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Hey, Ivan! Still undefeated, but the weekly kvetchfest is back

Hey, buddy! I know you're watching from up there, and I know what you're thinking after Sunday's laugher-turned-nailbiter.

Just like that Browns game a couple of years ago. You remember the one where AB returned a punt and kicked the punter in the face? The Steelers had a 20 point lead in that one, and held on to win in the end after the O took the second half off and the D faltered. It happened before, and it'll probably happen again.

And the Yinzer chorus said then what they're chanting now: "Tomlin can't hold on to a lead."

Of course, the game a week ago against the Browns simply did not happen.

Homer remembers a similar nail-biter decades ago, when he was a radio reporter and the Steelers held on for an ugly win. Homer joined the other reporters in Coach Noll's office, turned on his trusty SONY TC-100 tape recorder and asked the Emperor this thoughts on escaping with a victory. The Emperor didn't pause for even a second, and gave a five word answer that will stand for all time.

"It's better than a loss."

Homer was at a loss for words, as were the other reporters. There was a moment of silence and then reporters moved on to other matters.

So it should be now.

I know exactly what you would be telling the Yinzer Chorus, Ivan. "Shut up. You should be grateful that you're six and oh. You've got a great team. They played against the best offense in the AFC, and were without two All-Pros on defense - Bush and Hilton."

Yep.

In the first half, everything went right for the Black and Gold. The ball bounced their way, like on Chase's fumble. They were unstoppable because not only did they execute, but Lady Luck didn't interfere. Homer's only quibble was on the last possession, where he would have tried something short to gain 8 yards and try a field goal. Other than that, it was as close to a perfect first half as you will ever see.

And everything went wrong for the Tennessee Oilers, or Tuxedos or Titans, or whatever they were in the first half. On pass plays where they had tight coverage, Ben threaded the needle.

But in the second half, the law of averages came into play and bit the Steelers in the behind - or, even more painfully - somewhere else.

Passes that were tipped and fell harmlessly to the turf in the first half were intercepted in the second half.

OPI penalties weren't called against the Titans, but similar penalties were called against the Steelers.

And Tennessee's offense - which staged a similar furious comeback a week ago - caught fire.

The defense needed to make a splash play but two of the biggest game-changers - Bush and Hilton - were unavailable, and Minkah had a bad game.

Ben - who was near perfect in the first half - had two picks in the second.

The play calling was called into question by the Yinzer Chorus.

It was too conservative for half the kvetchers.

And there was too much passing for the other half.

Hell, Ben passed on first down a number of times in the second half. The mix was fine.

Penalties, deflections, bad bounces and poor decisions doomed the offense in the second half. Not play calling.

This stuff happens, folks. Homer has seen it before. And, God willing, he will see it again.

Hopefully, Hilton will be back next week.

And hopefully that Mickey Spillane guy will be at full strength to lay the Hammer on the Ratbirds. Homer loved Spillane the first time he saw him at Latrobe, at Friday Night Lights and the next day at Saturday practice.

And Homer loved Geaux-Geaux Mondeaux's block on Benny Snell Football's TD run. If only Geaux-Geaux could avoid the errors of youth and inexperience that led to all those yellow flags. Otherwise, Geaux-Geaux will be a no-no.

And we got that awful, terrible half of football - a football half equivalent to the year 2020 - out of our system and still remain undefeated. Thirty minutes of football among the constipated was no fun at all, but at least now we're rid of it and flushed it down the toilet.

So now we can all get back to more serious stuff like how to find another ILB and what we can afford to pay for him. As Ivan would tell you, Bush will be back next year, we have only so much salary cap left for this year, and the cap will likely be smaller next year. Plus, you never know what you're giving up when you give up a draft choice. Discuss.

Next man up.

And that's where we are, good buddy. Six and oh. Just beat a 4-1 team and a 5-0 team. And yet everyone is bitching and looking for a reason to fire somebody, but they're not sure who just yet. Some things never change in Yinzerland.

Miss you, good buddy. And miss getting together with the gang on Sunday afternoons to watch the games. Sooner or later, things will get back to normal and we will gather together and wave our towels, devour bacon cheeseburgers, down our beers, and cheer our guys to victory.

And the Yinzers among us will still complain about margin of victory or that ridiculous draft pick Holba. Or why we don't have an All-Pro punter.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!

Say hi to the Chief and Dan and LC and Mad Dog and anyone else you might see up there.

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