45 Minute Men

I read a great post by Blitz yesterday in which he cited Tunch Ilkin that things change every 4 games in the NFL.  This is an interesting point which I half heartedly agree with.  I wanted to take a look at our last 4 games and what I have noticed the most about the Steelers during this stretch.  Without dissecting every little aspect of every game, and every play call there is one glaring issue that pops out.  Our 4th quarter performances have been Lions-esque.  The Steelers dating back to Superbowl XLIII have been outscored in the 4th quarter, are you ready, 40-10.  That is hardly championship caliber.

We were in control and dominating most of those games with the exception of an 0-3 Titans team which was playing us to a stale mate.  The Steelers were in full control of the Superbowl 20-6 before being outscored 16-7 in the final period, oh what a special 7 it was!  The Steelers were dominating a14-7 game at Chicago last week before being outscored 10-0 in the 4th.  Yesterday against Cincinnati as we all know it was 20-9 before being outscored 14-0 again in the 4th.  All of these games could have been blowouts instead we took our foot off the gas and turned them into games going 2-2 with a miracle win in that stretch.  I would have liked to see us turn the tables in those 4th quarters and have beaten Arizona 36-13, Chicago 24-7, and Cincy 34-9.  Those would have been the scores if we outscored our opponents they way they did to us.  We would be the cream of the crop if that was the case instead the Steelers always have developed naysayers and doubters in the media.  We are the best team in the league after 45 minutes of football, too bad this is a 60 minute game.  Oh, and one last point before getting to everybody’s reasoning for these collapses.  Last year 11-5 was not good enough to get in the playoffs in the AFC!  We need to close 11-2.