Monday morning sports recap

Steelers:

1. Sigh -  Hate that it is over for the year, but I have to say that the way we played this year I'm amazed we made it into the playoffs.  The playoffs are the time of the year when the teams who want it most move forward.  Tim Tebow wanted it more.  He had more to lose.  He had more to prove.  He did that and more, leading his team down the field with amazing throws.  Can't be unhappy about him especially since he is our Florida boy.
2. Defense - Somewhere the ball was dropped here.  They really weren't expecting the long throw in OT?  Really?
3. Pregame #1 - I liked the opening of the Steelers/Broncos segment with the beeping noise with Curt Menefee saying, "That sound you hear? That's the Broncos backing into the playoffs."  Yep, and they are continuing.
4. Ryan Clark #1 - sat out against the Bronco's due to his sickle cell disease. Several years ago when he played in Denver he ended up in the hospital where he had surgery to remove his spleen and his gallbladder. He lost thirty pounds as he fought to recover. The next time the Steelers played in Denver Coach Tomliin made the decision that Clark wouldn't play and he made it again this time. Clark later tweeted he was relieved that Tomlin took the choice out of his hands because he thinks he would have played. "Y'all have seen me play, I run into people all the time, so clearly I'm not all that bright," Clark said. This is how a coach takes care of his players and tells them what is going to happen, not the other way around.  
5. Ryan Clark #2 - Boy, did his loss hurt us.  Probably why Denver's quarterbacks coach decided to go long. 
6. Troy Polamalu - Made some of his usual great plays, but missed some reads out there that hurt us.  He'll be back.
7. Big Hits - James Harrison went low for a change and again rang someone's bell.  Harrison hit Denver's Erick Decker, tackling him below the belt the way the NFL would prefer him to do, and still Decker had to be helped off the field.  Not long after the refs got Harrison for roughing the passer, and Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette tweeted:  "They just found a way to penelize 92 for his previous hit on Decker." Yep, because even the announcer didn't like that call.
8. Home field advantage - And speaking of bad calls...  That's why you win your division so that you play at home.  Wow.  Haven't seen so many poor calls and challenges in a game in a long time.  And Denver's Quinton Carter hit helmet to helmet with Pittsburgh's Mike Wallace was just ignored by the refs, and I'm sure, by the NFL.  It wasn't long after that call when Harrison got called for the roughing call.  Makes the I-think-certain-players-are-being-targeted theories a tad more valid.  My advice there?  Get hit by a helmet lie down on the field and act confused.
9. Pregame #2 - I liked John Lynch's Pittsburgh/Denver segment with him addressing Tim Tebow getting James Harrison's name wrong in an previous interview.  Harrison is really a very funny guy and he enjoys playing up his bad boy image.  "He'll know my name," he told Lynch.
10. Comeback - Got to give it to Big Ben pulling out that comeback to tie the game with his high ankle sprain injury causing him problems in the pocket.  Every time fans start to wonder what the coaches are thinking by leaving him in the game, he shows us why.  Go home now, be nice to your new wife, stay out of trouble, and heal.
11. Antonio Brown - Another big game for him.  He stepped up when needed and was huge in the comeback, catching and running and catching and running.  
12. Tweeting - Is it just me or does anyone else think it odd that the Steelers players tweet before the game?  I don't know...I'd prefer them to think about their upcoming job and get their head in the game.  Tomlin?  What do you think?
13. Injuries - All year we dropped like flies and yesterday's game wasn't any different.  Already sitting out was our center, Maurkice Pouncey, defensive back Allen Cortez, running back Rashard Mendenhall and Mewelde Moore, and Ryan Clark.  Injured but playing was Polamalu, Roethlisberger, Woodley, Harrison, and Legursky.  We added Casey Hampton, Brett Keisel, and Max Starks during the playoffs.  I certainly hope that we heal over the off season and come back healthy and ready to play.  Depending on who we keep that is....
14. Hines Ward - Sure hope he returns!  I still believe he has plays in him.

Others:

1. NBC - Having Saturday's playoff games on the peacock because that meant Chris Collingsworth was in the booth for one of the games. I still think he is the best in the business.
2. Jets Pepsi Commercial - Terrible. Even more so now that we know all that went down in their locker room and huddle in the last game. 
3. Santonio Holmes - He won us a Super Bowl and I love him for that, but somewhere he loss sight of himself and what is important.  I've said it again and again. The team and owners and coaches you want to pay attention to, want to follow their lead, and want to emmulate is the Pittsburgh Steelers. If they cut a player, there is a reason. Rex Ryan has got to start building a TEAM that plays together as a TEAM, and he has got to start acting like a grown-up and leader.
4. Commerical #2 - And speaking of terrible commericals...the State Farm "discount double check" with Packers QB Aaron Rogers?  They should have stopped with the first one.
5. Jay Glazer - Who knew he was so tiny?  Doesn't matter though.  Man gets the scoop first hand.
6. Andy Dalton - I know the Cincinnati Bengals QB threw three interceptions, one of which was run back for a touchdown, against the Houston Texans in the first playoff game, but I think Bengal fans have a reason to smile.  Dalton impresses me and I forsee him and the Bengals giving the Steelers trouble come next year. 
7. Texans - It is nice to see someone new in the hunt.  Would have liked the Lions in there too.
8. Pregame -Michael Strahan said that when he sat down with Giants QB Eli Manning he saw a calmness in him that he hadn't seen before, and he chalked it up to not having to live up to his brother, Peyton's winning ways. Nice insight.
9. Saints - Ran away with the game in the second half although the Lions held their own for a half.  Drew Brees just has the experience, the power, the leadership, the heart, and the arm.
10. Quarterbacks - These playoffs and Super Bowl might just come down to the quarterbacks.  A lot of big arms in it.
11. Atlanta - Did they even show up?
12. Giants - Powerful in defense.  Powerful in offense.  All over the field.  Couldn't be stopped.
13. Indiana Hoosiers - This is what the Colts fans are holding on to now and this is what this Hoosier, who didn't have an Indiana football team as a kid and chose to back the Steelers, has now too.  Great down to the wire game against Michigan and Penn State.  Now I just have to find where I can see all the games....