whole thing Mark, which I think is … Dejan wrote the article, and I only started dealing Dejan this year. I follow his stuff because I'm a big baseball fan and he was covering the Pirates, so I have a lot of respect for him. I don't think that meeting ever took place [in] our locker room. You know, I've been here six years. I know our players. I know our room. I don't think that would ever happen. But Dejan had somebody or some people tell him that a certain thing and he wrote something …

MADDEN: "I'm not gonna lie to you: I've had a lot people tell me the same thing. That the meeting did take place. It was a more informal gathering to talk about the need for captaincy, not as sinister as a full meeting [in the locker room.] But it seems to me something did happen."

SHERO: "My information tells me that it didn't.
"Irregardless (Ed. Note: Ugh.), Mark. No. 1, for any of that to ever be executed, in terms having an interim captain, it would have to be my decision. And I'm just saying that would never happen. And No. 2, I'm going on the information I got from our players and … this has nothing to do with Dejan or anything like that. I had a nice conversation with him on the weekend for about 45 minutes, went through everything.

"… We've moved forward. Pour team's moved forward. Our guys had a lot of fun with it on the weekend — everybody wearing the 'C' and Geno wearing the 'K'. I like our room a lot, and I've said that many times.

"We have a few A's [on the ice], whether it's Kunitz, Orpik, Malkin. These guys are leaders.

"The only thing I can say is that if I actually went to any of these players and said, 'I have an idea. I've been talking to coach, and we should have a temporary captain while Sid is out,' I'm telling you, because I know our team, there's that not a guy that would want to do it because it's Sid's team. It wouldn't happen. Which is why when the report came out, I didn't really give it much credence or much thought until I had to. We're 100 percent behind Sidney being our captain and our leader."

So there you go. The 'C' stops with Shero.

Highlights: Penguins 6, Lightning 3

2012-01-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

Highlights: Penguins 4, Panthers 1

2012-01-13T21:33:00.001-08:00

Crosby Deserves Better

2012-01-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/
Friday, January 13, 2012

PITTSBURGH, PA - FILE: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins waits to take a face off against the Boston Bruins on December 5, 2011 at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Want the truth about Sidney Crosby?

OK, you'll have it.

Let's start with three critical things you should know about the Penguins' captain, based upon conversations I've had the past few days:

1. He isn't fine.

Not yet, anyway.

He's still experiencing trouble with balance, and he isn't sure why. He doesn't even know if it's related to a concussion. More than anything, he's exasperated by a lack of answers.

2. He desperately wants to play.

It's preposterous to even type such a thing, but sadly -- and stupidly -- there are people accusing Crosby of skipping out on playing, both in the public and in the Penguins' locker room. Ray Shero actually felt the need to address it Thursday, saying, "This is a player that's not medically cleared to play."

Let me take it further.

How dare anyone question Crosby's desire, much less teammates who should know him best?

Has everyone forgotten so quickly who this extraordinary athlete is, about his passion — no, obsession — for the game?

How about silently playing a month on a broken foot in 2007?

Or that magical return against the Islanders?

Come on.

3. He loves Pittsburgh.

Loves the people, the city, the team and its fans. And he would dearly love to spend his whole career with the Penguins. I'm not guessing at this. I've heard it from his mouth again very recently.

This is someone who recently bought a house in the area, only to scrap it and begin building a new one more to his liking.

Does that sound like someone ready to bolt when his contract is up next summer?

The only thing more absurd than the notion that Crosby doesn't want to play hockey is that he's conspiring to get out of town.

It's dead wrong.

You're going to hear some of this stuff Friday when Crosby faces reporters at about noon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But let me lay this out now: The Penguins, the public and, yes, Crosby all need to learn how to handle this situation better in the future.

That begins with the locker room.

A few, certainly not all, of Crosby's teammates are of the mind that he's been symptom-free for a while, though they have no medical basis for that. Some think he should be playing. Some simply think he should be doing more to communicate, or at least be as visible as concussed defenseman Kris Letang.

Last week in Pittsburgh, according to three sources, a group of players held a 45-minute meeting to discuss a temporary captaincy. Another source disputed that any such meeting occurred.

If it did, were those players kidding?

Look, I get that the players are feeling the heat during this six-game losing streak. They're used to thinking about championships, not squeaking past Winnipeg for eighth place. I also get that when they see James Neal and Craig Adams tough out injuries, it highlights everyone who isn't doing likewise.

But moaning about who's wearing the "C?"

If the Penguins are serious about turning it around, they should focus on attacking the Florida Panthers on Friday night with the same energy they showed Wednesday in the 1-0 loss at Washington. There are plenty enough viable leaders in that room right now who should be holding themselves accountable for this losing streak.

Then there are the tales of tussles between management and the so-called Crosby camp.

Crosby's father, Troy Crosby, and his agent, Pat Brisson, do keep close tabs on him, and that rubs some the wrong way. But my understanding is that the divide between those men and the team have been hugely overblown. Or at least they have been since some bickering over the Penguins' bungling of the original concussion a year ago. Communications are fine, and relationships are fine.

That's as it should be.

Crosby's contract expires in summer 2013, and it's imperative that it gets extended. No one associated with the Penguins, from the front office to the fourth line, could possibly think they'd be better off without him. He's the best player in the world. He's the franchise.

And I'll repeat: He wants to stay in Pittsburgh.

Crosby, too, must do his part.

He's 24 years old, and it's time he applies his trademark maturity toward handling adversity a little better and calling more of his own shots. He's lifted a Cup, he's won Olympic gold, and he's represented our city and his native Canada on a grand scale. He's an extraordinary young man, one eminently capable of this.

But for right now, this is someone going through the toughest time of his life. And the Kid could use an assist, a helping hand when he's down.

Stop kicking already.

It's not what we Pittsburghers do to one of our own.

Steelers’ final grades

2012-01-12T06:28:00.000-08:00

By Joe Starkey, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Thursday, January 12, 2012

The combination of 12 wins, a playoff appearance and a gallant effort in the Wild-Card round would constitute a successful season for many franchises.

Not this one.

The standard here, as you may have heard, is considerably higher.

Injuries or no injuries, a season that ends without a parade is deemed a disappointment at Steelers headquarters. One that ends without a playoff win is considered a flat-out failure.

Which is at it should be, for what is true in the classroom is true on the football field: High expectations create the environment for high achievement.

No franchise sets the bar higher. None owns as many Super Bowl trophies.

With that in mind, it's report-card time. Let's start with an explanation of the grading policy, in hopes of avoiding angry calls from parents.

Several injured players got incompletes. Grades are based on reasonable expectations coming into the season:

A — Far exceeded expectations

B — Exceeded expectations

C — Met expectations

D — Fell short

F — Stunk

So if a star player gets a C and Isaac Redman gets an A, it simply means the star met high expectations while Redman exceeded moderate ones.

Kapeesh?

Let's get to it ...

QUARTERBACK

Ben Roethlisberger, C- Typically good numbers. Tons of courage. Gave his team a chance. But his last-drive magic has been missing in two straight postseason games.

RUNNING BACKS

Rashard Mendenhall, D Had him pegged for his best year. Didn't happen. Tiptoed too much, though he was coming on before tearing ACL.

Isaac Redman, A Delivered in short yardage, and when his name was called in playoffs.

Mewelde Moore, C Huge in Indy, New England wins. Quiet otherwise.

RECEIVERS

Mike Wallace, C- Drew more defensive attention. Numbers dropped from 2010. Has 141 total receiving yards in four playoff games.

Antonio Brown, A Set franchise record for all-purpose yards, became Ben's favorite target.

Hines Ward, D Decline was coming one of these years for franchise legend. As with Marvin Harrison, it came quickly.

Emmanuel Sanders, C- Salvaged up-and-down campaign with stellar playoff.

Jericho Cotchery, C Produced when called upon.

TIGHT ENDS

Heath Miller, C As always, dependable receiver and blocker. Not built in mold of sleek modern tight end. Just gets job done.

David Johnson, C- Decent lead blocker. Franchise will survive if not re-signed.

Weslye Saunders, B Played more than anticipated, early candidate for breakout in 2012.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Max Starks, A Nothing was expected because he was sitting around in Arizona when his phone rang. Stepped in admirably.

Marcus Gilbert, A Ticketed for rookie backup duty, forced into action. Showed enough promise to make you wonder if he could protect Ben's blind side.

Chris Kemoeatu, F Penalties, pass-blocking issues cost him starting job. Worth $4.4 million cap hit in 2012?

Doug Legursky, B Versatility helped. Errant snap in Denver hurt.

Ramon Foster, B- Quietly performed.

Maurkice Pouncey, C- Less dominant than in 2010. Warning: Do not inform him of this grade via Twitter.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Ziggy Hood, C- Wanting more from '09 first-rounder.

Brett Keisel, B+ Easily led club in combined QB hurries/pressures.

Cameron Heyward, C+ Showed flashes.

Casey Hampton, C- No longer dominant, $7 million cap hit next year.

Steve McLendon, B+ Who thought he'd even play?

LINEBACKERS

Lawrence Timmons, D For the money ($10M cap hit next season), way more splash plays required.

James Farrior, C+ Avoided Hines-like slippage in reduced role.

James Harrison, C- Nine sacks in 11 games, but Ryan Clady owned him last Sunday.

LaMarr Woodley, C- Quiet at first, then torrid, should have rested hamstring until playoffs.

Jason Worilds, D Unlike, say, Gilbert, Worilds failed to fully seize opportunity.

SECONDARY

William Gay, B- Fans didn't want him. Won job, fared OK.

Keenan Lewis, C Was projected to contribute and did.

Ike Taylor, C- Aced every test until final, which he failed in historic fashion.

Troy Polamalu, C- We've come to expect superhuman feats. He delivered again, though not on level of 2010.

Ryan Clark, B+ Had his best year, first safety to lead Steelers in tackles.

Ryan Mundy, C+ Solid backup.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Shaun Suisham, C Do not doubt The Mighty Suisham, who came on late and had perfect playoff.

Jeremy Kapinos, A His job now.

COACHES

Mike Tomlin, D Led banged-up team to 12 wins but only one of high quality (New England) before perhaps worst playoff loss in franchise history. Questionable late-game management against Baltimore, Denver. Usage of injured stars Roethlisberger (leaving him in late at San Francisco and Cleveland), Woodley (came back too soon) and Pouncey (kept him in all game against Cleveland?) was ill-advised.

Bruce Arians, D The Steelers didn't score enough again, largely on account of more mediocre red-zone play. However, I'm giving Arians a pass on the playoff game. Nine of 11 drives should have resulted in points, except for player malfunction (dropped passes, errant snap, Ben's fumble/sack on final drive, etc.). The players were the problem, not the plan.

Dick LeBeau, D Regular-season ranking (1st overall) was great, but this unit did not attack passers, produce turnovers or stop the run near to the level of LeBeau's best. The Denver game was a mile-high meltdown, one where LeBeau and Tomlin stubbornly dared Tim Tebow to beat them even after he repeatedly proved he could.

So he did.

Highlights: Capitals 1, Penguins 0

2012-01-12T03:47:00.000-08:00

Signs from Penguins all negative

2012-01-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
January 11, 2012

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 10: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins attempts a backhand shot on goal as goaltender Craig Anderson #41 of the Ottawa Senators dives to make the save on January 10, 2012 at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ottawa defeated Pittsburgh 5-1. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

The company line coming from the Penguins' room Tuesday night was surprisingly upbeat. It sure seemed as if coach Dan Bylsma told the players to keep things positive despite the ugly 5-1 home loss to the Ottawa Senators, the team's fifth consecutive defeat. The players talked of liking their effort but hating their execution in key spots. They came across as lying through their teeth. Bylsma did his part, talking mostly about "some serious gaffes" that led to a couple of early Ottawa goals that made for a long night.

It really was a crock.

The effort stunk.

It's one thing to lose a big game at home. It's something inexcusable to not show up. The Penguins weren't ready to play at best and didn't seem to care at worst.

Shame on 'em.

Going in, Bylsma talked of the game having almost a playoff feel even though it marked the official halfway point of the Penguins' 82-game season. They started the night in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Only the top eight make the playoffs.

Certainly, Bylsma coached the game as if it were that important. He called his timeout at 14:03 of the first period -- after a goal by Bobby Butler put Ottawa ahead, 2-0 -- and gave his team the business on the bench. He pulled goaltender Brent Johnson at 1:15 of the second period -- after a goal by Jason Spezza nudged the Senators' lead to 3-0 -- and replaced him with Marc-Andre Fleury.

Nothing worked.

Maybe it was that early 2-0 deficit that put the Penguins in a funk. Defenseman Brooks Orpik had talked of the team wilting in the face of adversity after its 3-1 home loss to the New Jersey Devils Saturday. Now, that was truthful, painful as it was for Bylsma and a lot of the other players to hear.

The same curling up and quitting happened in this game.

The 2-0 hole must have seemed deep and dark for a hockey club that had scored two, one, one and one goal in the first four games of the losing streak.

Another injury couldn't have helped, either. Young defenseman Simon Despres left early in the game with a lower-body problem and did not return. It seems like a different player is going down every day.

But enough with the excuses.

A good team doesn't check out the way the Penguins did.

A playoff-caliber team continues to fight.

Playoffs?

We have come to take a playoff spot for granted for the Penguins. It is hardly a lock this season.

Sure, there still are 41 regular-season games to play, beginning with another big one tonight in Washington against the Capitals, who trail the Penguins by just two points in the standings. A lot of good things can happen between now and the second week of April.

But, really, what are you seeing from these Penguins that makes you think those good things are going to occur?

It's fair to think the Sidney Crosby issue finally is catching up with the team. Many of the players wondered privately why he took so long to get back in the lineup this season from his concussion-like symptoms. They had watched him in practice for weeks before his return against the New York Islanders Nov. 21.

Now that he's out again after playing just eight games, a lot of players -- just like a lot of us -- are wondering if he's going to play again this season. Crosby hasn't spoken publicly since Dec. 12. That has left his teammates to try to answer questions for him. Know this: That gets very old for the guys in the room.

"You cannot replace a guy like Sidney," Ottawa defenseman Sergei Gonchar said. "You cannot replace a guy like [Kris] Letang. They miss them big-time."

Gonchar should know. He played with Crosby, Letang and the Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup in 2009. Letang, an All-Star defenseman, has been out since Nov. 26 with his own concussion-like symptoms. Bylsma talked Tuesday night of him making progress and "hopefully [being] back at practice soon," but his return to the lineup doesn't seem imminent. As a sad topper, valuable two-way center Jordan Staal injured his left knee Friday night against the New York Rangers and is expected to be out four-to-six weeks.

Sorry.

We're back to the excuses.

No one wants to hear 'em.

"We can't wait for anyone to get back," Orpik said Tuesday night. "This group has to pull us through. The guys in this room."

Making sure it happens is Bylsma's biggest challenge since he's been the Penguins' coach. His 2009-10 team lost five games in a row near midseason, but four were on the road. Four of the five losses during this woeful streak were at home.

For sure, the Penguins need a big effort tonight against the Capitals.

A legitimate effort.

What they gave against the Senators was a joke.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan. More articles by this author

Highlights: Senators 5, Penguins 1

2012-01-11T03:52:00.001-08:00

Tim Tebow Silences All

2012-01-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

The Broncos quarterback had a playoff performance for the ages, by any definition

By Bill Barnwell
http://www.grantland.com/
POSTED JANUARY 9, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 08: Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos looks to pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The knock on Tim Tebow during Denver's six-game win streak this season was that his level of performance didn't match up to his team's win-loss record. That his stats didn't befit a guy who seemed to back into wins on a weekly basis. That he was bound to eventually turn back into an extremely marketable pumpkin. We made that argument here, and unless you actually live in Grantland and don't have a passport, you read the argument elsewhere. Heck, the rumor du jour this week was that the Broncos were about to bench Tebow for Brady Quinn, who couldn't beat out Derek freaking Anderson for a starting job in Cleveland. If Tebow somehow won against the mighty Steelers in the first round of the playoffs, it was probably going to take a couple of pick-sixes and Ben Roethlisberger's ankle disintegrating on national television. Right?

Well, on Sunday Tebow delivered one of the finest performances a quarterback has delivered in recent memory. Not in some intangible quality — leadership, heart, grit, you name it, whatever — but an actual quantifiably great game. He's delivered that before as a pro, but not as a passer, and not against a fantastic defense. In the wake of Sunday night's remarkable upset, we are here to tell you that Tebow delivered a game as a passer that is worth your respect and then some.

Recognizing that involves looking past his ugly completion percentage. In going 10-for-21, Tebow completed just 47.6 percent of his passes. What mattered, instead, is what Tebow got out of each of his dropbacks. By throwing for 316 yards on those 21 attempts, Tebow averaged a whopping 15.0 yards per attempt. That's only happened five times in the past five years, and the company isn't shabby: Drew Brees, Matt Schaub, Jeff Garcia, Kurt Warner, and Philip Rivers matched Tebow's feat.
If you want to subtract some credit for Tebow's inaccuracy, use passer rating instead. Passer rating is flawed for a variety of reasons, but the biggest reason is that it favors quarterbacks with excellent completion percentages who never make big plays downfield. The second biggest reason is that it doesn't consider a quarterback's rushing ability. If there is any stat that would give an artificially low opinion of your typical Tim Tebow performance, it's passer rating. And despite all that, Tebow's performance on Sunday merited a passer rating of 125.6. Since 1990, only 29 of the 485 quarterbacks who threw 15 or more passes in a game put up a passer rating greater than 125.6.

We're just getting started, though, because there's one other piece of context we need to consider: the quality of the opposition. The Broncos were not just facing any old defense on Sunday; they were facing the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh's pass defense allowed just 5.6 yards per attempt this season, which was the best in the league by more than half a yard. Houston finished second at 6.2 yards, and they were closer to ninth than they were to first. Nary a single passer threw for more than 300 yards against the Steelers all year. They allowed a pass play of more than 45 yards just once, and that was on a 73-yard touchdown to LaRod Stephens-Howling on a wheel route in which the ball traveled about ten yards in the air. Nobody beat the Steelers deep this year. Nobody.

And then they met Tim Tebow. Tebow, of course, had completions for 51 and 58 yards on back-to-back drives before adding an 80-yarder to win the game on the opening play of overtime. All three of those throws traveled well downfield. Tebow also became the first passer to throw for more than 300 yards against Pittsburgh this season.

That sort of performance just doesn't happen against dominant pass defenses like Pittsburgh's. Consider that there have been 44 playoff games since 1990 featuring a defense that ranked first in the league in yards per attempt during the regular season. In those 44 games, the opposing quarterback has only managed to muster an average of 6.3 yards per attempt.¹ Tebow's 15.0 YPA was more than four yards better than anyone else's performance against a top-ranked defense, and only one player achieved a higher passer rating in a playoff against such a defense. That player was Brett Favre, who had a 132.9 passer rating in a January 1996 game against the 49ers.

Perhaps out of an incredulous disbelief that Tebow could actually have a huge passing day, we've seen two arguments brought up against his performance. One holds merit, but neither are enough to significantly discount what Tebow did.

The first is that the Steelers were riddled with injuries on defense and not quite the unit that their regular-season statistics would indicate. We knew that safety Ryan Clark would be held out of the game because of his sickle cell trait, but the Steelers lost defensive linemen Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel to injuries during the game, forcing them to play three down linemen for the bulk of the contest. Combine that with a clearly limited LaMarr Woodley, who played through a hamstring injury, and Tebow was actually slicing up a pale imitation of the Steel Curtain. Right?

Well, yes and no. It's obvious to suggest that Clark would have had an impact at safety, especially considering that replacement Ryan Mundy appeared to get lost on the final play. Then again, Mundy also forced the key Willis McGahee fumble in the fourth quarter that allowed the Steelers to tie up the game. Furthermore, it's not like Mundy was getting lost while he was freelancing; cornerback Ike Taylor was getting beat because Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau continued to call an aggressive game. The Steelers flooded the line of scrimmage with defenders on many plays in an attempt to flush out the Denver running game, including a big run blitz on the first play of overtime that was based upon pre-snap motion. The game plan was to shut down the running game and challenge Tebow and his receivers to beat Taylor & Co. deep. Even after the Broncos lost starting wideout Eric Decker in the first quarter,² the Broncos were able to pull that off, repeatedly, until the very last play of the game.

The other argument is that Tebow's numbers really belong to wideout Demaryius Thomas, who repeatedly torched Taylor as part of a 204-yard day. This one doesn't hold up to any scrutiny. There is, admittedly, a case to be made for the idea that yards after the catch should somehow count less for a quarterback. It's somewhat ridiculous to think that Eli Manning got credit for a 99-yard touchdown pass against the Jets in Week 16 on a play where he dumped the ball off underneath and Victor Cruz made two defenders miss before running for 90 yards. The plays Tebow made on Sunday night were not of that variety. He deserves plenty of the credit. Tebow's scrambling ability created the time for his first bomb, which went to Thomas for 51 yards (42 in the air), and then he later hit Thomas in perfect stride on completions of 58 yards (28 in the air) and 80 yards (18 in the air). Thomas' baby Megatron show was fabulous, but he wasn't doing all the work by himself.

