Sigh…
The defense is playing great. That’s all - good night…
There’s an elephant in the room.
It’d be easy to blame this one on Batch, and certainly he was significant. But to be clear, you guys put everything into your run game, and the Browns utterly crushed it. Those 4 fumbles weren’t batch - they were the Browns d-line utterly smashing the fuck out of anything in their way. A gameplan totally dedicated to the run, and you gained 32 yards.
The Browns offense sucked too, and your defense played well, but let’s not dismiss what actually happened.
Even though the Browns have lost obviously almost every game in recent history, the last few years they’ve been really beating you up. Real AFC North shit.
The team has to look better this week, even if Ben is still out. There are some positive signs; Polamalu is likely to be back, Brown is back, Mendenhall is now the 3rd back on the depth chart and Wallace is sharing his spot with Emmanuel Sanders. I like those moves. The situation at Right Tackle is a bit unsettled with both Gilbert and Adams injured but things could be a lot worse. I’m confident the D will keep playing well, we need the offense to start pulling their share of the load. Batch didn’t play well but there was lots of blame to go around for that last abysmal performance.
Ben has been ruled out. That’s gotta hurt for you Steelers fans but I won’t be happy til the final score is in the Ravens favor. I wish it was Sunday already.
Oh, go Chargers! 
Chargers aren’t until next week. The Steelers will do their best in this one but know the odds are against them. They’ll phase Polamalu back in, schedule Ben for next week and start with the Chargers in the quest for the playoffs. Winning this one would be a bonus.
The Bengals play the Chargers. If the Chargers win, the Ravens win the division provided they beat the Steelers. So, go Chargers!
Ah, I see. 
The Ravens will almost certainly win the division, Pittsburgh needs to focus on the playoffs. Sitting Ben out this week is the right move, especially with the offensive line in flux. I’ll even root for the Chargers this week too. Go Chargers! Win emotional this week and come out flat next week!
I STILL think Pittsburgh is going to win this game. Yes, I’m a homer. Yes, hope springs eternal. And yet, against The vaunted Ratbirds they had a chance until the very end with a second-string quarterback with broken ribs. This week they are still without Ben, but they get Troy and Antonio Brown back. The loss last week wasn’t Batch’s fault, how can you ask a third-string QB to cover for the severe fumblitis of the running backs? Remember, two of those picks came in the fourth quarter when they had to throw to try to win, long after the running backs with the Vaseline-covered hands had given the game away.
Oh, it’ll be close, but if the idiots on special teams don’t toss it away like they did two weeks ago I think Pittsburgh wins another barnburner.
Not to let lazy Wide Receivers off the hook either. Fingers pointed squarely at Wallace and Burress.
Agreed. Wallace looks like he’s just not mentally in the game. He looks like a guy who does not want to get hurt and screw up a possible multi-year contact with a big signing bonus. He’s been more of a liability than an asset this year. I still cant figure out the Burress signing. The Steelers never being problem children back into their locker room, especially one they got rid of at the beginnning of his career. He looks slow. He looks old. He looks like a bad signing. It’s nice he is tall, but he can’t jump anymore. Shorter, In shape conrerbacks outjump him. He now looks like a black Weegie Thompson. Apparently, Tomlin knew him from his high school days. That’s nice, but its PLAXICO!
This season is completely FUBARED if the Steelers lose. The over/under of Troy getting hurt and leaving the game is 8 minutes gone in the 3rd quarter.
Truly the better team won today. Ravens will probably still win the division though.
Not sure what you’re talking about; the Bears lost.
That game alone was worth what I paid for Sunday Ticket. Awesome win for the Steelers, though a couple key bonehead mistakes cost us likely another 11 points. This is a huge win for the playoff push.
NM
14 points, actually.
So, the refs made some hideous calls to hand Baltimore their first touchdown with a bow on it, Stone Hands Holdout had a lousy game, Sanders almost pissed it away, Batch made one bad decision, and that play with Brown throwing was criminal. But they won. Heath Miller is beast, Spindenhall didn’t play, Troy didn’t get hurt… all in all, it was quite the satisfying weekend.
That said, Pittsburgh needs to get ahead and stay there. They take weeks off my life every time they play.
Nahhl…we got 3 on the drive where Batch missed Wallace wide open in the end zone. So, 11. That Sanders fumble could have meant the game…he had a wide open field ahead of him…that’s a TD for sure, but for butterfingers.
The Sanders fumble accounted for 7, and the Brown interception accounted for the other 7. 14 total points on turnovers. It’s worse if you count the points the Steelers left on the field.
How so? It took Baltimore 6 plays and 63 yards to score after recovering Sanders’ fumble. That’s not “points off a turnover.” If the defense doesn’t directly score or at least set up the offense in scoring position, it shouldn’t count as points resulting from a turnover. An absurd example is if a running back fumbles at his opponent’s 1-yard line and the defense recovers with no advancement. The offense then takes 12 plays to go 99 yards and score a touchdown. That would be considered “points off a turnover” in the stats. Ridiculous.