Pittsburgh Steelers: Lose 5th straight to the Browns
Ever heard of the old adage "if you give someone enough rope they will hang themselves"?
You are watching this before your very own eyes and our Pittsburgh Steelers. After an incredibly deplorable 13 to 6 loss to a piece of garbage team it looks like there will be no defense of a World Champion. And sadly we have been down this road.
Remember the Year of The Motorcycle and Coach Cowher's swan song? The 8 and 8 defense of the 2005 Super Bowl Championship? Yeah I tried to forget that also. Then came along young stud Mike Tomlin. The Steelers rebounded to 10 and 6 but lost an up and down performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round.
2008 looked daunting, and it was, but the Steelers defense was suffocating. Honestly heading into the season I was saying 10 and 6 would have been a great year. With the schedule and the questions with a newly reconfigured O - Line it seemed more realistic than the 12 and 4 they put up on the leader board. And then they put together a magical Super Bowl run and pulled a Super Bowl win out of their butt over the Arizona Cardinals.
After that victory Ben held the Lombardi up high and looked at his O - Line standing below the stage and in front of him and said something to the effect of 'they can say anything about you now O-Line.' Or like I said that was the essence of his point. The O-Line had been a sore subject and the butt of criticism all year and he wanted his beefy buddies to get the last laugh.
And you know what? As one of their critics, I had to tip my hat to the fact that the team did rise above their glaring problem. But I also thought 2 things.
Ben, you had some magical and miracle moments. But your team is a Super Bowl Champion more so because of your defense my man! Yes you and Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller, even Mewelde Moore had some great drives and game saving credits. But your O - Line almost cost you and you did not run the ball effective enough to hang your hat on your rushing ability. Note: The Willie Parker injury problems also began.
What would the Steelers do when the smoke settled and the off season decisions were going to be made? Would they go out and get or draft replacements?
Based on my humble opinion I thought the biggest culprit last season, as a whole, was Justin Hartwig. In my humble "film" study too much penetration came up through the gut and not enough push came on rushing plays up the middle. I still recall the safety in the end zone during the Super Bowl when Hartwig got toasted, broiled and fried.
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Now granted the 2002 6th round pick for the Titans. And to his credit he played well for the Titans at times. In his breakout 2003 campaign Eddie George got his 7th 1,000 yard rushing season and the Titans allowed a low 25 sacks on the year. And no, I do not know how many of them came through him. But I do know that after 47 starts in 3 seasons he signed as a free agent in Carolina. Tennessee did not keep him? In 2003 he was part of the 4th ranked offense. In 2004 they were the 11the ranked offense. In 2005 they were the 17th ranked offense. See a pattern here? Now was that all Hartwig? Probably not.
For in 2006, his first season in Carolina the Titans plummeted to 27th in the NFL in offense. That was also the Rookie season for QB Vince Young however. In fact the rushing game increased from 95 yards rushing per game in 2005 to 138 yards rushing per game in 2006. 5 th in the league in rushing in 2006. Of course some of that is naturally from running more with a Rookie QB who is also a rushing QB.
In 2007 the Titans continued to run well but the offense was still stale with again QB Vince Young. And with out Hartwig they ran the ball well in 2008 at 137 yards per game. Kerry Collins didn't exactly light up the sky with passing numbers but he also did not look up at the sky from being sacked. The Titans went 13 and 3 in 2008.
The point I am making here is no one in Nashville was crying over his departure. They improved in their record when he left every season. 8-8 in 2006 and 10 - 6 in 2007, and as we mentioned 13-3 in 2008. Granted they are a weak 5 and 7 this season but that is 1 more win then they had in 2005 and even with the 2004 season! Again in the breakout season, Hartwig could brag over the 12 and 4 year. But it dropped off there after and the Titans did not keep the young center to fix it. Again that is not all his fault so let's look at the Carolina experience.
In his defense he ended up being injured for the 2006 season in Carolina. The Panthers went 8 and 8 and ranked 24th in offense. In 2007 with Hartwig at center they went 7 and 9 and ranked 27th in offense. They did gain 11 more yards on the ground but it was a mediocre 14th in the league. And again was this all Hartwig's fault. No. But Carolina released him for a younger, 2nd year player. Of course money may also have played into that.
So he arrives in Pittsburgh and I see what I see. The rushing is not that great, for a Super Bowl contender and a lot of sacks seem to come up through the middle. Is he horrible? No he is not, he has made some good plays. But overall? He is a weak link to me. And am I alone in this?
