Steelers Slam the Browns

Before I get to the Browns game, it should be mentioned that Jeff Reed was cited for public intoxication last night at McFadden's. After the paper towel dispenser incident in February, it appears that drinking may be an issue for Mr. Reed. With Jeff Reed being a free agent at year's end, run ins with the law do not increase his chances of being re-signed with the Steelers. Reed has been a solid kicker for the most part and will not be easily replaced. Clearly the people who are in charge of the development of the North Shore did not consider Reed's proclivity for drinking when they put multiple bars within walking distance of Heinz Field. Reed was cited around 9 o'clock. The game didn't end till 4. He had to shower, get dressed and then make it over to McFadden's. Let's say that took an hour. Reed was drinking pretty heavily for the next 4 hours. On to the game...

THOUGHTS

1) We won. But I am getting tired of Tomlin's spin that style points don't count. We played one of the worst teams in the league. We turned it over 4 times and did not run the ball as well as we should have. This should have been a blow out but once again we played down to an opponent's level.

2) Troy should not have played. Yes he made a pick and his impact was felt, but was a not 100% Troy really that much of an improvement over Ty Carter? Watch the Titans game and then the Cleveland game. How much more did you see of Troy vs. the Titans in one half than you saw all day yesterday? He was still fairly limited by the knee injury. Why not rest him at least one more week and get him back 100%? We didn't need him to beat the Browns. Why risk it? I wrote about it a few weeks back. He shouldn't have come back till next week at the earliest.

3) Where is the killer instinct on this team? After creating multiple turnovers with a chance to put the game out of reach, we should be scoring. Instead we are playing pong. 5 consecutive possessions between the Browns and Steelers resulted in a turnover. Can we start acting like the defending champs?

4) The D did not miss Aaron Smith in this game. Kirscke, Eason and Hood filled in admirably and the D only let up one touchdown. They also came up with some big plays in big spots by getting pressure and creating turnovers.

5) Ben is having an amazing year and he is really at another level right now. 417 yards yesterday, 2 touchdowns and an int. He is finally utilizing all our weapons. Everything we ever complained about seems to be taken into consideration this year. Throwing to the tight end? Check. Throwing to running backs out of the backfield? Check. Holding onto the ball too long and never throwing it away? Still working on that one. The only thing that worries me is that Ben has 1 or 2 throws every game where he become Brett Favre. You know, the whole screw it, I'm Brett Favre, I can throw it into any spot play, that results in an int. Take your checkdowns, the big plays will come.

6) For the first part of the game at least, our o-line was getting pushed around by the Browns D-line. The Browns were ranked 31st in the league against the run. We could have played better but we still went for 140 on the ground and over 500 yards total offense. We just needed to put more points on the board.

7) Timmons was finally used to rush the passer with big results. 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.

8) Our special teams coverage units are poor but our return blocking is pathetic.

9) Once again we got stuffed on a 3rd and 1, and 4th and 1. However, we were given a first down somehow, even though it looked like we were short on tv. It shouldn't be that close against the Browns.

We have a very tough stretch coming up starting with Minnesota next week in the 'burgh. Hopefully Tomlin has something up his sleeve to get this team fired up and playing up to their talent level instead of down to the level of other teams. The Steez have yet to play a complete game in my opinion. Let's hope they are saving them for the latter part of the season.