Black and Gold Uni Watch

It's been a full week since we posted. I still can't figure out what went wrong. Is it the players? The coaches? Lack of desire? Lack of talent?

I'm sure at some point we'll get over the last five weeks, but it might not be until the off season. Posts could be sparse from here on out. Spending time with the family will likely trump writing about our disappointing season.

Nonetheless, I wanted to point you to an interesting article about the Steeler uniforms on ESPN. Good stuff on our beloved black and gold unis.

8. STATION OF THE CROSS
Troy Polamalu's long hair usually obscures the rear-neckline area of his jersey. So it might surprise you to learn that he has a little cross embroidered right above his nameplate. That's a major violation of NFL uni regulations, but the league's position is that it's OK because it's usually covered by his hair. (Translation: "We reeeaaaallly don't want to get involved in a controversy about religious expression.")

Uniqueness Factor: High. Tim Tebow can cite Bible verses on his eye-black stickers all day long, but Polamalu is the only major-level athlete Uni Watch can think of with a religious symbol actually stitched into his team's uniform.

The full article can be found here.

Opportunity Squandered

Great post from Post Game Heroes. These two paragraphs pretty much sum up how I am feeling today. Give the whole thing a read. Lots of great points.

19. Steelers wasted an amazing opportunity this year. Super Bowl champs get handed the easiest schedule in the NFL. Most top players are back with the team. This is a wasted year as our defense got even OLDER and even more guys will leave via free agency. This team was built for a repeat and screwed it up big time. This time next season Farrior is even older, Ward is older/slower, Parker is gone, Clark is gone, Hampton may be gone, Townsend is done, Harrison is a year older, etc…… What a waste of a talented group of guys.

If the Steelers hadn’t won the SB last year I would be crushed right now. I’m surprisingly calm and “OK” with this debacle. These past 5 weeks I found myself smiling and laughing and shaking my head in amazement….but not really getting angry, frustrated, or pissed off. This doesn’t hurt anywhere nearly as badly as a playoff loss or an AFC Championship disappointment. I guess the season was “lost” before I really got to get emotionally involved enough to get devastatingly upset.


-We gave up 175 yards rushing last night to the Browns. They also scored their first rushing TD of THE SEASON.

-Bruce Arians continually going empty set on third and short resulting in sacks was idiotic. At least line up in normal formation and do play action if you want to throw. Arians takes any thought of rushing away and lets the D know exactly what we are doing.

-Ben needs to throw it away sometimes. Good lord. Browns had at least 7 sacks. They are one of the worst defenses in the league.

-Horrendous time management at the end of the game. We could have had two drives to try to tie it but for some reason we attempted one 5 minute drive for all the marbles.

-This was one of the worst coached games I have seen in a while in every aspect. Read the article I linked to but why in the hell was Santonio returning kicks. At least this showed that it is our blocking that is the issue on special teams. I would not be surprised if Arians and our special teams coach get canned.

-Probably one of the darkest days in the burgh in recent memory. I just pray that Troy doesn't play the rest of the year and that rookies get a ton of PT to prepare for next season. Let some positive come from this awfulness.

-Feel free to vent in the comments. I will respond if needed. We all need to be there for each other in these trying times.

Worst Team in the League?

When you lose to the Chiefs. Raiders, and Browns over a four week period, does that make you the worst team in the league?

I think it does.

Tomlin Thursday POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

I know everyone is upset by the fact that the Steeler's season is effectively over causing Tomlin Thursday to be postponed but there is still football to be played and there is still hope. "Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
Imagine how epic a run it would be if the Steelers could somehow get up off the mat from this debacle and get to the Superbowl. I'm not saying I think it is going to happen, just that there is still a chance, albeit a really small one. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that for the second time in 4 years we could miss the playoffs after winning the Lombardi. 5 year grace period. 5 year grace period. Here is how we could avoid that scenario according to John Clayton:

Without making this too complicated, the AFC wild-card race probably will come down to the Week 17 matchup between the Steelers and Dolphins.

The Broncos appear to have the AFC's first wild-card spot locked up unless the San Diego Chargers slip and the AFC West title becomes a possibility. Denver is 8-4 and has winnable home games against the Chiefs and Raiders. The Broncos will reach 10 wins. There is no guarantee that the No. 6 seed will do the same.

