IT'S OVER, BENNY

STEELERS (9-7) 30
DOLPHINS (7-9) 24
ROETHLISBERGER 18/27, 220 YARDS, 3 TD
MENDENHALL 20 CARRIES, 94 YARDS
WALLACE 2 CATCHES, 64 YARDS, 1 TD

And so ends the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers' roller coaster of a title defense. A 6-2 start, with wins over San Diego, Denver, and Minnesota, had visions of a seventh Lombardi Trophy dancing in our heads. A five-game losing streak, featuring losses to Cleveland, Kansas City, and Oakland, saw the team hit rock bottom. A three-game winning streak, with two of the three victories coming against playoff teams, gave a fraction of hope that a postseason invitation was still possible.

But when it was all said and done, all it took to render the Steelers' furious finish useless was a Baltimore Ravens win over the Oakland Raiders. By that point, the Steelers could only watch, helpless to do any more to help their own cause. And when the clock in Oakland hit 0:00, the Steelers' season was officially over. Sigh.

To the game notes....

1. This game had three things I wasn't used to seeing from the 2009 Steelers:

A. More rushing yards (202) than passing (201); that has happened rarely, most recently in the Dennis Dixon-led 20-17 loss in Baltimore on November 29. And the game plan surely wasn't to air it out that night.

B. Not one, not two, but three interceptions from the secondary, including the first two of the season from defensive backs (which I still can't believe). Ike Taylor even hung on to one, which caused me to open the blinds and check to make sure pigs weren't flying.

C. A 91-yard effort from Willie Parker, his most productive game since rushing for 93 yards against Cincinnati in Week 3.

2. Wow, the defense almost did it again. In the span of five minutes, the Steelers' 27-10 lead shrunk to 27-24 in the fourth quarter following Dolphin touchdowns from Brian Hartline and Davone Bess. And when Ben Roethlisberger fumbled on the Steelers' next possession, you could see the vultures circling. Luckily, the opposing quarterback was Tyler Thigpen, the Dolphins' third-stringer, and he quickly gave the ball right back to the Steelers on a poorly-thrown interception.

3. On the topic of backup quarterbacks, that was quite a scary moment when Ike Taylor knocked out Dolphin backup QB Pat White in the third quarter with a helmet-to-helmet hit. If you missed it...


4. Sunday was a quiet end to the season of Dolphin RB and Dave Wannstedt foil Ricky Williams, who was held to just 31 yards rushing on 12 carries. Stepping up for the injured Ronnie Brown, Williams ran for 1,090 yards on 229 carries in 2009 - clearly his best season since rushing for 1,372 yards with Wanny and the 2003 Dolphins.

5. On the other hand, Steeler WR Mike Wallace ended his rookie season with a bang on Sunday, hitting big on a 54-yard touchdown in the first quarter to give the Steelers a 14-7 lead.

I've heard Steeler fans moan and groan about the losses of Larry Foote and Bryant McFadden in free agency, but I have not heard one person long for the departed Nate Washington, and that's totally because of Wallace. He's already won the Steelers' Rookie of the Year award, and he should be in the discussion for the league's award as well, although Percy Harvin has had much more face time.

6. Heath Miller concluded his best season over with five catches for 56 yards, including a 37-yarder, his second-longest of the season behind only a 41-yarder against KC. His final numbers: 76 catches, 789 yards, six touchdowns...and hopefully an appearance in the Pro Bowl, if Dallas Clark or Antonio Gates are unavailable.

7. LaMarr Woodley closed the season with a roar, with two more sacks on Sunday and three hits on Dolphin QBs. Woodley had just two sacks in the first eight games, and 11.5 in the final eight, for a total of a career-high 13.5. He is also on the waiting list for the league's all-star game in Miami.

8. As is the case at the end of every season, we've seen the last of some players in a Steeler uniform. The current list of pending unrestricted free agents going into the 2010 season is as follows:

QB Charlie Batch, LB Rocky Boiman, S Tyrone Carter, S Ryan Clark, DE Nick Eason, NT Casey Hampton, DE Travis Kirschke, RB Willie Parker, K Jeff Reed, CB Deshea Townsend, and WR Joey Galloway.

RFAs (restricted free agents) include these players:

LB Patrick Bailey, OT Willie Colon, RB Carey Davis, DB Willie Gay, P Daniel Sepulveda, TE Matt Spaeth, and G Darnell Stapleton.

9. A bit further down the road, here are your 2011 Steeler free agents, a.k.a. the group that you might start to see negotiating contracts in the near future. These players will enter the 2010 season in the final year of their contracts.

QB Dennis Dixon, G Trai Essex, LB Keyaron Fox, LB Andre Frazier, WR Tyler Grisham, DT Ra'Shon Harris, OT Tony Hills, NT Chris Hoke, WR Santonio Holmes, C Doug Legursky, RB Stefan Logan, DB Anthony Madison, RB Mewelde Moore, S Ryan Mundy, LS Jared Retkofsky, DB Ike Taylor, LS Greg Warren, DB Trae Williams, and LB Lamarr Woodley.

10. It's been a long, exciting year. There were plenty of ups, including the emergence of Rashard Mendenhall and Mike Wallace, the continued maturation of Santonio Holmes, the utilization of Heath Miller, record-setting seasons from Ben Roethlisberger and Stefan Logan, and a strong finish from LaMarr Woodley.

Unfortunately, with the good came lots of bad. Injuries to Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith ravaged the defense. The offensive line missed Chris Kemoeatu and again gave up a ton of sacks. Willie Parker, who holds a special place in Steeler history, was rendered nearly useless. Blown fourth quarter leads led to five of the team's seven losses. The special teams unit was an unmitigated disaster zone for much of the season. Controversy reared its ugly head in the locker room. Jeff Reed got in trouble...again. James Farrior finally looked like he lost a step. Limas Sweed continued to be stuck in neutral, eventually being shut down for the season. Frank "The Tank" Summers was not nearly as exciting in person as he was on YouTube. Mike Tomlin made himself look foolish with the hollow "unleash hell" statement and benchings that never took place. I could go on and on, but as you can see, the bad news paragraph is much longer than the good news paragraph.

Luckily, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in 2010. First of all, when this team was bad, it wasn't that bad, if margin of victory is any indicator. All of their losses were by single digits, the biggest deficit being a touchdown against the Browns. If Troy Polamalu is around, some of those blown leads don't happen, the Steelers are in the playoffs, and the universe is back to normal. So don't take the nearest bridge yet.

The Steelers have one of the most potent offenses in the league, including one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks, a group of wide receivers that collectively rank among the most dangerous, a top-flight tight end, and a young running back who proved himself in 2009. Defensively, there's clearly some work to be done, but a healthy Troy Polamalu, LaMarr Woodley, James Harrison, and Aaron Smith is a nice nucleus.

There are clearly some issues to iron out between now and Week One. The offensive line needs an investment by the team. Beyond Polamalu, the secondary needs a facelift. A few decisions must be made on free agents, most notably Casey Hampton. And some assistant coaches should probably be shown the door. But the cupboard is not bare. This should not have to be a Pittsburgh Pirate 17-year-plan type of overhaul. But the Steelers' blueprint does need a little remodeling drawn in, and if any good can come out of missing the playoffs, it's that their flaws will not be masked.

There were some low moments, there were some high moments, there was a lot of excitement. The season is over, but the discussion is just beginning. Let the countdown to kickoff next season officially begin.

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SIGN OF LIFE

STEELERS (8-7) 23
RAVENS (8-7) 20
ROETHLISBERGER 17/33, 259 YARDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
MENDENHALL 17 CARRIES, 36 YARDS, 1 TD
HOLMES 5 CATCHES, 86 YARDS, 1 TD

Believe it or not, the Pittsburgh Steelers still have a shot to qualify for the 2009-10 NFL playoffs. I fall on the side of "can't believe it", but given the world of sports we're living in, nothing should be a surprise anymore. The world's best golfer has seen his pristine image turn into a excuse to start TMZSports.com. Arguably the best college football coach in the game resigned, changed his mind, and decided on a leave of absence in a 24-hour span. 16 teams were vying for the services of the Pirates' closer, which I believe is an oxymoron. These are all things I never would have anticipated. But as I often say, in sports you should expect the unexpected. So of course the Steelers could lose five in a row, including Cleveland, Oakland, and Kansas City, and qualify for the postseason. It's as unexpected as any of the above scenarios we watched unfold in front of our very eyes in 2009.

With that being said in as many words as possible, here are a few additional thoughts on the fourth Steeler victory over their AFC North rivals since the start of the 2008 season:

1. Was this a game the Steelers won or a game the Ravens gave the Steelers? In the end, it will be looked at as a little bit of both, but I'd go with the latter more than the former as theories go.

The Ravens had 11 penalties for 113 yards, with eight coming in the second half. Two of those 11 penalties wiped out touchdowns. They had two plays of 20 yards or more to the Steelers' five. They dropped easy touchdown passes. They turned the ball over three times. These are not things that equate to victory, especially on the road in front of a hostile crowd. So to see the Ravens come up short should be no surprise.

