It wasn’t pretty, but a win is still a win. That’s the way most of Steeler Nation must have been feeling after watching the Steelers defeat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20.
Following a 5-game losing streak, the Steelers have won two consecutive games to keep their playoff hopes alive. Both wins have been narrow wins, but we’ll take wins of any type at this point.
Santonio Holmes runs for TD
There were quite a few positive aspect to the game. Probably the most important is that the Steelers defense did not allow a single point during the fourth quarter. When was the last time we were able to say that?
Not only did the defense not allow the Ravens to score in the fourth quarter, but they also made key defensive plays in the 4th quarter to stop the Ravens. That has been one of the primary differences between the 2008 Steelers defense and the 2009 edition. The 2008 unit made plays when the team needed them, while the 2009 unit doesn’t. At least they didn’t until this game.
On the Ravens final possession of the game, the Ravens were driving when LaMarr Woodley sacked Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco on 2 consecutive plays. On the second sack, Woodley also forced a fumble which was recovered by rookie Ziggy Hood. That pretty much sealed the victory for the Steelers.
Other positives for the Steelers included Rashard Mendenhall surpassing 1,000 yards rushing for the season. That is a first for Mendenhall. Hopefully, it will be the first of many for the talented young rusher.
RB Rashard Mendenhall
Another milestone was Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger becoming the first Steelers quarterback to pass for over 4,000 yards. As Big Ben is so fond of reminding us, the Steelers are now a pass-first team. His new Steelers passing record just proves that point.
Despite the win and the many positive performances on the Steelers side of the ball, the game was not a total masterpiece. The Steelers allowed the Ravens to rush for 175 yards. Ray Rice accounted for 141 of those yards. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am really starting to hate that guy.
Besides the rushing yards allowed, the Steelers also got some lucky breaks due to penalties by the Ravens. The Ravens had two touchdowns called back due to penalties. They had a third touchdown dropped in the endzone by Derrick Mason, who is usually their most dependable receiver.
So just as the Steelers have often left games this season feeling that they beat themselves, the Ravens probably felt the same way. But who cares how the Ravens feel? This win keeps our playoff hopes alive, and so we’ll happily accept it.
Playoff picture:
The NFC playoff teams are set. The only thing that has to be resolved is the playoff seeding.
In the AFC, on the other hand, things are as clear as mud. Seven teams have a chance to win the two remaining wildcard playoff positions. Five of the teams have an 8-7 record going into the last week of the season, and two teams have a 7-8 record. Tie breakers are certain to be needed to determine which teams will ultimately make the playoffs.
The only thing that we know for certain is that the Steelers have to win their final game. If they don’t do that, all other discussion becomes moot.
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The Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive with their 23-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Click the video below to hear head coach Mike Tomlin’s comments on the game.
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The Steelers placed 2 players on the reserve list today. Long snapper Greg Warren tore his ACL on the last play of Sunday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers. Warren was placed on injured reserve, and will not return this season.
To replace Warren, the Steelers signed Jared Retkofsky. Hmmmm, this is starting to sound strangely familiar. As you may remember, the same thing happened last season. Warren got injured, and Retkofsky was signed to replace him.
At least the Steelers signed a replacement before James Harrison was forced into long snapper duties again. We all remember what happened last time Harrison did a long snap. According to NASA, the ball that he snapped is still in lunar orbit.
In a second move, the Steelers placed Limas Sweed on the reserve/non-football illness list (translation: they got rid of him because he sucks and Mike Wallace has made him obsolete).
Steelers WR Limas Sweed
To replace Sweed, the Steelers have signed Joey Galloway. Galloway started the season with the New England Patriots, but he never became a part of their wide receiver rotation, and the Patriots released him on October 20th.
Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God.
Okay, now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the Steelers’ 37-36 win over the Green Bay Packers.
In a game that unfolded totally differently than most experts predicted, the Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive. Prior to the game, most experts assumed that a game featuring the Steelers and Packers, two of the best defenses in the NFL, would be a low-scoring defensive struggle. Instead, it turned out to be a high-scoring offensive shootout. Who woulda thunk it?
The two teams combined for 973 total yards of offense. Some “defensive struggle”.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had the best game of his career, passing for 503 yards. He was 29-46 with no interceptions and 3 touchdowns.
Hmmmmmm, this looks familiar.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers tried his best to keep pace, finishing with 383 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. Rodgers also rushed for a touchdown.
