Throughout the years, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been known to be indomitable on each side of the ball– offense and defense.
The defense has developed a well known nickname called “The Steel Curtain.” The Steel Curtain has brought down pain upon its opponents for the past twenty years as it has lead its team to win six Super Bowls, which has never before been done.
However, over the past two years the Steelers’ defense has been troubled by controversy being known as one of the oldest amongst other teams in the league. Not only this, but the Steelers’ secondary has been called one of the weakest in the league as ESPN analysts and commentators swirl up controversy.
This was proven true this past Thursday and even during the Oakland Raiders game as the Steelers’ offense struggled late in the game.
In Thursday’s game, Matt Hasslebeck’s team, the Titans, trampled and trudged through the Steelers’ defense throughout the duration of the game. Hasslebeck completed 56.8% of his passes and threw for 290 yards. Chris Johnson also trucked through our defensive line, Hampton, Kiesel, and Hood, as he gained about 3 yards every carry.
The offense in Thursday nights game wasn’t bad. The Steelers started off strong as Roethlisberger threw for 363 yards and completed 60% of his passes. Roethlisberger even surpassed the insurmountable Terry Bradshaw for throwing the most yards ever in Steelers’ history. Evidently, the organization was proud despite the disappointing loss.
Roethlisberger was not the only star on the offense in this game. Mike Wallace caught a beautiful thrown spiral all the way down the field and ended the play with a touchdown. In addition to Mike Wallace being an “all-star”, Isaac Redman was a tank as he steamrolled through the Titans’ defense and caught every ball thrown to him.
The only question in this game is: Did Mike Tomlin make the right call at the end of this game?
Tomlin decided to kick a 54 yard field goal after the two minute warning in an attempt to tie it up and send the game to overtime. Prior to this arduous decision, Shaun Suisham kicked a 52 yard field goal and nailed it. However, most people know that Suisham is a consistent kicker but doesn’t have a strong kick to nail the field goal from long yardage. Of course, Suisham missed the 54 yard field goal. Suisham kicked the ball dead on but didn’t have the length. The ball was about 2 yards short.
Critics say that Tomlin should have kicked the ball away and pinned the Titans’ offense deep in their own end zone, or he should have taken a chance and went for it on 4th down. However, most Pittsburghers say that Tomlin made the right choice and either way no one can determine the future. Despite Tomlin’s “wrong choice”, he is still a dominant head coach and the youngest head coach ever to win a Super Bowl.
