Manning to Stokley three times in the first half, including another great run after the catch by Brandon on the third one. It doesn't get much better than that!
Week 12
- Thread starter Don Wassall
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Brandon is just as good as Marvin Harrison but you will probably never hear the media say that.Stokely can do it
all.What a game with three touchdowns like you said and we are only at half time.I love it.Happy Thanksgiving to all of you guys.It's a pleasure talking with everyone of
you guys on a daily basis.Go Colts.Go Stokely!!
all.What a game with three touchdowns like you said and we are only at half time.I love it.Happy Thanksgiving to all of you guys.It's a pleasure talking with everyone of
you guys on a daily basis.Go Colts.Go Stokely!!
Can he make it four? Will they allow him? lol
Happy Thanksgiving to all Caste Football supporters.
Happy Thanksgiving to all Caste Football supporters.
Like most white starters on defense, Pittsburgh DE Aaron Smith toils in anonymity even though he is among the best at his position in the NFL.
Here's an article touting him for the Pro Bowl. That's unlikely, mainly because it's obvious that most black players vote only for other blacks, with many worthy whites being overlooked each year while many unworthy blacks are selected year after year (i.e. Rueben Brown making it again last year after having a horrible season).
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04331/417698.stm
STEELERS DE SMITH TRIES TO SACK SPOT IN PRO BOWL
Friday, November 26, 2004
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
They called him Hollywood Bags, and he wore yellow shoes, walked as cooly as a jazz musician and had arms that could wrap around a pool table. He was the bookend on a defensive line that featured players with nicknames etched in Steelers lore -- Mean Joe, Fats and Mad Dog -- and keeping him from the quarterback was like keeping a doberman from a soup bone.
L.C. Greenwood was the quiet member of the Steel Curtain defense, a lean defensive end who jettisoned into the nation's consciousness by chasing Fran Tarkenton and batting his passes like a volleyball in Super Bowl IX. He is the last Steelers defensive end to be selected to the Pro Bowl, and he did it in 1979, the year of the franchise's last Super Bowl-winning team.
Twenty-five years later, Greenwood is still hoping to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And the Steelers are still hoping to get another defensive end into the Pro Bowl.
The wait, though, might finally be over ... at least for the Pro Bowl.
Especially the way Aaron Smith is playing.
"I'd say he's playing more than 'pretty well,' " coach Bill Cowher said. "Aaron Smith, I think, is one of the best defensive ends in the game. He never comes off the field. It takes two people to block him. He is having a big-time year."
Smith, a No. 4 pick in 1999, is having a Pro Bowl-type season for the Steelers (9-1), who are tied for the best record in the NFL. Not only does he rank fourth in the AFC with seven sacks, but he is one of the run-stuffing stalwarts on a defense that ranks No. 1 overall, No. 2 against the rush, in the NFL.
"If he can finish the season with 10 or 11 sacks, he's an All-Pro player," said John Mitchell, the Steelers' defensive line coach.
"That's the thing that hampered him the last couple years -- the sacks. But this guy has seven sacks, he's caused about three fumbles, he has about eight or nine pressures. The guy is playing unbelievable."
Smith is nothing short of an anomaly for the Steelers, who will be trying to match their best start since the 1975 season when they play host to the Washington Redskins (3-7) Sunday at Heinz Field. Depending on your perspective, he is either a pass-rushing end who can also stop the run, or a run-stuffing end who can also sack the quarterback.
Finding defensive ends who can do both is like finding an electrician who can repair roof tiles. It is most rare in a 3-4 defense, where the end plays more like a tackle.
But there is Smith, pressuring quarterbacks like Greenwood, stuffing the run like Fats Holmes. He doesn't wear yellow shoes, has nothing more than a normal tuft of hair on his head and doesn't have a catchy nickname. Even his last name is ordinary.
"I think I've played well," Smith said. "I don't think I've played any different than I have the last couple years. Statistically, I have better stats this year than last year or the year before that. But I think I've played consistently the last couple years."
