Steelers Dig Deep Hole In AFC North

Hurry Back Ben...Byron Isn't Cutting It Right Now

I'm going to try and control myself in terms of the venom that could possibly spew out of my mouth in regards to the Steelers loss to the much hated Baltimore Ravens.  Nonetheless, I will give all the Steeler fans that check my site on a regular basis a recap that you won't find in some crappy newspaper.  I like to look at it from a slightly different perspective than the talking heads that are beat writers in all major markets across the USA. 

More or less, the Steelers dug themselves this hole in many different ways.  Like my father always said, "You made your bed, time to lay in it!"  The Steelers have done just that by crapping away wins against the Raiders and Titans, and now you can add the Ravens to that category.  I couldn't tell you how angry I was when I went to ESPN.com and checked Jamison Hensley's recap of the game just to see the title "Ravens Take Control of Division With Defense"...WHAT?!  Jamison, did you watch the same football game I did?  The Ravens defense is NOT what it used to be, and I think all of SteelerNation has come to the conclusion that if Ben Roethlisberger were in that game, it would have been a different outcome.  This isn't going to turn into a Byron Leftwich bashing session...but the man just didn't play up to "snuff".  The man who is known for his big arm and lack of mobility ran for a 31 yard touchdown and was unbelievably inaccurate and under threw about 75% of his passes last night.  Confused as to why Tomlin didn't even think about going to Charlie Batch when Leftwich was obviously injured...confused is an understatement.

However, the decision for Tomlin to keep Leftwich in the game isn't the only decision that had me scratching my head (or thinking about breaking my TV).  If you ask me about "Turning Points" in the game you can obviously talk about the punt return TD for the Ravens, or the turnovers, but to me it was the decision to throw a fade route to Mike Wallace on 3rd and 2 on the 4 yard line.  Jonathan Dwyer had led the Steelers down the field and was running hard.  He got them to the 4 yard line where it was 3rd and 2 and the Steelers elect to throw a fade route to Mike Wallace instead of at least attempting a run which could get you the first down at the 2 yard line or closer. 

All of these weird twists and turns in the game lead to one thing...the Steelers have dug a HUGE hole for themselves in the division and in the playoff picture.  The Bengals are now breathing down their throats at 5-5, and the Steelers at 6-4 cannot overlook ANYONE, even the Cleveland Browns.  The Steelers can't rely on other teams to help them out, but need to take care of business the remainder of the way.  Lets take a quick look at the remainder of the Steelers' schedule:

- @ Cleveland
- @ Baltimore
- vs San Diego
- @ Dallas
- vs Cincinnati
- vs Cleveland

If you ask me, the Steelers need to win out if they want a shot at the division title.  For the playoffs?  If they can go 5-1 I think they would solidify a wild card spot.  It all would depend who that loss would come to.  If you are like me, looking at things like this piss you off because if the Steelers didn't lose games that they SHOULD have won there wouldn't even be a conversation about the division and the playoffs.  However, like my dad always says, "You made your bed, time to lay in it".