The Steelers Did What Ever Resident Of Detroit Has To Do...Dodge Bullets

I've never been less excited after a win in my life. The Steelers should have blown the Lions completely out of the water. But there was yet another opponent set up in Steelers territory in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie the game. This time it was the lowly Lions who converted a 3rd and 19 to get the ball down to the Steelers 22 in the waning minutes of the game. If it wasn't for three consecutive sacks which pushed the Lions all the way back to the 45, there is a chance I'm writing how we lost in overtime to a team that only has one victory in their last 19 games and who was starting a quarterback who couldn't make it on the Dolphins. While I'm glad I'm not writing that post right now, there is no way anyone should be proud about the victory this week. They need a lot of work and fast.

Time to see what did work and what didn't work. Here we...go!:


WHAT DID WORK

The defense has been taking a lot of shit for not getting pressure on the quarterback in the first four weeks. Well that changed in Game 5. The Blitzburgh defense got to Daunte Culpepper a season high seven times. James Harrison collected three of those sacks to give him 6 for the year. When you consider he had 6.5 after Week 5 last year, it's safe to say he is back on track after not recording a sack the first two weeks. Harrison also forced a fumble (that Detroit recovered) and caused an intentional grounding penalty that forced the Lions to go for field goal instead of the end zone. LaMarr Woodley got his first 1.5 sacks of the season, as did William Gay. Lawrence Timmons recorded the last sack.

Rashard Mendenhall was a beast in the first half, running for 65 yards on 9 carries (that's a 7.2 yard average) and 1 touchdown. That touchdown run was quite impressive as he outraced a cornerback to the end zone and scored untouched for the second straight game. Unfortunately, although he was on pace for another 100+ yard day, Bruce Arians is a fucking moron and only called his number six times in the second half and he ended up only gaining 12 more yards. Detroit couldn't stop him in the first so I have no idea why they stopped running in the second half.

Ben Roethlisberger had another very accurate day, ending up 23/30 (76.7%) for 277 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. Everyone of course is talking about the interception because it resulted in a touchdown. But he redeemed himself immediately after by throwing 12 or 13 straight completions. He immediately lead a drive after the interception for a touchdown. But it should be noted that he should have had another interception had the refs not called a roughing the passer on the Lions which negated the interception. Ben has been accurate this year, but I would like to see the interceptions stop.

Hines Ward lead all Steelers with 8 receptions for 85 yards and his first touchdown of the year. He is having a very strong year that surprisingly few people are talking about. He is currently on pace to have a career year which is pretty amazing for a guy who turned 33 this year.

Heath Miller is the best tight end in the game on a team that doesn't know how to use him correctly. Miller caught 5 passes for 54 yards, including his third touchdown of the year, in the first half. But then, just like Mendenhall, for some reason Arians went away from utilizing him. Some of that blame falls on Roethlisberger as well. You have a guy averaging 10.8 yards a reception and you stop going to him? Unbelievable.

Mike Wallace atoned for his dropped pass that would have been a sure touchdown when he caught a 47-yard bomb from Roethlisberger.

Ryan Clark had the first interception for the team since Troy Polamalu's amazing grab against the Titans in Week 1. The fact that Culpepper should never have thrown that ball doesn't diminish the fact that Clark caught it because we all know Ike Taylor wouldn't have.

Stefan Logan had a 47 yard return immediately following the Lions interception return for a touchdown which set the Steelers up in great field position. I'm still waiting for him to break one, but that return helped swing the momentum back in the Steelers favor.




WHAT DIDN'T WORK

The coaching was terrible all the way down the line. Why Arians decided it would be a good idea to run deep routes with a 15 point lead in the fourth quarter is beyond me. His ridiculous play calling lead to Ben getting sacked three times in a four play sequence and it completely killed all momentum the team had. The Steelers ran only 5 plays the entire 3rd quarter compared to 27 by the Lions. The fact that Pittsburgh scored on one of those plays and the Lions didn't can only be contributed to how bad the Lions are at scoring touchdowns. The Steelers had 0 yards in the 4th quarter. You read that right, zero. They need to fire Arians.

The third down defense is atrocious. The Lions converted on 61% of their third down opportunities (11 of 18) and many of them were third and long situations. Culpepper completed numerous throws of 20 or more yards and there were times they just looked lost out there. They also allowed Culpepper to have his longest run in ages.

Limas Sweed dropped the only ball thrown to him and was never seen again. Hopefully the failed experiment that is Limas Sweed will soon be discarded because it's obvious this guy can't catch a cold.

Even though Big Ben redeemed himself, I still have to point out that he threw the ball late and caused the interception that resulted in a touchdown for the Lions.

Mike Wallace did his famous Limas Sweed impersonation and dropped a sure 71 yard touchdown pass. He compounded the problem by kicking the ball and getting a delay of game. A few plays later Roethlisberger would throw the interception that made the game closer than it should have been.

Keiwan Ratliff can't cover anybody and was been exposed at this level. Time to try someone else if Troy can't go next week.

We are still susceptible to the screen pass, which the Lions exploited numerous times.




This shit better not happen next week when we come home to face the Cleveland Browns. If we lose that game, every single person associated with the team should be fired and beaten in the streets with clubs.

Go Steelers.