Monday Evening Quarterback - Week Ten

Sorry, I just don't do negative.

Not after two straight losses.

Not even after losing to the Chiefs.

If football makes you livid to the point of kicking a puppy, my column is probably not for you and I would suggest simply not reading it from now on.

In life and in football, I believe that the sun will shine tomorrow.  Call me an eternal optimist.  Call me gullible.  Call me delusional.  I'm a partly sunny kind of guy in a partly cloudy world, and it's not going to change.  Not even if the Steelers lose the next two games to fall back to .500.

Losing to the Chiefs hurt, don't get me wrong.  Especially on a day where the Bengals would lose to Oakland, thus negating a great opportunity for the Steelers to inch closer into the divisional race.

That said, this team is still in wild card position with 6 weeks to go, and there's nothing wrong with that.  Not every season is going to be blessed with fortunate bounces and meltdowns by the other team.  Sometimes the punt lands in the end zone, and sometimes it goes out at the one yard line.  The Chief said that.

The Steelers have been a victim this year of nothing more than bad luck.  Too simple for you?  Tough.

Last year, the Steelers got all the bounces.  Other quarterbacks made the big mistakes.  Other teams fumbled at inopportune times.  This year, it's the reverse.

Not only have the Steelers been making the big mistakes this season, they've been making them at the worst possible times.  They've been marching up and down the field game after game but failing to convert in the red zone, and it's due to mistakes that are hard to coach away.  4 red zone fumbles.  5 red zone third down drops.  3 red zone interceptions.  7 red zone penalties.  How do you coach those things out of a team?  I don't have the answer, and neither apparently does Mike Tomlin.  At some point, those things simply stop happening for whatever reason.  Maybe it's as simple as the will of the football gods.

All I know is, the best thing for this team to do is to simply stay the course.  Ben does not need to be reined in.  The identity of the offense does not need to change.  Start changing things now and all it does is invite even more mistakes.  I don't want the Steelers to run different plays or try to win the game in a different way.  I want them to do what they've been doing just a little bit better.  A play here, a play there and this team is 10-0.  A play here, a play there for the opponents last season and that team was 8-8 instead of 12-4. 

The Steelers are playing the correct way for their personnel, and 97% of the time it's working like a charm.  Sometimes the quickest way to make sure someone makes a mistake is to harp on playing perfect football to the point that the only thing in a player's mind are negative thoughts about not messing up.  The Steelers need to loosen up, have fun and let these next six weeks play out. 

This time last year, folks were openly campaigning for benching Ben in favor of Byron Leftwich.  Posters were pining for 6 losses to end the season so changes would be made in the coaching staff.  Thank goodness that Mike Tomlin was patient, or #6 would be sitting in Baltimore or Arizona.

If I was on the coaching staff, I don't know what I would do at this point.  I don't think yesterday's loss was because of a lack of fire, a lack of preparedness or a lack of focus.  It was simply bad mistakes that kill a team.  Kickoff returns for touchdowns.  Fumbles by wide receivers after 3rd down conversions.  Interceptions off of a drop by the TE.  A red zone interception.  Blown coverages that gave up big plays at the worst possible times.  How does a coach go about clearing that stuff up?  Tomlin has surely been preaching focus and execution all season long already.

So how do the Steelers change their luck?  I don't know, no one does.  It's bad juju, bad breaks and bad outcomes.

Here's what I believe will happen.  At some point, the losing football simply stops.  The kickoff returns for touchdowns stop.  The interceptions at the worst possible times stop.  The red zone drops by wide receivers stop.  The red zone fumbles by RB's stop.  The drive killing penalties stop.

And then what are we left with?  An offense that is noticeably improved over last season's, and a defense that isn't far behind last season's despite playing without Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith right now.

I still believe this team is going places.  I still believe this team is a Super Bowl caliber team.  I won't stop believing it until they're mathematically eliminated.  But I also believe that the best way to get there is to do what they're doing and wait until more successful results arrive.  In football, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is still insanity, but only if the problems are deep and systemic.  The Steelers' problems aren't deep and systemic, they're isolated, situational and fatal only for the game in question.

The Steelers aren't playing their best right now, and they don't have any more margin for error.

Seems like whatever they did to offend the football gods should be forgiven at this point. 

If that's the case, here comes better football and a strong run to the playoffs.

FURIOUS FIVE

1.  New England Patriots

Rumor has it that Tom Brady sought a role in the movie "The Blind Side," but the producers decided to go with Sandra Bullock instead.

2.  Indianapolis Colts

If the Steelers beat the Ravens in the exact same fashion that the Colts beat them yesterday, posters will complain about the offense not putting up 35 points.  Wonder if anyone in Indianapolis is calling for Tom Moore or Clyde Christensen's head after a win.

3.  New Orleans Saints

I still don't believe in them, they have mopped up with a cupcake schedule.

4.  Minnesota Vikings

I honestly believe they're the best team in the league.  They have it all, and the fact that their WR's get better seemingly every single week is going to make them a tough out come playoff time.

5.  Cincinnati Bengals

After they lost to the Bengals, Larry Johnson beat his girlfriend, Chad Johnson deleted his twitter account and Tank Johnson bought five more pieces for his arsenal.  The AFC North race isn't over yet, folks.  These are the Bungles we're talking about.

