The Most Realistic Franchise Possible, Take Two! (Steelers)

[OGKing]

Let's hope this stay active, silently following. Good luck.

[Actinguy1]

BEN BOMBS IN WILD LOSS TO PATRIOTS

Despite two boneheaded calls, five interceptions, and 115 penalty yards against the Steelers, it was a field goal at the buzzer that finally cost them the game. The Patriots won 25-23 in this key AFC matchup.

Only two things stopped this game from being a complete blowout: The Steelers defense rocked the Patriots and completely shutdown their running game, and the Patriots managed to pick up 112 penalty yards themselves.

Neither Ben's five interceptions nor the combined 227 penalty yards were enough to set a dubious NFL record (8 and 374, respectively), but it certainly felt that way to the fans at Heinz Stadium.

The Steelers started on the right foot, with Mendenhall scoring an early TD, quickly answered by the undrafted Curtis Brown scooping up a loose ball from Tom Brady and returning it for another 7 points. The Steelers defense shined, not surrendering a single first down until the Steelers had 14 points on the board.

Of course, five interceptions later, the score board was singing a different tune at the fourth quarter. Suisham managed to take the lead again with a field goal, but Danny Woodhead ran in for the touchdown just after the two minute warning. A failed attempt at two points meant a Steelers touchdown would win the game. Mike Wallace and Heath Miller led the way to the end zone, allowing Jericho Cotchery to catch a 1 yd pass for six points with only 35 seconds on the clock.

A faked extra point didn't fool anyone, with New England's entire special team collapsing on Charlie Batch before he could attempt a pass for the 2 pt conversion. With Pittsburgh ahead by one point and 35 seconds on the clock, all the Steelers had to do was keep the Patriots out of field goal range and they would seal the win. Unfortunately, Wes Welker managed to dance along the sidelines for a 50 yd pass, allowing New England to kick the game-winning field goal at the literal last second.

Of course, this is not the full story. In addition to Ben's 5 interceptions, Coach Tomlin got greedy twice, attempting to kick a FG when he should have punted, and attempting a fake field goal when there was no need to do so. In fact, the fake field goal likely tipped off the Patriots when the fake extra point was attempted.

"That's on me," said Coach Tomlin in the post-game press conference. "Any time you have the chance for points against the Patriots, I want to take it. But it is what it is. That was my call. That's on me. You know, we can play more conservatively, only take the points that are handed to us, but that's not Steelers football. The Steelers are the Steelers. The Patriots are the Patriots. We fought a tough team in a tough game, and we came within one second of winning. Mendenhall looked good out there. A couple others...the entire defensive line was top-notch. A lot of big plays out there. Of course, Ben had five interceptions...and 100 some penalty yards...so we'll be working them hard this week, back to basics."

"You know, I don't know," said Ben Roethlisberger when asked about his five interceptions. "They really weren't bringing the pressure, I think there was only one sack. The O-Line really held their ground, did a great job of protecting me. But the Patriots have a great secondary, and they were all over everyone out there. That's on me. All five interceptions, on me."

"I WAS OPEN!" shouted someone in the back of the locker room. While no one saw who it was...well...it was clearly Hines Ward. Who are we kidding?

The Patriots rise to 6-1, first place in the AFC. The Steelers fall to 5-3, second in the AFC North to the Ravens, 5-2.

There were no injuries to report.

New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers
Oct 30, 2011	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
New England Patriots (5-1)	0	10	6	9	25
Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)	14	0	0	9	23

Team Stats Comparison
	NWE	PIT
Total Offense	313	360
Rushing Yards	33	88
Passing Yards	280	272
First Downs	16	19
Punt Return Yards	3	4
Kick Return Yards	48	106
Total Yards	364	470
Turnovers	2	5
3rd Down Converstion	5-15	5-13
4th Down Conversion	0-0	1-2
2-Point Conversion	0-1	0-1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2/3	2/1
Penalties	11-112	9-115
Posession Time	31:09	16:51

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		NWE	PIT
7:04	(PIT) R. Mendenhall, 3 yd run	0	7
5:01	(PIT) Curtis Brown, 36 yd fumble return	0	14
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		NWE	PIT
11:56	(NWE) S. Gostkowski, 33 yd FG	3	14
1:13	(NWE) D. Branch, 7 yd pass	10	14
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		NWE	PIT
7:57	(NWE) S. Gostkowski, 37 yd FG	13	14
4:59	(NWE) S. Gostkowski, 20 yd FG	16	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		NWE	PIT
9:36	(PIT) S. Suisham, 21 yd FG	16	17
1:56	(NWE) D. Woodhead, 5 yd run (2 pt failed)	22	17
:35	(PIT) J. Cotchery, 1 yd pass (2 pt failed)	22	23
:00	(NWE) S. Gostkowski, 37 yd FG	25	23

