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Leave YOUR Writing on the Wall! Sound off on our message board with your postgame critiques, analysis, ranting and raving about the last game as well as your predictions, smak, & insults about our upcoming opponent. Whether your message is a simple "Go Steelers" or detailed, in-depth analysis, tell us what you think!
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Steelers vs Browns
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Fan Poll |  |
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Who deserves the blame for the Browns loss?
• Offensive Line
• Bill Cowher
• Tommy Maddox
• Secondary
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Scoring Summary
First Quarter
CLE - TD, Andre Davis, 6 Yd pass from Tim Couch (kick is good).
CLE - FG, Phil Dawson 19 Yd.
Second Quarter
PIT - FG, Jeff Reed 30 Yd.
CLE - TD, Kevin Johnson, 9 Yd pass from Tim Couch (kick is good).
PIT - TD, Jerome Bettis, 1 Yd run (kick is good).
CLE - TD, Tim Couch, 9 Yd run (kick is good).
Third Quarter
CLE - TD, Daylon McCutcheon, 75 Yd interception return (kick is good).
PIT - FG, Jeff Reed 37 Yd.
Fourth Quarter
CLE - FG, Phil Dawson 22 Yd.
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Steelers Offensive Leaders | |
PASSING |
ATT |
CMP |
YDS |
TD |
INT | |
T. Maddox |
24 |
11 |
136 |
0 |
2 |
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RUSHING |
ATT |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
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A. Zereoue |
13 |
38 |
0 |
12 |
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J. Bettis |
3 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
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RECEIVING |
REC |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
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A. Zereoue |
7 |
57 |
0 |
16 |
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H. Ward |
2 |
55 |
0 |
30 |
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A. Randle El |
3 |
25 |
0 |
11 |
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Browns Offensive Leaders | |
PASSING |
ATT |
CMP |
YDS |
TD |
INT | |
T. Couch |
25 |
20 |
208 |
2 |
0 |
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RUSHING |
ATT |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
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W. Green |
33 |
115 |
0 |
26 |
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T. Couch |
4 |
11 |
1 |
9 |
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RECEIVING |
REC |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
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D. Northcutt |
5 |
58 |
0 |
19 |
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Q. Morgan |
4 |
51 |
0 |
32 |
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A. Davis |
3 |
32 |
1 |
23 |
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Key Defensive Players | |
DEFENSE |
T-A |
SCK |
INT |
FF |
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K. Bell |
9-2 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
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J. Farrior |
7-4 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
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B. Alexander |
6-2 |
0.0 |
1 |
0 |
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D. Washington |
6-2 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
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K. von Oelhoffen |
2-0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
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Key Defensive Players | |
DEFENSE |
T-A |
SCK |
INT |
FF |
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C. Crocker |
5-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
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E. Little |
3-0 |
0.0 |
1 |
0 |
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C. Brown |
2-1 |
2.0 |
0 |
1 |
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D. McCutcheon |
1-1 |
0.0 |
1 |
0 |
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G. Warren |
1-0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
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Never Even Saw It Coming...
The sudden and utter collapse of Tommy Maddox wasn't even on my radar screen coming into the season...
IT IS NOW.
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Haven't. Didn't. Isn't.
Steelers not getting it done anywhere
Article by McMillen & Wife
I must admit, I'm still a little shell-shocked from the ass-whipping at the hands of the Browns last night. We got our butts handed to us in pretty much every phase of the game, and for that, I tip my hat to the Punkins. Tim Couch in particular deserves big-time props for cooly delivering one of the best games of his career in the face of some pretty stiff adversity. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but there's no denying that Cleveland was by far the better team last night.
Look out, it's a "Smak-a-Lanche!"
Of course, with this loss comes the inevitable avalanche of pent-up smak from starving Browns fans who haven't tasted a victory over the Steelers since the infamous Kent Graham sack way back in September of 2000. My day was jammed with laughter-filled phone calls, giggling visits and giddy e-mails from delirious biscuit-chewing freaks. That's okay... as a Steelers fan who has lived my entire life in the heart of Browns country, I've become pretty adept at patiently fighting the good fight through the best and worst of times. I know how to deal with these people and keep smiling. I survived 51-0 in 1989... this is a cakewalk. Besides, who can blame the Dawgies for gloating a little after a win like this?
By the same token, who can blame the many Steelers fans out there who are shouting "WE F---ING SUCK!!!" in their frustration? Hey, after Sunday night's debacle, count me among them! From Maddox to Cowher to the secondary to the offensive line to the play calling to the special teams to you name it, we SUCKED.
"Haven't... Didn't... Isn't..."
Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat things. I am genuinely worried about this team. I haven't felt this was a Super Bowl caliber team from the beginning, but right now, the Steelers have a "6-10" look to them (circa 1998) and unless Cowher is able to make some monumental adjustments very quickly, I honestly don't think the playoffs are even in our cards.
