Overhyped

I’m not really in a position to talk about the game, I didn’t see it and was more than a little confused reading that James Harrison was playing long snapper for the Steelers, until I read a little bit more about the game. As I read about Roethlisberger’s 4 INT, a touchdown being taken away for holding, and a defense that had a goal line stand but was on the field too long because of a dismal 3rd down success rate. I started to think that maybe the loss wasn’t attributed to that play alone.

In his thoughts after the game, Don Banks of SI.com said he doesn’t see the Steelers playing into January because they are missing some indescribable thing. Perhaps what Don Banks isn’t seeing is that the Steelers have been one of the best teams in the league with pro-bowlers missing significant time on both sides of the ball (Casey Hampton, Willie Parker) to say nothing of all the other injuries the Steelers have been plugging in players for. But by watching the game I might realize how he could, at this juncture in the season, come to his opinion.

The Pittsburgh media has been quick to blame Santonio Holmes for his share in the loss. He definitely was missed in the passing game, even with Nate Washington remembering he is in a contract year and forgetting to drop the ball. A touchdown loss to the promoted “best team in the league” isn’t something to beat yourself up about missing two of your biggest threats on offense. However if we lose the next couple games suddenly we are right back in the pack.

It feels a lot of the concern is that the National media advertised this game as a preview of the Super Bowl. Suddenly it was a must win game because it would tell the country that the Steelers were the best team in the league. In reality the game was one of the least important ones on the schedule and even though now they will make a big deal about the Steelers inability to beat the NFC east all this week. The Redskins game is equally unimportant. They are not in our division. Beating the Colts and the Chargers could be the difference between being a 2 seed or fighting for a wild card spot with a team we could have knocked out of the playoff race. Beating the Redskins gives us another win.

The Giants game and the Redskins game are glorified barometer games, and what it told the league is that the Steelers are a quality team that still needs to sure up a few things. Opinion of the Steelers didn’t slip too much after the game, with many in the national media still believing it could be the Super Bowl match-up.
I’m not saying I didn’t want to win the Giants games or next week, but I would much rather be coming into form later in the year than being considered the best when it doesn’t matter and there are still 9 weeks for anything to happen.
The Steelers have a lot of things that they can do better, but they have time to get those things fixed. Even though we lost, they have to feel good that the Defense has yet to play a bad game, (one sure way to get to championships) and the Offense should be much better when healthy and fully stocked.