Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

The Steelers got a decisive win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday.  Now it’s time for fans to capture the key elements of the game in a haiku.

As many of you remember, Steelers Today used to run haiku contests following each Steelers game.  We stopped doing our haiku contests for a while because one of our readers, Fred Cole, proved to be an unbeatable haiku samurai.  But we’ve decided to bring the haiku contest back.  So perhaps one of you can defeat our reigning champ (if he chooses to defend his crown).

The contest rules are simple. You must summarize the Steelers-Redskins game in a haiku.  A haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that contains only 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the third line has 5 syllables. Typically, haiku do not rhyme.

Please note, the emphasis is on syllables, not words.  Remember, 5/7/5.

I start the competition by offering a haiku of my own. Then you readers write a haiku of your own to try to beat mine. On Thursday I will announce this week’s contest winner.  But remember, your haiku has to be better than mine.  If none of your entries are better than mine, then I can declare myself this week’s winner.

Here’s my entry:

Dwyer runs like Bus
As Giant bumblebees sting
Tough luck, RG3!

Okay readers, it’s your turn.  Lets see who can come up with the best haiku about the Steelers-Redskins game.  Your haiku must be about the game, or any other interesting topics that are directly related to the game (e.g. the throwback uniforms, DeAngelo Hall’s meltdown, etc).  You may enter the contest as many times as you like.

Any entries that do not follow the 5/7/5 format will be automatically disqualified, so remember to count your syllables.

Are you ready for some haiku?!!

The Steelers finally pushed their record above .500 when they beat the Washington Redskins 27-12 on Sunday.  More importantly, they made up valuable ground on the Baltimore Ravens, who are currently in first place in the AFC North.

The Steelers wore throwback jerseys during the game that made them look like human bumblebees.  But despite their unusual appearance, the Steelers played extremely well.

The Steelers were able to hold the Redskins to only 86 rushing yards.  Coming into the game, the Redskins had been the top rushing team in the NFL.

But even more impressive was the fact that the Steelers were able to shut down star rookie Robert Griffin III.  Griffin came into the game as the NFL’s 6th leading rusher, while also completing 70% of his passes.  That’s an incredible combination.  But against the Steelers, Griffin completed only 16 of 34 passes for 177 yards, and was held to only 8 yards rushing.  Of course, Griffin’s statistics weren’t helped by the fact that his receivers dropped 10 passes.  The Redskins receivers looked eerily like Mike Wallace looked last week.

Speaking of Wallace, he made a remarkable recovery from last week, and actually held onto the ball.  He ended up as the team’s top receiver on Sunday, catching 7 passes for 62 yards.

But perhaps the best performance of the day was turned in by running back Jonathan Dwyer.  Dwyer had his second 100+ yard rushing performance, as he ran for 107 yards on 17 carries.  But what has impressed me most is how Dwyer has been running.  He’s been a downhill runner who has started reminding Steelers fans of Jerome Bettis.

Now the Steelers have to prepare to face another NFC East opponent.  They will travel to New York to face Eli Manning and the New York Giants.  The Giants are the defending NFL champions, so this game is sure to provide a test for the Steelers.

Go Steelers!

Despite a terrible first half in which the Steelers didn’t look like they could catch anything (on offense OR defense), the Steelers rallied back  in the second half and beat the Cincinnati Bengals 24-17 (which was exactly the final score that I predicted for this game here).

The win takes the Steelers’ record to 3-3, which may not sound very impressive, but which actually gives them the 4th best record in the AFC.  Only the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans have a record that is above .500.  More importantly, the Steelers are in 2nd place in the AFC North, and they only have one more loss than the Baltimore Ravens (who the Steelers still have to play twice).

In the first half of the game, things sometimes didn’t look like the Steelers were going to win.  The defense missed the opportunity to get several turnovers.  In fact, they dropped several easy interceptions.  Likewise, the offense didn’t seem to want to win either.  Mike Wallace, in particular, looked like he had completely forgotten how to catch the ball.  In fact, Wallace failed to catch almost half of the passes that were thrown at him (he caught 8 of 15 passes thrown to him in the game).  And Big Ben didn’t look so hot either.  He threw an interception, and also lost the ball on a fumble.

