Steelers lucky to be in lowly division
CommentaryCLEVELAND, Ohio – No one will argue that the last month of Steelers football was a heck of a lot better than the first month. But what may have been lost in the transition from 1-3 to 5-3 is this simple fact: the AFC North Division stinks. Not that the Steelers can do anything about it, but it is a fact, nonetheless. Cincinnati stinks. Baltimore stinks. And Sunday the Browns proved again that they stink.
It was all there for the Browns to take. They had the Steelers in their park, with their fans on their side. They were playing for the memory of team owner Al Lerner, who died a few weeks ago leaving Browns football in a far better place than when he purchased the promise of a team.
They even built a cozy 14-3 lead and had the Steelers right where they wanted – needed – them: behind the eight ball. All they had to do was finish the job and the division’s driver’s seat would be all theirs.
Instead, they came apart at the seams. Like a cheap suit. Like any other AFC North Division team not from Pittsburgh would do.
“I don’t know what they were trying to do,” Steelers safety Lee Flowers said. “I don’t think it was Tim Couch who messed up. I think it was their offensive coordinator. You’re not going to run the ball on us, but they came out in two tights (two tight end formations) and tried to run the ball. And they kept doing it the whole game.”
The results were ugly, even by Cleveland standards. Jamel White managed 19 yards on six carries. William Green added 10 on four tries. As a team, the Browns managed 36 yards on 14 carries, a paltry 2.6-yard average.
Asked if he liked being 5-3 after the team’s 0-2 start, Flowers was pragmatic.
“We have no other choice but to like where we are,” he said. “Sometimes things don’t work out the way you planned. Now, we finally getting to the point where we are playing well enough to win games.”
But when you consider that the Steelers went from 0-2 to 5-3 on the strength of four wins over AFC North opponents, you have to take it with a grain of salt. When this season is over, the Steelers will be referred to in one of two ways. They may become a great team or they will become known as the AFC North team that didn’t stink quite as badly or regularly as the others.
Again, none of this is their fault. The NFL puts together a schedule and all any team can do is play the games as they come. There are no style points for winning big or winning pretty.
Quarterback Tommy Maddox realized that in the moments after Pittsburgh’s 23-20 win over the Browns.
“We knew that it was going to be a tough game,” Maddox said. “They say if you can find a way to win the ugly ones … .”
He didn’t even have to finish that cliche, nor should he have because that kind of sets the table for what’s ahead for Maddox and the Steelers.
They are home to Atlanta Sunday before traveling to Tennessee. A home date with AFC North opponent Cincinnati is next, followed by a trip to Jacksonville.
The next month will let the Steelers know how they stack up with the rest of the NFL. There is no doubt they are the best team in a very, very bad division.
“We are 4-0 in our division and with this new format, the one thing that you can be sure of is that you get into the playoffs by winning your division,” coach Bill Cowher said. “Anything beyond that is up in the air.”
We’ll find out over the next four weekends whether the Steelers are in rarified air or whether they smell as bad as the rest of this pitiful division.
Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com