Sunday, December 6, 2009

Steelers Recap - Week 13

This one will be short and not so sweet. The Steelers lost at home to those clowns from Oakland 27-24. That pretty much seals our exit from the playoffs, barring some epic collapses by the other AFC contenders.  The only hell I could see that was unleashed was William Gay.

There are really only 2 points I can make:

* The offense shot itself repeatedly in the foot. Two trips to the Red Zone ended with zero points, one because they didn’t make 4th and 1, another due to an INT in the end zone. A number of other drives that showed promise died due to penalties and dropped passes. It’s a shame because Rashard Mendenhall ran hard, and they did make some nice throws downfield. Santonio, in particular, had a big game with 149 yards receiving. But they left a lot of points on the board that they could have used to win the game.

* The defense was horrid, especially the secondary. William Gay fell down in coverage three times, leading to first downs and was generally toasted all afternoon. Joe Burnett dropped an interception that hit him between the 2 and the 7 on his chest, on the Raiders last TD drive with under a minute to play. Ike Taylor badly misplayed a jump ball that the Raiders came up with. The only bright spot was when Ryan Mundy missed the wide receiver and hit Gay in the head, knocking him out of the game.

This is yet another 4th quarter collapse against yet another lesser opponent. A team that loses to the likes of the Raiders and the Chiefs is kidding themselves if they think they have playoff potential. The Steelers season is basically over.

I apologize if this post isn’t up to my usual level of merriment, but I’m not in a very merry mood right now.

I need a stiff drink.

10 comments:

Cassie said...

I'm sorry they lost :(

bluzdude said...

Thank you Cassie. Somehow, I'll find the strength, deep within me, to carry on. At least we still have the Penguins!

Anonymous said...

(Can't believe I'm saying this) Only 70 days until pitchers and catchers report.

CrackerLilo said...

Ugh, that sucks. I don't follow football closely, but I really hate the idea of the Steelers not being in the playoffs.

Cassie said...

LET'S GO PENS!

Katie @ Can't Get There said...

I'm a Pats fan - I understand. :-)

Cher Duncombe said...

We feel your pain. The Steelers are done for this season. I wonder if there is any truth to rumors of internal strife that could account for their near collapse? It's over, done, stick a fork in 'em and wait for next season.

bluzdude said...

Thank you all for your kind words of sympathy, during this very trying time here at House of Bluz.

Cher, I don't believe that any "internal problems" contributed to that lousy performance... only the inability to catch the damned ball, or knock it down. I think all the flap about Hines and Ben and locker room issues is just a fart-in-a-windstorm matter blown up by the media, who are always looking for something new to write about. I don't think it affects field performance at all.

Still A. Fan said...

sigh. pick a team to sort of kind of root for in the playoffs dude. i typically like afc teams but drew brees is a good egg.

bluzdude said...

I usually root for the Packers as my 2nd favorite team, but I'd also like to see the Saints make a run. Will also root for the Cards, for the ex-Steeler factor as much as anything.

Always good to see some new blood in the post season. But most importantly... Anyone but the Ravens.