The Jaguars face the biggest problem even though they are currently sixth in the AFC with a 7-5 record. Their next three games are against the Dolphins, Colts and Patriots, and they could lose all three. The Ravens (6-6) still can reach nine wins because they'll play Detroit and Chicago at home and finish the season in Oakland, but to reach 10 wins, they also would have to beat the Steelers at Heinz Field in Week 16.

The Steelers should beat the Browns on Thursday night. Then they'll need to win home games against the Packers and Ravens to head into the season finale in Miami at 9-6. The Dolphins would have to beat the Jaguars, Titans and Texans to be 9-6 heading into that last week.

The journey begins tonight, as the Steez play perennial punching bag Cleveland. If there is a way to get this season back on track, it would be a throttling of the Brownies. However, I would have said the same thing about KC and Oakland and we all know how that turned out (slamming my head on my desk). The weather tonight is calling for cold, high winds and snow. Sounds like a battle in the trenches to me which should favor the Steelers. Our D is pretty solid against the run. Cleveland has no running game and our running game has been fairly decent this season. Brady Quinn can't throw in good weather. I am fully expecting the Steelers to win this game but it will be close, similar to last year's 10-6 affair in similar weather conditions.

The game tonight should be an excellent measuring stick to see whether Tomlin has lost the team. I would like to think he can hold the ship together and finish the season strong but there is clear dissension among the ranks. After Hines called out Ben for not playing with a concussion, Ben came back with a "Hines will do what is best for Hines" comment regarding Hines's injured hamstring this week. Although definitely true, Ben should have kept his mouth just like Hines should have done the week before. Tough times bring good teams closer together not tear them apart. I am interested to see which direction this group goes starting with this evening's game.

Another factor that will keep this game close are injuries. Troy is out and may not play again this season according to some sources. Hines is out with Tyler Grisham up from the practice squad to take the 4th WR slot. That means my favorite jersey purchase, Limas Sweed will be on the field tonight to drop some key passes. I really hope he can show something tonight. William Gay is out with a concussion caused by his teammate, Ryan Mundy. Joe Burnett will get most of the reps replacing him but Keenan Lewis will also see some time. It is important to get these rooks some reps to see what we have going forward for next season. Get the bumps out of the way this year and we will be better for it next year. Some links to keep you busy at work until kick:

Tomlin claimed that roster moves would be made in the wake of our 4th consecutive loss. Here are the moves PGH would make.

The Tomlin press conference this week with commentary by PGH. HERE

Since losing has been a theme of late in the 'burgh, here is a list of the 50 most devastating losses in Pittsburgh sports from 1990-today. (Mondesis's House)

A close look at how the Steez salary cap situation has imprinted this season (BTSC)

Awesome Pittsburgh song (B94)

Go STEEZ!!

UPDATE:

It is being reported in various places that Hines Ward WILL play tonight.

Is This Real Life Right Now?

First off I would like to apologize to the SteezBros, SteezBros Nataion, and the rest of the blogging community for my abrupt and unexplained absence from this community. It appears that I have bitten off more than I can chew with school and two jobs and as a result have neglected my duties as a Steezbro and as a part of Steeler Nation. I haven't been on the internet to read or contribute in many weeks and even more embarrassing I have missed games because of work. Some say this is part of becoming a grown-up but I say that that is a lame-ass excuse for old people, who are trying to convince themselves that they are real fans.

About a month ago everyone was beginning to love this years version of the Steelers and saying they were on the path to repeating and the love fest was on. Well Tomlin and Co. must be color blind because we are not on the yellow brick road any more and apparently were on the fast-track to the highway to hell. --Disclaimer this "hell" I speak of is the opposite of the "hell" Mike Tomlin promised to unleash for the rest of the season, because Tomlin's "hell" is actually a foam padded room with a bunch of sissies running around with Sock 'em Boppers on while wearing helmets and pads and no shots to the head or below the belt are allowed. PS you can't hit as hard as you can either, you may break your Sock 'em Bopper and actually hit someone (Josh did this to me several times in our youth, it's not that pleasant). Mikey T I love you, but please step up your shit, because your team is piss poor which you have now promised several times to not let happen but it has continued.

