Steelers Look to Spoil Manning Debut
By dave buzard
Purgatory is just about over! In just a little over 24 hours, fans of Professional Tackle Football will be watching games weekly until February of 2013. Welcome back old friend, I’ve missed you like crazy. Oh, and leaves; you can rake yourselves. The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will get the regular season started September 5th in primetime and our very own Pittsburgh Steelers play Sunday night in the feature game of the day. I am ready to bask in all the pageantry and glory that is opening weekendedness in the NFL. You have to admit that they have diluted the impact of the product the last few years by having the Thursday night opener and now they’ve bumped it back to Wednesday night on a short work week. But hey, I bitch and I watch just the same.
All of the lead up to the Sunday night contest looks like a fall preview for the Peyton Manning Show (coming to NBC right after 30 Rock!!). The promos focus on a very serious looking Peyton and speak of his rebirth with a new team and the promise of a new beginning for both him and Johnny Horseface’s Broncos. The Pittsburgh Steelers are mentioned only in passing; kind of a courtesy flush, if you will, for the Black and Gold. No matter. The Steelers have a history of ruining a team’s coming out party. In 2001 the Tennessee Titans were poised to take their place atop the AFC and came into Pittsburgh to stake their claim. They left with their tails between their legs. The 2004 Eagles didn’t fare any better when they came into Heinz Field riding some stupidly made up winning streak that spanned different seasons. The Steelers pounded the hell out of them and mocked T.O. mercilessly. Peyton Manning himself knows what it is to play the belle of the ball to the plain Jane’s that are the Steelers. The 2007 Indianapolis Colts were a lock at home to dismiss the pesky Steelers. Manning abandoned his game and tried to match up physically against J. Peezy and his defensive brethren. Having an over confident douche of a place kicker boot one wide didn’t help Peyton’s cause any that day either. The Pittsburgh Steelers are a humble squad but don’t like to be given the also ran role (they won’t be ignored, Dan….).
I, for one, can’t wait to see Peyton Manning under center for Denver. I hope he audibles all over the place on every play until the brains fall right out of the heads of those Mile High idiots. The daggers that Manning will stare through those morons after using all of his timeouts in the first quarter due to confusion will crack me up. He is literally a man playing amongst boys there. It’s Peyton Manning’s opportunity to reestablish himself as the dominant quarterback in the league. Is his supporting cast up to it?
I’m sure that Pittsburgh’s defense is up for the challenge.