It Wasn’t Just Charlie that Cost the Game, It was the Whole Batch

It wasn’t just Charlie who blew that game against the lowly Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon, it was the whole Batch of Steelers that did so. In a game that saw the Steelers give the ball away 8 times no one man was responsible for such an embarrassing display of “football”.

In all my years of watching the NFL, I’ve never seen anything like that. The Steelers had four active running backs on their roster on Sunday. Collectively they fumbled the ball 6 times, losing 4, one by each back. Emmanuel Sanders added 2 more fumbles, losing 1, making it 8 fumbles on the day with five lost.  Throw in 3 interceptions by Charlie Batch and you have the recipe for disaster soup.  You’d be hard pressed to find a team that has ever won giving the ball up 8 times. 

Certainly Charlie needed to play better and make smarter decisions but I put a lot of Batch’s play on Todd Haley. When you’re down to your 37 year old third string quarterback you need to understand what his capabilities are, Haley failed to do so.  This expectation that Tomlin puts forth each week has gotten sour and old: “The Standard is the Standard” and “Next man up”.  I’m sorry but Charlie Batch does not meet the standard of Ben Roethlisberger, he just doesn’t.  When you have a guy like Roethlisberger, you can play to his strengths and let him freelance. When you’re down to Charlie Batch you need to scheme more, you need to call more conservative plays and you need to mask his weaknesses. None of this was done.  For some reason Haley called for several deep throws, Batch has an arm like a school girl, what was the logic? Why call for deep outs when he can’t get the ball there?  Ridiculous.  On a weekly basis the team runs a bunch of bubble screens and quick, short throws with Big Ben behind center. Why not run some quick slants and screens with Batch? You’re telling me you trust him to throw it 45 yards but not 5? The game tape shows that line of thinking is nothing short of flawed. 

To add to the horribly schemed game was the puzzling use of all four running backs and the amount of carries they received. I thought for sure that with Charlie Batch at the helm the Steelers would be far more ground oriented. We already knew he had a candy arm so why not ground and pound and open up some passing lanes for him?  The team carried the ball 20 times total between the four backs.  What on earth were they thinking?  To top that off, if a guy fumbled, he was benched. I’ve been stating all season long that the team needed to pick a feature back and stick with him, they haven’t done that and this time it bit them on the rear.  Running backs, like most football players need the repetitions to stay in the flow of the game. You can’t have a guy carry it 4 or 5 times and expect him to get it going. Fumbles are part of the game and it is my inclination that had the rotation of backs not been similar to musical chairs, the fumbles wouldn’t have occurred with the rapidity they did on Sunday. Pick a guy, give him the bulk of the carries and supplement with a few carries to the other backs. That’s what needs to happen moving forward or we’ll see this kind of lackluster performance occur again. No back will do well with 5 carries on a day. This isn’t Pop Warner football, not everyone needs to play. Jonathan Dwyer needs to be the feature back on this team. He’s shown he can do it when given the opportunity but now they need to actually trust his performances were not the exception but rather the rule. If he proves otherwise after a few games, then look at someone else but this in game nonsense is amateur. 

Your grade Todd Haley is an F.

This game also falls very much on Tomlin’s shoulders as well. The team was either unprepared or over confident. How else do you explain such a miserable loss to such a poor team? This is the 5^th loss of the season, 3 of which have come to the Raiders, Titans and Browns. Those teams have a combined record of 10-23, meaning 30% of their combined wins are against Pittsburgh. Unacceptable. A true title contender does not lose games like that to lesser opponents. I don’t care if you’re on the road or not, if you want to get to the Promised Land then you must show up and play the bad teams too. The Steelers are rarely doing that this year. When you have half a season’s worth of turnovers in one game, you’re not prepared or you’re not focused. That starts at the top.  When you have 9 penalties in a game you’re not disciplined. That comes from the top. When you lose to an inferior opponent who you’ve beaten 23 of the last 27 times you faced them, that comes from the top.

