Steelers vs. Bengals Review

That was just a big pile of steaming crap. I don't understand how we can commit 5 turnovers at home. I further don't understand how we can commit 5 turnovers at home and still only lose by 8. I guess the short answer is that the defense has been playing out of their minds all season. It's just that they can't hold up late in games when the offense has yet again put them in a position to lose.

But, we did learn a few things yesterday. Three, to be exact:

1. Coclough is never, ever, ever, ever, and I mean never to return a punt again. I understand that Cowher likes to go with veterans, but Holmes has three years of punt returning experience from college. Coclough has only (prior to this season) returned punts in the pre-season. AND WHERE THE HELL IS WILLIE REID?!?!?!?!?
2. We miss Jerome Bettis more than I thought we would. And, if you look above, we miss Randle-El more than I thought we would. But, you could tell that Cowher was looking to take a 24-21 lead early in the 4th quarter by crossing his arms and running 11 out of 12 plays and watching the Bungles defenders go down on one knee and suck wind because they knew they couldn't stop us. But, we were missing our closer. Verron Haynes is one hell of a 3rd down back, but he's no closer. Once he fumbled, that was that. AND WHERE THE HELL ARE DUCE AND NAJEH?!?!?!??!
3. This is going to sound as dumb as it looks, but... Aside from the 5 turnovers, we played a pretty flawless game. The offense looked crisp, the defense was absolutely mauling Carson Palmer for most of the game, and we were crushing them in an almost obscene fashion on both sides of the line of scrimmage. And then the Coclough fumble. And then the Haynes fumble. And then we had to completely alter our game plan.

And, I think that someone needs to pull Ken Whisenhunt aside and say the following:

Ken, buddy, I think there's a concept that you're failing to grasp here. The game plan that you lay out, it's for the entire game. No, not just the first quarter. Not just until something bad happens (the Wilson no-catch in the Jax game, the INT in the red zone yesterday). The WHOLE ENTIRE FREAKIN' GAME!!!!! Ya got that? Go ask Dick LeBeau about it. He understands. He's been doing this for a long time.

But here's something to cheer everyone up for the rest of the season. I know it doesn't seem like there's a rest of the season after the stinker that we had yesterday, but there is. There are, indeed, at least 13 games left to play.

1. Most of our issues thus far this season have been on special teams. We have a bye week to fix that.
2. We have a bye week to sit and stew on this one. I guarantee everyone's so pissed for San Diego that at least six guys on defense go out and kill a horse.
3. Ben will not throw three dumb interceptions like that again. And, law of averages says that he'll have to throw a touchdown pass eventually.
4. We're not committing 5 turnovers in a game again any time soon.

So, relax. Have a beer or something. It's not the end of the world and it's far from the end of the season. Like coach says, it's a marathon not a sprint.