Well, they surely tried to lose it, and they need big-time help on defense, but they pulled it out. All that matters is the win. Next game they might set the world on fire, or they might shit the bed. You just never know which Steelers team will show up.
I never thought I’d be glad to get Goddamn Ike Taylor back, but I’ll take it right now. Also, Polamalu ought to be back soon, as will Ryan Chandeli… er, Shazier. Maybe he’ll stay healthy this time. And Jarvis Jones, eventually. Lots of hope, now they just need to perform. Bell showed what he had with a 200+ yard game, and the offensive line made some good adjustments, but Ben still got teed up and there was too much HaleyBall in the first half which went nowhere. Ben’s bad decision cost them at the end of the first half as well, mainly because the damn secondary forgot to play to the end of the half.
But again, the win is all that matters. Ugly, beautiful, it’s all the same in the standings.
Some sportswriter tweeted a few weeks ago (during the Baltimore game) that no team goes from incompetent to unstoppable quicker than the Steelers. I think that’s pretty much the truest thing I’ve read about this Steelers team.
I don’t really understand why they ran Bell like that. It’s kind of bullshit to expect a guy to just carry the ball every play, all the way up the field, after already totaling 100 yards. Where the fuck were Blount and Archer? I mean, yes, Bell was running great, and he was very effective, but that’s just going to get him injured.
Maybe it was because of the upcoming bye week. But I still think that losing Blount is a big deal. He’s an idiot for walking out. He had the occasional “beast mode” speed and strength that is a rarity. Now we risk overworking Bell, which puts the season and the longevity of Bell’s career at risk.
There are some decent free agent options available but I’m still quite surprised they released him. If Bell does go down I’m not as worried about a new guy coming in to carry the ball so much as their ability to take on the pass protection which will involve a steep learning curve. I sure don’t think Archer is the right man for the job.
I think the Browns are probably fucked. The injuries keep piling up. Dansby is out, and he’s the clear leader of the defense. I think they have 6 people out on the front 7. The defense was actually starting to come together, but it keeps losing people. They never got their running game because the replacement isn’t playing even at league average, let alone up to Mack’s level of play. I think it’s unlikely they win 4 games to finish the season out, and that looks like 10-6 isn’t a guarantee to make the playoffs by a long shot.
I do think they’ll beat Atlanta. The matchup is good. Atlanta is shitty at stopping the run, Gordon is back, and they can be beat by big play action passes which is what has lead the Browns offense to success.
The Falcons out-Brownsed the Browns, so that was kind of nice. Usually inexplicable endings end up resulting in a Browns loss.
The way the Browns were playing, they should’ve won 45-20. Hoyer had a whole lot of “wtf was that” passes and was his worst game this year. The Browns dominated on defense even with the injuries. The secondary has been flat out amazing in coverage and Ryan should’ve been picked 3 or 4 times except for some dropped easy interceptions. Pizza Lunchables were thrown on the field.
I mean, winning ugly is as much a win as any other, so I’m happy with 7-4, but man was that rough.
It’s weird. Hoyer got the Browns to 7-4, overachieving with a receiving corps with serious physical limitations, and yet somehow he’s also simultaneously the biggest anchor on the team. I don’t know what you do with that. He makes boneheaded plays that the average NFL QB wouldn’t, and then makes clutch comeback drives most QBs don’t.
I mean, you pretty much have to ride him out from here, knowing that some of his boneheaded stuff may end up costing you the playoffs, right? You can’t just swap out an unknown rookie with 5 games left while you’re 3 games over 500. And yet Hoyer was the main reason in this game we barely squeaked by with a win instead of crushing them by 30 points. At the same time, he lead a game winning drive with 45 seconds left.
And to think that some Steelers fans were actually hoping Goddamn Ike Taylor would be back. He’s responsible for 3 touchdowns, a personal foul to set up another, and a ton of passes for first downs. Stills is having a career day while Graham hasn’t even seen the ball.
OK, worked up the scenarios on the Playoff Machine, picking legitimate favorites, not just teams I hope will win. We all know it won’t happen that way, but if every favorite wins Pittsburgh can lose one more game, doesn’t matter to who, and they’ll make the playoffs. The seeding changes depending upon the scenario, but in the end they’ll be playing Wild Card weekend. But they can only lose one more. They have the Bengals next week in Cincy, then at Atlanta, then KC and the Bengals at home. Any 3 of those 4.
That also might change depending upon who gets “upset”, but counting on upsets is a really, really bad way to go and results in last year’s KC debacle, and in any event is impossible to calculate without coming up with a million different scenarios. It’ll be clearer in a few weeks.
That said, they could always use the help. So blow a few easy ones, everybody. Pittsburgh spotted you a few, give something back.
What’s going on with Ben’s hand? Even before hitting it on Lofton’s wrist (which didn’t look all that bad anyway) his throws were off and the announcers mentioned he was handing the ball off with his left hand in practice. He never pump faked once in the game that I recall.
And yeah, Ike Taylor. I’ve defended him in the past but that was terrible. It doesn’t help that Polamalu can’t cover anymore and Mitchell isn’t good enough to do it all by himself. Actually, now that I think of it, Stonehands Taylor would make a better safety than Mitchell. I don’t recall the last Steeler safety who spent as much time as Mitchell running up to ball carriers and then just collapsing around their legs to hang on for the ride until someone else comes to bring them down. I don’t know who I would cut first, Mitchell or Cam Thomas who has turned back into the Amazing Human Blocking Sled.
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Cincy realistically needs at a minimum 2 wins out of the next four games to at least get into the playoffs. Three wins seals the division. If we can keep bad Andy on the sidelines for a little while that’s do-able, but Jesus Christ, Andre Smith out for the year is a HUGE blow to the oline as Newhouse just plain fucking sucks. We HAVE to take one from the Steelers and at least beat the Browns, which, on paper should be attainable given their injuries. I am not counting on a win over Denver in our last home game although they have looked strangely vulnerable at times.
What a weird season so far. There’s not really a team outside of maybe Green Bay and possibly the Patriots that’s looked dominant. So much parity causing rollercoaster results.