Good:

1.  A lot of naysayers about the fans of pittsburgh.  many complained about the Oline, the lack of addressing the issue, the weakness in pass protection and how the coaching staff is responsible.  Its only the second game but those with faith in the oline and coaches saw dividends sunday.  The game was played well.  the running game was improving.  thats what I liked about it.  

As a result, I'm sure the steelers will cope with this loss just as well as any.  they'll take it in stride, not panick because they're veterans, and cover their weaknesses.

2. Offensive line played really well.  I mean very well.  Both sacks were because Ben either held the ball to long or did not audible out of an obvious loaded pass rush.

3.  Rashard Mendenhall: he's very young and showed he can run decisively.  What I Liked about the run around wasn't his speed or his yardage but his willingness to move the chain.  I doubt willie parker would have done that.  he has confidence in himself even with limited NFL appearances.

4. Ben is making better decisions.  I like the way ben is throwing.  he wasnt perfect, but at least with the time he's given he's throwing well and not interception/risky throw prone.

5. This is only the second game.  If I were to lose a game I'd definately lose this one so we can figure out what mistakes we're making and get a severe reality check.  This was one of those games.

6. Deshea Townsend is a veteran.  Put him in play for Carter.

The BAD:

1. For Holmes to be clutch and considered pro bowl level he needs to keep his head in the game.  he has to catch all kinds of balls.  good passes, bad passes, ugly passes.  most of the dropped passes were good.  rain and incidental deflections do not count as excuses.  as a future #1 receiver he needs to grab them all.  ward was 7/8 passes for comparison. 

2. Reed missed field goals: 2.  This isn't on him.  Why are we dependent on him in the first place?

3. Ben's decision making/throwing.  For the most part, he's thrown well.  but some of his passes were not as accurate.  the announcers said it was because of the rain.  again...no excuses.  he's getting paid elite level money.  i'd like to see it more. Also, ben needs to know when taking sacks is BAD.  he cannot be taking stupid sacks when they're within field goal range.  thats not good.

4. Tyrone carter looks awful in coverage.  He's responsible for both touchdowns and let it happen.  Abosultely bad.  He needs to be replaced or needs to do a better job quickly.

5. William Gay needs to play better-FAST.  I'm not putting too much blame on him...bryant took a few years to come along and did his best in contract year..but gay based on the coaches seems to have come along fine.  im hoping he comes along fine faster so that he can contribute quickly.  or we're in for a long season.

THE UGLY

1. steelers were exploited on defense.  And it showed.  The best way to hurt us is by throwing to the flats.  we all know that.  it forces our lbs in coverage and then we depend only on 3 man pressure.  not something that we can depend on over and over again. 

pretty soon cutler was throwing to the middle because there wasnt as much pressure.  thats where we got burned.  our corners were mediocre.  taylor was decent but his penalties on special teams hurt.  gay was abused by knox all day and carter wasnt good at all.  the play was bad.  i'd much rather have townsend and im sure that the quality of play would improve dramatically.  he knows how to cover, is smart, and knows the playbook well.  a veteran is needed in the back. 

2. if this is isnt fixed quickly a lot of teams will be able to hurt us in the back.  even the bengals.  andthey're not as bad as before.  i'm not particularly happy with the next game.  things could get a lot worse before they get better.

3. this is where our running game needs to step in.  we need to keep the ball on offense.  we need to chew up the time.  in the first half the steelers owned pretty much the entire game.  the time of possesion was good in the first half with the steelers holding the ball for 20 of 30 minutes.  in the fourth quarter- less than 5. that cannot happen.  by holding the ball longer the steelers force the other team to throw deeper and be less dependant on the short pass.  by holding the ball longer our defense doesn't tire out.  this is really the only way we can fix our problems.  Our corners are lacking and our safeties cannot be depended on for every play.

4. My biggest fear about this game was the way our defense was exploited.  thats dangerous.  last year we lost games.  but we lost games because of collosal failures on offense.  i cant blame the oline or even the players that badly for this loss.  our defense was exploited and it shows that we cannot depend on close games to win everytime. we need touchdowns where field goals are...

i know reed missed twice.  but that doesnt mean its his fault.  he's not perfect.  he's clutch 80% of the time.  that other 20% will show up and it will show up when it counts most if we keep having close games.  why should we depend on him?  why cant we get the touchdowns when we need to?  This is when holmes needs to step up as do the rest of the team, including ben's miscued throws and unwarranted sacks.  its cool he can extend plays but as someone we consider elite he needs to absolutely KNOW when to throw the ball away/when to change play.  thats his fault.  absolutely his fault.  to be championship caliber he needs to get to the next level which is moving out of his COMFORT ZONE and taking the risk of the loss.

After the jump: what we can learn:

I'm actually not too worried about this loss.  last year i was disappointed at our support for the line.  i wanted it gone i wanted a new one for this season and didnt get one.  now im thinknig they did a good job and its a sign of better things to come.  as a result i say put your faith in the coaching staff. take a deep breath.  we have some of the best coaches in the game.

dick lebeau saw what happened to our defense.  he will adjust accordingly.  next weeks game is no easier.  coles and ochocinco are elite receivers and palmer is just as good or better than cutler.  worse they know us better than the bears.  im sure our coordinator will mask our mistakes better.  i wont be surprised if townsend comes in on certain passing plays.

our oline played well, our running game improved. it looked one sided(to the right) in the run plays.  ill bet its a first step.  watch this coming week as they try to run more to the left.  overtime our run plays will be more balanced and we'll get better yardage.  at least thats what i see happening. 

Really if we're to lose a game this would be the one.  there was a lot of promise and a lot of mistakes were uncovered.  less overall gameplay and more in terms of the opportunities missed.  our secondary needs work.  our offense needs to keep the ball more.  all these things will improve with time.  im sure of it.  our coaches will bail us out.

losing polamalu is not the reason why our defense sucked.  our defense sucked because we did not adjust to the short passing game accordingly.  our defense sucked because carter made obvious mistakes as did gay.  our secondary needs improvement.  polamalu can't fix everything.  im looking forward to the next game.

please rec if you like. :)