While it was exciting to watch such an offensive shootout, it was a sad day for both defenses. The Packers surrendered 537 net yards, and the Steelers defense surrendered 436 net yards. That’s not something that either team will be bragging about.
Despite the positive outcome of the game, a few aspects were still a bit troubling.
Firstly, the Steelers’ secondary continues to look like a high school junior varsity team. William Gay was burned repeatedly. Ryan Clark was beat badly on a touchdown. Tyrone Carter took his fellow defenders out of a play, thus allowing a Packers’ touchdown. And none of the Steelers secondary looked like they remembered how to tackle.
Secondly, the offense still lacks balance. The team only ran the ball 19 times. Meanwhile, they passed the ball 46 times. Mike Tomlin says that he wants the offense to be balanced. Well, 19 runs and 46 passes is NOT balanced.
Thirdly, the Steelers had another 4th quarter letdown. Sure, they walked away with a win, but they allowed the Packers to score 22 points in the 4th quarter. They had only yielded 14 total point in the first 3 quarters. So why can’t the defense play a consistent 60 minutes?
Finally, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made one of the most baffling calls that I’ve ever seen. After taking a 2 point lead with 4:03 remaining in the game, the Steelers chose to go for an on-sides kick. Unfortunately, the play failed and the Packers got the ball at the Steelers’ 39 yard line. In less than 2 minutes, the Packers scored a touchdown and took the lead.
Fortunately for the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger led a textbook 2-minute drill that was culminated by a touchdown pass to Mike Wallace that looked eerily reminiscent of Roethlisberger’s game-winning pass to Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII.
Mike Wallace imitates Santonio Holmes
So the Steelers ended their losing streak and kept their playoff hopes alive.
They also got help from several of their AFC rivals who are also fighting for their playoff lives. Denver, Jacksonville, Miami, and the New York Jets all lost. Those losses mean that the Steelers are still mathematically in the playoff race.
I think Steeler Nation needs to say one more collective “Thank you, God”.
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This is Part 4 of a multi-part series that is intended to identify what went wrong with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2009 season.
If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, please click here.
To read Part 2, please click here.
To read Part 3, please click here.
We’ve already discussed three of the reasons for the Steelers’ poor showing this season. Now it’s time to discuss the fourth reason.
Factor #4 – Lack of a killer instinct.
I had to think long and hard before writing this one. I know that many fans are not going to agree with it. More importantly, some will be offended when they read it.
We all want to envision the Steelers as a dominant team of gladiators clad in black and gold marching off to vanquish their opponents. But the truth is that the Steelers play more like peaceful diplomats than gladiators.
Many fans have pointed out that the Steelers have just been the victims of bad luck this season. Most of their games have been very close, and had a few plays gone differently, most of the Steelers’ losses could have been wins. Just think about Joe Burnett’s dropped interception against the Browns, or Jeff Reed’s missed kicks against the Bears. Had those plays gone differently, the Steelers would have probably won those games. Their were similar missed plays in all of their losses.
The most that any opponent has beaten the Steelers by has been 7 points. That was in the loss to the Cleveland Browns. The remaining losses have been by less than a touchdown. Five of the Steelers’ seven losses have been by a mere 3 points. So the Steelers have been close in every one of their losses. If they could take back a play here or there, the Steelers could easily be 13-0.
The problem with that line of thinking is that the inverse is also true. If a few plays had gone differently, the Steelers could easily be 0-13.
If we look at all of the Steelers’ games this season, the average point differential has been +2.62 points in favor of the Steelers. That’s less than a field goal.
Do you see the problem with that? The Steelers don’t seem to be able to gain a meaningful point advantage over their opponents. And that’s true, regardless of the caliber of the opponent. The Steelers seem to play down to the quality of the opponent. They play the good teams close, and they play the bad teams close. They don’t seem to be able to put opponents away.
Simply put, the Steelers lack a killer instinct.
The Steelers have only won one game this season by more than 2 touchdowns. The Steelers’ offense just doesn’t seem to be capable of generating enough points to put opponents away.
In my opinion, one of the signs of a truly dominant team is that they crush lesser opponents. When they get an opponent down, they go for the knockout. The Steelers don’t do that.
Make no mistake, these are not your father’s Steelers. These are the kinder, gentler Steelers. The offense can’t blow anybody out, and the defense can’t shut anybody out.
