YinzPitt

Rashard Mendenhall, easily becoming one of my favorite players, made mention of a very good quote last night on Sportscenter as he was being interviewed after the game.  He said something along the lines of “this is a marathon, not a sprint, we’re not blinking.”  Possibly one of the best things that could of been said against a Denver Broncos team that looked more like a fluke than it did contender.

Troy Polamalu doing his thing.

For the game to end at halftime 7-3 Steelers, and still getting their butts kicked in time of possession, means that this team’s defense is again adapting to the bend and not break mentality.  Sure, we’ll let you do what you want on offense, but don’t expect to get field goals and touchdowns, UNTIL our offense gets their butt in gear.

The Steelers offense was absolutely atrocious in the first half, only running 11 plays and suffering from 3 and out over and over again.  It only took one half to get them going though, as Rashard ended up with 155 yards and Big Ben throwing for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Hines Ward nabbed two touchdowns, Mike Wallace another.  Limas Sweed was too busy enjoying the Denver air to do anything of importance.

If there is one person I’ve soured on it’s Sweed.  I was hoping this year he would have a big coming out party.  However, the coaches saw otherwise and he is feeling the pine all the way to the bank.  Mendenhall, is a beast.  He’s going to be a beast in the upcoming years and I can’t praise him enough.  The only thing he scares me with is the way he holds the ball.  He’s a fumble machine, and I’m sure he’s going to work on that for the rest of his career, but man, does he like to run some people over.

The Steelers defense was again stout and ready to dominate a joke of a quarterback in Kyle Orton.    Coming into the game Orton threw only one interception.  In this game however, he threw 3 interceptions, and possibly two more had William Gay not pulled an Ike Taylor and

Kyle Orton Hating Life

held on to the ball.

The Broncos run game was practically non existent.  Buckhalter and Moreno ran for a total 27 yards.  Let me repeat that.  27 yards total out of two NFL running backs.  I can’t believe that statistic.  That’s just amazing.  Brandon Marshall had easily his best game of the year with 112 yards receiving.  He’s still nothing more than baby T.O.  All in all Denver had  about 0 chance of getting anything done against the Steelers defense.  The only thing that worked for them was that short 5 yard slant, but the Steelers will give that all day to a team that couldn’t make a big play to save their lives.

What a game, and I am so happy to be a Steeler fan.  I just don’t think Dallas is America’s team anymore.  The Steelers have taken control and even the announcers made mention of that last night.

Next week the Steelers will play Cincy.  It’s a huge game because if they beat the Steelers, barring a meltdown the Bengals own the division.  The good thing about all of this?  The Bengals barely beat the Steelers last time they played, they are a fluke as well, and the Steelers will do what they have to do to take control of their destiny.