So what were you thinking about as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan with about 12:49 left in the fourth quarter of laast night’s game when the Detroit Lions turned the ball over on downs at the Steelers three yard line? I went through three thoughts in succession. The first thought was disbelief that the Lions coach Jim Schwartz was that reckless with the fake field goal call in the first place. The second thought was extreme pride in a young defense without Lamar Woodley and Brett Kiesel to make a play and give the offense an opportunity. Whilst my third thought was fright thinking of the Steelers offense having to travel 97 yards to take the lead in such an up and down game.
At that point in the second half, the Steelers were ice cold on offense and needed to sustain the momentum they gained from the turnover on downs. Then, all of a sudden a 20 yard throw from the end zone to Antonio Brown sparked what became a 16 play, 97 yard drive that took over eight minutes off the clock to take a lead that the Steelers would never relinquish. The drive included a Ben Roethlisberger scramble on third and long to force a 4th and 2 in which Head Coach Mike Tomlin decided to go for it. I had expected a run up the middle of the defense, typical of the Todd Haley Steelers offense which fans have been accustomed to seeing but I was pleasantly surprised. The ball was, for once, in the best player’s hands on 4th down and the aggressiveness of the Lion’s defense was exploited on that play with a swing pass to Le’Veon Bell.
A sustained drive capped off by a Will Johnson touchdown was exactly the kind of efficiency and clutch play that Steeler fans have been waiting for from this offense. Even after the defense came up with another timely 4th quarter turnover, the back of my mind was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I expected the Steelers to let the Lions hang around and squander a golden opportunity to put this game to bed once and for all. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. The offense was moving the ball, forcing the Lions to burn timeouts. I thought to myself, ‘gee is this a 4 minute offense?’ Then all of a sudden, another aggressive play was called on a perfectly executed play by Ben Roethlisberger and Jerricho Cotchery, resulting in the game clinching touchdown. This game was important for the Steelers on many levels. Here are a couple of reasons why:
1) The AFC wild card spot is attainable if the Steelers continue to play well. The Steelers are now 2nd in the AFC North with two games against the Cleveland Browns, a home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, and a game against the Baltimore Ravens. They also have the head to head advantage against the New York Jets who came back to Earth against Buffalo. It’s still a long shot but as long as there is a chance of playoff contention, this team will not quit.
2) 29/45 for 367 yards and 4 TD’s is enough reason for anyone inside or outside the Steelers organization to officially stop the rumours of Big Ben being traded. As I stated before, as Steelers fans we should consider ourselves lucky that this man suits up and plays for our team every Sunday. Without him, there is no “one for the thumb”. Without him, there is no “Sixburgh”. He gives us the best chance to win. If there is a serious run for the final playoff spot this season, it will be because Big Ben is playing winning football.
3) The Steelers front office has taken a lot of heat from the fans for the poor contracts they’ve given to mediocre teams in the offseason as well as spending poor draft picks. However, Steelers management, as well as fans, can agree that Antonio Brown has been blossoming into the absolute that stud management hoped for when they chose to pay him instead of Mike Wallace. If Calvin Johnson is Megatron, Antonio Brown did his best Optimus Prime impersonation to help combat Johnson’s 174yds and 2TD’s with 147yds and 2TD’s of his own. He may still be rough around the edges and drops passes from time to time but he is a gamer and shows more heart than Mike Wallace ever showed while he was in Pittsburgh.
This game made me proud as a Steelers fan for many reasons. The defense outside of the 2nd quarter played winning football. This effort took place without Lamar Woodley and Brett Kiesel. Jason Worilds played a great game at left outside linebacker with 8 tackles and a sack. The defense forced a late 4th quarter interception when a defensive stand was needed. I was impressed by the effort, the execution, and at times the play calling.
Who knows, maybe they can string together a couple more wins and get to .500 again. Now that a wild card spot can realistically be obtained, it will be very interesting to see how the Steelers will play going forward this season. For now, there’s a reason to believe and that’s all I need.
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