But despite how bad the Steelers looked in the 1st half, they looked like a completely different team in the 2nd half.  Big Ben came out in the 2nd half and started completing passes to everyone not named Mike Wallace.  Heath Miller, Antonio Brown, and Emmanuel Sanders each turned in a good performance.

But it’s probably fair to say that the best performance of the night was turned in by Jonathan Dwyer.  Dwyer ran hard, and at times, he made Steelers  fans think that Jerome Bettis had returned to the team.

Dwyer carried the ball 17 times for 122 yards.  That’s an average of 7.2 yards per carry.  Nothing demoralizes a defense worse than consistently making long runs against them.  That being the case, I’m certain Dwyer left them completely demoralized.

Because the Steelers were so busy shooting themselves in the foot in the 1st half, it was easy to mistakenly believe that the Bengals were playing better than they actually were.  But if you look at the actual stats from the game, the Steelers dominated the Bengals.

The Steelers’ offense gained 431 net yards, compared to only 185 net yards by the Bengals.  Moreover,  Bengals QB Andy Dalton was held to a mere 105 yards passing.  That sounds more like a rushing total than a passing total.

The Steelers also dominated the time of possession battle.  They once again held the ball for over 35 minutes, which is becoming a hallmark of the Steelers offense.  They held the ball for a full 15 minutes more than the Bengals did during the game.  When you do that, you have a very good chance of winning the game.

Now the Steelers have to get ready to play star rookie Robert Griffin III next week as the Washington Redskins come to Heinz Field.

Go Steelers!

Tonight at 8:20 p.m. ET, our Steelers take on the Cincinnati Bengals in what has become a “must win” game for both teams.

For the Bengals, it’s a must win because they have to end the tailspin that they suddenly find themselves in.  The Bengals have lost their last two games.  More importantly, they’ve lost them to really bad teams.  Two weeks ago, they lost to the Miami Dolphins, a team that doesn’t instill fear into the hearts of many of their opponents.  Then last week they lost to the lowly Cleveland Browns, who we all know are the NFL’s equivalent of the cowardly lion.

The Bengals had already lost to the Baltimore Ravens in week 1 of the season.  So these two back to back losses suddenly left the Bengals with a 3-3 record, with two of their 3 losses coming from within the division.  A loss to the Steelers would be the Bengals’ third loss within the AFC North, and they still have to face the Ravens and Steelers again.  That’s not a good scenario for a team that had serious hopes of winning the division.

For the Steelers, the game is just as crucial.  With a record of 2-3, the Steelers are below .500, and really need a win today.  A loss would leave them with a 2-4 record, and no wins against division opponents.  Unlike the other teams in the AFC North, the Steelers haven’t faced any division opponents yet.  So they still have plenty of opportunities to dig themselves out from the three unexpected losses to non-division opponents.

But if the Steelers should lose today, they would have 1 loss within their division, and they’d still have to face the Bengals again later in the season.  More dauntingly, they still have two games to play against the Baltimore Ravens, a team that swept them last year.  The Ravens have been devastated by injuries, having lost Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb last week, but they’re still a dangerous team.

In order to beat the Bengals, the Steelers are going to have to find a way to shut down their most dangerous player; wide receiver A.J. Green.  Ordinarily, I would have said that the Steelers could simply assign Ike Taylor to cover him, and the threat of A.J Green would be neutralized.  Unfortunately, somebody replaced the Ike Taylor that we all knew with his doppelganger twin.  And Ike’s twin can’t play at all.  In fact, his only visible skill is an uncanny ability to draw pass interference penalties.  A.J. Green will completely destroy “Doppelganger Ike”.

To make matters even worse for the Steelers, Marcus Gilbert is out with an injury, and he’s being replaced by rookie Mike Adams in the starting lineup.  We all remember how poorly things went for Adams the last time he was called upon to play significant minutes.  Adams proved to us that it actually IS possible to be called for holding penalties more often than Willie Colon.  That’s a feat that I thought was a physical impossibility.