Parenthetically speaking; Tomlin needs to be looked at a little closer. Does he really have what it takes to be a championship coach or did he piggy back off of Bill Cowher to get his first championship and second appearance in the Super Bowl? I lean towards the latter. It was mostly Cowher players that won that 2^nd title in 08 and several of them were left in 2010 as well.  They were all experienced vets with a ring at that time and they may not have really needed a good coach to get the job done. Let’s not forget that Barry Switzer won a Super Bowl using Jimmy Johnson’s players. This very well could be a similar situation. 

Your Grade Michael Tomlin is an F!

The lackluster performance certainly didn’t stop with the picks by Batch, the fumbles by the backs, the penalties by the entire team, the poor coaching by the staff or the inability to stop an inferior opponent. We need to bring Mike Wallace into this conversation as well. Wallace caught one ball yesterday despite being targeted 7 times. He was the reason for at least one pick as it bounced off his hands and you may say the other pick, the deep ball, he could have at least come back to break the play up. He’s been a lazy player this year. He probably isn’t happy with his contract and therefore it shows on the field. Where can I sign up to be unhappy with 2.6 million?  C’mon Wallace, if you want to get paid, then you have to play the game the right way. I can guarantee you this, Wallace is no Larry Fitzgerald, so that kind of asking price is off the table with the lackluster season he’s had. I can also guarantee you this, he’s all but played his way out of Pittsburgh. There is no reason for the team to keep him if he’s going to be an afterthought in this offense. When healthy they have Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders to go along with Heath Miller, Wallace is not needed. He no longer brings any indefensible element to the field; so let him go to the highest bidder if he so chooses, he’s costing us games now and he’s not doing much to help us win.

To end this diatribe I sum it up with this; the fact the team was still in the game having 8 turnovers speaks volumes as to just how bad Cleveland is. Whether you want to blame the game plan, the coaching or the fumbles, it doesn’t matter. They lost, they have proven they need Big Ben and without him they are cooked.  The season is slipping away quickly and you can’t just blame Charlie for it, you have to blame the whole Batch.

NEWS, NOTES and SUPERLATIVES:

Good to see:  The only thing that was good to see was James Harrison looking more and more like his old self.

Get Rid of after 2012: Mendhenall and Wallace. They are not needed and add nothing to this team. 

Draft: A running back immediately!

Pray: For Big Ben and Antonio Brown to get back soon.

Where were you: Plaxico Burress was useless in his first game back.

Understand: The Steelers have no shot at the division so the win by the Ravens vs. San Diego actually helped us.

More Injuries: Mike Adams and Lamar Woodley both left with ankle injuries.

6-5, up next at Baltimore with the season very much at stake and the team in flux.

 

Steelers Lose Tough Game To Ravens, Inside Track to Division Gone

The energy was in the stadium last night. The crowd knew exactly what both the Ravens and the Steelers already knew, this game was huge. It was a game that in all likelihood would determine the Steelers path to the playoffs.  Win and have the inside shot at the division. Lose and scrap your way the rest of year to get into one of the final two spots.  The end result saw the Ravens squeak by the Steelers by the slimmest of margins, 13-10. The 3 point difference wasn’t a shock to anyone; these two teams know each other inside and out and have a defined hatred for each other. Their games are always close and the key to this rivalry is to protect your home turf. It’s something the Steelers were unable to do last year and unfortunately again last night and they now hold a 3 game losing streak to the purple nuisance that is the Baltimore Ravens.

