Vote to Support Chuck Noll in ESPN Poll

Once again it is time for Steelers Nation to Rally the Troops. And once again, we’re calling on all of the Black and Gold faithful to vote in yet another ESPN poll.

ESPN.com commissioned a blue ribbon panel to investigate the question and is planning to release the results starting on Thursday May 23rd. In the mean time, they’re polling their readers.

Fair enough.

• But as has happened in other circumstances, the Steelers are falling victim both to the whims and short-term memories of popular culture.

The poll’s mechanics are simple. ESPN gives you a list of 50 NFL coaches and asks fans to vote for up to 20. As of the afternoon of 5/11/13 the results look like this:

Chuck Noll Needs Steelers Nation's Support in this ESPN Poll

Chuck Noll is actually coming in fifth. Given that Chuck Noll worked at having frosty relations with the media and therefore has no apologists in the press, 5th place actually better than expected.

Rarely when discussions of who is the greatest coach in NFL history are convened, is Noll given serious consideration. And that’s a mistake and one that is apparently not being repeated here.

• But there are still issues.

Vince Lombardi is being voted in a number one. It would seem like almost sacrilege to argue the point.

There’s also no shame to coming in under Don Shula, although before accepting that you might want to remember that Noll both has more championships and a better post-season record than his mentor.

Bill Walsh comes in at number two, because unlike Noll, Walsh never hesitated to promote his own genius, and cultivated quite a following in the press. And of course he did spawn a cadre of assistant coaches.

• Can anyone really make a serious, fact based, argument that Chuck Noll was a better coach than Bill Walsh?

Why, yes they can, and Steel Curtain Rising did so in its first year. (To read the full Chuck Noll vs. Bill Walsh series, click here.)

But if Noll should be voted above Walsh (and he should), it is no insult to come in below.

• Seeing Chuck Noll voted below Bill Belichick represents and injustice that Steelers Nation must rectify.

The case here is clear:  Chuck Noll’s got more victories than Bill Belichick. His post season winning percentage isn’t quite as strong but, then again, Chuck Noll won playoff games with quarterbacks like Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone and Bubby Brister.

• Can Bill Belichick say that? No. He cannot.

Heck, Noll beat Belichick in his final NFL game as an NFL coach.

But let’s cut to the chase:

• Chuck Noll has four Super Bowl victories to Belichick’s three, and none of Noll’s victories are tainted.

Repeat, no one ever accused Chuck Noll of cheating at anything.

• Bill Belichick is a cheater who got caught red handed. 

Could the Patriots have won those Super Bowls without resorting to cheating? They probably could have. But will never know the extent of Belichick’s cheating because Roger Goodell destroyed the evidence.

• And of course there’s the little inconvenient truth that New England hasn’t won a Super Bowl since Belichick got busted.

So The Emperor deserves to be voted over The Cheater.

How About Some Love for Bill Cowher?

Can anyone explain why John Madden deserves to be voted higher than Bill Cowher? (Or Tom Coughlin for that matter.) Cowher had nearly 50 more regular season victories and doubled Madden’s number of post-season victories.

Nothing against Madden, but he’s clearly benefiting from his media presence; his successor Tom Flores won 2 Super Bowls and had a better post-season record but is languishing in the polls. Place a vote for The Chin.

Steelers Nation:  Time to Rally in Support of the Emperor

Attention faithful in Steelers Nation. Now is the time to come to aid of your party. Chuck Noll needs your support. Go to ESPN and visit their poll.

Here’s how to vote for maximum effect:

• Vote for Noll, Cowher and Mike Tomlin only and/or avoid voting for Walsh and Belichick.
• Vote early and often. You’ll need to vote from different browsers and/or multiple devices, but it can be done.

Click here to go to ESPN's Greatest Coaching Poll and vote now!

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Watch Tower: Scab Referee, '87 Strike, Todd Haley, and More...

Steel Curtain Rising’s Watch Tower has been quiet for a while, mainly because there’s a lot going on in life. No issue has dominated the news as the replacement referees have, so that’s where the Watch Tower first shines its light.

AP, ESPN Ignore the 4th Time Out Awarded to Houston vs. the 1989 Steelers

Regular readers know that the 1989 Steelers are near and dear to Steel Curtain Rising. So what could they possibly have to do with the replacement refs?

Well, the biggest news flub early on by the scab refs was the 4th Time Out they awarded to Seattle in their loss to Arizona in week 1. However, the Associated Press article that ESPN ran was more problematic:  Refs Error in Arizona Third of its Kind.

ESPN Inaccurate on 4th Time Out

The article discusses the extra timeouts the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens got in 2003 and 2009 respectively. But to read the headline and story, those were the only times such errors occurred in NFL history.