One game doesn't make a career. For all we know, we might have just seen the best passing performance of Tim Tebow's life, a fleeting glimpse into what could happen if Tebow got to play backup free safeties with excellent pass protection every week. With that being said, if any other rookie quarterback from the past three years put up numbers similar to what Tebow did against anything resembling the Steelers pass defense in the playoffs, we would be falling all over ourselves to describe it as the first big sign that a new franchise quarterback had arrived on the scene. It's time to file Brady Quinn's name away and stop the debate about whether Tebow deserves to keep the Denver job for 2012. After a year in which Tim Tebow occasionally got more credit than his play deserved, on Sunday, Tebowmania lived up to every bit of the hype.

Tebow makes Steelers pay with big passes in big OT upset

2012-01-09T03:43:00.000-08:00

Don Banks
INSIDE THE NFL
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/
January 9, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 08: Demaryius Thomas #88 of the Denver Broncos stiff arms Ike Taylor #24 of the Pittsburgh Steelers to score an 80 yard touchdown in overtime during the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. The Denver Broncos defeated the the Pittsburgh Steelers in over time 23 - 29. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

DENVER -- Consider the trigger pulled. And we even have a victim, that being the once-dangerous Pittsburgh Steelers. And talk about your smoking gun.

Challenged to let it rip by Broncos team president John Elway last week, and by the Steelers defense on Sunday, Tim Tebow cut it loose in spectacular fashion Sunday afternoon at Sports Authority Field, throwing for a career-high 316 yards and two touchdown passes in Denver's stunning 29-23 overtime upset of Pittsburgh in the first round of the AFC playoffs.

In a season of remarkable comebacks, Tebow staged a rally of a different sort this time, helping the Broncos shake off the doubts created by their three-game regular-season-ending losing streak, and knocking off a Pittsburgh team that was heavily favored to advance to next weekend's divisional round.

Once again, Denver's winning script was both implausible, and dare we say, magical? And there was nothing tentative about Tebow's delivery on this day.

After blowing a 14-point halftime lead, and a 10-point fourth-quarter margin, the Broncos won on the first play of overtime when Tebow hit Denver second-year receiver Demaryius Thomas in stride about 20 yards downfield, then watched as Thomas raced past Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor all the way down the right sideline and into the end zone for a jaw-dropping 80-yard touchdown catch.

Thomas' touchdown marked the shortest overtime period in NFL history (just 11 seconds), and ended the first game to be played under the league's new playoff overtime rules, a modification rendered meaningless when the Broncos scored a touchdown on their first possession of the extra period.

"We just executed a little bit better. We just tried to step up,'' Tebow said, moments after circling the field in a victory lap that doubled as a hand-slapping encounter with delirious Broncos fans. "We knew it was win, or go home. And this team wanted to fight, and we wanted to play another game. One of the great things about our team is we're a team that constantly believes. Believes in each other, believes in ourselves, believes in the coaches and what they're trying to do. Even when there were ups and downs this season, this team didn't change.''

There will be more than a few more Tebow believers after this one, which was Denver's NFL-record fourth overtime victory of the season without a defeat, a total that nearly constitutes half of the 9-8 Broncos' wins this year. And again, Tebow was in the center of the story, with pregame reports indicating that Denver might be preparing to bench him in favor of ultra-rusty backup Brady Quinn if he started slowly against the Steelers. But there was no need, given that Tebow was ready to produce the finest passing game of his brief NFL career.

"I never really doubted,'' said Broncos head coach John Fox, when asked whether he was concerned about Tebow's confidence last week. "He's a really strong young man, and really it wasn't just about Tim. A lot has been made of Tim, and he's done an amazing job, but I don't think they had too much credit for our whole team. I'm not talking about they being the Steelers, they being the people that write stuff.''

But in reality, the Steelers seemed to be doubting Tebow's ability to win a game with his arm as well, playing a lot of man-to-man coverage in the first half, with little help from their safeties over the top. It seemed logical given Tebow's struggles in recent weeks, especially considering that Pittsburgh featured the NFL's top-ranked passing defense, and had given up a league-low two passes of 40 yards or more in the regular season.

The Steelers' plan seemed to work to perfection in the first quarter, with Tebow going 0 of 2 through the air and Pittsburgh limiting Denver to just eight yards of offense in the midst of building a 6-0 lead. But then Tebow Time made an eye-opening comeback in the second quarter, with the Broncos' second-year quarterback hitting four big-play passes against Pittsburgh in lightning fashion. He completed five of his nine passes in the quarter for a whopping 185 yards, a gaudy 37-yard average completion.

Tebow started with a 51-yard strike down the left side to Thomas, came right back with a perfect 30-yard touchdown pass to receiver Eddie Royal two plays later, and then added a 58-yarder to Thomas on the following Denver drive, and a 40-yard pass to tight end Daniel Fells that help set up another Broncos field goal drive later in the quarter. All told, Denver scored on its four meaningful possessions of the quarter, reeling off 20 unanswered points to take a surprising 20-6 halftime lead. The Steelers wound up giving up more passing yards in that quarter (185) than they allowed on average in games this season (171.9).

"The number of (pass attempts) wasn't surprising,'' Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. "The number of long completions was. I think the significant difference is the number of big plays they were able to connect on. It was throwing and catching by them. Execution.''

It was execution the likes of which we have rarely seen from Tebow in Denver's one-of-a-kind passing game. And it infused the Broncos with the hope and belief that an upset of the mighty Steelers could be in the offing on this day.

"We had struggled over the last couple of weeks, and I think a lot of that progress (we made) was because of our quarterback,'' Fox said. "A lot is said. A lot was written. A lot of critique on him. And I thought he stepped up in a huge way tonight. I think he was a big part of us winning the game.''

It's amazing how much this town and this team is now Tebow's. Once he starting completing passes early in the second quarter, the Broncos defense responded to his enthusiasm, and the Denver crowd came alive with Tebow Fever. It was as if the Broncos' dismal three-game losing streak never happened.

"It definitely gave us some momentum when we hit (Thomas) down the sideline, and then we hit Eddie (Royal) for the touchdown and that gave us some more momentum,'' Tebow said. "We were cooking pretty good from then on out.''

Tebow and Thomas abused Taylor almost unmercifully, connecting four times for a franchise postseason record 204 yards and two touchdowns, with those big-play strikes of 51 and 58 yards in the second quarter, and the game-winner from 80 yards. On the overtime touchdown, Thomas got inside of Taylor, caught the ball near the Denver 40, and the Broncos benefitted from both his deceptive speed and their having caught Pittsburgh's defense in a run-heavy front. Once Thomas stiff-armed Taylor, he was gone down the right sideline, on his way to the longest overtime scoring play in NFL playoff history.

Asked his thought as Thomas broke free, Tebow was Tebow, saying "First of all, 'Thank you, Lord,' and then I was running pretty fast, chasing him -- like I could catch up to (him). Then I just jumped into the stands -- first time I've done that; that was fun -- and then I just got on a knee to thank the Lord again and tried to celebrate with my teammates and the fans.''

With his 10 of 21 passing for 316 yards, no turnovers, and a 125.6 passer rating, Tebow's first career playoff performance was epic in many ways. He quieted the critics for at least another week, and now, who knows where the story of his unforgettable 2011 season might lead? Next week, in a plot twist that seemingly only Tebow could inspire, he and Thomas get to face off in New England against newly rehired Patriots offensive assistant Josh McDaniels, the former Broncos head coach who drafted both of them in 2010's first round.

You can't make this stuff up. The Tebow magic is back, and the playoff version is better than ever. With the top-seeded Patriots (13-3) awaiting in the divisional round, somehow I don't think Brady Quinn should anticipate getting any sniff of the first-team offense in practice this week.

Steelers never found that spark

2012-01-09T03:30:00.000-08:00

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Monday, January 9, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 08: Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos runs the ball for a touchdown in the second quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

DENVER — One locker room was silent, stunned and bitter. The other was dancing on the field in full uniform a half-hour after the game.

One sideline had been riddled with limping, battered bodies. The other was bouncing, eager to embrace the chance of a lifetime.

One team looked old, slow and sluggish in its performance. The other was led by a dashing, young quarterback who — for reasons that maybe only a Disney matinee will fully explain someday — continues to defy the odds and capture America's imagination.

Broncos 29, Steelers 23.

Believe it.

It really happened that Tim Tebow hooked up with Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard bomb off the first play of overtime. And that reliable cornerback Ike Taylor was scorched on that score and 204 yards in total. And that a quarterback who had been essentially left for dead after passing for 60 yards against Kansas City somehow carved up the NFL's No. 1 defense for 316 yards.

Yes, 316, as in John 3:16, the ultra-religious Tebow's favorite biblical passage.

Believe every bit of it.

And be very sure that Tebow believed it possible, something I'd picked up on throughout my week here with the Broncos. For all his shortcomings — and those were hard to find Sunday — the kid oozes confidence.

"I'm just so blessed to have an opportunity to be the quarterback for the Denver Broncos and play in front of such great fans and with great teammates," Tebow said. "I'm just very thankful for the platform God has given me."

The smile was wide enough to touch Wyoming.

So I ask: Where was that spark on the Steelers' side?

Not talking so much about Tebow here. I get that no more than a handful of GMs would trade their quarterbacks for Tebow, and there's good reason for it. But I also get that a big part of what was missing all season long from this confounding group was that one extra jolt of ... something, anything.

What happened to the Steelers' aura, their confidence, their intimidation factor and the other intangibles that made them what they were, oh, just a year ago?

One step inside the Denver locker room, and it was easy to see most of these players had never been there, never done that.

"This team hasn't been in the playoffs since 2005, and we win like this?" Thomas almost shouted. "Awesome!"

The Steelers had been there, and they acted like it.

Take it from James Harrison, who bit off each syllable with his assessment of the team's effort: "They played well enough to win, and we played poorly enough to lose."

And this from James Farrior: "They came out and made way more plays than we thought they were capable of making."

Complacency?

You bet.

That's partly on Mike Tomlin, Bruce Arians and Dick LeBeau for clearly being outcoached by John Fox and his staff. Unless you can find a better way to explain the offense's frustrations and the previously bumbling Broncos running up 447 total yards.

I asked LeBeau, in particular, about the inexplicable failure to blitz Tebow more often and pressure him into mistakes.

"We did better in the second half," LeBeau replied. "Give the kid credit."

Fine, but there's blame to assign, too.

Or maybe not. Maybe it's past time for that.

Maybe it's time, now officially, that Art Rooney II, Kevin Colbert and Tomlin ask hard questions about this roster. Entering this season, they stuck by the players who had taken them to the Super Bowl just eight months earlier. That was absolutely the right move.

But that's over.

It isn't just that Farrior, Harrison, Hines Ward, Brett Keisel and Casey Hampton are 33 or older. It isn't just that Taylor and most of the secondary, which had its statistics propped by lousy offensive opponents, is 30 or older. It's not even the sad sight yesterday of Keisel, Hampton and others getting hurt, seemingly every other play.

It's that it looked like the average age of this roster dragged everyone down.

Look at Baltimore and the decidedly different approach the Ravens took last offseason, shipping out a few veterans, keeping a few and allowing the youngsters to pick up the slack when the Ray Lewises went down.

I thought it would knock the Ravens backward. Instead, it gave them fresh life.

I raised that example with Rooney after this game, and the man with the final say on these things didn't exactly give a ringing endorsement for keeping everyone together again: "That's something for us to sit down and consider in the days and weeks to come. Right now, the loss just hurts."

Sure does. The Steelers of old would have devoured this quarterback and this opponent.

Those Steelers are done.

Don't put all the blame for loss on Taylor

2012-01-09T03:17:00.000-08:00

By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
January 9, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 08: Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos looks to pass the ball to Demaryius Thomas #88 of the Denver Broncos to score an 80 yard touchdown in overtime of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Sports Authority Field against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. The Denver Broncos defeated the the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime 23 - 29. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

DENVER -- One by one, Steelers front-office people, coaches and players stopped by to console cornerback Ike Taylor. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau was first. Owner Dan Rooney and general manager Kevin Colbert. Players Ryan Clark, Casey Hampton and Keenan Lewis. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was the last. He practically lifted Taylor out of his chair and hugged him.

"I just told him I loved him," Roethlisberger said later. "I know he's beating himself up. I told him not to do that. I told him he's still one of the best cornerbacks in the league to me."

Touching, right?

Too bad the players didn't do more to support Taylor on the field. If they had, maybe the Steelers still would be in the AFC playoffs instead of home this morning trying to figure out how they lost to the Denver Broncos Sunday night, 29-23, in overtime.

"People are going to blame it all on Ike," linebacker James Farrior said. "But it was all of us. There were 11 of us out there on defense and all of us are responsible for what happened."

It's not exactly a mystery why the Steelers' season is done. Their defense -- ranked No. 1 in the NFL in points allowed and yards allowed coming in -- made the worst quarterback in the league look like John Elway. Tim Tebow, who completed just 46.5 percent of his passes in the regular season, completed just 10 on this gorgeous winter day in the Rockies, but they went for a staggering 316 yards. The Steelers defense had allowed just two completions for 40 or more yards in the 16-game season. It allowed four in this loss. It also allowed Tebow to throw a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Eddie Royal over cornerback William Gay in the second quarter.

By now, you've probably seen the replay a hundred times of the winning touchdown in overtime. On the first play from the Denver 20, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas beat Taylor with an inside move, caught the ball at the Broncos 38, fought Taylor off with a stiff arm at the Broncos 48 and outran him and safety Ryan Mundy to the end zone. It was stunning on a couple of fronts. It took just 11 seconds. It was the Broncos' fourth win in overtime.

You might say the Steelers were Tebowed.

Farrior is right, everyone will blame Taylor. His big mistake was not making the tackle after the catch. "The run after was significant," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

Taylor declined to talk to the media after the game. A club official stood guard at his locker to make sure no one approached.

Taylor's teammates were left to talk for him and said LeBeau had called a run defense. That left Taylor in one-on-one coverage with no help.

"We had [shown] a pretty good tendency of running on first-and-10," Broncos coach John Fox acknowledged.

Not this time.

"When I saw [Mundy] creeping up, I knew if I beat the cornerback, I had a touchdown," Thomas said.

So he did.

Taylor also was beaten by Thomas for 51- and 58-yard passes in the second quarter, leading to two touchdowns. In the second half, he was called for a 5-yard holding penalty and a 32-yard pass interference penalty.

"Ike is one of the big reasons we're here," Farrior said. "He's been great for us all year. There were a lot of times when he didn't have any help out there tonight. We called a lot of run-stopping defenses."

The problem is the defense didn't do enough to stop the Denver run. The Broncos had 131 rushing yards, 50 by Tebow.

"When you have a guy in single coverage like Ike, you had better get to the quarterback," Farrior said. "We didn't do that nearly enough."

Tebow wasn't sacked.

Part of that might have been the result of losing Hampton to a knee injury on the first series and defensive end Brett Keisel to a groin injury in the second quarter. But where were outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley? Did anyone notice them all day?

The Steelers offense also could have done more to bail out Taylor. Pro Bowl-starting wide receiver Mike Wallace dropped what should have been a 52-yard gain to the Denver 28 early in the second quarter. Roethlisberger threw a bad interception moments later that led to a Denver field goal. A bad snap over Roethlisberger's head in the shotgun by center Doug Legursky -- in for injured All-Pro Maurkice Pouncey -- late in the first half probably cost the Steelers a field goal.

But the most painful blunder might have came on a first-and-10 play from the Denver 45 with 29 seconds left in regulation. One completion by Roethlisberger, who led the Steelers to 17 points in the second half, could have set up kicker Shaun Suisham for a possible winning field-goal attempt. Instead, defensive end Elvis Dumervil blew in and knocked the ball out of Roethlisberger's hand. Roethlisberger recovered, but the 11-yard loss all but ended their drive.

"We were moving it and we had a shot," Roethlisberger said. "Someone got, it felt like a finger, on the ball and knocked it out."

Roethlisberger figured the Steelers would win it in overtime. Tebow and Thomas made sure they never got the ball back.

Taylor took the brunt of the blame, but, clearly, there was more to this loss than just him.

"I just talked to him corner to corner," LeBeau said when asked what he said to Taylor.

LeBeau played cornerback for the Detroit Lions a lifetime ago and was good enough to make the Hall of Fame.

"I know how he's feeling," LeBeau said of Taylor. "But that's part of playing corner. Ike will be back. He's down right now, but he'll be back."

Next season, sure. Not next weekend, though.

None of the Steelers will be playing in New England Saturday night. They'll be watching the Broncos.

Brilliant call, execution leave fans jubilant, Steelers stunned

2012-01-09T03:10:00.000-08:00

By Dave Krieger
Denver Post Columnist
http://www.denverpost.com/sports
January 9, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 08: Demaryius Thomas #88 of the Denver Broncos runs the ball after a catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers to score an 80 yard touchdown in overtime of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. The Denver Broncos defeated the the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime 23 - 29. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

From the southwest corner of the field at Mile High, where reporters congregate near the end of games, you could see Demaryius Thomas catch the ball in the distance and start rolling toward you.

You knew the play had started 80 yards from the goal line. You knew the Steelers had the No. 1-rated defense in the NFL. So you waited for someone in a white jersey to make the tackle.

And then he was turning upfield at the west sideline and coming right for you. Two defenders were charging toward the corner on steep angles. The closer they all got, the more obvious it became that Thom as was going to outrun them.

Overtime in the playoffs, even with the new rules, was going to consist of a single play. Was it even possible?

When Thomas crossed the goal line, the full house at Sports Authority Field exploded in paroxysms of joy, the Broncos' stunning 29-23 overtime playoff victory over Pittsburgh in hand. In all these years of standing on football fields, I've never seen or heard or felt anything quite like it: Broncos players and staff grabbing one another and hugging like long-lost brothers. Champ Bailey walking around in a daze, as if he didn't quite believe it. Players jumping into the stands. Face-painted fans screaming in ecstasy.

And Thomas unsure of what had just happened.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't know why everybody was running over here, because I thought they got a chance to score," Thom as said on the field a couple of minutes later. "But I seen everybody on the field, and I was like, 'Oh, game over.' I know the rules now."

But how did it feel to be on the receiving end of a play that became instantly immortal?

"I feel amazing, man," the young receiver said with a smile that seemed to stretch from sideline to sideline. "I feel amazing!"

It was not merely the culmination of a terrific performance from quarterback Tim Tebow, who saved his best for the biggest game of the season, against one of the toughest opponents.

It was not merely a story of redemption for the vastly talented Thomas, beset and beleaguered by injuries ever since Josh McDaniels made him and Tebow twin first-round draft picks 20 months ago.

It was also vindication of an inspired plan, the validation that only victory can provide for a coaching staff that lulled to sleep the best defense in football and then plunged home the dagger in the final scene.

Had the Broncos lost, you can bet the critics of coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy would have spent much of the offseason pointing out that of 23 first-down plays in regulation, the Broncos ran the ball 22 times. True, they passed twice on first downs that were nullified by penalties, but the pattern was more than clear:

The Broncos, as everyone had alleged, were soporifically predictable on first down. They were putting Tebow, their young quarterback, in the unenviable position of passing only when it was necessary, when the defense knew it was coming.

And here they were with a first down at their 20-yard line to begin overtime, and was there any doubt, any doubt at all, what they would do?

"I was all upset from the fumble I did," said running back Willis McGahee, who seemed certain to get the ball. "If I wouldn't have fumbled, we probably wouldn't have been in that situation.

"It was play action. I was in there and did a good fake. The linebackers ran up and came into the line. (Steelers safety) Troy Polamalu came into the line too, so our job was done. But we still needed to execute the play, and we did that."

"It's a great call, first of all," Tebow said. "Just off some of our zone-read stuff, (they were) bringing the safeties. ... It was a great call by coach McCoy."

"We called underneath coverage," said Ryan Mundy, the Steelers' other safety, who played in place of Ryan Clark, whose health prevents him from playing at high altitude. "I was underneath; (cornerback) Ike (Taylor) was over top."

Actually, no, he wasn't. Nobody was over the top. Nobody was guarding against the Broncos' biggest play of the 21st century to date because nobody expected it. Everybody knows the Broncos never pass on first down.

"I was just saying, 'Man, trust your speed, trust your speed. Don't cut back, don't cut back,' " McGahee recounted. "And he (Thomas) kept it straight and he outran the guy."

When the last player had disappeared into the tunnel beneath the south stands, the delirious fans in the front rows, the fans painted orange, still stood there, looking at one another, as if to confirm they had seen what they had just seen, that it had actually happened, that they had just witnessed something so unbelievable they could not have imagined it.

They had, too.