Indeed, Smith was the team's best and most consistent defensive lineman last year, too, even though Kimo von Oelhoffen led the team with a career-high eight sacks and nose tackle Casey Hampton was selected to the Pro Bowl. Smith, though, lacked the numbers that attract attention -- he had only two sacks -- despite leading the team with 24 quarterback pressures,
This year, though, Smith is second on the team in pressures (16), but he is tied for fourth in the AFC with seven sacks. Only two defensive ends have more -- John Abraham of the New York Jets (9.5) and Robert Mathis of Indianapolis (9). Both those players, though, are pass-rush specialists.
"He's anchoring the run, getting off the blocks, getting sacks, getting pressure on the quarterback," said outside linebacker Clark Haggans, who plays next to Smith on the left side.
"And they know he's out there because they usually come down on him with double teams."
"I think he knows the game probably as well as anybody," said inside linebacker James Farrior. "He knows how to read the offenses when they're coming out. I think that's what he does best. And he's so strong, he takes up two or three blockers almost every play."
Smith had a sack in the 19-14 victory Sunday in Cincinnati -- his fifth in the past six games -- and nearly was credited with another when he hurried Carson Palmer into an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone that resulted in a safety.
The week before, Smith came up with one of the big plays in the 24-10 victory in Cleveland, stripping the ball from quarterback Jeff Garcia on the play that resulted in Russell Stuvaints' 24-yard fumble return for touchdown.
And he's doing it despite getting double-teamed at the line of scrimmage.
"I think in the offseason he got even stronger," Mitchell said. "I've been around a lot of guys, and he uses his hands as well as anybody I've been around. The thing he does is, he doesn't let blockers get to his feet. He plays with great leverage for a guy 6 feet 6, and, when he does that, it's hard to block this guy."
Smith rarely comes out. Even in the nickel and dime defensive packages, he usually is one of the two defensive linemen to remain on the field.
He comes out only when he's tired. But, because the offense has controlled the ball an average of 39.6 minutes the past four games, Smith has had plenty of time to rest. On average, the Steelers have run nearly 25 more offensive plays than their opponents the past four games.
"Plays are coming to me," Smith said. "Sometimes, it's about being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, you make plays when you beat a double-team, but sometimes you happen to be in the right place at the right time."
After 25 years, it might just be the right time for the Steelers to land a defensive end in the Pro Bowl.
Here's an article touting him for the Pro Bowl. That's unlikely, mainly because it's obvious that most black players vote only for other blacks, with many worthy whites being overlooked each year while many unworthy blacks are selected year after year (i.e. Rueben Brown making it again last year after having a horrible season).
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04331/417698.stm
STEELERS DE SMITH TRIES TO SACK SPOT IN PRO BOWL
Friday, November 26, 2004
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
They called him Hollywood Bags, and he wore yellow shoes, walked as cooly as a jazz musician and had arms that could wrap around a pool table. He was the bookend on a defensive line that featured players with nicknames etched in Steelers lore -- Mean Joe, Fats and Mad Dog -- and keeping him from the quarterback was like keeping a doberman from a soup bone.
L.C. Greenwood was the quiet member of the Steel Curtain defense, a lean defensive end who jettisoned into the nation's consciousness by chasing Fran Tarkenton and batting his passes like a volleyball in Super Bowl IX. He is the last Steelers defensive end to be selected to the Pro Bowl, and he did it in 1979, the year of the franchise's last Super Bowl-winning team.
Twenty-five years later, Greenwood is still hoping to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And the Steelers are still hoping to get another defensive end into the Pro Bowl.
The wait, though, might finally be over ... at least for the Pro Bowl.
Especially the way Aaron Smith is playing.
"I'd say he's playing more than 'pretty well,' " coach Bill Cowher said. "Aaron Smith, I think, is one of the best defensive ends in the game. He never comes off the field. It takes two people to block him. He is having a big-time year."
