How strangely ironic that the Steelers' loss to the greatly improved Cincy Bengals on Sunday came on a weekend sandwiched directly between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Were our beloved Black and Gold simply masquerading as NFL powerhouses in victories over Minnesota and Denver, now waiting to be roasted and carved like turkeys by the quality AFC teams, or was Sunday's debacle just a case of a good team disguised as a mediocre team? On a beautiful afternoon in which the Steelers celebrated Veterans Day by recognizing local heroes, the team looked like anything but the Band of Brothers that Ben Roethlisberger used as his rally cry catch phrase last season. (all apologies to all you Dick Winters fans).
At 6-3 and virtually 2 games behind the peeking Bungles, and now minus the service again of All World defender, Troy Polamalu, our boys in black find themselves in an awkwardly precarious predicament. A spot, however, they are somewhat accustomed to. We only need to turn the clocks back to 2005, when the team was banged up, struggling, and stagnant at 7-5, staring down the potential of a long off season. The response was an epic 7 game winning streak and a Superbowl victory. All this in a season in which the division was fittingly won by the Cincinnati Bengals. As a strange and possibly ironic footnote, this winning streak started just after a home loss to the Bengals, in a game that included a Cincy kick return for a TD.
Is that in the cards this year? Surely the team needs to win at least 5 of the final 7 contests to even sniff the playoffs, and probably more like 6 or 7 (with help) to resume their usual post as AFC North champs. Can this happen? Yes. Will this happen? Maybe. As Chris Berman often states in his annoying voice, "that's why they play the games." Anything can happen on any Sunday in the modern NFL. The Bengals can easily lose a few games. Somehow, I think that this Sunday in Oakland might be an upset special. Perhaps today's signing of lightning rod Larry Johnson will prove to be a mistake by Cincy, one that causes division in the clubhouse. Who knows...
As coach Tomlin maintains, we can only worry about ourselves. Now, more than ever this team needs leadership and heroics from Big Ben. Steeler Nation knows all too well that he is one of the few guys in this league capable of such a daunting task. The writers and readers of this column continually clamor for Ben's inclusion in the 'elite' talks. It's now his time to prove that he is truly worthy of the membership, and not just another guy wearing a mask.
I'll await the barrage of comments...
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3 comments:
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Major Richard Winters is a true American hero and deserves icon status as such. It is men like him who looked the devil in the eyes and didn't blink. It is men like him who sacraficed so we can live free. And it is men like him who makes this country great. We could use a few Dick Winters right about now.
It looks like #43's knee isn't as bad as first feared. He actually injured another part of the knee, different from his original injury. I'd like to see him sit for the KC game...and maybe even the Ravens games the following week. I know that is a tough pill to swallow, but the Steelers are going to face an uphill battle to repeat, and a healthy TP is a must.
Looking for a big bounce-back game this weekend. After all, we are playing the Chiefs. Large Ben is talking about having a big game. The O line, from what I hear, is in the mood to play some smash-mouth football. I see some serious running in our near future.
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