STEELERS (7-7) 37
PACKERS (9-5) 36
ROETHLISBERGER 29-46, 503 YARDS, 3 TD
MENDENHALL 11 CARRIES, 38 YARDS, 1 TD
WARD 7 CATCHES, 126 YARDS
I should probably be more excited after one of the most incredible finishes in Steeler history, one that was eerily reminiscent of a certain Super Bowl-winning drive earlier this year. But when you mentally prepare for the worst, sometimes you don't know how to react when things actually pan out. I expect this is how I'll feel when the Pirates finish 82-80 in 2029.
There were so many bad points to Sunday's game, it was almost easy to overlook the most prolific day that a Steeler quarterback has ever had. The Steeler defense was so horrible that Mike Tomlin called for an onside kick late in the fourth quarter - a move that had all the characteristics of a Belichickian-like media feeding frenzy of second-guessing in the wake of the team's pending sixth consecutive loss. Media chastiser Ryan Clark made himself look foolish as his unit gave up a predictable 22 points in the fourth quarter. It was all setting up to be the final nail in the Steelers' 2009 coffin.
And then a funny thing happened. In some weird, wacky way, Tomlin's plan actually worked. In the final two minutes of regulation, Ben Roethlisberger reminded people that he's one of the best quarterbacks in all of football en route to yet another fourth quarter victory on his lengthy resume. His surgeon-like precision on the game-winner to rookie Mike Wallace was an exclamation point on a jaw-dropping 503-yard, three-touchdown output against the league's third-ranked defense. It was a performance that stands out on his already-outstanding career highlight reel, and it used every second of the time Tomlin thought the offense would need to answer the Packers' inevitable score, in the event that the Steelers would not recover the kick.
But after all the excitement and offensive fireworks are over, all this adds up to a state of confusion for Steeler fans going into the final two weeks of the season. Do we ignore this team's numerous, obvious flaws and kid ourselves into believing this is a championship squad? Where should our expectations be? Should I continue to dissect the minutiae of a .500 football team when I still have so much Christmas shopping to do?
As you can see, it's easy to get sidetracked. But realistically speaking, this is an average football team this year. They're not good enough to be great, yet not bad enough to be horrible. Many of their games could've gone either way - they've only beaten a team by more than 10 points twice (Denver, Cleveland), and their losses have been by 3, 3, 6, 3, 3, 3, and 7, with two of those coming in overtime. There are no blowouts to speak of. They've beaten good teams (Minnesota, San Diego, Denver) and lost to bad teams (KC, Cleveland, Oakland). They're all over the map.
Long story short, the expectations in Week 16 should be to have no expectations, because literally anything can happen. Unless you can explain how an offensive racks up 537 yards against the Packers and struggles to generate points against the Browns a week before.
Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Take it week by week, quarter by quarter. Don't get too high or too low. Remember, as we saw at this end of this college football season, the margin between jubilation and depression can be as slim as a missed extra point.
Some bullet points:
1. That was possibly the worst defensive performance I've seen by a Steeler team in my lifetime. Missed tackles, dropped interceptions, long drives - it was the season in a nutshell. I've never witnessed a secondary that featured so many guys I would replace in a heartbeat, given the chance. And in the irony of ironies, Ike Taylor, who's made a name for himself over the years by dropping balls, actually grabs the onside kick...before it's gone 10 yards.
2. We can beat up on Limas Sweed and the decision to draft Limas Sweed all we want, but the Steelers more than atoned for that by stealing Mike Wallace this year. Wallace had two catches on Sunday - a 60-yard touchdown to kick off the scoring, and a 19-yard touchdown to end it. Great teams always need big plays, and if the Steelers will be great again soon, I can assure you that Mike Wallace will play a significant role in their resurgence.
3. The Fox broadcasters amused me by acting like Mike Tomlin won't be second-guessed in the wake of his decision to onside kick. This is a city that analyzes each and every play in a game like a biologist staring at a petri dish. It will be the water cooler conversation du jour in the Steel City on Monday. I'm not so sure I would've done it, but I understand Tomlin's decision.
