A Team Apart: the Sad Tale of the 2009-10 Pittsburgh Steelers

By: Dean Jacobs, AFCNT.com writer

Things can’t get much worse at this point for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  After another disgusting loss to a terrible team, the Steelers look nothing like the champions they were, just one year ago.  Falling to an even record of 6-6, the Steelers have now dropped a pathetic 4 consecutive games.  Despite the losses, the Steelers are still in a better position than many other AFC teams fighting for a Wildcard spot.  Which is definitely not a plus, all it does is give the Steeler’s team a false sense of confidence, and a cushion to play terrible football and still have a chance to make the playoffs.  This Pittsburgh Steelers team, at this point in their season doesn’t even deserve to make it into the postseason, and unless there is a massive internal overhaul for the team, they won’t.  Sunday’s loss to Oakland was just another in the long string of collapses by Pittsburgh this season.  I’ll now go through the painful steps of breaking it all down for you.

Let’s start with what traditionally has been the backbone and the cornerstone of all the great Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the past: The Defense.  First and foremost, Troy Polamalu went down with an injury in week 1, and didn’t play again until week 6.  He came back for a little over three games, and got hurt again.  His injury alone has had an almost insurmountable affect on the Steelers Defense, Secondary especially.  With Troy in the game, the Steelers have won all 4 contests; I’m not counting the Cinci game because he went down early.  And with him out, they have won only 2 games, while losing six.  His replacements aren’t standing up, and as a whole (William Gay especially) the Steelers D-Backs and Secondary play with a total lack of awareness, toughness, and energy.

For the Linebackers, Harrison has had a decent year, not nearly as good as last.  Woodley is having a solid season, and really coming into his own.  Hopefully he will be the future of the Defense.  The past is James Farrior; he now lacks the spark, the speed and the power he possessed in years past.  Farrior is now an average or below average Linebacker.  The D Line has been good the majority of the time, but with several slip-ups along the way.  I won’t glorify them, because they never really get the credit.  I don’t want to surprise them.  Seriously though, this season the Steelers D has been beat every way a unit can be beat: missing tackles, blowing coverages, allowing big catches and big runs, slipping, tripping, fumbling, and bumbling.  Does that sound like the Steelers?  Unfountunately, yes.  Just think about the Special teams prior to the last 2 games.

But overall, the worst part about the Defensive unit is that they can’t close a game.  In 5 of the 6 loses for Pittsburgh this year, the Steelers have entered the 4th quarter with the lead, and five times the defense has blown it.  Pittsburgh’s teams have been known to get a lead on opponents, and then pound the ball, play solid D and grind down the clock for a win.  That hasn’t happened this year, the exact opposite in fact.  And with key injuries to Troy and Aaron Smith, and older players getting worn down late in the season, this unit will probably get worse before it gets better.  That’s all that really needs to be said about the D.  And if you’ve seen the games, you know exactly the meltdowns and lapses i’m referring to.  Bottom line: The unit needs work, and for Troy Polamalu to return (not looking good).

Which brings us to the unit that has more than struggled for almost the entire season, and knows all about lapses: the Special Teams.  In the last two contests, this unit has sort of shored things up; but prior to that, the Special Teams was the worst unit on the field.  Through 13 weeks, the Steelers Special Teams haven’t put up numbers anywhere close to acceptable.  On kickoff returns, the Steelers have allowed 4 Touchdowns, almost 1500 total return yards, with an average return of 25.5 yards – terrible.  On Punt returns, the units has allowed an average of almost 10 yards per.  When we’re on the other side of the ball, Stephan Logan has done a quality job all season, having plenty of big returns, with a long of 83 yards last Sunday against Oakland.  He has consistently been the one bright spot for the Steeler’s Special Teams.  Since the debacle in Kansas City, the unit has gotten noticeably better, but it still doesn’t make up for their play through the first 10 weeks of the season.  Plus, they let up a big return in the Oakland game as well.  The Team will have no chance of moving forward if this particular unit reverts back to it’s old ways.  Hopefully we’ve seen the worst from the Special Teams already, but you never know what will happen with this football team.

The offense has been tolerable, but hasn’t exactly looked like the Steeler’s O from the recent past.  This year’s team hasn’t created the necessary balance between run and pass, therefore throwing the flow of the entire offense off, and creating a string of poor decisions; poor play calling, poor schemes, and a concurrent inability to score touchdowns in the Red Zone.

Pittsburgh has always been a hard-nosed, running-centralized team, which would rely on the quarterback for only about 15-20 key, necessary, and effective pass attempts.  The lack of consistent play calling that focuses on running the football  has allowed opponents to sniff out plays more easily, and not be surprised by different looks, play action, draws, etc.  If the coordinator isn’t giving the running game a chance, then the passing game in turn won’t be nearly as effective.  And with a great Back having a solid year, like Rashard Mendenhall, and a sure-handed pass catching Back in Moore, there’s no reason not to design the offense in a different fashion. Oh, how about Pittsburgh’s Red Zone offense? A joke, right? No, just last Sunday against Oakland the Steelers where basically in the Red Zone 5 times, and had no touchdowns and 1 interception to show (they settled for 4 FGs as well).

In prior games and weeks before, the offensive play calling has been far less than spectacular when inside the opponent’s 20: causing Interceptions, 4th down turnovers, and settling for field goals.  The Steelers offense needs to consistently run the football, consistently balance the passes, and consistently convert Red Zone opportunities into touchdowns.  The only statistical category that the Steelers offense ranks within the top 10 is passing yards with an average of 258 per game.  Do you see the correlation?

So take a moment to let this all digest; and as a Pittsburgh Fan, I know it’s hard.  Looking to the future, if there is much of one for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the AFC Wildcard is certainly still up for grabs.  The Steelers are still amongst the top for teams in the AFC wildcard Picture, along with Baltimore, the Dolphins, and the Jets.  All four teams are 6-6.  Baltimore has one win against Pittsburgh; they play again in week 15, which is shaping up to be a crazy game.  But Steelers need to look to the immediate future, to the Cleveland Browns, who they play Thursday Night.  The game is 1 of 2 remaining Division games for the Steelers.

This has to be their absolutely last chance, maybe.