PASSING OFFENSE: After serving a four game suspension, Ben Roethlisberger came back to have a very good season. He threw for 3200 yards in just 12 games and had a touchdown to interception ratio of 17 to 5 in the regular season. Along with his big arm, Big Ben is known for his size and toughness and is hard for defenders to bring down.

Said Clay Matthews, “Ben Roethlisberger is one of toughest QBs to sack. He’s one of those guys who will fight. He makes plays by breaking tackles.”

Last year, he shredded the Green Bay secondary for 503 yards passing and exposed some real weakness that the Packers had last year in pass defense. He was aided by a solid group of receivers led by the blazing fast Mike Wallace (60 rec, 1257 yards), ageless possession receiver Hines Ward (59 rec, 755 yards), and tight end Heath Miller (42 rec, 512 yards). Emmanuel Sanders and Antwaan Randle El are good 3rd and 4th receivers that add speed and depth to the the corps, and former Viking Mewelde Moore has emerged into a threat to catch out of the backfield as a 3rd down back.

Passing has become the strength of the Steelers’ offense. They finished  ranked 14th in the NFL in passing, but that ranking would have been significantly higher had Roethlisberger not been suspended to start the season.

• WST’s Take: This match up with the Packers’ pass defense will go a long way into deciding the winner of Super Bowl XLV. Green Bay has improved significantly in pass defense since last year’s debacle at Hines Field, and they have the speed to match the Steelers receivers. Green Bay  comes in ranked 5th in the league in pass yards given up and 2nd in interceptions. Two of Roethlisberger’s worst games this year have come against the Jets, who like the Packers have a very strong secondary and run a 3-4 defense. New York was able to get pressure on the quarterback, and it is very important for the Packers are able to get a pass rush on Big Ben (the Pack ranks 2nd in the league in sacks). Although it appears highly unlikely that the Steelers have the type of success they did last year against Green Bay, this is one of the best passing attacks the Packers have seen this year and will be a major challenge for Dom Capers.

RUSHING OFFENSE: Pittsburgh has been able to run the ball effectively when they need to. Rashard Mendenhall (324 attempts, 1,273 yards, 13 touchdowns)  is a very physical runner who is coming off a game where he was called on to run the ball 27 times for 121 yards.

He has been particularly effective in short yardage situations because of his ability to bounce off of the first defender to make contact with him. He has been used as a workhorse in games where the Steelers have struggled to pass the ball, such as the first four games of the season (when Roethlisberger was not playing) and last week against New York. In a game against Buffalo, he ran the ball 36 times for 151 yards. He has however struggled against strong run defenses such as Baltimore (he ran for only 46 yards on 20 carries in the divisional playoff game).

Second year player, Issac Redman (52 attempts, 247 yards) is another physical runner who has been used effectively to spell Mendenhall. The Steelers come into the game ranked 11th in the NFL in rush yards.

• WST’s Take: The Packers ranked 18th in the league in rush yards allowed this year, a steep drop off from last year’s number one ranking. The main reason for this is because the Packers have used their Nickel package more than any other team in football this year in order to stop the pass. This “bend, but don’t break” approach has led to more rush yards given up. Despite the mediocre ranking, Green Bay has been effective in stopping the run when they need to, and are not overly susceptible to huge games by opposing running backs. Look for Pittsburgh to run the ball often early in the game and have mixed success. If Roethlisberger struggles to find his rhythm, expect heavy doses of Mendenhall especially if the game remains close and low scoring. The Steelers may be without Pro Bowl Center Maurkice Pouncey, which could hurt their rush offense. With the largest 3-4 defensive line in the NFL (B.J. Raji, Ryan Pickett, and Howard Green), the Packers will present a challenge to the Steelers in short yardage. There may be some interesting 3rd or 4th and 1′s that will play a major role in this game.

PASS DEFENSE: No team rushes the quarterback better than the Pittsburgh Steelers. James Harrison and Lamar Woodley make up the NFL’s best outside linebacker duo (by far). Both players have at least 10 sacks on the season, and have helped the Steelers lead the league in this category.

With help from the pressure on the QB, Pittsburgh ranks in at 5th in the league in interceptions. They also have the most dynamic Safety in the league in Troy Polamolu, who is often playing in the box and blitzing. Troy is also very capable of covering receivers and tight ends as well as any safety in the league. He is one of the most valuable players to their team in the league; over the last two seasons Pittsburgh is 16-4 when Polamalu plays compared to 6-7 when he sits.

