Steelers vs. Chargers Review

First of all, I would like to point out that I am now 13-1 overall and 4-0 against the San Diego Chargers. You're welcome.

Second of all, I would like to point out the following: The Steelers were up 28-0 and 35-14 at different points throughout the course of this game, but neither myself nor anyone in the stadium felt completely comfortable that the outcome of the game was secured until Jeff Reed kicked a field goal with 43 seconds remaining.

Sure, the Stefan Logan fumble was fluky play. Sure, if you're a Chargers fan, you feel as though there's no doubt that the play called on the field was accurate and that it was a fumble recovered for a touchdown. Sure, if you're a Steelers fan, you feel supremely violated by the refs. The point is that the play was challenged, the refs took a look at it, and were unable to conclusively overrule the play as called. If it was called down by contact, they probably couldn't have overruled that, either. So it was close.

Sure, the Chargers recovered an onside kick, which almost never happens.

But what we can take away from this Steelers victory are the following points:

1. We won by ten points in a game that we dominated and everyone was upset about it.
2. When Jacob Hester scored on the aforementioned fumble recovery, there was a loud popping sound that could be heard in Heinz Field and that popping sound was the sphincters of everyone in the stadium puckering.

When that fumble happened and the Chargers looked unstoppable on offense, everyone -- everyone that stayed, that is -- had the same thoughts running through their heads. "Ah, crap. Not again. This is not happening again. Is this happening again? I think it's happening again."

Consider:

1. We had 510 yards of total offense. I had to check the box score, I'm not going to lie. I have to admit, though, that I thought the number was higher. At the end of the third quarter, I seriously thought we had 500 yards of total offense.
2. Through the first three quarters, we held the vaunted Chargers offense to seven points. Seven.
3. We had 177 yards rushing. Of those 177 yards, 165 came from a guy that a number of people had labeled as a bust and that Mike Tomlin had benched the week before.
4. Given all that, we felt the need to run a trick play on first and goal from the six to score a touchdown.

Just a weird, weird game. We pushed around a once proud defense. We kicked the hell out of the prohibitive favorite to win the AFC West entering the season. And we felt bad about it. And, yet, we were justified.

This brings about two key questions that seek to set the collective minds of Steeler Nation at ease:

1. Is the running game back?
2. Can we trust the defense?

Well, for number one, I really don't know. The offensive line looked good, Mendenhall looked sharp, but the Chargers were undermanned and we were fired up. Really, Bam Morris or Barry Foster would've looked good given those circumstances.

We're not going to get a real answer in the next two weeks because we play Detroit, then Cleveland, and both of those teams suck.

Then, we play Minnesota. At home. We will know then. For sures. I have circled that date on my calender and I hope the Steelers offensive line has as well.

For number two, I... I have to say no. I think there are a couple of factors in play here.

Factor Number One is that the average age of the defensive line is death, so they're bound to wear down over the course of the game. Even though we only have three defensive linemen, the key to the success of any 3-4 team is the three guys up front. Our three guys up front are old. They're tired. They have two rings each and there's only so much you can do to motivate a guy given those parameters. Even when someone like Mike Tomlin or Dick LeBeau is feeding them the "one game at a time, one play at a time" rhetoric, it only goes so far.

Are they washed up? Are they not worth it? Of course not. When playing to the best of their abilities, they're still really damn good. I think the first three quarters of each of the last three games proves that. They're just old. They're millionaires. They have two rings. I'd get in their faces and yell at them and slap them around, but they're bigger than me.

Factor Number Two is that the offense is starting to come into its own. It's evolving. It's becoming the focus of the team. After all the great drives and clutch plays of the past 23 games (2008 season plus playoffs plus four games this year), the defense has come to depend on the offense. Previously, in 2007 and 2006, they had no one to depend on but themselves. I think you see this happening a little bit with the hated Ravens as well. For years, the defense couldn't let up, couldn't yield, because they'd be writing checks the offense couldn't cash. Now? They have a unibrowed golden boy and they can afford to let this receiver slip by or that tackle go unmade.

I don't like to mention this, but the hated Ravens have a bunch of young guys on defense. Guys that are hungry. Guys that don't have two rings and millions and millions of dollars in the bank. They'll come back angry and hungry because they have unfinished business ahead of them. Our guys? You can't make that same claim about them.

The Steelers are currently among the worst defenses in terms of points in every fantasy league I'm involved in. They're not getting sacks. They're not getting shutouts or keeping points off the board. They're not forcing turnovers. They're not scoring touchdowns. They're also not available as a free agent.

Maybe that's because I live in Pittsburgh and everyone still has faith that they'll turn it around. Maybe that's because everyone's hoping that everything will turn around once Troy comes back (expected to happen this weekend against Detroit!) Maybe, collectively, we're ignoring Factor One and Factor Two.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope that the factors I've talked about aren't the issue. I hope it's something else, anything else. I hope that, as Tomlin has said, the personality and makeup of a team develops over the course of a season and this is our early wakeup call. I hope I'm totally full of bullshit and I'm just being reactionary.

But, I don't think I am. And that sucks.