Week 14 Thursday night Recap

The dust has settled, the seats are empty and the teams are on their respective ways home, so it must be time for a recap of Thursday Night Football: Steelers 6 @ Browns 13 -- My god. Just, wow. I have to eat some humble pie here. I didn't think the Steelers D was as bad as everyone makes out. But some of the tackling I witnessed would make an 8 year old linebacker sick with embarrassment. It was terrible. Losing to the Browns is not a good sign. But only putting 6 points on the board is even worse. Couple that with losses to the Chiefs and Raiders and there is an argument to be made that the Steelers are the second worst team in the NFL right now, after the Lions. I'm just speechless. As I type this, I'm not thinking anything other than 'holy crap, how did that happen?'. Well, I can make some educated guesses. Take for example the Steelers offense. Their O-line drew a huge amount of criticism last year for not protecting Big Ben. Now some of that has to be put on the shoulders of the QB for constantly scrambling and extending plays past their lifespan. But this week I think both the line and the QB have to shoulder some of the blame for conceding 8 sacks. 8. That contributed a grand total of 60 negative yards. To the Browns..... But it's just another symptom of the Steelers overall. Their line is built for the run. Their defense is built to complement a running game. Their draft strategy has always assumed a heavy dose of the run. And yet here they are, in December, throwing 32 passes. 32. Tack on the 8 sacks and we have 40 pass attempts, out of 62 rushing/passing plays. And just to remind you, this is the Steelers we're talking about right. Rashard Mendenhall got just 16 carries. 'Fast' Willie Parker is fast becoming an unused asset, with just 3 carries. This is chronic. If I was the Steelers GM I'd be pulling Head Coach Mike Tomlin to one side after the game and suggesting that maybe it's time to ask the offensive co-ordinator what the hell he thinks he's doing. Not that Bruce Arians or any other offensive co-ordinator is gonna listen. This is the NFL right! The National Flag League, where only passing matters. Well tuck into your offense Pittsburgh, because it's killing your football team. Shame. So, that's me off to a now typical 0-1 start. Either tomorrow or Saturday I shall put up my picks for the rest of Week 14.