In lieu of my normal recap, I will just hit a few high and low points. Steelers are now 6-6 and MUST win out. They will also need help along the way to get a Wild Card spot. The way they are playing right now, they would not go far anyways.
Ike Taylor and William Gay were both horrible again today. Gay slipped and had bad footing all day as well. The Raiders torched the Steelers for 308 yards with 188 coming in the 4th quarter on 3 straight drives.
The Steelers defense allowed 21 of the Raiders 27 points on 3 straight 4th quarter drives.
Beaten by Higgins, Murphy, Schilens & Gradkowski. Sounds like a law firm. We made them look like Pro-Bowl players.
The sack Ben Roethlisberger took at the end of the 3rd quarter was huge. On top of that, Mike Tomlin should of punted and flipped the field instead of trying a 53 yard field goal. Also curious was not taking the sure 3 points late in the 1st quarter. The failed 4th down conversion gave the Raiders defense unneeded confidence.
Roethlisberger would surely like to have back the interception into the endzone. He threw it into double almost triple coverage.
Rashard Mendenhall showed up to play. Mendenhall had 103 yards on 20 carries and a fantastic 3 yard touchdown. He only needs 113 yards for 1000.
The offense did click today, but Heath Miller was sorely under used.
[flv:http://ll.video.nfl.com/films/s2009/nflcom/w13/raiders_steelers_short_700k.mp4 480 368]
Stefan Logan continues to make bad decisions. At least one fair catch could of been returned for better field position. He also put another ball on the ground.
Linebacker LaMarr Woodley was one of the few bright spots on defense. He recorded 6 tackles 2 assist and 2 sacks.
The defensive line is not getting pressure when it matters most. They are out of gas come the 4th quarter.
Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes combined on 14 catches for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Guard Chris Kemoeatu played well despite being hampered with his knee.
Rookie Ziggy Hood seems to be catching on, especially against the run.
Anthony Madison and Keyaron Fox were playing hard on special teams.
Gay likely will be gone at least one game with a concussion.
Ryan Mundy is reckless and undisciplined in key situations. He has talent, just needs to focus more.
