ugly win,but it is a win.

[zulater]

I'm unhappy with tonight's game. Outside of the W I take virtually no pleasure in this game, in fact i doubt I'll be able to force myself to watch the game on NFL rewind later this week.

That said I don't think tonight's performance is reflective of anything other than a bad game. Good teams usually manage to win a couple they probably shouldn't. This is one of those.

[Edman]

The Steelers were bad at SNF this year.

Yep. The Steelers on SNF seems to equate to a rough game. Last year featured two ugly losses to New Orleans and New England.

Thankfully, this is the last SNF game the Steelers will be on this year.

[smokin3000gt]

I hate that we play down to our opponents but I've learned that how we play this week is not indicative of how we'll play next week. We always seem to bring just enough sauce to win the game. Next week we will play how we need to for another win. Some weeks it's the offense that wins the game, other weeks it's the defense. Next week Ben's thumb will be a little better, and Troy should be back on the grass.

[fansince'76]

Next week Ben's thumb will be a little better, and Troy should be back on the grass.

Hopefully with Woodley in tow. Our pass rush has been lacking.

[Edman]

It's a trend.

A trend that has been going for the past five seasons now. I'm pretty sure most people are tired of it. On a night where the Steelers Defense gets back to their old ways of generating turnovers, the offense goes back to their old ways of falling apart. The Offense falling asleep in crunch time has just as much to do with these ugly wins/late game collapses than the Defense giving up long drives to lose the game. Of course, the Defense gets the blame.

The D has more often saved the day than not, while the O has not ONCE took over a game and won it. Ever.

[fansince'76]

The D has more often saved the day than not, while the O has not ONCE took over a game and won it. Ever.

Uh, SB XLIII, anyone?

[X-Terminator]

Uh, SB XLIII, anyone?

Or the Titans, Cards and Pats* games this season, for that matter.

[Boomerang]

Not the best performance but a W it is.Our O and playcalling need some work if we are going to roll all the way.

[steelreserve]

I seriously don't get some of the pessimism here. To me, this looked like a well-contested game, where each side got about the normal amount of breaks that you'd expect in a football game, and the better team ended up grinding it out. Nothing wrong with that.

Instead, we exaggerate the hell out of everything to make it a showdown of extremes. It's like ... we got a turnover - OMG THE DEFENSE WAS GREAT! We gave up a turnover - OMG THE OFFENSE SUCKS SHIT! Well, no. I don't think it goes either way with that. Yeah, we were expected to dominate their incompetent offense, which we did - but does it really blow people's mind that much to consider that the other team played good defense? No, instead it has to be that our offense is fundamentally flawed because it didn't put up 50 points. Our guys dropped a few balls that were not really easy catches, big whoop, and there were a ton of times when we couldn't get the offense moving because guys were just not open. It just was not as easy to move the ball against these guys as we would have thought, and whether it's because they played above their heads on this one night or because they're actually somewhat good, I don't care. We got out of there with the win, and that's all. Fuckin' a.

[suitanim]

This is not 2005. Our road performances have been pretty lackluster all year. It means we need homefield advantage if we want to advance in the playoffs. We have:
-Cinci and Cleveland at home the next two weeks. The Bungles have been trickier to beat at Heinz than on the road. These are two winnable games we need to win. That puts us at 10-3
-San Fran ON THE ROAD. Their D is better than KC's. Their O is better than KC's (although not impressive). This is the key game of the season. If we can win this we can go 13-3. I have us losing this game though...
-Rams at home. Rams are terrible. We're at home.
-Browns in Cleveland. Their defense is also better than KC's. This is their Super Bowl. This is a trap game. We need to win this game. 12-4 SHOULD get us two home games. 13-3 and another loss by the Rats (and they will lose again) and we get a bye and homefield throughout.

There is no wiggle room or margin of error. Our offense looked like dogshit last night, OL looked bad, timing was off, just stuck in 1st...that is the last we can see of that this season if we hope to get back to the big dance.

[venom]

Lets hope the Ravens lays an egg in Cleveland this Sunday

[Count Steeler]

Lets hope the Ravens lays an egg in Cleveland this Sunday

And we don't crack any of our own.

[BlacknGoldBabe]

12 - 4 would be good enough IF the Ratbirds lay a couple of eggs these last couple of weeks. They do own the tie breaker, unfortunately.

[SteelerEmpire]

This game was so ugly I almost got physically ill watching it. Outside of the Patriots game, this team has been playing sloppy all year in my opinion. Ike Taylor had better hands than Mike Wallace in that game.

[polamalubeast]

We must not panic for the game in the offense against the chiefs.

It was the worst game of Roethlisberger since week 4, Moore has made ​​a terrible fumble in the beginning of game, the Steelers were unable to convert the 3rd down and the offense had too many penalties.

But we must not panic, it's just a bad game in my opinion.

We must to stop making overraction at every bad game.

[salamander]

This isn't the BCS. It doesn't matter how you get the W, as long as you get that W.

[BlastFurnace]

We must not panic for the game in the offense against the chiefs.

It was the worst game of Roethlisberger since week 4, Moore has made ​​a terrible fumble in the beginning of game, the Steelers were unable to convert the 3rd down and the offense had too many penalties.

But we must not panic, it's just a bad game in my opinion.

We must to stop making overraction at every bad game.

Problem is, this isn't just a one game problem.

The ineffectiveness of the offense in the Redzone and 2nd half of games has been going on beyond this season.

