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!