Steelers/Pats Week 14 Game Recap

THE FINAL HURDLE?
New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.
12/09/07
7:30pm EST

If the Steelers were the NFL’s best remaining chance to stifle New England’s run at a perfect season, the feat now appears to be more realistically within reach for the Pats. How did the league’s best offensive match up to the league’s best defense? Here’s a drive-by-drive recap:

1st Quarter:

Steelers strike, driving the most successful first-possession of any team in the league this year versus the Patriots... 26-yard FG... 3-0, Steelers

Pats' transition game proves itself, again, as league best, countering with an opening-drive score of their own, Moss' 18th of the season... 7-3, Pats

Steelers 2nd possession: Sack (loss of 9); On the ground, sets up 3rd and 16... Davenport, the Steelers' 3rd-down back, back this week. End of First. 7-3, Pats

2nd Quarter:

Pittsburgh's offense falls victim to a New England defensive stop. Ensuing punt, and subsequent 5-yard penalty to the Steelers, lands Pats' offense at their own 36.
7-3, Pats

Immediate Pats touchdown pass, 63 yards, Brady to Moss, their 2nd in 2 minutes.. What's the secondary doing? 10-second scoring drive. 14-3, Pats

Pittsburgh returns punt to the 22. Wille Parker gains 30 yards on the ground, 4 more in the air. 32-yard lollipop touchdown pass to Davenport. 5-play, 77-yard drive. 14-10, Pats

Pats return to their own 26... Thre-and-out. 14-10, Pats.

Ensuing punt is recovered by Pats' special teams. Possession to New England with great field position on Pittsburgh's 34... Five of Pittsburgh's last 6 ofensive possessions have resulted in a turnover. Pats' offense goes three-and-out. 48-yard field goal is wide to the right.
14-10, Pats.

Pittsburgh takeover possession at their own 38. Pittsburgh converts 4th-and-inches, Davenport delivering 2 yards (on the ground yet in the air) to get to midfield. Immediate false start penalty by Pittsburgh's offense, promptly followed by a Pittsburgh holding call. Rothleisberger scrambles to within 1 yard of a first down. Timeout Pittsburgh. 4th-and-inches attempt converted for the second time on drive...in the air, up the middle to the 36 yardline. Timeout Pittsburgh. 44-yard field goal attempt is converted by Jeff Reed. 14-13 Pats.

New England bobbles the kick, stranding themselves inside their own 20. Drive to the 37 by the 2-minute warning. Brady to Moss for substantial gain over midfield, followed by a 32-yard pass to Gaffney. Yardage gained is partially negated by a 10-yard penalty by the Pats' offense.
42-yard field goal attempt is converted by Gostkowski. 17-13, Pats. End of the first half.

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3rd Quarter:

Pittsburgh return to the 29 but go three-and-out. 44-yard punt.

Pats' ball on their own 11 yardline. Brady thows 21 yards to Moss, followed by a 9-yard pass to Stallworth. Jabbar Gaffney left wide open in the end zone, catching Brady's 56-yard touchdown pass. Extra point converted. 24-13, Pats.

Rossum runs ball back for a substantial Pittsburgh gain, only to be offset by a Pittsburgh penalty. Pittsburgh then goes three-and-out. Seventh consecutive Pittsburgh failure at a 3rd-down conversion. 24-13, Pats.

Pats recover with good field position. 15th-straight completion drives the Pats into fieldgoal range. Pats attempt fourth-and-one conversion; Pats convert, in the air, to Welker. Inside the Red Zone. Pittsburgh commit a holding penalty, half the distance to the goal, First-and-goal, Pats. Injury Timeout, Pittsburgh. Brady throws, complete, to Welker for a touchdown. The pass is Brady's 45th of the season for Brady, taking him over 4,000 passing yards. Extra point is converted. 31-13, Pats.

Short kick is recovered by the Steelers on their own 43. Parker drives the Pittsburgh offense to well within fieldgoal range, ending the 3rd quarter. 31-13, Pats.

4th Quarter:

Steelers attempt a Fourth-and-goal, Hines Ward stiffled by the Pats' defense just short of the goal line. 31-13, Pats.