Ben needs to take what the defense gives him. That's when this offense runs it's best. They are not the Greatest Show on Turf that they think they are with all of this "lighting up the scoreboard" and "Young Money" talk.

I don't know if it is Arians or just a lack of focus on offense, but this is surely not just a one game problem. This team has big issues on offense.

This team has a huge problem keeping the pedal pressed down for 60 minutes.

[polamalubeast]

Problem is, this isn't just a one game problem.

The ineffectiveness of the offense in the Redzone and 2nd half of games has been going on beyond this season.

Ben needs to take what the defense gives him. That's when this offense runs it's best. They are not the Greatest Show on Turf that they think they are with all of this "lighting up the scoreboard" and "Young Money" talk.

I don't know if it is Arians or just a lack of focus on offense, but this is surely not just a one game problem. This team has big issues on offense.

This team has a huge problem keeping the pedal pressed down for 60 minutes.

It's not the first year that the offense was a slump during the season but in the past, they proved they could correct their problem.

Since 2004, in the playoffs, the Steelers scored on average 26.8 points per game and they have always scored at least 20 points in each of their 13 games.

For this reason, I'm not very worried, because the steelers in the past have proved that they could correct the problems on offense at the end of the season.

[BlastFurnace]

It's not the first year that the offense was a slump during the season but in the past, they proved they could correct their problem.

Since 2004, in the playoffs, the Steelers scored on average 26.8 points per game and they have always scored at least 20 points in each of their 13 games.

For this reason, I'm not very worried, because the steelers in the past have proved that they could correct the problems on offense at the end of the season.

Whiz was the OC from 2004 through 2006.

They haven't corrected the problem at all this year and haven't since Arians has been in charge. It's the same thing week in and week out with the Steelers offense. They don't like the offense that chews up yards a little at a time. They like the "Showtime" offense that looks dramatic...which they aren't any good at.

Watch the replay of the INT Ben threw at the beginning of the 2nd half. He had Brown running right in front of him running wide open in the middle of the field.

[polamalubeast]

Whiz was the OC from 2004 through 2006.

They haven't corrected the problem at all this year and haven't since Arians has been in charge. It's the same thing week in and week out with the Steelers offense. They don't like the offense that chews up yards a little at a time. They like the "Showtime" offense that looks dramatic...which they aren't any good at.

Watch the replay of the INT Ben threw at the beginning of the 2nd half. He had Brown running right in front of him running wide open in the middle of the field.

With Bruce Arians as OC,it is 194 points in seven games in the playoffs

[Godfather]

This isn't the BCS. It doesn't matter how you get the W, as long as you get that W.

I wish it were. That would mean the Rats would be "rewarded" for beating us by having to play a couple of additional tough games, while we got a bye to the Super Bowl as "punishment" for losing.

[fansince'76]

With Bruce Arians as OC,it is 194 points in seven games in the playoffs

Which averages to 27.7 points a game, and which is even higher without the "Whiz Era" factored in, but yet Arians, and Arians alone, is still the problem. This is a battle I've given up trying to fight, PB.

[tube517]

Which averages to 27.7 points a game, and which is even higher without the "Whiz Era" factored in, but yet Arians, and Arians alone, is still the problem. This is a battle I've given up trying to fight, PB.

Yeah, we win ugly in the regular season but in the playoffs, the offense usually picks it up a notch. I'll take 5 ugly wins the rest of the way versus 3 "nice" wins, 2 losses and a long wild card road.

[st33lersguy]

It is officially recorded as a win and the Steelers are up 2 games in the wildcard race and the only tough tests are the Bengals and 49ers

[X-Terminator]

I still maintain they would be much better in the red zone despite Arians' sometimes questionable playcalling if they could run the football better once they get there. That opens up so many plays in the playbook. You think Marsha or Rodgers throw all of their TD passes from 20+ yards out? I don't think so.

[suitanim]

Which averages to 27.7 points a game, and which is even higher without the "Whiz Era" factored in, but yet Arians, and Arians alone, is still the problem. This is a battle I've given up trying to fight, PB.

LOL...as if just a different OC would make us block better, throw more accurately, catch passes that hit the WR's right in the hands, fumble less, commit fewer penalties, etc, etc...even the ghost of Bill Walsh would not correct the myriad break-downs we have been seeing in some (not all) of the games recently.

But you know what blaming the OC is?

It's easy. So.....................

[steeldevil]

I still maintain they would be much better in the red zone despite Arians' sometimes questionable playcalling if they could run the football better once they get there. That opens up so many plays in the playbook. You think Marsha or Rodgers throw all of their TD passes from 20+ yards out? I don't think so.

I agree. Which is why I think the 1st and goal from the 7 to start the 2nd quarter play calling was stupid. Worst of the season and I'm no Arians hater. But this was bad.

1st and goal from 7: Run Mendy for 3 yards to the 4.
2nd and goal from 4: Motion Mendy from tailback and to wr. Inside handoff to Redman from fb position. Everyone and their mom knew that was the play when Mendy motioned....
3rd and goal from 4: timing route to Sander I think on the corner route.

Should have just pounded it with Mendy or Redman on 2nd and 3rd and maybe 4th. We would have gotten in.

One of the few times this year I have thought Arians play calling was just stupid.

[BlastFurnace]

Arians isn't the whole problem, but he is part of the problem.

[Austin87]

I'll take the win, in the end that is the only thing that matters.

[86WARD]

It's always good when you come out of a hostile environment like KC with a W. it may not have been pretty, but we'll take it.