I love the guy after living in the SEC football market for 15 years, including all four of his at Tennessee. But he has a little trouble delivering the 'big' games. His relentless changing of the play after the line is set just won't work at Heinz Field. If he can stick to a passing game plan as designed before he takes the field, the Steelers are going to have to put a lot of points on the board to counter it -- something they seem up to the task of doing against the weaker defenses like Indy's.
I like the Steelers chances and would honestly like to see that game come to be.
Great point! Btw, the people upstairs with all the electronic gizmos yesterday said that yesterday's Heinz Field crowd was the loudest of the season, so it could cause him some trouble with all those absurd signals.
But here is another thing (from this morning's paper):"We have a lot of guys hurt right now, but now we control our own destiny," "That's what's important, having home-field advantage," wide receiver Hines Ward said. "Teams have to come in here, with the weather, field, fans. ...You couldn't ask for a better situation."
"This is Pittsburgh Steelers football weather," defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen said. "The colder it is, the more fun it is. You've got to run the ball in this weather, and that's what we do best."
"We're on the road to try to get to the Super Bowl," defensive end Aaron Smith said.
Even if that road, secured yesterday, is North Shore Drive.
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Here's the point I'm trying to make -- it's about the field surface at Heinz Field. This rather crumby and idiosyncratic surface is something that is hard to get used to by visiting teams (sort of like the old Boston Celtic's parquet floor). I think this could be a bigger problem for Manning's performance than the noise. We'll see.
Personally, I don't wish to play Manning. He's due after last year, and he is great.
But this Steeler team is hot, and so far, the offensive line is healthy, that is such a key! We'll see what happens.