Say what you want about the Belichick fourth down call a few weeks ago, but I've seen several examples of pro and coaches acting like gamblers playing with house money since then. Even when things go wrong, Belichick manages to start a trend in the copycat world of football.
4. It looks like this will again be a costly victory for the Black and Gold (and really, shouldn't it be "Black and Yellow"? I mean, Pitt's uniform is gold. The Steelers' is yellow. I'm just saying...)
Anyway, long snapper Greg Warren looks like he tore his ACL on the game-ending PAT, so that probably puts him on IR and forces the Steelers to bring someone in this week. Also, Hines Ward re-injured his hamstring on Sunday, so he may be up in the air for next week's game against Baltimore. The battle of attrition continues.
5. That being said, Ward had a fantastic game, with seven catches and 126 yards on Sunday. Heath Miller made up for some of his recent gaffes with a career day, to the tune of seven catches and 118 yards. Santonio Holmes turned in a 77-yard performance, and Rashard Mendenhall added 73 yards receiving. The pass catchers should have no gripes about getting the ball this week. When the quarterback has a career day, someone's gotta be on the receiving end, and Big Ben had five beneficiaries with at least 70 yards receiving on the day.
6. All this Roethlisberger excitement should result in the usual bushel of comments and emails telling me I go overboard in my praise of the QB. But as intelligent as Steeler fans are, why do some of them consider it borderline-uncool to enjoy the play of an elite signal-caller? Are there fans who treat Peyton Manning as anything less than a saint in Indianapolis? Is Tom Brady constantly under the gun from Patriot fans? Heck, even Drew Brees gets almost universal praise even outside his city limits, and the guy's only won one playoff game in his life. I just don't understand why some Steeler fans have still never come around on #7, nor do I understand why I have to make arguments on his behalf of his accomplishments. I assume that if you're not with him now, you'll probably never be a fan.
A certain faction of Steeler Nation conveniently chalks up Roethlisberger's success to having a good defense, and that certainly makes an enormous difference in a player's W-L record. But consider that the Steelers constantly had high-end defenses during the Cowher Era and won a grand total of zero Super Bowl titles until Roethlisberger fell into their lap. But I guess the play of Kordell Stewart, Neil O'Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Tommy Maddox, etc., had nothing to do with the team's failure to get over the top? Sorry, I can't buy that. Criticize him all you want, but I'll bet the fans of about 30 other cities would take the two Lombardi Trophies that he's helped get us.
7. Jeff Reed had a big day on Sunday, with three field goals and the crucial extra point. But can someone explain to me that pop-up kickoff that landed around the 35 yard line?
8. Not a great day for the Steeler running game, which had only 19 attempts (in contrast to the 46 passes). The Packers weren't running either, with 12 runs and 48 passes. Quite a sight to see Dick LeBeau and Dom Capers' vaunted 3-4 defenses getting shredded to the tune of 436 and 537 yards, respectively.
9. What bothers me the most about this year's defense is that in addition to rolling over repeatedly in the fourth quarter, they make absolutely no "plays" anymore. Interceptions, fumbles, sacks, touchdowns - it's almost become absurd to even expect something of that ilk from this group. I realize the void that Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith leave, but they still have the Defensive MVP, as well as a number of players who were at least ranked in the upper halves at their position coming into the year.
10. So here's what's left ahead for the defending champs: two Sunday/1 PM starts, hosting Baltimore next Sunday and traveling to Miami on January 3.
To make the playoffs, the Steelers must first win their remaining games. Then, the Jets (7-7) and Jaguars (7-7) must lose or tie at least once. Also, the Broncos (8-6) must lose at least once, or the Ravens (8-6) must lose in Week 17 at Oakland. There are literally six teams with 7-7 records in the AFC alone. Who said parity was dead?
Remaining schedules:
Jets at Colts, Bengals at Jets
Jaguars at Patriots, Jaguars at Browns
Broncos at Eagles, Chiefs at Broncos
Ravens at Steelers, Ravens at Raiders
Texans at Dolphins, Steelers at Dolphins
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