hey gang:
1 – 1, after an awfully lousy game that drops the steelers to 1 – 12 all-time in chicago. i’m not a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately fan, so i won’t take up space lamenting the obvious misfires that’ll no doubt be over-lamented as we get ready for cinci. but here are a few thoughts:
- two games in a row where rookie mike wallace was underthrown while open for a touchdown. he and ben are not on the same page just yet, but ought to be a pretty good pair when they sort each other out.
- the defense on pace to have as many sacks this season (16) as james harrison had last season. if we can’t get some pressure on opposing quarterbacks, they’ll continue to take advantage of our depleted secondary – and we’re facing two games against qbs who know how to do that.
- bright spots in the loss: (a) defense completely shut down the run. (b) ben, for the most part, had another solid game. (c) while still not consistent, reports of the steelers’ running game’s demise are clearly premature. (d) can’t complain about the pass protection, and the run blocking was much improved. (e) unrelated, but it’s nice to see the patriots struggle.
all-in-all, the steelers played just poorly enough to lose, and bears played just well enough to win. next up, we’ve got a game against a division rival in a state where ben hasn’t lost a game. let’s look for a strong bounce-back. it’s our last scheduled 4:15 game of the season. you won’t hear me complaining about that…
see you at F&H this sunday. z.