9/26/14-Any Given Sunday

By: Mike Pelaia

After the 31 point loss to the Eagles, there are many things that can be said about the shortcomings of the black and gold on Sunday afternoon.  I could sit here and talk about the defense and how they allowed a rookie QB to pass for 301 yards and two touchdowns. I could talk about that same defense and discuss how they didn’t get one single quarterback sack, didn’t cause a turnover and how they allowed 426 total yards.

I could move on to the offense that inexplicably had a total of 29 rushing yards. How Big Ben looked lost as the pocket collapsed around him or how Markus Wheaton completely forgot how to catch the football in his first game back from injury.

I could talk about the coaching and how for some reason they allowed Antonio Brown to field punts, albeit by fair catching or I could discuss how the coaches allowed Big Ben and Brown to stay in the game as they were down by over 30 points late in the fourth quarter, risking the season in a game that was already decided. 

I could talk about how the Steel Curtain is not back, how the offense looks overrated this week or how this team looks light years away from a championship caliber team. 

I could do all of that….but I won’t.

Much like after their first win of the season, I’ll talk about how one game doesn’t make a season. The Steelers aren’t as bad as they showed Sunday evening. They are not 34 points worse than the Eagles, they are not an offense who can’t score and while the defense certainly is not the Steel Curtain, they also are certainly not as bad as the team that took the field in Philadelphia.

Things can only go back up after such a debacle. LeVeon Bell comes back this week, Bud Dupree later in the season and you know that Big Ben won’t have another game so poorly played, he’s far too competitive and far too talented to allow that to happen again.

This team will rise back up; don’t allow the game to map the remainder of the year. More importantly the Steelers themselves can’t let the game determine the season. Any Given Sunday is a common phrase thrown around the league but it couldn’t be more fitting this week.