Sunday, September 25, 2011

Steelers survive Colts 23-20

I am not sure what to say other than a W is a W, and great teams find ways to win these ugly games. It is a bit early to dub this team as great for sure though. Some of the bigger issues to work on for the Steelers include the following:

They simply cannot run the football. Period. Oddly, they seem to move the ball better with either Redman or Moore over Mendenhall, but all in, they cannot run the

football....Mendenhall seems to be running too upright, and with very little power. I think it said a lot that Mewelde Moore got the nod with the game on the line;

They cannot seem to protect Ben, and their tackles especially Jonathan Scott are horrible. Scott was just eaten alive tonight, it was almost sad;

Big Ben remains a turnover machine, losing two fumbles and throwing a pick tonight. His second fumble was more on the O line, but Ben has to protect the ball better, period;

Until late in the 4th quarter of their third game, the Steelers star studded defense had not created a single turnover. When they did, it was a big one with Polamalu scooping a fumble forced by Harrison to score a go ahead touchdown late in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, the defense let a nno name QB drive the field to tie the game very quickly thereafter, ala the 2009 Paper Curtain;

William Gay is to the cornerback position as Jonathan Scott is to the Tackle position;

Any quarterback with skills and decent wideouts has to be licking their chops looking at this secondary;

The outside pass rush was supposed to help mask this weakness and for the most part it has not;

The Steelers defense continues to even look vulnerable to the run with Addai averaging more than 5 yards per carry last night;

Despite all of that, with the game on the line, the Steelers came through with a clutch drive and clutch kick to win an UGLY game. Ugly wins are still wins though, so we will take it. Let's hope that the Steelers can fix the turnover issue, the offensive line, and get McFadden back. Yeah, it is that bad that getting McFadden back is a big deal! It has also been a joy to watch Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown blossom into a very dangerous tandem;

Next week, they have a very strong passing game and last years leading rusher, Arian Foster on the schedule, which will be a big challenge for the defense;

So enjoy the win, pray for help up front, and get that pass rush going again to help hide the WEAK secondary.

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