Smith, a No. 4 pick in 1999, is having a Pro Bowl-type season for the Steelers (9-1), who are tied for the best record in the NFL. Not only does he rank fourth in the AFC with seven sacks, but he is one of the run-stuffing stalwarts on a defense that ranks No. 1 overall, No. 2 against the rush, in the NFL.
"If he can finish the season with 10 or 11 sacks, he's an All-Pro player," said John Mitchell, the Steelers' defensive line coach.
"That's the thing that hampered him the last couple years -- the sacks. But this guy has seven sacks, he's caused about three fumbles, he has about eight or nine pressures. The guy is playing unbelievable."
Smith is nothing short of an anomaly for the Steelers, who will be trying to match their best start since the 1975 season when they play host to the Washington Redskins (3-7) Sunday at Heinz Field. Depending on your perspective, he is either a pass-rushing end who can also stop the run, or a run-stuffing end who can also sack the quarterback.
Finding defensive ends who can do both is like finding an electrician who can repair roof tiles. It is most rare in a 3-4 defense, where the end plays more like a tackle.
But there is Smith, pressuring quarterbacks like Greenwood, stuffing the run like Fats Holmes. He doesn't wear yellow shoes, has nothing more than a normal tuft of hair on his head and doesn't have a catchy nickname. Even his last name is ordinary.
"I think I've played well," Smith said. "I don't think I've played any different than I have the last couple years. Statistically, I have better stats this year than last year or the year before that. But I think I've played consistently the last couple years."
Indeed, Smith was the team's best and most consistent defensive lineman last year, too, even though Kimo von Oelhoffen led the team with a career-high eight sacks and nose tackle Casey Hampton was selected to the Pro Bowl. Smith, though, lacked the numbers that attract attention -- he had only two sacks -- despite leading the team with 24 quarterback pressures,
This year, though, Smith is second on the team in pressures (16), but he is tied for fourth in the AFC with seven sacks. Only two defensive ends have more -- John Abraham of the New York Jets (9.5) and Robert Mathis of Indianapolis (9). Both those players, though, are pass-rush specialists.
"He's anchoring the run, getting off the blocks, getting sacks, getting pressure on the quarterback," said outside linebacker Clark Haggans, who plays next to Smith on the left side.
"And they know he's out there because they usually come down on him with double teams."
"I think he knows the game probably as well as anybody," said inside linebacker James Farrior. "He knows how to read the offenses when they're coming out. I think that's what he does best. And he's so strong, he takes up two or three blockers almost every play."
Smith had a sack in the 19-14 victory Sunday in Cincinnati -- his fifth in the past six games -- and nearly was credited with another when he hurried Carson Palmer into an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone that resulted in a safety.
The week before, Smith came up with one of the big plays in the 24-10 victory in Cleveland, stripping the ball from quarterback Jeff Garcia on the play that resulted in Russell Stuvaints' 24-yard fumble return for touchdown.
And he's doing it despite getting double-teamed at the line of scrimmage.
"I think in the offseason he got even stronger," Mitchell said. "I've been around a lot of guys, and he uses his hands as well as anybody I've been around. The thing he does is, he doesn't let blockers get to his feet. He plays with great leverage for a guy 6 feet 6, and, when he does that, it's hard to block this guy."
Smith rarely comes out. Even in the nickel and dime defensive packages, he usually is one of the two defensive linemen to remain on the field.
He comes out only when he's tired. But, because the offense has controlled the ball an average of 39.6 minutes the past four games, Smith has had plenty of time to rest. On average, the Steelers have run nearly 25 more offensive plays than their opponents the past four games.
"Plays are coming to me," Smith said. "Sometimes, it's about being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, you make plays when you beat a double-team, but sometimes you happen to be in the right place at the right time."
After 25 years, it might just be the right time for the Steelers to land a defensive end in the Pro Bowl.