Opposite safety Ryan Clark has done and excellent job of playing center field this year, and Ike Taylor has become a very solid left corner. Although he is not a complete “shut down” corner, he is in the upper tier of corners in the league. The other side is the weaker side. Bryant McFadden has been a weak link in the Steelers secondary and has given up a very high completion percentage this season. According to STATS INC. McFadden was targeted 166 times by opposing QB’s and allowed 77 completions (66.4 percent), including five TD’s. Nickel back, William Gay has been solid but is also susceptible. Pittsburgh ranks 12th in the league in pass defense.

• WST’s Take: There is no question that the Packers think they can win the match up of their receiver corps against Pittsburgh’s secondary. The question is: Can Chad Clifton and Bryan Bulaga handle Woodley and Harrison? If the answer is no, it will be a long day for the Packers offense. If Bulaga and Clifton can hold up long enough against those two on the outside, someone will be open. Don’t be surprised to see Aaron Rodgers try to spread Pittsburgh out like against Atlanta. Look for Rodgers to try to isolate McFadden and Gay like he did against Chicago’s Tim Jennings and Atlanta’s Christopher Owens. Green Bay’s top four receivers could all have big days like against Pittsburgh. Rodgers is also the best quarterback in the league against the blitz and has done well to avoid throwing interceptions. Cowboy Stadium is a semi-roofed facility with a controlled environment, and the Packers have been able to pass very well indoors over the last few seasons.

RUN DEFENSE: The Steelers’ run defense is far and away number 1 in the league. They sit back and protect against the pass and dare teams to run the ball on them. Last week against the Jets, who came in ranked 4th in the league running the ball, Pittsburgh only gave up 70 yards rushing (they average only 62.8 yards per game given up).

They are led by nose tackle, Casey Hampton and inside linebackers Lawrence Timmons and James Farrior. One of the main reasons they are able to pressure the QB so well and intercept passes are because they are so good against the run that their opponent becomes one-dimensional.

• WST’s Take: While James Starks has had success running in the playoffs, this will be his biggest challenge of his young career. Expect the Packers to try to use the pass to set up the run, as opposed to the more conventional opposite approach. Green Bay could run into trouble if they try to ice the clock with the lead at the end of the game if they cannot run the ball.

Tonight I have the pleasure of attending the Bucks v. Heat matchup at the Bradley Center.  Being a diehard Bucks fan, nothing irritates me more than seeing pockets of visiting team “fans” throughout the arena.  I put “fans” in quotations because I would venture to guess that the vast majority of those people aren’t natives of the visiting team’s city. Rather, I like to think of them as ESPN cult followers who are incapable of forming their own analysis or opinions, merely going along with what Stephen A. Smith or Stuart Scott tells them is “ON FIRE!”

Last season I asked two  people sitting near me at a Bucks v. Celtics game if they were from Boston (they were decked out in Celt’s gear).  They replied, “of course not” as if I was dumb enough to actually think they were from Boston or the greater Massachusetts area.  “So why are you such big Celtics fans?” I replied.  “We just like the way they play” was their pathetic answer, completely ignoring the fact that Boston played on cruise control all of last season up until the playoffs.

Which brings me to tonight’s game.  Besides the obvious love for Dwyane Wade, there will be a lot of “Heat fans” in house tonight.  The kids who were rocking Cleveland Lebron jerseys last season have forced their parents to buy them a brand new Heat jersey.  But I’m not so much picking on the kids; after all, I really liked Randy Moss on the Vikings in 1998, when I was in 7th grade.  Kids don’t understand loyalty to home teams, and the ones that do are much farther ahead of the curve than their peers.

WiscoSportsTalk columnist Adam “Big A” Maritato wrote an article last season questioning why there weren’t more Bucks fans packing the BC while the team was playing well.  I think it’s Milwaukee basketball apathy, and the only way to cure it is to string together convincing victories over much-ballyhooed teams like the Heat (and no, beating Orlando on Saturday with all their best players sidelined with a stomach virus doesn’t count).

Right now the Heat have won four in a row and appear to be coming together as a team.  But they are still vulnerable in the low post, where Zydrunas Ilgauskas is their best option.  If the Bucks can expose them in one area, it’d be down low where the Bucks can run their offense through Andrew Bogut.

