Good-It really is difficult to find any good in a loss to a team that has a losing record. I'll try. I guess you can say that the Good is the fact that Cleveland and Baltimore also lost yesterday, thus keeping the Steelers playoff hopes alive. Cincy won and the Steelers still have to face them twice in the next month. What's not so good is that every time the Steelers have a chance to take matters into their own hands, the drop it, much like our receivers sometimes do. One silver lining in this playbook is the continued excellence of RB Le'Veon Bell. Bell rushed 21 times for 95 yards and 1 touchdown yesterday. He also caught 8 passes for 159 yards. I must admit, I thought Bell would be the second coming of Rashard Mendenhall when the Steelers drafted him. I will gladly say that I'm wrong. WR Antonio Brown also continues to impress, snagging 8 passes for 97 yards and 2 TDs. Too bad the scores were in garbage time.
Bad-We knew that the defense would be bad this year as they're still trying to find their way. Surrendering 5 touchdown passes to Saints QB Drew Brees is not the way. But what was truly bad yesterday was the play of QB Ben Roethlisberger. Ben can be maddeningly inconsistent. Yesterday he was consistent, consistently bad. Ben-apologists may point out that his throwing hand/wrist was injured early in the game on a hit. If you're hurt, go get treatment and let the backup play. At least he's 100%. Ben was 32 of 58 for 435 yards, 2 touchdowns (see garbage time above), 2 interceptions and a putrid 76.4 passer rating. Those 2 picks led to 2 Brees' TDs. Ben was lucky he was only intercepted twice as he kept flirting with disaster for most of the afternoon. With the defense continuing to allow opponents to carve them up like a Thanksgiving turkey, the Steelers needed Ben to pull their fat out of the fire and put the ball in his playmakers hands. Too often yesterday, he did not. Until it was too little, too late.
Ugly-The Ugly part is that Coach Mike Tomlin will again not address the elephant in the room at his pressers. The fact is this team cannot and will not defeat inferior opponents. The truth of the matter is that the Steelers are no longer an elite team. They belong in the same conversation with those "inferior opponents". This team is just not that good. They're not coached well and they don't play well. Until they read the writing on the wall, they'll continue to drive Mrs. Black-N-Gold and her fellow towel-waving friends to drink. Alot.
A look at the standings in the AFC North show Cincy on top at 8-3-1. Everyone else is lumped together at 7-5. Believe it or not, the Steelers can still make hay. They play at Cincy next week, a perfect opportunity to find the win column again. As Mrs. Black-N-Gold likes to say, "You gotta want it, to win it". Let's Go Steelers!!!!!!
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