Everyone is talking about the NFL and the Patriots, and rightly so…we’ll hit on the Pats-Steelers game briefly at the end, but I want to focus on other Pittsburgh teams first.
Let’s start with the last upset in a season of college football upsets, the Pitt Panthers somehow shutting down West Virginia. I don’t even know any Pitt alumni who saw THAT one coming!!! I had watched Pitt a handful of times this season, most notably their game against Navy. I remember how badly their defense played in that game, and at the time I looked up their defensive stats (that was their 3rd game in a row giving up 34+ points) and said to myself, “this defense is so bad, they have no chance of beating a good team”…and never really paid attention to them after that.
I tuned in to watch them against West Virginia mainly because I wanted to see this great WVU offense everyone was talking about, and how badly they would whoop up on Pitt. I should have checked Pitt’s stats after Navy – I don’t know what adjustments they made, but their defense got much tougher down the stretch. Only South Florida’s powerful offense put a lot of points on the board against them. Still, to hold WVU to NINE POINTS is unthinkable. WVU had averaged 41 points per game before playing Pitt. Pitt had a great gameplan on offense, chewing clock with the ground game and not making big mistakes. On defense, they defensed the option to near-perfection, not letting the runners outside the containment and forcing cutbacks inside to the strength of their defense. Head coach Dave Wannstedt and his staff deserve a lot of credit for pulling off this shocker. The Panthers have had a tough run the last few seasons, but I hope that this win can jump-start their program.
On to hockey: the Pittsburgh Penguins are off to another slow start, their record stands at 12-12-2 going into tonight’s game, which leaves them last in the Atlantic Division. The good news is that they are at .500 with 2/3 of the season still to come, and only 6 points out of the division lead; the bad news is that the entire division seems more competitive than last season and an extended winning streak seems unlikely. The Pens’ biggest problems have been lack of scoring depth, and inconsistency from their goalie. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been great almost every game, but none of the other forwards has really stepped up yet as a consistent source of goals. This will have to change for the team to have any hope of postseason success. The news is better on the goalie front; Marc-Andre Fleury went through a very rough stretch earlier in the season but has now won three straight starts and has allowed only two total goals over that span. Fleury’s return to last season’s form is essential, as this team doesn’t appear to have enough offense to out-score opponents regularly. I promise a much more in-depth look at the Penguins and the NHL in the near future.
In baseball, the Pirates’ new GM, Neal Huntington, is attending the winter meetings in Nashville right now. There are rumors swirling of a possible trade of the Pirates’ best player, Jason Bay, to the Indians for a package of players. Now, I love Bay, and I’m as tired of rebuilding as anyone, but the fact is that the Pirates’ talent level is nowhere near high enough now to expect a run at 90 wins. I would MUCH rather see the front office gut the team, reload the farm system, and build a serious contender than just keep the core we have now, add a few washed-up veterans and hope for .500. The last GM really eroded the talent in the organization, and it will take years to fix what was done. I know patience comes hard to Pirate fans, but we’re going to need to wait a bit longer for a winner.
And finally, we come to the latest Big Game, Steelers at Patriots. Everything I said last week about the Patriots still holds true – except for my proclamation that the Ravens had no chance, of course. Baltimore played an aggressive defensive style, hit Brady, and ran the ball hard straight at the Patriots’ weak linebackers. It was all working until Baltimore melted down in the 4th quarter. Still, while 1 week may be a fluke, 2 weeks is a trend, and New England is DEFINITELY beatable. Pittsburgh has better talent than the Ravens on defense (especially in the secondary) and a better QB. The questions are: 1.) Can Willie Parker regain his earlier form? The past 4 weeks he’s been very tentative hitting the holes and too easily tackled. The fumbles are becoming a big problem, too. Pittsburgh simply MUST establish a decent ground game to handle the Patriots. 2.) Pittsburgh is 7-0 at home and 2-3 on the road, with all 3 losses coming against .500 or worse teams. Somehow, the Steelers need to play with home-field intensity at Gillette Stadium this week.
The prediction: Parker plays about as well as he did last week, the Steelers hold Moss in check but Brady makes just enough plays to win. Patriots 24-20 (and I hope I’m wrong).
Dave Glass lives in Clearfield with his wife, Suzanne, and their six children. He can be reached at buggyracer@verizon.net