Steelers vs. Packers Review

I think that yesterday conclusively proved what I've been thinking all along: The 2009 Steelers season is a sentient force that is trying to murder me.

That's the only reasonable conclusion I can draw, given all the tight games, overtime games, big plays given up (and made), and five losses in the last 14 seconds of a game or overtime. The 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to kill me. If they make it into the playoffs, that force may well succeed.

I stopped by a Rite Aid to pick up some chips on my way home and the clerk asked me what happened in the game. I said, "It was crazy. Ben passed for 503 yards, there were huge plays everywhere, Mike Wallace caught a 60-yard touchdown and the game-winner, and Tomlin called an onside kick with three minutes left... with the lead. They almost blew a ten point fourth quarter lead and, with no time left on the clock, Wallace caught a pass just like the one Santonio caught to win the Super Bowl. Except that it was from 20 yards out. And to the front corner of the left side of the end zone as opposed to back corner of the right side. Also, it was the last play of regulation. I mentioned that, right?"

My prediction was going to be Packers 27, Steelers 10, so I'm glad I didn't post that anywhere. Just a crazy game and I'm still reeling from it.

We could talk about how the pass defense folded again. We could talk about how we honked away another lead, couldn't run the ball when it counted, couldn't close the game out, and struggled in the red zone. We could talk about all that, but it's been hashed and re-hashed so many times that I'm tired of it. Those are the issues of the 2009 Steelers. Last year's team had its issues, too, and the defense bailed them out. It remains to be seen whether or not the offense can bail the team out this year.

I doubt it can, but that would be another crazy thing to happen in this crazy season that is trying to kill me.

So, basically, we're left with two questions in the aftermath of the most thrilling Steelers victory I've witnessed since either the 2002 Wildcard game against the Browns or Super Bowl XLIII (which we won, btw).

1. Why the hell would Tomlin go for an onside kick with a two point lead?
2. How does the playoff picture look?

For #1, he went for the onside kick because he didn't trust his defense. That's it. We could go back and forth about how it was a gamble and how, if Ike Taylor had touched the ball at the 40 instead of the 39 we'd be calling Tomlin a genius, but the end result of that attempt is that he announced that he doesn't trust his defense. Recover it or give it up, Tomlin threw his entire defense to the wolves when he decided to go for the onside kick.

Now, the last time Tomlin challenged his defense, they responded by destroying the Denver Broncos on the road. But that was more of a ribbing -- he kept calling the Broncs the number one defense in the league (which they were at the time -- and it was more like busting your buddy's chops at a roast. What he did on Sunday was like saying your buddy had an affair in front of his wife and her family at Christmas dinner.

There are two possible results:

1. The defense quits on Tomlin in order to make him look like an idiot and the season is lost.
2. The defense responds in a big way and establishes dominance the rest of the season in order to make Tomlin look like an idiot.

You can obviously figure out which result I'd rather see, but I really think it's an either or situation and it needs to be on either extreme end of the spectrum. Things won't be status quo and the defense won't sulk a little or play with a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Everyone was happy at the end of the game yesterday, but today everyone is pissed off and sore. And, really, the balance of the season depends on how the defense responds.

They sure didn't step up to the challenge yesterday, but it was too fresh, too sudden, to shocking. Now that they've had some time to ponder -- and they'll have nothing but time and full contact practices to let that bubble up the rest of the week -- we'll find out how they will respond.

For the playoffs, the outlook just got a whole lot rosier with Jacksonville, Miami, and the Jets losing this week.

Obviously, we need to win out. If we do, we'll hold tiebreakers over pretty much everyone but the hated Ravens. So, Denver needs to finish 1-1, because we hold a tiebreaker over them and the hated Ravens really need to lose out. That means they need to lose to Oakland in Oakland with the season on the line, but that's pretty much the long and the short of it.

We're in a pile with a bunch of teams that could all finish 9-7. Now, obviously, if the Broncos lose out, then we'll finish as the sixth seed with the hated Ravens being the fifth seed.

Basically, it looked impossible going into this week, but now just looks unlikely. I really think the biggest obstacle we have in front of us is ourselves. I don't know that we have it in us to win these next two games and make that final push towards a playoff berth.

But, I guess it all starts with that first step. And that means Sunday's game against the hated Ravens is essentially a playoff game.