What happened to our D??? We cannot tackle, when we get to the QB we can't finish, coverage is not a term in our vocab, and we are letting below average QB's rip us a new one at the end of the game. After holding Oakland to 6 points all game we allow 3 TD's in the 4th??? WTF!?!?!?!? What I am about to say is blasphemy, but has Coach Dad Lebeau's age caught up to him? How is our defense slipped up so badly when we need it the most? As always our team still lacks the killer instinct that is needed and refuses to put teams away early in the game and lets them linger and their confidence to build going into the end of the game.

Early in the year I praised Ryan Clark and begged for his extension, but at this point I have no problem seeing him go after the year. He has not been himself all year and along with plenty of others on this team, has blown his assignment and/or let up a big play that should have been defended quite easily. After watching this team I am completely convinced that Troy is the best player in the league. Hands Down. TROY POLAMALU IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE NFL!!! The difference with and without him is black 'n white. I dare you to take a look at our record with him in the game and us without him. This team lacks the self-need to be the best and show that they are the biggest, baddest, D in the league. Somehow we are still ranked in the top 5 in total defense in the league, which to me is a giant surprise. Willy Gay and Lawrence Timmons are also disappointments this year.

On to a positive (kind of) note. If somehow we make it to the post season, which I don't see happening because a couple of teams will have to shit the bed and us win out, the last time we had at least 3 losses in a row, coupled with a looming Bengals AFC North Championship, and everyone counted us out, we sneaked into the playoffs as the sixth seed by winning out and shocked the world by winning 3 games on the road and won Super Bowl XL. Hopefully this time history will repeat itself and we will be playing into January and crushing fools like normal. I should be making a return next week as a hiatus from school and work looms ahead. Again I'm sorry to all and hopefully some of my hate will satisfy the hungry dogs out there.

Season Over

Instead of unleashing hell , the Steelers laid an egg against a hapless Raider team.

I'm not sure what's more embarassing. Losing to the Raiders or allowing Bruce Gradkowski to throw for 300+ yards to receivers named Louis Murphy and Chaz Schillins. Either way it's not good. The Raiders had 10 total offensive touchdowns this year. They scored three on their last three drives today.

Embarrassing.

The defense continued to write the story of the 2009 Steelers - defensive collapses. I don't even know what to think after watching the Raiders drive 90 yards in less than 2 minutes. Most of the passes were just thrown straight up into the air and the defensive backs were unable to bat the ball down.

Enraging.

Even though Steeler nation likes to spew hatred toward Bruce Arians, all the vigor this season should be directed at Coach Tomlin, Dick Lebeau, and the defense.

But at least Gary Russell didn't hurt us on kick off returns.

Season over.

I'm not one for hyperbole, but if you think a Steeler team that has lost four straight, with two against the Chiefs and Raiders, can run the table to make the playoffs, you might be nuttier than Al Davis.

End of Tomlin Thursday.

If you really want to get mad, Kansas City has lost by more than 60 in its last two weeks.

Maybe we'll get 2 minutes of hate from Alex tomorrow. Maybe not.

End of post.

Tomlin Thursday Must WIn Edition

"We will unleash hell here in December because we have to. We won't go in a shell. We'll go into attack mode, because that's what's required."

-Mike Tomlin, after losing to Baltimore.

Let's hope the Steeler players take that message to heart or we will be missing the playoffs for the second straight time after winning the Superbowl. It is about time the team shows some passion this season. If they can't muster it up now, it won't be happening this season.

If we lose on Sunday to Oakland at home, Tomlin Thursday is postponed indefinitely. Also, we probably won't post for a while because normally in the Steezbros world, we don't speak to each other for at least a few days after a Steelers' loss. On a happier note, Jenn Z., comes through yet again with her weekly contribution:

As the sun shines brightly over the Mon,
We Steez fans think of past games we should have won.

But the Steelers are nothing if not tenacious,
And the Raiders should be afraid to face us;

With Tomlin at the helm, the Steez soldier on!

"Illegal contact and pass interference on the same play! What the what?"

Here is a thought provoking article comparing Tomlin to Jon Gruden? Comments please.

It's going to be back to training camp tactics at practice this week.


Here is an awesome link to a ton of great Tomlinisms. HERE

Fisher: "I took the blame for our 0-6 start this season. You will get blamed if you miss the playoffs, trust me."

Tomlin: "We will not miss the playoffs. I do not know how to fail."