Dave Krieger: dkrieger@denverpost.com or twitter.com/davekrieger

Like Elway said, Tebow pulled the trigger vs. Steelers

2012-01-09T03:01:00.000-08:00

By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/sports
January 9, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 08: Demaryius Thomas #88 of the Denver Broncos makes a pass reception and fights off Ike Taylor #24 of the Pittsburgh Steelers to go 80 yards for the game winning touchdown on the first play of overtime at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos defeated the Steelers 29-23 in their AFC Wild Card Playoff game. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

And it came to pass ...

OT.

Oh, Tebow.

Oh, Thomas.

Over Taylor.

Overtime.

The Broncos played that Old-Time Rock 'n' Roll on Sunday night to jolt the Steelers, shock the NFL, stun the disbelievers and stagger the whole wide world of sports. The Broncos won in 11 seconds of the sudden-life extra period when Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomas, the franchise's two first-round draft choices in 2010, combined for a death-strike touchdown.

Who's your quarterback, Denver?

Timmy Tremendous threw for a career-best 316 yards and two touchdowns (with no interceptions), and ran for 50 yards and a touchdown to lead the Broncos to their first playoff victory in six years. For all the nay-sayers and horse whisperers, Tebow will be the Broncos' quarterback next weekend, next season and probably next decade.

John Elway — who once had his own incredible victory in overtime ("The Drive") — was running around the field afterward Sunday as if he were still the quarterback. He told me last week that Tebow needed to "pull the trigger" against the Steelers.

When I asked for his evaluation of Tebow, Elway replied, "He pulled it."

And the Broncos pulled it off, with just 10 pass completions against the No. 1 defense in the league. But five of those completions were for 51, 30, 58, 40 and, finally, the 80-yard connection with Thomas for the winner.

Thomas finished with 204 yards receiving.

And get this! Thomas and Tebow will play Saturday night against ... guess who? Josh McDaniels, who drafted them, has rejoined the Patriots as an assistant coach. The Broncos' pair in the paradox.

The Steelers, as every other team, dared Tebow to throw. Early, they sent seven, eight, nine to the line — everybody except Mean Joe Greene, Jack Lambert and 15 ironworkers.

Tebow made play-action fakes, stood in the pocket — yes, a pocket passer — and handled the rush, the pressure, the blitz and his most critical moments in pro football with the confidence and ease of a diamond cutter. The Broncos, who hadn't dripped a drop in the second quarter this season, scored 20 points for a 14-point advantage at halftime. Denver spent most of the second half hanging on the precipice as big, brash, bold Ben Roethlisberger brought the Steelers back. The Broncos' defense — behind Doom & Gloom (Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller) & Bailey (Champ) — had frustrated the Steelers most of the sunny-side-up afternoon. But they finally bent, and the Steelers tied the game at 23.

Then, the Steelers were moving in position to win. But after reaching the Broncos' 45 with 29 seconds left, Roethlisberger was sacked and forced to fumble by Elvis. That play forced a fourth overtime for the Broncos this season. They won the first three.

It took referee Ron Winter longer to explain the new playoff overtime rules than it did to play the overtime. For the first time, if the team that receives the kickoff scores by a field goal and not a touchdown, the other team gets a possession.

The shortest overtime game in NFL history was 16 seconds, on a Bears kickoff return in a 1980 regular-season game.

The Broncos won the toss and elected to win. They set up at their 20.

The first-down call by offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was a repeat of a Tebow-Thomas play the Broncos used in the second half to gain 51. The Steelers brought their safeties and put cornerback Ike Taylor in man-to-man coverage against Thomas on the right side.

Thomas beat Taylor; Tebow threw over Taylor, who had no help and no chance. Thomas escaped and raced to the end zone and the South Stands beyond.

Quicker than you can say "Rocky Mountain Way," it was over, and Broncos boosters among the 75,965 (why did the other 312 stay away?) erupted, and the several thousand Steelers supporters slinked out.

Tebow jumped into the fanatics.

"First time I've done it; that was fun," he said.

Thomas stood in front of the west stands and bowed to the crowd.

Tebow said he "tried to go out there and play hard, play fast and be aggressive and trust my teammates and trust the line, trust the receivers and give them opportunities, and they make me look a lot better than I really am."

Not really. Tebow played his best game with the Broncos.

In the 1977 season, the Broncos beat the Steelers in the first playoff game in Denver. Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw said then: "Tell them to enjoy it. It won't ever be like this again."

He was wrong. It was like that again Sunday.

In a season of marvels and miracles, the Magical Mystery Tour of the Broncos goes on.

And Tim Tebow caused time to stand still.

OT.

Overwhelming Triumph.

In a year in which the Broncos ran, it came to pass.

Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com

Penguins midseason report: Pluses and minuses

2012-01-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

By Chris Bradford
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
January 8, 2012

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 07: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates with the puck past Petr Sykora #15 of the New Jersey Devils during the first period of the NHL game at Consol Energy Center on January 7, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH -- A season that began with Prince of Wales wishes and Stanley Cup dreams has reached its midpoint. And needless to say such lofty expectations have had to be tempered a bit.

Because of a bevy of injuries -- most notably concussions to the Penguins' best two players at their respective positions, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang -- the Penguins, at least as currently constructed, rate little better than middle-of-the-pack in a crowded Eastern Conference field.

That said, the Penguins are still formidable and, despite their recent slide, should qualify for the playoffs for a sixth straight season. Of course, if Jordan Staal (knee) joins Crosby and Letang on the long-term injured list, even that may be in jeopardy.

Following Saturday night's 3-1 loss the New Jersey Devils, the Penguins are on track for a 93-point season. While that might not equal the 106-point campaign they put up a season ago -- when they missed Crosby, Malkin and Staal for more than a 120 games combined -- the Penguins will surely take it given the injury situation.

Times hockey writer Chris Bradford give you the five best and five worst of the first half of the Penguins' season.

PLUS

GENO'S TEAM

If the Penguins are to make a lengthy playoff run without Crosby -- which isn't improbable -- they will need Malkin to dominate. That has been something the Russian has done sporadically this season. Still, this is easily Malkin's best campaign since his back-to-back Hart Trophy finalist seasons from 2007-09. In the first 11 games Crosby has missed after his re-occurrence of concussion symptoms, Malkin has 20 points (14 assists). Malkin needs to realize the Penguins will only go as far he takes them.

THE NEAL DEAL

When the Penguins acquired James Neal from Dallas, he was supposed to team with Sidney Crosby and presumably score 35-40 goals. Well, Neal has yet to play with the best player in the game but the projections of a big goal-scoring campaign are still holding true. He's the fourth-leading scorer in the NHL and is on pace for 44. Neal trails only superstars Steven Stamkos, Marian Gaborik, Phil Kessel and Jonathan Toews. Pretty good company to keep.

COOKIE MONSTER

Perhaps the most astonishing statistic of the season, regardless of team or player, is this: Matt Cooke had just 14 penalty minutes through 39 games. That's just one more penalty minute than points for Cooke. After serving a 17-game suspesnion last season (including the playoffs), Cooke has cleaned up his act while providing his usual amount of offense, leadership and is a mainstay on one of the league's top penalty killing units.

POWER'S BACK ON

OK, the second-most astonishing statistic of the season is this: The Penguins' power play is ranked a respectable eighth in the league at 19.2 percent. Granted, the Penguins have coughed up shorthanded goals the past two games, but it's a far cry better than it's been in recent seasons. A subject of ridicule in the past, the power play went a sickly 15.6 last season, 17.8 in 2009-10 and 17.22 in the Cup-winning 20089 season.

DUP-ENDOUS

The answer to a great trivia question: Who did the Penguins acquire along with Marian Hossa on Feb. 26, 2008? Yep, Pascal Dupuis. The underrated Dupuis doesn't look out of place whether he's playing on the top line or the fourth. In his 10th season, the 32-year-old is enjoying his finest offensive season. He's on pace for career highs in goals, assists and points and is fourth on the Penguins in scoring.

MINUS

THE SID-UATION

For the record, GM Ray Shero has stated that the Penguins' plan is to re-sign Sidney Crosby, whose contract expires at the end of next season. Given how much No. 87 means to the league and to the organization (read: everything), well, let's just say that a lengthy, league-maximum salary is in order. Or is it was in order? Given Crosby's tenuous health and the harsh realities of the salary cap, the captain's contract -- to say nothing of James Neal's -- will be one of the more interesting developments of the second half and the off-season.

THE BIGGER THEY ARE ...

To be fair, the Penguins do have wins against quality opponents this season. Among their 21 victories, they've beaten Vancouver, Chicago, Florida and Minnesota (Did we mention Vancouver and Chicago?). However, the Penguins' combined record against Eastern Conference powers Boston, Philadelphia and New York Rangers is a disconcerting 0-5. That could be a very bad omen.

THE BIG HURT

It hasn't been just Crosby and Letang injured and it hasn't been just concussions that have beset the Penguins in the first half. Entering Saturday, the Penguins have lost 205 man games. Zbynek Michalek, Richard Park, Tyler Kennedy, Brooks Orpik, Dustin Jeffrey and Ben Lovejoy have missed significant time with injuries ranging from knees to wrists.

BLUELINE SPECIAL?

The Penguins were supposed to boast one of the top defense corps in the league. It hasn't worked out quite that well. In fact, they have no better than the third-best cast of blueliners in the Atlantic Division behind the Rangers and Flyers, who, not coincidently, lead the Penguins in the standings. To be fair, missing four defensemen -- Letang, Paul Martin, Michalek and Lovejoy - for extended periods can do that.

PAULIE, AW, NUTS

Whenever the much-maligned defenseman is discussed the numbers brought up are nine and five. That's nine as in minus-9, his plus/minus rating, and five as in $5 million, his annual salary. In eight NHL seasons, Martin has been a minus player just once (minus-9 in 2006-07 with New Jersey). He's on pace for a 23-point season, his lowest output in a season of 70 games or more. For those reasons, Martin is joining the likes of Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney, Kevin Hatcher, Sergei Zubov as a convenient whipping boy for fans.

Highlights: Devils 3, Penguins 1

2012-01-08T08:09:00.001-08:00

Despite injury, Ben will do what he does best

2012-01-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
January 8, 2012

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 08: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers throws a pass against the Cleveland Browns during second half of the game on December 8, 2011 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger says offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is like "a grandfather." Arians prefers "crazy uncle." The two are extremely close. Know that going in.

"He's a first-ballot Hall of Famer in my mind," Arians said of Roethlisberger. "He's won two Super Bowls and been to a third. He's not done with Super Bowls, I believe. Even if he stopped right now, he'd be a first-ballot guy."

The man gets no argument here.

Roethlisberger will play in more Super Bowls, win more Super Bowls and ultimately be remembered as the greatest quarterback in Steelers history.

That leads to today's question:

Is Roethlisberger healthy enough to get the Steelers to the Super Bowl this season?

"I think so," he said late last week. "I know I'm going to take some hits. I know that. But I plan on being like Cool Hand Luke. I'm going to keep getting up ...

"I think I can make it all the way."

Are you willing to bet against Roethlisberger?

I'm not.

I know Roethlisberger will be considerably less than full-go today in Denver when the Steelers play the Broncos in an AFC wild-card playoff game. It's hard to imagine him being full-go at any point during this postseason because of his famously sprained left ankle. Roethlisberger said he's OK with that. Unlike the many second-guessers out there who think they are medical experts -- you know who you are -- he said he has no regrets about how he and the team handled his injury after he first went down in the second quarter against Cleveland on Dec. 8. He came back to play that night in the second half -- basically on one leg -- and led the Steelers to a 14-3 win. He played against San Francisco on Dec. 19 and threw three interceptions in a 20-3 loss. He sat out against St. Louis on Dec. 24 and watched backup Charlie Batch perform well in a 27-0 win. He played against Cleveland a week ago in a 13-9 win and looked relatively mobile before tweaking the ankle in the third quarter.

"I don't even know when it happened," Roethlisberger said. "The doctors basically told me there would be at least two or three times during the game when I'd feel like I re-injured it, but that the pain would only last for a minute or so and then be gone. When it still was hurting two series later, I figured they either were lying to me or I did something else to it. I probably set it back a week."

I can just hear the screams if Roethlisberger plays poorly today and the Steelers somehow lose to a mediocre Denver team with a really awful quarterback, Tim Tebow.

Many people already are yelling that coach Mike Tomlin shouldn't have played Roethlisberger -- not to mention center Maurkice Pouncey, who is out today with his own high-ankle sprain -- against Cleveland last week even though the game could have meant a No. 1 or No. 2 playoff seed.

Many others are yelling that Tomlin blew it by allowing Roethlisberger to play against San Francisco even though the Steelers could have taken control of the AFC North Division with a win.

The second-guessers are dead wrong.

The only mistake Tomlin made was allowing Roethlisberger to play the final nine minutes against the 49ers after the fight was over. That was ridiculous.

"I don't regret anything," Roethlisberger said. "I always want to play.

"The only time I had any doubts was going into the San Francisco game. I battled the [decision] to play or not play, almost to the point of tears. Guys were coming up to me and telling me I had to play. I didn't want to let them down. At the same time, I didn't want to play bad and not give them a chance to win. Battling that feeling was hard for me."

Roethlisberger answered the obvious follow-up questions even before they were asked.

"Would we have been better off with Charlie in there? Maybe. Did I hurt the team? I threw three picks. I guess you have to say that."

The Steelers offense with Roethlisberger has not been functional since his injury in the first Cleveland game. He hasn't thrown a touchdown pass since his 79-yarder to wide receiver Antonio Brown late in that game sealed the win. He led only one touchdown drive in his past two starts.

Here's my problem:

I'm not smart enough to say how much Roethlisberger's ankle contributed to his ineffectiveness. Tomlin said he didn't think it had any impact on his performance. That's silly. But was it 50 percent of Roethlisberger's problems? 75 percent? What part did the "brutal [wind] conditions" -- Roethlisberger's words -- play in Cleveland last week? And isn't it possible Roethlisberger just happened to have two bad games?

"I'm always going to lean that way," he said. "I left a lot of plays out there. I have to be better."

I'm thinking today will be the day.

Roethlisberger is 10-3 in the postseason.

"I can't really explain why," he said. "It's not like I've always had my best games. I guess it's just doing what you have to do to find a way to win."

Arians said Roethlisberger has done it enough to merit his Hall of Fame endorsement.

"What do you expect your grandfather to say?" Roethlisberger asked, grinning.

Or your crazy uncle, for that matter?

"Seriously, it means a lot coming from a guy like that," Roethlisberger said. "He's coached some of the best. He coached Peyton Manning. It's awesome to hear even if it is premature."

Roethlisberger agreed with Arians that there are more Super Bowls in his future. It's hard to imagine it happening this season, not necessarily because of his ankle but because these Steelers have not been a good road team. But Roethlisberger believes. This season. Next season. The season after that ...

"We've got something special here," he said. "We've got a lot of great young players. As long as they don't get crazy and change the offense -- that can really set you back -- the sky is the limit for this team."

Translation for Steelers management:

"Please don't even think about bringing in a new offensive coordinator. B.A. is just fine."

Talk about hearing screams.

Roethlisberger is in position today to shut up a lot of the Arians critics and the Tomlin critics, as well.

I'll write it again: I'm not betting against him. Bad ankle? So what?

"I love this time of year," Roethlisberger said. "I love playing in these games."

I don't know about you.

I love watching him.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan. More articles by this author

Slowed by Age and Injuries, Steelers Still Have an Iron Grip

2012-01-08T07:53:00.000-08:00

By JUDY BATTISTA
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com
January 7, 2012

Bruce Gradkowski #7 of the Cincinnati Bengals hangs onto his teammate while being tackled by the Pittsburgh Steelers defense during the game on December 4, 2011 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (December 3, 2011 - Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images North America)

PITTSBURGH — The obituary for a defense was swift and stinging.

Old. Slow.

“And done,” Brett Keisel, the bearded defensive end, helpfully added.

Actually, Warren Sapp, the almost certain future Hall of Fame defensive tackle who is an NFL Network and Showtime analyst, said it was over for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was a jarring dismissal of the defense that was the N.F.L.’s best when the Steelers went to the Super Bowl last season. That defense has followed in the Pittsburgh tradition so seamlessly that the two Lombardi Trophies earned by this group stand in a hallway at the team offices beside the four won by the legendary Steel Curtain three decades ago.

But even in a place nicknamed Blitzburgh, Sapp’s critique seemed to have some merit, and it gained plenty of traction after the Steelers’ somnolent performance in a 35-7 season-opening loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

“It was fun to hear that, fun to have something to strive for other than beating ourselves,” safety Ryan Clark said. “Most years, that’s what it feels like, like you’re playing against the last Pittsburgh Steelers defense. All people know here is excellence. It was good to have those doubters, good to have those things to fight against. We relished it.”

So an odd thing happened on the way to N.F.L. irrelevance. By the end of the season, the Steelers were back to their familiar perch atop the league’s defenses, having changed nothing about their style but allowing the fewest yards and points — fewer than they allowed last season — in a season in which the dominant story line was often the absence of defense. For the fifth time in 11 seasons, the Steelers have the top defense, an astonishing stranglehold on opposing offenses that have rapidly changed with each season from balance to downfield bombs.

With an offense slowed even before Ben Roethlisberger sustained a high ankle sprain late in the season, and now lacking running back Rashard Mendenhall, who tore a knee ligament in the regular-season finale, and probably center Maurkice Pouncey, who aggravated a left ankle injury, the Steelers begin the playoffs at Denver on Sunday with a scouting report that could have been lifted from the 1970s.

The rest of the playoffs will be about the quarterbacking precision of the Packers, the Patriots and the Saints. The Steelers will be about James Harrison and Troy Polamalu hunting down quarterbacks. Same as it ever was.

“We’ve been around long enough to know one game is not a season,” Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator, Dick LeBeau, said of the first loss to the Ravens. “We let things sort themselves out and we concentrate on what we can control. Everybody has games they’re not proud of, and that is certainly one of ours.”

Still, there was an ephemeral feel about the Steelers last week that was about much more than the oddity of preparing to face an option quarterback (Tim Tebow) for what LeBeau said might be the first time since he was a Detroit Lions defensive back.

A healthy Steelers team could have been the favorite to retain the A.F.C. championship. But the Steelers’ fragility belies their statistics.

Injuries have wreaked havoc with the defense, forcing LeBeau to bind it with the football equivalent of rubber bands and duct tape, using nine starting lineups in 16 games and deploying the same four starting linebackers — the spine of the 3-4 defense — just five times.

Linebacker Lawrence Timmons regularly plays inside. But LeBeau said that because of injuries, Timmons played four positions this season, sometimes two or three of them in one game. LeBeau will use another lineup Sunday, because Clark, who had started every game this season, will not play against the Broncos as a precaution because he possesses a sickle cell trait that leaves him at risk when playing at high altitude. The Steelers are used to delivering bruisings, but now they are the bruised, leaving them more vulnerable and less dominant than last season’s team.

Pittsburgh improved in passing yards allowed, yielding just 176 yards, compared with 214.1 last season. That, according to ProFootballFocus.com, which charts every play, is probably a testament to Harrison’s play when he has been healthy. (He missed five games to an eye injury and a suspension.)

In a formula that weighs sacks more heavily than hits and hurries, the Web site ranks Harrison as the second most productive 3-4 outside linebacker in the league, with 8 sacks, 9 hits and 21 hurries, particularly impressive because he rushes the quarterback on just 59.6 percent of all snaps.

But the Steelers have not been as successful against the run, allowing 99.8 yards a game, a long breakaway sprint worse than the 62.8 yards they allowed last season. That was jarring for a team traditionally so good against the run that opponents simply abandoned that part of the game.

More glaring is that the Steelers have produced just 15 turnovers, compared with 35 last season. As a result, the Steelers, despite a difficult schedule, feasted on teams with struggling offenses and inexperienced quarterbacks — Seneca Wallace, Blaine Gabbert, Kellen Clemens and Tyler Palko, among others — but lost three out of the four games they played against good offenses, beating only Tom Brady and New England but losing to Houston and to Baltimore twice.

The Ravens put together the most singeing drive of the season on Nov. 6, with the Steelers holding a 20-16 lead at home with 2 minutes 24 seconds remaining and a chance to seize control of the A.F.C. North. Baltimore began the drive at its 8, usually a typical moment for the Steelers’ defense to sack the quarterback or intercept a pass.

Instead, Joe Flacco marched Baltimore 13 plays — all passes — and 92 yards, completing a 26-yard touchdown pass on third-and-10. The drive left Heinz Field in stunned silence and signaled that if time had not yet passed by the Steelers’ defense as Sapp had predicted, it might at least be getting close.

“We are older as compared to other teams,” Clark said. “We know we have 30-year-old starters. If you go around the league and ask, ‘Would you take 30-year-old Troy Polamalu or 30-year-old Brett Keisel or Casey Hampton or James Farrior?’ a lot of teams would say, ‘Heck, yeah, we’ll take them all.’ ”

Clark could be correct, given that some of the Steelers’ oldest players — Keisel, Harrison, Polamalu — were also their best this season.

