vader29
10-27-2013, 10:22 PM
OAKLAND, Calif. — This was all Shaun Suisham's fault.
Simple math shows that his two missed kicks accounted for all the difference in the Steelers' 21-18 loss to the Raiders on Sunday, right?
As a red-eyed Suisham was telling us at his stall, “We'd have won the football game if I was better.”
Yep. The kicker who hadn't missed a kick all season blew it.
No, I take that back. This was all Ben Roethlisberger's fault.
What was he thinking throwing away that timeout on the penultimate drive when a spike would suffice?
“The timeout's important,” he tried to explain, not all that firmly. “But so is the 5 yards for a team that's struggling to score touchdowns.”
Absurd, of course. The quarterback let down his team.
Actually, the real culprits were LaMarr Woodley, Troy Polamalu, Lawrence Timmons, Ryan Clark and, oh, maybe seven teammates, all being sucked to the right — call it Oakland's second Black Hole — as Terrelle Pryor sprinted the other way for a 93-yard touchdown on the opening snap.
Woodley, in particular, went all day without a single tackle.
“We need to do better,” Woodley said.
Sure, if by “we,” he means Clark.
I mean there's biting on a fake, then there's swallowing and digesting a fake. Clark might still be roaming the old corridors of O.co Coliseum in search of a football-free Darren McFadden.
“You'd like for the middle-of-the-field safety to be a little patient there,” Clark said in his own third-person way.
Good thing for Antonio Brown's two second-half drops, anyway, to take the heat off him. Those were the killers.
“Oakland made good plays both times,” Brown fairly whispered, “but I know I've got to hang on to those.”
Well, so does the punter. Zoltan Mesko had one blocked when he failed to catch a snap and muffed another so badly it should get him demoted from junior varsity to unemployment.
OK, I'll stop there.
But the truth is, I could continue carrying on in this vein all day through next Sunday, and it wouldn't change the following: The Steelers are one poorly prepared, poorly built football team.
And that — for real this time — is on Mike Tomlin.
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/4954426-74/clark-oakland-steelers#ixzz2iz2X0RvZ
Simple math shows that his two missed kicks accounted for all the difference in the Steelers' 21-18 loss to the Raiders on Sunday, right?
As a red-eyed Suisham was telling us at his stall, “We'd have won the football game if I was better.”
Yep. The kicker who hadn't missed a kick all season blew it.
No, I take that back. This was all Ben Roethlisberger's fault.
What was he thinking throwing away that timeout on the penultimate drive when a spike would suffice?
“The timeout's important,” he tried to explain, not all that firmly. “But so is the 5 yards for a team that's struggling to score touchdowns.”
Absurd, of course. The quarterback let down his team.
Actually, the real culprits were LaMarr Woodley, Troy Polamalu, Lawrence Timmons, Ryan Clark and, oh, maybe seven teammates, all being sucked to the right — call it Oakland's second Black Hole — as Terrelle Pryor sprinted the other way for a 93-yard touchdown on the opening snap.
Woodley, in particular, went all day without a single tackle.
“We need to do better,” Woodley said.
Sure, if by “we,” he means Clark.
I mean there's biting on a fake, then there's swallowing and digesting a fake. Clark might still be roaming the old corridors of O.co Coliseum in search of a football-free Darren McFadden.
“You'd like for the middle-of-the-field safety to be a little patient there,” Clark said in his own third-person way.
Good thing for Antonio Brown's two second-half drops, anyway, to take the heat off him. Those were the killers.
“Oakland made good plays both times,” Brown fairly whispered, “but I know I've got to hang on to those.”
Well, so does the punter. Zoltan Mesko had one blocked when he failed to catch a snap and muffed another so badly it should get him demoted from junior varsity to unemployment.
OK, I'll stop there.
But the truth is, I could continue carrying on in this vein all day through next Sunday, and it wouldn't change the following: The Steelers are one poorly prepared, poorly built football team.
And that — for real this time — is on Mike Tomlin.
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/4954426-74/clark-oakland-steelers#ixzz2iz2X0RvZ