4-1

well, after last monday's game against the ravens, when the steelers' locker room turned into a hospital; and after a short work week; after so many injuries and starters out for the game; after ben barely practiced all week and players didn't wear full pads; after the way the jags owned us last year, twice; after all that, i wasn't at all confident about going down to jacksonville and coming out with a win.

but that's exactly what we did. great defense (other than some questionable play in the secondary - i'm not sure townsend is completely healthy). great job by alot of backups. great job by the receivers getting open. great job by the line, especially on run blocking. great job by the coaching staff who clearly made the right decisions all week about how to handle practice, and then how to play this team. but most of all, great game by ben. i still wish he wouldn't hold the ball so long so he could avoid a couple of those sacks, but man he played tough. the play where he had jags hanging off of him and he still completed that pass across the middle to hines was incredible, and vintage big ben. he gets the game ball, in my opinion.

i'm proud of this team today. this was a great deal of adversity, and they faced it with a great deal of resolve and determination, and even when the tide began to turn in the jags favor late in the game, the steelers did not pack it up and start heading out of town. they pushed even harder and they were rewarded with a victory, a bye-week to get some physical rest, and with a nice cushion in the division as they head into the rest of the schedule.