Brandon Marshall makes leaping catch over Troy Polamalu. (Courier Photo/William McBride)
by Ulish Carter
Courier Staff Writer
Well, at least we got a lot more offense. The Steelers scored 23 points, which was 6 more than the 17 points in the previous two games combined. But they forgot to stop the other team from scoring 40.
The Steelers best offensive game of the season was just a step above terrible. So they are getting better?
If you didn’t watch the game, and only looked at the stats in the paper, you would think the Steelers had an impressive offensive game and a terrible defensive game. But for those of us who suffered through it we know better.
The Steelers were down 24-3 before the first half was over, and if not for a stupid play by the Bears, trying to block a punt, they would have been blown out much earlier. But after the Steelers got the ball in great field position, they came roaring back behind some impressive play by Antonio Brown, Jonathan Dwyer and the defense as a unit, only to melt down again.
The offense did have some mighty good looking stats but the Steelers are still 0-3. There might be some light beyond the tunnel. They play the Minnesota Vikings, 0-3, next Sunday in England. Somebody has to win.
The Steelers stand a very good chance of winning their first game against the Vikings not because the Vikings have looked worse in their three loses. No, actually all three of their losses have been close games. But they are very one dimensional. They have the best runner in football in Adrian Peterson, but they are weak at quarterback which means if the Steelers can score at least three touchdowns they can win the game because the defense will contain Peterson.
The Vikings suffered their third loss at the hands of the lowly Cleveland Browns who were down to their third string quarterback Brian Hoyer. The Vikings depleted defense made Hoyer look like Peyton Manning, well not that good.He threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns on 30 for 54 passing as the Browns picked up their first win 31-27.
Peterson was held to 88 yards while starting quarterback Christian Ponder was 25 of 42 for 228 yards.
Antonio Brown had a great game against the Bears after complaining about not getting the ball against the Bengals. He had 186 yards on 9 catches, including one spectacular one-handed touchdown catch. Ben Roethlisberger had 406 yards on 26 of 41 passing, but interceptions and fumbles pretty much erased these numbers.
As far as the division stands, the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens stayed on top with wins. The Bengals (2-1) upset the Green Bay Packers 31-27 in one of the most exciting games of the young season, and Baltimore kept pace with a 30-9 lopsided win over the Houston Texans.
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