That Went About As Well As Could Be Hoped

That awful cloud of San Diego playoff mystique didn't transfer over to Heinz Field, it seems. An early, almost ridiculously easy touchdown drive from San Diego dissipated into nothingness much like with what befell Carolina the night before. Though the defense got lax in allowing some garbage time scores, the league's top unit looked solid as usual when the game was in doubt. The kick coverage showed signs of shakiness, though I'm willing to attribute that more to the abilities of Darren Sproles more than a deficiency on their part.

Altogether, it was a wholly measty effort, with some unforeseen boons, among them: The offensive line played, dare I say, not poorly. Roethlisberger, with some time to throw, didn't make many mistakes and those he did make weren't particularly damaging. The running game utilized the I-formation more often, as many hoped that it would, and to great effect. Sure, the offense as a whole took forever to get going, and Tomlin took a big risk with a fake punt to give it a shot in the arm. Still, the ground game looked punishing against a defense that, while still average at best, was at least playing much better of late.

But because I'm a sniveling malcontent, there's plenty I can find to be discouraged about even in a huge, overpowering victory in the playoffs. Let the litany commence...

No more Renegade. No sooner does it become so celebrated that the team brings Styx in to perform the song at kickoff that the defense surrenders touchdowns on the two instances they played it at Heinz.



Going for 4th and goal when it isn't necessary. Or even sensible. The defense, as it does, made the decision to fail yet again on short yardage while up 21-10 look not so bad, but who watching that game expected any running play to work in that scenario. I mean, you have the league's best defense and you have a shot to put an opponent down two full touchdowns at the beginning of the 4th quarter and you don't take it?

Faking punts -- Once again, the no-huddle resulted in a touchdown the one time the offense ran it. If you want to galvanize a sluggish offense, stick to proven effective tactics rather than potentially costly shots in the dark.

Never throw to Limas Sweed ever again. Granted, they only did it with the game in the bag and Byron Leftwich under center, but it's a blind alley no matter the context. That guy makes Nate Washington look like Jerry Rice.

That brings us to the game three against the hated, self-hating Ratbirds with everything on the line. Suggs and McClain were nicked up some in the win over the Titans, but they'll be there (Suggs' bounty depends on it!). Everyone will rabbit on about how difficult it is to beat a division rival three times in one season, and that ain't no lie. Obviously, an improved Willie Parker isn't putting up 150 on their defense. It seemed, rightfully so, that the Steelers were trying to hide Roethlisberger a bit against San Diego, but with another week of recovery, he'll have to make some plays against Baltimore, given their ability to stanch the run. Flacco is not a good playoff quarterback yet. He's dumping stuff off or going play-action heave for a fluky big play or a penalty. Which is fine when opponent's play into your hands by turning the ball over multiple times on your side of the field. Minimizing, or ideally eliminating those, and the Ravens can be beat again.