It happened at least once before, on December 3rd 1989 in Three Rivers Stadium when the Houston Oilers got an extra time out on a touchdown drive in a Oilers 23-16 victory over the Steelers. Chuck Noll protested and fired off an apology letter to the league, which admitted the error, not that much could be done about it….

Seattle Seahawks Fans Can Shut Up Now

Of course the biggest news relating to the scab refs was the highway robbery in the form of a Seahawks touchdown instead of a Packers interception.

That blow call generated a lot of Sound and Fury (not to mention a quick agreement between the NFL and its officials), but no one had a more astute observation than my good friend Tony Defeo on “Pittsburgh Best Sports Blog” where he contrasted how Seahawks fans are fine with this blow call, but still whine about Super Bowl XL.

Is there a living soul in Steeler Nation who isn’t sick of hearing the Seahawk’s unending excuse making for losing Super Bowl XL? To listen to them, you’d think that Willie Parker’s 75 yard run came on a questionable call.

As Tony succinctly  concluded, “Seahawks fans need to be very quiet now.”

It’s mildly ironic that Defeo would make such an observation, because in early August, he wrote an excellent tongue and cheek article in Behind the Steel Curtain panning the possibility that scab refs could do much worse than the regular season refs by invoking the interception that Troy Polamalu had stolen from him in the 2005 AFC Divisional playoffs thanks to incompetent use of instant replay.

If you don’t remember the play, check it out here, but do it while you can (available 9/29/12). With the official lockout settled, Goodell now has the time to unleash his YouTube police:


Replacement Refs, What about Replacement Players?

Whether it was editorial coincidence or editorial competition, last Sunday the Post Gazette and Tribune Review featured dueling stories recounting the 1987 players strike.

Both articles were fairly general. Both pointed out that John Stallworth caught his 500th pass from a scab quarterback. Bouchette reminded us that the Steelers refunded tickets, unlike other teams, and that for a time admitted that their sellout record had been broken, although they claim otherwise today.

Robinson went further back, discussing both the ’87 and ’82 strike, and unearthed a story of Steve Courson and Gary Dunn hearing WTAE rebroadcast a Steelers game from a previous season while in the car, and racing back to Pittsburgh thinking a deal had been reached and that they were missing a game. My, how did we live without cell phones and the internet….

Both men wrote good stories, but both left one of the juiciest quotes on the table. It was Christmas time in 1987, and I was sitting with my father and grandfather in some second story waiting room in an office off of Brownsville Road in Carrick, thumbing through the year end edition of Pittsburgh Magazine, when I saw, if memory serves, this priceless gem:

“Yeah, Malone threw one too. But he missed.”

The caption read something on the order of, “A fan recounts striking Steelers pelting Ernest Jackson’s van with Jelly doughnuts as he cross the picket line.”

Mark Malone started all 12 of the 1987 Steelers non-strike games and finished the ’87 season with a 46.7 passer rating….

Haley Holds Court

No off season topic generated as much noise as the decision to fire Bruce Arians and replace him with Todd Haley. Haley returned to Pittsburgh with a checkered past and was known as one who often had trouble working and playing well with others.

The Steelers press office has taken a very proactive approach to diffusing the issue. In PG Plus, Ed Bouchette has lamented several times that under Mike Tomlin the Steelers have been reluctant to grant media access to assistant coaches.

That has not been the case this year. By all appearances, during training camp the press had free access to Todd Haley, and he’s been interviewed regularly since the season started.

While the Watch Tower certainly does not have the time to do any sort of formal count, one is not needed to see that Haley was quoted during training camp more often than Tomlin himself.

The big issue was how would Ben Roethlisberger and Haley co-exist. There’ve been a number of attempts to extrapolate on some of the things Roethlisberger has said to indicate tension. But so far the story has gained no traction.

Part of it is because Ben has immediately shot down such talk. But keeping Haley in front of the microphones also lends a ton of credibility to Roethlisberger’s denials.

It’s still early, but score one win for the Steelers PR team.

Carson Palmer Gets the Last Laugh

This had no impact on the game itself, but both the Post Gazette’s Blog and Gold and Behind the Steel Curtain ran profiles on Carson Palmer’s past, and often miserable, experience vs. the Steelers.

The Steelers play former players all of the time, but Palmer was a little different, in that he’s the first ex AFC North QB to face off against the Steelers in another division. And of course Palmer got the last laugh in the Raider’s victory.

Steelers Problems with Stringing Three Strong Seasons Together

Prior to the season, the media never tired of reminding Steeler Nation that the Steelers have trouble putting three strong seasons in a row. Steel Curtain Rising blasted already blasted this on the merits its preseason analysis.

Its understandable that the press would mention this recent tendency, but sometimes things go too far. Case in point, in his preseason predictions, Alan Robinson mentioned this tendency twice in his 5 arguments against the Steelers winning the Super Bowl.

