On the coldest night in the history of the rivalry, the Steelers played like all they wanted to do was board the bus and go home. On a night that saw temps fall into the mid negative teens with the wind chill, the Steelers offense was frozen all day, never doing much of anything as Ben Roethlisberger was hit all night in a 13-6 loss to the now 2-11 Cleveland Browns.
The loss is the fifth straight for the Steelers, who were sitting pretty at one point at 6-2, but now might as well start thinking about the 2010 NFL Draft. At 6-7, they would need to win their last three games and get a lot of help around the AFC in order to make the postseason.
“We fell short in all three phases,” said Coach Mike Tomlin. “We knew we had to stop their perimeter run game, the wildcat football, and we weren’t able to do that. They got on the perimeter and hurt us with big chunks. They controlled the time of possession, converted first downs. We knew we couldn’t give up a big return due to the nature of the weather. We gave up a big return to kind of get them started. It put us behind the eight ball.
“When you get beat in all three phases, schematically and performance-wise we are all to be held accountable for that and we are. I liked the fight in the group. I trust they will continue to do that. They are a close-knit group and I trust that they will stick together. But fighting and sticking together are not going to win football games. Performance is and preparation is. We have an extended week here in preparation for our next performance. We better make moves and get that done.”
The team played like they were the team that had lost 12 straight to the Browns, not the other way around. They were out played on both sides of the ball, and as usual, gave up a big kick return, allowing a 55-yard punt return to Josh Cribbs that led to the Browns first field goal.
The Cleveland defense pounded the Steelers all night. They sacked Roethlisberger 8 times for minus 60 yards, and the offense had just 216 yards all night against a defense that had been beaten up all season by not only other teams, but by the injury bug. The Steelers were just 3-for-14 on third downs, and 1-for-2 on fourth downs.
Three of the first four Steelers drives ended with three-and-outs, and then when they did move the ball, they were killed by drops as well as mistakes and penalties. “Protection of our quarterback was a big time issue,” said Tomlin. “We couldn’t move the chains on third down. We couldn’t establish rhythm that way. We weren’t able to get a run game going that we felt pretty good about going into the game because we weren’t able to move the chains on third down.”
Cleveland ran past the too aggressive Steelers defense all night. Cribbs ran past them in the wildcat on a number of occasions, once for 37 yards that set up another score. Then running back Chris Jennings, who was playing for the injured Jamal Lewis, ran for 73 yards on 20 carries. The Browns gashed the Steelers for 171 yards rushing.
The Steelers ground game was held in check for the most part. Rashard Mendenhall had 53 yards on 16 carries, and Willie Parker had 12 yards. The ground game rushed for a total of 75 yards, a 3.4 yards per carry average.
Pittsburgh down seven in the fourth quarter had two chances to tie the game. The first drive stalled at the Cleveland 44, and after a holding penalty they were forced to punt. Then from their 21 with 6:16 left, the team drove to the Cleveland 43, but another sack and then a pass to Heath Miller got them to a 4th-and-6 with 1:48 left. On fourth down Roethlisberger could have run for the first down, but tried to force the ball to Santonio Holmes, and the pass was knocked away.
The team will play at home on December 20th vs Green Bay.
