Steelers suffer difficult loss
Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely hate writing about Steelers’ losses. Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate! And after watching the Steelers lose 22-17 to the NY Jets, I don’t feel like typing a post-game article. Instead, I feel like throwing my computer out the window. I’m just being honest. But I can’t only report on Steelers victories. So write I must.
To lighten my mood, I’m going to start with the positives that I saw in the game.
Overall, the Steelers played well except for a few plays. Unfortunately, those plays proved to be costly.
The Good
- Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 100 yards. We haven’t seen him do that for a while, so that was definitely good to see. Not only did he rush for 100 yards, but he also averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
- As demonstrated by Mendenhall’s performance, the offensive line played pretty well. Yeah, they allowed Jason Taylor to come in untouched on that safety, but other than that, they looked pretty good.
- Mike Wallace also played well. He had 102 yards receiving, and should have had a touchdown. Unfortunately, the referees seemed to have reached an agreement to not make any pass interference calls on the Jets.
- Young Emmanuel Sanders had the best game of his career so far. He had 7 catches and actually led the team in receptions (Okay, he was tied with Mike Wallace. But he still did well). Way to go, Rookie!
- Shawn Suisham continues to hold perfection in a death grip. I’m hoping he can complete the season without a single miss. Wouldn’t that be a great story?
- Statistically, the Steelers also put up a nice performance. They generated 100 more yards of offense than the Jets. Ben threw for more yards than Sanchez. The team ran for more yards than the Jets. They had a greater time of possession than the Jets. They were more effective in the red zone than the Jets. But unfortunately, statistics don’t win games. And the Steelers didn’t win this one.
So lets look at what went wrong.
The Bad
- The most obvious problem was that the Steelers allowed the Jets to return the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Those seven points made a huge difference in the game.
- The second key problems was the safety. Many blamed Bruce Arians for calling a bad play. I don’t. I blame the blockers. Jason Taylor came in untouched. Somebody obviously blew their assignment. Were it not for that safety, the Steelers could have called on Shaun Suisham to kick a game-tying field goal late in the game, rather than being forced to go for a touchdown.
- Matt Spaeth had a few critical drops as well. He only caught 3 of the 8 passes that were thrown to him, and he had 3 bad drops early in the game. Get well soon, Heath.
- Big Ben didn’t have a great game either. He completed only 23 of 44 pass attempts, and was sacked 3 times. My question is why did Ben throw the ball 44 times while only giving it to Rashard Mendenhall 17 times? Wasn’t Mendenhall averaging 5.9 yards per carry? Hmmmmmm.
- And finally, the referees didn’t do the Steelers any favors. There were a few pass interference calls that weren’t called. One on Emmanuel Sanders was especially blatant.
So the Steelers are now 10-4, and have the same win-loss record as the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers still have an advantage over the Ravens in the first tie-breaker, so technically they’re ahead of the Ravens. But I felt much better when our record was better than theirs.
Now the Steelers have a short week before they have to face the Carolina Panthers on Thursday. I usually don’t like Thursday games. But in this case, I don’t want to wait until Sunday to get the bad taste of the Jets game out of my mouth. Yuck!
Here we go Steelers, here we go!
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First, some venting:
1) Our entire punt team sucked yesterday. We had no real returns and our punter could not down the ball inside the 20 despite 3 punts from around midfield. OK, its only his 2nd game but this just won’t cut it.
2) Yes, Taylor came in untouched…but what was Moore doing in the game at that point? Especially given the play call! Moore is a sound player with good hands but both Redmon and Mendenhall are just as good in blitz pick up and both have considerable more power (and, in Mendenhall’s case, agility). I love Moore – he was an instumental player in Pitt’s last Super Bowl run – but he’s done. This year he hasn’t been able to accomplish anything – he can’t get open, he can’t break tackles…so, why was he in there rather than Redmon or Mendenhall – both of whom have the power to, at least, get out of the endzone.
3) I didn’t get a chance to watch every play but whatever happened to Play action? I simply don’t see the Steeler’s use it anymore.
Second, some playoff lessons from this game.
1) Without Polomalu and Smith, our defense is merely good. Yes, they only gave up 13 points but they also only had 1 sack (for 0 yards) and 0 turnovers. If neither play in the playoffs, we will be lucky to win our first game.