On the other hand, the Steelers made plays when they had to, they didn't collapse in the fourth quarter, and they committed far few miscues. As I said, it's not unfair to say that they earned some of this victory as well.

2. The flow of the game was unusual to say the least. After putting up 20 points in the first half, including a beautiful drive in the closing moments, the Steelers managed only a Jeff Reed fourth quarter field goal in the final 30 minutes. Their offense was basically invisible for the entire third quarter, possessing the ball twice, resulting in a Roethlisberger interception and a three-and-aht.

But the Ravens' drive which took the game into the fourth quarter is what basically decided the contest. You don't see many 10-play, 5:18 drives that result in 14 yards of offense, but that's what happens when you commit four penalties on the same drive. The Ravens had a Willis McGahee TD come off the board, Derrick Mason dropped a second touchdown on the drive, and a 15-yard personal foul on Oniel Cousins ultimately took the Ravens out of field goal range. It was a clinic in beating yourself.

At a point in the game when most people reasonably expected the 2009 Steelers' defense to collapse, things fell into place with a little help, and a bullet was dodged. The D would go on to force Baltimore into a three-and-out on the Ravens' next possession; in their final possession, the Ravens victim to LaMarr Woodley sacks on consecutive plays, virtually ending any chance for victory.

Meanwhile, the Steeler offense recovered just enough from the atrocity that was the third quarter to compile one scoring drive of eight plays and 44 yards, resulting in the deciding Reed three-pointer with 5:25 left in the game.

It was a tad unconventional, but the fact is that this win counts just as much as a 63-0 W in the standings (and in the playoff hunt).

3. The Steeler offense continues to have the feel of a pass first, pass second, run third mentality, as was the case again on Sunday. The Steelers attempted 33 passes and 23 runs, to Baltimore's 25 passes and 38 runs. But the rushing attack was mostly ineffective, generating only 48 yards from Rashard Mendenhall and a Very Special Cameo from Willie Parker.

As the season plays out, it is apparent that the NFL has in general become a pass-first league, and the Steelers have been wise to follow that rule of thinking, winning Super Bowl 43 behind the league's 23rd-ranked rushing attack. Oh, by the way, their opponent for that game - the Arizona Cardinals - were ranked dead last in the league in rushing in 2008.

The fact is that the league's top quarterbacks almost universally equate to the top teams. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, even Brett Favre are all having excellent seasons, and their teams are likewise leading their divisions. The blueprint is obvious: throw to win. And why is this? The rules make it advantageous.

If there were a loophole to save money on your taxes, you would take advantage of it, right? That's how fans should be looking at passing games. Defenders can't breathe on quarterbacks without being flagged or fined. DBs have never faced such stringent enforcement of pass interference rules. Think about it - how many really fantastic corners are there in the league? Does Ike Taylor really look as bad as we make him out to be, or is he merely par for the course? The bottom line is that the game is slanted to the advantage of the pass, and smart teams are taking advantage of it.

Aside from Adrian Peterson, take a look at the top five leaders in rushing. There's Chris Johnson, on the 7-8 and once 0-6 Titans; Maurice Jones-Drew, on the 7-8 Jaguars; Steven Jackson, on the one-win Rams; and Thomas Jones, of the 8-7 Jets. In fact, of the top 10 rushing leaders, only two of them (Peterson and Cincy's Cedric Benson) play for division leaders. Conversely, of the top 10 rated passers, all of them are either in the playoffs or still alive for the playoffs, and that same list houses four of the six division-leading QBs, the only exceptions being Kurt Warner (11th) and Donovan McNabb (17th). So don't be mad at the Steelers for their game plan. They're merely following the formula for success in today's NFL. It may not have worked out so neatly in 2009, but if you ever have any doubt, be sure to check out that sixth Lombardi Trophy the next time you're in the city.

4. The Steelers' excellent collection of receiving weapons came through in a big way on Sunday. Mike Wallace continued to exhibit his knack for the big play, with a 45-yard grab; Santonio Holmes was targeted 12 times and turned that into 86 yards and a score; and Hines Ward continued to play while dinged-up, contributing four catches for 37 yards. The only disappointment was when rookie Tyler Grisham had a drop, giving him a total of one first-down celebration and one third-down drop on the day.

5. LaMarr Woodley had an excellent game, with 10 tackles and those two key sacks in the fourth quarter. After a very quiet start, Woodley has come on to the tune of 11.5 sacks on the season, which is exactly the number he finished with in 2008.

6. It was nice seeing first-rounder Ziggy Hood out there wreaking havoc on Sunday, even in small doses. I'm really expecting great things out of Hood in the future, as are the Steelers, and his sack and fumble recovery against the Ravens is a glimpse of great things to come. I hope.

7. Congratulations go out to a few Steelers for statistical milestones coming during Sunday's game. Ben Roethlisberger became the first Steeler QB to throw for 4,000 yards in a season, a fact that simply blows my mind. How could that have never happened in the long history of the franchise?

Elsewhere, Rashard Mendenhall eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark, with 1,014 yards on the season. The team did not have a back run for 1,000 last year, meaning the last player to do so was Willie Parker with 1,316 in 2007. Parker led the team with 791 in 2008.

Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes have joined the 1,000-yard club as well. It's the first time for Holmes, whose previous high was 942 yards in 2007. It's the sixth time for Ward, whose high is 1,329 in the Tommy Maddox days of 2002.

The Steelers now have two 1,000-yard receivers (Holmes and Ward), a 1,000-yard rusher and a 4,000-yard passer for the first time.

Stefan Logan also set a Steeler record for kick return yards in a season, so I'm guessing that the chance taken on him in 2009 would be considered a good move.

8. I see the Bill Cowher rumors are heating up once again, with Tampa Bay as the leading contender. Despite their win over the Saints on Sunday, the Bucs are a certifiable disaster, but there is no state income tax and the weather's certainly nice. If The Chin wanted to build a team from the ground up, this would probably be a good opportunity.

9. As we all know, the Steelers close the 2009 regular season next week at Miami, with a 1:00 start. The Dolphins are coming off a disappointing 27-20 home loss to Houston on Sunday, a game in which they found themselves down 27-0 at halftime. So it will be interesting to see how they respond after being all but eliminated this week.

10. Now that we've got all the serious stuff out of the way...go back to the top and check out that pic of Mike Tomlin. Is it me, or are those some Santa-sized bags under his eyes? I think he's aged at a Presidential rate during the 2009 season.

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ROETHLISTASTIC

STEELERS (7-7) 37

PACKERS (9-5) 36ROETHLISBERGER 29-46, 503 YARDS, 3 TD
MENDENHALL 11 CARRIES, 38 YARDS, 1 TD
WARD 7 CATCHES, 126 YARDS

I should probably be more excited after one of the most incredible finishes in Steeler history, one that was eerily reminiscent of a certain Super Bowl-winning drive earlier this year. But when you mentally prepare for the worst, sometimes you don't know how to react when things actually pan out. I expect this is how I'll feel when the Pirates finish 82-80 in 2029.

There were so many bad points to Sunday's game, it was almost easy to overlook the most prolific day that a Steeler quarterback has ever had. The Steeler defense was so horrible that Mike Tomlin called for an onside kick late in the fourth quarter - a move that had all the characteristics of a Belichickian-like media feeding frenzy of second-guessing in the wake of the team's pending sixth consecutive loss. Media chastiser Ryan Clark made himself look foolish as his unit gave up a predictable 22 points in the fourth quarter. It was all setting up to be the final nail in the Steelers' 2009 coffin.

And then a funny thing happened. In some weird, wacky way, Tomlin's plan actually worked. In the final two minutes of regulation, Ben Roethlisberger reminded people that he's one of the best quarterbacks in all of football en route to yet another fourth quarter victory on his lengthy resume. His surgeon-like precision on the game-winner to rookie Mike Wallace was an exclamation point on a jaw-dropping 503-yard, three-touchdown output against the league's third-ranked defense. It was a performance that stands out on his already-outstanding career highlight reel, and it used every second of the time Tomlin thought the offense would need to answer the Packers' inevitable score, in the event that the Steelers would not recover the kick.

But after all the excitement and offensive fireworks are over, all this adds up to a state of confusion for Steeler fans going into the final two weeks of the season. Do we ignore this team's numerous, obvious flaws and kid ourselves into believing this is a championship squad? Where should our expectations be? Should I continue to dissect the minutiae of a .500 football team when I still have so much Christmas shopping to do?

As you can see, it's easy to get sidetracked. But realistically speaking, this is an average football team this year. They're not good enough to be great, yet not bad enough to be horrible. Many of their games could've gone either way - they've only beaten a team by more than 10 points twice (Denver, Cleveland), and their losses have been by 3, 3, 6, 3, 3, 3, and 7, with two of those coming in overtime. There are no blowouts to speak of. They've beaten good teams (Minnesota, San Diego, Denver) and lost to bad teams (KC, Cleveland, Oakland). They're all over the map.

Long story short, the expectations in Week 16 should be to have no expectations, because literally anything can happen. Unless you can explain how an offensive racks up 537 yards against the Packers and struggles to generate points against the Browns a week before.

Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Take it week by week, quarter by quarter. Don't get too high or too low. Remember, as we saw at this end of this college football season, the margin between jubilation and depression can be as slim as a missed extra point.

