Behind the Steel Curtain, a Pittsburgh Steelers community

The Steelers playoff loss to the Broncos at Mile High was a tremendous disappointment by any measure. Lots of factors went into the defeat, but when you take the good, bad, and the ugly into account, the game in many ways served as a Microcosm for the entire season.

Dedicated cynics can gripe about the 4 point difference, but the Pittsburgh Steelers finished strong vs. the Cleveland Browns for many reasons.

If we were to "add style points" and plot the course of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2011 season there would be a lot more zig-zags than their 11-4 record suggests. The Steelers would do well to take advantage of their upcoming game vs. the Browns to change that.

The Steelers had a golden opportunity to leap ahead of Baltimore and New England by beating the 49ers. Taking advantage of that opportunity came down to the decision to play Ben Roethlisberger or not and Mike Tomlin quite simply made the wrong decision and then was unwilling or unable to adjust.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers are two of the NFL's most storied franchises. Click here for a look at some of their marquee match ups from the Noll, Cowher, and Tomlin eras.

Justice is supposed to be blind... If it were only that way in the NFL. James Harrison's hit on Colt McCoy was illegal, but the Goodell's punishment is precident smashing. Watch video (if you can get there before the NFL's lawyers force You Tube to take it down) comparing Harrison's hit with the last pre-wistle hit to draw a suspension 25 years ago.

After the Bengals photo finish losses to the Steelers and Ravens, Marv Lewis thought his men were ready to compete for the AFC North crown. Alas, when the Bengals reached gut check time at Heinz Field they flinched, and the Steelers pounced upon them with a passion.

The Steelers victory over the Kansas City Chiefs wasn't pretty at all, but if nothing else it should leave the team with a very important lesson.

Hopefully all of us have a lot of non-football reasons to give thanks on this special day. Steelers Nation has many things to be thankful for, but Antonio Brown's development tops this list.

It was inevitable. It was going to happen sooner or later. Against Cincinnati Hines Ward found himself standing on the slidelines watching. For the first time since early 2000, something other than injury had forced spectator status on number 86. Click here or above for a look at what Hines Ward has meant to the franchise, where he stands among the franchise greats, and how he's handling his demotion.