AWARDS

OFFENSE

Bruce Arians

He put his players in position to make plays over and over again, and more often than not they did.  But bad mistakes and poor execution killed what should have otherwise been the complete destruction of the Kansas City Chiefs.

DEFENSE

James Harrison

He was the only back seven player not to blow a coverage or drop an interception against an anemic Chiefs' offense.

SPECIAL TEAMS

This award has been cancelled.

GOAT

Ben Roethlisberger

Red zone interceptions are killers, especially when the return puts the other team in scoring range.  On an otherwise great day, Ben had a moment of impatience.  It was 1st down and he should have simply thrown the ball away.

QUOTABLE

"You don't get an envelope and everyone opens it up, and it's a Christmas gift that you get on the 25th of December.  You have to go through the process of growing as a team and figuring that out, and part of that is adversity and part of that is tough times, part of that is dealing with injuries. It's different every year. This is the process for us. And we have to find a way as a team right now to play the way we need to play."

- Dan Bylsma

STATS, STAT

Over the past two weeks, the Steelers have scored 3 touchdowns in 9 red zone possessions.

MAKING THE ROUNDS

1.  If you need to find one person to blame for the loss, blame me.  I never miss a Steeler game.  As far as I can tell, it's been since 2000 that I've missed any part of one.  Yesterday was my son's (Lunchbox) third birthday.  My first thought was that everyone could come over and we'll have the birthday party at the house, I'll watch football and everyone else will do whatever.  Well, my conscience started to get to me and I changed the plan.  We would go to Chuck E. Cheese before the game started, then we'd go to the Steeler restaurant and watch the game.  Sitting in a booth watching football wasn't entertaining enough for Lunchbox after running around Chuck E. Cheese for a few hours, and with the game seemingly in hand my wife and I made the call that we'd leave and get home for the last 10 minutes of the game or so and I'd watch the rest of the 2nd half later via DVR.  On the way home, I get a flat tire.  I change it but its set us back to the point where we're not going to get home in time for the end of the game.  We dawdle a little bit, pick up some stuff from the store, etc.  Last stop on the way home is the gas station, and as I'm walking in a guy says "takes a lot of guts to wear that hat after what happened today."  Okay, day ruined.  I come home and watch the 2nd half with the knowledge that nothing good was going to happen.  My brightest hope was that maybe the game would end in a tie.  That would still be embarrassing enough for the guy to say something, but a little bit better than a loss.  It's no fun watching football knowing the outcome, and I promise I won't ever leave the house on a gameday again.  Leaving a Steeler game early = bad juju.

2.  I've been calling for Rashard Mendenhall to take 3rd down duties away from Mewelde Moore since before Willie Parker got hurt months ago, and I called for it again a few weeks ago.  Both times, the idea sunk like lead in a swimming pool.  Now, after yesterday's 3rd and 2 debacle, the calls for Mendenhall to play more in 3rd down situations have increased.  Mendenhall can do everything Moore can but with a measure of explosiveness.  With Parker looking better each week, it's time for Mendenhall to play all three downs with occasional breaks to get Parker some carries.

3.  The Steelers have been having bad red zone luck, but it's not just the outcomes they've suffered from.  Far too many red zone possessions have included 1st and goal from the 10, which is a tough spot to be in.  It's too far to pound the ball a few times, but it's close enough to the end zone that the zones are packed in too tight to pass effectively.  This is where quick passes to the TE's and RB's really make sense on 1st down, as a way to get the team into manageable run/pass situations on 2nd down, hopefully from around the 4 or 5 yard line.

4.  Soft zone defense, big day for Hines Ward.  It's like clockwork.

5.  What an awful 4th quarter for the Steelers' secondary.  Dick Lebeau didn't help late by playing conservatively (eerily reminiscent of the Super Bowl), but the Steelers allowed camp fodder types to make big plays.  Chris Chambers, Lance Long, Mark Bradley and Leonard Pope all have two things in common.  They all had 20+ yard receptions against the Steelers and they've all been cut by other teams in the last year.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

6.  At least the Steelers lost to an overrated but highly paid quarterback in Matt Cassel.  The Bengals lost to Bruce Gradkowski.  Bruce Gradkowski?

7.  Speaking of the Raiders, what's the difference between Heath Miller and Zach Miller?  Their first names and $5.5 million a season.

8.  LeSean McCoy played his best game this season against the Bears despite a fumble, finishing a yard short of 100 yards.  With Brian Westbrook unlikely to play anytime soon, McCoy is a key cog in the Eagles' title hopes and gives them something different in the backfield, a pure runner with surprising power for his size.

9.  Denver is so done, like we didn't already know it.  They might not win another game this year, and their demise is a big key in the Steelers' wild card hopes.

10. Speaking of wild card, Jacksonville has now won three straight after beating the Bills.  The Jaguars still have games against the Colts and Patriots on their schedule, which makes 10-6 about the best they can hope for.
 

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Joe Flacco

The Steelers are going to come out on Sunday night and re-claim their birthright, with the Unibomber being the primary target of their ever-growing anger.