Inside Conditions…Third and "ouch"

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Antonio Brown expresses his frustration during Steelers Browns game in Cleveland. (Photo by Julio Torres )

When I arrived in Cleveland Sunday morning I followed my normal script.  Branson Wright, my friend and colleague from the Cleveland Plain Dealer get together whether the game is in Pittsburgh or Cleveland to chat and break bread.   We always discuss the upcoming game in a brutally honest way.
I asked him; “what’s your take on the game?”
He glanced at me as we sat down at the table to eat breakfast.  “I just don’t know Aub, I have tried to get a feel for this one, but it could go either way.”
aubreybruce1
Aubrey Bruce

“Branson my friend; ” I said through a mouthful of Bratwurst, “this is going to be ugly.  If Pittsburgh loses by less than three touchdowns I will perform an act,” (which shall remain nameless here) “in front of the Plain Dealer the next time that Pittsburgh plays Cleveland in Cleveland.”
That prediction was not based on the performance of the Steelers defense, that prognostication was based on the sophomoric past performances of the Steelers offense.
Out of all of the NFL teams that competed last Sunday, only two teams, the Minnesota Vikings and the NY Giants scored less points than the Pittsburgh Steelers.  However, the Vikings have an excuse, a really big…..excuse.  Their best player, running back Adrian Peterson has been exiled from gridiron and so goes their offense.
The Steelers have no such excuse to lean on.
They have two top flight running backs, LeVeon Bell and LeGarette Blount to tote the rock, so what whining card is acceptable now?
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger misfired on at least 3 possible touchdown passes against the Cleveland Browns.  Do you still think that he is an “elite” quarterback?  Aren’t “yinz” tired of excuses?
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin did not overthrow several wide open receivers.  Steelers Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley did not make several “check down” decisions that  resulted in stoping the chains from moving for the Steelers.  A few of the Pittsburgh writers used to have a cruel nickname for former Steelers backup QB Charlie Batch.  The name was “check down Charlie.”
If that secondary and unflattering name was appropriate to pin on Mr. Batch, would the nickname “check  up Ben” be fitting for Mr. Roethlisberger?  Why? Well because with all of the receivers that Roethlisberger missed in the Browns game as well as several games prior to that debacle, could he be overdue for a “check up” from the neighborhood optometrist?
Roethlisberger had the nerve to say that he didn’t know. “I don’t know, we can all look at the film. Coaches will look at it. We tried to run it in the red zone and when we got down there we just couldn’t quite get it all the way in. We’ll look at it and figure out what the execution, figure out what it is.”
There is nothing to figure out. Hit your receivers in stride and discontinue missing wide open receivers “Big” Ben.
Do you guys’ and dolls’ remember Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo?  The same Tony Romo that everyone not only threw under a bus but under a fleet of 18 wheelers?   Well now teams opposing the Cowboys had better make sure there aren’t any phone booths in nearby areas because Romo seems to have morphed into, “Super Q” or in laymen’s terms, “a bad mama-jamma.”
This guy has had back problems and all other sorts of issues but just keeps on rollin.  If any of Ben Roethlisberger’s wide receivers would have had more than one public sideline disagreement  with him as happened with Romo and his wide-outs the Pittsburgh receivers would have been put on the last train to “Mudville” eons ago and  “Casey” would not be waiting on the platform at that train station to meet the exiled individual to chauffer them to their prepaid condominium.
The Cowboys ventured into Seattle to play the Seahawks,  After being down by 10 points, Dallas came back to stun the Seahawks, 30-23.
Romo had this to say about the big win.  “I think our team now understands that we do a lot of things pretty well, and I think we have the ability to kind of impose yourself on other teams.”
Where have we heard the about that philosophy before?  Oh from the “Emperor” the late great Steelers Head Coach Chuck Noll.  Noll once said; ““You can’t have enough tough people on your team.”  Coach Noll knew about imposing your will and having players with enough confidence and swagger to do just that. However, even as great a coach that Chuck Noll was he could not execute the game plan and play the game for the players.
Well, “one thing for certain and two things for sure” as Henrietta Bruce my mother  used to say, I won’t have any acts to perform outside of the offices at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  The penalty has been paid.  The Cleveland Browns have done enough.
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741
Follow him on Twitter @ultrascribe

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