ANDY HARDY REDUX - "ON A ROLL!"

I can only assume that the Steelers management and coaches got together this past weekend - put their pocket change in a pile - and started a beer fund that would keep the screenwriters for last Monday night's game from leaving the park prior to the second half - thus keeping us from sitting on the edge of our seats as we did the previous Monday night.

Look! You got to admit this is getting scary!

We got two consecutive games of good football from the 2014 Steelers. What comes next, the Pirates end up with the highest MLB payroll in 2015?

A little history here.

I finished a tongue in cheek blog early this past Sunday morning - asking for a little screenwriting help for the Steelers in their game against the Indianapolis Colts later that afternoon. And then starting at about 4:35 or so - all Hell breaks loose at Heinz Field for our victorious Steelers.

Here are just a few examples:

A tall rookie receiver - who apparently was not ready to play prior to last week - catches his 3rd TD pass in two games.

Roethlisberger, the QB to whom I referred as possibly lacking mobility this year  - breaks a passing record for QB's by having his second 500 yard game - and throws 6 touchdowns w/o an interception in the process.

Our Defensive front helped by several judicious blitz packages launches a "ferocious attack" against our opponent, the Indianapolis Colts - the likes of which we haven't seen since Mickey Rooney was a KID.

Our Offensive Line strategy lacked only "a moat" filled with Tiger sharks as a sure fire plausible method of protecting our QB - who had enough time during the game to autograph the footballs with the signature "BBR - 500(2)" before heaving them.

One veteran back - not named Polamolu, (GAY) - actually intercepted the opponents pass - and ran it back for a touchdown.

Another new defensive back gave a tutorial to Cortez Allen on how you can actually keep track of the opposing receiver and still track the ball sufficiently so as to intercept it.

True, there were some lingering memories from the Steelers first 7 games - as well as some necessary follow-up questions?

Will the Steelers always be assessed more penalty yards than the opposing team?
(Where are the old Oakland Raiders when you need them?)

Could someone please explain the hands-in- the- face penalty to me - and are you allowed to call it against both teams - or is that part of a pre-game referee strategy that presumably is accompanied by secret handshakes?

Those two former Steelers who we let go and then re-signed? What were the Steelers feeding them last Sunday and whom do we thank for their visionary prowess?

And a few less specific questions:

Can somebody please explain - in detail - what caused this team to do such an about-face against a team that had just won 5 straight?

Can we expect to see this type of play by the Steelers next Sunday against the Ravens?

If and when the screen writers who assisted the Steelers game plan last Monday, and again this Sunday, become "free agents"  will somebody in the Steeler's organization please promise to find a way to fit their salaries under the cap?

With the success these guys had last Sunday in writing a new and even better follow-up script for the 2014 Steelers, one can safely assume the Pittsburgh Police blocked all exits leading out of town immediately after the game..

 Perhaps those guys (and gals?) can be found holed up in the old William Penn Hotel - drinking a few free beers to the tinkling of a piano by the ghost of Oscar Levant as they write screenplays for sequels to "The Great Gatsby" "Citizen Kane" and "Casablanca".

After Sunday's Steeler performance they can erase the name Andy Hardy from their memories - as well as their "curriculum vitaes".

These guys are clearly "on a roll!"

WE'LL MISS ANDY HARDY!

Another Steeler Football game has arrived. First, let's talk about the one last Monday night.

Perhaps some of you are old enough to be familiar with the old Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland "Andy Hardy" films?  If so, you'll recall a plot line in several of them that went something like this:

(Mickey) "Hey, I've got an idea. Let's hold a bake sale (or put on a play - or sell apples and cumquats - or clean up the barn and hold a dance , etc)  - so we can raise enough money for dear old Mrs. Mooney, and she can avoid getting kicked out of her home by that mean banker, Mr. Miserly".

This year a Steelers fan may well wonder if the Steeler owners (different Rooneys) and their management team and players, haven't also devised a similarly "well researched" plan for 2014 football success.

I make no claim for any prescient football wisdom nor illusions of grandeur regarding the extent of my football knowledge.