Basically, the Heat are very beatable, and a win over them would actually show Milwaukee that this Bucks team wasn’t overachieving last year and that they can beat legit, big market opponents.  Sure, there will always be “fans” for other teams when a big market opponent comes to town.  I’m sure a column similar to this is written every time the Lakers go on the road.  So is life being a small market NBA franchise.

One last point: the Heat recently started a new campaign to get fans in their seats  when the game actually starts.  What a crazy idea!  Get to your seat before tip-off?!  Are you from Mars?!

Do you think that would ever happen in Milwaukee?  Absolutely not.  We might not be able to pack in fans like other cities, but at least we show up on time.  Clearly Miami only has a few hundred real fans who have the audacity to show up to home games on time, but I’d be honored to send some of the “fans” I see tonight down to South Beach to experience what truly apathetic fans the Heat have.

Bucks Rookie spark plug, Brandon Jennings stars in his second commercial alongside Michael Phelps, Dez Bryant (former Oklahoma State Wide Reciever) and Georges St. Pierre ( UFC fighter).

Packers Fan Announces He Will Return To Drinking For Another Season

After watching Digger hit the dance floor with a (smokin’ hot) Clemson basketball cheerleader, I developed a whole new found appreciation for the man, the myth, the DIGGA. Then I started searching YouTube for other Digga vids and found out soon enough that Digga is a DANCING FOOL!

The man’s got some sick moves for an old-timer college basketball commentator. Check out these six vids of Digger breakin it down hard.

Just when I thought I was sick of all the Tiger Woods talk (are you?), I found this hilarious video on CNN.com of a virtual reenactment of Tiger Woods’ car crash by a Taiwanese news site.

(Video from CBSSports)

The Milwaukee Bucks could not continue the win streak Monday night in San Antonio.  Michael Redd looked like he hadn’t picked up a basketball since his injury against Detroit earlier in the season as he went 1-6 from the charity stripe.

While the Bucks looked flat in the first half,  Spurs fan favorite Matt Bonner ignited his team by sinking several three pointers on his way to a 23 point, 6 rebound night.  The Bucks ended the half up by two but couldn’t sustain the lead as Tim Duncan and George Hill hit several shots to expand the lead.

Rookie Brandon Jennings looked human as he converted on just 6 of his 21 shots and committed 5 turnovers.  Ersan Ilyasova and Hakim Warrick probably should have shot more often as they combined for 35 points while shooting 65% from the field.  The Power Forward tandem also converted on all of their combined 8 free throw attempts.

For the majority of the game, the Bucks lacked the energy and discipline on the defensive end that has carried them to their surprising start.  Next stop is New Orleans to take on the Chris Paul-less Hornets (6-9, Home 5-2, away 1-7).

Notes:

Andrew Bogut:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Andrew Bogut is eyeing an early return and will be out anywhere from four to eleven games, depending on how his body responds during recovery.

(LRMaM) Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is still listed as day to day.

Bucks v.s Spurs Highlights:

In a heated affair last night, the Milwaukee Bucks edged the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum, 103-98.

Brandon Jennings led all scorers with 26 points, but he was hardly the top story.  Luke Ridnour and Ersan Ilyasova stole the spotlight.  Luke Ridnour came off the bench and had 13 points and 12 assists (8 in 1st half), while Ersan got the start at the 4-spot and finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Ersan hit the glass hard, boxed out bigger players all game long, and had some great passes on the offensive end.  He reminds me of a young but raw Dirk Nowitizki. Ilyasova is only 22 years old, and he seems to be buying into Skiles’ system because he is one of the most consistent defenders on the team.

Once again the team played short-handed without Andrew Bogut, Michael Redd, LRMaM (Luc Richard Mbah a Moute), and Joe Alexander (Potsie).

Memphis jumped out to a ten point lead at the end of the first half.  They had everything falling down-low with their big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.  In the second half the Grizzlies stopped going down-low and started going one on one and playing with tunnel vision.

When the Grizzlies stopped moving the ball effectively, the Bucks began getting after it.  Memphis was paced by Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol who each had a double-double in points and rebounds. Gay had 24 and 10;  Gasol had 14 and 14.

Charlie Bell started making jump shots for the first time this year, and he finished the game with a season high 19 points, including 5 three pointers.  He was big all night on both ends of the floor.

Milwaukee travels to San Antonio to play the Spurs on Monday night.  The Spurs may still be without Manu Ginobili, but Tony Parker-Longoria returned last night and helped the team beat the Wiz.