Good News and Bad News: Seahawks at Steelers

I actually don't have a ton of good news, which is rare following a 24 point shutout victory:

1. The Steelers won, which means they didn't lose.  A win's a win, but a loss would have been pretty humiliating.
2. They didn't turn the ball over seven times.  In fact, they didn't turn the ball over at all.
3. They used Mike Wallace in a number of different ways, including throwing the ball deep to him.  He cashed in on that play with a tremendous catch.
4. Marcus Gilbert played well and Robert Mathis might still be out of the line-up on Sunday night, so Gilbert might get another free pass in Week 3.  He needs time to adjust and settle in.  Practice helps, but there's no substitute for in-game experience.
5. William Gay and Ike Taylor both played well.  As a matter of fact, Gay played so well that I think the Steelers should keep him in the line-up.  I know I defended Bryant McFadden last season, but the guy isn't very good and he's certainly not as good as Gay.  Gay had a rough 2009, which is why they brought McFadden back last season, but I think it's time to give 22 another shot and see what he does with it.
6. The offensive and defensive lines controlled the line of scrimmage for almost the entire game.  Running the ball in goal-to-go situations is still dicey, but we're talking about good news here.
7. Tennessee beat the hated Ravens, which means there's a four-way tie in the AFC North.  A four-way tie is much better than being one game back of Baltimore, with them holding the tie-breaker.

Still more good news than bad news, though:

1. They also didn't force any turnovers on defense.  That means the defense has gone three straight games (two games this season and the Super Bowl) without forcing a turnover.  They're going to need to be on the plus side of the turnover margin when they play better teams.
2. Rashard Mendenhall had 19 carries for 66 yards.  Sure, he had a touchdown and sure it was a one-yarder, but the Steelers also ran four plays from the one yard line on the opening drive and came up with nothing.  Ike Redman averaged 4.9 yards a carry and also had a score, which may only be bad news for me, since I have Mendenhall on my fantasy team.
3. They were 2-for-4 in the red zone and 1-for-3 in goal-to-go.  Again, these are things that will come back to haunt them when they're playing better teams (hopefully in the playoffs).
4. Someone needs to fire the spotter that told Mike Tomlin to challenge that fourth and goal play on the first drive.
5. I can't tell if it's just that the Seattle passing game is really craptastic or if the secondary and pass rush actually performed well.  It's probably a little of both.  Maybe this is "neutral" or "meh" news.

The point is that they won and they needed to win.  Baltimore losing as well is a bonus.  But, I didn't get the sense that they went out on the field on Sunday and just pummeled the Seahawks into submission.  I didn't watch much of the Seattle-San Francisco game in Week 1, I was just going off of what I saw on the Seahawks roster. 

From what I saw on Sunday, I think it was more a case of Seattle having a bad team than it is of the Steelers playing really well.  After the game, I didn't have that satisfying feeling that I get after my blowout bloodlust has been satiated.  I felt very ambivalent about the victory.  Kind of like, "Oh, OK, well they won.  That's good." 

The Steelers didn't beat the Seahawks down.  They just seemed to... kinda... lean on the Seahawks until they fell over.  Then they spent most of the fourth quarter laying on top of Seattle, grabbing them by the wrists, and making them punch themselves in the face while repeating, "Quit hitting yourself, quit hitting yourself."

They only allowed eight first downs.  Marshawn Lynch rushed six times for 11 yards.  They had a 39-21 minute advantage in time of possession.  It was a game they statistically dominated, but I don't think it was a dominant performance. 

Sunday's game doesn't fix everything, it just helps to patch up a lot of the structural issues that were exposed/caused by the hated Ravens in Week 1.  A win in Week 3 against the Colts with similar results will make me think the Steelers are continuing on the right path.