Some bullet points:

1. That was possibly the worst defensive performance I've seen by a Steeler team in my lifetime. Missed tackles, dropped interceptions, long drives - it was the season in a nutshell. I've never witnessed a secondary that featured so many guys I would replace in a heartbeat, given the chance. And in the irony of ironies, Ike Taylor, who's made a name for himself over the years by dropping balls, actually grabs the onside kick...before it's gone 10 yards.

2. We can beat up on Limas Sweed and the decision to draft Limas Sweed all we want, but the Steelers more than atoned for that by stealing Mike Wallace this year. Wallace had two catches on Sunday - a 60-yard touchdown to kick off the scoring, and a 19-yard touchdown to end it. Great teams always need big plays, and if the Steelers will be great again soon, I can assure you that Mike Wallace will play a significant role in their resurgence.

3. The Fox broadcasters amused me by acting like Mike Tomlin won't be second-guessed in the wake of his decision to onside kick. This is a city that analyzes each and every play in a game like a biologist staring at a petri dish. It will be the water cooler conversation du jour in the Steel City on Monday. I'm not so sure I would've done it, but I understand Tomlin's decision.

Say what you want about the Belichick fourth down call a few weeks ago, but I've seen several examples of pro and coaches acting like gamblers playing with house money since then. Even when things go wrong, Belichick manages to start a trend in the copycat world of football.

4. It looks like this will again be a costly victory for the Black and Gold (and really, shouldn't it be "Black and Yellow"? I mean, Pitt's uniform is gold. The Steelers' is yellow. I'm just saying...)

Anyway, long snapper Greg Warren looks like he tore his ACL on the game-ending PAT, so that probably puts him on IR and forces the Steelers to bring someone in this week. Also, Hines Ward re-injured his hamstring on Sunday, so he may be up in the air for next week's game against Baltimore. The battle of attrition continues.

5. That being said, Ward had a fantastic game, with seven catches and 126 yards on Sunday. Heath Miller made up for some of his recent gaffes with a career day, to the tune of seven catches and 118 yards. Santonio Holmes turned in a 77-yard performance, and Rashard Mendenhall added 73 yards receiving. The pass catchers should have no gripes about getting the ball this week. When the quarterback has a career day, someone's gotta be on the receiving end, and Big Ben had five beneficiaries with at least 70 yards receiving on the day.

6. All this Roethlisberger excitement should result in the usual bushel of comments and emails telling me I go overboard in my praise of the QB. But as intelligent as Steeler fans are, why do some of them consider it borderline-uncool to enjoy the play of an elite signal-caller? Are there fans who treat Peyton Manning as anything less than a saint in Indianapolis? Is Tom Brady constantly under the gun from Patriot fans? Heck, even Drew Brees gets almost universal praise even outside his city limits, and the guy's only won one playoff game in his life. I just don't understand why some Steeler fans have still never come around on #7, nor do I understand why I have to make arguments on his behalf of his accomplishments. I assume that if you're not with him now, you'll probably never be a fan.

A certain faction of Steeler Nation conveniently chalks up Roethlisberger's success to having a good defense, and that certainly makes an enormous difference in a player's W-L record. But consider that the Steelers constantly had high-end defenses during the Cowher Era and won a grand total of zero Super Bowl titles until Roethlisberger fell into their lap. But I guess the play of Kordell Stewart, Neil O'Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Tommy Maddox, etc., had nothing to do with the team's failure to get over the top? Sorry, I can't buy that. Criticize him all you want, but I'll bet the fans of about 30 other cities would take the two Lombardi Trophies that he's helped get us.

7. Jeff Reed had a big day on Sunday, with three field goals and the crucial extra point. But can someone explain to me that pop-up kickoff that landed around the 35 yard line?

8. Not a great day for the Steeler running game, which had only 19 attempts (in contrast to the 46 passes). The Packers weren't running either, with 12 runs and 48 passes. Quite a sight to see Dick LeBeau and Dom Capers' vaunted 3-4 defenses getting shredded to the tune of 436 and 537 yards, respectively.

9. What bothers me the most about this year's defense is that in addition to rolling over repeatedly in the fourth quarter, they make absolutely no "plays" anymore. Interceptions, fumbles, sacks, touchdowns - it's almost become absurd to even expect something of that ilk from this group. I realize the void that Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith leave, but they still have the Defensive MVP, as well as a number of players who were at least ranked in the upper halves at their position coming into the year.

10. So here's what's left ahead for the defending champs: two Sunday/1 PM starts, hosting Baltimore next Sunday and traveling to Miami on January 3.

To make the playoffs, the Steelers must first win their remaining games. Then, the Jets (7-7) and Jaguars (7-7) must lose or tie at least once. Also, the Broncos (8-6) must lose at least once, or the Ravens (8-6) must lose in Week 17 at Oakland. There are literally six teams with 7-7 records in the AFC alone. Who said parity was dead?

Remaining schedules:
Jets at Colts, Bengals at Jets
Jaguars at Patriots, Jaguars at Browns
Broncos at Eagles, Chiefs at Broncos
Ravens at Steelers, Ravens at Raiders
Texans at Dolphins, Steelers at Dolphins

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ROCK BOTTOM

BROWNS (2-11) 13
STEELERS (6-7) 6

ROETHLISBERGER 18/32, 201 YARDS
MENDENHALL 16 CARRIES, 53 YARDS
HOLMES 6 CATCHES, 93 YARDS

Well, I guess we have a new candidate for that "Most Painful Losses" list, because this one's going to reverberate for a loooong time.

You collectively have made so many keen observations in the "vent" post that I don't know what I could add. But I'll at least take a shot:

1. Time to play The Blame Game.

2. Gotta start at the top. Mike Tomlin wants to talk tough, and the buck stops with him. He did not have his team ready to play, period. Losing to three teams (Cleveland, Kansas City, Oakland) with a combined record of 9-28 is not exactly the stuff of Lombardi and Noll. He makes bold statements in down times, he promises change, but when the bell rings, it's the same underperfoming lineup on the field to underperform again. He's lost to Eric Mangini, Todd Haley and Tom Cable in the last month. That's unleashing hell.

3. Coordinators: If this wasn't the beginning of the end for Bruce Arians, I don't know what is. You can guarantee that changes will be made to the coaching staff, and he seems to be at the top of everyone's list. Not far behind is Bob Ligashesky, who oversees the special teams, a unit that gave up another long return on Thursday night that was just a few yards short of a touchdown, and offensive line coach Larry Zierlein, whose unit was the worst of them all on Thursday.

4. And finally, Dick LeBeau is starting to get some deserved heat. If we can praise him in the good times, it's only fair to criticize him in the bad. His defense has been the weak link on this year's team, and that's a phrase I'd never believe I'd write. The corners have zero interceptions. Zero! How is that even possible? (Well, I know how - they can't catch). The defensive playmakers are not making plays. We do have the defensive MVP, right? James Farrior has clearly lost a step. Deshea Townsend may have finally reached the end of the road. William Gay is clearly not as good as the Steelers anticipated when they let Bryant McFadden walk. Tyrone Carter and Ryan Clark need to go to tackling school. Shall I go on?

5. The offense:

A black hole on this night. Poor game plan and even worse execution. Eight sacks to the Browns is not just inexcusable, it's downright embarrassing. Those players should return their game checks. That made it hard for Ben Roethlisberger to do much, but it clearly wasn't his finest hour, either. The entire passing game was out of rhythm all night, with the exception of a solid game from Santonio Holmes. I don't know when Heath Miller forgot how to catch, but I've now seen a few memorable examples this year. Hines Ward deserves praise for getting himself in playing condition, but he was basically a non-factor, as was Mike Wallace. David Johnson dropped a pass, as did Rashard Mendenhall, who ran for a pedestrian 3.3 yards per carry on 16 attempts. Willie Parker got his usual three touches and did virtually nothing. Add it all up, and you get six points against a one-win team.

6. The defense:

They surrendered the first rushing touchdown by a Browns RB all season. That should begin to tell you the story of their night. They held Brady Quinn to six completions, but they sure can't write home about their effort against Josh Cribbs, who befuddled them for a 10.9 YPC average on eight touches. Where were they on the 37-yard pass play to Mohammed Massoquoi?

7. The total picture:

This might be the worst team in the NFL at the moment, and I'm not joking. Not in terms of talent, but in terms of results. If they were a college team and they lost to KC, Cleveland and Oakland, their ranking would fall from the ceiling with the speed of a chandelier with a cut cord. The coaches are being outcoached and do not have their players ready to play. The players are professionals and should not need coaches to prod them along. And the fans expect and deserve better after supporting this team with so many dollars. I can accept a loss. I can't accept the appearance that the players don't care. The heat will be turned up a notch on this team, and it's a monster that they created.

8. The future:

I expect many changes for this team in 2010. Of the remaining free agents, Willie Parker and Ryan Clark are probably your best bets to move on, and it remains to be seen where the team stands on bringing back Jeff Reed. Charlie Batch has probably seen his last action as a Steeler, and possibly in the NFL. There has to be changes in the offensive line and in the secondary, which hasn't been this weak since the Chad Scott days. Casey Hampton is going to want big money, and that might not come from a team that is coming off of a season like this. And you can virtually guarantee that the coaching staff will have some level of turnover. Heads will roll with an output like this.