If we look back at the 2007 New England Patriots, they were a truly dominant team. They went for the jugular. Their average margin of victory was 19.7 points. That’s almost 3 touchdowns. Their offense exceeded 30 points in 12 of their 16 regular season games.
Similarly, this season’s New Orleans Saints have been completely dominant. They don’t play teams close. They blow them out. Their average margin of victory has been 14 points, and they’ve scored 30+ points in 9 of their 13 games.
Wouldn’t you like to see the Steelers do that? But they can’t. As I mentioned before, their average point differential is 2.62 points. That’s just not good enough.
When I think about the Steelers teams of the 70, two thinks jump out at me. Firstly, their offense could score points in bunches. Secondly, their defense could shut teams out. This year’s team can’t do either.
This year’s offense generates lots of statistics. They may end the season with a quarterback who passes for 4,000 yards, a running back who rushes for over 1,000 yards, and two 1,000 yard receivers. Yet, they can’t score points. So what good are all of the yards? They don’t really dominate anyone, despite the impressive yardage.
The same is true for the defense. Statistically, they are one of the best defenses in the NFL. Yet realistically, they can’t stop anyone. They haven’t shut out a single team this season. Moreover, terrible offenses like the Lions, Chiefs, and Raiders have all scored 20+ points on the Steelers defense.
Do you remember when teams used to be afraid to face the Steelers? They used to know that they were in for a long night. They knew that the Steelers were going to beat them up physically. You could see the fear in opponents’ eyes. But that’s changed. Did the Browns look afraid of the Steelers? Did the Raiders? Did the Chiefs? If anything, it was the Steelers who looked intimidated.
We're not intimidated
The Steelers need to get back to good old-fashioned Steelers football, on both offense and defense. Right now they don’t remind me of the Steelers of old. Unlike those Steelers teams, this version lacks a killer instinct.
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This is Part 3 of a multi-part series that is intended to identify what went wrong with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2009 season.
If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, please click here. If you haven’t read Part 2, please click here.
We’ve already discussed two of the reasons for the Steelers poor showing this season. Now it’s time to discuss the third reason.
Factor #3 – Failure to generate turnovers.
If there was one thing that characterized the Steelers team last year, it was their ability to generate turnovers at just the right moment.
If we think back to Super Bowl XLIII, one of the plays that probably stands out in everyone’s mind is James Harrison’s interception that he returned for a touchdown. It seemed like the Steelers defense was always able to come up with a key play when the team really needed it.
Do you remember Troy Polamalu’s interception against the Chargers? How about DeShea Townsend’s interception against the Cowboys?
And let’s not forget James Harrison’s many forced fumbles. In fact, Harrison invented a new statistic; the “strip sack”. Last year, it seemed like every time Harrison sacked the quarterback, he also stripped him of the ball. The two seemed to go hand-in-hand. Sack and strip the ball. Sack and strip the ball. It happened so often, I just started calling it a “strip sack”.
When you get down to it, football is a fairly simple sport, and some fairly simple principles apply. For example, having the ball more often than your opponent gives you more chances to score, and thus a better chance of winning the game. Therefore, turnovers can play a critical role in generating wins (or losses). Taking the ball away from your opponent can help you win, and turning the ball over to your opponent can help you lose.
Last year, the Steelers’ turnover ratio was +4. That means that they took the ball away from their opponent 4 more times than they lost the ball to opponents. That was 11th best in the NFL.
This season, their turnover ratio is -5. They have allowed opponents to take the ball away from them 5 more times than they’ve been able to take it from opponents. That’s not a good thing. The Steelers rank 25th in the NFL in this regard. There are only 32 teams in the NFL, so ranking 25th isn’t good.
The key reason for the Steelers’ drop in their ability to generate turnovers has been their lack of interceptions. Last year, the Steelers were ranked 6th in the NFL with 20 interceptions. This year they have only 8 interceptions, and are ranked near the bottom of the NFL. Only the Cleveland Browns have fewer interceptions than the Steelers.
With 3 games remaining, the Steelers are on a pace to finish the season with 9 interceptions. That’s less than half of last year’s total. Last year, they averaged 1.25 interceptions per game. This year they are averaging .62 interceptions per game.
Troy Polamalu is one of the Steelers’ most prolific interception generators. He leads the team this year with 3 interceptions (which is sad, since he’s missed most of the season). Troy also led the team in interceptions last year with 7. So his production is greatly missed.
