AGRI Biz

The Three Spirits of Yancey Thigpen worked a Christmas miracle at Heinz Field this week in the Steelers win over Green Bay.á For those of you who may not remember (and even for those of you who do), in the last game of the 1995 season, the Steelers went to Green Bay with an NFC playoff spot on the line for the Packers, while the Steelers had already ...

From Josh Katzowitz, reporting on the Bengals game against Detroit this past weekend:á " ... With 136 yards, Cedric Benson became the third Bengals' player in three weeks to rush for 100 yards or more. But it will take more than that to impress coach Marvin Lewis. 'I wish we were more consistent on offense,' Lewis said. 'I'd like to run for 200 yards instead of 100.'" ...

"We will unleash hell here in December because we have to." ùMike Tomlin Well, it's official.á With the Steelers loss to the Raiders, hell has frozen over.á Three times the Steelers had the lead in the fourth quarter.á Three times the defense surrendered the lead because of inattentive, inept or just plain idiotic play.á This pitiful defensive performance was against a team that ranked 31st ...

Well, concerning our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers I think that we can honestly say (with apologies to Oliver Hardy), "That's another fine mess you've gotten yourselves into." But don't blame Dennis Dixon for the loss to the Ravens.  He played as well as could be expected given the circumstances, maybe even better.  Yes, he made one big mistake, and some would-have-been-disastrous near misses.  But admit it, he played far ...

Monday Night Football , Tennessee vs. Houston, and 12:50 remaining in the second quarter. Tennessee kicks off after a touchdown. The Houston kick returner finds a seam in the coverage, accelerates into the open and races up field, with one Houston player to beat. The player launches himself into the returner and makes the tackle, saving a sure touchdown. The player?á Rob Bironas, the Tennessee kicker. So, Jeff Reed, are you a football ...

In the wake of the Steelers absolutely inexcusable loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, a hard look at two problem areas is warranted. So, no more sugar coating, no more pulling punches.á Just the straight, blunt facts and the equally straight, blunt conclusions.á Special teams: 2006:á Bob Ligashesky coaches the St. Louis Rams special teams.á The Rams' special teams rank dead last in the NFL. 2007:á Ligashesky is hired as the Steelers special ...

All rise!á The BR Kangaroo Court is now in session, Judge Joey presiding. Please be seated.á This court is not the biggest fan of Bruce Arians.á Indeed, it may be his worst critic. The court's position is that Bruce Arians is still an idiot or semi-idiot.á However, he seems to have had a change in philosophy lately.á In the last four games he has called ...

In a previous article I put forth the case that the problems with the Steelers so far are not primarily on the defensive side of the ball. My contention was, that while defensive performance has decreased somewhat from last season, the offense needs to make up the difference, but has been woefully unable to do so.á That being said, I now counterbalance that argument by saying that the lackluster results ...

I keep hearing that the defense is the primary culprit in the Steelers' two losses.á The claim is that the defense isn't playing as well as it should or could, and isn't making the plays it needs to make.á Not so, says I.á Granted, the defense faced mediocre offenses in the first two games, and a potentially powerful yet still inconsistent Bengals offense in the third game.á So maybe the ...

Well, earlier this year, long-time Pittsburgh sportswriter Bob Smizik officially retired (although he does still blog on the Post-Gazette website).á Say it isn't so, Bob! To whom will we turn to provide irregularly-timed, unsolicited opinions born of biased random thought processes?á Someone must take the mantle of BS.á Therefore, I shall take it upon myself to restart the engines, so to speak, and I invite any and all to join ...