9. Keeping perspective:

I understand that this was in particular a horrendous loss and that the past month has been a football nightmare that doesn't want to end. But that does not mean the Steelers will not be good again in our lifetimes. In fact, there are many parallels between this season and 2006: injuries to key players ('06 Roethlisberger concussion/motorcycle wreck/appendectomy; '09 Polamalu knee, Aaron Smith shoulder & Roethlisberger concussion); the loss of key free agents ('06 Chris Hope, Antwaan Randle-El, '09 McFadden & Larry Foote); and extremely bad losses ('06 Oakland, '09 Oakland/Cleveland/KC). And the Steelers got their house in order quickly enough to make the playoffs in 2007 and win the whole thing in 2008. This traditionally is not an organization that goes into a prolonged tailspin (unless you forget about most of the years prior to the '70s). Let's just say I don't anticipate a Pirate-like streak of losing seasons from this franchise.

One thing is for certain: Mike Tomlin is going to be the coach and Ben Roethlisberger is going to be the quarterback going forward. If you think otherwise, you haven't been following this organization's history very well. They don't fire coaches on a whim and they give their QBs a long rope, especially when they've won two Super Bowls. So you can probably forget about Dennis Dixon behind center, as if that would change anything. As for the rest of the team, I do expect some major changes.

10. The rest of the season

Green Bay, Baltimore and Miami all look like losses if this team continues to play at the same level. That's going to be up to the players and coaches to decide whether or not they have any remaining pride, or if the last month has drained away every last ounce. The Packers are one of the most improved teams in the league, Baltimore is always a tough game, and Miami is still in the playoff hunt. Things could get a little better or much, much worse over the next three weeks.

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FROM BAD TO WORSE

RAIDERS (4-8) 27
STEELERS (6-6) 24

ROETHLISBERGER 18/24, 278 YARDS, 2 TD, 1 INT
MENDENHALL 20 CARRIES, 103 YARDS, 1 TD
HOLMES 8 CATCHES, 149 YARDS, 1 TD

Last weekend was pretty hard to stomach for fans of Pittsburgh football, both of the pro and college variations. Pitt's last-second loss in the Backyard Brawl served as the appetizer to a Steeler overtime loss against Baltimore, putting the city in a collective bad mood as Monday rolled around. Well if that was bad, this will be much, much worse.

By now, everyone has heard about what happened to the Car Care Bowl-bound Panthers. Their misery has been well-documented on every sports network for the past 24 hours. Cincinnati is officially Pittsburgh's Daddy on all levels of football in 2009, as painful as that is to write. But the collapse of the world champs...now that is a script that continues to get authored each week (four weeks in a row, to be exact). Sunday's opponent, the Oakland Raiders, was thought of by many (myself included) to be the elixir that cured a franchise in a tailspin. As it turns out, all they did was downgrade the Steelers' playoff chances from "still likely" to "life support". A few thoughts:

1. The current four-game losing streak is totally new ground for Mike Tomlin. Prior to this season, Tomlin-coached Steeler teams had only lost back-to-back games once, in 2007, to New England and Jacksonville. That team went on to lose six games and find themselves out after one round of the playoffs (again at the hands of the Jaguars).

This streak, however, is virgin territory for the human soundbyte that doubles as a head coach. Tough talk about unleashing hell in December is great for whipping up the fans, but losing to Tom Cable and Bruce Gradkowski is losing to Tom Cable and Bruce Gradkowski. My apologies to all of Gradkowski's local fans and supporters, but that coach/QB combination is just a little less accomplished than the duo the Steelers trotted out on Sunday.

At least if this loss came in Oakland then maybe (and only maybe) could I possibly see a "tired from the flight/jet-lag" excuse pulled out of the excuse hat. But this loss was on their home turf. To a team that's considered a laughing stock. There is no excuse.

As I often say, most of our emotion as fans comes down to expectations. Few would've predicted a 6-6 record for the Steelers at this point in the season; not with a championship team returning the vast majority of their players. Sure, injuries to players like Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith hurt to some degree. But even missing those two and others, this team has much more talent than the Chiefs or Raiders. Fans had every right to have high expectations for the 2009 Steelers, and they absolutely have every right to be disappointed. And when fans are disappointed, the criticism usually gets directed to either the head coach, quarterback, or both. Given that Roethlisberger had a 123.3 rating and only 6 incompletions, I'm guessing he will get the benefit of the doubt for the time being. As for Tomlin, it's going to be a looooong week. I'm already seeing some radicals calling for his head just months after winning a Super Bowl. Gotta love football fans.

2. So much for the scary Steeler defense. Save the statistics or the rankings. When they need a stop, they've proven time and time and time again this year that they aren't up to the task. The secondary is in shambles. They just got carved up by a journeyman backup QB with a lifetime record of 3-9, a lifetime passer rating of 61, and a previous career high of 225 yards passing. Against the swiss cheese-style Steeler secondary, Gradkowski lit up the scoreboard for three touchdowns in the final eight minutes, a career-high 308 yards, and a QB rating of 121.8. I love Dick LeBeau, but will anyone ask him for an explanation of these numbers this week?

3. Loved this snippet from the ESPN recap (my emphasis):

Who does Gradkowski think he is, one-time Raiders comeback king George Blanda? Until Sunday, the Raiders had thrown only five touchdown passes all season.

Gradkowski, who completed only two passes and had a 1.0 passer rating during a 31-0 loss in Pittsburgh with Cleveland last December, finished 20-of-33 for 308 yards with a passer rating of 121.8.

And then there's this:

"That was so exciting, I can't even put into words how I feel," said Gradkowski, whose first two starts in Pittsburgh in 2006 and 2008 yielded three points, five interceptions and zero wins.

Excuse me, I have to go vomit.

Much better. On to #4.

4. Joe Burnett dropped what would've been a game-ending interception, Ryan Mundy committed a personal foul on the final drive to give the Raiders a 15- yard boost, and Ike Taylor got beat by something called a Louis Murphy for a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Much like I said about the Pitt game, numerous scapegoats are usually a telltale sign of a game you didn't deserve to win.

5. Once again, the Steelers committed the Cardinal Sin of what not to do when playing against a bad team: they let them hang around too long. When it's 10-6 after three quarters, you're technically still winning, but you've left yourself no room for an error. The game can change on one play - which it did. After the Steelers fell behind, they responded. But for every Steeler score, the Raiders had an answer, and they had the ball at the end of the game. You want to beat the Raiders? Score some of those 14 fourth-quarter points in the first half and watch them wilt away and die like a hot dog under a convenience store heat lamp.

6. The offense was in better balance this week, with 27 rushes and 24 passes. The only problem is that the vast majority of those 27 rushes went nowhere. The one big play they did have, Rashard Mendenhall's 60-yard-run, culminated in a drive that stalled on the Oakland 5 yard line and resulted in zero points. The other 26 carries resulted in just 49 yards.

The running game continues to get nothing out of Willie Parker (15 yards on three carries) and the line can't get one yard when they have multiple shots. It's a sad state of affairs. Somewhere, Jerome Bettis weeps (while sitting on a pile of money and eating a deep fried meatloaf hoagie).

7. On the good side, I don't see any special teamers players getting cut or coaches getting fired this week. And Stefan Logan actually provided a spark with an 83-yard kick return. On the other hand, if Gary Russell would've beaten the Steelers with a runback, I think there would've been even more mass hysteria in the streets than normal after a game like this.

8. This game certainly brought back memories from the last time these teams met, in 2006. Back then, the Steelers were also defending champs, they lost to a below-average QB (Andrew Walter), they were in the midst of a free-fall (a week away from 2-6), and the Raiders stunk (they would finish 2-14 under the classically clueless Art Shell).

9. Hines Ward showed no ill effects of a week spent discussing Ben Roethlisberger, with six catches for 77 yards and a TD. Santonio Holmes had his best game of the season, and found the end zone for just the third time in 2009. But Heath Miller was held to just one catch for the second consecutive week. He has been a non-factor through the air since his 95-yard effort at Kansas City.

10. Next up for the Steelers: Cleveland, and on Thursday night at that. I would normally expect a whitewash, but at this point, Brady Quinn could throw for 400 yards and I don't think I would bat an eye.

We've reached the point of no easy answers, and that's always a great place to fire up a good old-fashioned dissection of the Steelers' ailments. I've provided a few amateur theories, but as always, I'm more looking forward to hearing your two cents on the current state of football affairs.

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ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER

RAVENS (6-5) 20
STEELERS (6-5) 17
OVERTIME
DIXON 12-25, 145 YARDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
MENDENHALL 24 CARRIES, 95 YARDS
HOLMES 6 CATCHES, 74 YARDS, 1 TD

All in all, it was a pretty horrible weekend for Pittsburgh football teams. The Panthers lost to their rival on a last-second field goal, and the Steelers lost to their rival on an overtime field goal. The difference is that the Panthers are still guaranteed a spot in their conference's championship game on Saturday. The Steelers, on the other hand, are on the outside looking in for a playoff spot, still have major injuries to contend with, and now appear to have some controversy in the locker room. There's much to discuss.