But the biggest failure this season has come from the team’s cornerbacks. Ike Taylor, William Gay, Deshea Townsend, Joe Burnett, and Keenan Lewis have managed to generate a total of 0 interceptions this year. That’s right, ZERO. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. They are the only group of cornerbacks in the entire NFL without an interception.
Oops, dropped another one.
Back-up linebacker Keyaron Fox has more interceptions than all of the Steelers cornerbacks combined. That’s pathetic!
We all remember watching Joe Burnett drop an interception late in the game last week that would have assured the Steelers of a victory. That has been the story of the Steelers’ 2009 season. The cornerbacks have dropped too many potential interceptions.
Today’s NFL has become a pass-happy league. Just look at the dominant teams this year. The Colts, Saints, Vikings, and Eagles are all passing teams. If you can’t stop passers in the NFL, you can’t win. And unfortunately, the Steelers cornerbacks can’t seem to stop anybody.
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This is Part 2 of a multi-part series that is intended to identify what went wrong with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2009 season. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, please click here.
In Part 1 of this series, we talked about the Steelers’ poor special teams play. Now it’s time to look at the second factor that has led to the Steelers’ apparent collapse.
Factor #2 – Age and conditioning.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin once declared that “Steelers football is 60 minutes”. When you think about it, that was a really good quote. REALLY good. I got all warm and fuzzy when I heard him say it. My chest swelled with pride as I envisioned the Black and Gold giving everything they have until the final whistle blows.
The only problems is that Tomlin’s declaration wasn’t true. Steelers football is not 60 minutes. Steelers football is 45 minutes.
Anyone who has watched the Steelers this season knows that the 4th quarter has been a disaster for the team. Fans got used to being taken to the brink of cardiac arrest during 4th quarters this year. Some even openly declared that they couldn’t bear to watch the Steelers during the 4th quarter because it was too stressful.
This wasn’t just perception. It was fact. The Steelers allowed opponents to score a total of 139 points on them during the first 3 quarters this year. Yet for some odd reason, the Steelers have given up almost as many points (105) in the 4th quarter and overtime. A full 43% of the total points that have been scored against them have occurred AFTER the 3rd quarter.
Statistically speaking, we would expect the team to give up 25% of their points in each quarter. Yet for some reason the Steelers give up 72% more points during the 4th quarter than a natural distribution curve would predict. Why has this been happening?
The most obvious theory would be age. After all, during the off-season we spent quite a bit of time discussing the age of the Steelers defensive front 3. Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, and Brett Keisel are all over 31 years old. So are their primary back-ups Travis Kirschke, Chris Hoke, and Nick Eason. Rookie Ziggy Hood is the only member of the Steelers front line rotation who is not in the 30+ club.
Linebackers James Harrison and James Farrior are also on the wrong side of 30.
However, age doesn’t seem to be the real problem. Before getting hurt, Aaron Smith was having a very solid season. Brett Keisel is probably having the best season of his career. And James Harrison looks just as dominant as he did last year.
Casey Hampton and James Farrior do look like age may be having an impact. Hampton hasn’t looked dominant in recent years. Be honest, would you rather have Casey Hampton or Shaun Rodgers? Casey Hampton or Haloti Ngata? Yeah, that’s what I thought. That’s probably why the Steelers have not offered Hampton a contract extension.
Perhaps the biggest change can be seen in James Farrior. Farrior seems to have aged in dog years since last season. He consistently misses plays that he used to make. Anytime we see Farrior shadowing a running back in the backfield, we know that something bad is about to happen. Do you remember what happened when Farrior shadowed Ray Rice? Aaaargh!
Steelers LB James Farrior
But age can’t explain why LaMarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons, Ike Taylor, William Gay, and Ryan Clark don’t seem to be effective in the 4th quarter either. They’re all relatively young players.
Could the problem be conditioning?
After a grueling training camp during his first season as head coach, Mike Tomlin has eased up drastically on the intensity of training camp. Moreover, he routinely excuses veteran players from practice during the week in order to save them for the game. Perhaps this practice isn’t as beneficial as it’s intended to be.
It’s impossible to assign causality for the Steelers’ 4th quarter collapses. However, one thing is very clear. The Steelers are not the same team during the 4th quarter that they are during the first 3 quarters.
Perhaps Dick LeBeau needs to be more liberal in his substitutions in order to give the players more rest so they’ll be fresher during the 4th quarter. Or perhaps the Steelers just need to continue injecting youth into the defense.
