The Pittsburgh Steelers managed somehow to lose against Tampa Bay.
I didn’t see the game, except for the last 1:30. From what I saw, the Steelers couldn’t do anything right. They couldn’t sustain a drive to run time off of the clock. They punted for 29 yards. (I can punt that far!) Then the defense allows Tampa Bay to march the short field and score.
With play like that, they deserve to lose. And they lost to one of the worst team in pro football. Tampa Bay should’ve only scored a field goal, not win by one. Tampa Bay had no business even being in the game in the 4th quarter. That is, if the Steelers played as team with talent.
This is where cursing come into play.
The Steelers are underperforming. They have talent and the talent isn’t producing. Frankly, it’s a sad sight. I don’t know if the problem is with the players or the coaches, but there’s a glaring problem. It’s not going away.
No one is going to hand them a victory just because they wear black and gold and have more trophies than anyone else. You have to make the opponent black and blue to earn the victory. The Steelers aren’t doing enough to win. Clearly.
As the season winds down and they’re looking at ways to back into the playoffs, they need to remember this game. Winning it may be the difference between playing in January and sitting home. Last year, if they had won the Oakland game, they would’ve been in the playoffs.
Last year, losing to Oakland should’ve disqualified them, then and there. Just like losing to Tampa Bay should disqualify the Steelers from the playoffs this year, regardless of their final record.
As a lifelong fan, I’ve seen better, and I expect better.
Updated: Corrected punt yards from 39 to 29.
I’m an author living in northern Virginia with a wife and a cat. In the late ’80s, I worked on the International Space Station project. I recently retired from managing a group of software engineers to focus on writing science fiction and speculative fiction. Learn more.