1. In my personal memory bank of Steeler history, I will not put this loss on Dennis Dixon, instead opting to go with the disappointing Steeler defense, which let Dixon's fourth-quarter lead evaporate on a crushing 10-play, 84-yard drive that resulted in the game-tying field goal. It was the third drive of 70+ yards that the vaunted D had allowed in this game alone. And the disturbing trend of fourth quarter collapses in 2009 continues.

2. What bothered me the most was poor tackling all night by the Steelers. The special teams was bailed out by Baltimore penalties a few times on long returns, but the defense did not have that luxury. I know it's his style, but Ryan Clark's human-torpedo method was ineffective for most of the contest. I know Ray Rice certainly thought so.

3. Coming out of this game, the biggest concern has to be the ongoing comments of Hines Ward that Roethlisberger should have played through his symptoms. The latest example, postgame:

"This is the biggest game of the year," Ward said bluntly. "Me being a competitor, I just wished we had all our weapons out there."

This is not good, people. The Steelers have never been known as a team that conducts a war-of-words via the media; in fact, they're one of the more secretive teams in the NFL. The fact that Ward is not letting this go can do nothing but damage the already fragile demeanor of a locker room teetering on the brink of the playoffs.

4. If you look at which Steelers were missing and at what positions, it was a miracle that they even had a lead against a desperate Ravens team, and in Baltimore no less. I thought Dixon handled himself well for most of the game, and actually made a few plays that could earn him a leg up on the #2 job next season. But to play 60 minutes and again lose in overtime for a second consecutive week is a crushing outcome.

The Steelers' losing streak has reached three games, and their record in the AFC North is an unbelievable 1-3. If Oakland traveling across the country to Heinz Field can't cure what ails the Steelers next Sunday, the season is virtually over.

5. After the game, Coach Mike Tomlin promised to "unleash hell" on the rest of the NFL in the month of December, and the Steelers have no choice but to live up to those words unless they want to live with another offseason of "Super Bowl hangover" talk. The sad reality is that this team is not as good as the 2008 model. I think the losses of Bryant McFadden and Larry Foote sting more than the front office could have ever anticipated. Combine that with the weekly target on their backs that come with the championship label and a plethora of injuries to key players, and all of a sudden the reasons for a 6-5 record start to pile up.

6. Back to Dixon: I thought his presence would signify a virtual white flag on any big plays. And while the Steelers didn't manage anything above 33 yards, they did hit on four plays of 20+. Rashard Mendenhall had a solid night running the ball and managed to not get himself physically abused in this year's game. Santonio Holmes was exceptional and made plays. Ward also had a solid, yet unspectacular game. The only disappointment was that Dixon was 0-for-4 when he looked in the direction of Mike Wallace, which would've definitely increased the big-play output, and the virtual invisibility of Heath Miller in the stats column, with one catch for two yards. But all in all, Dixon's play (and the lowered expectations of the offense) should have been enough to win the game. Unfortunately, they did not, and he threw the crucial interception that contributed to the loss. So to say he's blameless would also be incorrect.

7. Admit it, seeing Tyler Palko on the sidelines in a Steeler jersey and Flacco across the field in a Raven jersey had to be pretty interesting for any Pitt fan. I'm sure Palko would've relished the opportunity to defeat his former backup, but if Tyler did enter the game he would've been on a steady diet of handoffs.

8. Despite the three consecutive losses, injuries, and vultures circling, the Steelers are not finished. If I've learned anything from this team over the years, it's that many of their players love to play the disrespect/no one gave us a chance/back against the wall card. They've got Oakland and Cleveland coming up, and while it's been proven that no game is an automatic victory, that's as much of a gift as the schedule makers could hand this team. Sitting at 8-5 with Green Bay, Baltimore and Miami pending would seem to indicate that they would still have a shot at the playoffs. But the bleeding must stop, and that happens one game at a time. Redemption starts Sunday at 1 PM.

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GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY

CHIEFS (3-7) 27
STEELERS (6-4) 24

ROETHLISBERGER 32-42, 398 YDS, 3 TD, 2 INT
MENDENHALL 21 CARRIES, 80 YARDS
WARD 10 CATCHES, 128 YARDS, 1 TD

Remember that commercial than ran a few years ago featuring the groundskeeper who screwed up the Chiefs' end zone, leading to his dejected, "Great googly moogly" line? That was a completely valid reaction to the Steelers' play in a 27-24 loss to the lowly, bumbling Chefs on Sunday. Great googly moogly indeed.

I have no answer as to why this team can lose to an opponent like Kansas City, but let me try and at least offer some thoughts on what transpired on Sunday and this season in general:

1. What's bothered me the most about this year's Steelers is that they've lost to some clearly inferior teams. Last year's Super Bowl edition of the Steelers lost four games, and they were all to eventual playoff teams: the Eagles (9-6-1), Giants (12-4), Colts (12-4), and Titans (13-3).

This year's team has already lost four games, including Sunday's loss to the 2-7 (now 3-7) Chiefs and the 4-5 Bears, who look worse and worse as the season goes on. In addition, both losses to the Bengals sting a little more due to the fact that they were completely winnable games; the first meeting featured 14 unanswered Bengal points in the fourth quarter to erase an 11-point deficit; the more recent game was 9-6 Steelers into the third quarter. It's been very frustrating to witness from a fan's point of view, so I can only imagine the feeling among those who are actually part of the organization.

The problem with this team appears to be somewhat of a lack of identity. There are days when it appears that they can run over anybody (San Diego - Mendenhall 165 yards rushing), and there are days when it looks like there are no running plays in the playbook (Cincinnati II, Tennessee). They have days when the defense looks dominant (Cincinnati II, Cleveland) and days when the defense blows leads (Chicago, Cincinnati I). And as for their special teams, it's never really had any up to go with its perennial down.

As a team, they are very inconsistent; you never know which version of the Steelers is going to show up on a given day. After the back-to-back takedowns of Minnesota and Denver, they were the darlings of the league, finally playing up to their champion label. After back-to-back losses that probably handed the division crown to Cincinnati, they should be happy to make the playoffs.

Individual criticism and praise has fluctuated wildly based on the weekly outcomes, from Mike Tomlin to Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison to Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward to Bruce Arians. One week they're up, another week they're down. This week's hero could very well be tomorrow's goat. Consistency has not been an ally of this specific team.

To an outsider, it looks like the Steelers have still not found their rhythm. It looked like they were headed in that direction with five straight wins, but then came crashing back down to Earth in the last two weeks. It's not that the Steelers can't re-capture their mojo, it's just that time is rapidly becoming their enemy if they want to make a playoff push in earnest.

In the end, all of this hot air I'm spewing basically comes down to your expectations for the rest of the season, and what's realistic. Do you expect the Steelers to win the Super Bowl? Then they're not going to be living up to your expectations, at least not at this point. Not by losing to Chicago and Kansas City, blowing leads, and allowing kick returns to go to the house on a regular basis. Do you expect the Steelers to make the playoffs? Now we're getting warmer. But does anyone expect the Steelers to lose to a train wreck of a team like Kansas City? For some reason, I doubt it.

Expectations are what dictate our mood about sports. If the Pirates go .500, a lot of people would be happy. If the Steelers would go .500, a lot of people would be disappointed. Why? Because expectations for the Pirates are much, much lower. But what should your expectations be for the remainder of the Steelers' 2009 campaign? Sadly, that is a question I cannot answer. At least not after watching them lose to the Chiefs.

2. (Yes, there's a #2) - I've said it before and I'll say it again - the longer you let an underdog hang around, the more they believe they can win. In fact, it's not just an opinion, it's a fact. When Kansas City is taking you into the fourth quarter at 17-17, they're only 15 minutes away from an upset (or in this case, 15 minutes plus overtime).

As has been the case many times in 2009, the Steelers could not step on the throat of their opponent and finish them off. Pittsburgh had a 17-7 into the third quarter, and another touchdown would've seriously limited any chance KC had at a victory. But all of a sudden, a ball bounces off of Heath Miller and into the hands of Andy Studebaker, the Chiefs take over at their own 38 yard line, and close the lead to 17-14 just a few plays later.

That turn of events would cripple the Steelers in the short-term. Their next drive was a three-and-out capped off by Rashard Mendenhall getting stuffed for no gain on third-and-one. The drive after that was moving along fine until a Roethlisberger end-zone pass was again intercepted by Studebaker and taken back to the Steeler five yard line, setting up a Chiefs field goal that would tie the game going into the final quarter. And because of that comedy of errors, the Chiefs were very much in it and their crowd had life with just 15 minutes on the clock. Momentum can be a dangerous opponent when it's not on your side, and at that point, it was not on the Steelers' side.

3. I've become so accustomed to Ben Roethlisberger magically rallying the Steelers at a moment's notice that I'm dumbfounded when it doesn't happen. And the last two weeks, with chances to alter the game's outcome in the closing minutes, it hasn't happened. The legend of Get Me My Hat seems like a lifetime ago. If only I had lower expectations, I wouldn't be acting like a spoiled Steeler fan. As you can see, I'm sticking with this expectations thing.