2) I am losing confidence in Tomlin’s decision making in pressure situations. On a 4th-3 around midfield with only 7 minutes left – he decides to punt. That is generally considered the “safe” choice but, in this case, it made little sense except to avoid criticism (i.e. coaches are criticized for going for it and failing but not for punting…regardless of the outcome). The punt team had been lousy all day – the Jets had just scored on the last 2 possesions – all the Jets needed to do was run time off the clock – and you only need 3 yards! His decision = punt. The result – the Jets start at their 25, run over 4 minutes off the clock – and pin the Steelers at the 2.
I hate Belichick but the one thing I give him the credit for is that he is willing to take chances – regardless of criticism – to win games.
1Boy, I’m starting to sound like Tony.
2I agree with John for the mostpart, I like Moore but Medenhall is our dude and if the call was a run he had to be in the game and I also agree with the fact that punting game was weak all day so we should have definately went for that fourth down.
3I do disagree with your take on Ben playing poorly, I think overall he played pretty well. He brought the ball down and ran it a couple crucial times even with a broken foot and I thought he threw the ball pretty well considering the drops and at least one or two fairly obvious pass interference calls that went unflagged, although early on he did overthrow Wallace badly a couple times.
We definately need Troy and Smith back for the playoffs or we need this offense to play more agressively because sometimes to me it seems they are out there just going through the motions unless their backs are to the wall and they are satisfied with winning these close games, we are in jeopardy of losing every single game and as a fan I am biting my nails every fourth quarter trying to sweat out a victory when we are talented enough to blow some of these teams out…I dont know but I’m beginning to ramble so I’m out
Nah, you don’t sound like Tony.
But speaking of Tony, it’s his fault that the Steelers lost. He forgot to pick the Jets to beat us. We know that whenever he picks the Steelers to lose, they always win. So where was he when we needed him, eh?
I’d suggest we all get some tar and feathers and go looking for him.
4On occasion the Steeler defense will have an OK versus great game. This offense does not step up to take the slack. Overall the finger usually gets pointed to the Oline or the play calling and personnel deployment of Bruce Arians.
The Oline isues are understandable with both starting tackles out and failed draft picks with Hills and Urbik. That leaves you know who as the chief recipient of the dagger of blame.
I once thought Bruce was unfairly blamed but week after week of scoring offense can’t be ignored. Not with the kind of weapons we now have in the fold. Our skill personnel matches closely with Philly’s; super fast receivers, Jackson and our Wallace: Running back with McCoy and our Mendenhall: toough QB play with Vick and our Ben.
Sorry, we should be lighting up the scoreboard like a pin ball machine with a broken tilt mechanism.
5Sorry, you can’t blame Tony on this one. He DID predict a loss back on the Preview article (Jets 16, Pitt 9).
We’ll have to find someone else to tar and feather.
Of course, as you pointed out, since we play Carolina on Thursday, at least we’ll be able to get the bad taste of this loss out of our mouths.
(Unless a frigid cold front with heavy winds hits on Thursday night and Arian’s goes pass happy with empty backfields and they give up 8 sacks…but…that could never happen…could it?)
6Some good news: Steelers clinched a playoff spot this week, due to some weird strength of victory tiebreaker. Yeah, I don’t get it either, but hey, can’t complain. The next two games are winnable.
7Can’t blame Tony? Just watch me.
I actually did miss his prediction for a Steelers loss. However, now that I know that he predicted a loss, then I’m gonna blame the loss on him. He shouldn’t have said the Jets were going to win. He jinxed us!!!!! So it IS Tony’s fault.
Where is that tar and feathers people? Tony’s getting away. Get those bloodhounds on his trail. We can’t let him escape! He’s responsible for the Steelers’ loss, and he’s gonna pay!!!!
8Well, here I am! And yes, john, you do sound like me. That’s not a bad thing right now. And so much so I have little to add! Thats twice youve done that to me.
My fault? It’s your fault Donald. You protect the steelers like youre their mama.LOL Fans do have a say in the nfl. When the noise gets too loud about a player or coach or philosophy, etc… ownership eventually breaks.
You mentioned the Good and the Bad….May I add the UGLY?
