Carters have quite a week
The Carters had quite a week, albeit at opposite ends of the spectrum. Pittsburgh Steelers safety Tyrone Carter, subbing for Ryan Clark, intercepted two Kyle Orton passes, including one for a touchdown, in the Steelers’ 28-10 victory to garner AFC Defensive of the Player honors.
Conversely, former teen sensation Aaron Carter was given his outright release as “Dancing with the Stars” whittled down to the last four standing.
(No word on how President Jimmy Carter’s week went. Since the former governor of Georgia is picking up a lot of slack in humanitarian works, I’m guessing he had a rather fulfilling week.)
I’m not sure this is what Eli Whitney had in mind as he spurred America’s Industrial Revolution with the concept of interchangeable parts, but Mike Tomlin, Dick Lebeau, and the Pittsburgh coaching and personnel staff are sure using the notion to their best interests.
Clark shouldn’t play in Denver because of health concerns, and Carter steps in, nabbing a pair of Orton errant passes. Arguably the team’s (and perhaps, one of the league’s) best defensive lineman, Aaron Smith, goes down, as does reserve supreme Travis Kirschke, and insert the two-headed monster of veteran Nick Eason and rookie No. 1 draft pick Ziggy Hood. Lawrence Timmons, a No. 1 draft pick himself, can’t go because of a balky ankle, and up steps Keyaron Fox.
Save Hood’s No. 1 pick draft status, but Carter, Fox and Eason, and even Kirschke, to that point, aren’t necessarily ‘football’ household names. That is the genius that is Lebeau. Carter wasn’t Troy Polamalu for a month, but the defensive coaching staff sure eased the loss and allowed Carter shine in his own way.
(Well, there was that blip in the Chicago game.)
That brings us up to Cedric Benson, Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco (nee Johnson) into town for a surprising mid-season game for AFC North bragging rights.
If Monday’s win at Denver is any gauge, it’s hard to imagine the defense coming up short as it did in the first game played earlier in Cincinnati. No visible breakdowns. Shutting down the run. Making big plays. Transforming turnovers into points.
Benson has been a horse the past few weeks, fueling the Bengals offense and taking the pressure off Palmer’s passing game. Stopping the back run out of Chicago is certainly a might trickier, but the defense likes a challenge, doesn’t it?
Palmer will be without the troubled wide receiver Chris Henry, out with a broken arm, who historically presented problems for the Steeler secondary.
I watched the Bengals-Ravens game a bit torn. On one hand, a Baltimore victory (coupled with the Steelers’ win in Denver) would’ve evened things up heading into Sunday’s game. On the other, a Cincinnati win put the Ravens out to pasture, showing what they truly are – an aging pretender with a defense starting to gray (and crack) around the edges.
I’m looking forward to this Sunday’s game. A 7-point spread is a bit much, but Pittsburgh was giving the Broncos a field goal last week, effectively, with home-field advantage factored in, a touchdown advantage.
With as many has-beens (Kansas City, Oakland, Cleveland) on the remaining schedule as should-be-concerns (Green Bay, on the road at Baltimore), a victory Sunday would go a long way to easing any fan apprehension about another playoff run so focus can be directed to Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Besides, wouldn’t be nice to put Cincinnati back in its place?
n n n
Ordinary is a bummer, isn’t it?
With the injuries and miles mounting, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the once-perfect road team, came back to earth with a miserable West Coast-Boston swing. All those wins made losing seem worse than it was, but considering the lengthy season, the winning percentage the Pens are sporting now would really look good in the spring.
The Boys of Winter survived the loss of Sergei Gonchar. Then muddled through Evgeni Malkin’s injury. But when those two, along with Tyler Kennedy and Kris Letang, miss all at the same time, that’s a lot of big holes to patch in one 60-minute game.
Keep the faith. The Boys will hit their stride soon!