Simply Joey

One man's trash is another man's treasure. This is the case with the Pittsburgh Steelers letting go of Mr. Joey Porter two years ago. The Steelers are known for letting players go before their tank is empty, especially with linebackers. Jason Gildon and Greg Lloyd sound familiar. If those Steeler greats were let go then Joey Porter's early dismissal in Terrible Towel Town was just a matter of time.

Pittsburgh was right and wrong. They would be just fine without Joey, but they were wrong in letting him go because his skills were diminishing. In fact, Joey is at his peak now. He leads the NFL in sacks with 12. Porter also leads the league in mental infiltrations, also known as getting in people's heads. Victims this year include, Matt Cassell, Brandon Marshall, and Matt Jones. All have fielding verbal bullets from Porter that have all inevitably gotten into their heads.

You would think that with the Tuna in town all this tough talk from Joey wouldn't fly, but Coach Parcells is about results. Joey is doing just that and is in fact on pace to break the sack record of 22.5 set by Michael Strahan in 2001. Alot of Joey's resurgence has been the loss of Jason Taylor. Taylor's departure allowed Porter to move to the weakside linebacker spot allowing him to avoid Tight End's helping block on passing downs.

The Dolphins are 5-4 and making a huge playoff push. They play the lowly Oakland Raiders who are two games away from being kicked out of the NFL and being picked up on a 10 day contract with the CFL. The Raiders have given up 27 sacks in nine games. Can anyone say hat trick for Mr. Porter? I can.

Peace,

Ricky Writer