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4th Down & 10 Facts: Stillers/Cinci Postgame

January 01, 2002 by Guest

4th Down and 10 Facts: Pittsburgh/Jacksonville Postgame Report

4th Down and 10 Facts: Pittsburgh/Bengals Post game Report

It was bound to happen. Admit it. You knew that Pittsburgh would probably lose one of these last two games. This game had all the makings of a classic let down. Hell, this game looked exactly like last year�s loss to the Eagles. Except this time the Steelers were up by 13 with 4 minutes left.

I was actually on my way to Eagle-and by car. I was listening to the game via radio and had just passed out of Pittsburgh country, ust past Reading. Pittsburgh led 23-10 with just under 8 minutes. When I finally caught a sister station in King of Prussia, Pittsburgh was about to lose.

As fans, should we worry? I don�t think so. Should we be concerned? Definitely. Should we hesitate making plans for New Orleans? Not on your life.

Don�t worry Steeler Country. Last Sunday was disappointing and downright pathetic at times, but this team has come too far this season to let only the third loss in 15 games deter it.

Let�s look at the facts.

Fact 1#: The Running Game hit Reality: When Zereoue went down, it was pretty obvious that the Steelers running attack would snag. No offense to Fu, but he�s much more effective when countered with Famous Amos. We need Bettis back, soon.

Fact #2: Don�t jump off the Stewart bandwagon: It was about time he looked mortal.

I mean, every QB has had bad games. He clearly wasn�t playing too badly, until the 4th Quarter (which can be said about the whole team). I�ll say this about his performance, he would have been helped by a few designed QB rushes.

Fact #3: And you thought Kris Brown was having a horrid season: Wow, does Neil Rackers suck. But, he sure did come through when it counted�wait�check that�he came through on the 4th try. And don�t try to tell me that we would have won if Kris Brown would have made the extra-point after Fu�s touchdown. We should have won regardless. At that point, it was only a stroke of fate that game went into overtime. But for some reason, Cincy fit the glass slipper and the Steelers were standing outside without a date.

Fact #4: These on-side kicks are killing us. Mark it down. Someone in the playoffs will try a surprise onside against these inept special teamers. Last time I checked, the odds of successfully executing an onside kicker were about the same as successfully completing a Hail Mary.

Fact #5: The pass defense�. Well, I won�t be colorful�that�s Mill�s department. I will say this. Corey Dillon�s successful running early on kept Pittsburgh honest all day. Jon Kitna looked like the luckiest QB with some of his prayer passes caught by Scott, Warrick and Co. Besides, Dick LeBeau is one of the few coaches who understands the soft spots in a 3-4 and how to exploit them. In conclusion, they knew how and where to hit us. Now, it is time for Tim Lewis to figure out how to nullify the problem.

Fact #6: Corey Dillon deserves better. He is one hell of runner. Too bad, he�ll never win anything.

Fact #7: Ball control killed the Steelers: Hey, it was nice to see the quick strike offense in the first half, kind of made you think this was going to be another blow out. But our defense stayed on the field way too long when Corey Dillon controlled the game early.. 90+ plays in one game will sure make a defense weary.

Fact #8: The Rams are clearly the best team: No contest, the Rams are the team to beat. The Steelers can still potentially match up well because of a pass rush and speed on defense, but at this point most teams except for the Rams have had bad losses to weak opponents. Examples? Oakland/Arizona, Green Bay/Carolina. Want more? San Francisco looked horrible against the Rams, and Chicago looked inept against Green Bay twice.

Fact #9: Everything will be all right: No need to panic. The Steelers have home-field advantage and time to circle the wagons. This game was a definite kick in gonads and a wake-up call.

Fact #10: We win next week: Pittsburgh will rebound with a strong win next week against the Browns. Cowher will probably challenge his players to convince the rest of the league that last week was the aberration that I believe it was.

Thoughts around the League and on the Game.

  1. Only one thought this week cause the only other game I saw was Baltimore/Tampa: Baltimore isn�t going anywhere in the playoffs. And neither is Tampa. Quite possibly one of the worst games I saw all year.

Check out my pre-game for next week coming to Stillers.com in a few days. I will have the MPO count and more things to think about while going to the fridge for a beer.

Happy New Year!

Written by

JB in the Big Steel Apple

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