Certainly not! When the 2009 draft came around all the pundits were expecting the Steelers to take the stud Center. They didn't true but they did take a center or 2 even. So why they may not have felt as strongly as I and the Mel Kiper's of the world they obviously saw what his previous employers saw. So why did he start again?
A friend of mine and a fellow Steelers believer, Alex Simotas, astutely pointed out that perhaps Kevin Colbert, Doug Whaley, and Mike Tomlin felt that "hey we did win the freakin' Super Bowl. And this guy has a year under his belt now in or system so let us let it gel. And that is not unreasonable.
And all of this ranting brings me to Thursday night and the Cleveland loss! Again I saw what I have seen for a year and half, Ben getting slammed up the middle. Yes we all know Ben sometimes holds the ball longer than a child holds his blanket. But you cannot deny where a lot of breakdowns occur. And the fact that the Steelers have all but waived the white flag when it comes to running the ball. I also want to point out that Hartwig was not the only problem up the middle. His partner Chris Kemoeatu also was caught doing the bull fighter imitation and allowing Cleveland rushers a unabated path to Big Ben.
Oh and Rashard looked lost a couple times picking up Browns on the loose in the backfield like a jail break. Like an old high school Coach used to scream at us "Pick ONE!" Preferably the one coming up the middle so the QB can step forward and see down-field. Anywho, back to the fun times.
You are down 6 to 0 and you can't sustain a punishing drive against the 31st ranked rushing defense? Really? And in previous games you with a shotgun in the Red Zone? You pass too often in 3rd and2? I mean I loathe the fact that Bruce Arians is the Offensive Coordinator but maybe his incompetence stems from his lack of trust in personnel? He doesn't believe they can rush for 2 yards on a consistent basis. He will rarely run more than 2 times in a row. Which face it, there are times when that should happen. Andno I am not subtly saying we should be a primarily run offense. I am saying we suck at it in a relative sense. for a Super Bowl Contender we do not run with authority. And we have a back that can do it.
Which reminds me, let me also say I am livid that is took Tomlin and Arians 4 or 5 games to realize MendenHELL is your primary back. My man Willie, I love you Willie, but he should have been told "look brother, until you're healthy, healthy, Rashard is the man!" And then when and if he ever got healthy you give him a shot to out perform Mendenhall. But back to Thursday.
This was another scenario of why I have been screaming on here that you have to maintain true balance. You had scenario #1 when Ben went down, and this was scenario #2, BAD WEATHER! Why is Ben throwing the ball 32 times in the wind? The Browns rolled over your #1 rush defense for a tune of 171 yards!
Which reminds me; You can't stop the direct snap to a RB? Really? You think Cribbs is going to pass? I don't get the NFL defenses with this stupid Wildcat crap. Until someone actually burns you with a pass from an RB or WR, why not UNLEASH HELL the millisecond you see an RB or WR taking a snap? This is insane. You come from every angle and orifice and pound the rusher into submission and say "Wildcat this punk!"
Back again to the game. The Browns were so convinced that the Steelers would punk out on the run that the often rushed a whopping 4 guys. Sometimes just 3! Even Steve Marriucci on NFL Network pointed out that when only 3 men rush, you sure as unleashed hell better get some serious rushing yards! And the Steelers didn't even try and make them pay for the calculated formations. Calculations based on weeks of film that is telling the world "yeah we don't run the ball anymore".
32 pass plays and 22 rush attempts? 3 of the carries were Ben Roethlisberger’s carries by the way. Yes when you were down 13 to 6 with time waning, I suppose you need to pick up the pace. But for crying out loud you abandoned the concept of running with authority during pre-game!
You had no play action, because the Browns were 100% convinced that you weren't handing the ball off with any regularity.
Do you realize you lost to teams who couldn't stop a cardboard cut out from running the football? In 3 of your 5 straight losses you have been beaten by a team that scores 16 points per game(The Chefs), 10.5 points per game (The Raiderettes), and 12.5 points per game (the Brown stains)?
Your defense who has also been exposed lately did keep the juggernaut Browns offense to 13 points. On one occasion they bailed out another special teams nightmare. It should be noted that your secondary and some of your aging LB's can't tackle and they are as physical as Jabba The Hut! And Dick LeBeau did not all of the sudden become stupid or did he?
Okay I have ranted enough! More on this mess later .............................. Until then where is that rope? I might need it!
By: Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Pittsburgh Steelers Correspondent