That Was Unpleasant, Saints 20 - Steelers 10

In the words of the great, the one of a kind, the one and only Bugs Bunny, "Ain't I a stinker?"

Yup. It was that kind of night. A stinker.

You just knew Drew Brees was not going to play another error filled game after being humiliated by the Browns last week. You just knew Gregg Williams wanted out LeBeau Dick LeBeau's defense. And yet, that was very unpleasant, wasn't it? The Saints played great. I expect that was exactly the game they wanted to play. Even so, there's plenty of blame to go around on the other black and gold squad.

Through a turgid first half and third quarter, Bruce Arians was completely befuddled by the Saints defense; despite the fact that they were sending all out blitzes on just about every play, he didn't adjust his calls until the 4th quarter. There's slow, there's obtuse, and then there's Bruce Arians.

The offense's inability to get in with a 1st and goal at the 1 yard line. Kudos to the Saints defense for a great stand there, but when you leave four points on the field like that, nine times out of ten, it's going to come back to bite you in the ass. [Of course, the Steelers D basically got those 4 points back when they put on their own amazing goal line stand denying the Saints with a 1st and goal at the 1 yard line, too.]

Pig Ben looked like ass through much of the first half; his throws were into the turf and/or way off target. He seemed to shake that off as the game went on, but he and Hines Ward have been playing together long enough that you'd think they'd have some hot reads down pat when defenses bring that kind of pressure; they didn't and that was perhaps the most discouraging element of last night's loss.

Coach Tomlin made a couple of strange decisions, the strangest of which was sending that moronic hayseed of a kicker in to attempt a 51 yard field goal late in the 2nd quarter. I knew Skippy was going to pull that kick, you knew Skippy was going to pull that kick, all 70,011 costume wearing, besotted spectators at the Superdome knew Skippy was going to pull that kick, so why didn't Tomlin? [Now seems like an appropriate time to mention that I have gone off the reservation in my loathing of Jeff Reed. His inability to hit anything but the chippiest of chip shots, combined with his short kick offs and palpable apathy on coverage units -- I can't even look at the guy anymore. Can they please start auditioning kickers today? Please?!] The end result was that the Saints got the ball at their own 41 and moved easily to get a field goal to close out the first half.

Emmanuel Sanders essentially broke up a perfect pass to Hines Ward which would have given the Steelers a huge 1st down. And it came on what seemed like one of the few perfect hot reads the Steelers made all night. Ouch. C'mon Rook. Get your head in the game.

There's lots of blame to go around, but even with all of the above and more that I haven't mentioned (like Brees playing Polamalu like a fiddle on one occasion), the game really comes down to the Heath Miller fumble.Everything was going the Steelers way. Rashard (no longer Suspect) Mendenhall, had ripped off a huge touchdown run to close the gap to 3 points. B-Mac caused a fumble on a corner blitz and the Steelers were driving for the go-ahead score. Then Miller coughed it up and the game was over because the Saints did what good teams do -- turned a great break into a touchdown. That was some kind of catch by Lance Moore. That he went up for it and held onto it with Troy and B-Mac crunching him (legally, mind you, in the torso area), was a spectacular play. You make plays like that, you deserve to win, as far as I'm concerned.

I think what's frustrating is that we know the Steelers are capable of playing better than that. Still, all hail the Saints, who played the game they needed to play, when they needed it most.

Pig Ben Sparks the Offense Over the Browns

Sometimes erratic, sometimes reckless, and sometimes positively breathtaking, Pittsburgh's Pig Ben Roethlisberger returned, turning a pedestrian offense into an explosive one, making throws of 50 yards to both Mike Wallace and Heath Miller, and tossing a beauty of an over the shoulder pass to Miller to sock the game away. Other times, he strangely overshot receivers and threw an ugly interception on the first drive, but all things considered, it was about as good as anybody could expect and better than most predicted. There were times when he was vintage Ben and good enough that his QB rating was a lofty 112.7. So, there's that.

Bruce Arians called a great game and I so rarely say anything nice about BA that I'd like to go on record saying that I thought he had one of his best games in recent memory. He was aggressive without being greedy, daring without being hasty or thoughtless. He didn't get away from the run, even when the Browns were bottling it up; he called plays that allowed Pig Ben to hit six different receivers. 27 passes and 35 runs on the day and that strikes me as a really nice balance.

