Sunday, August 5th, 2007 by Adam Wagner
Liveblogging the Hall of Fame Game
Tonight, the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the New Orleans Saints in a game that is, typically, one of the most meaningless and boring on the NFL’s schedule. We know that Ben Roethlisberger will not see more than one to three series tonight, that Lawrence Timmons will not play, that Tyler Palko will see extended action, and that Michael Irvin’s Hall of Fame speech was one of the best ever. We also know that this is Mike Tomlin’s first game as head coach of the Steelers. I’m betting he isn’t wearing long sleeves . . . I was wrong.
8:05 – It appears as if there is a very strong Steeler contingent in Canton, which is not surprising at all. Ben Roethlisberger looked red (literally) for a moment on my TV screen. That’s either not a good sign for the screen or indicative of a little bit too much time chilling in the sun for Ben.
8:07 – When will the next time be that the Cardinals and the Lions have hall of famers go in together? I’m betting about the next time Jerome Bettis orders the low-fat option at his new restaurant.
8:09 – I’m afraid that Michael Irvin just bro-hugged Santonio Holmes. I wonder which one has fathered more children . . .
8:11 – Pat Monahan got absolutely no applause when he was introduced to sing the National Anthem. And the one guy who was audible over the TV sounded completely hammered.
8:14 – For the record, Calling All Angels is better than that rendition of the National Anthem.
8:15 – Tomlin is wearing the long sleeves! And a great quote from Tomlin, “No . . . pressure is trying to feed your family,” after being asked if he felt any pressure taking over from Bill Cowher.
8:16 – Can we rename Gus Johnson SQUEAK Scolari?
8:17 – Who is the hot chick in the Hines Ward jersey at midfield? Oh, and the Steelers won the toss. They will get an immediate shot to show off the offense.
8:18 – It’s already disappointing that we did not get to see Willie Reid return the kick. I was looking forward to seeing something that Pittsburghers didn’t get to see all last season.
8:19 – Max Starks has a fantastic afro going on. And Najeh Davenport just ran straight into the line.
8:20 – Oh, Cedrick Wilson wanted to make more catches? Okay, we’ll throw you a 55-yard pass. A very good throw and a solid catch.
8:21 – Nate Washington just completely dropped a ball. That’s why they’ll throw to Cedrick Wilson more (even though Collinsworth seems to think that Nate Washington is the next Joakim Noah).
8:22 – Roethlisberger just nailed Cedrick Wilson with a pass, leading to an 18-yard gain for the Steelers. Mike MacKenzie looks stupid right now.
8:23 – And the touchdown scores in old-fashioned Pittsburgh Steeler smashmouth football style with Najeh Davenport pushing through the Saints’ defense to the end zone.
8:24 – Jeff Reed nails the extra point, as he should. 7-0 STEELERS
8:26 – A very interesting drive, as most of the yards were gained on lengthy Roethlisberger-Wilson passes, but the touchdown was scored by Najeh Davenport bulldozing over the line. Johnson just shut Collinsworth down, saying, “Probably a few more of them just saying it’s early.” after Collinsworth tried to say that this Steeler team looked like the Super Bowl XL Steelers to him.
8:27 – LaMaar Woodley is getting the start at outside linebacker. This is a very good move by the team, as Woodley will probably make more of an impact on the team this year than Timmons.’ Timmons was picked based on his potential while Woodley was picked on performance. And Woodley just made a fantastic play, batting down a pass over the middle.
8:31 – Woodley is more than worthy of taking Joey Porter’s number. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb right now and say that he is going to have a better season than Joey Porter.
8:32 – Charlie Batch is in, as Ben comes out. His first pass of the game is a completion to none other than Cedrick Wilson for a first down.
8:34 – Najeh Davenport is getting nowhere on his runs so far. He’s getting a lot of the urun right into the line type of runs.
8:35 – Cedrick Wilson just got mugged by Josh Bullocks and a flag did not come out.
8:36 – Daniel Sepulveda just punted and did not get the tackle on the play. I am disappointed. Saints’ ball on their 26 as the 49 yard punt only resulted in a 35 yard net, with Lance Moore returning the ball 11 yards.
8:37 – Polamalu makes his first awesome play of the year, as he hits the ball right out of Mark Campbell’s hands. He then flies over a bent-over Marques Colston, whose hands Deshea Townsend knocked the ball out of. Shoeless Ike then closed rapidly on a throw by Drew Brees. A very good series for the secondary.
