1)The Good-There was a lot of good in a win like this. The Steelers, finally, scored a touchdown (and then some), to end an eight quarter drought. The had 2 100-yard rushers, RBs Le'Veon Bell rushed 21 times for 147 yards and LaGarrette Blount ran 10 for 118 and a touchdown. The offense did not turn the ball over. WR Antonio Brown caught 10 passes for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns. QB Ben Roethlisberger was an efficient 22 of 30 for 196 yards, 2 touchdowns and a 112.6 passer rating. It wasn't all offense, though. No, this game was a complete, 60-minute team effort. The Steelers recorded their first turnovers of the season. One was a fumble by S Shamarko Thomas on a muffed punt that DB Robert Golden recovered in the endzone for a score. The other was a defensive fumble. Yes, you read that right. The defense forced a turnover. And that's not all. They also recorded 3 sacks, 3 TFLs and held Carolina to 4 of 12 on 3rd downs. It's all good.
2)The Bad-Until you get to the bad, that is. Sorry to be a downer but there is some rain for this parade. Again the Steelers racked up ridiculous penalty after ridiculous penalty for a total of 11 for 91 yards. The worst being a personal foul penalty by G David DeCastro that forced a 3rd and 21 in the waning seconds of the first half when the Steelers were clinging to a 6-3 lead. Luckily, Ben was able to get the Steelers back in field goal range and set up a 45-yarder by K Shaun Suisham that put the Steelers up 9-3 at the half. The Steelers did seem to settle down, penalty-wise in the second half. Let's hope that trend continues.
3)The Ugly-Nothing could be fina than a win over Carolina. Unfortunately, nothing could be uglier than losing 3 defensive starters for significant amounts of time, either. Just when it looks like the D may be finding their way, CB Ike Tayler, OLB Jarvis Jones and ILB Ryan Shazier all left the game with injuries and could be gone for a while, if they don't land on IR. Jones' injury is so serious there are even rumblings of the Steelers bringing back the recently retired James Harrison. These injuries will test the team's depth, or lack thereof.
It's up to the healthy Steelers to get ready for a visit from the Bucs. No, not the Pittsburgh Pirates, their northshore neighbors. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town on Sunday for a 1pm kickoff. Tampa Bay is still searching for the first win of the season. Beware a trap game! Meanwhile, the Steelers aren't in bad shape, standings-wise. The Bungles lead the AFC North with a 3-0 record. The Steelers and Batlimorons are in a tie at 2-1. Of course, the Cleveland Clowns are in the basement at 1-2. Get healthy, get ready. Let's Go Steelers!!!!!!
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