Pittsburgh’s locker room is festooned with children’s toys: Ping-Pong and billiards tables, and sometimes a basketball court marked off on the carpet in athletic tape. But against one wall last week, the longtime nose tackle Aaron Smith talked about considering retirement. He is 35 and missed 12 games after neck surgery. It made the room elegiac, with the implication that this could be among the last playoff runs for the core of players who have won two Super Bowls since 2006.

The Steelers have forestalled the march of time by building through the draft, so each player is familiar with the system by the time he becomes a starter. It will happen against Sunday. Farrior, who turned 37 on Friday, said he was excited to see safety Ryan Mundy, drafted in 2008, in place of Clark.

“We’re going to keep going on until we can’t go anymore,” Farrior said.

They are not done yet.

Believe it or not, Broncos can beat Steelers

2012-01-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/sports
January 8, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 1: Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos pitches the ball to Lance Ball #35 of the Denver Broncos during the game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 1, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/Getty Images)

Rocky Mountain way
Couldn't get much higher

— Joe Walsh

There is a Rocky Mountain way for the Orange Rush to breach the Steel Barricade and get much higher.

But considering that the Broncos won seven of their games this season by a total of 25 points and lost four by 105, victory over the Steelers will be mission implausible, but not impossible.

Not one pundit from Las Vegas to Bristol, Conn., is picking the Broncos to defeat the Steelers.

The Steelers are synonymous with Pittsburgh — tough, determined, strong, industrious. The franchise has played in eight Super Bowls, winning an NFL-record six and barely losing to the Packers last season.

They have the classiest owners in sports, the Rooney family; an exceptional young coach, Mike Tomlin; a potential Hall of Fame quarterback, Ben Rothlisberger; the Prince of Mid-Air and Long Hair, Troy Polamalu, and the league's No. 1 overall defense.

They have won 12, losing only four to division-winning teams (Ravens twice, 49ers and Texans). And the oldest franchise in the AFC has the most loyal fan following in the NFL.

The Broncos have a proud past too. They've played in six Super Bowls, winning their last two. They've won 11 division championships, and this is the Broncos' 18th trip to the postseason. They've had official sellouts for every game since 1970. "South Park" often mentions the Broncos and legendary player — John Elway — and, on "The Simpsons," Homer once was gifted ownership of the Broncos. Pat Bowlen actually has owned the Broncos since 1984.

The Broncos are under horses to the Steelers, just as they were in their first playoff game in the 1977 season. They won then — and are 3-3 in the postseason against the Steelers. They lost their last playoff game, in 2005, to the Steelers. That's old news, though.

The Broncos rappelled down the cliff into the playoffs.

Doom and Gloom, the nickname for Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller, has become the mood in the Rockies.

But the Broncos can overcome the funk and the Steelers.

Both teams have health issues. The Broncos are missing three important players — Brian Dawkins, Chris Kuper and Spencer Larsen — but the Steelers are without Rashard Mendenhall, Ryan Clark and Maurkice Pouncey. Rothlisberger has the persistent high-ankle sprain, and James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, Brett Keisel and Polamalu will be limited by assorted injuries.

The Broncos will be able to run against the Steelers. A lingering snowfall would be the great equalizer — affecting Pittsburgh's passing and assisting Willis McGahee and Tim Tebow in the rush.

The Steelers have scored only 23 points since Big Ben was hurt. His movement is restricted, and being without his starting center and the offense's No. 1 running back can't help. If Dumervil and Miller can apply pressure, and the Broncos send another attacker, Rothlisberger could struggle. On his bad ankle, he is 8-of-21 under a blitz.

A low-scoring, close game into the fourth quarter will benefit the Broncos. They have come back from deficits in fourth quarters to win five of six games since Tebow became the starter.

The Broncos must have the advantage in turnovers. The Steelers are minus-13 in takeaways-giveaways, the Broncos minus-12 for the entire season.

The crowd, as executive Elway said Tuesday, must get into the game right away, show that old-time emotion and drown out the Steelers' fanatics. An early big play and lead would lift the fog shrouding the city.

Matt Prater and Britton Colquitt have to get a leg up — kickoffs out of end zone, long and unreturnable punts, made field goals.

A half-dozen times the Broncos must reach the "Orange Zone" — an area inside the Steelers' 35-yard line. In Tebow's dozen games (including the second half against the Chargers at home), the Broncos got to the 34 or closer on 44 occasions. They went on to score 19 touchdowns and kick 18 field goals. Prater was in a bad stretch for a while (missing five), but has converted all but one (blocked) since the game in Oakland. In scoring situations, Tebow fumbled once, threw two interceptions and had three incompletions (one on the last play of the first San Diego game). A McGahee thrust on fourth down at the 21 was stopped short.

The Broncos have put themselves in position to score 84 percent of the time inside the Orange Zone.

Most significantly, Tebow has to come up XL — excel and extra large. He shouldn't throw 30 passes, but must, as Elway told me, and Tebow reiterated the next day, "pull the trigger" — not be hesitant, but decisive — when he passes.

The Broncos can win 19-17.

That's the Rocky Mountain Way.

Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com

Ban the Steelers jersey in Denver

2012-01-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

By Mark Kiszla
The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/sports
January 8, 2012

Pittsburgh Steelers fans wave their Terrible Towels as the Steelers face the Denver Broncos during an NFL game in Denver in November 2009.(Doug Pensinger, Getty Images file)

Just because the 8-8 Broncos don't really deserve home-field advantage in the NFL playoffs, does that mean Denver should surrender its stadium to Terrible Towel-waving invaders from Pittsburgh?

There ought to be a dress code for NFL fans.

"Say that again?" Broncos cornerback André Goodman asked.

My modest proposal: Any fan caught wearing Steelers colors should have his ticket confiscated and be promptly escorted to the exit.

Think I'm kidding?

"It's hard way to make money with a rule like that. At the end of the day, that's what it comes down to in America: making money," Goodman said. "So I don't see a rule like that happening anytime soon."

Well, you can be denied admission to a nightclub for wearing tattered jeans. There are gourmet restaurants that require gentlemen to wear a coat. Am I right?

So why should any loudmouth lout in Steelers garb be allowed inside Sports Authority Field, when quarterback Tim Tebow puts his job and Super Bowl dreams on the line against Pittsburgh?

"Well, you don't want to let Pittsburgh get up on top of you early, because you will hear those Steelers fans," Goodman said. "You want to say those fans are not a factor, but they can definitely be a factor if you let them get on top of you early and those Steelers fans are sounding a lot louder than your fans. That lets you know: 'We're not playing so well.' "

See? It is possible. If there are in excess of 15,000 Steelers fans in attendance, the interlopers can seize momentum. This could be especially problematic for the Broncos, who went 3-5 at home this season.

"Fans watch the game. They don't play it. The game is entertainment for them. It's business for us," Denver linebacker Mario Haggan said. "I don't care how many Steelers fans are in the stadium. If we go about our business, they'll be quiet."

Untold thousands of people across America wear Tebow jerseys, not because they were born as Broncos fans, but because they were raised in a church. And that's cool. Honoring an athlete for a greater cause than his ability to find the end zone is why the sight of Brian Piccolo's No. 41 in the bleachers always makes me smile.

But a fan waving a gold towel in your face while rocking a Ben Roethlisberger jersey during a Denver home game is basically shouting to everybody in the stadium: Go ahead, try telling me to shut up. I dare you!

Sure, some would argue a middle-aged visitor who wears Pittsburgh colors to a Denver game is exercising freedom of expression and the very American right to hide his Iron City Beer gut with an XXL black jersey that has "Polamalu" stitched on the back.

"The real Troy Polamalu might make a tackle wearing a Steelers jersey," Haggan said. "But a fan wearing a Polamalu jersey in the stands isn't going to make a play."

Discussion of Tebow's completion percentage or long-term viability as an NFL quarterback can spark an argument capable of dividing families. But there can be little debate about the real magic of this young quarterback. Rooting for the local NFL team has too often felt like penance in recent years. There's something about No. 15 that has made Broncomania feel as fresh as 1977 again.

So it would feel very, very wrong if the first NFL playoff game the town has seen in six seasons slipped into something akin to the wicked pissah party for Boston that the World Series became at Coors Field. Would Denver dare let the Steelers steal its home field?

"It's still going to be Mile High Stadium. The game is still going to be here in Denver. And we're still going to have our fans cheering for us," rookie linebacker Von Miller said. "But we definitely want to get this win for Broncos Nation."

From the carbo-overload of pierogies to the bohemian master strokes of Andy Warhol, I love Pittsburgh.

Guests in a Colorado stadium, however, should not be allowed to put their feet on the furniture and trample the hearts of Broncomaniacs.

It would make Denver look weak as a football city.

Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com

’05 Steelers-Broncos matchup was a watershed

2012-01-08T06:52:00.000-08:00

By ARNIE STAPLETON, AP Pro Football Writer
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/
January 7, 2012

Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger have mile-wide smiles after the quarterback's clinching 4-yard TD run in the Mile High City. (Associated Press photo by David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP)—Champ Bailey had the interception in his grasp and the end zone in his sights as Hines Ward began to fall and the fluttering football hung in the air along with the fortunes of two of the NFL’s most storied franchises.

Ward somehow came down with the deflected pass from Ben Roethlisberger ,holding on despite a jaw-jarring hit from John Lynch. Bailey pounded the ground with his fist in disgust and the Pittsburgh Steelers commenced with their 34-17 dismantling of the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game following the 2005 season.

That watershed afternoon of Jan. 22, 2006, sent the Steelers and Broncos on divergent paths, and they meet again Sunday in an AFC wild-card game at Sports Authority Field in snowy Denver.

“That game catapulted us to a Super Bowl victory,” Pittsburgh defensive end Brett Keisel said.

It sent the Broncos on a nosedive that would take them through three coaches, four quarterbacks, six defensive coordinators and a whole lot of misery before returning to the playoffs this year.

The Steelers are 69-35 since that fateful contest, winning two titles and narrowly missing a third in a 31-25 loss to Green Bay in last year’s Super Bowl, rivaling their run in the 1970s.

The Broncos have gone 44-52 with just one winning season and no playoff appearances.

“You can look at the direction we both headed after that. They went up, we went down,” Bailey said. “We haven’t been back, they’ve won two since then. It’s funny how it played out. But that was then, this is now. We have a chance to turn things around here and that’s what we expect to do this weekend.”

The Broncos, who won the middling AFC West at 8-8, host the heavily favored Steelers (12-4), who lost the AFC North on a tiebreaker to Baltimore, on what’s expected to be a snowy Sunday afternoon in Denver.

Memories of the pivotal `05 conference championship are fresh in the minds of the 16 Steelers and two Broncos—Bailey and linebacker D.J. Williams—who are still on their respective rosters.

“We started getting hot in the playoffs, wasn’t nobody that was going to stop us,” Steelers linebacker Larry Foote recounted. “When we beat Indy, it didn’t matter who we were going to play, we were going to get to the Super Bowl. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Bailey laments his lost shot at a Super Bowl that has eluded him throughout his stellar 13-year career that includes 11 Pro Bowls, a record for cornerbacks.

“I remember it, but at the same time, it’s a new day. That was a long time ago,” Bailey said. “We’re just trying to move on from here and see what we can do with this team.”

Lynch has long since retired, so he has no chance to assuage the anguish of that afternoon six years ago. Now an analyst for Fox Sports, he said he still looks back on that lost opportunity more than he does on the Super Bowl title he did win.

Early in the game the crowd was going crazy.

“I remember a big third down, it appeared right when Ben threw it that Champ was going to the house,” Lynch recalled. “Hines Ward made a great play to get his hands on the ball. The ball was hanging up there in slow-motion, and I knew what a competitor and tough player Hines was, but I was sure I was going to knock the ball out. And I put a lick on him like all licks. He got up smiling at me, first down. He also stuck his knee right up my quad, so I was gimpy the rest of the game, I could barely run.”

The Broncos would never lead and three hours later, they trudged off the field heads down while the Steelers celebrated their return to dominance.

“It was a tough game, because, gosh we had a great opportunity and I believe to this day that if we get through that game, we go beat Seattle and go win the Super Bowl,” Lynch said.

Now, it’s the Steelers who are coming to town with all the experience, momentum and pedigree and the Broncos who are the young, untested, just-glad-to-be-here bunch.

“Yeah, same thing, different team, right?” Bailey said. “Just kind of flipped it a little bit. And what did they do? They came here and beat our butts, so who’s to say what’s going to happen Sunday?”

The oddsmakers have installed the Steelers as 8 1/2 -point favorites despite an injury epidemic in Pittsburgh that has claimed tailback Rashard Mendenhall (knee) and could sideline All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey (ankle). The Steelers’top tackler, safety Ryan Clark , is sitting out as a precaution because of a blood disorder that’s exacerbated by altitude.

A sprained left ankle won’t keep Roethlisberger on the sideline, though.

Several other members of the league’s best defense are banged up as they prepare for the Broncos’ throwback offense. Asked when he last defended the option, Steelers defensive guru Dick LeBeau cracked, “Probably when I was playing.”

The Broncos may have the league’s top ground game, but they’ll be without their best run blocking in right guard Chris Kuper , who broke his left leg last week and will be replaced by Russ Hochstein and maybe Ryan Harris , who was re-signed Tuesday. Austin Sylvester is in line to get his first NFL action with fullback Spencer Larsen (knee) doubtful.

And strong safety Brian Dawkins was ruled out of Denver’s lineup with a nagging neck injury that might ultimately spell the end of his illustrious 16-year NFL career.

Bailey doesn’t mind being the dismissed team this time around.

“It keeps the distractions away a little more,” he said. “People aren’t hyping you as much and patting you on the back. People are whispering behind our back and telling us we (stink), and I’d rather live like that than any other way.”

After all, nobody thought the Broncos would reach the playoffs after they started 1-4 and Tim Tebow supplanted Kyle Orton , then won seven of his first eight starts before losing his last three.

During the skid, Tebow has completed just 30 of 73 passes (41 percent) with one touchdown, four interceptions and 10 sacks to go with three lost fumbles.

A two-time national champion at Florida, Tebow is looking to bounce back in a big way in the playoffs.

“The kid does have some special qualities and he rises to the challenge on the big stage, and that’s what the playoffs are all about,” Lynch said.“Here’s his opportunity.”

———
AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report from Pittsburgh.
———
Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

Highlights: Rangers 3, Penguins 1

2012-01-07T04:24:00.000-08:00

Redman’s faced obstacles tougher than Broncos

2012-01-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

By Les Carpenter, Yahoo! Sports
http://sports.yahoo.com/
Jan 5, 8:17 pm EST

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 08: Isaac Redman #33 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs the ball in the first half against the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field on December 8, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

The lawyers cost money but they could keep her son out of jail, so Leslie Redman kept paying them until there was nothing left and she had to declare bankruptcy. Soon came the creditors to collect for the various unpaid bills, and they took the car and the house. Her husband vanished, leaving her with just her daughter and her son, Isaac, who prosecutors threatened to send to prison for 20 years. There was no way she’d let that happen.

“We can always get another house,” she told her children.

So if you think the Pittsburgh Steelers lost something big when running back Rashard Mendenhall went down with a knee injury, that they won’t be able to replace him with someone as driven, as relentless, then you don’t know about Isaac Redman , the man who will line up in his place against the Denver Broncos in Sunday’s AFC wild-card contest. Redman once had everything – big colleges knocking at his door, the promise of a bright career, a smooth ride to the NFL. Then, the schools, the house, his reputation and everything else were all gone. And building it all back has been a far longer process.

“My mom stood by me,” he says. “She sacrificed everything.”

He was a high school star in Paulsboro, N.J., a town just outside Camden in the Philadelphia suburbs, a running back who was impossible to stop. Big schools called. There were scholarship offers and recruiting visits. Iowa was persistent. Temple was close to home and it seemed right. Then came April 17, 2003, and a party in a nearby town. He and another young man were accused of first-degree sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in a car outside the house. He was 18 and about to finish high school.

Redman declines to elaborate on the details of that evening, but he eventually took a plea deal (resulting in three years of probation and no jail time) that convicted him of fourth-degree sexual contact (humiliating or degrading intimate touching). Leslie Redman says there were family pressures that led to the complaint and that someone familiar with the charges eventually apologized to Isaac for the fact they were brought.

But before the case was resolved, he faced 20 years in prison. Suddenly the colleges stopped calling. A low SAT score gave Temple reason to put his scholarship on hold, his once-gleaming future clouded. He spent months in a legal haze, with no college, no football, nothing but the fear he had lost it all.

When Isaac was arrested, Leslie cried for a week. “I knew he wanted to do so much with his life and it might not happen,” she says. “But I have faith in God and I keep praying and if you do that, God will take care of everything.”

A friend who rents houses called and said she had a house they could have free of charge. It was small, with no closets and barely enough room for Leslie, Isaac and his sister, but it was a house. It was a new start and what else could they be but grateful? With Temple stalling and nothing else looming for him, there came another surprise. It was something small, not much, but what choice did he have? Bowie State, a Division II school in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. was willing to take a chance.

Again, Isaac Redman could be nothing but grateful.

**********

Around Camden, Marc Harrison was known as sort of a last hope for athletes who fell through the cracks. And around Camden lots of athletes fell through the cracks. He was once a runner himself, a track athlete who made it to Bucknell and had become the director of compliance for the athletic department at Bowie. There had been plenty of desperate phone calls from parents longing to see their kids in college. Was there any way he could help? Often he could. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.

One night, as Harrison napped on his couch, a friend called. The friend had a cousin, a running back, someone who was good. Did Harrison think he could talk to the football coaches at Bowie?
Harrison said Bowie had 10 running backs and wasn’t looking for any more.

“It’s Isaac Redman,” the friend said.

Harrison jumped off the couch. He knew all about Redman. Who from Camden didn’t? Paulsboro was the rival to Harrison’s school. He followed the papers and went back to an occasional game. He had seen Redman play, watched him crash through tacklers. The last he heard he was going to Temple or Iowa.

“There were complications,” the friend said.

The friend sent Harrison a highlight tape. Harrison took the tape to Bowie’s coach at the time, Mike Lynn, who had the same reaction as Harrison when the friend called. Bowie didn’t need any more running backs.

“Just watch the tape,” Harrison told him.

Lynn did.

“His jaw dropped,” Harrison says laughing. “He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.”

And right there, Lynn decided that Bowie could use an 11th running back.

“When I gave him the opportunity he said, ‘Mr. Harrison, I’m going to be the best they ever had here. I’m going to make it to the league,’ ” Harrison says.

Had Harrison not taken the tape to the Bowie coaches, who knows what would have happened to Isaac?

“That tape was ridiculous,” Isaac says. “There were a lot of plays on it that would blow your mind.”
He doesn’t say this in an arrogant way. In fact he sounds almost muted, stating a simple fact. And when he got to Bowie in the late summer of 2004, he set about to make sure he had many more.

“Determination is definitely what he had,” says Bowie’s current head coach, Damon Wilson, who was Isaac’s position coach at the time. “He has a gift and he made the most of it.”

Harrison – who has since left Bowie to work at a charter school in Northeast D.C. – remembers the same thing. “He was really determined,” he says.

Every day, Redman showed up to campus in a button-up shirt and glasses, carrying books, appearing regularly in the weight room and forever talking about the same thing: getting to the NFL. Harrison looked hard at the sexual assault charges, talking to several people until he was sure what happened and understood that Isaac would not be a problem at Bowie. The administration even researched his background after a Division I coach called and told a Bowie official about the arrest.

Ultimately, Bowie’s faith in Redman paid off. Redman, who redshirted in 2006, finished as Bowie’s all-time leading rusher with 3,300 yards and 35 touchdowns. Wilson still remembers a 99-yard touchdown run in 2007. But because Bowie is a Division II school that had only sent two players for brief runs in the NFL, Redman drew little professional interest. No scouts came to practice. Nobody asked to see tape. It was as if he didn’t exist at all.

In the winter of 2009, following his senior season, Isaac went to Los Angeles to work out with then-USC running backs coach Todd McNair, a former Camden-area star and NFL player, whose wife is Leslie’s niece. When McNair played for Temple in the late 1980s, his head coach was the Steelers’ current offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians, who also became his position coach with the Kansas City Chiefs. McNair sent Redman’s Bowie game film to Arians, begging his former coach to watch it. The Steelers invited Isaac to a minicamp. After that came a contract and an invite to ’09 training camp.

At first the Steelers weren’t sure. He was strong and could break tackles but he struggled to stay in shape. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin kept calling him “Barlow,” a mocking reference to former NFL running back Kevan Barlow who was famous for underachieving. After that first camp, the Steelers cut Redman and signed him to their practice squad. Despite the fact the team kept him around, he felt like he failed, like he had blown his NFL shot, that he had failed his mother and Bowie and everyone who had taken the chance on him.

