Bewerbungen » the first of two leads to establi

If you really are what your record says you are, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans are average football teams as they get ready to tangle on Monday Night Football. You can catch the game live on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5, TSN GO and TSN Radio at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt, with pregame coverage beginning at 6pm et/4pm pt. with Monday Night Countdown. But, average is the eye of the beholder. As the owner of a record six Super Bowl titles, Pittsburgh isnt all that used to long stretches of mediocrity but the Steelers are 19-19 dating back to the beginning of the 2012 season, the very definition of ordinary. Houston, on the other hand, has already surpassed its entire win total from the 2013 season and is still within an earshot of Indianapolis in the AFC South after coming up just a little short of Andrew Luck and Co. during Week 6. Luck and T.Y. Hilton lit up the Texans secondary as the Colts held off a frenetic Houston comeback to earn a 33-28 victory. Indianapolis jumped out to a 24-0 lead before Houston fought back and pulled within 33-28 when the incomparable J.J. Watt returned a botched shotgun snap 45 yards for a touchdown. The Texans had two possessions inside five minutes remaining and lost fumbles on each, however, allowing the Colts to survive. Arian Foster piled up 141 yards from scrimmage and ran for two touchdowns for Houston, which has dropped three of its last four since starting the season with consecutive wins. Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 15-of-23 passes for 212 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Andre Johnson, but both lost critical fumbles down the stretch. When you give a team a 24-point lead right out the gate, youre going to have a difficult time, said Watt, who became the only player in the past 50 years to score a touchdown via a fumble return, an interception return and a reception in a single season. It would have been easy to shut it down ... but we fought and gave it a good run. In the end, we didnt make enough plays. The Steelers, on the other, hand are coming off a rare loss to Cleveland as the Browns Ben Tate rushed for 78 yards and two touchdowns to lead Mike Pettines club past Pittsburgh, 31-10. Ben Roethlisberger, who entered the game with an 18-1 record as a starter against Cleveland, was held to 228 yards on 21-of-42 passing with a touchdown and interception for a season-worst 64.4 passer rating for the Steelers, who gave up 31 straight points after the first quarter. LeVeon Bell rushed for 82 yards on 18 carries, Antonio Brown totaled a game- high 118 yards on seven catches and Lance Moore caught a 26-yard score in the loss. Hopefully, we carry the baggage or the stench of that one for some time and use it as positive fuel, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. The Steelers and Texans have split their four previous meetings with Houston winning the last encounter, 17-10, on Oct. 2, 2011 behind Foster, who rushed for 155 yards, including a 42-yard TD. The teams havent met in Pittsburgh since 2008, a 38-17 Steelers win. Houston has appeared just seven times on Monday Night Football, compiling a 3-4 mark while Pittsburgh is 40-24 all-time on the national showcase. Its a big deal for everybody around the league just because everybody grew up watching Monday night games, Fitzpatrick said. These are the games that all eyes are on you. Its important to go out and play well because of that. WHAT TO WATCH FOR This is the start of three straight home games for Pittsburgh, a team that has won six of its past eight overall on its homefield despite a dreadful 27-24 loss to Tampa Bay in its last contest at Heinz Field. Getting Roethlisberger headed back in the right direction is key and offensive coordinator Todd Haley is feeling plenty of heat from some interesting critics. Man, the Pittsburgh Steelers need a new (expletive) offensive coordinator, famed hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg says in a video posted on Instagram. This guy sucks. Coach Tomlin, this is Snoop Dogg, man. Fire that (expletive) and get us a real offensive coordinator. We aint won a playoff game since we had that (expletive). Part of Big Bens success has always been his ability to extend plays and make something out of nothing but it also means things can look bad on occasion and Roethlisberger has been sacked 17 times this season. Tomlin believes a number of things have to improve. Not only game planning, but who were utilizing, the coach said. Schematics and the personnel that were utilizing needs to be evaluated. They better get it cleaned up quickly, especially with Watt looming, the NFLs best defensive player. The rangy defensive lineman leads the NFL with 20 quarterback hits and is often a one-man wrecking crew, capable of making the game-changing play at any time. Its amazing how he routinely disrupts the normal flow of offensive football, Tomlin said. Its also conceivable Watt will also be getting some help in the potential return of rookie linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft who has been sidelined since Week 1 after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Texans coach Bill OBrien has given Clowney a 50/50 shot of playing on Monday. Hes progressing, OBrien told the teams radio network. Hes working really hard to get back and I would say its 50/50. Yeah, I think we have a long time here to get ready for Pittsburgh, longer than normal so hopefully, that bodes well for him being ready to go but I cant guarantee you that hell be here for Pittsburgh. It (would) help a lot, cornerback Kareem Jackson added when discussing Clowneys potential return. Just going in the