Despite that, I continue:

Most NFL teams have a downward spiral occasionally, but here are some  possibilities for the second half of the Steelers season; if a few things pan out for them:

They made a few good draft choices this year after a 16/16 record the past two seasons. Their discerning  decisions on the acquisition of available free agents prove to work out. They hired some new good coaches. They will see increased positive development of latent player skills. They will encounter a continuing stream of good luck (like last Monday). They will take advantage of their more  advantageous schedule resulting from the NFL's desire for team parity. They get together and make a decision in the second half of the season to obtain a more cohesive approach to building momentum from the few positive performance of players they currently have under contract.

OK? But, the most important one in my mind is: "Hire more more good screenwriters" - and pay them well!

Let's explore the screenwriter scenario option play (a little pun, if you will)

When you have:
- one good quarterback whose mobility is fading.
- a safety who is HOF material, but is slowing down.
- only one proven good receiver ( who for some unfathomable reason
  you are convinced is your best choice to run back punts against special
  teams who will do almost anything legal or illegal for a chance to be
  promoted from the practice squad).
- one established successful young running back/receiver.
-  a  veteran tight end whose name and number has apparently been removed
  from  your playbook
- a tendency to have forgotten about good clock management:

 YOU MAY NOT MAKE IT BACK TO AN 8 & 8 RECORD W/O THEM.

Excuse my fading memory here, but I believe late in the second half of Monday Night's game, while still ahead - the Steeler coaches made a decision to use up some of the remaining game clock time by inserting their "U.R.Z.S.S."* into their backfield - despite the fact they were still on their side of the field.

For any fan of the old Penn State University teams, it became abundantly clear they had mastered the Joe Paterno offensive strategy we once knew, loved -- and predicted.

As a matter of fact, at that point, I diverted my attention from watching the game by choosing to attempt to lip- read the fan's reactions. I very quickly spotted a young girl of about 5 or 6 years old who turned to her father and whispered: "They're going to give the ball to Blunt - aren't they Dad?"

It was clearly the same old Steelers strategy that had cost them the game against the Tampa Bay Teacups.

Let's go back to my "screenwriter" advice:

Late in the first half with the Steelers losing badly many Steeler TV fans had reached for the remote in their attempt to track down Marlin Perkins reruns.

Then a miracle APPEARED - not dissimilar to the one in the old flick "Angels In The Outfield" filmed not too far away at the old Forbes Field where the Steelers once played a game or two.

I'll skip the details, because by now, any true Steeler fan knows what happened in the closing seconds of the first half. With 3 minutes and 8 seconds left in the second quarter the Steelers scored 24 points - 21 of which arrived in the final 87 seconds - partially, "courtesy" of a long lost ball hawking Defense .

What followed in that brief period of time was as implausible to any current  Steeler fan as the sight of Andy Hardy - wearing a leather helmet four sizes too big - that completely obscured his vision - running for the winning touchdown  and saving his  beleagured coach's job in the process.

But, in the second half, those same screenwriters who once aided Andy - and re-appeared to scribe our second quarter miracle - had apparently left the stadium in pursuit of more reasonably priced alcoholic beverages- and our beloved Steelers reverted to their more typical game plan by scoring only two field goals.

Today, against the Indianapolis Colts at 4:25 PM - on that SAME  home field advantage location - we'll learn if the screenwriters have graciously returned to provide us with another miracle scenario.

One word of caution: Yesterday afternoon, at about the same time the Steelers begin play this Sunday afternoon  - and on that same field - The University of Pittsburgh -( Pitt as it is better known to those Pittsburghers who still retain local  college football hopes) - obviously lacked commensurate positive screenwriting assistance.

Pitt surrendered 5 fumbles in the first half  - tying a college football record - rewarding their opponent Georgia Tech with a 28 to 0 lead - by dint of the 4 touchdowns they scored from those fumbles  - and Pitt never recovered.

You got to wonder: Where is Andy Hardy when you really need him?

Game Day Question: Will the screenwriters return today with a more favorable scenario for the home team?

*URZSS - Unreliable Red Zone Super Stud