Rashard Mendenhall turned in another impressive game, running with power, stiff arming defenders, sticking his head into tight spots, and hanging onto the ball. Issac Redman added 31 yards, each of them hard fought and well-earned. The line, despite shuttling in players as Doug Legursky and Chris Kemoeatu were injured (both returned), did a really solid job up front and it looked like Maurkice Pouncey had a real bounce back game after struggling a bit against the Ravens.I want to give a big shout out to Flozell Adams here. He wasn't flagged all day and that has to be a first in his career. Plus, he positively clothes-lined Cleveland DB Joe Haden as he rumbled back and forth across the field after picking off Pig Ben. The Hotel is 35 years old and the Steelers list him at six feet, seven inches and 338 pounds. He was the only Steelers player who was able to run from one sideline to the middle of the field, probably covering more than 70 some yards, to take down a speedy, elusive corner. Seriously? That might have been the most impressive thing I saw all day.

On the other side of the ball, the Great Troy was quiet, but James Harrison seemed to make a point of trying to be a one man tour of destruction, sending both Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi to the locker room in the first half. And Lawrence Timmons turned in another monster performance and was a large part of the reason that the Steelers were able to hold Peyton Hillis to just 41 yards rushing on they day.

As to the opposition, I think the best things to have happened in Cleveland in a long time may have been the injuries to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace. I thought Colt McCoy played with a tremendous amount of poise, no matter how many times Harrison, Timmons and Lamarr Woodley hammered him and lord knows the kid is accurate when he has time.

Oh, and congrats to Hines Ward, who turned in a very Hines Wardian day -- five receptions for 54 yards and a head-shaking, tackle breaking touchdown. He is now tied for fourth on the all-time list for most consecutive games with a reception at 164. Just who are these people who don't think he's a Hall of Famer?

Three Things the Steelers Need to Do to Avoid a Repeats of Last Year's Embarrassment

It seemed unthinkable, actually impossible, that a team led by Ben Roethlisberger could lose to one led by Brady Quinn, that a franchise with six Super Bowl trophies could lose to a team that was 1-11 coming into the game, that Mike Tomlin could be outcoached by Eric Mangini. And yet, on an early December, 2009 night in Cleveland, that's exactly what happened.

Cleveland 13 - Pittsburgh 6.

The horror. Oh, the horror.

But the 3-1 Steelers can avoid falling into the same or similar traps, elevate their record to 4-1 (1-1 in division) and re-ascend to their rightful place as perpetual tormentors of the Browns. It's pretty simple and like a jitterbug, it's just three basic steps:

1. No special teams brain farts. There is no question that return man extraordinaire and Mr. Everything in Cleveland, Josh Cribbs was the best player on the field in last year's abomination of a game. In his career, Cribbs has torched the Pittsburgh special teams units three times for touchdowns. My god, but he must love playing against the Steelers.

The kick coverage teams were the worst in the league last year, so bad that I think high school coaches used film of the Steelers and then said to their charges, "okay, boys, just do it the exact opposite of these guys and we'll be fine." But the coverage teams have been much improved this year and special teams as a whole (except for Skippy's horrible field goal misses) have been a real high point so far, largely due to additions like Stevenson Sylvester, Jason Worrilds and Will Allen. So, before anybody worries about zone blitz schemes or how Pig Ben will fare, those guys need to take care of business: tackle Cribbs. Bottle him up, stay lane sound on returns, don't try to do anything fancy and just stop the guy. Hell, trip him. I don't care. Just get him on the ground.

And it would be nice if Jeff Reed at least pretended he cared, too.

2. Consistent defense. In last year's nightmare, Cribbs worked out of the wildcat and ran for 87 yards (averaging nearly 11 per touch) and those in Cleveland who have a clue, think that Cribbs is their best hope. I tend to agree. So the first thing the Steelers need to do is Stop Cribbs in the wildcat.

Then they have to stay gap sound to bottle up Peyton Hillis and after that, it shouldn't be to hard to confuse and harass Colt McCoy.

Of course, I said that going into last year's game ... but still, these Browns aren't the Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar editions. Which is to say, they just aren't very good offensively. Heck, they came into the season with Jake Delhomme, the man who never met an ill-advised throw he didn't like as their starter, and the underwhelming Seneca Wallace as the back up. Both of those guys are hurt and it looks like the Browns will start rookie Colt McCoy at quarterback. So the Steelers defense doesn't have to do anything spectacular to win this one. They simply have to protect against any big plays, stay gap sound, be violent and thus, contain and smother any vague hopes the Browns might have.

3. Ball control. It goes without saying this is something I'd like to see more of long term, not merely in this game.

I'd like to see an offense that, while it has Pig Ben at it's disposal, doesn't rely entirely on him, a more balanced attack, with Rashard Mendenhall get at least 22 touches in this game. In the first four games, with defenses keying on him, behind a line that is hardly great (but is, admittedly, better than I thought it would be) Mendenhall managed to average 4.6 yards per carry. With defenses now having to respect the pass, Mendenhall can be even more productive, so let's hope that Arians doesn't forget about him, just because the franchise quarterback is back on the field.

