Joey Porter Who??

James Harrison. A former undrafted free agent, NFL Europe player, and NFL special teamer who has been cut in the past by both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, and current Steeler linebacker who earned a fulltime starting position with the departure of Joey Porter in the offseason, proved last night he is more than deserving of being a starting NFL linebacker. Harrison single-handedly tore the shit out of the Baltimore offense last night, racking up 9 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and an interception. On one of the fumbles he forced, Harrison hit Baltimore safety Ed Reed so hard the ball flew 15' in the air before rookie Lawrence Timmons hauled in the recovery. Reed's night of pain wasn't over, as later in the game Hines Ward hit him with an open field block that dropped him like a rock. Even though the play wasn't over yet, Ward turned to the Baltimore sidelines and waved for the trainer almost before Reed hit the ground. Reed left the game shaken up, but would later return.

It wasn't all defense though, as Big Ben tossed 5 TD's...in the first half. It tied the Steelers franchise record for TD's in an entire game. Later in the game, Ben landed awkwardly on his right hip and had to be helped off the field. Ben would later return for several plays to prove he was alright.

During halftime of the game, the Steelers celebrated their 75th Anniversary team with greats like Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, Joe Greene, Mel Blount, and more wearing Steelers throwbacks and being introduced at halftime. Mel Blount, a former Steel Curtain cornerback, called out the Baltimore offense during an interview in the 2nd half. When asked what he thought of it, he didn't sugar coat it, calling Baltimore "embarrassing" and "pathetic" as a professional team.

Perhaps the funniest moment of the night came early in the third quarter when discussing Big Ben's amazing first half stats. Ron Jaworski was apparently impressed, saying to Kornheiser, "Big Ben was stroking it in the first half Tony." This was followed by several seconds of awkward silence before Ron continued, "He even got you excited." Followed by even more silence. I'm not sure what was going on up in that booth, but I'm glad they didn't switch to the in-booth camera.