John almost elaborated on it. FIELD POSITION!! The jets were always starting near the 35yd line after every kickoff or punt. Oh except the first one of course. So it just wan’t the return for td…..it’s coverage period. I would have liked to see the D play better than yesterday but hey….All the jets had to do is get a first down and they were usually on our side of the field already.
And to BA…..and I quote “It will all work itself out”, BA said talking about offensive woes and RZ productivity. Should have been fired on the spot after saying that! We have some great offensive talent and he is letting it go to nothing and without accountability.
And I can run fast so good luck with that tar and feathers. Plus John proabably has my back.
9(I posted this on game night so it’s pretty raw. Why are the coaches getting a free pass in the press? What are the talk shows saying? THIS seems to be the only place where we call like it is! A lot of people are breathing their own exhaust fumes!)
10Game is over and I am PO-ed. We have lived with a sub-par offense for too long. Our fans and our media have given the Steelers a pass for too long. That game was lost by the Offense-period. Ben 22 of 43 sucks! [Frickin' Rex Grossman was 25 of 43 today and he had 4 TD’s!!] The red zone sequence at the end of the game said it all! This is after Ben & BA had a ‘red zone conference’ last week…stud QB and omniscient Offensive coordinator and this is the result! Our RZ performance has been terrible for way too long. It is time that we stop feeling good about ourselves and our beloved Steelers and recognize what it is that we have— an under performing Offense made up of poor, un-imaginative play calling, & erratic execution. (For once I won’t bash the O-line because except for he egregious play by Scott on the safety, Ben had plenty of time.) Ladies & gentlemen, we need to raise the bar and it starts with what we accept!
Actually our run defense has been just fine without Smith. I know I’ll be glad to get him back, but Ziggy, and for a time Eason did really well. The OL hasn’t been able to overcome the numerous injuries, and we will only go as far as they can take us.
Is it just me, or has the offense run more 3-step drops, trick plays (not so much this week) and screens than usual? I think BA is trying some things to help the OL.
We’ll see how it goes.
11it’s just you
12Actually, I don’t think it is just him. They have been trying more trick plays. The problem is that the trick plays haven’t been effective.
I think it’s time for everyone to admit that the Steelers aren’t capable of certain things right now. The offensive line has been hurt all year. They just don’t have the personnel right now to play a physical, smash-mouth running game. That’s probably why BA gives up so easily on the run. But I still think that he gives up on the run too quickly. Rashard was running well last game, and when we needed to get into the endzone, what did BA do? Passes.
The defense also has its struggles. I agree with whoever said that Ziggy and Eason have done a great job for Aaron and Keisel. But we all know that our cornerbacks suck, and that’s not changing this season. And now we’re without Troy. We don’t have anybody that can replace Troy the way Ziggy and Nick replaced Keisel & Smith.
Finally, we’ve brought in a new punter AND kicker since the season started. That’s a lot of adversity to overcome. But the Steelers have done it.
I’m proud of them for doing as well as they have, but I just think they’ve had too many injuries to make it all the way to Super Bowl #7. I know that people hate hearing that, but I think it’s true.
The one positive that I take out of all of this is that hopefully the Steelers see what a difference Pouncey has made on the offensive line. Maybe that will convince them that patching together an offensive line full of 4th & 5th round draft picks may not be the most effective way to go.
Next year’s draft is going to be VERY interesting.
13A few final points.
1) I am not going to defend Bruce Arians play calling but, as far as the run-pass balance, he called a pretty balanced game aganist the Jets – considering the Jets were without both of their safeties. What makes it look pass happy was the fact that we passed something like 13-14 times in the final drive.
2) While Ziggy and Eason have held up in run defense, they have not had the impact of Smith in pass defense. The pressure Smith and Kiesal are able to generate (despite being 3-4 ends) cannot be underestimated.
3) I don’t hate hearing it – I do not expect the Steelers to win the Superbowl either…but I think they have a chance if both Troy and Aaron are back for the playoffs (and no additional injuries occur). The Steelers should end up with the 2-seed and I like their chances at home against any of the teams they might face (again, only if Aaron and Troy play). After that, they would presumably go to New England – where they would likely lose but could conceivably win.
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