Steelers get another too close win
October 10, 2009
By Donald Starver
I know that I should be happy that the Steelers defeated the Detroit Lions 28-20 today, yet I feel strangely unfulfilled.
Many fans have already written to remind me that a win is a win, and that I should be satisfied. But I’m not satisfied. Perhaps I’m ungrateful. Perhaps I’m too demanding. But I’m not satisfied at all.
I am happy that the Steelers are finally above .500. I really am. But I’m not happy with how they did it. After all, these were the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers facing one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Lions went 0-16 last season. So could you blame me for desiring a blowout? Reigning champs should beat reigning chumps…..Soundly.
So why did the Lions score first? And why did the Lions run for more yards than the Steelers? Why did the Lions also pass for more yards than the Steelers? Why did the Lions have more first downs than the Steelers? Why did the Lions have a greater time of possession than the Steelers? And why did the Lions outscore the Steelers in the 4th quarter?
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I really don’t. But these are questions that have to be asked.
To be fair, there were some bright spots in the Steelers’ win. James Harrison accumulated 3 sacks and a forced fumble. William Gay and LaMarr Woodley each racked up 1.5 sacks. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 77 yards on 15 carries. Heath Miller scored another touchdown. Hines Ward and Mike Wallace also caught TD passes. And of course Big Ben passed for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns.
But even with all of those positives, there were still things that left me baffled. For example, why did the Steelers seem to stop going to Rashard Mendenhall in the 2nd half? Mendenhall started off on fire and rushed for 65 yards in the 1st half. But offensive coordinator Bruce Arians seemed to forget about him as Mendenhall only got 6 carries and 12 yards in the entire 2nd half. Note to Bruce Arians: When a running back is averaging over 5 yards per carry, GIVE HIM THE BALL!!!!!!
RB Rashard Mendenhall
Also, why did the Steelers throw the ball to Limas Sweed on their very first offensive series? As might be expected, Sweed dropped an easy pass. Fortunately, the Steelers learned from their mistake and didn’t throw to Sweed again for the rest of the game. Frankly, I was under the impression that Mike Tomlin had Sweed chained up in the basement of the Steelers’ practice facility. Who let him out?
Perhaps most disappointing was the Steelers’ defense. The ” D” made Lions quarterback Daunte Culpepper look like Peyton Manning. Culpepper shreaded our defense. He also rushed for 44 yards. Culpepper, who was only playing due to an injury to starter Matthew Stafford, did all of that without star wide receiver Calvin Johnson who left early in the game with an injury.
So perhaps you now understand why this game left me feeling a little unfulfilled. Sure, it’s a win. But I’m not happy about it. Nope, I’m not happy at all.
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Don ,you could not have said it any better . I think a lot of people feel this way.I know I do. I think tomlin playing by the seat of his pants. He needs to get off his ass, that includes BA and get their act together or were not goingto be in the playoffs.
1It certainly wasn’t pretty.
2Well the game is over. A “W” is a “W”. However, why is our D so beleaguered? So different than last year…why? #43? #50? #20?A bit older; a bit slower? Execution? Other teams have ‘caught on’? A strange combination of all of the above? I keep looking for week to week improvements (Gay is young; he should play better. Timmons is getting more experience. etc.) but they are hard to find. Today was not a good defensive performance.
3I’d love to know what LeBeau & Tomlin are seeing on film and working to improve.
It is exciting but I’ll take a boring 21-3 game!!
I, like you, find it hard to get any satifaction from yesterday’s win. Staying in the game when all goes wrong, however, lends to my taking an ugly win over a pretty loss. My rationale being I’d rather get a win now and peak later in the season than to decline when we really can’t afford to. Your point is quite valid, and I hope Coach Tomlin will address this issue ASAP.
4donald,
i could not have said it better. We understand that our D is going through a funk right now. And yes, Troy has been out, yada, yada, yada. But it looks like we play to our opponent. Not gonna get fellas.
The biggest concern for me right now is, like you pointed out as well, why in the world do you move away from Mendy! We finally have a running game and we don’t seem to want to use it in the 2nd half.
I suppose it doesn’t matter to me anymore if they bring Parker back as starter when healed up. They don’t seem to want many ground yards in the 2nd half anyway!
I’m glad you have said all things things and asked the tough, but true, questions. Because when I post them I usually get blasted by other fans and the writer of the article.
5Hey did you read Arians’ comments in the PG? He said that in the2nd Half he got greedy and (basically) forgot about the running game. Are you freakin’ kidding me?? WTH! (a slightly cleaner version)And what is Tomlin doing/saying during this time? Our coach talks a lot about accountability and we all eat it up. Time to dish some of that same medicine out to his O-coordinator.
6I’ve already ranted on the D. Thanks for the venting…I needed it!
John #21,
7Wow, I can’t believe that quote. I hadn’t read that yet, and I am shocked. He “forgot about the running game”?!!! Are you kidding me?
Tony,
We are agreeing more and more lately. That’s scary.
I was absolutely baffled by Arians’ play calling in the second half. What was he thinking?
8Jay,
9Don’t get me wrong. I too will take a win over a loss anytime. But that particular win just wasn’t very satisfying. It was kind of like eating rice cakes.
I, unfortunately, must agree. This was not a dominant win. Yes there were many high points but there were also some disturbing points (already described above in detail).
The defense simply does not seem the same this year. Is it due to missing Polamalu? Too early to tell since he’s only played a half for the entire season.
On the positive side we will be 4-2 after next week and Polamalu will be back (at least) by the Viking game (which will be a real test). Yes, I am looking past the Browns game. If the Browns beat the Steelers at home it is undoubtedly a sign of the Apocalypse and we will have more important things to worry about.
10donald,
big ben for O-coord!!!!! lol
11After reading B.A.’s comments, I guess I can’t include him in this, but my impression of the Steelers’ efforts is that they weren’t playing with the same level of intensity as they would have facing the Ravens.
They seemed to be able to do what they wanted at will – how else do you explain the D ratcheting up the pressure at command on the Lions’ last possesion? The problem is that they seemed to lack the will to crush the Lions.
We’ll never hear this reported, but I thought because of Lebeau’s ties to Detroit and Larry Foote’s ties to Pittsburgh, maybe they dialed it down enough to make the Lions respectable. Like I said, we’ll never hear about that, even if it was true. But the Steelers effort in the game did give me that impression.
12Lenny,
I see what you mean, but the team can’t afford to play down to the level of the competition. They have to bring their “A game” each week, or they run the risk of losing.
When they got those 3 sacks at the end of the game, I found myself thinking “why haven’t you been doing this all day long?”
13Tony,
14Unfortunately, we all know that Big Ben is the best offensive coordinator that the Steelers have.
Amen brother. This team is not playing like the World Champions. Seems like the coaches need to get on the same page and put a consistent game plan that lasts a full 4 quarters.
15AAAHHHHHHH!
Aaron Smith is “out” indefinately with a “potentially significant” shoulder injury.
As I recall what happened to our defense the last time Aaron missed significant time…Now, I am truly worried.
16Well Don we are not consistent on defense right now due to some new young players but don’t panic its going to get better. However i would like to see our D line get platooned a little more so they’re not so tired in the 4th quarter. Maybe that will help some.
17Hey Craig!!!!! What a surprise. How are you? Glad to see you here. We’ll have to catch up soon. Good to hear from you.
18