The next summer he worked to get in better shape and it showed in the preseason games. When coaches started approaching him with friendly back slaps not long before the start of the season – telling him he needed to be sure to have a financial advisor – he realized he was making the team. But his real feeling of belonging didn’t come until late in the season when he caught the game-winning touchdown pass in a 13-10 road victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

“It went from being, ‘Do they trust me on the team?’ to ‘I just had a big touchdown in a game against the Baltimore Ravens, our rivals,’ ” Isaac says. “You become the guy everyone likes in the locker room for a couple of weeks.”

**********

From the Steelers headquarters, Isaac sighs into the phone. He contemplates where he would be if Harrison hadn’t taken his tape to Bowie coaches.

“Who knows what would have happened,” he says. “I would have sat around for another year. I wanted to go to college but people always say, ‘Oh I’ll go to school in another year.’ I know a lot of people who say that and then they never do.”

He doesn’t talk much about the charges or the year he spent in limbo. Leslie says he is not angry about what happened although people around him have told him he should be.

“It’s sad that something like that happened to me so young,” he says. “People who know me understand the situation. You can never get past it. It keeps coming up. It’s a blessing that Marc Harrison was willing to help me out.”

He says he owes his mother everything he can give. It’s why he was so driven to succeed at Bowie. He wanted to go to school, make her proud and wanted her to know that losing the house and the car and everything she had because of her faith in him would be worth it.

“I was determined to stay hungry,” he says.

Leslie, who says everything is fine now, doesn’t want anything from her son. She always tells him his money is his and to please not spend any of it on her. But she knows this is futile. She knows he tells people he owes her, that she sacrificed for him, and with his NFL salary he got her a bigger place to live, something like what she had before. He has a place in Pittsburgh and she comes out for his games, spending the afternoons cooking. He also has a son, a one-year-old named Haiden, and he comes home often to be with him. The other day, on a Steelers off-day, Leslie returned home to have the neighborhood children tell her Isaac had been out on the street throwing a football with them. She smiled. How far things had come from the year her son sat home alone, his reputation torn apart.

Harrison knows he has a friend, a player in the NFL to whom he is the godfather of his son. On the day Harrison’s son was going to play his first youth football game, Isaac called the boy early in the morning, without Harrison even knowing, just to wish him good luck. And when Isaac started his first game for the Steelers this fall, the kids on the KLM Steelers youth football team in Prince George’s County took their No. 33 jersey, a perfect replica of the Pittsburgh Steelers uniforms, and signed their names across it – a gift to him.

“He says he’s got it and looks at it all the time,” Harrison says.

Then he pauses.

“You know, Isaac is really a good kid.”

Here's the right recipe for Broncos' victory vs. Steelers

2012-01-07T03:44:00.000-08:00

By Jeff LegwoldThe Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/sports
January 7, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 1: Willis McGahee #23 of the Denver Broncos runs with the ball during the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 1, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/Getty Images)

The numbers say the Broncos have the lowest-scoring team in the playoff field — they are the only one of the 12 averaging fewer than 20 points a game — and the Steelers have the No. 1 defense in the NFL.

The numbers say Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has won two Super Bowls and played in three already in his career, and Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is in the worst stretch of play in his football life — seven turnovers in three games and a 40 percent completion rate.

But the Broncos, especially head coach John Fox, have said all week that numbers don't matter Sunday and "that's why you play the game."

And there are some things the Broncos need to happen if they are going to pull off what many in the league would consider an upset on par with the Seahawks' win over New Orleans in last year's NFC wild-card game.

Like:

— Get to Roethlisberger. His severely sprained left ankle has him far less that 100 percent and it's unlikely he will have his usual mobility in the pocket.

He's been sacked 40 times this season, including 13 times in the Steelers' four losses. Against pressure defenses brought in those four losses, he also threw eight interceptions.

And without running back Rashard Mendenhall (knee) in the lineup, a Steelers offense that was already 14th in the league in rushing has moved down the depth chart in the backfield.

— Just play. This goes especially for Tebow. He has so many messages from so many places swirling around him — throw, don't throw, run, don't run, be aggressive, be safe — he simply looks paralyzed at times.

And while he consistently says he ignores all of what goes on around him, that is an unrealistic stance — and his play says otherwise at the moment.

It's clear the pressure of the season as well as the pressure of simply living up to what so many people expect of him are wearing on him at times.

He simply has to find a way to calm himself and play well early, something that has been a struggle. It is unlikely he will have the opportunity for a comeback here if the Steelers get the upper hand in the first quarter.

— Hope the defense allows you to commit to the run. If the Broncos' defense keeps things close, the Broncos' offense must remain committed to the run, despite any misguided notions the Broncos can consistently throw their way out of trouble against the Steelers.

The Ravens succeeded against the Steelers — two Baltimore victories — by flipping the script at times. They ran when the situation called for a pass and often passed when the situation called for a run.

They played away from the percentages and were able to dictate terms.

Of course, they were also a division opponent with far more experience against the Steelers' defense, an advantage the Broncos won't have. But the Broncos have to find a way to keep running, even when they don't get early success doing it.

They can't have three-and-outs that take 45 seconds off the clock with three incomplete passes. Their defense can't take that kind of stress in a postseason game.

Keep it close, slow the tempo and toss in a surprise or two along the way is the recipe because running back Willis McGahee may be the most important player on the field for the Broncos.

— Get the young guys to play older. In terms of playoff experience, this is one is a rout with 40 Steelers having appeared in a playoff game (39 of those in a Steelers uniform) compared to the Broncos' 11.

If that youthful group isn't up to the task, a potentially long day will get longer, especially in the offensive front where second-year players Zane Beadles and J.D. Walton and rookie Orlando Franklin will need their best efforts of the season against one of the toughest defenses to block in the league.

Jeff Legwold: jlegwold@denverpost.com

Steelers' Smith can only watch, wonder

2012-01-06T00:38:00.000-08:00

By Mike Bires
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
January 6, 2012

GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 23: Aaron Smith #91, Cameron Heyward #97, Chris Hoke #76, James Farrior #51, and Casey Hampton #98 of the Pittsburgh Steelers sit on the bench during their game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium on October 23, 2011 in Glendale, Arizona. (Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH -- After a strenuous workout in the weight room, Aaron Smith looked like he's ready to help the Steelers out in Denver on Sunday. He may be 35, but he's in excellent shape right now.

Unfortunately, he knows he may never play again.

For the third straight year, major injuries that required corrective surgery have shut Smith down

In 2009, his season ended after five games due to a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder.

In 2010, he played six games before suffering a torn triceps.

This year, he played only four games before a neck injury put him on injured reserve.

Of the Steelers' past 48 regular-season games, Smith has missed 33 of them.

He even missed five games in 2007 with knee injuries.

During the heyday of his 13-year run with the Steelers, Smith was regarded as one of the NFL's most underrated defensive ends. He went years without missing a game or a practice. Although he seldom received national acclaim, he was regarded by his coaches and teammates as a true warrior.

In recent years, however, it's been difficult for Smith to watch so many games from the sidelines.

"It's the worst thing," he said after his Thursday morning workout. "Watching a game for me is like taking a recovering alcoholic to a bar. How much do you think they enjoy being in that bar? Everyone else is partying and enjoying themselves and this guy is miserable.

"I love playing. I love competing. I love the game of football. It's painful to stand on the sidelines and watch. If and when I do decide I'm done, it may be awhile before I watch football."

It was brutally painful for Smith last year because coach Mike Tomlin never put him on the season-ending injured reserve list. So respected by everyone in the franchise, the Steelers kept Smith on the active roster the entire season in hopes he'd return for the playoffs.

The Steelers even kept Smith on the roster throughout the playoffs in hopes that he might be able to play in Super Bowl XLV against Green Bay. But that never happened.

"I still fantasize about it," Smith said. "I drive down the road and fantasize about playing. I don't think it will ever stop. Even when I'm done playing, I think I'll still fantasize about competing. I watch games now and think what I would do in that situation or how I would handle this."

Obviously, Smith would love to play Sunday in Denver. A native of nearby Colorado Springs -- he attended Northern Colorado University in Greeley --- Smith was never a fan of the Broncos though.

"I was a Broncos hater," he said. "My family loved the Broncos. I guess I was the jerk kid that always wanted to root against everybody, like a kid here (in Pittsburgh) rooting for the Ravens."

Smith has been part of many memorable wins during his time with the Steelers. He started on the two most recent Super Bowl championship teams (2005 and 2008). One of his favorite moments was the '05 AFC Championship Game in Denver, a 34-17 Steelers victory.

"I remember I wanted to win that game more than anything, especially being from there," he said. "I remember thinking, ‘If we lose this, I can't come back home.'"

Home these days for Smith is Pittsburgh. He sold his house in Colorado, which was located near the Broncos' practice facility, several years ago. All five of his children were born in Pittsburgh. When he retires, he and his family will remain in western Pa.

Smith said that he has yet to decide if he'll try to play again next year. He'll be 36 in April and he's not sure if his body can withstand a 14th season.

Sometime during the off-season, he and his wife will sit down and make that decision. He's under contract for the 2012 season and is due to make $4.5 million in base salary. But now that Ziggy Hood, a first-round pick in the 2009 draft, is firmly entrenched at Smith's customary spot at left defensive end, Smith would have to take a significant pay cut to return.

Not that money is an issue. In 2007, he signed a five-year, $24.5 million contract that included an $8 million signing bonus.

"The money is just kind of useless at this point," he said. "I mean, how much is enough?"

All that would drive Smith back for one more year are the competitive fires that still burn inside him. That's why he still frequents the weight room.

"This is all I know," he said. "I'm afraid if I stop, what's going to happen?"

Could John Clay be this postseason’s James Starks?

2012-01-05T03:15:00.000-08:00

By Chris Burke
Audibles
http://nfl.si.com/
January 4, 2012

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 24: John Clay #38 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs in for a touchdown against the St. Louis Rams in the first half during the Christmas Eve game on December 24, 2011 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Before Jan. 9, 2011, few NFL fans outside of Green Bay could have told you who James Starks was. A virtual unknown rookie out of the University of Buffalo, Starks carried the ball just 29 times during his first regular season — 18 of those touches coming in a Week 13 win over San Francisco.

But then that January day rolled around and, with the sixth-seeded Packers visiting Philadelphia in a wild-card round playoff game, Starks made a name for himself. He ran 23 times for 123 yards against the Eagles, which helped Green Bay pull off a road upset and sparked a Super Bowl run. Over the Pack’s march to a title, Starks would attempt 81 rushes, pick up 315 yards and score once.

Aaron Rodgers, Charles Woodson and the Packers’ superstars received many of the accolades, but it’s hard to imagine that team getting past Philadelphia, let alone running the table, without Starks’ emergence.

One year later, Pittsburgh, the team Green Bay beat in the 2011 Super Bowl, finds itself in need of a similar diamond-in-the-rough story.

That’s because No. 1 running back Rashard Mendenhall, he of 3,000-plus rushing yards over the past three seasons, tore his ACL in what wound up being a meaningless Week 17 game in Cleveland. Now the Steelers hope someone else can step in the backfield for Sunday’s game in Denver.

The three options: Isaac Redman, Mewelde Moore and John Clay.

Redman will get the first crack at replacing Mendenhall, despite two fumbles against the Browns. He had 110 carries for 479 yards this season and proved capable of spelling Mendenhall in spurts.

Moore, meanwhile, has been dealing with a knee injury since Week 15 and the eighth-year back did not play in either of the Steelers’ final two games.

And then there’s Clay.

If there’s an unofficial nominee to be this year’s Starks, it might be the rookie out of Wisconsin. Clay was relegated to Pittsburgh’s practice squad until Dec. 23, when the team signed him to its active roster. He paid immediate dividends, scoring a touchdown on his first career carry. Clay then jumped in against Cleveland, with Redman yanked following his two fumbles, and picked up 31 yards on nine carries.

Clay had rushed for more than 3,400 yards at Wisconsin, but went undrafted last April because of questions about his conditioning and speed.

He’s never going to be a burner, but the weight issues appear to be under control, and a motivated Clay could be a huge weapon for Pittsburgh. At 6-foot-1 and 248 pounds, he has the potential to be a bruising, between-the-tackles runner at the NFL level — precisely the type of back that comes in handy in January and February.

At the very least, Clay should provide a solid source of depth for the Pittsburgh backfield. Redman will enter the wild-card round as the Steelers’ No. 1 back, with Moore (assuming he can play) penciled in for his usual role as a third-down player.

Pittsburgh, like the Packers last year, will not be running the ball 50 times a game. The ground attack, though, is critical to the Steelers’ hopes of balancing out their offense and keeping some heat off Ben Roethlisberger.

Maybe Redman delivers the type of performance Pittsburgh needs. We saw during the 2011 playoff season, however, when Packers coach Mike McCarthy rode what he called the “hot hand” in Starks, how quickly plans can change.

Clay may have spent 15 weeks of the regular season on the practice squad, but he might wind up being just what the Steelers need with Mendenhall on the sideline.

Pouncey & Gilbert recall Gator days with Tebow

2012-01-05T02:50:00.000-08:00

By Mike Bires
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
January 5, 2011

PITTSBURGH -- Marcus Gilbert was part of the famous Florida Gators' recruiting class in 2006, and vividly remembers the day he met the new hot-shot quarterback.

"The first time I ever met him, I said, ‘Man, this guy is special.' He has something in him. There's something about him," said Gilbert, the Steelers' rookie right tackle.

Gilbert, of course, was talking about Tim Tebow.

Gilbert and center Maurkice Pouncey, another ex-Gator, will have a reunion of sorts Sunday with Tebow. The Steelers will be in Denver for a wild-card game. And it's Tebow, who's still one of the most compelling athletes in sports, who helped get the Broncos to the playoffs.

Love him or hate him, Tebow is the man most responsible for the Broncos winning the AFC West.

The 25th overall pick of the 2010 draft, he's a rare breed among NFL quarterbacks. He's a strong, muscular young man of 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds who's more of a runner than a thrower. But above all, he's a winner.

In high school, he was a two-time player of the year who led his team to the Florida 4A championship as a senior.

As the starting QB at Florida, he led the Gators to records of 9-4, 13-1 and 13-1 and a national championship.

Before becoming the starter in Denver, the Broncos were 1-4. Since Tebow took over, the Broncos are 7-4.

Pouncey, who was Tebow's center for two years at Florida including the 2008 season when the Gators won the national title, isn't surprised by "Tebowmania." But at times Wednesday, he really didn't seem interested in talking about Tebow.

"How come nobody asked me about Brandon Spikes when we played the Patriots?" he said. "I'm tired of answering all these questions about Tim Tebow."

Spikes, who was also part of the highly acclaimed Florida recruiting class of '06, plays linebacker for New England.

Pouncey, the 18th overall pick of the 2010 draft, went as far as saying that the Broncos' defense "is the only reason they are winning."

However, Pouncey also said that Tebow "is a good dude" and that "it was a great experience playing with him."

When asked if he had a favorite Tebow story from their days at Florida, Pouncey said, "We went to the national championship game. He played good. We won at the end and he was the MVP of the game."

"I have never doubted Tim Tebow," Gilbert said.

Gilbert and Pouncey both laughed when asked about Tebow's exploits in the Gator weight room.

"They actually had to calm him down at times," Pouncey said. "He was trying to do things in the weight room quarterbacks shouldn't do. He'd go in there and try to bench press all this weight and do stuff quarterbacks shouldn't do, and he's the guy who was to throw the ball on Saturdays."

"Yeah, he was an animal in the weight room," added Gilbert. "He was a big guy with a lot of energy in all aspects of football, whether it was in the weight room, in the meeting room or on the football field. He was so passionate about the game.

"That's what you want from your leader. He was the kind of guy you want on your team. Just being around him drove me to become a better player."

As far as Tebow's public displays of his religious beliefs, neither Pouncey nor Gilbert have a problem with it.

"He's always been that way," Pouncey said. "It wasn't an issue with us (at Florida) and I don't see why it's an issue now. I say it's a good thing that he has religion."

Pittsburgh Steelers' defense always hard to dent

2012-01-04T03:15:00.000-08:00

By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com
January 4, 2012

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 24: Running back Cadillac Williams #33 of the St. Louis Rams is tackled by lineback James Farrior #51 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the game at Heinz Field on December 24, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Karl Walter/Getty Images)

As if playing in their first playoff game in six years isn't enough on their plate, the Broncos will be wrestling with a fair share of NFL history in the first-round game Sunday.

The Broncos will line up against the idea that season after season, player after player, hot new trend after hot new trend, the Pittsburgh Steelers have chiseled out a way to play great defense. It's a a big reason the Steelers have won the Super Bowl six times.

"Pittsburgh just kind of breeds that. It's been that way for a long time," said Broncos coach John Fox, who started his NFL coaching career on Chuck Noll's staff in Pittsburgh. "They've had continuity, especially in their coaches. Guys buy into it. It's kind of a rough-and-tough area all the way back to the '70s with the Steel Curtain."

The Steelers (12-4) are bringing this season's top-ranked NFL defense to Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Veteran defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's group led the league in scoring defense, total defense and pass defense.

Pittsburgh's "down" category this season was run defense, finishing eighth-best in the 32-team league in rushing yards allowed.

Since the start of the 2004 season, the Steelers have led the NFL in total defense four times and in scoring defense four times.

In their Super Bowl runner-up season of 2010, the Steelers led the league in eight defensive categories — including a franchise record for run defense, allowing an average of only 62.8 yards rushing per game.

"It's (having) the right personnel," said Broncos tight end Dante Rosario. "They definitely have a certain type of players they want in there and I'd say over the years they continue to get those players in there."

Since starting a procession into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with their dominant four-time Super Bowl champion Steel Curtain defenses of the 1970s, the Steelers have won with continuity in human resources as well as in defensive playbooks.

The Rooney family has owned the franchise since its inception. And since 1969, the Steelers have had only three head coaches — Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. Each embraced the idea of winning with defense. The Steelers have used a version of their 3-4 alignment on defense since 1992, Cowher's first season in charge.

"All those years, they've always looked for similar type players and when things change so often around them, they are consistently still out there looking for the same guys. And they've been really good at finding them," Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. "They keep playing that way year after year and Dick, well, Dick is a walking encyclopedia on how to play defensive football."

LeBeau, who's in his second stint with the Steelers, is a key part of their remarkable run of excellence on defense. He was a member of Cowher's staff as a defensive backs coach. Cowher, Capers and LeBeau outlined the Steelers' switch to the 3-4 defense just before training camp opened in 1992.

Before that switch was made, Capers and the defensive staff had two playbooks — one for the 4-3 and one for the 3-4. Years later, LeBeau and Capers said going with the 3-4 defense full time was a watershed moment in Pittsburgh building a consistent defensive force. It's a head-on approach that can be seen in Tomlin's response this week when he was asked by a reporter what challenges the Denver offense presents. "We had better get them behind the chains," Tomlin said. "Stopping the run is a prerequisite for us playing the kind of ball we desire to play in terms of getting after the quarterback."

Said Fox of the Steelers: "They find tough players. It takes tough-minded people to play good defense. It's effective and it's been effective for them."

Jeff Legwold: jlegwold@denverpost.com

Steelers are left with an unheralded backfield

2012-01-03T03:19:00.000-08:00

By Scott Brown, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Tuesday, January 3, 2012

CLEVELAND, OH - JANUARY 01: Running back Isaac Redman #33 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs from defenders D'Qwell Jackson #52 and Buster Skrine #22 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on January 1, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Rashard Mendenhall has been lost for the playoffs, but Max Starks isn't worried about a drop-off in the running game as the Steelers prepare for a wild-card game in Denver.

Consider what the Steelers left tackle heard about Isaac Redman during a 13-9 win at Cleveland two days ago.

"At one point, the Browns were arguing about who was going to tackle him because they couldn't get him down," Starks said Monday. "He's a tremendous downhill rusher."

The 6-foot, 230-pound Redman is also next in line following an MRI that, sources said, confirmed Mendenhall had torn his right ACL against the Browns.

Mendenhall became the third running back the Steelers have lost to a season-ending injury (Baron Batch and Jonathan Dwyer were the others). Mendenhall, who has led the team in rushing the past three seasons, is slated to have surgery within the next two weeks.

In addition to his 928 rushing yards this season, Mendenhall scored a team-high nine touchdowns.

Redman signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2009 and, in three years, has gone from training camp curiosity to feature back on a team that is eyeing a run at a seventh Super Bowl title.

Redman, who played his college ball at Division II Bowie (Md.) State, made his first career start earlier this season against Tennessee. He'll make the second one Sunday afternoon in Denver.

"I'm prepared," Redman said. "I'm capable of helping this team go to the Super Bowl."

Redman figures to get the bulk of the carries, despite losing a pair of fumbles in Cleveland. Behind him are Mewelde Moore, whom the Steelers hope can return this week after missing the past two games because of a knee injury, and John Clay.

The Steelers signed Clay off their practice squad two days before Christmas, and he carried nine times against the Browns.

