Bad Play Calls, Injured Defense, Lousy Special Teams and Blind Refs = Steelers Loss

           Another agonizing Pittsburgh Steelers game to watch. The Steelers managed to snatch defeat from victory in a 22-17 loss to the New York Jets. With an opportunity to put some distance between them and the Baltimore Ravens and a shot at home field for the NFL playoffs, the Steelers managed to come up short.

         The Jets were coming off a couple of losses where quarterback, Mark Sanchez had less than stellar performances. He was plagued by interceptions and the offense had trouble scoring points. The Steelers defense had been carrying the team waiting for the offense to get on track. So, what went wrong?

         Tragedy struck before the game when super safety, Troy Polamalu could not start because of an injury. Although the Jets had never won at Heinz Field, The Steelers record without Polamalu favored the New York team. If that wasn't bad enough, the Steelers go-to tight end, Heath Miller would have to sit out another week after suffering a concussion in the Ravens game.

         Then the game! Pittsburgh's special teams fell asleep during the opening kickoff and the Steelers started 7 points in the hole. As the game progressed, the referees became blind and decided not to flag some interference and holding calls on the Jets defense. On a crucial drive, that would have put the Steelers ahead, the refs missed a defensive holding call by the Jets against, Steelers wide receiver, Emmanual Sanders.

         The Pittsburgh offense put up good numbers and the score was tied three times then the Steelers had the lead 17-10 in the 3rd quarter. Rashard Mendenhall had 100 yards rushing and Ben Roethlisberger threw for 264. So, how did they lose? Well  the the Steelers defense had trouble getting off the field on 3rd down. An unnecessary roughness penalty by Ryan Clark which put the Jets on the Steelers 17. Now the Pittsburgh defense fell asleep and let Sanchez run a naked bootleg to the left and scored untouched. Game tied 17-17.

          The Jets started the 4th quarter running on the Steelers which produced  a field goal. With less than 3 minutes left, the Steelers needed 3 points to tie the game and send it into overtime. But they were pinned at their own 3 yard line after a punt destined for the end zone was batted back by the Jets. Now they would have a long way to go to keep their hopes alive.

          Here's where the brain-dead, bone-head bad play call came from the sidelines. Mewelde Moore took the hand off from Ben in the shotgun deep in the end zone and barley made it to the goal line. The result, a safety which gave the Jets 2 points, a 5 point lead and the ball back with 2:40 left on the clock. Now the Steelers would need a touchdown instead of a field goal. The Steelers defense held and gave the ball back to Ben with 2:08 left. I couldn't believe that they still had a chance to pull it out.

          Roethlisberger wa like a surgeon slicing the Jets defense with passes and running to keep the drive going. With 29 seconds left, he threw deep to Sanders and if the Jets defender wouldn't have grabbed his jersey, he would have scored the winning touchdown. But, the refs didn't throw the flag. On 3rd and ten, with 2 seconds to go, Ben threw an incomplete pass as time ran out.

          It was an exciting game to watch, but you felt empty and drained when it was over. I hope the Steelers have a better outcome when they play the Carolina Panthers on Thursday. It's not known whether Polamalu will play or not.

Steelers Win Ugly In OT - Ravens Next!

     I've been trying to let the memory of the Steelers game Sunday fade into oblivion. I know they got the win, but if not for a dropped perfect pass in the end zone in overtime, it could have easily been a loss. It's amazing how the Pittsburgh Steelers can have 426 yards of offense and only score 19 points.

     With that kind of offense they should have gotten at least 30. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 151 yards, Hines Ward had 107 receiving yards and Big Ben Roethlisberger threw for 246. Besides that, they held the ball for 45 minutes to the Buffalo Bills 27. So, how did they just barely win 19-16 in OT?

     Well, the penalty bug bit them again. The Steelers were penalized for the 2nd week in a row for over 100 yards. I'm not saying that the Refs and the League have it in for the Steelers, but they might. Besides the penalties, Ben was sacked a few times and suffered an ankle sprain, while Mendenhal's fumble almost cost them the game. There were also some dropped passes, especially the one by Emmanuel Sanders that would have resulted in a long gain.

     If they can play like the did against the Bills, but without the mistakes, they can beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. If they want to reclaim the AFC North crown, they'll have to have their heads in the game against Ray Lewis and company. Troy Polamolu's interception late saved the victory for the Steelers. Let's hope they don't need any late game heroics when they play the Ravens.

The Steelers Need To Take The Tigers By The Tail

Search Amazon.com for Steelers The (5-2) Pittsburgh Steelers need a win over the (2-5) Cincinnati Bengals to keep pace with the (6-2) division leading Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers are 2-1 since the return of quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger and Monday night will be a test of two AFC North rivals.

Ben's return has accelerated the Steelers' passing game and with the emergence of WR Mike Wallace and the acquisition of former Steeler wideout, Antwaan Randel El, Pittsburgh is set to make some big plays. Key players to watch are Hines Ward, Heath Miller and Troy Polamalu.

Beside a potent offense, the Steelers have one of the top defenses in the League. Lawrence Timmons has emerged as as star at linebacker. With James Harrison and James Farrior they may best the most formidable linebacking group in the NFL.

The Bengals are hungry for a win, especially in their division. They'll have to solve the Steelers 'D" and slow down Pittsburgh's Rashard Mendenhall to get a 'W'. The Bengals are coming off a 22-14 loss to the Miami Dolphins and with Chad Ochcinco and T O, the Bengals are looking for an upset. Steelers if you take these cats for pets, they just might bite you.

The Steelers Can Run And Win!

The running game came alive in the Steelers 38-28 victory over the Chargers. Steelers running back, Rashard Mendenhall had been benched a week ago for not having his head in the playbook. Apparently, this week he must have put his whole body into it because his performance was key to the Steelers second win of the season.

When the Steelers lost to the Bengals last week, Willie Parker approached 100 yards rushing with a 93 yard effort. He also suffered an injury to his toe that sidelined him for the Chargers game. So, Mendenhall was given a chance to redeem himself and stay out of coach Tomlin's doghouse if he could show some improvement when San Diego came to town.

Well, he not only got the message, he sent one to the coaches, the Steelers fans and the league when he ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers. He was like a man on a mission. He showed moves that we hadn't seen since he was in college. He ran with power and confidence, slashing his way through the Chargers defense. Let's hope his performance was not a flash in the pan.

A lot of the credit for his success should go to the Steelers offensive line. They created holes with the kind of blocking Steelers fans had been used to seeing in the past. Along with Mendenhall's determination, they were almost unstoppable. With the help of the offensive line, Rashard was able to get 5.7 yards a carry.

Besides the offense supplied by Mendenhall, Roethlisberger passed for 333 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Running back, Mewelde Moore added to the total with a 6 yard TD pass to Heath Miller. The Steelers racked up 497 yards of offense to the Chargers 251.
For the first time this year they were able to score in the fourth quarter with 10 points.

The score was closer than it should've been because of poor special teams play by the Steelers and two late drives by Phillip Rivers and the Chargers offense. Aided by a stolen ball from Steelers punt returner, Stephan Logan that resulted in a touchdown and a muffed on-side kick, the Chargers scored 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Despite the absence of Troy Polamalu, the Steelers defense was able to limit the Chargers to just 251 yards total offense and recorded 3 sacks. They still missed him on blitzes and pass coverage, but managed to shut out the Chargers in the first half. The Steelers play Detroit and Cleveland before they play the red-hot Vikings and Broncos. We can only hope Polamalu returns before then.