4. As I mentioned in an earlier post, one person outside of Kansas City who should feel good about the Chiefs' special-teams TD is former Steeler Arnold Harrison, who was thrown to the wolves last week in hopes of ending the unit's ongoing woes. But it was evident from Sunday's opening kickoff that this is a problem that's deeper than one man. The only question is whether or not the cuts will go deeper after a ridiculous fourth consecutive week with a kick return touchdown.

Despite the epic fail on that opening kickoff, I don't know how much good it would do to let special teams coach Bob Ligasheshky go right now. It might make some people happy to see another head roll, but that's not going to improve the 11 men on kick coverage. The more likely scenario is to utilize more starters on special teams, risking injury. It's not a desirable option, but how desirable are games decided by big plays on your special teams every week?

5. Roethlisberger had 42 pass attempts on Sunday, and again I'll say that is waaaay too many. Sunday ranked third on Roethlisberger's list of all-time bests for yardage, and the Steelers have now lost two of those games. If the Steelers were using the pass to build insurmountable leads that were then protected by gratuitous second-half rushing, that would balance things out. But that's not the way things are playing out.

I'm never one to champion an ultra-conservative game-plan, but the more you throw the ball, the greater a chance exists that bad things will happen. It's simply the law of averages. It's hard to have passes bounce off of guys' chests when you're running the ball.

I've been on record of saying that the team should not have a ball-and-chain to "The Steeler Way" of pounding the ball with a Bettis/Harris/Foster-style running back, and that the strength of the team is the passing game. But the job of Bruce Arians is to use the team's strengths to their advantage, and I don't think that includes putting up 40+ passes, no matter who is throwing or catching the ball. The passing game can still be a strength even if it doesn't account for 400 yards on any given Sunday.

6. Other than heaping blame on the offense's numerous turnovers, Bruce Arians' play-calling, and the special teams, allow a moment to squeeze the defense on that list of goats. Not only did Dick LeBeau's feared unit give up the crucial 61-yard pass play to Chris Chambers in OT, but it also gave up a crippling eight-play, 91-yard drive in the middle of the fourth quarter.

If the opponent were, say, the Indianapolis Colts, I'd probably be a little more forgiving. But the problem was that it wasn't. This was a mediocre quarterback who the Steelers destroyed last year when he was surrounded by a much more talented New England team. This was a receiver (Chris Chambers) who was just bid adieu by the division-leading Chargers three weeks ago; the Chiefs didn't even have their leading receiver (Dwayne Bowe) for this game, as he was serving the first game of his league-mandated drug suspension. This was a running game that was in disarray after waving goodbye to one of their leading rushers in team history. This was a Chiefs team that hadn't won at home this season, hadn't won back-to-back games since 2007, and scored its first victory over a team with a winning record since beating Denver in week four of 2008. This was a Chiefs offense that ranked 30th in the league with a pitiful 266 yards per game, only outdone by the miserly Raiders and Browns. And this was a Steelers defense that ranked 2nd in the league, giving up 277 yards per game. I realize the greatness of Troy Polamalu, but does this team really miss him this much?

7. So far, I've spent way too much negative energy talking about this game. There were some positives - most notably Hines Ward, who had a tremendous 10-catch, 128-yard, one-TD effort. Heath Miller (interception snafus aside) was just six yards off of his career high for receiving yards (101 in the 2006 opener against Miami, highlighted by an 87-yard TD). And Rashard Mendenhall had 116 yards of offense, with his first career rushing TD. But games are not won on stats alone, and that's why it's hard to generate some optimism from these impressive numbers.

8. Another positive from Sunday was the showing of Steeler Nation on the road. After Roethlisberger's incredible Houdini-like touchdown pass, Arrowhead sounded louder than Heinz Field on most days. Steeler road crowds draw a different kind of energy - these are fans who don't get to go to every contest and usually bring their A-game.

I know I'm not the only one to believe that the crowds at Heinz Field have been a bit stale at times. Going to a Steeler game just doesn't evoke the same kind of enthusiasm for people who've been there every week since 1975 - and some of them act like it.

9. If things weren't bad enough, Big Ben took a violent shot in overtime that brought an ice-cold Charlie Batch into the game after four quarters on the sidelines, and Chris Kemoeatu left with a knee injury. Hopefully things will turn out OK on that front, but we'll have to wait and see.

10. On a disappointment level, is this the worst Steeler loss since the infamous Oakland game in 2006? If not, it's certainly close.

11. I hate playing the "what if" game, but what if Ike Taylor holds on to that interception in overtime? Unfortunately, we'll never know, as it got chalked up as another on the lengthy list of Dropped Ike Taylor Interceptions. I think this was #721.

12. I've thrown a lot of things out there, as is usually the case after season-altering losses. That's human nature - just listen to the angry callers to talk shows this week. The losses gets dissected more than the wins.

This team clearly has some issues, but there is no reason that they still cannot overcome them and at least qualify for the playoffs. However, at this point, the season must be broken into 60-minute blocks, and the next one (Baltimore, next Sunday night) will be one of the biggest 60-minute-blocks of the remaining schedule.

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MISSED OPPORTUNITY

BENGALS (7-2) 18

STEELERS (6-3) 12
ROETHLISBERGER 20-40, 175 YARDS, 1 INT
MENDENHALL 13-36
HOLMES 7-88

Nobody's perfect, which the Steelers proved while basically handing the 2009 AFC North division crown to Cincinnati on Sunday. A few thoughts on the disappointing conclusion to "Homecoming Weekend":

1. Why did the Steelers lose? A few reasons:

A. They couldn't run the ball. Rashard Mendenhall led the team with only 36 yards.

B. There was no offensive balance, with 18 runs and 40 passes. I love Big Ben like few do, but those numbers are out of whack.

C. Lack of big plays: the Steelers had only one play of 20 yards or more, and that only went for 21. The biggest play of the day was a 46-yard pass interference call drawn by Mike Wallace.

D. Ben Roethlisberger was human. A below-average 50% completion percentage, no touchdowns, and one interception proved that. I was waiting for "Get Me My Hat II", but it was not to be.

E. Poor special teams. The Steelers allowed their seventh return touchdown of the season, and we're only nine games in. It would also help if someone would teach Jeff Reed how to tackle already.

F. The Steelers were an awful 3-for-15 on third downs. That's not going to get it done against a bad team, let alone a 6-2 team.

G. They couldn't finish drives. Four field goals and no touchdowns is rarely enough offense to win a game.

2. It's hard to pin much blame for the loss on the defense, which was playing without Troy Polamalu for most of the game. They bent but never broke, they held Cincinnati to 61 yards rushing on 29 carries (albeit without Cedric Benson) and they limited Chad Ochocinco to two catches for 29 yards. Not to mention that they didn't give up any touchdowns. If you ask me, that's a pretty complete effort that should've been good enough to win the game.

3. As hard as it is, I/we must give credit to Cincinnati. They've swept both AFC Championship teams and barring a complete collapse should win the AFC North. They have been and will continue to be a legitimate threat in the conference. Plus, their remaining schedule includes pushovers Oakland, Cleveland, Detroit, and Kansas City. They're not going away anytime soon.

4. Hines Ward was virtually erased by the Bengal defense, targeted on 10 passes but connecting on only four, for 26 yards. The only time he was really noticed was when he got in a Bengal's face.

5. Big Ben looked Santonio Holmes' way a whopping 14 times, and connected on just half of those. Holmes had two catches in the second half after grabbing five in the first.

6. While Sunday's result was a major letdown, the season is not over. Yes, it just got a whole lot more difficult, but it is not over. To be honest, I think the injury to Troy Polamalu could be an ever bigger concern than this loss.

7. Wow - a Willie Parker sighting! One carry and one ball thrown in his vicinity now passes as a lot of work for a two-time Pro Bowler who's rushed for 125 yards or more against the Bengals four times in eight games.

8. I don't have an entire list of celebrity sightings at the game on Sunday, but at the very least I can tell you that Mean Joe Greene and Russell Crowe were both on hand to watch the Steelers lose. Greene was accepting his Clio Award 29 years late, and Crowe took in the game while in town filming The Next Three Days.

9. I thought I heard Dan Marino swear during the CBS halftime show and it turns out that he did. Hope the FCC watchdogs aren't football fans.

10. Don't get too down, Steeler Nation: next on the schedule would be Matt Cassel, Mike Vrabel and the Kansas City Chiefs, now 100% Larry Johnson-free. Sounds to me like the perfect elixir for a tough loss.

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A TALE OF TWO HALVES

STEELERS (6-2) 28
BRONCOS (6-2) 10 ROETHLISBERGER 21-29, 233 YARDS, 3 TD, 1 INT
MENDENHALL 22-155
HOLMES 6-93

Thoughts on the game that will surely vault the Steelers up Peter King's Fine Fifteen...

1. This game was 7-3 Steelers at halftime, and that was with a Steeler offense that scored zero points and generated 54 yards of offense. Watching them flip the script in the second half to the tune of 321 yards and 21 points was a real treat, as Big Ben reminded the world that he just might be the best quarterback in the game (except for the time when he threw that rare red zone pick).