Coach Mike Tomlin said Clay's workload had nothing to do with Redman's turnovers, which almost allowed the Browns to pull off an upset.

The fumbles were his first two of the season, and they marred an otherwise solid game for Redman.

Redman, who spent most of his rookie season on the Steelers' practice squad, battered the Browns for 92 yards and a touchdown on just 19 carries.

And he apparently made enough of an impression that he had the Browns' defensive players muttering to one another.

"It wouldn't surprise me," tight end Heath Miller said. "They probably got tired of hitting him. He really hits the hole hard. If he gets extra carries this week, I'm excited to see what he can do with them."

The Steelers don't figure to shy away from running the ball in Denver despite the injuries they have had to weather in their backfield.

The Steelers averaged 165 rushing yards in their final two regular-season games, and the Broncos finished 22nd in the NFL in run defense this season.

Denver yielded 126.3 rushing yards per game, and if Redman can get the Broncos defensive players talking to one another, the Steelers will consider it a good day on the ground.

"He's a hard runner," Starks said, "and (I'm) looking forward to seeing him featured."

Maybe Brown deserved MVP after glowing endorsements

2012-01-03T03:12:00.000-08:00

By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

CLEVELAND, OH - JANUARY 01: Wide receiver Antonio Brown #84 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs by defenders Chris Gocong #51 and Joe Haden #23 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on January 1, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Give second-year wide receiver Antonio Brown credit. A lot of people said last week that he shouldn't have been voted Steelers MVP by his teammates. He went out Sunday against the Cleveland Browns and showed why he was a good choice.

Not the best choice.

That would have been quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

But a pretty darn good choice.

"I didn't feel any pressure," Brown said after the Steelers' 13-9 victory at Cleveland Browns Stadium. "Every guy on this team is a MVP. It's not like I have to go out and win the game by myself. I'm just playing football."

In the process, Brown became the first player in NFL history to get 1,000 receiving yards and 1,000 return yards in the same season.

You're right.

Maybe Brown is a bit more than a pretty darn good choice for MVP.

His numbers are impressive: 69 catches for 1,108 yards, 27 kickoff returns for 737 yards and 30 punt returns for 325 yards. His 2,211 all-purpose yards are a franchise record, easily surpassing the 2,034 that running back Barry Foster amassed in 1992.

"That's a whole lot of yards," linebacker Larry Foote said, explaining the choice of Brown as MVP.

Said Brown, "I'm getting more opportunities. They're putting me in position to make plays."

That would include Roethlisberger, who loves throwing the ball to Brown. Pro Bowl-bound starter Mike Wallace was the Steelers' top receiver for much of the season. Not lately, though. In the past six games, Brown has 25 catches for 482 yards, Wallace 19 for 271.

Brown played Sunday as if he wanted to beat the Browns by himself, figuring in each of the Steelers' three scoring drives on a dreary, windy day on the Lake Erie shore. His 40-yard catch along the right sideline late in the second quarter set up a field goal and brought back a wonderful memory. His 11-yard catch early in the third quarter set up another field goal. His 11-yard catch midway through the third quarter led to a touchdown.

Then, there was Brown's 13-yard catch early in the fourth quarter. It was as good as any he has had this season. Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur challenged that Brown trapped the ball, but replays clearly showed he cradled it with one arm before it hit the ground.

"Focus," Brown said of the play. "I just keep my eye on the ball and make sure I come down with the catch."

Brown makes it sound so simple, but there was nothing easy about that 13-yard catch or his 40-yard catch, for that matter. He trapped the ball against his helmet with his left hand and managed to hold on for the big gain despite being knocked out of bounds by cornerback Joe Haden.

"How'd that look on replay?" Brown asked, grinning.

Fabulous, he was told.

Reminiscent of his 58-yard catch a year ago against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC playoffs when he trapped the ball against his helmet with his right hand to set up the winning touchdown in a 31-24 victory.

"Reminded me of that play, too," Brown said.

Roethlisberger and the Steelers are hoping Brown makes more big plays in these playoffs, which start for them Sunday in Denver against the Broncos. They almost certainly will have to win three games on the road to get to their fourth Super Bowl in seven years.

"We'll be fine going on the road," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "It can be done. We've done it before."

Keisel is among the 15 currently active Steelers who, in 2005, became the first team in NFL history to win three road games and then the Super Bowl. The feat also was accomplished by the '07 New York Giants and the '10 Green Bay Packers. Brown was not on that '05 team, yet has no trouble imagining these Steelers pulling off the trick.

"This is where the fun begins. January football ... We've got that go-hard-or-go-home mentality."

So said the MVP.

I admit it, I'm still having a little trouble with that.

You know, calling Brown the MVP.

I would have voted for Roethlisberger and not thought twice about it. He's the one player the Steelers need most to win. He was playing the best football of his Hall of Fame-caliber career before his left ankle was hurt Dec. 8 against the Browns.

Cornerback Ike Taylor also would have been a fine MVP choice. He received defensive captain James Farrior's vote. Center Maurkice Pouncey could have won it. He received Roethlisberger's vote.

"We have four or five guys on this team who could have been MVP," Roethlisberger said. "Antonio is one of them. He's a great choice."

That does it.

I've got to let it go, I guess.

If Roethlisberger is OK with Brown as Steelers MVP, I am, too.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan. More articles by this author

Broncos running into trouble without a passing game

2012-01-03T02:53:00.000-08:00

By Lindsay H. Jones
The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/sports
January 3, 2012

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 01: Quarterback Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos scrambles and tries to elude linebacker Derrick Johnson #56 of the Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 1, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Be it short, long, left side, right side or even a trick-play deep flea-flicker, no matter what the Broncos tried to jump-start their passing game against Kansas City, it didn't work.

Coach John Fox was still miffed Monday about his team's horrendous passing game in the 7-3 loss to the Chiefs.

"We do run short passes. They just didn't go so well," Fox said. "We called long ones, and they didn't go very well either."

He doesn't have much time to fix the problem, with the Steelers coming to town for a first-round playoff game Sunday.

With a running game that produced 216 yards and a defense that held the Chiefs to one score, there is little doubt about the Broncos' weak link heading into the playoffs. Opponents are openly daring quarterback Tim Tebow to prove he can beat them in the passing game, often stacking eight or nine players near the line of scrimmage.

"Everybody that is involved in the passing game has to get better," wide receiver Eric Decker said Monday. "To make a push in the playoffs, that has to be an emphasis for us on offense."

Tebow completed only 6-of-22 passes for 60 yards against the Chiefs. He also lost a critical fumble in the first half and threw an interception (on a desperation fourth-down, fourth-quarter pass), finishing with a quarterback rating of 20.6, a career low.

But Fox was careful Monday not to blame all of his team's passing problems on Tebow, who has had back-to-back poor performances. A week earlier, he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble at Buffalo.

"He's doing the best he can to help us win," Fox said, "and we had a little bit of a struggle yesterday throwing the ball. That happens sometimes."

Still, Tebow's struggles are alarming.

He appeared to show significant progress as a passer in early December, with 200-yard games against Minnesota and Chicago, and had perhaps his best day throwing from the pocket in a loss to New England three weeks ago. After his four-turnover day at Buffalo, Tebow appeared to be playing with a lack of confidence as a passer against the Chiefs. He seemed less decisive and, at times, hesitant to throw at all.

And, the Broncos all but gave up on the passing game during long stretches. They called only running plays on their opening possession — a three-and-out series — but offensive coordinator Mike McCoy called for a flea-flicker on the first play of the next possession, hoping to capitalize on a Kansas City defense expecting a running play.

Tebow took the pitch back from running back Willis McGahee and saw a deep safety helping to cover wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. Tebow held the ball for a few moments before tossing it out of bounds to the right sideline. Meanwhile, Decker was uncovered to the left.

"They did a good job of eliminating that play," Decker said of the Chiefs. "I don't know what (Tebow) saw."

Decker, who has had only one catch in each of the past two games, said every player understands the passing offense has to improve for the Broncos to have a chance against the Steelers.

"To make a push in the playoffs, that has to be an emphasis for us on offense," Decker said. "You've got to make the big plays, and find ways to complement the running game and take guys out of the box."

That won't be easy against the Steelers, who went 12-4 with the NFL's top-ranked defense in points allowed, total yards allowed and passing yards allowed.

"It's going to look like there are 13 people on the defensive side of the ball," former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick, now an analyst for the NFL Network, said of Tebow's job Sunday. "He's going to have to rely on his instincts and then hope that on his 20 throws, he can convert 10, 12, 13 of those for big plays."

Fox, in his weekly Monday media briefing, described the Broncos' offense as a "work in progress."

That's not an assessment a coach likes to make heading into a playoff game. He is pleased with the running game (with 216 yards against the Chiefs, the Broncos set a season record for total yards rushing) but said the offense is too unbalanced.

"We're doing it (running the ball) against loaded boxes, which is why we need to get the other phase on our offense rolling," Fox said.

It starts with Tebow and whether he can turn his game around after three consecutive losses. In Tebow's career as a starter in college at Florida and in the NFL, he had never lost more than two games in a row — and that happened only once, in 2007.

"He's proven it, that he can do it," wide receiver Matt Willis said. "It's a matter of doing it every game. It can't be one game we do it and another game we don't, and go back and forth. Everyone has to be consistent in making plays for him."

Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com

Streaky numbers

Tim Tebow is averaging the same number of passing yards per game — 146 — in the Broncos' three-game losing streak as he did during their six-game winning streak. But Tebow's completion percentage and touchdown passes are down, and his turnovers and sacks are up.

Ward's 1,000th catch cements elite status

2012-01-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

Milestone is latest feat in Hall of Fame career that's winding down

By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

Monday, January 02, 2012

Steelers receiver Hines Ward got five receptions to reach 1,000 in his career, only the eighth receiver in NFL history to do so. (Peter Diana / Post-Gazette)

CLEVELAND -- Steelers MVP Antonio Brown grasped the significance of teammate Hines Ward's 1,000th career catch Sunday almost as easily as Ward latched onto quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's shovel pass.

"Hopefully, it gets him to the Hall of Fame," Brown said. "He's a big-timer. He deserves it."

Is there anyone out there willing to argue?

Ward's milestone catch in a 13-9 win against the Cleveland Browns merely was the topper to his astonishing career. It came in rather ignominious fashion, on a first-down play from the Steelers 41 early in the fourth quarter. Ward came in motion from Roethlisberger's right and grabbed the shovel pass in full stride only to find he had no place to run. Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson threw him down for a 3-yard loss.

At first, it didn't seem quite right. Ward's 1,000th should have gone for a touchdown, right? At the very least, it should have gone for a first down.

But a 3-yard loss?

It seemed so cheap.

But that thought passed quickly.

"It was the [best] minus catch I've ever had," Ward said, grinning.

Clearly, the man wasn't in the mood to apologize. Good for him. He had no reason to apologize, not after becoming just the eighth player in NFL history to get 1,000 catches. Against the Cincinnati Bengals Dec. 4, he became the 19th wide receiver to get to 12,000 receiving yards.

"When we're talking about Hines Ward and professional football," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, "he's in the category of the small few."

Ward's numbers are phenomenal, but there is so much more to his career. He has played in three Super Bowls and will start down the path toward what he hopes is a fourth when the Steelers begin the playoff grind Sunday in Denver against the Broncos. He has been on the winning side in two Super Bowls and was the MVP of Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks. He has been named to four Pro Bowl teams. He's one of the toughest players in NFL history, certainly one of the most ferocious blocking wide receivers.

It has been some career.

A Hall of Fame career.

"Amazing," Ward said.

Still, the 1,000th catch was no lock, especially after the Steelers coaches downsized Ward's role in the offense at midseason. After getting five catches Dec. 4 in that Cincinnati game, he needed 10 in the final four games. He had just one Dec. 8 against Cleveland and didn't catch a pass Dec. 19 in San Francisco. He still needed five catches against the Browns after getting four Dec. 24 against St. Louis.

"I was nervous going into the game," Ward said.

It showed when Ward dropped a pass on the first play. But that didn't stop Roethlisberger from coming back to him. It was obvious the Steelers had two objectives: Win the game, and get Ward his five catches. His coaches and teammates had wanted him to get to 1,000 in the second half of the game against the Rams -- the Steelers won, 27-0 -- but, curiously, the Rams frequently double-covered him. The Browns used no such strategy. Seven times, Roethlisberger targeted Ward. The seventh time proved to be the money catch.

Even if it did lose 3 yards.

"Today is a double win for me, beating the Cleveland Browns on the road and getting to [a record of] 12-4 and getting 1,000 catches," Ward said. "It's an elite club to be in. I'm just ecstatic."

It's fair to wonder now if Ward will be back to add to his staggering numbers next season, which would be his 15th in the league. I don't think Tomlin and the coaches want him back even if he agrees to a big pay cut, much as his good friend, Jerome Bettis, did several years ago.

The coaches' consensus seems to be that Ward really can't play anymore. The front office could step in and force Tomlin to take him back. But now that Ward has his 1,000 catches, there's not nearly the same motivation to do that.

"I really haven't had time to reflect on that," Ward said when asked about his future. "I've been so focused on this team and helping the young guys and getting ready for the playoffs."

That's a change from what Ward had said in every interview in December. He had talked of definitely playing next season, hopefully with the Steelers but with another team if necessary.

"I'll have a long time to think about that [after the season]," Ward said. "You guys will be the first to know."

The guess here is Ward won't be back. We'll see him again in these playoffs, sure. But the next time we'll see him in a starring role will be at Canton, Ohio.

You know.

At his Hall of Fame induction.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan. More articles by this author

Steelers must spread successes

2012-01-02T07:01:00.000-08:00

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Monday, January 2, 2012

CLEVELAND, OH - JANUARY 01: Safety Troy Polamalu #43 of the Pittsburgh Steelers sacks quarterback Seneca Wallace #6 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on January 1, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

CLEVELAND — They won.

For all the dull shrugs these 2011 Steelers have earned with most of their 12 victories, for all the doubts they'll carry into the NFL playoffs, they did win again Sunday. This time, like so many others, it was a squeaker against a lesser opponent, and its climax was yet another sorry opposing quarterback strutting up the field at the end. But there was Troy Polamalu batting away Seneca Wallace's desperation heave to hold on, 13-9, at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

It was ugly bordering on unwanted, but they won.

Losers lose, and winners win. This was the ninth team in franchise history to win a dozen. This was one of six current teams in the league with that many. It's not some throwaway achievement.

And they'll win Sunday in Denver, too.

That's mostly because Tim Tebow, a godsend for the NFL marketing folks, has been an utter flop since his feet came back to terra firma. The 8-8 Broncos' past three games, all losses, were lowlighted by his six measly completions for 60 yards and an interception yesterday in a 7-3 loss to Kansas City. All recent opponents have dared the 31st-most prolific passer in a 32-team league to run, and he went nowhere.

No one-dimensional quarterback, never mind a no-dimensional one, will get the better of a Dick LeBeau defense. That's doubly true if LaMarr Woodley returns — "I'll be out there," he told me after this game — and if Polamalu maintains the brilliance he showed yesterday.

Write it down: The only quarterback taking a knee Sunday will be wearing black and gold, and only because time has elapsed.

But that hardly means the Steelers can look past the Broncos, given the current state of their offense.

Yesterday marked the third time in four games the Steelers were held to 14 or fewer points. They continue their epic red-zone struggles, and Ben Roethlisberger and his receivers appear to have lost any semblance of general chemistry.

Blame the bum ankle if you want — Roethlisberger didn't — but I'll point to Bruce Arians' surprisingly conservative scheme of late. Yes, Roethlisberger's short throws were off, and his long throws were even worse. In 10 quarters since injuring his ankle, Roethlisberger has completed 58 percent of his passes for one touchdown and four picks.

But these aren't your mill-working grandfather's Steelers. They're a big-play, passing team, and Arians and Mike Tomlin need to get back to that. Watch this offense now, and it looks like the field has been squeezed like an accordion: Mike Wallace runs deep, and all the rest stay in tight slants.

Remember Mike Wallace?

He caught one ball for 11 yards yesterday, and he hasn't had more than five in a game since October.

I brought this up with Wallace, and he clearly was in no mood to elaborate.

"I don't know, man," he said. "They're not my calls."

Some of Wallace's reduced workload is to Antonio Brown's credit. But few players in the NFL can stretch a field as Wallace can, and it's a weapon the Steelers need to un-holster.

There's a good amount of untapped talent, actually.

"We know it, believe me," Roethlisberger said. "We're getting some things done out there, but you'll have players go down or weather going bad or just us missing plays. We know we need to click. I'd like for it to be against Denver."

The running game is a separate mess entirely: If Rashard Mendenhall has a torn knee ligament — sure sounded that way — Isaac Redman will be the main back. For a while yesterday, that might have sounded inviting. He rushed for 92 yards and bounced and spun his way through several tackles. But fumbling twice with a late four-point lead washes that out.

"I can't hurt my team like that," Redman said.

No, he can't. John Clay, the sparingly used back who replaced Redman, was limping after the game, too.

It won't be easy, and I'm not suggesting it will. The Steelers can — and must — do better offensively to go deep into these playoffs. But I'll repeat a final time that there's plenty to be said for winning.

Here's something that might have been missed amid all the shrugs: All four of their losses came against playoff teams (two to Baltimore, one each to Houston and San Francisco), but three of the victories also came against playoff teams (two over Cincinnati, one over New England).

Add Denver to that list soon.

But don't take the points until you see more from the offense.

CLEVELAND, OH - JANUARY 01: Wide receiver Antonio Brown #84 of the Pittsburgh Steelers catches a pass in front of defensive back Mike Adams #20 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on January 1, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Game balls

Columnist Dejan Kovacevic selects the game's top performers:

Troy Polamalu, Steelers, SS: A pick and a QB sack on a running play? Yeah, sure looks like the old No. 43 is back. And just in time.

Antonio Brown, Steelers, WR: Produced healthiest bulk of Steelers' offense with six catches for 90 yards, including a 40-yarder against his helmet.

Jabaal Sheard, Browns, DE: Former Pitt standout recorded eighth sack and largely had his way with Steelers' Marcus Gilbert.

Limited by his 'awesome' ankle, Ben Roethlisberger content with passing grade in Pittsburgh's victory

2012-01-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

By Jodie Valade, The Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/
January 2, 2012

CLEVELAND, OH - JANUARY 01: Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers throws to a receiver as Ramon Foster #73 blocks defensive lineman Phil Taylor #98 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on January 1, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ben Roethlisberger didn't limp his way to his locker. The quarterback's tender left ankle wasn't too swollen to slip into his slick, leather boots, and it wasn't too sore for him to stand as he spoke following Sunday's 13-9 triumph over the Browns.

The high ankle sprain that the Steelers QB suffered the last time he faced Cleveland on Dec. 8, which forced him out of last week's game against St. Louis, wasn't so painful that he couldn't be on the field Sunday. It could, in fact, be summed up with one word.

"Awesome," said Roethlisberger, flashing his toothy grin.

It was sarcasm from a tough competitor. Pittsburgh had to hope Cincinnati could topple Baltimore to capture the AFC North title Sunday, which didn't happen. But although the Steelers' fate wasn't entirely in their own hands, Roethlisberger still played with a brace on his left ankle.

He wasn't spectacular. He wasn't terrible. But Roethlisberger wanted to test his ability before the playoffs, and he delivered the same gritty performance he often has in his Steelers career, completing 23 of 40 passes for 221 yards.

"I didn't really know what to expect," he said, "but I'm still standing here."

His mobility was limited, and he was sacked twice. But he also led Pittsburgh on two decisive scoring drives in the third quarter that meant the difference in the outcome.

"I'd give myself a C-minus," Roethlisberger said. "So would you call that below average? Or is that average? I don't know, I wasn't very good at school."

Whatever the case, it was another victory for the Steelers, who have dominated the old rivalry. Roethlisberger, the Findlay native who attended Miami, is 14-1 against his home-state Browns.

Roethlisberger was at his best just after halftime, when the Steelers faced a 6-3 deficit. He completed three passes on the opening drive of the third quarter, setting up Shaun Suisham for a 29-yard field goal.

One series later, after safety Troy Polamalu's interception put the ball on the Cleveland 43, Roethlisberger's passes to Antonio Brown and Hines Ward preceded Isaac Redman's seven-yard touchdown run that gave the Steelers a 13-6 edge.

"You can't tell [he's hurt]," Brown said. "You have no clue. Everyone's going out there with something wrong with them. We've just got to be able to persevere."

Roethlisberger said his ankle felt better than two weeks ago against San Francisco, when he completed 56.8 percent of his passes in a 20-3 loss. But he would have preferred to have next week off to rest instead of preparing to play at Denver in the first round of the playoffs.

"Of course he's not 100 percent, but there are many guys out there at this time of year who aren't," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "That's the nature of the game, particularly at this time of year."

