The trade came out of nowhere for Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Sure, wide receiver Santonio Holmes had some issues with smoking pot and he might have thrown a glass at a woman in a club, but there was no way the team was going to ship him out, right? Wrong.
You know the story. The Steelers traded Holmes to the New York Jets in April of 2010 for a fifth round draft pick that year. The pick was then traded to the Arizona Cardinals for Bryant McFadden and a sixth round pick that the team used on Antonio Brown. And now the former Super Bowl hero and MVP is coming into Pittsburgh for a chance to return to the big game.
It's the story that is being discussed on talk radio around Pittsburgh and makes for a great conversation. Did the Steelers make a mistake in dealing Holmes, or did it raise team moral? The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Steelers beat reporter Ed Bouchette said after the trade that thought the trade would lead to a lot of cheering in the Steelers' locker room.
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| Holmes is really good, he just likes to get high. |
Holmes' departure paved the way for Mike Wallace to have a breakout campaign with 1,257 yards and 10 touchdowns (Holmes best season with the Steelers was 2009 when he had 1,248 yards and six touchdowns). The move also allowed rookies Brown and Emmanuel Sanders to get more playing time, which led to them making big plays you don't usually count on rookies to make. Sanders is often Ben Roethlisberger's target on third downs and Brown had the biggest catch of the Steelers' season last Saturday.
On the flip side, Holmes has been great with the Jets this year. In 12 games he tallied 746 yards and six touchdowns. And that's with playing limited snaps the first three weeks he was back from suspension.
Of course, one has to take Holmes' contract into consideration when discussing this topic. Holmes is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season and will most likely be asking for a very large contract. A contract the Steelers may not have been willing to dish out.
If Holmes plays a key role in a Jets victory this weekend, Steelers fans will be pissed he was moved. If Wallace, Sanders or Brown comes up big in a Steelers win, they won't mind him not being around. What do you think?
The picks for this weekend's games are below. I went 3-1 last and am 6-2 for the season. I'd have a miss of the week, but I didn't miss the Seattle game by much and don't feel like making fun of myself. The home teams are in caps.
CHICAGO (+3.5) over Green Bay: Has this happened before? A No. 6 seed being favored in the NFC or AFC Championship game? It certainly gives the Bears plenty of ammo for the whole "Nobody thinks we're good" motivational tool. Will that be enough to stop Aaron Rodgers? Well, I think it will help enough that the Bears cover. This game feels like it will be decided by a late field goal. It's supposed to be cold with a chance of snow. But that won't matter much. Both of these teams play outside in cold environments. So really, it comes down to quarterback play. And with that being said I am changing my pick to Green Bay (-3.5) over CHICAGO. Jay Cutler is a tool.
PITTSBURGH (-3.5) over New York Jets: Everyone will mention that Troy Polamalu didn't play when these teams met in a 22-17 Jets victory. And it's true that he didn't. But I think people tend to forget that Heath Miller didn't play either. Miller is a great tight end who blocks and is a big target who Roethlisberger loves to target in the red zone. Big Ben is a whole lot happier he has Miller to throw to instead of Matt Spaeth, who dropped the game-winning touchdown pass in that earlier game.
Mark Sanchez is falling back to earth Sunday. More like he is being tossed down by James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley and Polamalu. RJ will disagree, but he used to say Chad Pennington was better than Roethlisberger. You can't take him serious.
Stiff Little Fingers - Guitar and Drum
Green Bay -3.5, Cutler will make a mistake to cost the Bears a chance at a Super Bowl and I also think the Bears defense is overrated.
ReplyDeleteJets +3.5, comes down to what kind of look the Jets throw at Ben. I expect Revis to start on Wallace btu I do think Cromartie will shadow him at times as well. I also think unlike the last two weeks, the Jets will bring plenty of pressure to get after Ben. Polamalu playing will help, but I dont think Miller makes much of a difference. He was a nonfactor all year in the passing game. The Jets had some success running the ball against the Steelers in Week 15 (over 100 yards) and think they will have some success there again. They key are the matchups on the outside, the Steelers defense is weak at corner, which is why Braylon Edwards had 100 yards in Week 15. The Steelers X-factor on offense is how committed they are to giving Mendenhall the rock. I'll go Jets 21-17.
If by you're 3-1 and 6-2 you mean I'm 3-1 and 6-2 overall, you're correct. Pennington is going to be fine once they decide to take everything possible out of his shoulder on the 4th surgery, I'm sure that'll fix everything.
ReplyDeleteVince Vaughn over Jay DeMerit
Wiz Khalifa over Ray Romano
Miller was a non-factor? You sure you don't want to rethink that? (Hint: He's fantastic in pass protection and the Steelers O-line is a mess)