Oct 23, 2006 By Commentary Mike Ciarochi 5 min read

ATLANTA – The Steelers charter set down in Pittsburgh shortly after 8 p.m. last night and at least one of the passengers was surprised it didn’t land in Seattle. What with all of the whining coming out of the Steelers locker room, it would have been a natural to land in Seattle, where the real whiners live. After all of the whining the Seahawks did about the officiating in Super Bowl XL, you’d think the Steelers would be wary of such behavior. Maybe that’s why they just baited the media into trying to do their whining for them.

The Steelers expect a few phone calls from the league office in the coming days. Here’s to hoping they never come.

One call will likely announce a fine against Atlanta defensive end Chauncey Davis for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

There was no penalty called on the play, but that won’t rile the Steelers as much as the other phone call they are expecting. That one may come from the officiating department. It would deliver a message to coach Bill Cowher: We goofed.

But neither Cowher nor his players should be let off the hook that easily.

In the moments after the Falcons beat the Steelers, 41-38, in overtime, the Steelers and their coach acted as though they were robbed, when in fact their demise was of their own making. They intentionally baited the media by refusing to express their feelings about an official’s call that they believe kept them from winning.

Charlie Batch had passed to Hines Ward for 25 yards and a first down at Atlanta’s 33-yard line. All the Steelers needed to do was kill the clock with a Batch spike and let Jeff Reed kick a game-winning field goal.

But officials tossed a flag and said that Nate Washington flinched, bringing about a false start. Instead of the normal 5-yard mark-off, this situation called for a 10-second run-off of time and, with only eight seconds on the clock, the teams were forced to overtime.

“I don’t want to speak about it too much,” Washington said in the Steelers locker room. “I don’t feel like I moved.”

All Cowher would do was acknowledge that the call existed. But he wasn’t asked about the play. Instead, he brought it up, just so he could basically decline comment on it. Cowher noted that he hadn’t seen the play on film yet.

When he does, he’ll see that Washington did move. He stepped forward, perhaps trying to give the team enough players at the line of scrimmage to avoid a different penalty, but, yes, he moved and the penalty was called properly.

If the Steelers need a scapegoat, maybe they could look at their own play. There were three lost fumbles in this game, all coughed up by the Steelers. And the defense did nothing to stop Atlanta the entire second half, let alone overtime.

Hey, if you leave the game in the hands of the officials, you deserve what you get. If you don’t want the officials to determine an outcome, don’t leave it up to them. Take it out of their hands by making plays on defense and holding onto the football on offense.

The statistics say Santonio Holmes had his most productive day in a black-and-gold uniform. He caught five passes for 91 yards, returned three kickoffs for a 29.3-yard average. But the same stat sheet lists him as having lost a fumble. It came on Atlanta’s first punt and resulted directly in Atlanta’s first touchdown.

Here’s a question, how long are we going to have to wait for Holmes or Willie Reid or Najeh Davenport to become consistent kickoff and/or punt returners? Haven’t we waited long enough? If they can’t do it, find someone who can.

Willie Parker is doing a great job with red zone carries, proving to anybody who cares that he can score touchdowns with enough touches inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Trouble is, he fumbled again Sunday and is developing a nasty habit of doing so regularly.

In the second quarter Sunday, the Steelers had just extended a 10-7 lead to 17-7 on a Ben Roethlisberger TD pass to Heath Miller. The defense forced a Falcons’ punt, but on the Steelers first play of the next possession, Roethlisberger fumbles a snap from center, Atlanta recovers and produces a touchdown to get to within a field goal.

Cowher has said numerous times that everybody has adversity to deal with, but the true champions are the ones that prove they can overcome adversity. They didn’t do that job very well Sunday.

Instead of whining about the officials not doing their job, the Steelers would be well served to worry about doing their a little better in the first place.

Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi-@heraldstandard.com