Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

I’m still having a hard time accepting what happened.  Five fumbles, three interceptions, and a loss to the Browns.  Yikes!

It’s time for our weekly haiku contest, but I don’t think this week’s entries are going to be very nice.  Nope, I don’t think they’re going to be nice at all.  But the contest must go on.

The contest rules are simple. You must summarize the Steelers-Browns 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:

Another fumble
Christmas came early for Browns
Gift wrapped turnovers

Okay readers, it’s your turn.  Lets see who can come up with the best haiku about the Steelers-Browns game.  Your haiku must be about the game, or any other interesting topics that are directly related to the game (e.g. the historic rivalry, Charlie Batch getting the start, the incredible number of turnovers, 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 final score was 20-14.  That’s not surprising.  AFC North games are usually hard-fought contests.  But what was surprising was the fact that the Cleveland Browns ended up with 20 points, while the Pittsburgh Steelers only had 14.  I’ll bet nobody saw that coming.

The game started off on a positive note.  In the first minute, Lawrence Timmons intercepted a Cleveland pass and ran it back for a touchdown.  The Steelers quickly led 7-0.  But things quickly went south from there.

The Steelers went on to turn the ball over not once.  Not twice.  Not three times.  Not 4 times.  Not 5 times.  Not 6 times.  Not 7 times.  No, the Steelers turned the ball over an amazing 8 times.

Charlie Batch threw 3 interceptions.  And if that weren’t enough to put the nail in the Steelers coffin, fumbles sealed the deal.  Rashard Mendenhall fumbled the ball.  So did Isaac Redman.  So did Jonathan Dwyer.  And Chris Rainey.  And Emmanuel Sanders.  Everyone seemed to want to get in on the fun.

Regardless of how bad your opponent may be, it’s hard for any NFL team to overcome 8 turnovers.  It almost looked like the Steelers were trying to shoot themselves in the leg (excuse the pun, but welcome back Plax).

The Steelers started off the game with a very conservative game plan.  They handed the ball to the running backs early and often.  And the running backs fumbled the ball early and often in return.  When the Steelers finally let Charlie Batch start passing the ball, it seemed as though they did it out of frustration over the recurrent fumbles, and not because they really trusted Charlie.

And Batch didn’t give them any reason to trust him.  When he wasn’t throwing interceptions, he was missing targets, sometimes badly.  For example, he proved that he just doesn’t have the arm strength to run the fly pattern with Mike Wallace.

Batch ended the game with a QB rating of only 38.7.  That’s a JaMarcus Russell level QB rating, and that’s not a good thing.  Batch completed 20 of 34 passes with 3 interceptions and no touchdowns.

Some Steelers fans were calling for Charlie Batch to get the start last week instead of Byron Leftwich.  But I doubt that those same people are nearly as enthusiastic now that Batch has actually started a game.

Don’t get me wrong.  I like Charlie Batch.  But Batch will be 38 years old in a week and a half.  He’s easily the oldest player on the team.  And with a 32 year old Byron Leftwich as the backup, I wish they had a 20-something third string quarterback on the roster instead of one who is almost 40 years old.

Despite the team’s offensive woes, the defense actually played a pretty good game.  They sacked Browns’ quarterback Brandon Weeden 4 times, intercepted him once, and rushed him many more times.  They also held him to only 158 total passing yards.  They also held the Browns to only 108 total rushing yards.  Ordinarily that would have been a fine defensive performance.  But it wasn’t enough to overcome 8 turnovers.

The Steelers now find themselves with a 6-5 record.  That’s the same record as the Cincinnati Bengals.  However, if the playoffs were to start today, the Steelers would earn the final AFC playoff spot (the 6th seed) due to a better record against conference foes.

The Steelers must travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens next week.  It goes without saying that a win in that game is crucial.  So Baltimore, here we come.

Go Steelers!

I’m probably being overly nostalgic.  But I long for the good old days when Steelers vs. Browns was one of the most important games of the year.  I’m getting sick of meaningless games against the Browns.

Sure, playing the Browns will always be important because division wins help determine playoff position.  And since the Browns are still in the same division as the Steelers, that gives the game meaning.  But it’s not the same meaning that the game once carried.

Pittsburgh and Cleveland are the closest cities geographically in the AFC North.  The two cities are so close, you can drive back and forth between them in just a couple of hours.  Many Pittsburghers have family members in Cleveland, and vice versa.  Pittsburgh and Cleveland are both former rust belt cities that have come roaring back.  They’re natural rivals.  Or at least they should be.  But it’s hard to maintain a rivalry when one of the teams almost never wins the game.  When that happens, “rivalry” is no longer the appropriate word.  “Domination” is.  And in recent history, the Steelers have dominated the Browns.

