STEELERS V. BROWNS GAME II: DISASTER (TEMPORARILY?) AVERTED

After a great win against the Bengals even on a short week this game should have been a blow-out. Prior to this week the Steelers were 12-1 in their last 13 games against the Browns and 20-2 in the last 22. Kind of reminds one of the "0-for-Three-Rivers" days. Three first-half events and an injury to Ben Roethlisberger, limiting his mobility in the second half, turned it into a close contest. The events were:

1. The Steelers' defense stopping Cleveland inside at the 5 yard line on the game's first series forcing them to settle for a field goal. This occurred, for the second consecutive week, after a TD was nullified, this time by review.

2. Hines Ward's fumble at the Cleveland 15 yard line on the Steelers' second possession.

3. Heath Miller's fumble at the Cleveland 9 yard line on the Steelers' third possession after an interception by Troy Polamalu (his first of the year).



In the second half the plays that kept the game close were:

1. An interception thrown by Ben.

2. A Browns goal-line stand, stopping the Steelers on four plays inside the 5. By the way, where was Isaac Redman in this sequence? Personally, I think Tomlin defers to Mendenhall too many times on short yardage situations just to keep his ego boosted but I wonder how he felt after being busted on four-straight runs.

3. The Steelers' stopping the Browns (and the Browns contributing to it) inside the red zone on their final drive of the game with the score still 7-3.

4. William Gay's end zone interception.



THE GOOD NEWS:
1. Ben came back, but then what do Steelers' fans expect based on his past heroics?

2. Troy had his first interception.

3. Big pass plays to Antonio Brown.

4. James Harrison announced his presence with authority. (See below.)

5. The Steelers' don't play again for 11 days, almost like having another bye week.



THE BAD NEWS:
1. Ben got hurt and Charlie Batch looked terrible filling in before Ben's return.

2. Pouncey got hurt.

3. The Steelers' offense was only 1-for-4 in the Red Zone after going 4-for-4 with 4 TDs against the much better Bengals.

4. Chris Hoke and Johnathan Dwyer were placed on IR prior to the game. That means the Steelers probably now have TWO defensive lineman who won't play another down for them (Hoke and Smith).



THINGS THAT COULD BE BAD DOWN THE ROAD:
1. Ben hurting.

2. Pouncey hurting.

3. Harrison suspension (?). (See above.) My only comment on the McCoy play is he was RUNNING with the ball directly toward Harrison within a bout a yard of the line-of-scrimmage. Even though he could still pass my question is, "What do you want him to do instead, go for the QB's knees?" In this instance the QB is NOT "defenseless" as he's making a "football move" as it were. In this case he is a RUNNER, not a PASSER and shouldn't be protected by the rules any more than Ben would have been in that same instance (as we've seen countless time before), which is, NOT AT ALL.


IN CLOSING:
The Steelers are basically in a stretch of playing 5 "playoff" games trying to re-gain home-field advantage. They basically cannot afford another loss and have fought that off for two weeks now. The last three games will be interesting. The worst part would be for them to win-out and STILL not get home field (that is, if the Ravens win-out as well). That would put them in a decidedly physical and emotional disadvantage for the playoffs. But they DID win 8 consecutive games in 2005 to make the playoffs and ultimately the SB so...