As we all know, the NFL is a funny, cyclical animal. The current cycle dictates that teams are positively obsessed, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs crazy with "stretching defenses" with the long ball. But in the early years of this decade, teams who dinked and dunked lead the way - the 2000 Ravens, the 2001 Patriots (they later became a long-bomb machine, but in 2001, not so much), the 2002 Bucs and the 2002 Raiders. The Steelers have a guy in Mike Wallace who nobody can catch, so I'm not saying to abandon the long game, but that it would be good to balance that with a short, first-down geared, clock-grinding attack - a passing game that goes underneath to Hines Ward more often. It seems so obvious, but get the ball to Hines. He's a first down machine and doesn't hold all the franchise receiving records by accident. Dude knows what he's doing.

One more thought on the obsession with going deep. Right now, San Diego has the most "vertical" offense in the league -- Philip Rivers leads the league in total yards and in yards per attempt. Yet, the Chargers are a very disappointing 2-3 and I have to wonder if they will even make the playoffs. The Cowboys throw more than any other team - nearly 66% of the time - and they are on the brink of disaster. You just don't want to run a team like Norv Turner or Wade Phillips. I'd like to see the Steelers go anti-Turner, anti-Phillips.

Basically, they just need to not do anything stupid this week and leave the stupid up to the Manginius.

Hellllloooooo Offense! Steelers Upend Bucs in Tampa

By now, just two games into the season, SteelersNation has come to expect great, punishing, dominant, flip you on your ear, knock you silly, make you pray that the scoreboard will show 00:00 to end the suffering kind of defense. And I expect that most of us thought we'd see another performance like that this week, too. We get used to things fast around here.

The Steelers defense did not disappoint, mind you, but the big news is that the offense came to the party. And they even brought party favors.

Old Man Charlie finished the day with a QB rating of 106.5. Not bad for a guy who was fourth on the depth chart going into training camp and one gimpy knee away from the waiver wire.

Oh, it was so easy to write off Charlie. Too old. Washed up. Too fragile. (I myself was guilty of cracking a lot of osteoporis/broken hip/bursitis and/or any other variety of injuries that beset the elderly jokes at Charlie's expense.) Then he threw a homely interception to start the game and, even worse, he looked upset on the sidelines. "Shake it off, Charlie," I said to nobody in particular.

Next drive, Mewelde Moore dropped a nice little pass that probably could have picked up a first down I know I was not alone in thinking the defense would have to do all the actual scoring on the day. [They did, but it was nice that they didn't have to.]

Hitting Mike (Santonio Who?) Wallace for a 46 yard touchdown strike seemed to get Steel Valley Chaz' mojo going. It looked easy for a while after that. See Charlie throw deep. See Charlie run. See Charlie slide around the pocket to create more time for his receivers. See Charlie hit a wide open Hines Ward in the back of the endzone. Speaking of old. Old or not, how do you let the Steelers all-time leading receiver (in catches, in yard, in touchdowns, in games played) get so freaking open in the back of the endzone? Just wondering. Raheem Morris is probably wondering the same thing right about now.

All that, plus a great day for Rashard Mendenhall.

And a great day for another guy, one who I had written off completely: William Gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Gay was gap sound and he made great tackles in space. He didn't try to do too much. Knowing that Josh Freeman is probably twice his weight, he took Freeman down by grabbing him around the ankles. The Steelers list Gay at 5' 10" and 190 pounds. I doubt he's that big, even. So it's a pretty smart play to not try to take on all 6' 5" of Josh Freeman, facemask to facemask. Perhaps young William has learned a thing or two since last year. He made a number of great tackles.

The rest of the Steelers defense looked like the Steelers defense.

James Harrison scared Bucs wideout Sammie Stroughter so much that he coughed the ball up into the waiting hands of Brett Keisel, who rumbled down the field, Andy Russell-like, for a touchdown. Nice beard, Brett. Nick Eason contributed a sack. Lawrence Timmons had a sack. Ryan Clark scooped up another fumble.

Freeman completed 20 of 31 passes, but averaged only about six yards per completion. My god. That's a Kent Graham-like stat. Cadillac Williams was held to just 15 yards. Cadillac? Sounds more like a Dodge Dart.

Now seems like an appropriate time to point out that the Steelers have allowed 58 yard rushing, 46 yards rushing, and 75 yards rushing to the Falcons, the Titans and the Buccaneers, respectively.

All you bastards in the AFC North who wrote the Steelers off and thought this was a two team race, not so fast. Yeah, I am looking at you Ray Ray and Thuggs, and you, too, Batman and Robin.