Anthony Smith forgot to remember the first rule of having a big mouth: make sure your play lives up to your words. Not only could Anthony Smith not live up to his guarantee that the Steelers would beat the Patriots, in a lot of ways he could be blamed for the loss.
Smith was caught peeking in the backfield on a 63-yard play-action bomb to Randy Moss that gave the Patriots a 14-3 lead. After the Steelers rallied to cut the lead to four, 17-13, the Patriots picked on Smith again with a flea flicker that found Smith way out of position, 56 yards later the Patriots had nearly put the game away.
It was bad enough that Smith didn't make any real impact for the Steelers, but it seemed pretty clear that the Patriots actually designed their gameplan to take advantage of the second-year safety's overaggressiveness. Bill Belichick seemed to say as much after the game.
"We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you," Belichick said. "The safety play at that position was pretty inviting."I'd love to say that hopefully this will be a lesson for Smith, who isn't nearly good enough yet to try to talk a big game, but he seems to be an unrepentant idiot.
ADVERTISEMENT
_thumbnail.jpg "NASCAR Cowboy Hats")
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Hey what happened to the guarantee he gave. Oh maybe you shouldn't write checks your ass can't cash. Now he's preaching that the press misunderstood his words. Don't get me wrong I like big Ben and the Steelers are a great team. But tell your Safety to shut the hell up.Pat's proving we belong on top All the way this year baby.
Posted at 11:07PM on Dec 9th 2007 by pookiemang69
2. WOW, not even 1 sack recorded, no points in the second half. Pats defence really stepped it up, that goalline stand must have killed you guys. Hey it was close for a while, sorry the Steelers are just not at their level. Moss should have had 3TD, something to work on I guess.
Hey do you Steeler fans think the Jets will give them any problems?
Posted at 11:27PM on Dec 9th 2007 by primrod
3. THE FINAL HURDLE?
New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.
12/09/07
7:30pm EST
If the Steelers were the NFL’s best remaining chance to stifle New England’s run at a perfect season, the feat now appears to be more realistically within reach for the Pats. How did the league’s best offensive match up to the league’s best defense? Here’s a drive-by-drive recap:
1st Quarter:
Steelers strike, driving the most successful first-possession of any team in the league this year versus the Patriots... 26-yard FG... 3-0, Steelers
Pats' transition game proves itself, again, as league best, countering with an opening-drive score of their own, Moss' 18th of the season... 7-3, Pats
Steelers 2nd possession: Sack (loss of 9); On the ground, sets up 3rd and 16... Davenport, the Steelers' 3rd-down back, back this week. End of First. 7-3, Pats
2nd Quarter:
Pittsburgh's offense falls victim to a New England defensive stop. Ensuing punt, and subsequent 5-yard penalty to the Steelers, lands Pats' offense at their own 36.
7-3, Pats
Immediate Pats touchdown pass, 63 yards, Brady to Moss, their 2nd in 2 minutes.. What's the secondary doing? 10-second scoring drive. 14-3, Pats
Pittsburgh returns punt to the 22. Wille Parker gains 30 yards on the ground, 4 more in the air. 32-yard lollipop touchdown pass to Davenport. 5-play, 77-yard drive. 14-10, Pats
Pats return to their own 26... Three-and-out. 14-10, Pats.
Pats’ special teams recover ensuing punt. Possession to New England with great field position on Pittsburgh's 34... Five of Pittsburgh's last 6 offensive possessions have resulted in a turnover. Pats' offense goes three-and-out. 48-yard field goal is wide to the right.
14-10, Pats.
Pittsburgh takeover possession at their own 38. Pittsburgh converts 4th-and-inches, Davenport delivering 2 yards (on the ground yet in the air) to get to midfield. Separate false-start and holding penalties by Pittsburgh. Rothleisberger scrambles to within 1 yard of a first down. Timeout Pittsburgh. 4th-and-inches attempt converted for the second time on drive...in the air, up the middle to the 36 yardline. Timeout Pittsburgh. 44-yard field goal attempt is converted by Jeff Reed. 14-13 Pats.
New England bobbles the kick, stranding themselves inside their own 20. Drive to the 37 by the 2-minute warning. Brady to Moss for substantial gain over midfield, followed by a 32-yard pass to Gaffney. Yardage gained is partially negated by a 10-yard penalty by the Pats' offense.
42-yard field goal attempt is converted by Gostkowski. 17-13, Pats. End of the first half.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Quarter:
Pittsburgh return to the 29 but go three-and-out. 44-yard punt.
Pats' ball on their own 11 yardline. Brady thows 21 yards to Moss, followed by a 9-yard pass to Stallworth. Jabbar Gaffney left wide open in the end zone, catching Brady's 56-yard touchdown pass. Extra point converted. 24-13, Pats.
Rossum runs ball back for a substantial Pittsburgh gain, only to be offset by a Pittsburgh penalty. Pittsburgh then goes three-and-out, marking the seventh consecutive Pittsburgh failure at a 3rd-down conversion. 24-13, Pats.
Pats recover with good field position. 15th-straight completion drives the Pats into field-goal range. Pats attempt fourth-and-one conversion; Pats convert, in the air, to Welker. Inside the Red Zone. Pittsburgh commits a holding penalty, half the distance to the goal, First-and-goal, Pats. Injury Timeout, Pittsburgh. Brady throws, complete, to Welker for a touchdown. The pass is Brady's 45th of the season for Brady, taking him over 4,000 passing yards. Extra point is converted. 31-13, Pats.
Short kick is recovered by the Steelers on their own 43. Parker drives the Pittsburgh offense to well within field-goal range, ending the 3rd quarter. 31-13, Pats.
4th Quarter:
Steelers attempt a Fourth-and-goal, Hines Ward stifled by the Pats' defense just short of the goal line. 31-13, Pats.
Pats obtain possession on their own one. Let's see if Pittsburgh's defense really is the best in the league. Brady completes 5 consecutive passes to Welker for 64 yards. Time out, Pats. In the red zone, Moss can't handle Brady's bullet into the end zone. Pats settle for a 28-yard field goal. 34-13, Pats.
Steelers return kickoff to their own 22. Hines Ward reception, 13 yards on third and 10 for a first down. Parker catches for a first down, and follows it up on the ground, running for another first down on next play. Time out, Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh fails to execute, losing their possession on downs. 34-13, Pats
Pats recover on downs at their own 20 as the crowd directs a chant of "MVP!" to Tom Brady. Pats' go three-and-out, however. 34-13, Pats
Kick off and 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty sees the Steelers recover with good field position, but they run out of clock.
New England wins their 13th straight game, 34-13. It appears as if great offense beats great defense…Certainly when we’re talking about the 2007 Patriots.
Posted at 1:00AM on Dec 10th 2007 by Ashley Allinson
4. JASON WHERE ARE YOU?!? DON'T YOU WANT TO TELL US HOW GREAT YOUR STEELERS ARE??
Posted at 10:41AM on Dec 10th 2007 by E
5. team arrogant strikes again. tell everyone how great you are and then get your ass kicked. beeen like that the whole decade. by the same team to. except one year when you limped in and had to shut up. look what happened...you won. there's a lesson there but i doubt you pittsbugh fuktards can see it.
Posted at 3:27PM on Dec 10th 2007 by rj