Steelers vs. Jaguars Review

I have to say that, even though I thought we were going to win this game coming into it, I wasn't sure that we could.

We were down to our fourth string tailback, we were playing Jacksonville, who has owned us of late, we were playing in Jacksonville, where we suck, we had two defensive linemen out, we were beat up in other areas, and the hated Ravens left us broken and bloodied, after we escaped that Monday night game with a win.

Still won. I don't mean to harp on this "turning point" thing (well, maybe I do), but that Monday night game really seems like it's turning into one.

We had five really, really tough games, we overcame all the stuff we overcame in that game (which included some pretty crappy officiating), and we're sitting at 4-1, going into a bye week.

It's always good to get a week off -- well, unless you're a fan, then you have to figure out what to do on a Sunday -- but I think this bye week comes just at the right time. Willie can get healthy, Casey Hampton can get healthy, Roethlisberger can rest his strained vagina, Jeff Reed can get healthy (bad times if he gets hurt: I dropped a receiver so I could keep him on my fantasy team and I never, ever drop a skill guy to keep a kicker or a defense), Brett Keisel can get healthy, and we can work on the fact that the offensive line still kinda sucks big balls.

And, okay, I made the vagina remark, but we don't win that game without Big Ben. We don't even win that game with David Garrard, and I think Garrard's a hell of a quarterback. This will not end up being as great a year for Roethlisberger statistically, but it sure as hell is his best year yet. He's taking the team on his shoulders. He's taking responsibility. And he's made a hell of a lot of great plays that no other quarterback in the league could make. I have to say I'm pleased.

I can't complain too much and I really don't think there's much cause for pessimism at this point. And.. I may have just jinxed it.

So, before this turns into a stroke fest, three things we need to work on over the bye week.

1. I mentioned the offensive line sucks big balls, right? We covered that? Well, they suck big balls. Although I have to say that I was very impressed that Mewelde Moore ran for almost 100 yards against a great Jaguars run defense. And I was happy to see that DFS played well. And, did you see that Max Starks was in for three whole plays? Fuck that guy. Make him inactive each week. Please. Put him in the Duce Staley sweats and have him donate half his salary to Weidman. Pretty please.
2. In case you hadn't noticed, we haven't had even a decent return game since Randle-El left. I don't mean to be an alarmist, but that means it's been over two years. The last time we had a decent return game, the mortgage industry and Wall Street were respected and run by hard-working individuals and Miley Cyrus was just the awkward daughter of the dude with the mullet who sang Achy, Breaky Heart.
3. So, at some point, people are going to figure out that LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison are really, really friggin' good. Before that happens and offenses successfully scheme up ways to slow them down, do you think we could design some inside blitzes around Lawrence Timmons, Larry Foote, and the venerable James Farrior. This is a concern. Seriously. Keep Starks active and give the sweats to Gary Russell. Dick LeBeau, if you can read this, just fix it.