Monday NFL recap - week 4

Steelers: Beautiful! Troy Polamalu score! 43-14.

• Love starting out fast on a night game with a sack, fumble recovery, and a touchdown. Here We Go!  
• I wrote below about the penalties on end zone celebrations below before this game happened. Then AB got called for a mild dance that lasted one second. But when Ben Roethlisberger got stuffed at the line of scrimmage in the second quarter the referees didn't blow the whistle. It was obvious that his forward motion was stopped, but no whistle and so the Chiefs kept coming. Five guys were hanging all over Ben trying to get him to the ground before it finally happened and then came the whistle. This is what I mean. Which one of those calls is more important? Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was livid. That's our franchise, ref. Stop worrying about dancing in the end zone and worry about player safety, would you?
• Is it just me or does Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith look more and more like Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers?
• The Steelers love playing in crap weather so when the game started with the rain pouring down from the sky, I smiled. It pretty much lasted the entire game. I'll admit I was glad I wasn't sitting in Heinz Field though.
• Ben had his fifth game with five touchdowns, tying Tom Brady.
• The Juice was back, and he rushed 144 miles and added 34 yards receiving for a total of 178 yards for the night.  I liked Michelle asking him how he knew his mistakes were behind him, and Bell was quick with the response. He said he was a human being, he made some mistakes, he would learn from it, and keep going forth. I hope he means it.
• Congrats to Kevin Greene on his induction into the Hall of Fame, getting his ring on the field in the pouring down rain.

Other:

• What was happening in warm-ups in New England? Patriots latest quarterback Jacoby Bisset and his accomplice Malcolm Mitchell come jogging down the field on the Bills side as if they are out for a breath of fresh air. Now I understand that this is the Patriots home field, but really? Jogging on to the enemy's side? You're just asking for trouble. Bills defensive back Robert Blanton didn't take kindly to this intrusion, put his hands up to let them know, and instead of turning around Bisset lowers his shoulder as if he's in the game and about to tackle. Bisset, seeing this move, moves forward, and the two collide roughly. Bisset then acts like nothing happened and just keeps moving on, jogging nonchalantly down the field. Could have ended there, but nope. Mitchell decides he doesn't like that move on is QB and before we could blink he and Blanton are pushing and shoving and head butting one another. AND THIS WAS BEFORE THE GAME EVEN STARTED. Both sides ended up coming out on to the field, including some coaches to swat at each other like little kids. Guess who is laughing now, Bisset?
• Bill Belichick showed some emotion in this game, didn't he? Smashing his tablet on the ground after the Bills scored the first touchdown. If it is okay for the coach to misbehave, then why are we surprised by the players?
• Rex Ryan imitating Bill Belichick and getting a few jabs in at the post game conference? Snicker.
• My 1:00 game this week was Carolina at Atlanta, and WHOA how awesome was Julio Jones? He was crazy on the field, running away from everyone, swerving, weaving, pulling in catches, holding the ball tightly, jumping, and scoring. He had 170 yards at halftime and finished with a record 300 yards. It was fun to watch, and I wondered if Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown was watching this performance. I hope he was. 
• But then helping out Jones, his quarterback Matt Ryan threw for 503 yards to set his own record. WHAT? It was a crazy good game. Well, if you're a Falcon fan. Panther fans not so fun, although their back-up quarterback didn't do so poorly after he came in in the fourth when Cam Newton went to the locker room for a head check. Derek Anderson was on a roll bringing the Panthers closer than Newton had them, but then he threw an interception and had another one off of one of those I-tried-to-catch-the-ball-and-got-my-hands-on-it-oops throws. 
• I forgot the Colts and Jaguars were across the pond this week. Ugh. I just don't get that. And what's with the doomsayers predicting a "shake-up" in Indy now that they aren't winning? What does that even mean? Firing the coach? Benching the quarterback? This isn't fantasy football where you can wheel and deal your players. Settle down. Regroup. Talk it out. Keep trudging. This is only week 4 for heaven's sake. 
• The excessive celebration rule is just odd. I get it if it gets out of hand like jumping on the goal post, but making like you're shooting a bow and arrow? A cartwheel? Please. Who hasn't gotten excited about scoring some points? We use to grab a broken kickboard and run around the pool deck (against the rules) when we won in the card game spades. I'm not a fan of the celebrating, by the way, unless your score wins the game, but still some of these NFL rules are silly.
• Weather delay in Tampa, the second in two weeks. Tell me again why everyone whines about getting an outdoor stadium for the Tampa Bay rays?
• The new "oxygen lip protector" mouth pieces stuck in these players' mouths makes me think of pacifiers. Especially when they all suck, suck just like my little Darcy did for so many years on her paci, bobbing the mouth pieces up and down.
• Those boys over at Fox NFL Sunday with their hilarity. Loved kicking off the show with Terry Bradshaw's story about his MIL buying his rookie card for $50. Bradshaw actually called up the guy to complain the cost was too low. 
• Oh, and how great is it that Peyton Manning is still doing commercials? He comes on and makes me smile just looking at his face. Love him.