NFL Week 15: Chris Henry Deathwatch

[Barrister]

At least I did hedge my bets - I have Manning in my other fantasy league, and I kept him in there.

[katmai]

At least I did hedge my bets - I have Manning in my other fantasy league, and I kept him in there.

you two timing hoser!

[Barrister]

At least I did hedge my bets - I have Manning in my other fantasy league, and I kept him in there.

you two timing hoser!

I'm in a league with my brother and some of his buddies. 

[CountDeMoney]

Well, that was certainly closer than I would've liked it to have been.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Texans - Rams this weekend.  Hey if they don't totally choke, they'll be right back at .500.    Why the hell do I like a Houston sports team?  How did this happen?

Edit:   

[CountDeMoney]

Only one reigning Super Bowl champion has ever lost 5 in a row the following season, and that was the 87 Giants, who had scab players during the strike.  LULZ A MELTDOWN OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS

And now, they turn on the media.  That's right, the same media that gives you a gazillion Steelers commercials, ad campaigns and primetime coverage.  ZOMG LIFE ISNT FAIRE

Two Steelers defensive backs have taken offense with media coverage of the team and the secondary, in particular.

On Wednesday, free safety Ryan Clark called reporters that cover the team "turds," and cornerback Ike Taylor said he feels betrayed by the Pittsburgh media.

"We just don't understand how the national media don't bash us, but our local media do," Taylor said. "This has been going on since the (Kansas City) game, how y'all have been writing. We're like, 'Dang, if you're going to write something, write the whole story — offense, defense and special teams.' If you're going to write something, don't pick a particular position out and what changes you think need to be made because it's unfair to the player.

"It's totally unfair, and we've already got enough pressure on us in the secondary anyway just for the tradition we have over here. We feel like if y'all are going to write something, state facts, don't state opinions."

The Steelers have yielded a handful of big passing plays during the five-game skid that has left them with a remote chance of making the playoffs. Taylor, however, pointed out that in spite of the Steelers' recent struggles, they are still No. 4 in the NFL in total defense (294.1 yards per game).

Taylor said he is "fed up" with media's portrayal of the Steelers and their secondary.

A somewhat surprising source said he has had enough of it as well. Clark has been such a cooperative player for reporters that last year he won the Chief Award, named after team founder Art Rooney.

The sixth-year veteran specifically mentioned the award yesterday and said he won't win it again if he returns to the Steelers after this season.

That came during a 12-minute session with reporters in which the normally gregarious Clark vented about a number of issues, including his belief that the media is harder on the Steelers here than in other NFL markets.

"You watch the Eagles, you watch the big plays given up (in a 45-38 win over the Giants), and I started checking other media outlets and you don't hear the things about them in their media that you hear about us," said Clark, who is in the final year of his contract. "So either we're held to higher standards, or the people that write about us are turds."

Clark said he has gotten hate mail since the Steelers went into a slump, and he posted one of the letters on a bulletin board in the locker room. As Clark referenced the letter yesterday, a Steelers representative hastily took it down.

"Do we deserve to be talked about as disappointing? Yes we do, because we are disappointed in ourselves," Clark said. "But I think sometimes the coverage of it, especially, locally, has been ... I'm not going to say it's unfair, but it's just been wrong."

Clark's primary objection: He said players have been getting blamed for on-field mistakes that are not their fault.

He and Taylor said a general lack of understanding of the Steelers' schemes among the media has led to players getting wrongly fingered for some of the breakdowns that have occurred.

"Y'all don't know. Period," Clark said. "I think it's gotten to the point where guys are getting attacked personally, names are being called and things like that when sometimes it's not those people. But that is your job. I got a job to do. Maybe if I can get a blog or start tweeting, I can learn all y'all guys' names and talk about all y'all."

Taylor said local reporters don't appreciate how successful the Steelers have been and are overly hard on the team.

"If y'all probably would have went to another team or somewhere else and seen the difference between their secondary and our secondary, y'all's perspective might be different," Taylor said. "But since we've been holding it down for so long, staying on top overall as a defense and as a team, it's totally unfair how you write about us."

[CountDeMoney]

But wait, there's more!  Roflsburger versus Bettis!

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger responded to comments Thursday that former teammate Jerome Bettis made on a syndicated radio program that the Steelers' season "is basically over'' following their 13-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

"When you lose your spirit, then everything is pretty much gone,'' Bettis said on the Dan Patrick Show. "It tells me the leadership isn't there.''

Said Roethlisberger: "I guess he's entitled to his opinion. He's not on this team, he's not in this locker room, so he's just taking an outside view as all of you (media) guys are. If you don't know, I don't think you should speak on it.''

Roethlisberger addressed a number of topics yesterday during his weekly session with the media, including the Steelers' five-game losing streak — the longest of his football career.

"Not in high school, not here, and I don't think so in college,'' Roethlisberger said. "For me, you get upset, you get disappointed. I hate losing more than anything. You have to play your best football to try to get out of it.''

[Liep]

Yeah, that was a brilliant move.

Thanks. He even threw a TD to Collie. But you don't deserve scoring a TD if you have such a silly TD-dance as Thomas, we should partition Yahoo to remove his points.

[Valmy]

Texans - Rams this weekend.  Hey if they don't totally choke, they'll be right back at .500.    Why the hell do I like a Houston sports team?  How did this happen?

Edit:  

.500 is right where the cowgirls will be at the end of the season also.

Man I wish the Redskins could be .500

[Valmy]

Speaking of the cowgirls if the Saints pound that ass this weekend, as they should, the Saints will only have to beat Tampa and Carolina to finish 16-0.

[Neil]

Speaking of the cowgirls if the Saints pound that ass this weekend, as they should, the Saints will only have to beat Tampa and Carolina to finish 16-0.

The Saints are almost a lock on 16-0.  All they have to do is to beat 3 non-playoff teams.

[ulmont]

Speaking of the cowgirls if the Saints pound that ass this weekend, as they should, the Saints will only have to beat Tampa and Carolina to finish 16-0.

The Saints are almost a lock on 16-0.  All they have to do is to beat 3 non-playoff teams.

Yeah, but this is the same team that the Dolphins had a 21 point lead on, the Redskins forced into overtime, and the Falcons almost beat.

[Neil]

Speaking of the cowgirls if the Saints pound that ass this weekend, as they should, the Saints will only have to beat Tampa and Carolina to finish 16-0.

The Saints are almost a lock on 16-0.  All they have to do is to beat 3 non-playoff teams.

Yeah, but this is the same team that the Dolphins had a 21 point lead on, the Redskins forced into overtime, and the Falcons almost beat.

And each time, the Saints pulled it off.  Besides, the Dolphins are a tough team with potential to make the playoffs in the AFC, the Redskins aren't so much terrible as they are wildly inconsistant, even from play to play, and the Falcons are a divisional opponent who plays the Saints tough.  Compare that to the Cowboys, the eternal chokeartists, a Tampa team that has returned to Creamsicle levels of ineptitude and a Panthers team that has driven off a cliff.

[Neil]

In other good news, the Jags loss means that the Ravens now own the easiest path to the playoffs of the wildcard contenders.  Three wins and they're in.

[Viking]

I am kind to those Europeans who show flashes of wisdom.  Especially if they've eaten parts of a whale.

Whale meat is good. It's like slightly salted beef.