With Gilbert out of the lineup, the Steelers running game would likely have taken a step backwards from its already woeful state.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Both Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman have been ruled out for Sunday’s game.  So Jonathan Dwyer, Baron Batch, and Chris Rainey will have to carry the rushing load.

Fortunately, the Bengals’ run defense isn’t particularly good.   They’re ranked 21st in the NFL against the run, and they allow 116.8 yards per game on the ground.  They may be just the opponent that the Steelers need to get their running game back on track.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Steelers are also going to have challenges.  Troy Polamalu is still not ready to play.  His calf injury is still bothering him, and he’s been ruled out for Sunday’s game.  While Troy is only one person, he is a critical piece of the Steelers’ defense.  We’ve seen repeatedly over the past few years that the Steelers’ defense simply doesn’t work as well when Troy doesn’t play.

But on the positive side, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley will actually be on the field at the same time.  That’s been a rare sight over the past 16 games or so.  The Steelers can definitely pressure the quarterback better when both Woodley and Harrison are on the field.

Despite all of the injuries and adversity that the Steelers have faced, one thing has been consistent; Ben Roethlisberger.  Big Ben has been slinging the ball to his crew of highly talented receivers, and has been putting up very respectable stats.  That fact sometimes gets lost in the midst of the Steelers’ other struggles.  But it’s exactly that fact that I believe is going to be the Steelers’ salvation today.  I believe that even if the Steelers’ rushing attack flounders, Big Ben and his “Young Money” receivers are going to prove to be too much for the Bengals to handle.

I predict a Steelers win against their first AFC North opponent of the season.  Final score:  Steelers 24, Bengals 17.

If there’s one thing that I hate even more than a Steelers loss, it’s writing about a Steelers loss at 1:30 in the morning.  So I’m going to make this brief.

The Steelers lost 26-23 in a game that is going to leave them feeling embarrassed once they watch it on film.

The Steelers played badly on both sides of the ball.  In fact, they played badly in all 3 phases of the game.

On offense, they couldn’t run the ball effectively.  They accumulated only 56 yards rushing against a team that had been giving up 144 yards per game on the ground.  And injuries to the offensive line certainly didn’t help.  At one point, it looked like Heath Miller was going to have to line up as an offensive lineman.

And the wide receivers didn’t help much either.  Neither Mike Wallace nor Antonio Brown seemed like they were interested in catching the ball.  Sure, Mike Wallace had an 82 yard touchdown reception.  But outside of that, he and Antonio Brown caught only 6 of 14 passes that were thrown to them.

On defense, the Steelers couldn’t stop anything.  Ike Taylor and Keenan Lewis looked more like Abbott and Costello.  Is it just me, or is Ike Taylor getting beat on just about every play this season?

And the run defense wasn’t much better.    They allowed Chris Johnson to break out of his slump, just like they let Darren McFadden break out of his when they played the Oakland Raiders.  Players who are not having a good season shouldn’t suddenly find their groove against the Steelers.

And of course we have to mention special teams.  A blocked punt?  Really???!!!!

Heck, even the coaches can take some heat for this one.  Was a 54 yard field goal the right call when a miss would give the Titans good field position with almost a full minute to march down the field?  I’m sure that Mike Tomlin is now rethinking that decision.

The kick is good! Titans win.

The Steelers are now 0-3 on the road.  More importantly, they’ve lost to teams that have a combined record of 2-10 when they aren’t playing the Steelers.  So let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that they’ve lost to the Ravens or the Patriots.  They’re losing to bad teams.

There’s still time for the Steelers to turn things around.  But with 3 losses to AFC opponents, and two games left to play against both the Ravens and the Bengals, the playoffs are going to be hard to make.  Frankly, I don’t even care about the playoffs.  I’d just like to see the Steelers make it through the season without any more major injuries.

Go Steelers!