From Lombardi to Lethargy

A season of dropped balls, blown coverage, and missed opportunities has turned the defending Superbowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers into a squalid 9-7 squad. Sportswriters and analysts blame the “Superbowl hangover” for Pittsburgh’s fall from grace, and maybe accurately so. Like a hangover, the black and gold’s lackluster performance has Steeler Nation feeling bleary-eyed, a bit nauseous, and asking “What the hell just happened?”

Early on it looked like the franchise that has won more Superbowls than any other in NFL history was cruising for the postseason once again. Through eight games, the team was fighting atop the division with a 6-2 record, including back-to-back wins against what were considered, at the time, two of the best teams in the league (undefeated Minnesota and one-loss Denver). Conceivably, the team could have been undefeated headed into week 9 if it wasn’t for a couple key slip-ups (see Santonio Holmes’ dropped pass in the end zone and Jeff Reeds’ two missed field goals in a three point loss to Chicago and a Limus Sweed dropped touchdown pass in another three point loss to division rival Cincinnati.)

But rather than fixing the flaws, the boys from the ‘Burgh allowed them to fester. And Pittsburgh went on a five game losing streak that all but eliminated the team from playoffs contention. The stretch featured torturous losses against divisional opponents (Baltimore and Cincinnati), some of the worst teams in the league (2-7 Kansas City and 3-8 Oakland), and both (1-11 Cleveland). The losses to the Ravens and Cincinnati—especially after seasons of supremacy—felt like losing to your little brother. But even worse, the Browns-- the cellar-dwelling mutt that the black and gold has kicked around even during the worst stretches-- bit back at the Steelers and left the team feeling like they’d just been smacked by their little sister.

Game after grueling game, fans pulling their hair out at Heinz field and kept asking, “Is this even our team?” Sure they were wearing black and gold, but other than that the team looked like a whole different ball club. All the Steeler signatures, a hardnosed defense and a powerful rushing attack, were gone. Instead, Big Ben commanded the offense out of the shotgun in Bruce Error-ians, or I mean Arrians, pass-happy system. While on the other side of the ball, the defense surrendered the lead five times in the fourth quarter.

Rather than twirl them, Steeler Nation was about ready to throw in the towel on their team. What happened to the beloved Blitzberg? Where was the Pittsburgh pride? And for god’s sake, what the hell was Ben Rothlisberger doing in the shotgun on first down? With all the questions fans had, one thing was certain—this was not Steeler Football.