Pats obtain possession on their own one. Let's see if Pittsburgh's defense really is the best in the league. Brady completes 5 consecutive passes to Welker for 64 yards. Time out, Pats. In the red zone, Moss can't handle Brady's bullet into the end zone. Pats settle for a 28-yard field goal. 34-13, Pats.

Steelers return kickoff to their own 22. Ward recieves for 13 yards on third and 10 for a first down. Parker catches for a first down, then runs for another first down on next play. Time out, Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh fails to execute, losing their possession on downs. 34-13, Pats

Pats recover on downs at their own 20 as the crowd directs a chant of "MVP!" to Tom Brady. Pats' go three-and-out, however. 34-13, Pats

Kick off and 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty sees the Steelers recover with good field position, but they run out of clock.
New England wins their 13th straight game, 34-13. It appears as if great offense beats great defense…Certainly when we’re talking about the 2007 Patriots.

Lenses

Lenses:


WIDE ANGLE LENSES

(ie 35mm, 28mm, 24mm and wider) Apart from "getting more in a picture" than a "standard" lens, appear to emphasize/exaggerate any subject in the foreground, making the background appear smaller and more distant. The shorter the focal length the greater the effect.

TELEPOHTO LENSES

(ie 85mm, 135mm, 200mm, 400mm) Have a narrower angle of view than "standard" lenses, enabling a close-up to be taken of more distant objects. They also appear to "pull the background", giving the impression of compressing the distance between a subject and the background. The longer the focal length, the greater the effect. Head and shoulder portraits are often taken with lenses in the 85 to 135 mm range.

ZOOM LENSES

Enable the user to alter the focal length of the lens, the angle of view for the close-ups, to isolate a subject, or to improve composition. These lenses are generally "slower" than prime (fixed focal length) lenses, often having a maximum aperture of f4.

With many zoom lenses the "effective" aperture changes as the focal length increases. F8 at the wide-angle end becomes F11 at the telephoto end due to the lens extension; through the aperture setting on the lens barrel does not change. There is no problem with continuous light as the exposure meter will take this into account and still indicate when your aperture/shutter speed settings will give correct exposure. When photographing by electronic flash this change in effective aperture may need to be taken into account to avoid the possibility of under exposure. Zoom lenses set at F8, but on telephoto setting giving an effective aperture of F11, use flash at an F11 setting.

MACRO LENSES

Usually made of two focal lengths, 50 mm(standard) and 100mm. They are especially designed to be used for extreme close-ups, but can also be used of "general photography".

TELECONVERTERS

Are "supplementary lenses" used between the camera and a "normal" lens. They effectively double the focal length of a lens. (ie: a 135mm lens becomes a 270mm lens).


SUPPLEMENTARY CLOSE UP LENSES

Are available in +1, +2, +3 and +4 dioptres (just like close up reading glasses) and can be screwed into the filter thread on the front of ht lens, enabling it to be focused at a much closer distance than normally possible. These supplementary lenses tend to make the field of view slightly wider than normal.

CATADIOPTRIC LENS

Uses mirrors and elements to fold the light path to fit long focal lenses into short barrels. They are often referred to as "Mirror Lenses" and usually have a fixed aperture (often F5.6, F8 or F11). Out of focus highlights are reproduced as small circles or "donuts".

PERSPECTIVE CONTROL LENSES

Have a movable front element and are often used in architectural photography. Tall buildings can be photographed from ground level without distortion or the need to tilt the camera upwards.

DEPTH OF FIELD

The aperture and the distance at which a lens is focused determine the depth of field (area in sharp focus) in a picture. This has one third in front and two thirds behind the point at which the lens is focused. The wider the angle (the shorter the focal length) of a lens, the greater the depth of field (ie. 28mm greater than 50mm). The depth of field changes as the camera to subject distance is altered. The closer the lens is to the subject, the shallower the depth of field becomes. Depth of field increases as any lens is stopped down, from F4 ti F8, F16, F22 etc, through the long telephoto lenses have very shallow area in sharp focus, even at F22. The whole scene, from foreground to infinity, can often be rendered sharply by using a small aperture (F16 etc), or a large aperture can be used to selectively focus on a subject, isolating it from a blurred background, especially with longer than normal focal length lenses which have a shallow depth of field.