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mark
December 11, 2009 at 8:27 am
mark
December 10th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Well Steeler fans, this is what our team delivers in a do-or-die situation. No Balls, no heart and no playoffs.No one can tell me that Troy makes a difference tonight. Pushed around by the Raiders,Chiefs and now the Browns. Embarrassing is too kind of a word. Mike Tomlin, you have a HUGE problem in Pittsburgh. You dont go from 1st to worst this quickly and this horribly. In my opinion, in your first “crisis” your team collapsed and threw in the towel. That is not a good sign for future bumps in the road. You get a pass this season after what happened last year but patience is not on tap. You promised to “unleash Hell” and this is what you deliver? Farrior, is a goner. Tonight proved that. The coaching staff needs an overhaul and it starts with Zerlein (sp?) and Ligachevwhatever(sp?) The line was atrocious tonight. Arians will keep his job, but he had worn out his welcome a long time ago with fans. O.K Coach Tomlin, lets see what you can do in the off season because in my opinion you lost this team and the holes you have will take a while to fill
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mark
December 11, 2009 at 8:35 am
WOW, I woke up this morning and even after my coffee I feel like last night was just a bad dream. A dream that basically said “remember the heart of a champion? What the Steelers showed last year?” Then, all of a sudden I woke up and it was like ” did I just lose an entire year in my sleep?” The team I saw last night was not the champion I thought we were all getting this season. How did this happen? Injuries,age,bad play calling, etc.. Sure, all this played a part but how does the defending champion lose to the Chiefs, Raiders and Browns in 1 month? Its mind boggling. I have to wonder who will respond to my accusation that: in his first “crisis”, Tomlin lost the team and they collapsed? Please, somebody talk to me because Im walking around like a zombie today. Sort of like our team did last night.
DrGeorge
December 11, 2009 at 10:24 am
Last night, the Steelers should have been arrested for impersonating a football team. For weeks, I’ve described the various woes and flaws of our offense and defense. I won’t repeat them here. The general media suddenly agrees with me now, and I find no joy in being proved right. But even I never anticipated the collapse we all saw in Cleveland last night. Unless you are old enough to remember the Steagles, you have to think hard to remember a Steelers team that looked so bad.
Despite all the gloom today, the Steelers have a bevy of very talented athletes, with some obvious needs at key positions: O-line, D-line, CB. The team is not playing cohesively, executing properly, or using sound techniques at key positions. The imbalance of the Arians’ spread experiment has failed to produce, and our $20 million QB (sorry Mark) is better at building his statistics than generating results.
All of these indicate a coaching staff that has failed in its central mission. Tomlin has not only lost control of his team; he’s lost control of his staff and the overall strategy, especially on special teams and offense.
The team needs an infusion of talent; old and unproductive players must go. But what the team needs most of all is discipline, good coaching, a solid running game, and a return to Steelers hardnosed football. From all appearances, Tomlin and his staff either aren’t up to it or simply don’t know how to right the ship. The Rooney’s aren’t getting their money’s worth. If Tomlin hasn’t sent the offensive and special teams coaches out the door by draft day, the Rooneys should personally do it for him, with Tomlin right behind them.
The first rule of running a pro franchise is: put fannies in the seats. In this economy, only the rich and demented would pay to see the Steelers play as poorly as they did last night. And the uncertainty of next year’s labor agreement could make rebuilding very expensive. Simply cutting deadwood and freeing up the salary cap won’t be enough. The Rooneys are in a bind. They need to give the Steelers Nation hope for a brighter tomorrow, just to protect their franchise. And they can’t afford to wait.