Contrary to Mike Tomlin’s assertion, Steelers football is NOT 60 minutes. However, it needs to be. So do something about it, Coach. That’s why you’re paid the big bucks.
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Obviously, this has not been the type of season that the Steelers (or their fans) expected. As reigning Super Bowl champs with most of their starters returning, the Steelers entered the 2009 season fully expecting to be able to defend their championship. But with only 3 games remaining in the season, the Steelers are effectively eliminated from the playoffs, and have a record that is below .500.
Fans, journalists, and even players are now struggling to figure out “what’s wrong with the Steelers?” Some have offered overly simplified explanations for the Steelers decline. “The Steelers can’t win without Troy”. “The Steelers can’t win with Bruce Arians as offensive coordinator”. “The Steelers have a Super Bowl hangover.” These are just a few of the examples of the many over-simplified explanations for the Steelers’ decline that I’ve heard.
In my opinion, the Steelers decline is far more complex than that. It can’t be attributed to just one factor.
During the off-season, most of my articles are actually multi-part series. By writing multi-part series, it gives me more time to fully explore a topic. However, during the season, the short amount of time between games doesn’t allow me to write many series. But since the Steelers have essentially been eliminated from the playoffs, I am going to begin exploring what happened to their 2009 season. Because there are games that will need to be covered, I won’t be able to write the series in consecutive segments. But between games, I plan to investigate the many factors that have led to the Steelers failed season. In each segment of the series, I will focus on one factor that caused the Steelers failed season.
Factor #1 – Special teams coverage.
We all know that special teams has been a problem for the Steelers for a long time. It was a glaring weakness during the last 3 years of Bill Cowher’s regime. It was talked about over and over, but the problem never seemed to get fixed.
The problem lingered throughout Mike Tomlin’s first year as head coach. After his first season, Tomlin identified it as an issue, and even spent dedicated time working on it during training camp. The problem appeared to have been fixed. Special teams was actually a strength during the 2008 season. In fact, the Steelers’ kickoff coverage unit was the best in the NFL last season, allowing an average of 19.1 yards and no touchdowns.
However, in 2009 the problem re-emerged…with a vengeance.
So far this season, there have been 14 kickoffs returned for touchdowns in the NFL. Of those, the Steelers have allowed 4. That means the remaining 31 teams have allowed a total of 10. So the Steelers have allowed 29% of the kickoffs that were returned for touchdowns in the 2009. That’s pathetic!
The Oakland Raider are the only other team in the NFL that has allowed more than one kickoff to be returned for a touchdown (they’ve allowed two), and 23 teams have not allowed any this season.
Two of the touchdown returns that the Steelers have allowed actually came in games that the Steelers won. So while embarrassing, they didn’t actually impact the outcome of the game. However, the remaining two occurred in games that the Steelers lost. The Steelers lost those two games by 6 points and 3 points respectively. Thus, the return touchdown that special teams allowed ended up costing the team the game in both of these instances.
We can therefore conclude that special teams directly cost the Steelers 2 games.
Special teams probably indirectly contributed to other losses by allowing long returns on kickoffs or punts. But these two losses can be directly attributed to the Steelers special teams.
Part of the problem may have been that the Steelers released Anthony Madison at the end of training camp this summer. Madison had been the team’s top special teams tackler last season. The team seemed to recognize their error, and recently re-signed Madison. However, that change probably came too late to have an impact.
If I were the Steelers players, I would anticipate Mike Tomlin re-emphasizing special teams coverage this off-season, just like he did in 2008. If he doesn’t, then fans can probably expect 2010 to look much like 2009. And that won’t be a good thing.
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last night (on national TV, I might add) the Steelers lost to the Cleveland Browns by a score of 13-6. That loss cemented an embarrassing trifecta. The Steelers have now lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oakland Raiders, and the Cleveland Brown in the same season. I call that the “trifecta of shame”.
I’m really not even sure of what to think of the team anymore. Are they a really good team that has suffered due to the loss of two of their best players (Aaron Smith and Troy Polamalu)? Or are they a really bad team that has been exposed by some of the worst teams in the NFL?
I know that Troy’s absence is a tremendous blow to the team, but I don’t think it has any effect on their inability to protect their quarterback. I’ve gotten used to seeing Ben Roethlisberger get sacked, but watching him get sacked 8 times by one of the worst defenses in the NFL was painful.
