The New England Patriots got beat by the Cleveland Browns 34-14 last week. The Pittsburgh Steelers barely won against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. This does not a Steelers victory make.
It was an extremely long, steady beat-down of the team that was supposedly one of the best in the league.
Let's make this short and sweet and write up a huge list of all the things that went wrong during this game. And I'm sure I'm missing a ton because pretty much everything that went wrong did. From Hines Ward breaking his streak to an offensive line that took 20 steps back from last season to an uninspired defense, the spark that the Steelers played with at the beginning of the season has all but disappeared.
Here's what went wrong:
Tom Brady
- 3 touchdown passes, 30/43 for 350 yards for Tom Brady, his first 300-yard game of the season
- He is 6-1 against the Steelers
- Watching Tom Brady spike the ball in the endzone
- Watching Tom Brady in general
The Defense
- No sacks for the Steelers defense
- No Patriots turnovers
- Patriots are the first team to score on the opening drive against the Steelers
- First to score a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half
- Pass defense looked awful, getting beaten by quick throws and slants
- BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 87 yards, the most against the Steelers defense this season; the Patriots racked up a total of 103 yards rushing
The Offense
- The Steelers scored three points in the first three quarters
- Hines Ward got hurt at the end of the first quarter and never came back
- Ward snapped his streak of 186 consecutive games with a reception, the third-longest streak of that kind in NFL history
- Offensive line was terrible, too many injuries with left tackle Max Starks and left guard Chris Keomeatu not playing
- With 8 1/2 minutes left, Patrick Chung tipped a Ben Roethlisberger throw, and James Sanders had a 32-yard touchdown return; I had pretty much tuned out by this point
- Roethlisberger was sacked five times
- Rashard Mendenhall was limited to 50 yards rushing after the Browns rushed against the Patriots last week for 184 yards
- The Steelers' three touchdowns came in the fourth quarter = too late
Special Teams/General Observations
- Steelers looked like the Cowboys ... last week
- Jeff Reed missed a 26-yard field goal
- Steelers looked sloppy, tired, and unenthused after three away games
- Did I mention Jeff Reed missed a 26-yard field goal?
- Two onside kicks by the Steelers and they didn't recover any of them
- Steelers lost the opportunity to take over the Baltimore Ravens as leaders of the AFC North
All in all? The Steelers didn't show up. It was sad to watch. Until next week against the Oakland Raiders. This could actually be a dangerous game, and if the Steelers continue their downward spiral, who knows what will happen next week. Is it sad that I'm worried?