No Explaining the Steelers

[fordfixer]

[url]www.triblive.com/mobile/7178438-96/steelers-browns-inscrutable[/url]


No explaining Steelers, AFC NorthBy Joe Starkey Freelance Columnist
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014,

Has there ever been a Steelers team as unreadable as this? A team that shuttles from dominance to disarray and back so frequently and randomly?


It began at the beginning, which at least makes sense. Nothing else does. The Inscrutable Steelers started the season by dominating the Cleveland Browns for a half … and falling apart for a half.


They outscored the Browns, 27-3, in the first 30 minutes. The Browns outscored them 24-3 in the second 30 minutes. And with that began a roller-coaster ride from Hades …


• In a home game against woeful Tampa Bay, the Inscrutable Steelers took possession with 1:44 left and a four-point lead … and somehow lost in regulation.


• With a bitter Heinz Field crowd booing and ready to bury them, the Inscrutable Steelers, trailing the Houston Texans, 13-0, late in the first half, erupted for 24 points in 2:54. They became the first team in 12 years to score that many points that fast.


• They ended a biblical red-zone slump when their star receiver threw a touchdown pass.


• After getting sacked on three consecutive plays early in the second quarter against Baltimore, Ben Roethlisberger and his offense were the proud owners of one first down and zero points. Ten minutes later, they had 22 points, including a Brad Wing-to-Matt Spaeth conversion. Roethlisberger was not sacked on any of his other 35 dropbacks.


• The two oldest guys on defense do not miss snaps and perform like eager rookies while a pair of youthful first-round picks struggle to stay healthy.


• After registering 93 points and 12 touchdown passes against good competition (Colts, Ravens), the Inscrutable Steelers produced 13 points and one touchdown pass against one of the worst pass defenses in NFL history (the Jets').


• The secondary improved when the $26 million cornerback was replaced by the 27-year-old Texans reject who once was rated the worst cornerback in the league.


Maybe the metaphor that best captures the Inscrutable Steelers' perpetual state of contradiction: safety Mike Mitchell's now-idle Twitter account, which Monday night saw Mitchell alternately tweeting Bible verses and belittlements.


One minute he was sending something from Proverbs. The next he was calling one troller “trash,” urging another to “kill yourself” and wishing yet another to “die broke.”


Happy holidays, Mike.


Mitchell's blitz was unfolding even as LeGarrette Blount, once hailed as the perfect complement to Le'Veon Bell, was told never to come back after he walked off LP Field with time on the clock. Borrowing from Psalm 68, you might say Blount was gone like a puff of smoke.


But here's the ultimate paradox: This wild and crazy bunch has settled down since a 31-10 loss at Cleveland. The Inscrutable Steelers are 4-1 since then and 7-4 going into the bye week, percentage points out of first place in their division and, with two games left against the Cincinnati Bengals, firmly in control of their fate.


And if you think this team is a walking contradiction, check out the rest of the insane asylum known as the AFC (All Four Crazy) North.


The Browns have already celebrated two Super Bowl wins this season. I believe they're being fitted for rings as we speak. One problem: They're in last place, despite a Pitt-like schedule that features every patsy this side of Akron.


Cleveland quarterback Brian Hoyer is fresh off a 20-for-50 debacle that looked even worse than his 16-for-41 effort against Jacksonville. The Browns welcome back All-World receiver Josh Gordon this weekend, but injuries are mounting.


It makes zero sense to bet on the Browns right now. Which, in this division, might make them the best bet of all.


The Ravens continue to be unnaturally preoccupied with the Steelers, despite the fact it was Cincinnati who won the division last season, Cincinnati who resides in first place and Cincinnati who has beaten the Ravens twice this season.


Ravens coach John Harbaugh likes to remind his team that it was built to beat the Steelers. He was caught on camera, in the locker room immediately after a win over Tennessee, informing his players that the Steelers just got their butts kicked in New Jersey.


Obsess much, John?


The Bengals are impossible to figure. Andy Dalton followed the worst game of his career (his passer rating against the Browns equaled my college grade-point average: 2.0) with the best game of his career. When healthy, they're still the most talented team in the division. But they're also still the Bengals. Never pick the Bengals in big spots.


Ultimately, the Inscrutable Steelers might be the most stable outfit. They might be in the best position down the stretch, too, with the pending returns of multiple defensive starters, three of five games at home, the benefits of a late bye week and the possibility that each of their remaining opponents will be playing well (which is preferable to teams playing poorly, as teams playing poorly routinely give the Steelers fits).