The Steelers have won 16 of the past 17 meetings with the Browns.  If that’s not domination, then I don’t know what is.

Despite drafting early in almost every draft, the Browns just don’t seem to get any better.  This year, they’re in last place in the AFC North.  Sound familiar?

The Browns do have 2 wins this year.  One of the came against the Cincinnati Bengals (thank you), and the other came against the San Diego Chargers.  They’ve also played close games against the Ravens, Cowboys, Colts, and Eagles.  So they shouldn’t be taken too lightly.

The thing that will probably keep the game interesting isn’t what the Browns do, but what the Steelers don’t do.  For example, the Steelers won’t be starting Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.  Nor will they be starting backup quarterback Byron Leftwich.  Nope, this week Charlie Batch, the Steelers’ 3rd string quarterback will be getting the start.

The Steelers also won’t be starting Troy Polamalu at safety.  Polamalu continues to suffer from a calf injury which has kept him off the field for most of the season.

The Steelers also won’t have Antonio Brown or Jericho Cotchery at wide receiver.  That’s why the Steelers chose to bring in Plaxico Burress.

And the Steelers won’t have Marcus Gilbert this week at right tackle.  I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but rookie Mike Adams has done a less than stellar job of filling in for Gilbert.  I know that he’s a rookie, and that this playing experience will be good for him in the long term.  But I just hope he doesn’t get Charlie Batch killed as he’s trying to learn how to play the position.

Despite all of the players who are injured, I’m certain the Steelers will find a way to beat the Browns.  But the score may be closer than you expect.

Go Steelers!

I apologize for being late announcing this week’s haiku contest winners.  I’ve been traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I hope that you readers understand and forgive the delay.

The Steelers’ loss to the Ravens sparked some interesting responses.  This one is not one of this week’s winners.  But I want to share it, simply because it captures the emotions that I was feeling following the Steelers’ loss.  This haiku was submitted by James Chapdelaine:

Poop, poop, poop, poop, poop
Crappy, crappy, crappy, crap
I hate the Ravens

I couldn’t have said it better myself, James.  Well done!

The loss obviously made this week’s entries a bit less joyous than they usually are.  With that said, here are this week’s winners.

In third place, we have HP, who submitted this entry.

The biggest game yet
Defensive play says it all
Dick LeBeau showed up

In second place is Sam with this haiku.

Leftwich ran it in
And a win seemed quite likely
Could not close it out

And in first place we have this excellent haiku that was written by Paul.

Leftwich could not throw
Tomlin didn’t seem to care
Third and long thrown short

Congratulations guys!  Those were all excellent!

Next up, the Steelers face the Cleveland Browns.  It would be easy to take the Browns for granted, but that would be a mistake.  The Browns always get up for the Steelers.  And the Steelers’ injuries aren’t going to make it any easier.

Charlie Batch will be getting the start against the Browns.  And maybe Plaxico Burress will even get onto the field at some point.  This should be a good game.

Go Steelers!

The Steelers went back to the future today.   They signed former first round draft pick Plaxico Burress.

Burress was drafted by the Steelers back in 2000.  The 6’5″ wide receiver made his presence known during his sophomore season, when he had over 1,000 receiving yards.

In 2004, when Ben Roethlisberger became the Steelers’ starting quarterback as a rookie, Burress quickly became his closest friend on the team, as well as his favorite receiving target.  Burress left the Steelers as a free agent in Big Ben’s second season, but Roethlisberger was very vocal about his preference for tall receivers.  In fact, it was that preference that led the Steelers to start drafting tall wide receivers like Dallas Baker, Toney Clemons, Fred Gibson, and He Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken (you know who I mean).

Now that I think about it, Ben kinda screwed the team by making his preference for tall receivers known.  But that’s a conversation for another time.

Burress went to the New York Giants when he left the Steelers in 2005.  He played there until he had that unfortunate night club incident that resulted in him shooting himself in the leg and receiving prison time.  When he got out of prison, he signed with the New York Jets, and had a fairly productive 2011 season in which he had over 600 yards receiving, and scored 8 touchdowns.  Nevertheless, the Jets didn’t sign him for a second season.  Instead, Burress sat at home, hoping to be signed by somebody.  Anybody.  And today, he got his wish.

Burress doesn’t have the speed that he once had.  But he’s 6’5.  That’s something that none of the “Young Money” receivers can say.  And we know that it’s a trait that Big Ben likes.  If nothing else, Plax should make a good target in the red zone.

By the way, the Steelers also signed another backup quarterback.   Most fans have probably never heard of him before, so I’m going to leave it that way and not talk about him.  Just know that there’s a new guy on the team who will probably never set foot on the field.

Go Steelers!