Feels like deja vu
I know that Aaron Smith’s absence has been a loss, but I don’t think that has caused the Steelers cornerbacks to be unable to get any interceptions this season. Can’t anybody back there catch the ball?
I know that Brett Keisel got hurt last night, and Hines Ward was playing with a leg injury, but did that cause the Steelers to use baffling play calling on offense? Why did they consistently utilize spread formations with an empty backfield on 3rd down, despite the fact that Cleveland was running a sackathon on Big Ben? Is Bruce Arians out of his mind?
This looks familiar.
Try as I might, I just can’t figure this team out. Why are they playing so poorly. These are the reigning Super Bowl champs, aren’t they?
While the team is not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet, their odds are exceedingly poor. In fact, your odds of getting bit by a vampire are far greater than the Steelers odds of making the playoffs. So we can all put the playoff dream to rest.
The rest of this season is now going to be about saving face. The team is going to have to look in the mirror and decide what type of team they really are. Do they have the ability to turn things around and end the season on a positive note, or are going to continue to look like one of the worst teams in the NFL?
Fans are already starting to talk about next year’s draft. Some are even suggesting that the Steelers should lose the rest of their games so that we can improve our draft position. I don’t agree with that suggestion. Instead, I’d like to see the team turn this thing around. I want them to beat Baltimore. And Green Bay. And Miami. I want to believe that this losing streak has just been a slump, and that the Steelers are really a good team with great potential for next season.
So now that the Steelers have successfully completed the “trifecta of shame”, Steeler Nation is left wondering if the REAL Steelers are the team that beat Denver and Minnesota? Or are the REAL Steelers the team that lost to Cleveland, Oakland, and Kansas City?
Will the real Steelers please stand up?
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Editor’s Note: This article was written by a fan named Paul Austin. I read it, and thought it was very timely. Our Steelers are going through a tough stretch. But because they’re going through tough times, they need Steeler Nation more than ever. Thanks for reminding me of that, Paul.
By Paul Austin
My remote control should have a safety wrist strap. Just like the Wii does. It’s only a matter of time before I fire the thing right through the center of my plasma screen TV in outrage. Let’s face it. This season, it has hurt to be a Steelers fan.
I love the Steelers! After all that I’ve been through this year, I love this team. There is nothing rational about this feeling – it’s either there or it isn’t, you either feel or it or you don’t.
There is something magical about this team, something that captured my imagination as a child. It’s a feeling where my chest swells with pride, and I get a lump in my throat as these men take the field…and do great things. It is a sense of sharing in the on-field celebration of a great play, a touchdown, a win. Seeing these “Brothers and Champions” over the years has been a moving experience for me many times. And I know I’m not alone.
Not to swipe the lyric, but yes sometimes love stinks. This season, it has hurt deeply to be a fan, and it is precisely because I care so deeply! It must be love, because only love can break your heart as much as mine has been broken this season.
Honestly, nobody could blame ANY fan for being disgusted, heartbroken, furious, or any of the range of emotions that would seem appropriate now as our team has lost yet another game …to a team that it so utterly inferior that it makes my teeth ache.
What we can do, and what we must do, is not allow ourselves to give up! I have been dismayed at our losses, but even more dismayed at how much our Steeler Nation seems to be fracturing under the pressure. I’ve been saddened by the negativity and in-fighting I have witnessed on fan boards and other on-line groups. We need to acknowledge that we are hurting, rather than lashing out at one another. We are not blameless if we abandon our team at a critical time like this.
Now, more than ever, we need to cheer for our team. S.O.S.! Support our Steelers! We need to wear our colors and exchange smack talk with such passion that it hides how much we’re worried! As fans, we have to hope – until there isn’t any more left to hope for. As fans – we have to keep cheering until the final second ticks off the final clock of the final game of our season!
Can I continue to feel this way if our losing streak continues? Is my love conditional? I’d like to think it isn’t; they say the real proof of your devotion is if you can love without reward.
Ask Browns or Lions fans how they do it year after year. They keep putting on their team’s colors, staying steadfast, even as the rest of the world mocks their teams.
Could I love a winless Steelers team? The answer is unreservedly, “yes”. A winless season would be hard. But as a fan, I would love this team and cheer for them every time they play. That’s a promise.
Seasons come and go, but our Nation, our Dynasty is enduring.
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