Steelers vs. Bills Review

I was talking to Weidman this morning and he said something very interesting:

"It's weird to read your blog the day after the game. I looked and I saw all the things that were making you nervous about the Bills game and thought they were all valid points at the time. But, after we beat up on them yesterday, I have to wonder why you were worried about them at all."

And, I must say that I agree. I really shouldn't have been nervous, but the manic-depressive-stripper thing and the let's-win-one-for-our-paralyzed-teammate thing really got into my head. I guess I shouldn't have worried about it.

Actually, this was more of a beat-down than the Cleveland game. The Bills didn't turn the ball over 3 times in the first four possessions (didn't turn the ball over at all for the whole game) and we gained more yards than in the Cleveland game.

Really, there's nothing huge to complain about in this game.

The coverage units need to get better and we need to do better than 2 of 6 in the red zone, but the Steelers looked awful damn good (the awful was the retro uniforms, the damn good was how they played).

Ben looked a lot more comfortable in this game and did better than his stats would suggest. The line protected signficantly better and gave him plenty of time to scan the field, find his receiver, and make the connection. Run blocking showed a huge improvement (the Bills are much better along the defensive line than the Browns) and Willie hit the holes that were created with authority and speed.

And, ultimately, there's no getting around these facts:

1. The hated Ravens are 1-1 and struggled against the Jets and their back-up quarterback. And, they might have to go through a long stretch with Kyle Boller as their QB. I just don't trust McNair to gut out painful injuries at this stage in his career and it sounds like he has three or four pretty nagging aches and pains at this point.
2. The Browns still suck, even though they're 1-1.
3. The Bengals gave up 51 points to the same team we thumped last week. They gave up those 51 points even though the guy that couldn't beat out Charlie Frye and was barely holding off Brady Quinn was at quarterback.
4. I know it's only Week 2 and we've played a couple of really crappy teams, but bear this in mind: There are only two teams in the NFL that have shit-stomped their first two opponents. That would be us and the Patriots. Granted, they looked unstoppable against an exceptionally good San Diego team last night and they're probably way better than we are, but alleged Super Powers (like, well, the Chargers, the Colts, the Bears, and the Mighty Houston Texans) have failed to win both games handily the first two weeks, or even to win both games outright.

So... if our strategy to win the division this year is to hope that the other three teams take a step back and we're able to beat up on the patsies on the schedule, the plan is going exceedingly well at this point.

In advance, I'm not afraid of the 49ers. I don't even have a, "Well, if they..." worry about them.

The only thing that worries me is that I'm not worried.