Steelers-Jags live blog

PREGAME

Comin' atcha live from the Harris Grill in Shadyside for tonight's game. A quick glance at the NFL slate today and it appears we are approaching the end times. To wit:

• Tennessee remains undefeated ...
• ... with Kerry Collins at QB. Egad!
  
• Miami and Atlanta are for real.
• Kyle Orton threw for 334 yards in a Bears win.
• In the words of Dr. Peter Venkman -- "Dogs and Cats, living together -- mass hysteria!"
• Also, the 3 wins by your Steelers don't look so hot -- 2-12 combined record of teams they've beaten -- and the Eagles fall to 2-3.  
• Quick scan of the crowd reveals an awful lot of Terrible Towels. Looks like JAXBAG is representin' ...
• So, when I think of huge men hurtling into each other in ultraviolent car-crash like collisions, with blood and sweat flying, I instantly think of Faith Hill singing a badly co-opted Joan Jett song, don't you? Seriously, that Sunday Night Football pregame video is LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME.
  

FIRST QUARTER

• Melwelde Moore opens up going right for 12 yards, then Ben to Hines for 10 on the second play. The Steelers appear to have already equalled their offensive output from the last 3 weeks.
• Stop the clock and ... 13:35 remaining first quarter, Jags register their first sack. John Henderson blows past Chris K. Next play: ...
• ... pick 6. Rashean Mathis, who is like the Steelers' own personal Abraham Van Helsing, gets a ball thrown DIRECTLY to him, that he returns for a TD. JAGS 7 STEELERS 0.
• Some serious extracurriculars going on between Hines and Mathis. ANd to what effect -- Hines draws a personal foul immediately thereafter, and the Steelers are in business.
• Ben hits ol' faithful Heath Miller over the middle on 3rd and 7. First and goal Stillers from the 4.
• Ben to Heath: Touchdown. STEELERS 7 JAGS 7. Steelers put together a honey of a 7-minute drive, easily their best in 3 weeks. Jax will get their first posession of the night. 
• Nice kick coverage. If I can give a quick endorsement to the Harris Grill, they have 2 awesome specials during Steelers games: 1. An Imp 'n' Arn (Iron City and shot of Imperial whiskey) for $2.49. Great old school Pittsburgh there. Unfortunately, we're on the clock, so we can't imbibe, but we will stuff our gullets with FREE BACON cooked up during every game. Mmmmm ... baconnnnn .....  This has got to be the best kept secret in Pittsburgh and a stroke of sheer genius. Bacon. I say it again. Bacon. For free.

HERE WE GO BA-CON, HERE WE GO! (Actual pennant behind bar here.)

• Jax goes ahead 14-7 on a Maurice Jones-Drew TD set up by an terrible Ike Taylor penalty on a Garrard deep pass attempt to Cocaine Cowboy Matt Jones that was ovrethrown by about 5 yards. No need to take a penalty there. JAGS 14 STEELERS 7.
• Steelers going no huddle ... quarter ends after Ben keeps 'em moving on a few nifty passes to Hines and Nate ...

 SECOND QUARTER

• Steelers falter on 3rd and 3, sets up Automatic Skippy for a 38-yarder. Good. JAGS 14 STEELERS 10. Also, we're up to round four of free bacon. Which is great for our low-carb diets, but my body is swelling up from a nitrate attack. And cholesterol is grinding. heart. to. a. stop.
• Jags get a huge kickoff return on ensuing possession but Steelers tighten up, bringing steady pressure to Garrard and keeping noted Steelers assassin Fred Taylor under wraps. Jags go 3 and out.
• Steelers on the move with 10 minutes left in the 2nd. Ben getting adequate protection for a change and Arians calling a nice run/pass mix.
• Ben back, sees Nate deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep and TOUCHDOWN! Steelers go ahead 17-14.
• Another Jax 3 and out. Troy Polamalu, who is having perhaps his best professional season, was all over the place, blowing up Jones-Drew on one play and breaking up a pass on another. This defensive unit is championship caliber. Steelers get the ball back at midfield with 7 minutes and change remaining.
• Al Michaels tells us that the Steelers are outgaining the Jags 236-41 and leading time of possession 16 minutes to six. Yet, its a 3-point game.
• Nice 3rd and 6 from Ben to Heath negated by the most obvious holding call I've ever seen on Willie Colon. Ben goes for the home run ball to Nate on 3rd and 16 that misses but ... Jax called for a taunting personal foul. Steelers get a gift first down, but promptly go 3 and out.
• Another 3 and out. Aaron Smith and Lamarr Woodley slam it shut on Jones-Drew on a 3rd and 2.
• Steelers move it with a nice Gary Russell counter for a first down and delicious Ben to Heath pass for a first down. Steelers on the move at the two-minute warning.
• Ben getting his best protection maybe of the season on this drive as he completes another first down to Heath; then Santonio climbs the ladder to pull one down and set up a first and goal from the 4.
• Total miscue on 3rd down, Santonio zigs when he should've zagged and the Steelers settle for 3. Again. STEELERS 20 JAGS 14.

HALFTIME

• This is shaping up to be one of those typically infuriating Steelers games in which the Steelers are absolutely decimating their opponent -- 300 total yards to 49; 21 first downs to 4; 21 minutes of posession to 9 -- yet, its still a game. By all rights, the Steelers should be about 28-7. That football is a funny game ...
• Other than one God awful pass by Ben and another awful penalty by Ike, the Steelers have played their best half of football this season.
• I have eaten 16 pieces of (free!) bacon. 

