Steel City Jim

Sunday's win in Miami was bittersweet. Yes, the Steelers prevailed. It was ugly, but they squeaked it out with a one-point victory.

The game started with two consecutive Steeler turnovers that resulted in Miami field goals. The only good part of this was that the Steelers held Miami to those 3-pointers instead of giving up touchdowns. Touchdowns at that point would have put the Steelers in a huge hole.

The Steelers then made some good plays. Emmanuel Sanders returned kickoffs in the 40-yard range, something unheard of in Steeler Land in many a moon. (Does anyone remember Rod Woodson?) Ben Roethlisberger got some rhythm going in the passing game. His connections with Hines Ward were beautiful and his touchdown pass to Mike Wallace was magnificent.

But the running game, a big part of the Steelers' early season success, was almost totally lacking. From Miami's perspective, they moved the ball well. Chad Henne was completing passes, and their total yards was at least equal to the Steelers. So, you can say they came to play and they were quite physical.

The game came down to one play. Behind by two points, and less than two minutes left in the game, Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a third-and-goal at the Miami 3-yard line. Trying desperately to score a touchdown, Ben called his own number and ran over right tackle. He appeared to break the plane of the goal line. However, the ball popped out.

My initial reaction was "Fine, he broke the plane of the goal before the ball came out." But instant replay showed that the ball actually was fumbled before reaching the goal line. The ball squirted forward and there was a scrum in the end zone. From what I was able to determine, the Dolphins recovered the ball. But the ruling was that the refs couldn't determine who had recovered. Therefore, the ball still belonged to the Steelers, who kicked a field goal on fourth down to take a 23-22 lead. That's how it stood.

The Dolphins coach Tony Sparano went ballistic, as I would have had I been in his shoes. But the Steelers came away with the win, tainted as it was.

The sore point about the game is that defensive lineman Aaron Smith suffered what appears to be a tear of a bicep in his left arm. Smith is irreplaceable. When he is not in there, the Steelers cannot seem to stop other teams. It's apparent that Smith's weakness is his upper arm. This is the third time he has injured this area of his body, and it appears to be a season-ender. So, all is not joyful this evening in Mudville.

-- Every week brings more surprises in the NFL. How about Cleveland upsetting New Orleans? Kansas City keeps winning. Oakland was tremendous. Baltimore had a murderous time with lowly Buffalo, only prevailing in overtime. Washington looks like it is improving under Shanahan. The Broncos better change coaches. San Diego keeps shooting itself in the foot. Seattle played well.

-- Have to say a couple of things about baseball. The Rangers are in the World Series. Nolan Ryan gets all the ink about being the head of the Rangers, but there's a young man from Pittsburgh who runs the operations. His name is Chuck Greenberg. His mother, Barbara Friedland Greenberg, known to all as Biff, was a high school classmate of mine. She couldn't be any nicer. She married a man named David Greenberg, also a terrific guy. So, while I haven't met Chuck yet, he can't help but be a terrific individual, and my hat is off to him. If we could only keep the Lucchinos, Cubans, and Greenbergs in the "Burgh where they belong.

One last thing ... the overpaid, super rich Yankees lost to the Rangers. Since the Yankees will now go to their respective homes and watch the World Series on TV, at least for this session I cannot bring myself say that baseball sucks.