My Thoughts on the Game

I’d be floored if we won this game. Leveled. I just don’t see it in the cards. The Steelers are too talented on defense and are too solid on offense. Ben Roethlisberger isn’t making the mistakes he made last year. I was watching AFC Playbook on the NFL Network, and the hosts were showing a lot of love for the Steelers defense. And why not? They’re the #1 scoring defense in the league for good reason. They’re physical, smart, fast… they’re firing on all cylinders.

In contrast, we’re a mess. Pending suspensions. 3-game losing streak. Worst home loss in decades. We’re missing our biggest playmaker on offense, and we might be missing our defensive MVP too. Not to mention that Javon and Champ were the reasons we beat the Steelers last year.

The thought of losing doesn’t bother me that much. The thought of getting destroyed, or not playing our best, does.  Sure, there’s a huge difference between 2-4 and 3-3, and a win would get this team going in the right direction. But so would putting out a better product on the field than they have lately. The team has been getting worse instead of better on defense – take a look at the points and yards allowed, week after week:

Last game may have been better against the run, but it was our worst defensive performance to date overall. At home, against our biggest division rival this year. Maybe throwing every single guy we can up front to stop the run isn’t the answer. We give up too much in return.

I want to see improvement in the defense. I don’t want to see Willie Parker going for 7 yards every run like Joseph Addai was. I don’t want to see screen passes going for 30 yards like Antonio Gates and Ladainian Tomlinson were, either. I’d like to see us hold the Steelers under 28 points, and under 300 yards. That’s not great, but I’d be happy with that.

I also want to see this offense explode. No Walker hurts us. But I’d like to see Tony Scheffler become the X-factor he was at the end of last year. No one gains 100 yards on the Steelers, but I’d like to see Henry and Young roll for over 70 each. I’m hoping for an interception-free day from Cutler, if only to ease the critics a bit.

I want to see the Broncos take care of themselves first. Desperation games always seem like trap games to me – if a team is too focused on the “big picture” of the season, they’re not going to execute the details the way they should. If I were a coach in that locker room, I would say this: Don’t worry about the record, guys. Don’t worry about the win at the end of the day. Just focus. Play after play, execute it to the best of your ability. And take it one play at a time.

If we do that, and take care of ourselves before worrying about Pittsburgh, we’ll be competitive, and we’ll be asking the Steelers to beat us instead of beating ourselves. If that happens, we might just come away with a win after all.