THE 50-YARD LINE

     Our Pittsburgh Steelers are thankful for a Thanksgiving night win over the Indy Colts 28-7. Now that Mrs. Black-N-Gold's holiday weekend has calmed down and she's sobered up and awakened from her food coma, it's time to take a look at The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from the Steelers victory. See if you and your fellow friends in Black-N-Gold Nation agree.

GOOD

There was a lot to like in this convincing win. Like Thanksgiving dinner, there was lots and lots of good stuff. For instance, the defense continued to point the arrow up with 3 sacks and 2 interceptions. Both of the picks came from members of the much-maligned secondary, S Mike Mitchell and CB William Gay. Mitchell feasted on the Colts offense for much of the evening, delivering some of the hardest hits of the night. The D also held RB Frank Gore to just 28 yards on 15 carriers. And who could forget the goal line stands on back-to-back series? Yes, the defense looked like the Steelers D of old. But don't get too excited. Remember, the defense was dominate against an 0-11 Cleveland Clowns team and an Indy Colts team sans QB Andrew Luck. But this performance gave the Steelers consecutive wins on the road against teams that were .500 or worse. That's something we haven't seen in these parts in a long, long time. 

Let us not forget the offense. They looked pretty good, too. QB Ben Roethlisberger connected with WR Antonio Brown for 3 touchdowns. That was the first 3 TD game for AB in his career. And Le'Veon Bell carried the ball 23 times for 120 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line also kept Ben clean for another week. Plus, there were no turnovers. It doesn't get much better than this. 

BAD

It's a shame the special teams unit didn't get in on the action. They allowed a 35 yard reception on a punt fake that led to Indy's only score of the game. They also continue to give up huge chunks of yardage on returns, losing the field-position battle. If this keeps up, (not so) special teams coach Danny Smith may want to consider updating his resume (Mrs. Black-N-Gold is available for the gig). 

UGLY

Two things looked particularly ugly to Mrs. Black-N-Gold. First, was the fact that the defense allowed the Indy offense to march down the field on them not once but twice. Thus the goal line stands. They would never have been in the position to defend the goal line had they not given up big chunks of yardage and failed to get off the field on crucial 3rd and 4th down situations. 

Secondly, the touchdown celebration by AB and LBell led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that contributed to Indy's TD. You're excited. We get that. But you don't see your teammates running around, acting the fool and getting flagged for it. 

Both of these points may be Mrs. Black-N-Gold just nitpicking but they are points that need to be recognized and addressed by the coaching staff. It's details such as these that can make or break you come playoff time. 

Now our Steelers stand alone atop the AFC North with a 6-5 record. They'll have a week to rest their weary bones as they get ready to battle the New York Giants at Heinz Field next Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, the rest of the division plays today. The 5-5 Baltimorons travel to Cincy to face the 3-6-1 Bungles. And the 0-11 Clowns will face the aforementioned Giants. The Giants are no slouches at 7-3 so be ready. Let's Go Steelers!!!!!!