Reliving Steelers' highs, lows so far

2012-01-01T05:08:00.000-08:00

By Joe Starkey, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Sunday, January 1, 2012

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 08: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers throws a 79 yard touchdown pass to teammate Antonio Brown #84 against the Cleveland Browns during the game on December 8, 2011 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Though their 16-game path varies from year to year, the Steelers typically land in a familiar spot: playoff-bound with a decent chance to win the Super Bowl.

What more could you ask for?

In 12 seasons since the millennium turned, this franchise has qualified for the playoffs eight times -- including this season -- and has won 12 playoff games, three AFC championships and two Super Bowls.

To put that into perspective, and perhaps lend a little on how the rest of the football world lives, consider that nearly half of the league's teams -- 14 of 32 -- are still scrounging for their first Super Bowl victory.

Once the Steelers complete their regular-season journey today in Cleveland, attention immediately will turn to the playoff opener.

As such, this would be the ideal time to peak into the rearview mirror and appraise a campaign that took root, as always, in sweltering heat amid the rolling hills of Latrobe ...

• MVP: Ben Roethlisberger. Did his teammates really not pick him (again) for this award? Somebody should tell them they'd be 8-8, at best, without their quarterback. Go watch tape of the Kansas City game, when Roethlisberger was under constant siege but still found a way to make the biggest play and win. Roethlisberger rebounded from a rough first quarter of the season, shrugged off injuries and led the team to wins in eight of his past 10 starts. Highlight was beating Tom Brady at his own game.

• Best Play: Franchise-record, 95-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace comes to mind. But in 40 years of watching football, I'd never seen a punt returner race 40 yards to crush a punter, one yard short of a first down. Antonio Brown, come on down!

• Worst Play: Baltimore's Torrey Smith somehow gets behind secondary (again?) to win critical game at Heinz Field.

• Biggest Surprise: Max Starks, having practiced three times in 338 days, returns to play superbly vs. Titans.

• Biggest Disappointment: Rashard Mendenhall -- though there's still time to make amends.

• Best Coaching Decision: Changing personalities on both sides to beat Patriots. That meant attempting 50 passes, much of the rhythm variety, and using press coverage to stifle Brady

• Worst Coaching Decision: Eschewing 47-yard field-goal attempt that could have beaten the Ravens, instead depending on wounded, tired defense that hadn't gotten off the field all night.

• Controversial Call: Troy Polamalu assures wife, from bench via cell phone, that he is OK after leaving Jacksonville game. Team neurosurgeon Dr. Joseph Maroon makes call and hands Polamalu phone. NFL fines Polamalu $10,000.

• Gatorade Award: Ravens coach John Harbaugh, whose players dumped the bucket over him after wins at Heinz Field and against his brother's 49ers. What did Steelers linebacker James Farrior make of it? "Everybody knows there's only one time when you do that."

• Best Drive: After spirit-crushing interception gives New England easy second-quarter TD, Roethlisberger leads 10-play, 76-yard march.

• Worst Drive: Torn between Texans' 11-minute odyssey (10:55, to be exact) -- NFL's longest in three years -- and Curtis Painter's masterpiece: 80 yards in 10 plays.

• Where Did That Come From?: Daniel Sepulveda completes 33-yard pass to Ryan Mundy against Titans, same game in which Jonathan Dwyer rips off 76-yard run (he gained 47 yards on his other 15 carries this season).

• Courage/Crazy Award: James Harrison continues to play against Texans despite broken eye socket; Roethlisberger returns vs. Browns even though he can barely walk.

• Temporary Insanity Award: Tomlin leaves injured Roethlisberger by road side for buzzards to pick in San Francisco. He'd taken out LaMarr Woodley as a "precaution" for being "fatigued." He couldn't take out $102 million quarterback for being badly hurt and beaten up in hopeless cause?

• Sad Goodbyes: Aaron Smith, Sepulveda, Willie Colon and Chris Hoke among those who sustained season-ending injuries. Could be career-enders for Hoke and Smith, two pros who gave hearts and souls to franchise.

• Bounce-back Award: Week after he and Ryan Clark were beaten for late TD against Ravens, William Gay makes game-sealing interception at Cincinnati.

• Roger Goodell Conspiracy Award: Harrison becomes first player in 25 years suspended for a tackle, even though he'd gone full year without violating rules.

• Rip-Goodell-Because-He-Deserves-It Award: I'll take this one by asking a simple question: Do Goodell and money-grubbing owners still want to see an 18-game season and justify it in the name of fan interest? Look around, Roger. Behold the battered bodies. To subject these men to more punishment would not only represent the height of hypocrisy, irresponsibility and greed, it also would be borderline criminal. Give it up.

Quotes of The Year:

• "People that know and compete in this league understand there is a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes. Obviously, last weekend we were grape squashers." -- Tomlin, two days after season-opening loss at Baltimore

• "If I can't play then can't nobody play... Lights out!" -- Tweet from Harrison, after second power outage in San Francisco.

Benstonium.com: Renegade 2011-12

2012-01-01T04:55:00.001-08:00

Cleveland Browns hoping for new success on New Year's vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

2012-01-01T04:23:00.000-08:00

By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/
January 1, 2012

The Browns have promised to bring plenty of energy to playing the Steelers and Rashard Mendenhall Sunday afternoon in the season finale. "This is our last game and we have nothing to lose," says defensive end Jabaal Sheard. "Everybody here wants to go out with a win." (John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns New Year's resolutions: Win a division game, beat the Steelers for only the second time since 2003, and help prevent Pittsburgh from winning the AFC North Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

"This is our Super Bowl, against the Steelers, right here, right now," said receiver Josh Cribbs. "This is our playoffs."

If the 4-11 Browns can knock off the 11-4 Steelers, they'll avoid their second sweep by the division since 1999. The only other time it happened was in 2006 under Romeo Crennel -- en route to a 4-12 season.

"It would be meaningful most to our fans," said Cribbs, who had a 84-yard punt return for a touchdown in Baltimore last weekend. "We have to instill within the guys how important it is and keep them from checking out. If I see a guy thinking about other plans, I'm like, 'hey, man, we're going to get this win first.' Then we're set for the whole off-season."

Team leaders Cribbs and linebacker D'Qwell Jackson -- both Pro Bowl alternates -- have spent much of the week impressing upon the younger players the importance of finishing strong.

"You want to leave a lasting impression for the guys in the locker room as well as the coaches," said Jackson, the Browns' Player of the Year. "We want to come out and play our best game, so we can go out and have something to talk about in the off-season. Whether a guy played well or not, the last impression stretches a mile long."

Say all you want about the close games the Browns have played in the division, they mean nothing unless you win, Jackson said.

"We haven't gained the respect that you want," he said. "We've lost the games. You get respect by winning and we've got to win our division first if we want to have a chance to do anything next year. We haven't won a division game all year. It would be a major boost for the young guys to understand that we can compete in this division and we can win a close game. The first and the last one are very important."

Cribbs refuses to believe the stadium will be filled with more Steelers fans and their terrible towels.

"A lot of people will want to say they're not going to the game, but Browns fans will be there," he said. "Our fans always support us, rain, snow, sleet. I don't believe the hype about our fans trying to give away tickets. Our fans will be there in record numbers. We just got to do our part."

The Browns would take great satisfaction in preventing the Steelers from winning the AFC North. A Steelers loss would mean a Ravens' division title by virtue of their sweep of the Steelers this season, regardless of Baltimore's game at Cincinnati. If both teams win, the Ravens earn a first-round bye, and the Steelers earn a wild-card berth. If the Bengals (9-6) win, they can also secure a wildcard spot.

"I know if we can get a win and kind of stumble [the Steelers] a bit, it would mean a lot," said Jackson.

The game marks the third straight start for Browns quarterback Seneca Wallace, who's confident no one has quit.

"It's because we love our group," said Wallace. "But at the end of the day we're all men and we've all got to look across at the other guy and say 'hey, I didn't quit on you.' Your peers are the ones that look at you everyday and if they feel like you've quit on them, it's kind of tough to get that back as a player."

More importantly, Wallace said, is that he's seen guys like receiver Greg Little and running back Peyton Hillis getting better over the past few weeks. "That's the biggest thing, is that there's improvement, and we can carry that over into next season," he said.

Hillis rushed for 112 yards against the Ravens last week, averaging about 105 yards over his past two games. He hasn't fared well against the Steelers in his three outings against them, mostly because he hasn't been healthy. His high game against Pittsburgh was 41 yards rushing and 49 yards receiving on Oct. 17, 2010.

"I've never backed down from a challenge," said Hillis. "The Steelers are a great defense. No doubt about it. But if we do our job up front on offense we can run the ball on anybody. I'm very confident, and I'm a lot healthier than I was a few weeks ago. When you're feeling healthy and confident, a lot of good things can happen."

The Browns have repeatedly said they won't try to retaliate against Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison, who drilled Colt McCoy in the facemask with his helmet on Dec. 8 and ended his season with a concussion.

"As long as [Browns fans] take the fine, I'm happy to go in and do whatever it is they'd like me to do," joked Little. "The personal vendettas, we're not about. We're about winning the game and if my assignment is to go block 92, I'm going to do what I'm supposed to do, but I'm not going to go and take a cheap shot on him."

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is expected to start despite still hobbling on the high ankle sprain courtesy of Browns defensive lineman Scott Paxson on Dec. 8.

"This is our last game and we have nothing to lose," said defensive end Jabaal Sheard. "Everybody here wants to go out with a win. We want to start the new year right. I think there will be a lot of intensity out there."

On Twitter: @marykaycabot

Tony Grossi’s Four Things for Steelers-Browns

• 1. Another day at beach for Steelers? James Harrison is the bully who kicks sand in the faces of the Browns. He’s taken out three prime offensive players in the last three meetings, two on illegal hits to the head. The Browns haven’t laid a finger on Harrison after any of those hits, haven’t really blocked him. They say the best retaliation is beating his team.

• 2. Big Ben: Ben Roethlisberger was cruising along on an 8-for-9, 102-yard, one-TD night on Dec. 8 before Scott Paxson and Brian Schaefering combined on the hit that resulted in a high ankle sprain. Roethlisberger has hobbled through six quarters of work with the injury, completing 33 of 57 passes for 508 yards with one touchdown, four interceptions and a passer rating of 64.1. The lone touchdown came when Joe Haden slipped and fell. Other than that gift at the end of the Steelers’ 14-3 win that night, Roethlisberger has produced only one field goal since his injury.

• 3. Ugly numbers: For the record, the Steelers have won 15 of the last 16 meetings, 21 of the last 23, and 22 of 26 overall since the Browns returned as an expansion franchise in 1999.

• 4. Last chance for ... A Browns win in division games. Only other time they went 0-6 was 2006 ... A Joe Haden interception. At least four of his 19 pass breakups were dropped interceptions ... A Phil Dawson field goal of 50 or more yards. His seven (on eight tries) are one off the NFL single-season record ... A Josh Cribbs kickoff return touchdown. His three in his career against the Steelers are tied for the most against a single opponent.

Plain Dealer predictions

Mary Kay Cabot (12-3) / Steelers 21, Browns 13: Will the Browns send a message to Harrison?

Tony Grossi (9-6) / Steelers 23, Browns 20: What inexplicable snafu awaits the Browns today?

Bill Livingston (11-4) / Browns 17, Steelers 16: Nothing but a desperate attempt to tie Mary Kay Cabot for first place.

Terry Pluto (11-4) / Browns 16, Steelers 14: Don’t ask me why, other than crazy things can happen in the last game of the season.

Bud Shaw (11-4) / Steelers 16, Browns 13: Margin for error too slim when you’re one James Harrison hit away from Thaddeus Lewis.

Highlights: Devils 3, Penguins 1

2012-01-01T03:07:00.000-08:00

Roberto Clemente Walker - August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972

2011-12-31T12:46:00.000-08:00

Cleveland Browns' Scott Paxson's hit on Ben Roethlisberger still being felt

2011-12-31T04:55:00.000-08:00

By Tony Grossi, The Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/
December 31, 2011

Browns defensive linemen Scott Paxson, bottom, and Brian Schaefering bring down Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger during their game Dec. 8. Roethlisberger suffered a high ankle sprain on the play and sat out last Saturday's game. (Christopher Horner, AP/Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Browns highlights against the Pittsburgh Steelers have been scarce in the Ben Roethlisberger era. One of them was produced Dec. 8 by Scott Paxson.

Scott Paxson?

Yes, he was the guy who toppled the towering Pittsburgh quarterback with a low hit while Brian Schaefering hit him high. As Roethlisberger crumpled to the ground, the two backup defensive tackles fell on him.

"They hit him from opposite sides," Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron said. "One of them was going down, and he just got twisted underneath them. It was really remarkable that [Roethlisberger] came back."

Roethlisberger was taken inside for X-rays. After halftime, he limped back to the Steelers' bench, hobbled by what later was diagnosed as a Grade I high ankle sprain. He heroically completed that 14-3 victory against the Browns with a bunch of short passes, one of which Antonio Brown turned into a long touchdown.

Roethlisberger hasn't shaken off the injury. After a painful performance in a loss in San Francisco and then a week off, he expects to play Sunday in the season finale at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

"I hope there's much more to come [from me]," Paxson said of his impact on the Steelers' season. "I hope that's just the start."

Paxson doesn't hate the Steelers like the typical Browns fan, though he has good reason to.

As a high school star in Philadelphia, Paxson was recruited by most of the college football powers in the East. Western Pennsylvania wasn't on his radar.

"Pittsburgh didn't exist [in my mind]," he said. "Pittsburgh feels like 'We're real football' and Philly kids are just 'city kids.' "

Paxson signed with Penn State, thinking he'd be the next Kyle Brady, its legendary tight end. He wound up playing defensive end.

"One of our coaches sat me down once and showed me video of Courtney Brown," Paxson said of the 2000 Browns' No. 1 draft pick. "I was like, 'Coach, I'm sorry. I can't do those things.' I mean, Courtney Brown was a freak."

After Penn State, Paxson was signed as an undrafted free agent by, of all teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was in 2006. In four years, the Steelers waived Paxson six times. Six times.

"At that time, they were the No. 1 defense," Paxson said. "One year, they were No. 3. Another year, they were No. 2 or No. 1. I was basically third string, second string, on the No. 1 or No. 2 defense. I played both [end and tackle].

"I filled in for [Casey] Hampton, [Brett] Keisel, played on special teams. Anything to keep my butt there, I was doing. It was a lot of learning.

"Those guys were a little better, and I couldn't find a situation where I could get on the field."

After the sixth release from Pittsburgh, Paxson spent all the 2010 NFL season "on the streets . . . doing odds-and-ends jobs and working out for teams."

The Browns worked him out and sent him home. In January, they called to offer what amounted to a training camp tryout.

He made the final roster but received little playing time until midway through the season. Lately, he's been averaging about 20 snaps a game in relief of No. 1 pick Phil Taylor and mainstay tackle Ahtyba Rubin.

"Pax is great," Jauron said. "He's a great teammate, a very solid player. He plays the one and three technique for us. Plays them well. He's always trying to do it exactly as he's told. He's got a feel for it. A very tough guy. He takes his reps, takes other people's reps, never complains."

Paxson, 28, is hopeful he has finally found a home in the NFL.

"A real good thing about me is just being a good character guy, a smart guy, knowing the defense, a reliable backup," he said.

In parts of four seasons with the Steelers, Paxson appeared in only one game and was never active for a game against the Browns.

"I would say this rivalry means a little more to me now because this is the team I'm with and I'm playing," he said.

Paxson's sack of Roethlisberger could ultimately affect the Steelers' season more than James Harrison's cheap-shot helmet hit on Colt McCoy affected the Browns' season. If Roethlisberger is subpar in the playoffs, the Steelers aren't going anywhere.

Still, Paxson wasn't deluged with Cleveland fan mail after the sack.

"I just got a couple of texts from my buddies in Pittsburgh telling me not to come back anytime soon," Paxson said.

Wideouts Wallace, Brown all grown up for Steelers

2011-12-30T03:43:00.000-08:00

By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
http://sports.yahoo.com/
December 30, 2011

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 24: Wide reciever Mike Wallace #17 of the Pittsburgh Steelers catches a pass during the game against the St. Louis Rams at Heinz Field on December 24, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Karl Walter/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH (AP)—Mike Wallace might have to come up with a new nickname forAntonio Brown .
At the rate the fellow Pittsburgh wide receiver is going, “Little Brother”isn’t going to cut it much longer.

In two seasons, Brown has evolved from sixth-round pick to fringe player to return specialist to the franchise’s most valuable player, at least, according to his teammates.

Two days after being selected—along with Wallace—to his first Pro Bowl, Brown was voted the team MVP by his peers. The honor capped a remarkable rise for the humble 25-year-old, who broke the franchise’s record for all-purpose yards in a season last week in a 27-0 romp over St. Louis.

No Steeler, not Franco Harris or John Stallworth or Jerome Bettis, has put up more than the 2,048 yards Brown has this season.

Not bad for an undersized kid from Central Michigan who wondered if he’d ever make it in the NFL. At 5-foot-10 and 186 pounds, Brown doesn’t exactly cast an imposing shadow across the line of scrimmage.

He has made up for it with a work ethic that hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates. Consistently the last to leave the practice field, Brown’s dedication won over a locker room loaded guys well into their 30s.

“That’s a great testimony for hard work,” offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said. “I don’t know if anyone worked harder. He came back in fabulous shape, had a great camp and it just led into a really good season for him.”

One that Brown believes is the first of many alongside Wallace, who marvels at how quickly his good friend has climbed to the edge of stardom.

“I took the long road, but that guy really took the long road,” Wallace said.

Brown has gone from a curiosity into a necessity. Though he was selected to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner, his work at receiver has turned heads.

Brown heads into the regular-season finale Sunday at Cleveland second on the team with 63 receptions. He went over 1,000 yards last week against St. Louis and, with a big—OK, really big—day could chase down Wallace for the lead in both categories.

Just as importantly, Brown has earned quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s trust.

Roethlisberger jokingly called Brown a “gnat” for the way he’s always in the quarterback’s ear, yet Brown has become Roethlisberger’s favorite target in crunch time. Brown is second in the AFC with 23 third-down catches and his hands have become the best on the team not belonging to veteran Hines Ward .

“You have to stay the course, do the process, not get too high or too low,” Brown said. “You have to remain at peace within, and when opportunities come you take advantage of them.”

Brown began the season fourth on the depth chart behind Wallace, Ward andEmmanuel Sanders . Yet, Brown’s steady play combined with Sanders’ injury issues and Ward’s diminished role have made Brown a fixture in the huddle.

Don’t expect him to go anywhere anytime soon. He’s happy in Pittsburgh and has no problem playing the role of sidekick to Wallace. Brown readily admits his late-season surge has come courtesy of teams paying so much attention to Wallace.

The player jokingly dubbed a “one-trick pony” by coach Mike Tomlin for his tendency to go deep but do little else has evolved into a dedicated route runner. Brown is getting more comfortable working underneath rather than turning each snap into a track meet.

“I guess I’m not a one-trick guy anymore,” Wallace said. “I’ve got two.”

Though Wallace didn’t come close to the 2,000-yard season he lightheartedly predicted in the preseason, he has become a true No. 1 receiver. He has eight touchdown receptions to easily top the team—no one else has more than two—and he’s using his speed to turn short plays into long ones rather than just seeing how far Roethlisberger can chuck the ball.

“I kind of take offense to that when people tell me you just go deep all the time,” Wallace said. “If you want to do that, that’s great. (My speed) is my best asset and I’m happy about that, but that’s not all I do. I do whatever I need to do to go out and win.”

It’s a mindset that permeates the locker room, one Wallace and Brown have gleaned from spending long days with Ward, who needs five receptions Sunday to reach 1,000 for his career.

Ward has put up the kind of numbers Brown and Wallace, who have a combined 249 career catches, can hardly fathom. The number they’re more concerned with, however, is two: the total of Super Bowl rings Ward has won.

“That’s why you’re here, to win Super Bowls,” Wallace said. “The Pro Bowls, the big stats, they’re great. But we know the only way we’re judged is by what happens in January. And that’s what we’re focused on.”

WR Brown surprise pick as team MVP

2011-12-30T03:38:00.000-08:00

Wasn't even a starter until the 10th game

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Friday, December 30, 2011

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 24: Wide receiver Antonio Brown #84 of the Pittsburgh Steelers rushes for yards after a catch during the game against the St. Louis Rams at Heinz Field on December 24, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Brown broke the Pittsburgh Steelers single season all purpose yardage during the game. (Photo by Karl Walter/Getty Images)

Amid all the talk early this season about the aging of the Steelers, a new generation emerged on offense, no sign of that more evident than the team's most valuable player for 2011.

The players passed the torch to that new generation when they voted Antonio Brown as their MVP, a surprise only because there were a handful of strong older candidates and Brown, 23, did not even win a starting job until the 10th game of the season.