game knowing we wont have to cover as long. The guys weve had up front, theyve been doing a great job thus far and to add (Clowney) is definitely going to make things that much better. Clowney did not practice on Thursday, however. Generally a guy needs to be on the practice field to play his best, Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said. Were hoping to get him on the practice field so we can make a determination. The best-case scenario for Pittsburgh is to get Bell going early and play off his abilities with play-action. The second-year back from Michigan State led the AFC in both rushing (542) and scrimmage yards (793) entering Week 7 and has recorded at least 100 scrimmage yards in all six games. Houston, meanwhile, is intent on avoiding another slow start on both sides of the football. The Texans have not scored in the opening quarter in five straight games, amassing a pitiful average of 40.5 yards in the frame over that span. Fitzpatrick has also struggled mightily early with a passer rating under 60.0 in the first quarter. What the film shows us is that everybody on offense has to play better. Everybody, OBrien surmised. Sammy Sosa Jersey . 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Appearing on TSN 1050 on Tuesday, Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet New England reported that the Blue Jays, along with a number of other playoff contenders were in the mix for the Boston ace.SPARTA, Ky. -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. 22 Ford can win no matter whos driving. Blaney earned his first Nationwide Series victory and another win for the teams Mustang, holding off Austin Dillon and surviving several late cautions to win Saturday nights 300-mile race at Kentucky Speedway. Blaney, who drives for Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski in the Camping World Truck Series, used his second start in the No. 22 to claim the cars 10th victory of 2013 and a season sweep at Kentucky. Keselowski drove the car to victory in June. Blaneys win included tense moments over the final 40 laps, from beating Dillon off pit road with a two-tire stop on lap 166 to reclaiming the lead from Dillon after losing it on the restart. More tests followed, including a near-brush with teammate Sam Hornish Jr.s loose Ford and one final restart. "We just had an awesome, awesome Mustang," Blaney said. "The team just kept getting the car better and better and as the race went on. Those restarts were tough. Luckily, I had a good enough car to hold them off." Matt Crafton was third, Hornish fourth and rookie Alex Bowman fifth in a Toyota. Dillon shaved two points off Hornishs series lead and trails by just 15 with six races remaining. Getting closer to Blaney was out of the question for Dillon and just about anyone in contention. Hornish gave it a shot late in the race before that late wiggle left him settling for his 21st top-five finish of the season. Dillon had hope on several restarts, only to let the son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney quickly snatch it away on several late restarts. The final one typified the futility: Blaney blasted out on lap 191 to open up a three car-length lead and didnt look back. "He did everything right," Dillon said of Blaneys restarts. "He did everything he could to hold me off and the car was better once he got out front for sure. I felt like if we couldve got out front we could hold him off for eight laps, but disappointed that we couldnt quite clear him." Hornish led 65 laps after starting on the pole, while Dillon led 32. Beating the Noo.dddddddddddd 22 has been tough for everybody this season. Three other drivers have reached victory lane in it this season, including Keselowski, whos racing in this weekends Cup series race in Loudon, N.H. Blaney, who won a Trucks race in Iowa last year, became the fourth in just his 15th start. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins kept him calm and focused over the radio, and the only direction he ever really needed was to victory lane after taking the checkered flag. The points race meanwhile saw little change. Hornish entered Saturday looking to widen his edge on Dillon, who came into the series final stand-alone race seeking his third Nationwide victory in four Kentucky starts. He helped his prospects Saturday afternoon by clocking 179.235 mph to claim his third pole this season and leading Penskes front-row sweep with Blaney (178.159) taking the outside spot. Dillon was close by in the third spot with a run of 178.042 mph in his Chevy. With Cup regulars racing this weekend in New Hampshire, 41 drivers had the track to themselves, and Nationwide contenders did their best to exploit the freedom. Hornish and Dillon in particular looked forward to racing all-out here, with the points leader especially eager to follow up Junes ninth-place run. After the start was delayed briefly to allow track dryers to blow away some weepers, Hornish went about proving how good his Mustang was. He led the first 65 laps before his teammate won the race off pit road during the third caution and led on the restart. Dillon was second and needed only a lap to move in front -- on lap 68 -- and add another chapter to his impressive Kentucky resume. He led the next 32 laps before Blaney took the first of two leads to establish himself as the best driver in the best car. "Im a pretty lucky guy and privileged to have the drivers we have," Bullins said. "I dont think we have any slouches, so I dont have any complaints about my driver lineup. Ive got it pretty good. Tonight was another example of that. "We brought a good car, and we got somebody driving that knows what to do with it and was able to get the job done." 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