Steelers vs. Chiefs Review

Oh my gosh, did that suck!

This game was a microcosm of what has gone wrong thus far this season: ineffectiveness in the red zone, poor special teams play, and untimely turnovers.

Now, I'd love to come down on the Steelers like the wrath of God, say that they suck and have no business being an NFL team, but I can't. I'd love to say that they were bested by a superior opponent, but I can't. The Chiefs suck. Hard. They sucked before the game today, they suck now, and they will continue to suck after the season is over.

This isn't like the two losses to the Bengals. The Bengals, God help me, have a great team. After those two losses, you kind of have to tip your hat and say, "Well, you guys are the better team. Congratulations!" After today, there are too many questions.

Let's answer some of those questions...

Do the Steelers suck?

No, no they don't. They suck on special teams and they suck in the red zone. Their offensive line has been known to be prone to suckage from time to time. But, they still gained 529 yards today and averaged 7.3 yards every time they snapped the ball. They held their opponent to 316 total yards through over 70 minutes of play and, despite the fact that they yielded a kickoff return for a touchdown and almost yielded an interception return for a touchdown, they almost pulled out a victory.

The Steelers have a potent offense and a very capable defense. If they can keep from playing special teams and doing stupid stuff, they are a great team. As of right now, they are an average team. But, they do not suck.

The Bengals lost. Can they still win the division?

No. I think that ship has sailed. If we won and the Bengals lost, I'd have to give that a firm maybe. But, at this point, it's Cincinnati's division to lose. While they're doing their best to lose it, I still don't think they will.

So... I just give up hope?

No. There is still a very real possibility of the Steelers making the playoffs. They are a very good team with a potent offense and a very capable defense. Today's loss just means that they have a very small margin for error. They either need to win out or finish the next six games with a 5-1 mark. They need to sweep the hated Ravens and knock those jerks out of playoff contention. They have a lot of work to do, but they are not out of it.

Now is not the time to give up hope. If the season ended today, the Steelers would be the sixth seed. They won a Super Bowl already as a sixth seed, so I think things could be worse.

Things most certainly could be better. We could have not honked a game away to the friggin' Chiefs, but things could be worse.

At the end of the game, Weidman said, "Seasons after a Super Bowl win suck." And he's right. Expectations are high, the other 31 teams in the league are out to get you. The pundits are quick to question every misstep. And today was a BIG misstep.

Maybe this just isn't our year. Maybe we don't have it. But, we won Super Bowl XL and Super Bowl XLIII. And, even though my buddy Joel texted me and suggested that Goodell is going to come to the South Side tomorrow morning and take that last trophy away from us, the fact remains that no one can take that away from us.

This is still a great franchise with a bright future that was able to win six Super Bowls before anyone else. I am going to focus on that rather than today's crippling, horrid loss.

Come to think of it, maybe we need to go 6-0 to close out the season...