Bacon. It's what's for dinner.

THIRD QUARTER

• Jax starts off with the ball, moving it nicely before the Steelers D battens down the hatches again. Garrard gets sacked on a 3rd and 20, Jags punt.
• Steelers 3 and out.
• Jax keeps a drive alive after going for it on 4th and 1. They gamble again on a 4th and 7. Not so much. Steelers take over. Jones-Drew banged up too.
• Another 3 and out for the Steelers. Line lets up first sack of this half. Steelers punt. Jax still in this game that frankly, they should be getting blown out.
• Bacon count: 21
• A fairly boring quarter comes to an end with a bunch of traded punts and sputtered out drives by both teams. Bad things portending for the Steelers though: Jax is on the move at midfield and Marvel Smith was carted off the field.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Ryan Clark takes a completely unnecessary cheap shot on Matt Jones, erasing a 2nd and 16 with a first down and you can guess what happens next ... Garrard to Marcedes Lewis, touchdown. Jax inexplicably leads 21-20. This has to give you some serious agita as a Steelers fan.
• Trai Essex in for Marvel and is promptly blown past by Byron Spicer for a sack. Steelers again must be living right, get first down on an incomplete 3rd and 7 due to a Jax holding call.
• After an incomplete, Moore stuffed, and a Ben getting mugged on a scramble, the Steelers punt down by one with 10:30 left in a supremely aggravating game they should be leading by several touchdowns. Even JOHN MADDEN thinks the Steelers should be blowing them out in this game.
• First mention of Leftwich/Garrard during this evening's telecast.
• Harrison called for a pretty ticky-tacky roughing the passer call on 3rd down that extends a Jax drive. Lamarr Woodley answers with a sack and some great pressure from Chris Hoke. MJD stopped by Timmons on 2nd down setting up a 3rd and 20. Jax will punt on a 4th and 2, ball goes out of the endzone, Steelers will take over on their 20 with six minutes and change remaining.
• After making a clutch grab for a first down on a 3rd and 3, Nate takes a truly stupid taunting penalty. Still first down though.
• Melwelde Moore with a huge first down scamper of 20+.
• Big Ben pulls a rabbit out of his hat, hitting Hines for 20 yard gain while he was getting absolutely mugged. Wow.
• Steelers facing 3rd and 5 in the red zone at the 2-minute warning. Ben hurting. High drama.
• Ben to Hines on the fade ... TOUCHDOWN! Awesome pass. Awesome catch. Held up on review. Steelers go for two ...
• ... and take a delay penalty. And miss on a pass to Big Money Miller. STEELERS 26 JAGS 21. 1:53 remaining, Jax has 2 timeouts.
• Nervous moments. Need bacon.
• Jax takes over on their 25 with 1:48 left.
• First down: Incomplete. Second down: Screen to MJD blown up by Woodley. 3rd down: Incomplete.
• 4th and 9, 1:15 left. Here's the game ... Cocaine Jones gets the first by half a yard.
• 47 seconds left, Garrard can find no one and scrambles for a few. Jax burns a TO.
• James Harrison mauls Garrard from the blind side, ball loose, Jax barely recovers and burns last timeout.
• McFadden breaks up a pass to Cocaine. 4th and 14, 30 seconds left.
• Aaron Smith bats down pass on 4th and 14. Ballgame. Cardiac Kids Steelers go to 4-1. Bacon all around!

FINAL SCORE STEELERS 26 JAGS 21. 

Random postgame thoughts ... 

• Its a miracle Ben is still upright. Even though the line was ... how do we put this mildly ... not completely inept tonight, this level of abuse to the franchise cannot continue. And not just for this season. He keeps getting beat up, we're talking about years off of his career. I realize its apples and oranges, but can you imagine the Penguins letting Sid Crosby or Geno Malkin get mugged like this, game in, game out?
• My roommate Craig thinks the Steelers should almost exclusivly go to 3-step drops for Ben, on nealry every passing play not only because they are the only things that seem to work and but also prevent him from being assaulted.
• Despite the fact the Steelers should have blown out Jax, this was easily their best game of the season. Ben was nothing short of stellar, arguably his best effort in a regular season game in his career. The entire receiving corps stepped it up BIG TIME. Clutch grabs all around -- esp. Heath and Hines -- and Nate has his best professional game. Melwelde Moore was a terrific changeup in relief of Swift Bill Parker and Fumblerooski Mendenhall. And let's not even start with the defense. Sick. Just sick. Through 5 games I cannot remember more consistent and dominate play by a Steelers defense in years. The Steelers could legitimately be 1-4 if not for the play of this defense.
• Game ended just in time to catch the extra innings of the BoSox-LAA game. Much appreciated.
• Bye week coming up. This rest couldn't come at a better time for the Steelers who are like a MASH unit right now injury wise, and somehow going 3-1 in for consectutive games that were absolute barroom brawls. They get some much needed R&R this week, then the pathetic Bengals before the meat of the sked: Giants, @ Skins, Colts and Bolts.
• Its almost amazing to think, but barring a breakdown of epic proportions, the Steelers pretty much have the division sewn up at this point.  
• They gave us victory bacon here at the Harris Grill. No kidding.
• Final bacon count: 29 strips.

Among the many Halloween decorations at the Harris Grill, this "chalk outline" of a pig stands as memorial to the metric tons of bacon consumed on premesis. May said pigs have not died in vain. -- burp! --

• So now, friends, we leave it to you ... drop us your thoughts on the game, and everything that the Steelers need to do during the bye-week to shore up their problems. Post your thoughts in the comments section of out blog!