New England Patriots PASSING C/A YDS TD INT T. Brady 27/37 316 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD B. Green-Ellis 20 19 0.9 0 D. Woodhead 7 14 1.9 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD D. Branch 10 115 11.5 1 W. Welker 7 104 14.8 0 R. Gronkwoski 4 53 13.2 0 G. Mills 2 2 1.0 0 C. Ochocinco 2 25 12.5 0 D. Woodhead 1 -1 -1.0 0 M. Slater 1 18 18.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD P. Chung 10 0 1 0 B. Spikes 8 0 0 0 D. Fletcher 7 0 0 0 K. Arrington 5 0 1 0 A. Carter 4 0 0 0 J. Edelman 3 0 0 0 V. Wilfork 3 0 0 0 J. Mayo 3 0 0 0 D. McCourty 3 0 2 0 L. Bodden 3 0 0 0 R. Dowling 2 0 0 0 R. Ninkovich 2 1 0 0 M. Slater 1 0 0 0 J. Cunningham 1 0 0 0 S. Brown 1 0 1 0

Pittsburgh Steelers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT B. Roethlisberger 24/46 278 1 5 C. Batch 0/1 0 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD R. Mendenhall 19 88 4.6 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD M. Wallace 11 145 13.1 0 H. Miller 5 72 14.4 0 H. Ward 2 13 6.5 0 W. Saunders 2 16 8.0 0 J. Cotchery 2 20 10.0 1 A. Brown 1 16 16.0 0 R. Mendenhall 1 -4 -4.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD T. Polamalu 11 0 0 0 L. Woodley 10 2.5 0 0 J. Farrior 8 0 0 0 J. Harrison 8 1 0 0 R. Clark 7 0 0 0 B. Keisel 6 .5 0 0 A. Smith 5 1 0 0 B. McFadden 4 0 0 0 L. Foote 4 0 0 0 C. Hampton 3 0 0 0 C. Brown 3 0 0 1 L. Timmons 3 0 0 0 R. Mendenhall 2 0 0 0 R. Foster 2 0 0 0 W. Allen 2 0 0 0

[Actinguy1]

Yeah...the 200+ penalty yards was ridiculous. Obviously I've significantly toned down the penalties going forward. As for the 5 interceptions...what can I say? I suck. At least it was a close game!

[Actinguy1]

Quote: Originally Posted by OGKing

Let's hope this stay active, silently following. Good luck.

Thank ye, sir. But wouldn't you rather loudly follow? All the cool kids are doing it!

[Actinguy1]

WEEK 8 ROUNDUP

Titans 24 - Colts 19. Colts lead going into fourth quarter, but Titans pull Hasselbeck, allowing Jake Locker to lead 17 point comeback for the win. Colts remain winless...unless you count drafting Andrew Luck as a win.

Texans 20 - Jaguars 12. Surprised? No? Us either.

Ravens 27 - Cardinals 20. Boring game turns into 31-point shootout in the 4th quarter. Flacco fires the final shot with a 5 yd TD pass to Lee Evans with 35 seconds on the clock.

Giants 28 - Dolphins 3 Basically what you would expect if an actual giant fought an actual dolphin. Manning got to rest for the 4th quatrer, letting backup David Carr go 6 for 13, picking up 31 yards. There's some kind of joke here about David joining sides with Goliath, but we're floundering to find it. Get it? Flounder! Dolphins! Oh, the jokes write themselves.

Panthers 24 - Vikings 10 Ponder throws for 63 yards. Coach Leslie Frazier pulls him, putting his veteran Donovan McNabb back in the saddle. McNabb repays the favor by throwing for EIGHT yards. EIGHT. That's not a typo. EIGHT.

Rams 19 - Saints 17. AJ Feeley starts for Bradford, giving the Rams their first win of the season. Huh. I guess he doesn't want Andrew Luck on his team for some reason. Although the Rams won, Feeley only threw for 109 yards, 0 TDs, and 1 interception. Luck or otherwise, Feeley will be lucky to keep his backup job. Fans certainly aren't calling for him to replace Bradford anytime soon.

Redskins 16 - Bills 7 Redskins pull Beck at the half, going back to Grossman at the half. Their starting QB is so bad they go back to the guy they demoted 7 days ago, BEFORE he got pneumonia, neither of them throw a single touchdown, AND the Redskins only get 21 running yards. How the HECK did they manage to beat the Bills?

Lions 23 - Broncos 17 Tebow throws for 200 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 interceptions. Stafford only throws for the second quarter, scoring all 23 points in a 15 minute period, and still comes out with the win.

49ers 13 - Browns 10 Alex Smith proves why he deserves to be a starting quarterback. He can beat the Browns by an entire field goal!

Seahawks 30 - Bengals 9 Dalton is my starting QB in our fantasy league (no, seriously), so this doesn't surprise me at all.

Eagles 33 - Cowboys 27 (OT) Overtime game in fierce rivalry interrupts NBC Dateline. I am the only person who calls to complain.

