The Jon and the Terrible, horrible, No Good, Very bad weekend

T'was a very bad weekend for the Steel City sports squadrons.

The Penguins allowed 2 goals in the third period, including one in the final seconds before falling to the hated Rangers 3-2 in a shootout.

The #17 Pitt Panthers dropped another home game as heavy favorites. Not only did they lose, they got demolished, 54-34. Rutgers QB Mike Teel threw for 6 touchdowns. Coming into the game he had thrown for 3 ALL SEASON. In addition, Pitt QB Bill Stull was carted off the field. Word is that he'll be fine, but suffered a concussion.

And the beloved Steelers let one slip away as well. A 21-14 loss to the Giants, combined with wins by the Browns and Ravens tightens things up a bit in the division. Luckily, the Ravens and Browns play each other this week, but the Steelers have no cupcake, as they hit the road to play the 6-2 Redskins at FedEx Field on Monday Night.

The common factor amongst all? The vicious bite of the injury bug. I know it's no excuse, but there's no denying the big part that injuries played over the course of the weekend.
With the Penguins, they have been, and will continue to be without their top two defensemen at least until the calendar shifts into 09. The young guns filling in have done so admirably, but hopefully Saturday nights collapse won't be the beginning of things to come. We mentioned Stull's injury, but at the same time, the performance of the Panther defense was one we havent seen since the Navy game last season. In a word, terrible. Theres no reason that a quarterback should be allowed to throw twice as many TD passes in one game then he had the previous 7 combined. More on the Steelers infirmary below.

Here are my observations on the Steelers - Giants game:

1. The offensive line did not play as everyone wants to say they did. The difference is this. The Giants came in with a game plan to combat the Steelers zone blitz scheme. Quick hitters, screens, dump offs, etc. The Steelers did not. Ben continued to hold on to the ball entirely too long, and they did not effectively run quick patterns to offset the Giants pass rush. Not having Santonio Holmes hurt, as it was well documented that it would. At no time was that more evident then on a slant pass that went off the hands of Nate Washington, and was intercepted by the Giants. One of 4 picks by Roethlisberger on the day.

2. The injuries to Greg Warren and Mitch Berger. It's true that you never hear about a long snapper until they screw up. Or in this case, get injured. Warren tore his ACL and is now done for the year. Berger strained a leg muscle early on in the game, and while remaining effective throughout the game, his injury impacted some of the coaches decisions to go for it on 4th downs, and his free kick following the safety suffered as well. The playcalling leading up to the errant long snap which caused the safety should not be overlooked. The holding penalty on Willie Colon that nullified what would have been Nate Washington's 2nd touchdown catch of the day can't be overlooked. And the fact that the Giants had a better scheme than the Steelers did as a whole, can't be overlooked.

We all know that it's pretty tough to get outcoached by Kevin Gilbride, but Bruce Arians, you achieved that yesterday.

We all know that the key to beating the Giants is to pressure the hell out of Eli Manning. The Steelers, despite being having the number one ranked defense, and leading the leage in sacks coming in, did not sack Eli once. Chalk that up to great offensive line play by the Giants, and good play calling allowing for short drops and getting the ball out quickly.

Long story short, there is still plenty of room for improvement for the Steelers moving forward, but there is also plenty to be excited about. They 'should have' beaten the defending Super Bowl champions despite the following:

1. Losing their #2 receiver after the game plan had already been devised and implemented.

2. Not having their top Defensive lineman or Strong Safety practice all week.

3. Injuries. They played the game without starters Willie Parker, Kendall Simmons, Marvel Smith, Daniel Sepulveda, or Bryant McFadden, and lost Ryan Clark and Greg Warren during the game.

I don't mean to make excuses. The Giants made the plays that needed to be made for them to win, so I give them credit. But at the same time, the Steelers turned the ball over 5 times. The defense continued to play brilliantly despite being back up in their own end for a better part of the game. They stifiled Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward (84 yards on 31 carries) but were not able to pressure Eli to the point that he became frazzled. It's a shame too, because the game started off so well, with the Steelers forcing New York into a 3 and out, then marching down the field and scoring on Mewelde Moore's 32 yard run. But the Giants regrouped, hung around, and then essentially dominated the 4th quarter.

It bothered me that during the last drive, the middle of the field was WIDE open, and the Steelers never once tried to run a route there. They had enough time, and a time out remaining to try to run some short to mid range middle routes, but Arians was so intent on getting to the sidelines, which the Giants had blanketed, that they had no chance.

All things considered, 5-2 at this point is solid. And hey, they have yet to lose outside of the state of Pennsylvania. Unless the Redskisn play a much improved game than they have the past 3 weeks, then I like the Steelers chances to rebound strong a week from today.

PICKS RECAP:

The Jon comes into Monday Night with a moderate 6-6-1 showing. The Virus may well have rather had a virus than review his 3-9-1 showing. They share differeing opinions on tonights game as well, so we'll see if The Jon can build on this inaugural week lead, or if the Virus can save a little bit of face moving forward.

TOMORROW:

A little NBA for you.