9/18/2007

Week Two - Steelers 26, Bills 3

Another week and more of the same from the Black and Gold, with a dominating defense and an efficient offense leading the way in the win over a clearly inferior opponent. So what does that mean? Honestly, I'm not sure. Does the Cleveland win look better now because the Browns outlasted Cincinnati in a 51-45 shootout? Sure it does. Is Cleveland any good? No, they're still bad. The Bengals' defense is just worse. And Buffalo played pretty well in week one against Denver, but J.P. Losman and company had about as much success against the Steelers as Idaho Senator Larry Craig had in Minneapolis International Airport.

The Good
The offensive line looked better than in week one, opening good holes for Willie Parker and Deuce Davenport while giving Ben Roethlisberger the time he needed to look downfield when the plays called for it. Fast Willie had the usual bounce in his step and did a good job of breaking runs outside when the opportunity arose. Matt Spaeth caught his second touchdown in two weeks, leaving him on pace to shatter the team's single-season record of touchdown receptions by a tight end. The defense was aggressive and didn't allow Losman to get comfortable. Rookie tailback Marshawn Lynch had a couple of nice runs along the way to 64 yards, but for the most part, the Steelers were able to use the early lead to force Buffalo into throwing the ball. Larry Foote did a nice job of getting interior pressure that led to a few sacks by the outside linebackers. LaMarr Woodley looked good after subbing for James Harrison in the second half. And DeShea Townsend continued to play well and hold off Bryant McFadden for the starting corner spot opposite Ike Taylor. Oh, and Daniel Sepulveda only had to punt one time.

The Bad
For the second week in a row the Steelers should have had the game in hand by halftime but couldn't convert on some prime chances. Last week it was the numerous drives starting in Cleveland territory - this week it was the offense driving down the field but settling for field goals. As a result, the Steelers only led 12-0 at the half instead of at least 20-0 as it should have been, and when Buffalo ran the opening kick of the second half back to Pittsburgh's 30-yard line, it looked like the Bills might climb back in the game. Speaking of that play, even though the story is that Mike Tomlin didn't see the replay of Terrance McGee stepping out of bounds on that return, someone associated with the Steelers had to have seen it, right? It was obvious that he was out of bounds, and luckily the lack of a challenge flag didn't come back to hurt the Black and Gold. James Harrison got stretchered off at the end of the first half but was okay and wanted to come back to the game in the third quarter, which the doctors had to convince him was a bad idea.

The Ugly
It might be a theme on here with Alex Smith and Matt Leinart playing Pittsburgh in the next few weeks, but man, it must be tough for a young quarterback to have to try to solve Dick LeBeau. In week one, Charlie Frye (who'd played a few games against the Steelers in the past two years) played so bad that he got traded two days later. And he was replaced by Derek Anderson, who looked awful against Pittsburgh but managed to bounce back with five touchdowns against Cincy. Week two saw Losman give it a shot, and he failed to impress. He was 15 of 25 for 154 yards with no TDs, no INTs and one fumble lost, but the Bills offense never really threatened. That's certainly not a good sign for the aforementioned Smith and Leinart. And in a criticism of the CBS broadcast, how could Harrison's neck injury be ignored during the halftime show and only shown when the broadcast team came back for the call of the second half? Not only is that bad to ignore a possible news-worthy event, but especially since it was just one week after Buffalo's Kevin Everett suffered a potentially paralyzing injury, and this was Everett's team involved in maybe another such situation seven days later! Luckily Everett's prognosis is much improved and Harrison is fine and should play this week against the 49ers.

Up next: San Francisco (2-0)

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