mark
December 11, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Please DrGeorge, do not apologize for criticizing Ben and his performance. Believe me, the entire team should be held responsible for this “product” we are witnessing. You are correct that this was an impersonation of a football team last night.Even though I am a fan of Ben and his stats, I am appalled at the entire collapse of the team on all sides of the ball. We saw a staff with no answers and a team with no leader. I will get skewered for saying that, but how does a veteran,championship team let a season spiral out of control like this? We may see some coaches being shown the door, but I dont think Arians is one of them. I would love to see the Steelers go back to the brand of football we are used to but in this “modern” league, I dont see it happening. The successes of the Colts and Saints will probably keep Steeler brass from extreme change.Gruden,Billick and other coaches have had success early in their career and have been fired when they failed to follow it up. Im not saying that Tomlin is in danger of losing his job, but I am saying this is an alarming situation. I keep stressing that Tomlin lost his team in his first “crisis” moment as their head coach. What does this mean as we go forward? Could this be an omen that Tomlin gives too much power in his delegations? His players dont respond to the “unleashing of hell” statements because they are feeling a bit of entitlement? Are the Steelers headed for a few years of 7-9 seasons? Even when Cowher has his 7-9 and 6-10 years of 1998-1999, the reality was other than Bettis,the team had very few stars. That excuse does not fit with this team. Lets face it, their are champions and borderline Hall-of-Famers on this team. No way anyone saw this coming. The team needs to draft DEFENSE. Worry about offense in later rounds or FA. Youth needs to be on that side of the ball because their is enough talent on offense that philosophy is the only culprit. I remember all too well the years of 1980 and 1981 when our stars were aging and not performing to the standards they had set in the past 6-7 years. It got ugly, but a genius like Noll kept the team fairly relevant in 1983 and 1984. The dark days of 1985,86,87 and 88 were abysmal to watch and it took a fresh idea and a fresh start to make the team relevant again (Cowher). I am hoping that with the current stars who are entering their primes will keep that from ever happening again, but it will take impact draft picks and a coach/staff that knows how to respond when there is trouble. Im a bit worried about latter after the last month.
jay
December 11, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I couldn’t agree with Dr. George and Mark more! It’s striking to hear Dr. George talking about firing Arians…And I’m right behind him on that. I only disagree with Mark on the notion that “there’s enough talent on the offensive side of the ball…” I agree, except with the o-line. yes, they are the subjects of an abysmal, pop-warner scheme that any five year old experienced finger painter could figure out, but…they are still lacking in basic talent; like Dr. George says, slow on their feet. The only salvageable component to them is IF a change in offensive philosophy is reached and more elaborate running schemes were implemented. Then they might be able to use their brute size to get out and maul people. But, it’s a long shot at any rate. I do WHOLE-HEARTEDLY AGREE WITH BOTH OF YOU in the notion that organizationally there are things amiss. I mean like, if you knew you were going to extend Kiesel, which I do feel was a good move by the way, then why would you get Hood in round one?!? I mean especially with the knowledge of how little this team plays in free agency coupled with the fact that you could actually franchise two players next year (Hampton and Aaron Smith maybe) and then moved up to grab Oher! I realize hindsight is blah, blah, blah, but really, as he was falling I was praying that he would either fall or they would move up. The only offensive player I would take in the first round would be a lineman if there is a good one available at 25 or 26….wait, wait a minute, we’ll be drafting in the teens! There will BE! Yeah! Seriously a franchise left tackle is what we need….or is it a Patrick Willis “esque” type of ILB…Or maybe a Namdi Osamugha/Darrell Revis type of corner or even a complimentary safety to Troy…IT”S A GOOD THING IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! We actually need them all. I don’t know how an organization keeps Arians? Kind of an abrupt segue but nonetheless….I was thinking this earlier today that you often hear things like, “Well, that’s why they get paid the money and we sit on the couch!” in reference to the notion that the professionals (i.e., Arians for example) know what they’re doing and couch potato quarterbacks don’t. That may be true some or a lot of the time but you can’t tell me that, especially with how big football is getting (fantasy football is a 4.6 million dollar a year industry folks…and that’s on the books), that there aren’t like tons of knowledgeable “armchair quarterbacks” out there. One of the reasons Joe Schmo arm chair quarterback is a couch potato and not calling plays professionally is because he is a fat and lazy bastard. But, just based on what he KNOWS, he could probably offensive coordinate circles around most actual offensive coordinators. My point is Arians, just because he’s in a position of where he is, does not know jack fucking squat about football and I defy anyone to tell me he does! He’s where he’s at either because he likes cock or knows some people or was in the right place at the right time or something. I am one of the armchair quarterbacks but I’m not lazy and everyone who blogs on this site knows more about football than Bruce Arians! FIRE HIS ASS!!!!!
mark
December 11, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I would love to see the Steelers get Eric Berry!!!