It was funny to listen to the ESPN crew after the game talk about Roethlisberger as if they just watched him play for the first time (a common theme among broadcasters this season). Stuart Scott, who I never held in especially high regard, seemed to feel that Roethlisberger may only now be on the verge of being an elite QB, joining the much more-heralded Eli Manning and Philip Rivers from the 2004 draft class. We can only hope, Stu. Boo-ya!

2. I don't know where Rashard Mendenhall had been hiding earlier in the season, but he continues to impress. With Mendenhall reviving the running game and Roethlisberger anchoring the passing attack, this looks like an incredibly dangerous and more importantly, balanced offense. Who needs Larry Johnson?

3. Speaking of the running game, is Willie Parker still on the team?

4. I know Jon Gruden was fired up about the Steelers last night and how they finish games like Mariano Rivera. Unfortunately, Coach Gruden has a short memory, because the Steelers were more like Brad Lidge when they played Cincinnati and Chicago earlier this season. But other than that, yes, they're lights out.

5. On the topic of the 2009 Offensive Rookie of the Year, I've been banging the drum for Mike Wallace for a few weeks now, and luckily, a kind soul named Joe from Big Football Blog went to the trouble of looking up the current stats for me and supporting the cause:

Percy Harvin, Minnesota Rookie WR, 1st round pick: 28 receptions, 369 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 fumble, 39 yards rushing, 6 plays of 20 yards or more

Mike Wallace, Pittsburgh Steelers WR, 3rd round pick: 25 receptions, 437 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 fumbles, 43 yards rushing, NINE plays of 20 yards or more.

Wallace isn't totally running away with the award, but he's never even mentioned in the conversation, probably because he's not the target of Brett Favre. But Wallace has been an incredible find by the Steelers and is absolutely one of the top candidates to take home this hardware.

6. Hines Ward has had many a highlight in his career, but his leapfrog move on Champ Bailey has to be somewhere in the top 10. And how about those guys that caught the ball Hines threw to them? I don't think they could've been more excited if Hines dropped a million-dollar check in their lap.

7. Great game by Ty Carter last night in relief of Ryan Clark, and it was really cool to see Clark lend his support to the man taking his place. It's said often, but the Steelers are about as close-knit of a team as you will find in pro sports today.

8. There were lots of great shots last night of Steeler Nation running wild on yet another opponent's stadium (much to Woody Paige's chagrin), but here's one of the best, from reader Terry N.:

9. That was the game everyone outside of Denver was waiting for from Kyle Orton. And by that I mean the self-destruction game. Leave it to a Dick LeBeau defense to get a game manager out of his comfort zone. And how about that run defense? 27 yards rushing doesn't exactly back up my theory that they would miss Aaron Smith.

10. What are the odds that James Harrison's hit on Correll Buckhalter at the end of the game makes it into a future "Renegade" compliation?

11. The offensive line has taken many a sling and arrow from all angles the past two years, but they sure looked good last night against a highly-respected Bronco defense. I particularly enjoyed the Max Starks-Elvis Dumervil matchup/size mismatch.

12. Can someone tell me why exactly the Broncos signed the Mitchberger? Seven attempts and he couldn't even average 40 yards a kick. Really makes you appreciate Dan Sepulveda, if you didn't already.

13. Great game out of Santonio Holmes last night, who was 6-for-6 in balls thrown his way. Heath Miller was rather quiet, with a pedestrian three catches for 18 yards, considering the way his 2009 season has gone, but there's only one ball.

14. Another game, another incomplete pass intended for Limas Sweed. The only consistent out of Sweed is that he never makes anything happen when he's in the game.

15. Peter King ranked the top 15 unrestricted free agents-to-be, and I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that Brian St. Pierre, who's been cut so many times it's a wonder he hasn't bled to death (to use that wonderful cliche), came in at #12. The comment? "Someone might see him as 2010's Matt Cassel and go buy him for a fifth of the cost." Is that supposed to be a compliment to compare him to the QB of a 1-7 team?

The only current Steeler on the list was Ryan Clark, who was ranked 7th. As much as I'd like to see Clark around beyond 2009, I just don't know if it's going to happen.

16. The Steelers' leading tackler last night was none other than Keyaron Fox, who had another great game in relief of the oft-injured Lawrence Timmons. But the defensive star of the night had to be Troy Polamalu, who continues to wow America with his speed, athleticism, instinct, and Head and Shoulders-using hair. That tackle for a loss/interception on back-to-back plays was vintage Troy.

17. It's only Tuesday and I'm already counting down the days until an extremely exciting weekend at Heinz Field: Pitt-Notre Dame on Saturday night, followed by Steelers-Bengals on Sunday. You might want to get your weekend chores done early, because not much is going to be happening outside of football watching in Pittsburgh during those games. I can practically hear the Pitt-based arguing in the comments section already.

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ALL IN ALL, A GOOD WEEKEND FOR PITTSBURGH

STEELERS (5-2) 27
VIKINGS (6-1) 17
ROETHLISBERGER 14-26, 175 YDS, 1 TD
MENDENHALL 10-69
WALLACE 3-72, 1 TD

This weekend featured two Pens games, a big Pitt homecoming game, and one of the marquee matchups of the 2009 NFL schedule. I think we can all say that a 3-1 record for our teams was an enjoyable and acceptable showing. Thoughts? Oh, I've got some thoughts.

1.This was the game everyone was waiting for from the Steelers' defense. We've been getting used to watching Ben Roethlisberger save the day, but to witness what the D did in the fourth quarter on Sunday was downright awesome, especially given the fact that A. they've been horrible in the fourth all season, B. they were missing Aaron Smith, Lawrence Timmons, and Travis Kirschke at the time, and C. they awoke from their season-long funk against an offense that features the best running back in the game and one of the best signal-callers of all time. This was a statement by the men on that side of the ball that the Steelers' defense is still a unit to fear.

2. That being said, I don't think Adrian Peterson got the memo about fearing the defense. In fact, if anyone's going to have nightmares, it's going to be William Gay. But I'm sure the rest of the league will fear the Steelers' defense.

3. As expected, this game came down to the final 15 minutes. There were 23 points scored in the first three quarters combined and 21 scored in the fourth alone. But if I would've told you that the touchdowns would've all been between 77 and 88 yards and scored only by the defense and special teams, I'm guessing few would've believed me.

4. One of the potential goats had the game gone differently was kicker Jeff Reed, whose ole' on the Percy Harvin kick return TD was a bad tackle attempt even by kicker standards. The Fox TV announcers were killing Reed for his lack of effort, and based on an in-person account from reader Eric, it wasn't much better for Skippy inside the stadium:

"I was at the game today sitting right behind the Steelers bench, right after Skippy kicked a short one to Harvin, then attempted the lamest kicker tackle ever as Harvin streaked to the end zone. I watched him go the bench and it was like the plague was coming, because all his teammates were avoiding him. All, except for one...

Casey Hampton rushed over to him and began to verbally tear chunks of flesh from Skippy's burnt carcass. I couldn't hear what was said, but it was obvious that Big Snack thought Skippy could have shown a bit more effort."

Is this one of the worst contract years ever by a player? Yes, it is one of the worst contract years ever by a player.

5. Speaking of bad contract years, all signs point to Willie Parker's time in Pittsburgh coming to an end after the season. The two-time Pro Bowler, who had over 1,700 yards of offense and 16 TDs in 2006, had one carry for two yards on Sunday and was basically an afterthought.

6. And speaking of afterthoughts, has anyone seen Hines Ward? How does the league's leading receiver get only three targets and one catch in a big game like this?

7. Yes, Limas Sweed has been a massive disappointment, but the Steelers appear to have hit a grand slam with Mike Wallace, who was invaluable on Sunday with some yuuuuge plays, including grabs of 40 and 22 yards and his second career TD. The quick emergence of Wallace, who should be an Offensive ROY candidate, more than makes up for the Sweed whiff in 2008.

8. We've also got to give some love to the much-maligned and much-improved Steeler offensive line. Going against the likes of the Williams Wall and Jared Allen on Sunday, they held their own, giving Roethlisberger adequate time to throw and opening enough holes to give Rashard Mendenhall a 6.9 YPC average.

9. To give you a little perspective on how great Vikings WR Sidney Rice played on Sunday, here are the top wide receivers' yardage totals for each Steeler opponent this season:

Kenny Britt (TN) 85, Johnny Knox (CHI) 70, Chad Ochocinco (CIN) 54, Vincent Jackson (SD) 56, Dennis Northcutt (DET) 70, and Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 83.

Again, here are Rice's stats against the Steelers: 14 targets, 11 catches, 136 yards, and a long of 34 yards. As Peter King would say, "Good numbers. Lofty numbers."

10. We've already gone through nine points and I haven't talked much about Big Ben, probably because he was held mostly in check (at least by his 2009 standards) with a mortal 14 completions and 175 yards on Sunday. Brett Favre nearly doubled Roethlisberger's yardage (334-175), but Favre also had two killer turnovers to Roethlisberger's zero. I wonder if Ben ended up getting Brett's jersey, like he talked about?

11. You know who had a great game on Sunday? James Farrior. 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass deflection, and a QB hit. The only defensive stat he didn't get was a touchdown.

