THE 50-YARD LINE

     Someone once said "You can't win them all". Mrs. Black-N-Gold knows this is true, but for goodness sakes, can we please win when we play the Baltimorons? Mrs. Black-N-Gold has had time to simmer down and sober up so it's now time to take a look at The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from Thursday night's 23-20 Steelers loss.

GOOD

There were some good points in this disappointing overtime loss. The defense sacked Baltimorons QB Joe Flacco 5 times. CB Ross Cockrell, a waiver-wire pick up when the season started, nabbed an interception and recovered LB Lawrence Timmons forced fumble. Good to see the D stepping up. Unfortunately, they weren't able to do so the entire game. There were 2 players that did stand out to Mrs. Black-N-Gold, one on each side of the ball. ILB Sean Spence looked good, helping out in place of injured LB Ryan Shazier. Spence finished with 8 total tackles, 5 solo, 1 sack and 2 TFLs. Considering the horrendous knee injury this kid has had to overcome, it's a miracle he's able to play the game at all. Good to see him doing well and contributing to the defense. On the offensive side of the ball, it's nice to see WR Darrius Heyward-Bey help keep WR Martavis Bryant's spot warm. Heyward-Bey has looked like a bust for years, including last season in Pittsburgh. He turned in numbers of 4 catches for 31 yards on Thursday. Not spectacular but he did score a touchdown. We'll see if DHB continues to find the field when Bryant returns.

BAD

Things are pretty bad when you carry a 20-7 lead over your division rivals into the 3rd quarter and let them score 16 unanswered points on their way to a win in OT on your home turf. The offense couldn't come up with a first down to run out the clock and the defense couldn't come up with a stop. Back to the drawing board.

UGLY

Mrs. Black-N-Gold has two words for ya. Josh. Scobee. It's a head-scratcher why the Steelers ever traded for this much-maligned kicker. When K Shaun Suisham went down in the preseason, the Steelers held a tryout at Heinz Field. Those in attendance were Alex Henery, Jay Feely, and Garrett Hartley. Hartley won the job then proceeded to suffer a season-ending-injury in the preseason himself. What did the Steelers do? They went out and wasted valuable cap space and a draft pick on Scobee. Scooby-Doo could kick better than this guy has. Seriously, why didn't the Steelers sign Henery or Feely? Where they that bad in the tryout? Could they be any worse than this former Jagoff has been? Don't get Mrs. Black-N-Gold wrong. Everyone has an off day. But clearly, he's not working out. You especially need a good kicker to help pick up some of the offensive slack with QB Ben Roethlisberger out. Even Mrs. Black-N-Gold is willing to tryout.

The Steelers still find themselves in second place in the AFC North at 2-2. Cincy continues to lead the pack at 3-0. The Clowns are next with a 1-2 mark. The Baltimorons get their first win as they sit in the basement at 1-3. The Steelers have a whole 1 1/2 weeks to prepare for their next game, Monday, October 12 at San Diego on Monday Night Football. San Diego is off to a 1-2 start so maybe this can be a good matchup for the Michael Vick-led Steelers. Goodness knows, it can't get much worse. Can it? Let's Go Steelers!!!!!!