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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

October 22, 2001 by Steel Tank

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

 

The Steelers victory Sunday was a classic � featuring some very good and fortuitous signs, some subtle omens for the Steelers future and an ogre.

 

The Good

The Steeler defense once again dominated the line of scrimmage and took control of the game from the outset.Even though the Steelers won by a single touchdown, this game was far more lopsided and won on the defensive side of the ball for the fourth straight week.

 

This is good.

 

The young LB�ing core is as dominant as we have ever had � a must in the 3-4.Even Jason Gildon chipped in with 3-batted balls and a solid all around game.Taking away the prevent defense during the last two games, the Steeler defense has not given up a legitimate TD drive playing away from home in two hostile environments.

 

Awesome.

 

The Steelers, a woeful road team in recent years past, have been impressive in winning 3 straight road games against some descent competition. Should the Steelers merely win the rest of their home games, they would finish 11-5.

 

Excellent.

 

Ed Hockley and his crew are perhaps the best in football.On two occasions controversy could have arose, but Ed and his crew got the calls correct � fat Warren Sapp slipped on the Ward first down reception and the call on the on-side kick.Two critical plays that went the Steelers way, but were called correctly in any case.

 

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

 

The Steeler offense and running game are taking advantage of the present skillset of the talent that exists on this football team.It took a mediocre, ex-backup Tight End like Mularkey to figure it out � just keep it simple.Sometimes genius and ingenuity is not a good thing for football players.Just ask the Indy Colts�Anyone can sit in on a physics seminar, but that doesn�t mean they�ll understand it.

 

Getting better.

 

 

The Bad

A very subtle and disturbing trend�The Steeler offense, though improving, has perhaps one legitimate TD drive this entire year.Thinking the Bus can throw a TD and go on 46-yard scampers every week is ludicrous.The defense cannot be relied upon all year to hold their opponents to 3 points until late in the 4th quarter.Teams with better offenses will give the Steelers problems if they find way to get up a couple of scores.The only bright spot is that this offense is seemingly reminiscent of the Steeler offense that played Dallas in the Super Bowl.That year, the Steeler offense was somewhat pedestrian and not overly affective in the beginning of the year.However, Oddonnel steadily improved that year and threw very few int�s.By the time the playoffs rolled around, the offense was very good.Can Stewart and the rest of the offense follow this same pattern by improving every week?Only time will tell and the prognosis is good, but there is a very thin line of success in the NFL with which the Steelers are all too familiar.

 

Here's hoping dark days do lie ahead for the Steeler offense.

 

 

The Ugly

Advise � if you do not understand something, shut up and let those intelligent people around you speak.Dan Dierdorf � the Ogre.Dan went on and on about the fact that he could not understand why the officials were reviewing onside kick play�Dan, there was never a whistle and possibly never any possession.Have a nice life.

 

What happened to Merlin Olsen?

 

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