Way back at the beginning, which is where it all began, I thought the division would come down to Steelers-Bengals on Dec. 28 at Heinz Field. I still feel that way. Which probably means it will come down to Browns-Ravens on the same day.


Seriously, I'm out of the business of handicapping the AFC North.


A man could die broke doing that.

[fordfixer]

[url]www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/11/20/steelers-searching-for-consistency-reinforcements-as-playoff-push-nears/[/url]


Steelers searching for consistency, reinforcements as playoff push nearsPublished November 20, 2014


Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) tries to get past Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty (30) in the second half of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski) (The Associated Press)
Next
PITTSBURGH – A dozen years in the NFL have taught Ike Taylor plenty of lessons.


Perhaps the most enduring one is this: nothing comes easy for the veteran cornerback and the Pittsburgh Steelers.


Nothing.


"For some odd reason we always give each other heart attacks on the sideline," Taylor said.


Good teams. Bad teams. Average teams. No matter the opponent the Steelers somehow find a way to turn each weekend into a three-hour high-wire act.


So while Taylor is encouraged as Pittsburgh takes a 7-4 record into a welcome bye week, he's not exactly ready to start thinking about January and beyond.


"We've just got to stay consistent," Taylor said. "There can't be ebb and flow. We know sometimes teams (are) going to catch momentum and we understand that but we've got a standard. When we start fast, we've got to finish fast. Since I've been here that's the way we play."


Well, not always. Pittsburgh hasn't won a playoff game in nearly four years, a lengthy drought for a franchise where each day players walk by a trophy case lined with a half-dozen Lombardi Trophies.


A return to the postseason is within reach but plenty of work remains to be done if the Steelers want to emerge from the chaotic AFC North, where all four clubs are at least two games over .500.


Taylor isn't one to peek at the standings however. Last time he checked, the path to a division title is pretty easy.


"We just need to go out and win," Taylor said. "When you win you ain't got to go look around and see what's going on outside."


There's been enough going on inside to keep the Steelers busy.


Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Antonio Brown are in the midst of career years. Running back Le'Veon Bell is becoming one of the most versatile players in the league.


And the defense has somehow held things together during a 4-1 stretch despite missing four starters: Taylor, linebackers Ryan Shazier and Jarvis Jones and safety Troy Polamalu.


Taylor appears to be close to returning after breaking his right forearm in Week 3 against Carolina. Jones' wrist is nearly healed. So is Shazier's right knee.


While Polamalu's sprained knee remains tender, the Steelers don't need to be dominant but merely ditch the sporadic play that cost them in perplexing losses to Tampa Bay and the New York Jets.


For the offense, that means finding the right balance to take the pressure off Roethlisberger. On the other side of the ball, it means avoiding the letdowns that have allowed inferior teams to stay in games.


"I want to be able to rely on my defense and say, 'Hey, we're going to come in and play every week,'" defensive end Cameron Heyward said. "We might give up a few plays here, a few plays there but overall we're going to kick a lot of tail."


Something the Steelers have done regularly down the stretch under coach Mike Tomlin. Pittsburgh is 22-13 over the final five games of the season during Tomlin's seven years on the job, including 4-1 marks in 2008, 2010 and 2011. The Steelers made the playoffs on all three occasions and made it to the Super Bowl twice.


Four wins this time around would virtually assure Pittsburgh of a return to the playoffs after going 8-8 in 2012 and 2013. Yet the Steelers allow they remain very much a work in progress.


They have struggled to play well on the road the past two months and needed to rally from an 11-point second-half deficit to put away the perpetually rebuilding Titans on Monday night.


Yet Pittsburgh may have stumbled upon the right formula while wearing down Tennessee in the bitter cold.


Bell plowed his way to a career-high 204 yards and helped the offense hold the ball for nearly 40 minutes, allowing the defense to find its footing after sluggish play allowed Tennessee to take the lead. Roethlisberger passed for a modest 207 yards but was at his best late.


For the final 15 minutes the Steelers looked every bit like a Super Bowl contender, pushing the Titans around and running off the final 6:58 behind Bell and an offensive line that relished the chance to attack.


Bell finished with 35 touches, a total that may become the norm as the temperature drops and passing becomes more difficult. He's more than fine with handling a heavy workload.


He's only 22, but last time Bell checked this is what the Steelers are supposed to do this time of year, right?


"I'll take as many carries as we need to win the game," Bell said. "I didn't feel fatigued or tired during the game, and the cold weather was no problem. I'm ready."


After consecutive Januarys watching the playoffs on TV, Bell's teammates are too.