The Good-Mrs. Black-N-Gold is looking through her notes for something good. Looking, looking, looking. The Steelers did manage to sack Jets QB Michael Vick 4 times but more often than not, they were on the losing end of a foot race with the NY backup quarterback. Rookie WR Martavis Bryant finished the day with 4 receptions for 143 yards and a 4th quarter, 80-yard TD reception to make it 20-13. Alas, a failed onside kick made it too little, too late. K Shaun Suisham converted on a career-best 53 yard field goal to end the first half and put the Steelers on the scoreboard, 17-3. Unfortunately, he also shanked a 23-yarder in the 4th quarter that would have made it 20-10. Yes, as is typical in a typical loss such as this to a losing team, the only thing "Good" about it is that it's over.
The Bad-You knew it was going to be a bad day when the Jets ran all over the Steelers on the opening drive. The D was able to hold them to a field goal. Then it went from "Bad" to worse. The Steelers were forced to punt on their first drive. When the Jets go the ball back, they aired it out with Vick hitting WR T.J. Graham for a 67 yard TD to go up 10-0. From there, it continued to get worse. 4 turnovers worth of worse. The offensive line couldn't hold a candle to the way they performed during the 3-game winning streak. The Jets sacked QB Ben Roethlisberger twice, hit him 7 other times, had 7 TFLs and held the Steelers to 36 yards rushing. The defense was no better, letting Vick torch them for 2 TD passes and giving up 150 yards on the ground. Put a the Steelers team picture on the side of a milk carton because they were totally missing this week. Which bring us to......
The Ugly-Time and time again, Mike Tomlin's teams look unfocused, unprepared, or unwilling (maybe it's all three) when playing sub-.500 teams. They continue to lack consistency, falling to teams they're supposed to beat. Wait a minute. Check that. Mrs. Black-N-Gold is wrong. The Steelers are consistent because it seems like they ALWAYS lose to teams with losing records. During the Tomlin-era, the Steelers are 1-8 on the road versus teams that are under-.200. They are also only 8-10 the last three seasons against teams with losing records at that point. This comes on the heals of Tomlin declaring during the week that this game would truly "define" the Steelers. He's right. It certainly did define them. The Steelers will NEVER be a playoff team again until they learn to beat the teams they're supposed to beat. They feel disrespected when they're not mentioned as an elite team? A Super Bowl contender? Get used to it if you continue to lay an egg against sub-par opponents because it is an "Ugly" fact.
And now for some more bad news....Hell is definitely freezing over because the Cleveland (Don't Call Us The Clowns) Browns are in first place in the AFC North. Their win over Cincy on Thursday puts them all alone atop the leader board at 6-3. Cincy's loss puts their 5-3-1 mark in second place. Rounding out the division are the Baltimorons and your Pittsburgh Steelers at 6-4.
And even more bad news.....The Steelers travel to Tennessee for MNF next week against the 2-7 Titans. That's right, another road game against a team with a losing record. You know what that means. Better get back to the drawing board. You get an extra day to prepare. Let's Go Steelers!!!!!!
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