There were no bright spots in last night's game, bruthas and sistas. Not one. Worse yet, it's abundantly clear that all those nagging problems from training camp are getting WORSE as the season progresses, not better. The offensive line problems I thought would work themselves out, haven't. The changes we made to our secondary in hopes of shoring up our pass coverage, didn't. And the top-notch QB I thought we had, isn't.
The worst secondary in football.
Without a doubt, our secondary remains one of the worst in football. In the first half alone, Tim Couch hit 16 of 17 passes (including 2 TDs) with completions to eight different players. His only incompletion was intentionally thrown away. And while much of the blame for Couch's remarkable performance (not to mention McNair's 15 of 16 outing last week) is rightfully raining down on Chad Scott and DeWayne Washington, you simply can't overlook the culpability of our incredibly PUNY pass rush.
The front seven: "Everybody walk the 3-4 dinosaur."
Frankly, there's little sense in pointing fingers at anyone on defense, because I still believe what I believed last year: it's not that we have bad players, it's that we simply don't have the right personnel on the defensive line to deal with the spread. In short, WE'RE SCREWED because our roster is built around a DINOSAUR: the 3-4 defense. That's a coaching & management issue, people, because Cowher either can't or won't make a change.
BTW, if you want a good read that was well ahead of its time, check out my absolutely correct diagnosis of this problem from way back on Sept. 16, 2002 following the week 2 loss to the Raiders. I was dead on the money about what was really going on with our defense almost from the outset.
Cowher has fixed NOTHING over the last 12 months.
'Ya know, re-reading that old article reminded me of what probably bothers me most about our defense right now: Bill Cowher has managed to fix NOTHING in the past year. We are in exactly the same mess we were in 12 f---ing months ago!
Look, I've always loved Bill Cowher, folks. But I've finally reached the point where I'm willing to openly ask if Bill Cowher is still an effective head coach. The Steelers just looked so totally unprepared this past Sunday. Meanwhile, the Browns seemed to be ready for every predictable, unimaginative move we made. It was literally sickening to watch.
No, I'm not prepared to give up on Coach Cowher just yet. But eventually, the game passes every coach by. Hopefully Cowher can right the ship. I guess we'll find out over the course of the next few weeks.
Smith, Fordham and Ross star in "The Three LAME-igos."
I don't even wanna talk about the offensive line. We have a trio of lousy tackles in Marvel Smith, Todd Fordham and backup Oliver Ross. Smith was a decent right tackle, but so far (when he is actually in there), he blows on the left side. Of course, Smith missed most of the game Sunday due to injury, which put the all-important left tackle duties in the decidedly INcapable hands of Oliver Ross. The fact that we're forced to use the likes of Fordham and Ross, two players who wouldn't even have made our roster 5 years ago, speaks for itself. Faneca is an All-Pro, no question, and Hartings isn't bad, either. But Kendall Simmons, who was our rookie of the year last season, has clearly not yet fully bounced back from his diabetic condition. All in all, these guys stink as a unit. The cohesion that should be at least starting to emerge by now just isn't happening. We can't run the ball, and worse yet, Tommy's getting killed back there. Speaking of which...
The utter collapse of Tommy Maddox wasn't even on my radar screen coming into the season.
It is now.
I boldly proclaimed that Tommy's 3 picks (1 returned for a TD) were a "fluke" in the K.C. game. Two weeks later vs. the Titans, I quietly convinced myself that his scatter-armed performance (2 picks ostensibly returned for TDs and a sack for a safety) was "an aberration." This week? Sorry, peeps... my well of reassurance just ran dry.
All the well-intentioned excuses in the world won't explain away the facts: Maddox is a complete basket case right now. He's making way too many throws while falling away from the pass rush. He's forcing things. He's throwing off balance, which means he's throwing off target. Passes are sailing high. Poor decisions and throws into double and triple coverage have become commonplace. Like Cowher, I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Tommy just yet. But Sunday night's debale vs. the Browns made me darn glad we didn't sign Maddox to some premature, Kordell-esque multi-year, multi-million dollar contract.
Well, how bout that... I guess there WAS a bright spot.
Next up: the 4-1 Broncos in Denver. Until then, bruthas & sistas!
Tim McMillen
Webmaster, McMillen & Wife
P.S. -- Did I mention how bad our special teams are?
Mac & Wife is Hosted and Sponsored by Pittsburgh's Finest!
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Fan Smak & Analysis
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The following articles are listed in the order they were received (with the most recent entries at the BOTTOM). This isn't a "guestbook" format... I read and manually insert every message, so you may not see your submission show up immediately. Thanks a million for your comments, people!
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Author: Your name here
Comment: Coming soon
Leave YOUR Writing on the Wall! Send your postgame critiques, analysis, ranting and raving about the last game as well as your predictions, smak, & insults about our upcoming opponent. Whether your message is a simple "Go Steelers" or detailed, in-depth analysis, tell us what you think and we'll post it here.
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Author: Your name here
Comment: Coming soon
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