Ben No Longer a Game Closer? + Timmons Troubles

No one is a better come from behind artist than Ben Roethlisberger, right?

Dale Lolley points out that Ben Roethlisberger failed to rally the Steelers against Oakand, and that in the last two seasons, he’s only done that once.

While I think this is more of a coincidence than anything else, Lolley’s the first person in the Pittsburgh press corps to make this observation, and it is a story that bears watching.

Lolley also came up with some interesting stats on Lawrence Timmons.

[Woodley] was still better than Timmons, who had three tackles. In fact, after recording seven sacks and four forced fumbles in 2009, Timmons has five sacks and two forced fumbles - in the past two-plus seasons.

That hurts. Do numbers lie?

Not exactly, but for all of his splash plays in 2009, Timmons was inconsistent. In contrast, he played extremely well in 2010, even if he lacked the “Splash” plays.

However, Lolley is dead on in concluding that right now the Steelers aren’t getting their money’s worth out of Timmons.

Thanks for visiting. To read more analysis of the media that cover the Steelers, click here to read more from Steel Curtain Rising's Watch Tower.

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Pittsburgh Steelers vs. San Francisco 49ers History

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers. The Steelers represented the Gold Standard for excellence in the 1970’s and the 49ers dominated the 1980’s. Time of course robbed history for a definitive match up between Titans of separate decades.

Nonetheless, the two franchises have played some memorable games, which we recount here. Click on the links below to relive a specific game, or simply scroll down to read them all.

1984, Chuck Noll & Mark Malone vs. Bill Walsh & Joe Montana I
1987, Chuck Noll & Mark Malone vs. Bill Walsh & Joe Montana II
1990, Rod Woodson vs. Jerry Rice I/YES, Kickoffs ARE Live Balls, Mr. Foster
1993, Rod Woodson vs. Jerry Rice II
1996, You Can’t Spot the 49ers 16 Points
1999, The Solar Flare, Before a TOTAL Eclipse
2003, Tommy Gun Misfires
2007, Make that 3-0 for Mike Tomlin...

Chuck Noll & Mark Malone vs. Bill Walsh & Joe Montana I"
Steelers 20, 49ers 17; October 14, 1984, Candlestick Park

Is there a more celebrated Steelers victory of the 1980’s? Who can say, but no matter what, this game nearly tops the list. The year was 1984, and the 49ers were steamrolling the league. In fact, were it not for one game, the 49ers would have been perfect.

This would be the first time that the duo of Chuck Noll and Mark Malone would square off against Bill Walsh and Joe Montana, and this game shows you why we play games instead of leaving the contest to Madden-like computer simulations. The Steelers matched San Fran with tough defense with smart ball control to keep the 49ers off balance the entire day, and in the process added the lone blemish to the 49ers would-be perfect season.

• For more on this game see One Sunday in October and #12 in the Steelers Greatest Non-Super Bowl Wins in History on Behind the Steel Curtain. Also see the Steel Curtain Rising's Chuck Noll vs. Bill Walsh series.

Chuck Noll & Mark Malone vs. Bill Walsh & Joe Montana II
Steelers 30, 49ers 17; September 13th, 1987, Three Rivers Stadium

Joe Montana finished the 1987 season with a 102.1 passer rating. Mark Malone finished the 1987 season with a 46.6 passer rating. And although Montana did outplay Malone on this fateful day, it wasn’t enough.

Rookie cornerback Delton Hall, linebacker Mike Merriweather, and veteran cornerback Dwayne Woodruff all picked off Montana’s passes. Delton Hall, who won the Steelers rookie of the year award only to fade, opened the game with a 50 yard fumble return to put the Steelers up by 7. Mark Malone only completed 9 of 33 passes, but one of those was for a touchdown to tight end Preston Gothard (who?). Ernest Jackson, Walter Abercrombie, Frank Pollard, Harry Newsome teamed to rush for 184 yards and a rookie named Merril Hoge caught his first NFL pass for 27 yards.

• With this win, Chuck Noll passed his mentor (and Walsh's mentor) Paul Brown on the NFL's all time win list

Rod Woodson vs. Jerry Rice I/YES, Kickoffs ARE Live Balls, Mr. Foster
49ers 27, Steelers 7; October 21st, 1990, Candlestick Park

The 49ers entered the game at 6-0 looking every bit the team en route to a 3 peat, while Pittsburgh entered with a 3-3 record, looking every bit like the team suffering from a hangover following the Steelers storybook 1989 season.

Joe Montana was on fire that year, but the Steelers came with a secret weapon – the NFL’s number one defense that had only given up 3 touchdown passes in 6 games. The Steelers felt they could win this game, if only they could avoid mistakes….

