The ball bounced and it bounced and it ricocheted off one guy and then another and when it finally came to rest it was in the hands of Pittsburgh Steelers’ reserve tight end Michael Palmer. The on-sides kick had failed and the Steelers had their fourth victory of the season.
As Head Coach Mike Tomlin has often said, style points do not matter in the NFL and he is absolutely right. The name of the game is to win and that’s what the Steelers needed and that’s what they did last night along the confluence.
While the victory gives us good feelings that will last until next Sunday, there is a shadow that still hangs over this version of the Steelers. Outside of three minutes last evening, these Steelers were the exact same ones that you saw against Jacksonville and then Cleveland.
Offensively they struggled to maintain any consistency. Protecting Ben Roethlisberger was not going to be easy going in and it wasn’t as he was sacked three times and had yet another fumble in the process of one. As I said in my postgame notes, I love and appreciate how Roethlisberger never lets a play die but he has to take better care of the football. It’s that simple.
The relationship between the signal caller and his receivers was better last night but there were still issues at times and those things need to be corrected sooner rather than later.
The red zone offense took a major step forward last evening scoring two touchdowns but one came on a trick play from inside the five yard line. Oh it was a thing of beauty alright but was it necessary? It looked more like a sign of desperation from an offensive coordinator who had no more answers.
The second red zone TD was much more beautiful in my opinion because the formation, motion and play confused the defense and the execution was spot on. That’s more of what we need to see in the red zone because two scores is a good start, not the end.
Can you imagine the dialogue today if the Texans had been able to come back and tie/win the game? Fingers would have been pointed at Haley for his decision to throw the ball deep late in the game despite Houston being out of timeouts. If Big Ben audibled to that then shame on him. Style points don’t matter, wins do right?
Defensively they were shredded like pork for most of the first half before Dick LeBeau finally made in-game adjustments that worked. While I will certainly listen to arguments that the defense played better overall, let’s not forget that they surrendered 394 yards to Houston.
Arian Foster was held largely in check after the first quarter and a half but still reached the century mark. Ryan Fitzpatrick, who should not be confused with Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning, threw for 261 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of just under 100. His one interception bounced around like a fat kid in mosh pit before settling in the arms of Brett Keisel.
We have to credit the defense for doing what it has been largely unable to do for several years now and that’s to create turnovers. The question now is can they sustain this type of play? They will see a significant step up in talent from the QB position as Andrew Luck comes in on Sunday.
For sure we must be happy with the final result from last night but we also must remain realistic. The offense and defense both showed signs of significant life but can they do it consistently?
The feeling of the win was needed by many but the shadow of inconsistency and dysfunction still lurks.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on game day on the Trib-Live Radio Steelers Pre-Game
photo courtesy cbssports.com
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