12. James Harrison also had a solid game, with two sacks and three hits on Lord Favre. That's at least two sacks in three of the last four games for Silverback after notching just one through his first three games. Not coincidentally, the Steelers are 4-0 in those last four games and 1-2 in the first three.

13. Lamarr Woodley had 11.5 sacks last year and is on pace for just five this season. I'm sure he would tell you he wished those numbers were higher. But his first career touchdown on Sunday would probably rank right behind his sack of Kurt Warner at the end of the Super Bowl as one of his career highlights.

14. Fourth quarter heroics aside, one of the greatest moments from the defense on Sunday was their goal-line stand against the Vikes in the third quarter, saving four points when they forced Chilly Childress' hand into kicking a field goal. That series would probably be one of the little nuggets of confidence that would set up their fantastic performance in the final quarter.

15. The defense has once again gotten into the fantastic rut of not allowing 100-yard rushers. We're at 25 games and counting, with Peterson being limited to 69 yards on Sunday. And again, that's sans Aaron Smith. This was the game everyone pointed to as a time when the Steelers would truly miss him, but they really held up quite well in his absence.

16. I would not consider myself a Brett Favre fan. At all. His ritualistic waffling each offseason has become beyond bearable, as the franchise he's under contract to is kept in limbo at the most critical position on the football team. But for one afternoon, he added a healthy dose of excitement to what would've been an otherwise uneventful Steelers-Vikings interdivision game in October. Does Heinz Field get packed to a record number of fans with Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson at QB? And is it a more satisfying win if it comes over Rosenfels or Jackson? I'm guessing the answers are no and no.

It's OK to admit that Favre brings something to the NFL. I think it's his offseasons and the media's infatuation with him that make Favre a tiresome storyline most of the time.

17. Other than the Steeler game, the coolest thing I saw on Sunday was an ESPN feature on the post-Super Bowl IX "Superstars" matchup between the Steelers and Vikings, a best-of-seven series of non-football feats of strength culminating in an epic 16-minute tug of war that left both teams exhausted on the Waikiki sand. ESPN's Page 2 has an accompanying story, and I highly encourage you to check it out.

18. The Steelers have an always-welcome bye week next on the schedule, and won't play again until November 9, a Monday-nighter with Denver. That means there are two Sundays where things might get done (other than watching football) in Pittsburgh. By the time that game finally does roll around, Steeler fans may be in full black and gold withdrawal. Emergency rooms will be full of Yinzers with something other than the swine flu.

The Broncos will be either 6-1 or 7-0 at that time, so it will be every bit as big of a game as we saw on Sunday. Looking a little further down the road, the Steelers have a rematch with the Bengals on 11/16, their only home game in the month of November. They don't return to the Big Ketchup Bottle until December 6 against the always-entertaining Oakland Raiders. And in a season where we saw a rare trip by Brett Favre to Pittsburgh, how great would it be to see Al Davis and his black jumpsuit at Heinz Field?

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POTENT

STEELERS (4-2) 27
BROWNS (1-5) 14
ROETHLISBERGER 23-35, 417 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT
MENDENHALL 17-62, 1 TD
WARD 8-159, 1 TD

Thoughts from the 12th consecutive victory of Hammer over Nail:

1. I realize it was "only" the Browns, but Ben Roethlisberger's grasp of the offense is bordering on scary right now. Even fantasy football fans have fallen for the big guy, who threw for 417 yards, 3rd all-time for a single game in Steeler history, on Sunday. In case you were wondering, the top two: Tommy Maddox's 473 in 2002's "The Tie" against Atlanta, and Roethlisberger's 433 in 2006 against Denver.

2. Just to give you an idea of how accurate Roethlisberger has been throwing the ball, his 73.8 completion percentage is 10.4% above his career average of 63.4. For comparison's sake, Derek Anderson is completing 46.4% of his passes, which probably has something to do with the fact that his team has one win.

3. Hines Ward had another monster day, with eight catches, 159 yards, a touchdown, and another touchdown taken off the board. Through six games, he remains on pace for 109 catches. By the way, Terrell Owens, who got the key to the city upon his arrival in Buffalo, is on pace for 40 catches. Just thought that was worth a mention.

4. One thing that was disappointing: the sloppy sequence of hot potato when the Steelers and Browns kept trying to prove who wanted the ball less. Five fumbles in five straight possessions was nothing but bad football. If anything, it proves that the Steelers, despite a 4-2 record, have yet to play their best game.

5. Another minor disappointment: the Browns came into the game allowing a league-worst 170 yards a game on the ground, and the Steelers came up with 140. That's nitpicking when your QB throws for 417, but the Steeler rushing attack was nothing special on Sunday. The first look at the revised Parker-Mendenhall combo resulted in a total of 88 yards on 24 carries (3.7 per). That gets a "meh" against a bad Browns rush D playing without Kam Wimbley.

6. As for the Steelers' defense, they got high marks by holding the Browns below 200 yards and keeping Anderson to single-digit completions for the second straight week. Their only weapons (and I use that phrase loosely) appear to be WR Mohamed Massaquoi, who broke out with 148 yards against Cincinnati a few weeks ago, and Josh Cribbs, who burned the Steelers for his third career kick return TD today (with help from an uncalled hold on Keiwan Ratliff).

7. Jamal Lewis looked like Jamal Lewis usually looks against the Steelers, and that's not good. Counting today, here's his games against the Steelers while with the Browns: 21, 94, 38, 35, and 35 yards. Hard to believe that he once ran for 2,000 yards in a season. Harder to believe that a guy in my fantasy league paid $21 in real American dollars for him last week. For one game, that's a dollar a yard. What's that make Adrian Peterson worth?

8. Santonio Holmes broke out of his mini-funk with his first 100-yard game since week one, which was the last time he found the end zone. But he had some key plays and nice YAC work on Sunday. Plus, he had a pass intended for him intercepted by Hines Ward, illustrated above.

9. There are many candidates for the worst team in the NFL these days, and Cleveland has to be right in the thick of that race. Head coach that nobody seems happy with? Check. Dumpster fire at quarterback? Check. Lack of consistent playmakers on offense? You know it. Lack of consistent playmakers on defense? Check, unless you consider the worst rush defense in the league as a positive. And the one guy that have that makes plays on the team (Josh Cribbs) is unhappy.

In short, there's a loooooong way to go before they will be ready to compete for anything other than a high draft pick.

10. The officiating, much like the officiating across all sports these days, was not good. I'm still wondering how the Steelers got a first down on a spot that at least appeared from the TV angle to be short. As previously stated, Cleveland got away with a hold on the Cribbs TD. And the overturned Hines Ward TD could have been interpreted either way. That being said, the refs still aren't as bad as what I've seen in the baseball playoffs.

11. Was that a Hank Poteat sighting on Sunday? Yes it was. Somehow, the Pitt product who was cut by the Steelers back in 2003 has managed not only to score a Super Bowl ring (New England, Super Bowl XXXIX), but play 10 seasons in the league. His journey has taken him from Pittsburgh (2000–2002) to Tampa Bay (2003), New England (2004–2006), the New York Jets (2006–2008), and now, Cleveland (2009–present).

12. Nice to see Troy Polamalu back to his playmaking self with an interception and four tackles in his first game since week one. And on the topic of injuries, I thought the run defense handled themselves well on Sunday, keeping the level of competition in mind. Next week against Adrian Peterson and Minnesota will be as big of a test that exists in the NFL.

13. Celebrity fans at the game on Sunday included a rare appearance by Mario Lemieux as well as former Steeler Kimo von Oelhoffen, who successfully pulled off his plan to destroy the Bengals' franchise in 2006. Or so their fans would have you believe.

14. Looking down the road: prepare for a week of hype, because Peterson, Brett Favre, and Jared Allen will be in the Steel City for a 1 PM game next Sunday on Fox. Following a bye week in Week Eight, it's a Monday nighter at Denver and a rematch with Cincy on November 15. Buckle your chinstraps. The time to be in midseason form is rapidly approaching. A big month lies ahead.

UPDATE:

15. As you've probably heard by now, Jeff Reed was cited for disorderly conduct at McFadden's bar on the North Shore around 9 PM last night. It's kind of a "been there, done that" moment for Steeler fans at this point, and for Reed, he's obviously learned no lesson from previous incidents, be them internet embarrassments or his famous run-in with a towel dispenser at Sheetz. It will be interesting to see if the team (or the league) takes any disciplinary measures against the fun-loving kicker.

UPDATE II:

16. Turns out that Matt Spaeth was in on the fun, too. From TMZ:

It all went down at a bar right near the stadium where the Steelers played just a few hours earlier -- cops say they saw a man in the parking lot peeing next to a white SUV. The man turned out to be Steelers back up tight end Matt Spaeth.

When officers approached Spaeth, cops say Steeler's kicker Jeff Reed got out of the SUV to defend his teammate and "curled his fists" at the cops. Bad move.

Reed was placed in cuffs and charged with assault and resisting arrest -- as well as disorderly conduct and public intoxication. He was released to a family member at the scene.

Spaeth was cited for urinating in public and released.

This story just got a lot more interesting. Stay tuned.

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