This loss can be defined as one that got away. Had Big Ben played I think it’s clear cut the Steelers would have won the game. Without him, the offense sputtered. Byron Leftwich was largely ineffective in his first extensive action in nearly 3 years.  Leftwich managed to lead the Steelers to an opening drive touchdown capped off with his 31 yard TD run but that was about it. Passing he was nothing short of horrendous. He had a beautiful spiral on just about all the balls he threw but on 21 of those 39 throws, the ball was incomplete. Leftwich appeared to be battling some sort of bruised rib and it was evident his arm strength was effected by it.  However it’s hard to blame arm strength on the night Leftwich had, he was wildly inaccurate with balls in the ground and over the heads of his targeted receivers.  You can blame rust, you can blame the rib injury (if that truly exists) but most of all you can blame Tomlin, yes Tomlin. No, Tomlin doesn’t play, no, Tomlin doesn’t throw the balls nor does he run the football. What Tomlin does is lead and make decisions.  His inability to pull the trigger on removing Leftwich for Batch is nothing short of inexplicable. When it became clear Byron was unable to lead this offense down the field in a manner that it would take to win the football game, for whatever reason, injury or otherwise, Tomlin needed to step up and put in Batch. Charlie has played far more the past few years the Leftwich has, he’s played the Ravens in that span and he’s been relatively effective. The offensive production wouldn’t have been any worse than it already was and there truly was nothing to lose in trying to bring in a spark. The crowd would have been re-energized with a fan favorite like Batch coming in. The crowd doesn’t make the decisions for you, certainly, but they do help you win football games, especially as raucous a crowd as that was last night, get them involved, pump up the team and try it out. What was there to lose? Nothing, Tomlin failed in that instance.

Aside from the passing game failing and Tomlin failing, the special teams failed. The lone touchdown the Ravens scored came on a 63 yard punt return. It was the deciding factor in this football game.  In my Game Day preview I stated this game would come down to special teams play and sure enough, it did. The Steelers lost that battle and because of it, the game.

The defense and ground attack did their part.  Jonathan Dwyer and Rashard Mendenhall combined for 88 yards on 23 carries.  They were able to gain chunks of yardage on most every carry and Dwyer especially looked good. I feel that they should have given the ball to Dwyer another 7-10 times. When the passing game isn’t working and you have a back rumbling the way he was, you need to utilize it more than what they did last night. For that, I have to say the coaches failed again.

Defensively the black and gold had it going on. They held Joe Flacco to 165 yards, Torrey Smith had only 1 reception and Ray Rice barely cracked 40 yards on the ground.  Keenan Lewis and Lawrence Timmons were all over the field making plays and even James Harrison looked like he’s starting to get his legs back as well.  They played winning football on that side of the ball. When you hold your opponent to 13 points (only 6 allowed by the defense) you have to win that football game.  If Troy Polamalu returns to the field this season I’m convinced this unit can be as scary as ever.

It’s largely disappointing that it seems after 10 weeks there is always a failure on one side of the ball and no game outside of the win at the Giants has had all units play winning, top level football. Now that the defense is back, the offense is without their best player and they can no longer put up points.  We need to hope and pray that we get all our injured players back soon as we’re going to need them down the stretch. Without them, especially Big Ben, this team is going to be erratic and scraping to get into the playoffs.

NEWS, NOTES and SUPERLATIVES:

Player of the Game: None, no players of the game in losses!

Get Well Soon: Big Ben, we clearly need you back asap. 

                           Toy Polamalu-6 games away is too many, we need you out there

What’s up with the Rib injuries:  Jerricho Cotchery and Leftwich had some rib issues last night

Concussed: Isaac Redman left with a concussion

New starter at RB: Jonathan Dwyer-He has the look of a starter to me.

Rooting For-Every team that plays the Ravens, it’s our only hope at the division now.

6-4, up next: at Cleveland

Steelers Win Game But Lose So Much More

The Steelers picked up a critical AFC win on Monday night with their 16-13 overtime defeat of the lowly Kansas City Chiefs but they may have paid a significant price in the process. On a night that saw the black and gold battle the inclement weather and an aggressive Kansas City defense, the Steelers lost star QB Ben Roethlisberger to a shoulder injury.

 It’s an injury that is being reported anywhere from being a ‘sprain’ to being a ‘significant shoulder injury that will keep Ben out a while’. Neither scenario is great but we all need this to be on a small scale which will prevent him from missing too much time. One thing is all but certain; Ben will miss the Ravens game this week and could miss the one in 3 weeks as well. 

