Ben said his arm strength led to INT's against Dallas and Cincy

[NorthCoast]

It was Tuna who said, "We are what our record says we are." (I love Tuna; one of the very best coaches in the history of the NFL.) I think it's kind of lame to just blame injuries. This team lost to the likes of SD, TN, CLE, and Oak. And, we could have easily lost to Philly, Jets and KC - 3 teams we should have beat by 21. It is obvious that there was much more wrong with this team than just injuries. You mentioned how the Ravens had a ton of key injuries and so did GB the year they beat us in the SB - I think they had a record for most starters on IR or something.

The obvious factor was a lack of leadership and poor team chemistry. You don't win sh-t without leadership and a team mentality across the board. Ben and Tomlin were FAIL on that end. Ben really can't be the leader as he acts like a frat boy goofing around as frat boys do (drinking, womanizing, etc.). It's hard to "follow" someone who acts like he is playing in a college intramural game with a keg on the side line. And Tomlin....I think he got to be too much of buddies with everyone and didn't bare down (benching Mendenhall, making Wallace a "dual starter") until it was too little too late. It wasn't until Art 2 stepped in that we actually won a ring in 2005. With old man Dan, he was just too nicey nice to command the discipline to get it done. My sense is it will be Art 2 again, who has to crack some knuckles and get this team serious again. It will start with Art 2 having a quite serious discussion with Tomlin, which I am sure has already happened. Art will also have to step in to run the draft, as they have been really crapping the old bed on that front and it must end.

There are injuries, and then there are injuries. Injuries to key multiple players at the same time is what felled the Steelers. You can only hide so many before the other team attacks the weakest links. Having Ike, Troy, Harrison, Ben, AB, Colon, Gilbert, Miller, missing multiple games is huge to overcome.