Really feels like a turning point in the season. 2 weeks and a few hours ago everyone was nervous about the teams future, and worried about the match next week with the Vikings.

This week, I’m looking forward to it. I think we end that unbeaten streak and Ben finally makes the sports world stand up and take notice of his greatness.

• I for one was happy they started kicking away from Cribbs. He broke the one return and on every single return he looked one step away from taking it to the house. If they had kicked at him the entire game I think he would have had a couple more big returns, possibly for a TD. Our ST has looked horrendous on kickoffs the last two games. Something needs to be fixed in that coverage, desperately.

• Was it just me, or was the Mendenhall fumble bullshit? The guy was clearly down and the whistle should have been blown. He was not fighting to get back up or fighting to shoot further forward, he was just lying there. Blow the whistle zebra.

• James Harrison has to lead the league in times held…by a lot.

• I’m surprised Blitz did not mention it, but HELLO 4th quarter defense. Only 53 yards given up and 0 points . That is probably the single best stat of the game if you asked me.

• Congrats to Ben, Hines, and the offense as a whole. Impressive day. My only gripe is that Ben had more questionable throws today than he did the entirety of the season. I counted 4 times he tried to force it into a receiver where the defender had the guy smothered. Come on Ben, stay smart, don’t force it.

• After a game like today, I have to wonder why Stefan Logan is using up a roster spot. 6 games and doesn’t seem valuable enough to stay on the roster as just a return specialist. Maybe I’m crazy, but right now, I don’t get it.

• Glad to have Troy back. Who almost cried when he started grasping his knee after the INT? I wonder if that is going to come back up, his speed didn’t look 100% there. However, his 80% is better than what we’ve had the last few weeks.

We have 3 straight wins.

Big Ben is balling, and maturing into one of the very best right before our eyes

Although I think Passer Rating is useless, it confirms just how DAMN good he has been this season

I don’t have a ton of time to put down all of my thoughts, but biggest one is this. In spite of racking up big yards in several games, the offense still struggles to translate that into points. I wouldn’t say that it is a lack of mental toughness, although that has been a question at times due to their 4th quarter collapses in a couple games. It seems more to be an issue of lapses in mental focus. I think what we’ve seen so far this year is that this team has the talent and ability to play with and beat anyone. Some of the mental miscues, on both sides of the ball, should be ironed out as the season goes on.

Overall, I feel pretty good about how this season is shaping up. Sure, I’d like the Steelers to be undefeated, but I’d rather they struggle early in the season and start peaking late, as long as they stay in the hunt and make the playoffs. I think the team will be fine long term, regardless of what happens next week. The only real concern I have so far is the loss to Cincy, and I think they may be about to come back to earth (as we seems to already be seeing).

I agree with Blitz about Parker. Today’s NFL demands Running by committee to be successful, and we need all three of these guys to maintain pressure on the ground. I don’t see the front office re-signing him to a big contract next year though.

Ben Ate today. Really feasted on the Browns secondary. I think he got a little overconfident though and took some risks he shouldn’t have.

How abou that O-line? I’m no expert but I didn’t see many blown assignmnets or protection break-downs. Ben had forever in the pocket.

Troy looked rather tenative on his Bum knee. I’m not criticizing, just pointing out that the guy can be 75% and still have a huge impact on the game. Look for him to be a little more aggressive next week as he continues to rehab.

Big kudos to Big Ben, Hines Ward, Heath Miller, Tone, Mike Wallace and the OL. The Steelers’ passing attack was unstoppable today and, without two costly fumbles by Parker and Mendenhall, the final score would have been ridiculous. At least one of the fumble calls, though, seemed dubious.

Congrats to Mike Wallace who staked a solid claim to the #3 WR spot with some nifty catches and a tough run on a reverse. Good work by Mewelde Moore, particularly late in the game, getting the tough yards and holding onto the ball. Interesting that Tomlin turned to Moore as his “hands guy” after the fumbles.

The defense improved and it was great to have Troy back. He sure gave us a bit of a scare, though, when he got up limping after his interception.

As suspected, the Browns aren’t very good. In fact, if not for Cribbs, these guys might never score. So let’s not get too carried away until we’ve faced at least one top QB. Anderson looked very mediocre today—that is, when he wasn’t getting sacked and coughing up the ball.

The only negatives are too many turnovers and another huge lapse by Ratliff. Guess who was in a perfect position to tackle Cribbs on his TD return, but somehow never even got close? This guy can’t get it done no matter where he plays.

and the pass protection really stood out(see the Miller TD-Ben had ALL DAY). The touchdown pass to Ward wasn’t timed perfectly, it was intended for Holmes but Ward hustled on the play and it paid off. Something still missing on defense….. Big test next week

Ben Roethlisberger became 2nd player since ’70 to win 1st 10 starts vs. 1 opponent. John Elway was 10-0 vs. New England.

i think our offense played really well…
we’ll beat the vikings next week!

i was watching the other games too, and Gary Russell had a great game for the raiders..

He had a very solid day catching the ball, even though he wasn’t Ben’s main target and you’re absolutely right about the blocking. I really do feel that teams have to respect his playmaking ability and let Ward, Miller, and Moore run roughshod over their secondary.

I know we didn’t necessarily see eye to eye on a couple of his games, but he’s been a great all around player for us in the last 2 games.

It wasn’t the prettiest thing, but we seem to like close games. Ben and the receivers were amazing. The OL played pretty well too. The sacks were mostly Ben’s fault.

Speaking of blocking, Mendenhall is looking very good at it. He’s better at it than Willie already.