It was painstakingly obvious that this offense can’t go without Ben. The team was having their issues running the ball again on Monday night as Isaac Redman could only muster 21 yards on 8 carries and fumbled the ball inside the Steelers own 20.  After that fumble; the bulk of the carries were given to Jonathan Dwyer who garnered 56 yards on 19 carries, a mere 2.9 yards per carry average.  Throwing the ball was a bit of a challenge with Ben in the lineup on Monday, without him it was even worse. Byron Leftwhich came in and as far as I’m concerned looked bad. Some of that can be attributed to not playing in nearly 3 years, some of that can be attributed to the Chiefs defense getting after him and part of that can be attributed to the fact that he’s got a slow, long release and he’s a backup in this league for a reason. 

I want to stop short of saying the season is doomed just yet as we don’t have all the information on the significance of Ben’s injury. I want to give Leftwhich a chance to play a couple weeks and see if he can improve during that time but it’s hard to sit here today and think that this team can overcome yet another injury, an injury to their MVP and a man who was in talk for the league MVP this year. Ben is a top 5 QB in this league and while the team has overcome many an injury this year on both sides of the ball; this is one that they could ill afford.  You don’t’ find guys like Big Ben just laying around on your bench, the Tomlin sayings of ‘The Standard is the Standard’ and ‘Next Man Up’ are not necessarily applicable here.

With Leftwhich manning the position, the entire offensive game changes. They’ll have to limit the play calls, they’ll certainly have to run the ball more effectively than they did Monday and they’ll need to have the defense dominate more than ever.

The defense did their part on Monday as they held the Chiefs to 13 points and stuffed Matt Cassel most of the game.  Up until the final minutes of regulation Cassel had only 92 passing yards.  The final drive the team did allow him to pass for 62 more and the Chiefs tied the game at the end to force overtime. However, you have to say the black and gold were effective in this aspect of the game as a whole.   They did allow Jamaal Charles 100 yards rushing but I felt they were pretty effective in stopping him when it mattered most and very few teams hold him to fewer than 100 yards.

Ryan Clark, before he was concussed was an animal, he was in on the run defense, blowing up plays at the line and he made plays in the passing game. To this point I believe he’s playing a pro bowl level and they’ll need him back against Baltimore this week. Larry Foote delivered another 7 tackles and Lawrence Timmons was all over the place as well, including the interception in overtime that set up the game winning kick from Suisham. 

The team came up with big plays but it was apparent the Chiefs were targeting the left side of the Steelers run defense, a side that prominently features Ziggy Hood on the end and LaMarr Woodley at linebacker. It’s something the Steelers will need to review on film and try to discover if they do have a weakness there or if the Chiefs just have a strength on their right side of the offensive line.  You can bet other teams will mimic this tactic so whatever the issue may be, it best be fixed come Sunday.

As the Steelers move out of this overtime win they now have a short week to prepare for the hated Ravens.  A win puts them in a tie for first with the Ratbirds, a loss puts them 2 back with 6 to games to play and almost guarantees a wild card being the Steelers only opportunity for a playoff appearance in 2012. The black and gold will need to step up on Sunday night and overcome the fact that Ben won’t be in there, Mendenhall won’t be in there, Polamalu won’t be in there, Gilbert won’t be in there and possibly Clark not playing too. They’ll need to find a way to win and keep this train on track.

If they don’t, we may look back on this season and say this Chiefs game, a game the Steelers won, cost the team their season.

NEWS, NOTES and SUPERLATIVES:

Player of the Game: Lawrence Timmons, he had 7 tackles and the interception to win the game in OT.

Plays of the Game: Timmons Interception and the Mike Wallace one handed TD grab.

Accomplishment-Big Ben scrambled for 14 yards and passed 1,000 on his career.

What were you thinkingTomlin-Going for 4^th and 1 at midfield? Yes, trust your D but trust them to stop the Chiefs in their own territory, not yours. You had a 2^nd string QB in the game who was looking ineffective and even if your D stops the Cheifs, they then punt you inside your own 20, vs. your D stopping them inside their own 20 and punting you to the 50. Which field would you rather give Leftwhich to play on? It can’t always be about the D Tomlin, you have to think about what you have on both sides of the ball and how they are playing at that point in the game. 

