Your kidding me – right?!
After watching the defense melt like a popsicle on the 4th of the July for two straight weeks, the D stepped up and put a hurt on the Chargers Sunday night, doing what they had to do to walk out of Heinz Field with a 38-28 win to put the team at 2-2 on the season.
Yet all I am hearing today is people complain.
Yes, complain about the fact a third quarter 28-0 lead at one point got to 35-28 in the fourth quarter. Complain that the Steelers didn’t do enough to “close the game out,” and that they should have never blown the big lead to the point where it got kinda tense for a few minutes.
But they won the game – didn’t they?
I’ll take an ugly win over a bad loss any day of the week. Sure I would, like most of you, have liked to have seen the team win 38-0 last night, and made the night even longer for Philip Rivers and the Chargers offense all night. Let’s also remember though the Chargers earn a paycheck as well, and every year for the past few seasons this is the very team that many “experts” pick to make it to the Super Bowl.
All the Steelers did was make the Chargers offense look like they were stuck in a snow storm for most of the night, and yes, they did get hot for awhile late, but again, the Steelers had built the lead by then, and it was enough. Then there was two fluke plays, a takeaway on a punt, and then the onside kick that Ryan Mundy botched which eventualy led to another score.
But let’s remember the only numbers that count – 38-28. The Steelers offense also outgained the Chargers 497 to 251, held them to 17 first downs to 32 for the Steelers, and 3-for-9 on third downs. Oh, and the Chargers two big name backs – Tomlinson and Sproles, ran for a combined 16 yards.
Again, let’s keep Sunday night in perspective. The team got a hard fought win they badly needed, and they did it with a statement making game against a team you know is going to be hanging around in December. Oh, and the Chargers only had the ball for 19:40 to 40:20 for the Steelers.
Give me an outing like this any day of the year, and I’ll take my chances with this team come January and maybe early February.
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DrGeorge
October 6, 2009 at 9:45 am
Matt, if your point is that the Steelers won the game by 10 points, dominated the Chargers statistically, played much improved offense, and that a win is better than a loss, you are right. It is a superficial and obvious point, but no one will quarrel with it. But it’s akin to a chess player who anticipates only the next move.
Like good chess players, the fans of Steelers Nation have a broader view than just one game. They are agonizing over (a) the two special teams gaffes and the ineffective coverage of kickoff and punt returns and (b) the continued problems of the defense with underneath coverage, which allowed two easy TDs in 90 seconds in the 4th quarter. They are right to do so. For many seasons, the defense has been the core of the Steelers success; in fact, it has been the core of most Super Bowl winners. Teams that rely on offense to win rarely go deep into the playoffs. Steelers fans who express concern about these two, obvious deficiencies are neither ungrateful nor ‘complaining.’ Fans have made a realistic assessment of areas in which improvement is needed, sooner rather than later, for future success.
For fans with this long-term view, the facile conclusion that the level of play exhibited against the Chargers is good enough to assure the Steelers another playoff run seems more than a little mistaken. The unpleasant truth is, for the reasons noted, the Steelers blew a 28 point lead and nearly gave the Chargers game away. That isn’t the standard of performance that makes champions or that gives insightful fans much confidence in the future. Offensively, the Chargers game was an unqualified success; otherwise, as a team, the Steelers still have lots of work to do.
mark
October 6, 2009 at 11:27 am
Yes, I agree with that assessment. A win is a win, and to quote Tomlin, style points don’t matter. The ugly truth is this defense is not stopping the underneath passing, not quick enough to the ball and at least in my eyes, to stubborn to do things a bit differently. Once the Chargers became 1-dimensional, the Steelers should have worked on the 1 thing that is torturing them. Maybe to an untrained eye, like mine, they did. But I have to say, I certainly did not see good results. Look, Rivers to Gates has caused havoc to many defenses, but once the Chargers only had that weapon the Steelers should have been all over it. Instead, Rivers to Gates looked easy. Prevent defense or not, Timmons,Carter Townsend and Ratliff could NOT stop this. At least not with the current defensive strategy that was being employed. I understand they did not want to get burned by the BIG play, but giving up 1 big play or 3 small plays in a row still turned into quick TD’s that got a beaten team back into the game!I expect the Special Teams to improve but I am getting the impression that this defense will improve little by little and the offense is going to have to score 24 or more. Sort of like the Ravens and Patriots. Those two teams have embraced offense because their defenses seem to be lacking. Don’t get me wrong, all 3 of these teams have top defenses but in a copycat league teams better be able to score points to mask defenses that are getting older or softer.