8:40 – “He’s got some room on this side if he can beat one man. And he can’t beat him.” Steelers fans have to hope that they don’t hear that type of comment from announcers very much this year. Willie Reid has the potential to be one of the most dynamic return men in the league, but no one has seen what he can do on the pro level yet.
8:42 – A challenge by New Orleans that Reid did fumble the football. It looks like Reid lost it, regained possession, and lost possession again when he hit the ground. Challenges would be much more fun if it was like capture the flag, where the coach had to chase down the ref and pull the flag off before the next play began in order to challenge.
8:45 – New Orleans loses the challenge. Boo hoo.
8:46 - A twelve-yard screen pass to Willie Reid leads to a first down. If Arians is going to get him more involved in different facets of the offense, Reid could be one of the more interesting players to watch.
8:47 – Another first-round screen pass, to Najeh Davenport this time. The running back promptly bulldozes his way for seven or so yards.
8:48 – Carey Davis gets his first carry, running his way to the first down. Batch is promptly sacked by Mark Simoneau, taking away the gain.
8:50 – The Saints have collapsed the pocket twice in a row, leading to two consecutive sacks. It looks more like an offensive line issue than defensive skill. And Nate Washington drops another ball.
8:51 – Jeff Reed misses wide left. Maybe he can only hit kicks when the wind is blowing them everywhere . . . oh well. A wasted drive that did not reveal anything good about the Steeler offense or special teams.
8:55 – Chris Collinsworth is trying to defend Lawrence Timmons. We disagree.
8:57 – Brian St. Pierre enters the game and promptly holds the ball too long, getting sacked. He has been around for five years now. That is unbelievable to me . . . I still remember him giving Pitt problems in the Big East (yes, BC did play in the Big East).
8:58 – A screen pass to Carey Davis results in a run into Saints territory. This kid looks very very good so far. After one quarter, Pittsburgh 7 – New Orleans 0
9:01 – Of course Davis runs straight into the line after I typed that ^
9:02 – Michael Strahan wants inspiration because he is 50/50 to stay or retire right now? Would the Giants firing Tom Coughlin count? In all seriousness, Strahan is probably only avoiding the rigors of training camp. I’m willing to bet that he shows up in mid-to-late August.
9:07 – Tyrone Carter is still the meanest-looking player on the field. And Thurman Thomas just said, “My impressions of Reggie Bush is . . .” Thomas, the recently inducted Hall of Famer, just said that he thinks Reggie Bush will be a Hall of Famer.
9:11 – Nate Washington just made a catch! He made a catch! St. Pierre rifles the ball over the middle for a catch for Washington and a first down for the Steelers.
9:12 – Kevan Barlow does not look good at all. He is simply not bouncing anywhere with any speed and is just running straight into defenders and being taken down.
9:13 – A long throw by St. Pierre to Santonio Holmes bring the ball within the Saints’ ten and the Steelers have another red zone scoring chance. They have had legitimate scoring chances each of the three times that they have had the ball now.
9:17 – And Santonio Holmes badly beats Jason Craft on a fade route, expanding the Steelers’ lead. The Saints are definitely struggling on defense, particularly the secondary. Jeff Reed boots the extra point clean over the net, hitting some poor kid in the hands and giving the STEELERS a 14-0 lead.
9:22 – Jamie Martin looks like the career backup that he is while Michael Irvin pontificates in the booth. His speech was fantastic, but there is a totally meaningless football game happening now and I am a Steeler fan. Irvin did that without notes? That is spectacular.
9:25 – Carey Davis just made a very long rumbling run. He is making a serious case to be on the roster at the end of this pre-season, especially if he can keep up this type of performance. I think that Kevan Barlow should be worried. Where Barlow and Davenport run into the line for nothing to two yards, Davis is running over the line for five yards.
9:29 – Jeff Reed nails a 28-yard field goal, giving the STEELERS a 17-0 lead.
9:33 - That’s enough for now. The Steelers are definitely dominating the game to this point and have made at least one discovery (Carey Davis). The line looked a little bit shaky, though, and some kinks definitely need to be worked out there. I’m going to stop watching just in case they find some way to disappoint (see, I have become too accustomed to being a Pirate fan), but I’ll probably be back at some point later.
9:37 – One last note; Collinsworth and Johnson were discussing the Steelers’ new mascot. The conversation went like this: Johnson, “The Steelers are getting a mascot this year.” Collinsworth, “Really?” Johnson, “Yup.” Collinsworth, “Ouch.”
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