Concerned-About Ben’s Shoulder, I suspect this one will cost us the division and perhaps more.

6-3, up next: The Ratbirds!

After October, Steelers Starting to Roll

As the NFL season moves to the midway point, the Pittsburgh Steelers seem to be in a much better place than they were just one month ago.  They now sit at 4-3 and just one game behind the division leading Baltimore Ravens.  It hasn’t been without struggle to get the record over .500 but it’s something they accomplished in their 7^th game and they appear poised to begin their run.

The team put up 3 wins in their 4 October games.  Before the October  run the Steelers were struggling with the ground attack on offense and with the defense being able to stop anyone when it counted, especially being able to hold a fourth quarter lead.  Those issues appear to be on the mend, perhaps not completely fixed yet, but answers seem to have been found. Penalties were a big factor early in the year and while they still played a role in October, they also appear to be headed in the right direction as they have been reduced over the past few weeks.

Following the bye week and a 1-2 start, October’s four games started off with a 16-14 escape at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a game that saw the defense create turnovers, get sacks and hold the Eagle offense in relative check.  Lawrence Timmons showed up with 9 tackles and as I’ve stated many times prior, he’s a true cog in this defense. As he goes, so does this team.  Larry Foote; who has been a force all season; manned up with 8 tackles and assisted in the teams’ 2 turnovers as well.  Collectively the black and gold sacked Mike Vick 3 times and they looked as though they were back to form. The downfall in this game was the loss of Troy Polamalu, who re injured his calf and hasn’t played since. Polamalus’ injury came on the same day that James Harrison finally returned to action for the first time in 2012.  Also returning to the lineup for the first time in 2012 was Rashard Mendenhall and he was extremely effective in his first action in 10 months, rushing for 68 yards on 13 carries, which to that point was the best outing by any Steeler back all season.  Big Ben got his numbers once again as he spread the ball all over the field, most notably to Antonio Brown (7 catches for 86 yards) and was again turnover free.  It appeared as we headed out of that game that this team was poised to begin their run. The lowly Titans sat on the schedule just four days away on Thursday night and a winning streak appeared on the horizon.

That winning streak would have to wait as the Thursday night game at Tennessee turned out to be a step backwards. The team looked flat and the black and gold lost in heartbreaking fashion. Rashard Mendenhall was hurt early, Isaac Redman was hurt and ineffective in the ground game and the defense blew yet another fourth quarter lead. The penalties piled up and Pittsburgh lost on the final play of the game; following a controversial decision by Mike Tomlin to go for a 54 yard field goal late that fell about 3 yards short; providing the Titans with a short field.  Defensively they just didn’t’ have it. The black and gold allowed Matt Hasslebeck, who’s now a 2^nd string quarterback, to pass for 290 yards, of which 40 or so of those came as the clock clicked towards zero and the game was on the line.  The top 3 tacklers on the day were all from the secondary, something you never want and Ike Taylor was burned multiple times for big plays and pass interference calls. Things looked very bleak defensively.    On offense the running backs couldn’t muster up a thing and they only accumulated 56 total rushing yards. Roethlisberger put up massive passing yards with 363 and a he also added a TD. He did have a costly pick at the end of the first half however that loomed large late. Despite that he completed 24 passes and spread it out to 9 receivers. Heath Miller had another spectacular day and the one thing that was evident after this game was the passing attack was the only item on this team that really needn’t be questioned. However, after this lowly loss it appeared it was time to officially question where this team was headed in 2012.  They were now 0-3 on the road and just didn’t appear to be all that good. They now owned 2 losses to Oakland and Tennessee, two doormats of the league, and all 3 losses were in the AFC.