Speaking of fast Willie, it is officially time to start Mendy. I am still a fan of Willie, but he just isn’t the same guy anymore. We’ll still need him, but he shouldn’t be the feature back anymore.

The defense was its usual self. And Cleveland’s ineptitude on offense really helped too. Timmons was exceptionally good at times.

We’ll need to be very careful with the football next week. So far, the Vikes are for real. This will be the ultimate test of whether the OL has truely turned the corner.

Hines Ward leads the league in receiving yards 599 and is tied for the lead in receptions 41. Not bad for a slow old guy who is better known for his blocking.

Defense is getting stiffer, the 4th quarter turnovers could have been (more) painful if we were soft on D.

Running game still showing improvements. Mewelde was impressive at the end of the game too getting the must-have yards.

Offense showing that they can keep moving the chains/scoring to win the game.

-yes, other issues popped up today, but still going in right direction, plus we are (relatively) tied for first.

-btw, am I the only person who was irritated by one of the announcers unable to get Mendy’s name right? “Ri-shard Mending-hall”

Steelers only had 140 yards total rushing and that includes run by Ben and a reverse by Wallace. When analyzing the running game, you should only focus on run by backs.

1. What a great showing for the home fans it was to see that Offense move up and down the field all day today.

2. Ben is really lighting it up. Eventhough it was the Browns (and I agree in all counts with has been said here that he took some shots that a passable defense would have intercepted), it’s still 417 yards, 65.7% completion, 2 TD’s and some pretty darn good throws that where well defended by the Browns defenders when incomplete.

3. O-line. Can’t give these guys enough kudos. Their off the field work, such as the reported meetings they have by themselves and with the RB’s to watch film and study the opponent and themselves is paying off. Why do I dare say this? Well, they are picking up ‘games’, ‘slants’ and blitzes with good coordination and very rarely seem to be outthought. In the run game they have improved greatly with their ‘deuce’ blocks and on the stretch plays. It also helps to have a starting back that is decisive.

4. WR’s and TE’s. I challenge anyone to name one other NFL team with the DB depth needed to match the Steelers talent and production of the passing game. The only thing that can stop the passing game are the sacks, and next week against Jared Allen and Co. will be interesting but, right now, I’ll take my chances with Max with Mendy chipping him and #7 slinging it. Getting back to the point, if teams continue to slide a Safety to help with Holmes, Hines and Heath will continue to carve them up. Also, Mike Wallace is a better right now than what Nate was last year or the years before. Teams have begun to respect his speed and have to account for him when he is in, which is a lot as 3 WR is our base offensive package, and this opens up more space for Hines, Miller and the backs.

5. Defense. Anybody who says that we are missing Larry Foote has to watch closely what Lawrence Timmons did today and has been doing. He looked explosive and very sure tackling. And to think that he is still one of the youngest players on the team, he has not disappointed at all.

6. Special teams. Last year the coverage teams where greatly improved, what has happened this year? Ratliff does not help, but the playmakers from last year on ST are not pulling their weight, where’s Bailey, Harrison (Arnold), et al? On the other side, the KO return team is missing blocks all over, today I saw a couple of times where a cleveland defender passed by several blockers without so much as a brush from steelers blockers. Logan is pulling his weight, he hasn´t broken one for a long gain but I still like his explosiveness over the alternatives on the steelers roster.

7. The Miscues. Ben’s INT was purely a ball that got away from him, one that required perfect touch to put it between the LB and safety, not too big a deal. The Rashard fumble was a very close one, however, he should know that he needs to play ‘to-the-whistle’. Willie, mmm, I think he needs to keep rehabing and, as Blitz elocuently put it, we will need him this year.

8. Enjoy this win against a historic rival. Next week will be a good one.

today’s nfl has become a glorified arena league…..and they’ll keep tweaking the rules to promote more gaudy passing numbers and higher scoring….it was so much better to watch back in the 60’s and 70’s…..

A little tired of the “past is way better than now” buli. It is what it is, enjoy it or move on if you think it suckm so bad.

I meant to mention this in my thoughts, but forgot. He seemed beat on every other play. It was hard to watch. What was up with that?

What the heck on that fair catch of the kickoff by Spaeth? I know he was being safe but dang.

Word on the radio pregame was that Santonio – while not exactly complaining – was definitely making it clear he wanted the ball more during practice this week. I’m not going to say he’s being a diva – far from it! – and in fact I’m glad the kid is so competitive. Hopefully though, as you pointed out Blitz, he will be PATIENT and focus on being a complete receiver and waiting for the ball to come his way. Hopefully his competitiveness will not get in the way of his own season performance.

By the way, before we can call Mendenhall “smooth” and knock on Willie for only gaining 9 yards on a catch out of the backfield in which he lost his balance . . . how can we forget Mendenhall’s Butt-Flop Reverse in the Detroit game?!?! Let’s face it, when it comes to catching out of the backfield, Moore’s our man. Willie played a solid game yesterday and should have gotten more carries!

3.9 ypc against the worst rushing defense in the league? (Although, they might only have been thirtieth. I can’t recall). That’s respectable instead of mediocre? The Steelers benchmark has become that pathetic?

The running game bogged down and fumbled the ball. Two games with Willie Parker on the sidelines and the running game came back to life. He gets worked back into the rotation and it looked like the same old Steelers. Thank goodness Tomlin kept Moore in that final scoring drive, keeping Parker on the bench.

I didn’t get a chance to watch the game last week, but did catch most of the game yesterday…

I don’t remember seeing Carey Davis out there. I haven’t heard anything about him getting hurt, or released again. And I remember he was looked solid lead-blocking for Mendy against SD…did he play yesterday at all?