Steelers 2007-2008 Top 10 List January 7, 2008
Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , trackbackThe Steelers 07 season has officially to a close with their lost to Jacksonville, though their previous losses to the Jags and the Ravens really seemed to signal the end. The Steelers were just too injured and too inconsistent to compete convincingly in the Playoffs. They showed with their string of late game come-backs that they were capable of playing hard, but they were steadily falling short of their goals.
Despite the fact that the season has ended without a Super bowl ring (or a first round playoff win), there were several memorable moments. I’m going to list my top ten favorite plays/moments and I’ll soon follow with another post of my 10 least favorite of the 2007-2008 Steelers season.
1. Roethlisberger to C.Wilson 55yard pass, Preseason week 1-
this play was on the initial drive of the Mike Tomlin era. The Steelers opened up on their second play with this long bomb. It sparked some hope and excitement for the coming season under the new coaching staff, and signaled more of what was to come from Big Ben in 07.
2. Dismantling of the Browns Reg. Season Week 1-There was some hope of the Brownies before the season actually started; prettyboy QB, reinforced O-line, beefed up running game…but the Steelers wreaked havoc on the Browns to kick off the regular season, causing some confusion and desperation in Cleveland. This desperation ultimately led to some critical changes being made in Cleveland, namely the exportation of QB C.Frye, and the installation of D. Anderson, who ended up having a monster year.
3. Pittsburgh 26 Bills 3 Week 2- A near shut-out for Tomlin’s first regular season home game.
4. Alan Rossum 98 yard Kickoff Return for TD- The Steelers had some difficulty fielding kickoffs and punts in 06, so we picked up Rossum in the preseason to help us out with this area of the game. I was at this game, and though having guys like D. Hester, J. Cribbs, and Jones-Drew in the league, bringing the number of kickoff return TDs to an all time high, it was fun for to see the Steelers get some of their own at home.
5. Steelers 21- Seatle 0- I was interested to see the Super Bowl XL rematch, so considering all of the questionmarks surrounding the Super Bowl (not that they matter much) it was nice shut them out completely.
6. James Harrison’s monster few weeks- Harrison forced a fumble out of a Kenny Watson as the Bengals were driving in an attempt to close the gap against the Steelers in our first match up this year. He then followed it up with 10 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 interception against the Ravens on MNF.
7. Big Ben’s 30 yard run vs the Browns- The Steelers were losing going into the fourth quarter. Big Ben took off up the middle for this 30 yard scramble. Everyone in the room that I was watching with figured that he would go down on his own, but he just kept running and put the Steelers on top for the first time all game.
8. Big Ben/Ward against Miami- Roethlisberger went 18/21, completing something like 17 passes in a row in this swampy MNF game. Ward showed up to do what he does best. He worked the slot position, catching the ball in the middle of the field, getting pin-balled around, and being the possession receiver that he is.
9. Sweeping the Browns and Bengals- Considering the fact that the Browns did so well this year, it was important to have the tie-breaker against them, and it always feels good to beat the Bengals.
10. Vs JAX- Week 13: This was a loss, which wasn’t so great, but it was a great snowy, hard-fought, late-season football game. Every season has to have one of those, and this was it. Wildcard Playoff game: Two memorable plays in playoff loss to JAX- a. Big Ben threw incomplete to TE Heath Miller along the hashmarks,. The ball grazed his finger tips has he and the defender reached to grab it. The ball got deflected up into the air falling into Hines Ward’s hands mid-stride who carried it out of bounds passed the first down, but not before giving the safety a healthy stiff arm. b. James Farrior brickwalled Jones-Drew on a an off tackle run. Farrior shot threw the gap and nailed Jones-Drew, who fell straight back, taking a seat on the turf as they attempted to drive late in the 4th. Neither of these plays went anywhere (the Ward play was followed by an INT and the Farrior play was followed by a game winning FG for JaX), but they were two great plays made by two great Steelers playing tough football.
Other positives were Willie Parker’s second Pro Bowl year and Roethlisberger’s first. Hopefully these guys can keep bringing it over the next few years.
Comments»
some good highlights! I second the Seahawks game, Harrison in November & winning Ohio as high on my list.
A few other to throw (or run) into the mix:
-Sepulveda’s pass to Najeh against the Rams. It just felt so good.
-Late season Woodley
-Tomlin’s 1st half headset hair and then subsequent change in the 2nd half to a hat in the wild card match.
-Tomlin in general. I like this guy. Hell of a rookie year for someone a few years older than myself!
-Arians on the sidelines. On the SIDELINES, not Arians himself (that I will not comment on at the moment - though I am sure if ther worst to moments get aired, Arians might have some more airtime), I just like coaches on the sidelines and not in the booth. I think it changes the energy on the sideline. I respect the decision to be in the booth and analyze (Whiz won a Super Bowl) - I just say have the assistants do it!
ooh. i watched some of the rams game, but not all, as i had to unexpectedly leave town during that game. i did tivo it but i didn’t see the sepulveda pass! i will have to re-watch. surprised no one told me about this.