An ominous game on the road at Cincinnati loomed next on a Sunday night. This was in my opinion a do or die scenario in which if they lost, they’d have fallen to 2-4 and well behind both Baltimore and the Bengals in the division alone. They also couldn’t afford another in conference defeat which would really put them behind the 8 ball. Fortunately for all of us in the Steel Nation this appears to be the game that may have jump started the 2012 season. The black and gold went in there and took care of business. The defense played well, held a fourth quarter lead and pummeled the Bengal offense. Lawrence Timmons was a rock star; leading the way with 11 tackles and Larry Foote added 7 more. While the team didn’t sack Andy Dalton they held him to 105 yards passing and the NFL receiving yards leader AJ Green to 1 catch for 8 yards. It was an impressive performance. The penalties were reduced and most importantly a ground game appears to have been discovered. I like to call it Pittsburgh’s version of Thunder and Lightning.  Jonathan Dwyer was the feature back on this particular night and all he did was Thunder his way Jerome Bettis style to 122 yards on 17 carries. To compliment him the lighting fast Chris Rainey added 17 more yards on 4 carries and a TD. Big Ben produced 278 more yards in the air, Mike Wallace grabbed 8 balls and Brown and Miller had 7 and 6 catches respectively. Seeing the team add a ground attack with this potent passing attack made me realize they now had something to go on. You can’t win with just one part of the offense working but if the team could now control the clock via the run while allowing Roethlisberger to do his thing; this offense could be one tough unit to keep in check. It could also help the defense rest their legs and get much needed breathers. The Steelers picked up their first road win of the year and now were headed home to close out the month.

The month finished up with a home domination of the Washington Redskins and RG3.  RG3 was lighting up the league and it was unclear if or how the Steelers would stop him. However Dick Lebeau had a plan and the team implemented it perfectly. The Steelers forced RG3 into bad throws, held him to 8 rushing yards and banged him around for 5 QB hits. Thunder and Lightning combined for 133 rushing yards and the team committed only 3 penalties.  This was probably the most physical game the defense had played yet and they began to look like the Steelers of old. Larry Foote again had 6 tackles and a sack and the fact that they were able to stuff Griffin the way they did was very encouraging.  Mike Wallace and Heath Miller were the go to guys for Big Ben who added 3 more touchdowns to get him to 14 on the season.

At 4-3 the team is heading in the right direction but will really need to make their mark in November. Pittsburgh starts off by heading to New York to face the defending champion Giants, followed by a home game against the Chiefs, a home game against the hated Ravens and then a visit to Cleveland. We’re starting to learn a little more about this team as we enter November, by the time we hit Thanksgiving we’ll have a true measure as to how good they really are and where they may actually be headed.

In my season preview I predicted 12-4, the slow start to the year may prevent that from happening, while statistically it’s still alive, I think 11-5 may be more reasonable. With the eventual return of Troy Polamalu and Rashard Mendenhall on the horizon, this team may be able to string together quite a winning streak and put themselves in position to not only win the division but play for a bye as well. It’s still early and there’s a lot of football to be played but we all need to feel a lot better than what we did this time last month, the Steelers are above .500, they are running the football effectively and they are playing defense at a high level once again. All is right with the world.

FIRST HALF TEAM AWARDS:

Offensive MVP: Big Ben-He has 1,987 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions.

                 Honorable mention to Heath Miller and Antonio Brown.

Defensive MVP: Larry Foote-Leads the team with 50 tackles and has been the most consistent player each and every week.

                Honorable mention to Ryan Clark and Lawrence Timmons.

 

Steelers Overcome Hurricane and Refs To Beat Defending Champs

Facing the defending champion New York Giants, on the road and in the midst of the emotional recovery of Hurricane Sandy, the Steelers had a huge challenge in front of them.  Not only did the Steelers overcome those challenges but they had to endure flying from Pittsburgh the day of the game, some terrible calls by the refs, a game ending injury to Antonio Brown and poor decisions by Coach Mike Tomlin.  In the end, the Steelers came away with a huge victory and kept pace with the division leading Baltimore Ravens as well.