Once he did, the young receiver and return man had a mercurial rise. Over the past nine games, he has led them with 45 catches for 756 yards to register his first 1,000-yard season. On Saturday, he set the franchise record for all-purpose yards, and Tuesday he made his first Pro Bowl as a return man and was voted the AFC's fifth-best receiver.

Not bad for a 2010 sixth-round draft pick from Central Michigan University.

"I think it's awesome for him considering how many guys on this team could be that guy," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who would have to be one of them. "I think it speaks volumes for him and the respect we have for him in both those phases."

Brown came to training camp this summer as their top return man but no better than No. 4 on the wide receiver depth chart. In front of him: Starters Mike Wallace and Hines Ward and No. 3 Emmanuel Sanders. Then they signed veteran receiver Jerricho Cotchery, possibly dropping Brown to No. 5.

But Sanders' foot surgery and Cotchery's newness allowed Brown to start as No. 3, and eventually he was promoted Nov. 13 as a starter over Ward, after he had topped 100 yards receiving in two of the three previous games.

Last season, he was part of the "Young Money" receiving trio that included Wallace and Sanders, and he blossomed this season.

Many cited an aging defense for the Steelers' slow start, but the young have taken over on offense. They include the trio of young receivers, Pro Bowler and second-year player center Maurkice Pouncey, team rookie of the year Marcus Gilbert at right tackle and a bevy of young backs with Rashard Mendenhall, 24, leading the pack.

Even Roethlisberger is only 29.

"Eventually, people have to play," said Wallace, a Pro Bowl starter in his third season. "Nobody on this team is getting a free check. You have to earn 'em and play for them."

His teammates and coaches said Brown has earned what he has achieved.

"It's a great testimony for hard work," offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said. "I don't know anybody who worked harder. He came back in fabulous shape, had a great camp and it led him to a really good season for him. That's an awesome record he got, all-purpose yardage."

Still, Brown's selection ranked among the biggest surprises in the MVP voting since kicker Gary Anderson won the award in 1983. Wallace has more yards, more catches and more touchdowns than Brown. As a Pro Bowl quarterback, Roethlisberger has thrown for the second-most yards in team history and has them in the Super Bowl hunt again at 11-4 despite playing through a sprained foot, broken right thumb and now a high ankle sprain. Ike Taylor and Brett Keisel have had perhaps their best seasons, and Roethlisberger thought Pouncey was a strong candidate as well.

"To say MVP is saying a guy you can't win without," Roethlisberger said. "There are a couple guys on this team I feel are in that category and Antonio is as much there as anybody."

Brown said if you think this season was something, just wait.

"It's definitely only the beginning," Brown said. "I haven't started for a full season yet, I haven't done a lot of things. I just want the team to build on this and go on."

Rookie honor

Pouncey wanted the Steelers to draft his twin brother in the first round in April, but when Miami grabbed Mike Pouncey early, the Steelers looked elsewhere in the offensive line at Florida. With Maurkice Pouncey's recommendation, they drafted another of his former teammates, tackle Marcus Gilbert, in the second round.

Gilbert earned their rookie of the year award, named in honor of Joe Greene, after starting every game but two at right tackle. Pouncey won the award last season.

Gilbert started out behind the eight-ball along with all rookies because of the lockout. Then, he could not practice in training camp for a few weeks because of a hamstring injury. But starting right tackle Willie Colon was knocked out for the season in the opener and Gilbert was pressed into action.

He missed only one game after that, benched Saturday against the St. Louis Rams because coach Mike Tomlin did not like how he prepared during the week. He's back as their starting right tackle Sunday against the Cleveland Brown.

"When my number was called early, I just felt I had to step up to the plate and perform at a high level," Gilbert said.

He did just that, and when another former Florida lineman, Max Starks, rejoined that at left tackle, the three Seminoles helped settle down an offensive line that had been in flux.

Like Marvel Smith before him as a second-round pick who started as a rookie at right tackle, Gilbert's future could land him at left tackle.

"I had conversations with them, flirted around with it," Gilbert said about the left tackle position. "But as of right now, we are just focused on this year and focusing on our road and journey throughout the playoffs.'

Farrior the Chief

James Farrior turns 37 Thursday but would like to keep playing for "as long as they let me."

Farrior, in his 14th NFL season and ninth with the Steelers, earned his second Chief Award in the past three seasons. It is awarded by the local Pro Football Writers in honor of Steelers founder Art Rooney to the player who best exemplifies Rooney's spirit of cooperation with the media.

Farrior acknowledged that answering questions from the media is hard right after a tough loss.

"That is usually when it is most difficult, when you lose a game, and your emotions are running high, and you don't really know what to say to the media, and everybody is in your face asking you questions. But it is part of being a professional, part of being a Steeler, and that is something we have to deal with on occasion."

One of these days, Farrior will have to deal with retirement, but he recalled something defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau told him a while ago.

"He said when you retire you retire for a long time, so it is definitely something you want to think about. Something that you definitely feel like if you are going to make that decision and if it is weighing on your mind, you have to make sure it is the right thing to do.

"Basically, what I took from that is, play as long as you can."

Practice notes

Roethlisberger went through another full practice and looks ready to go Sunday in Cleveland, but linebacker LaMarr Woodley again was limited and looks as if he will sit out his sixth game of the past eight. Troy Polamalu also did not practice because of a previously unmentioned knee injury, but he routinely has missed two practices in the past only to join his teammates on the field Friday and play Sunday.

Arians said that Roethlisberger looked "really well," in practice.

"He made it around good [Thursday], a little better than [Wednesday]. Being on grass helped, I think. It's good to be outside in the cold and get a little blood flowing. It was good, real good."

Arians said the plan Sunday for Roethlisberger will be to "go win the game."

More alternates(From 12/29/11)

The Steelers revealed only their first and second alternates for the Pro Bowl, but turns out there are many more including guard Chris Kemoeatu. Although having lost his starting job in November and behind even Trai Essex at left guard, Kemoeatu is a third alternate guard. That means, if for some reason three guards back out, are hurt or their team makes the Super Bowl, Kemoeatu will make the Pro Bowl.

Brett Keisel and Ike Taylor are third alternates, Lawrence Timmons a fourth alternate and Antonio Brown is the No. 5 wide receiver. Brown likely will see action in the Pro Bowl at wide receiver besides his duties as a punt/kick returner.

Next

• Game: Steleers vs. Browns.

• When: 4:15 p.m. Sunday.

• Where: Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland.

• TV, Radio: KDKA, WDVE-FM (102.5).

Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.

In the end, Jagr really hasn't changed

2011-12-30T03:27:00.000-08:00

By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

Friday, December 30, 2011

Philadelphia Flyers' Jaromir Jagr (68) clears the puck before Pittsburgh Penguins' James Neal (18) can reach it in front of a wide open net, with Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky , top, knocked out of the goal crease in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP)

Jaromir Jagr is 2-0 against the Penguins this season. He scored the biggest goal in the Philadelphia Flyers' 4-2 win Thursday night at Consol Energy Center. He has been great all season with 12 goals and 19 assists in 32 games. He has been huge on the power play with five goals. By all accounts, he has been just as great off the ice. Coach Peter Laviolette mentioned him as being big as a leader in the Flyers room in the absence of captain Chris Pronger, who's out for the season with concussion-like symptoms.

The Penguins still are better off without Jagr.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it, ridiculous as it must seem on the day after Jagr and the Flyers were the better team for the second time in three weeks, this time, thanks in large part to Jagr's goal, which put the Flyers ahead to stay, 2-1, in the second period, and an empty-netter at the end by old pal Max Talbot.

"Why worry about a 40-year-old guy? The biggest mistake [Penguins] management made [during the summer] was they should have signed Max," Jagr said after the game in a fairly typical, disingenuous moment.

The Penguins couldn't match the Flyers' five-year, $9 million offer to Talbot, and Jagr knows it.

But his quote made for a good sound bite and made a lot in the media giggle.

Please.

We saw the always moody Jagr at his best and worst during his two-day visit. Wednesday, he was short and surly when he met with the media. Perhaps his corn flakes were stale that morning. Something as simple as that used to ruin his day frequently when he played with the Penguins more than a decade ago and begged repeatedly to be traded. Thursday, after the morning skate, he was congenial and expansive even if what he said made little sense and, in some cases, were out and out lies.

The Penguins flirted with Jagr before he signed with the Flyers. He said no one in the organization would guarantee him a job as a top-six forward. Lie No. 1. Owner Mario Lemieux, general manager Ray Shero and coach Dan Bylsma all told him he figured prominently in the team's plans. Jagr also said no one told him he would be used on the power play. Lie No. 2. The Penguins were coming off a 1-for-35 performance on the power play in their first-round playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team's brass made it clear to Jagr he would be a key part of the power play.

But that's Jagr.

He often has had problems with reality.

Things are going well for Jagr and the Flyers now. You wonder how he'll be when things aren't going his or the team's way. How will he be if the puck stops going in for him or if his ice time gets cut? Maybe he really has changed, if you believe Laviolette. But I'm not buying it.

There's no doubt Jagr still can play in the NHL. He still has the vision, the hands, the wheels -- all of it -- that will put him in the Hockey Hall of Fame the instant he becomes eligible. He clearly showed it when he beat Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury with a terrific backhanded shot, the second of three consecutive goals by the Flyers, who beat the Penguins, 3-2, Dec. 18.

But Jagr turns 40 on Feb. 15. He still must prove he can hold up over 82 games plus a long playoff grind. That worried Penguins management even more than his many moods. We'll see.

Jagr's return after the events of the summer made this the season's most-anticipated game. Certainly, it brought out the beautiful people. Governor Tom Corbett was among the crowd of 18,602, a guest in Lemieux's box. Lemieux interrupted a family vacation in Florida to come back for the game.

The sight of Jagr also brought the predictable hostility. He was booed even before the teams took the ice for warm-ups when he was shown on the arena's big scoreboard. He was booed each time he touched the puck in the game, although it wasn't any worse than the treatment Marian Hossa received when he came back to town in February 2009 after jilting the Penguins for the Detroit Red Wings the previous summer.

Talbot, who received a nice tribute on the scoreboard early in the game as a thanks for his years of service here, called the atmosphere "electrifying ... The fans showed up tonight and they were ready. It was like a playoff game."

Jagr wasn't nearly so moved. Then again, he didn't get any such tribute.

"The most important thing is we won in Pittsburgh," Jagr said. "This is a tough place to play. They are a very good team."

The crowd didn't like seeing Jagr's goal and really didn't enjoy him taking off his right glove and saluting after he scored it. It's funny, Penguins fans used to love the gesture when he was scoring goals for their team and helping it to Stanley Cup wins in 1991 and '92.

"I don't know how many goals I'm going to score," Jagr said. "Every goal might be my last one. I'm going to enjoy each one."

Jagr said he said should have scored many more goals Thursday night.

"From the first shift, I had good chances. I probably had the most chances of any game this year. I could have scored five goals easily if I were good. Fifteen years ago, I would have scored five goals. Not now."

Jagr grinned.

He knew what he said sounded good and made people smile.

Too bad it didn't make him any less of a phony.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan. More articles by this author

Jagr shows best, worst sides

2011-12-30T01:45:00.000-08:00

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Friday, December 30, 2011

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 29: Jaromir Jagr #68 of the Philadelphia Flyers scores on his back hand against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the game at Consol Energy Center on December 29, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

If Jaromir Jagr was going to be cast as the villain, he apparently was determined to play the role to the hilt.

For his opening act, he showed up in town two days ago and droned through a painstaking media session at the Philadelphia Flyers' practice in Castle Shannon. Hidden under an orange hoody, he pouted like a child and sounded like a bitter, old man.

When a reporter asked how he might handle being booed by Pittsburghers, he fired back a snarly, "Then, I can't play."

For the second act, he had a far brighter disposition Thursday morning at Consol Energy Center. This, too, was familiar for those who know his mega-moody personality.

In ending the media session following the Flyers' skate, he toyed with reporters: "Bottom line: I'm here, and you guys are over there. I've got to come to the game. Everybody is going to hate me, and I still have to play."

And for his finale, but he went grand. Seriously grand.

Jagr was nothing less than the best player on the ice in the Flyers' 4-2 victory over the Penguins last night — never mind his ridiculous omission from the three stars — with a sizzling goal, a chip along the boards that led to another, a goal-saving stick-lift of James Neal's blade and a wealth of other displays of his still-estimable talent at age 39.

Afterward, in the most predictable event of the evening, Jagr could barely contain himself ...

On his bold rush and breathtaking backhander for the goal: "You know, I had so many chances. It just shows what kind of a player I am now. The Jagr of 15 years ago would have scored five goals."

Broad grin.

On celebrating that goal by performing that old "Mile High Salute" right to the face of a male fan in the front row wearing a Penguins sweater: "Oh, I've got to enjoy every moment I've got left. Every game could be my last game."

Playful grin.

On the reaction of a female fan nearby: "She didn't exactly salute me back."

Devilish grin.

On his stick-lift of Neal: "That was the best play of my hockey career. I've never been so close to my own net."

Silly grin.

Despise him, boo and taunt him all you want, but the sum of this script was that Jagr was brilliant.

Everyone remembers that about him, too, right?

This, for those in Pittsburgh whose introduction to hockey was the Sidney Crosby lottery, was the real Jagr, all wrapped up in a tidy 48-hour drama. And this also is why so many hung on every sliver of news this summer when it looked like he might return to the Penguins. For all the headaches, the man scores like few in NHL history, especially when duly motivated.

But I couldn't help but think through it all: How differently this all could have played out.

Jagr spent most of his morning session sharing some trademark tortured logic to explain why he chose the Flyers over the Penguins, and it only renewed my belief that the only way he would have come back would have been if Mario Lemieux and Ray Shero had offered the largest paycheck.

This time, he was fretting over possibly playing on the Penguins' third or fourth lines and other nonsense about the team promising a spot on its top two lines to Tyler Kennedy.

"I didn't know how I was going to play," Jagr said. "In Philly, it was totally different — a lot of young guys, nobody had anything guaranteed."

It only added to a long list of similarly ludicrous explanations.

I'll repeat what I wrote back then: This was about the money.

The Penguins and Detroit Red Wings both offered $2 million, and both probably offered a better chance at the Stanley Cup, for that matter. But the Flyers checked in at $3.3 million, and a guy who already had collected $102 million over his career and still chased the extra pennies on his dollar. It's always been money first with him -- three years in Siberia, anyone? -- and it was this time, too.

I asked Jagr point-blank yesterday if he'd thought before signing with the Flyers about how the Penguins — and no other team — might have retired his No. 68 or even built a statue if he'd returned.

"Yes, I understand what you think. I agree with it," he answered. "Anybody guarantee me that I was going to play on the top two lines? Or I was going to play at all on this team? Did anybody guarantee me that? I feel like the best chance I was going to play and feel more comfortable was Philly."

It sure looked that way last night. And that's fine. Jagr has a right to set his own priorities, as well as his own pleasures.

As reporters broke up the pack last night, Jagr shouted to the local types, "I still love you guys!"

Broad Street Bully grin.

Highlights: Flyers 4, Penguins 2

2011-12-30T01:17:00.001-08:00

Jagr Braces For Return To Pittsburgh

2011-12-29T03:58:00.000-08:00

By: Dave Isaac
Philadelphia Sports Daily
http://phillysportsdaily.com/flyers/
December 29, 2011

Jaromir Jagr #68 of the Philadelphia Flyers skates against the New Jersey Devils at the Wells Fargo Center on September 29, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers defeated the Devils 2-1. (September 28, 2011 - Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)

VOORHEES, N.J. — The rivalry between the Flyers and Penguins was intense enough. Pittsburgh fans certainly didn’t need Jaromir Jagr to fuel the fire. This year, they expected the Czech to be skating with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, or at least for the No. 68 to hang in the rafters at Consol Energy Center.

Instead Jagr chose to join the hated Flyers over the Penguins on July 1 when free agency opened. Fans felt betrayed since the organization extended an offer to Jagr and were long-rumored to be the top contender for the 39-year-old winger’s services. But Jagr feels betrayed himself. He says the Penguins were playing games of their own and now he looks like an enemy where his NHL career started.

Jagr didn’t take Pittsburgh’s offer and instead, shockingly joined the Flyers. He says that the offer from Pittsburgh was just made to appease the fans, that he never felt wanted.

“Exactly. They’re not gonna say it, but that’s the way it is,” said Jagr. “Whoever is smart, they’re gonna figure it out, but I don’t want to talk about it. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m just protecting myself. That’s all.

“They saw me play at the World Championships. There was not many GMs there, but the GM from Pittsburgh was there. He saw me play. If he was interested or whatever in the way I play, they would ask me. They would talk to me.”

When the free agency window opened this summer, Penguins general manager Ray Shero claimed that he had indeed been keeping a close eye on Jagr at the IIHF World Championship in Slovakia.

“We feel from the information we have and after seeing at World Championships, that he’s a guy who might be able to help us this coming season,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on June 28. “We feel he’s a guy who could help us this year, and retire as a Penguin.”

Jagr says that’s not so. At no point in the offseason did he think that he would actually be donning black and gold again in Pittsburgh.

“To be honest with you, not really. I didn’t think they wanted me,” said Jagr. “Truly, I don’t think the management, the coaches wanted me to be there. When you look back to the articles over there, what happened one month before I was a free agent — and I didn’t even talk to anybody.”

OK, let’s take a look.

“I don’t understand where all this came from,” GM Ray Shero told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in May. “Jagr is not a guy we’ve spoken about in a couple of years. We talked about him for a little bit after his time with the Rangers, but that’s about it.”

“They were not interested,” said Jagr. “All they were interested in was to bring me back for the [20th anniversary of the 1991 Penguins championship team] golf tournament.”

“We were able to get that invitation to him, and we’d like to acknowledge his involvement with the organization,” Shero told the Tribune-Review. “That’s really all there was to it.”

This season, Jagr is in orange and black. He’s scored 11 goals with 19 assists in 31 games with the Flyers and has seen great benefit from playing with Claude Giroux. A few months ago, some in Pittsburgh had visions of him playing with different young stars — Crosby and Malkin — and adding to his remarkable Pittsburgh totals. He had 439 goals and 640 assists in 806 games with the Penguins.

“I don’t think I’d be playing with them,” said Jagr. “I had a conversation with them. I talked to the GM. They said Crosby had players to play with and they didn’t think I’d be playing with him.

“When the GM tells you we have to sign [Tyler] Kennedy first and Kennedy is playing the third or fourth line … Just go and look for [the] GM a month before I was a free agent, and it’s going to tell you a lot. It’ll tell you if they wanted me or not.”

Many believe that Jagr was just out for money. His one-year deal with the Flyers is worth $3.3 million. It is believed to be more than what the Penguins offered in their one-year proposal that Shero eventually retracted.

“We made what we thought was a very fair contract offer to Jaromir on [June 28], based on his stated interest of returning to the Penguins,” Shero said in a statement. “We made our best offer from the start, given our salary cap structure, in an attempt to facilitate a deal. But now, after several days, with an extended time frame for making a decision, and additional teams getting involved, we have decided to move in a different direction. It was never our intention to get involved in a free agent bidding war, and we have to focus on our team.”

Jagr says that his return to the NHL was never about the coin.

“If this was about money, I would have stayed in Russia and got twice more than here … tax free,” said Jagr.

In fact, the Flyers weren’t even the highest offer in the NHL.

“You would be very surprised,” said Jagr. “There was a team that didn’t make the playoffs last year in a different conference and they just wanted to sign players because they had to get to the minimum [salary floor].”

Clearly, Jagr is still a little shaken by the whole experience and feels as though he was set up by the Pittsburgh front office. His intention, he says, is to bring this to light for the fans that feel wronged.

“People have to understand that this is the whole business,” said Jagr. “People are gonna say whatever they have to say to make the fans happy. When I got traded, I came to [then general manager] Craig Patrick and told him, ‘This team is in trouble.’ Not bankruptcy, but we didn’t have much money. I was making $10 million that year. There was the second line: [Robert] Lang, [Martin] Straka, [Alex] Kovalev. They were all free agents. We couldn’t sign them. Pittsburgh couldn’t sign them.

“I came to Craig Patrick. I told him, ‘You know what? I know it’s gonna make it easy for you and the Penguins organization if you trade me for that money. Sign all three players and the team’s gonna be better. If I were to stay there and those guys leave, we have no team.’ He drafted me. I felt like I was his kid or something. I think it would be tough for him to trade me if I didn’t come to him and say it. I didn’t want to get traded, but I just made it easy for the team to do it because I don’t think we would be good. I think we would be bad if I wouldn’t have been traded.”

If the potential of a Lang-less, Straka-less, Kovalev-less Penguins team was bad, his situation with the Penguins now just might be worse. Jagr has already been to New York and Washington this season and he’s heard a healthy contingent of boos in both Madison Square Garden and Verizon Center. He expects to hear many more boos Thursday night at Consol Energy Center.

“It’s gonna be a lot worse in Pittsburgh, no question about it,” he said when asked about his reception in New York last Friday. “If you want to hear boos, go to Pittsburgh.”