Chiefs 24 - Chargers 21 No need for a joke here. The look on the Chargers' fans' faces is funny enough. But the best punchline of all? The Chiefs now lead the AFC West, 4-3.

[Actinguy1]

BROWNS SIGN LOFA TATUPU

Cleveland has announced that ILB D'Qwell Jackson is out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone in last week's loss to the 49ers, 13-10. D'Qwell was injured in a literally-bone-crushing collision with 49ers running back Frank Gore.

Jackson was drafted in the second round by the Browns in 2006. He was second on the team in tackles his rookie year, and led the NFL in tackles in 2008.

However, his 2009 season was cut short by a shoulder injury. History appears to have repeated itself, with Jackson now entering the injured reserve for the second time in three years.

"We are devestated by the loss of D'Qwell," said Browns head coach Pat Shurmur. "There was serious talk about keeping him on the active roster in case he could be back in time to help us in the playoffs, but the reality is that if we didn't make a roster move, we might not make it into the playoffs at all."

The Browns are currently 3-4, last place in the AFC North. However, they are only two wins behind the 1st place Ravens (5-2).

In the same press conference, Shurmur announced the acquisition of ILB Lofa Tatupu from free agency.

Tatupu, full name Mosiula Mea'alofa Tatupu, was drafted in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks in 2005. The Seahawks traded two 4th-round draft picks to move up and grab him, a move widely decried at the time. However, Tatupu quickly silenced his critics, leading the NFC North Champions in tackles and helping to take his team to the Superbowl, and taking himself to the Pro Bowl, his rookie year.

Tatupu led the Seahawks in tackles and made it to the Pro Bowl each of his first three years in the NFL. However, a series of injuries began to catch up with him in 2008, causing him to play at a lower level than before. Tatupu signed a six-year extension with the Seahawks in 2008, making him one of the highest-paid linebackers in the league, with Tatupu announcing that he would be a Seahawk for the rest of his career.

However, this turned out not to be true. In 2009, Tatupu missed most of the season with a torn pectoral. Although he helped lead his team through the playoffs in 2010, Seattle released him shortly after the 2011 lockout ended, when the two sides could not come to an agreement about restructuring his contract.

"I'm thrilled by the opportunity that the Browns Organization is offering me," said Tatupu. "I know we are last in the AFC North right now, but with hard work and dedication, I know we can reach the top. Some people may not think of the Browns as being a Superbowl team, but you know what? I proved the doubters wrong in Seattle, and we're going to do the same thing right here in Cleveland."

Coach Shurmur said he will not start Tatupu right away, as he needs time to become acclimated with the Browns defense.

Other Roster Moves

-49ers running back Frank Gore fractured a toe in his collision with D'Qwell Jackson. Gore will miss 4-5 weeks. Kendall Hunter has been named starting running back in the mean time.

-Titans DT Jurell Casey (foot) has been placed on IR. The Titans signed OLB Julian Peterson from free agency.

- Bengals back-up DE Robert Geathers (chest) is out for the season. The Bengals have picked up FB Lousaka Polite.

-Rams starting ILB James Laurinitis will miss the rest of the season with a herniated disk. The Rams have signed ILB Darry Beckwith to the team.

[Actinguy1]

FANS REPORT SEEING A LOT OF INTERESTING PACKAGES ARRIVING AT FEDEX FIELD

What is happening in Washington?

No, we're not talking about politics. We're talking about good old fashioned American Football. Washington Redskins football. Although with the amount of "secret" meetings that appear to be happening, we don't blame you for being confused.

Fans have reported seeing a dozen or so free agents in the city recently, ranging from Vince Manuwai to David Garrard to Terrell Owens. With the Redskins only one game behind in their division, but with an offense that looks like a neighborhood pick-up game, it looks like the Redskins could be planning to make a big move...or even series of moves...to overtake the Giants in the AFC East.

So...if you've ever played a game of high school football in your life, head to FedEx Field.

It appears that the Redskins are hiring.

[Actinguy1]

REDSKINS END WEEK EIGHT WITH EIGHT ROSTER MOVES

The Washington Redskins have announced eight roster moves designed to reignite their franchise, which is ranked only one game behind first place in the AFC EAST, but has also struggled offensively in nearly every game.

While Terrell Owens was rumored to be in Washington recently, the Redskins announced their newest wide receiver is actually Justin Gage. Gage was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2003 before signing with the Titans in 2007. He was released by the Titans earlier this year. In his eight years with the NFL, he has only completed two full seasons, and averages less than 30 yards receiving per game.

The Redskins have also picked up three offensive linemen: Mark Setterstrom, Jake Grove, and Flozell Adams.

To make room for the four new players on offense, the Redskins had to make four cuts.

The Redskins have released rookie OLB Markus White, DE Doug Worthington, and offensive linemen Nick Sundberg and undrafted rookie Willie Smith.

Surprisingly, the Redskins opted not to make a move at quarterback after all. The Redskins will continue to start John Beck...at least, for now.