View topic - Bryant McFadden in the spotlight makin plays!

[Hi5Steeler Profile]

McFadden too late with great play
By John Harris
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 29, 2008

• Bryant McFadden may have waited too late to make a serious bid for the starting left cornerback slot, but McFadden was all over the field Thursday night. McFadden made a nice breakup of a Carolina pass intended for Dwayne Jarrett in the first quarter. McFadden, who plays behind Deshea Townsend, reached in and swatted the ball away on first-and-10 from the Steelers' 42. In the second quarter, McFadden intecepted another pass intended for Jarrett, this time on third-and-12, and returned it 31 yards to the Carolina 41. Six plays later, Jeff Reed kicked a 41-yard field goal, giving the Steelers a 10-3 lead. On McFadden's inteception, right cornerback Ike Taylor executed an all-out outside blitz, forcing quarterback Matt Moore to step up in the pocket before releasing the ball.

• Yonkers Raceway president Timothy J. Rooney, one of the Steelers' owners, has been elected to the Living Hall of Fame, harness racing's highest honor. He has been president of the track, now called Empire City Gaming at Yonkers Raceway, for 36 years. Rooney, also a longtime standardbred breeder, was selected in balloting conducted primarily among members of the U.S. Harness Writers Association. Earlier this year, the New York chapter of the harness writers association selected Rooney as its "Man of the Half Century."

• Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger appeared in two series and was on the field for eight plays. Roethlisberger did not attempt a pass, but the Steelers did operate from a no-huddle on their second series. For the preseason, Roethlisberger was 21-of-30 (70 percent) for 245 yards, two touchdeowns, one interception and a 102.8 passer rating.

• Lawrence Timmons started at right inside linebacker in place of Larry Foote, who was sidelined with a knee injury. Linebacker Mike Humpal (stinger) and safety Ryan Mundy (ankle) did not dress.

• Rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall fumbled for the second consecutive game. Mendenhall's fumble, which followed a 12-yard run in the second quarter, was recovered by former Steelers cornerback Ricardo Colclough.

• Another Steelers rookie, receiver Limas Sweed, nearly made a spectacular leaping grab in the back of the end zone on a bomb from backup quarterback Byron Leftwich in the second quarter. Sweed got both of his feet down after making the catch, but replays showed that his body touched out of bounds first. Later in the quarter, a wide-open Sweed, who has struggled with drops all preseason, dropped a perfect pass from Leftwich.

• Running back Willie Parker, who averaged 2.9 yards per carry in the first three preseason games, rushed four times for 34 yards (8.5 yards per carry).

• Punter Paul Ernster may have kicked himself out of a job last night. Ernster, who was averaging 44.3 yards per punt in preseason, shanked a 22-yarder in the second quarter.


John Harris can be reached at jharris@tribweb.com or 412-481-5432.
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[Pittsburgh Profile]

I missed the game so that was a cool write up there.

B-mac to me is a guy who is just dying for some PT. The man is being held back a bit by poor camp performance OR just a super Savvy Dashea who knows how to keep his job.

Whenever Bmac is on the field Good things are happening for the Steelers...
He was our only Steeler Last year to Take an Int to the House. It was against Sanfran cisco week 3 and he looked awesome dooing it...

DO IT AGAIN BMAC, DO IT AGAIN!!!

[thesteelhammer Profile]

• Yonkers Raceway president Timothy J. Rooney, one of the Steelers' owners, has been elected to the Living Hall of Fame, harness racing's highest honor. He has been president of the track, now called Empire City Gaming at Yonkers Raceway, for 36 years. Rooney, also a longtime standardbred breeder, was selected in balloting conducted primarily among members of the U.S. Harness Writers Association. Earlier this year, the New York chapter of the harness writers association selected Rooney as its "Man of the Half Century."

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Tim Rooney would be Man of the Half Century if he gave his brother Dan his shares in the Steelers.

[thesteelhammer Profile]

Sometimes i think these writers read our board to get their story ideas.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-080830-afc-north-rashard-mendenhall-pompei,1,2493749.column

Reserve role doesn't frustrate McFadden


By John Harris
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, August 30, 2008

On the final day of training camp, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin burst Bryant McFadden's bubble.

By telling reporters that Deshea Townsend is his starting left cornerback, with McFadden settling for leftovers as the nickel back, Tomlin effectively killed McFadden's dream of becoming a starter in 2008.

In the wake of Tomlin's stinging comments, McFadden has never looked better.


McFadden's strong performance in the final two preseason games won't change Tomlin's mind about who will start at left cornerback against the Houston Texans on Sept. 7 at Heinz Field. But it speaks loudly to McFadden's professionalism and his desire to improve.

"I'm a competitor. My No. 1 goal was to be the starter. If that's how (Tomlin) sees it, so be it. I still have a job to do," McFadden said.

"There's nothing wrong with being labeled as the third corner. Most teams have three real good receivers and the fourth one can probably be a starter also. You need to have at least three corners that can get the job done."

McFadden was asked how it felt to be passed over for the starting job. Normally reluctant to speak his mind, McFadden revealed that his emotions were still raw.

"Being human, it's easy to find fault and negativity," McFadden said. "Something my mother always told me: It might not look how you want it to look right now, but just continue to press forward and continue to believe and positive things will happen for you."

McFadden's ball-hawking skills produced a first-quarter interception against Carolina on Thursday night that showcased his ability to absorb defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's massive playbook.

McFadden read quarterback Matt Moore's eyes from snap to pick. After dropping into coverage, he drove aggressively to the ball and stepped in front of receiver Dwayne Jarrett to make the grab and navigate a 31-yard return.

"It was third and long. I read the quarterback pretty good. I got a good feel where he wanted to go. I wanted to disguise and show him something he wasn't expecting," McFadden said.

This is a critical time for McFadden, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. A second-round draft pick in 2005, McFadden needs to enjoy individual as well as team success to spark negotiations for his new contract.

Becoming a starter this season would have helped McFadden's negotiations with the Steelers. Given the team's growing reluctance to sign its potential free agents, this could be McFadden's final season in Pittsburgh.

Not that McFadden is concerned with what his future holds.

"Going into camp I wanted to be consistent. These last couple of weeks I just told myself go ahead and turn it loose," McFadden said. "As long as you're making plays and doing positive things, people will notice, regardless if you're coming off the bench or if you're on the field all the time."

[trenches Profile]

Sometimes i think these writers read our board to get their story ideas.

More often than you think... boards provide these guys with fuel for their fodder?

[gutofsteel Profile]

Sometimes i think these writers read our board to get their story ideas.

More often than you think... boards provide these guys with fuel for their fodder?

Of course they do. Is covering the Steelers a full-time job for even the local beat reporters? Most of them don't have the background to extensively analyze a team, and getting fresh opinions helps no matter who you are. You have people doing video and statistical analysis on these boards which would be tough of to do much if it wasn't a full-time job. On top of that, who is to say that some of these guys are true football fans, and more importantly passionate about the Steelers? So of course they'll take the easy way out and pay attention to people who watch games 3 times.

It's even worse for the national media. I do not think those guys are able to watch all 42 hours+ of games each week, and probably not even close for most of them. In fact, I suspect more than one are guilty of barely watching highlights of all the games. That's why it's blatantly obvious that many of their "insights" are just fitting a theory to a game ending stat line and pretending like it's a factual observation. I would not be surprised to learn that some of their "breakdowns" are written and produced by unpaid interns.