…And mistakes the Steelers made. Although Rod Woodson and Thomas Everett intercepted Montana twice, Joe Walton’s offense failed to capitalize. Barry Foster ‘forgot’ that uncaught kickoffs are live balls, setting up an easy San Fran TD, and a Charles Haley strip sack of Bubby Brister set up another. A 49er’s interception would stop any chance of a Pittsburgh comeback.

• In their first face off, Rod Woodson held Jerry Rice to 3 catches for just 31 yards.

Rod Woodson vs. Jerry Rice II
49ers 24, Pittsburgh 13; September 5th, 1993, Three Rivers Stadium

After taking the league by storm in 1992, the NFL scheduled what was to be one of their marquee match ups of opening day by pitting the Steelers vs. the 49ers on opening day at Three Rivers Stadium. With Neil O’Donnell on the sidelines with tendonitis during the first half the 49ers built up a 17-3 lead.

Neil O’Donnell came off the bench to get Pittsburgh back in the game narrowing the score to 17-13, before Steve Young connected with Brent Jones for a touchdown, making the Steelers regret that Chuck Noll cut tight end whose sin was to be a better pass catcher than run blocker.

• In his second match up with Rice, Rod Woodson held him to just 78 yards, but 2 of Rice's 8 catches were for touchdowns…

You Can’t Spot the 49ers 16 Points (and Expect to Win)
49ers 25, Steelers 15; December 15th, 1996, Three Rivers Stadium

It was a tricky time for the Steelers. Already with 10 wins and the division title in the bag, a first round playoff bye remained in their grasp…

…But Mike Tomzack was faltering as the team’s starter, and injuries had ravaged the team all season. The Steelers gave up a quick touchdown, and then a safety to spot the 49ers 9 points. If memory serves, another turnover set up the 49ers next score, putting the Steelers in the hole 16-0.

The Steelers rebounded scoring 15 with touchdowns from Jerome Bettis and Kordell Stewart. But it was not enough as the 49ers also scored a Terrell Owens touchdown and kicked a field goal.

• In their final match up, Rod Woodson again held Jerry Rice under 100 yards, although Rice did score a touchdown with one of his 8 catches.

Solar Flare, Before a Total Eclipse
Steelers 27, 49ers 6; November 7, 1999, Candlestick Park

After watching the 49ers both beat them 3 straight times and beat them to one for the thumb this was supposed to be the one that Steelers fans had been waiting for. And on paper it was. The Steelers jumped to a 17-3 first half lead on the strength of Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward touchdowns and a field goal. The Steelers dominated the score board winning the game 27-3.

After a 2-3 start, the Steelers had now won 3 straight to improve to 5-3. All looked well but… the 49ers Charlie Garner rushed for 166 yards. The following week Kordell Stewart’s fumbled snap led to the upset at the hands of the expansion Browns.

• The ensuring quarterback controversy would dominate the news, but the failing defense, as Joel Steed’s knees gave way, was one of the under reported stories of the Steelers 1999 meltdown.

Tommy Gun Misfires
49ers 30, Steelers 27; November 17, 2003, Candlestick Park

Tommy Maddox had been the 2003 version of Tebowmania having gone from out of football, to the XFL, to resurrecting the Steelers 2002 season. Alas, 2003 was not as kind to Maddox, as the Steelers pass defense struggled, injuries decimated the offensive line, and Cover 2 defenses frustrated Maddox. The ’03 Steelers had gone 2-1 before losing five straight. By the time they were 2-6 they mounted the “win a game, lose a game” see-saw.

Unfortunately, the Steelers trip to San Francisco came on the downside of that see-saw. San Francisco opened a 14-0 lead at the end of the first half, and the Steelers feigned making go at it by scoring the first touchdown in the second half, but the 49ers would score 20 unanswered points until Tommy Maddox hooked up with Randel El for a final, face saving touchdown.

Make that 3-0 for Mike Tomlin...
Steelers 37, 49ers 15; September 23, 2007, Heinz Field

Just two weeks earlier Steelers Nation had no idea about what to make of Mike Tomlin, the man who leapfrogged Russ Grimm to succeed Bill Cowher. By the time the 49ers arrived at Heinz Field, Tomlin was already 2 and 0 and notched his third win at San Francisco’s expense.

What stands out when looking at the stat sheet is that role players made all of the splash plays for the Steelers that day. Allen Rosseum got his 15 minutes of fame as a Steeler with a 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Jerame Tuman caught the only touchdown pass, and Najeh Davenport ran for 39 yard touchdown, while Bryant McFadden had a 50 yard pick six.

On defense the story was a little different, as then starter Bryant McFadden had a 50 yard pick six and veteran James Farrior and rookie LaMarr Woodley both sacked Alex Smith.

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