While the first quarter was scoreless, the Giants were able to take a 14-10 lead into half and a 20-10 lead into the fourth but it was the Steelers who scored the final 14 points and came away with the victory. 

With Antonio Brown injured early and the offensive line not really able to protect Big Ben the way they have most of the year, Isaac Redman had to really step up and carry the bulk of the offensive load; and he did just that. Redman put together the best performance by a Steeler running back all season long, starting in place of the injured Rashard Mendenhall and Jonathan Dwyer. He carried the ball twenty-six times for 147 yards (both career highs) and a touchdown.  Putting up that kind of day against a very talented and tough Giant defense is very impressive and encouraging. With the team having just had two 100 yard games in a row by Dwyer, and knowing that Mendenhall will be back eventually, it’s a very encouraging thing to see they have, what appears to be, a three headed monster with Redman in the mix again. 

Always in the mix are Big Ben and the passing game. While Ben did throw a pick and lose a fumble, which was not a fumble in my opinion, he threw for 216 yards and 2 TD’s.  His second TD was a beautiful crossing route by Mike Wallace, in which Wallace burned everyone for 51 yards untouched. It’s about time Wallace utilized that lightning speed of his to make up for some of the recent drops he has had.  Jerricho Cotchery, seeing action in place of Brown put up a pretty big day with 4 catches and 50 yards receiving. He’s yet another guy the Steelers can bring in and who can deliver when called upon.  Emmanuel Sanders filled the role on punt returns as Brown was gone, and he too delivered with 3 returns and 76 yards. 

Defensively the team got the job done again, especially late.  Facing a top QB like Manning and an ace receiver like Cruz is no walk in the park, but the black and gold delivered. Led by Ryan Clark (8 tackles) and Larry Foote (7 tackles) the team had 2 sacks (Woodley and Timmons) 5 QB hits and an interception (Taylor).  Manning was held to 10 of 24 passing and only 125 yards, 67 of which went to Cruz.  The Giants, who are cut from the same cloth as the Steelers, also love to run the ball; they were held to 68 yards on the ground and only had 182 total yards on the day. 

While the Steelers won the game, it was not without having to overcome some poor calls by the zebras.  The “fumble” by Big Ben was no such thing. The league and the announcers can try to spin it any way they want, but his arm was moving forward and I will never be convinced otherwise.  The personal foul on Ryan Clark in the end zone that extended the Giants first scoring drive and gave them a TD when they shouldn’t have had anything more than a field goal, was also a bad call. That was a clean, legal hit by Clark, period.  Lastly, the 41 yard pass interference call on Keenan Lewis was nothing more than a good, clean defensive play, end of story.  Fortunately for the Steelers these calls did not cost them today, but they certainly could have if not for the resiliency of this veteran led team.

Not only did the team have to overcome those poor calls but they had to overcome a poor decision or two by Coach Tomlin as well; specifically, calling for the fake field goal, when an actual field goal would have tied the game at 20, late.  I’m unsure what his logic was on this call, but it was nothing short of moronic. It didn’t hurt the team in the end and that’s what the pro Tomlin folks will argue here, but again, it could have and you shouldn’t take stupid risks like that on the road, especially when you’re 4-3 and cannot afford to fall to 4-4 on a day the Baltimore Ravens already won. 

Nevertheless, the team beat a very good team today and proved they are legitimately back in the playoff picture in the AFC. They have now won their last 2 games on the road and 3 in a row overall. They still have a long way to go as we are only at the midway point of the year, but they are without question moving in the right direction, the direction towards the stairway to seven.

NEWS, NOTES, SUPERLATIVES:

Game Ball:  Isaac Redman-26 carries, 147 yards and a TD against the Giants is no easy line to record, great game.

Concern-Antonio Brown-We’ll need him back ASAP.

Finally-Mike Wallace used that game changing speed and his 51 yard TD was the turning point in the game today.

Use your head-Tomlin-Start making better decisions on when to call gadget plays and use challenges. Yeah you won the challenge but it was a useless one to use and not worth the risk at that juncture of the game. 

5-3, up next vs. Kansas City