I was having a wonderful Thanksgiving. The food I ate was marvelous, the people I was with were great company, and I was able to watch football all day. Like you, I was excited that the Steelers were playing, and their opponents were divisional rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. A positive result really was vital, given the disappointing record and the fact that a loss to another AFC North team would be all the more damaging. With so much on the line, expectations and excitement were at an apex.
Despite the fact that going into Thursday’s game the Steelers had a 1-5 record playing on Thanksgiving Day (everyone remembers the botched coin toss in Detroit), Steelers fans felt the team finally turned the corner on the season and seemed confident of the Steelers chances on the road against the rival Baltimore Ravens. I, myself, was confident enough to invite non-Steeler fans to my apartment to watch the game – and then the first half happened.
The first two quarters were frustrating to watch because of the missed opportunities. Emmanuel Sanders dropped a sideline bomb by Ben Roethlisberger. The refs blatantly missed a Shaun Suisham false start on the field goal attempt, which set the Ravens up with great field position. The Steelers offense seemed stagnant and regressed back to their old ways of 3 yards and a cloud of dust. That was unacceptable given that the Steelers had the AFC Offensive Player of the Month in Roethlisberger at quarterback.
The second half however, the Steelers showed fight and Roethlisberger was able to pick up the pace, get the offense going, and score points. Unfortunately, another Sanders drop on a 2-point conversion attempt cost the Steelers an opportunity to tie the game late. Game over.
Now that the game is long in the books, let’s take a moment to digest some of the fallout from this game that makes the loss that much more troubling. Here are some things that are still weighing heavily on Steeler faithful:
- I think people are going a little overboard with the Mike Tomlin incident. I understand he may have made an attempt to impede the runner’s path on the sideline. I understand it was the wrong thing to do at the time. A hefty fine or a suspension would probably be sufficient given what he did and the impact it had on the game. However, fans are calling for him to be fired and the NFL is considering taking away a draft pick. That, in my opinion, is absolutely absurd. It wasn’t an organizational decision for Mike Tomlin to do that, so why punish the entire organization? It was a dumb mistake from him. That act on its own is not worth firing a head coach that lead the Steelers to two AFC Championships and a Superbowl win along with .650+ winning percentage. Show him some respect, Steeler Nation.
- The injury to Fernando Velasco may be the doom of this team in the last quarter of the season. One could argue outside of Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, Velasco deserves team MVP considerations due to his ability to step in and play right off the street and play one of the toughest positions on offense. Not only that, he replaced a pro bowl center in Maurkice Pouncey, and now he is on IR for the rest of the season. Coach Tomlin even took time out to praise him during his weekly presser which is rare during his motto has always been “next man up”. He has been a big reason Roethlisberger hasn’t been sacked for two straight games. The Steelers will miss him. Hopefully they can find a way to keep him on the team next season.
- Mathematically, the Steelers are still alive and breathing for the 6th spot in the playoffs, but they did themselves absolutely no favors by losing to the Ravens no less. They are now in 9th place with Baltimore having a better record. The Steelers playoff run starts Sunday at home against Miami. If they want a crack at the playoffs, they will need to win out and get massive amounts of help from teams like Baltimore, Miami, Tennessee, and San Diego to get in. The worst nightmare is 9-7 with no playoff berth and the middle tier draft pick to show for it, which may be the Steelers fate this season.
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