Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Midweek Malaise

Just think how much more promising interesting the final three games would appear if Antonio Brown had managed to sidestep the sideline and tightrope it the way Baltimore's Jacoby Jones (yeah, that guy) did in the last minute of the Ravens' theatrical win over Minnesota last Sunday.

Instead, this craptastic Steelers season slogs on its futile procession through the final three games: Bangles at Heinz Field; against the Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay; and, finally, the Clowns at Heinz Field.

Mike Tomlin's Tuesday news conference gave us little to chew on that we didn't already know (the defense can't stop anybody and gives up too many big plays), so we turn to other sources.

Gene Collier points out the sequence of questionable play calls ...
" ... with a 28-24 lead in the fourth quarter, on a snow-covered field, the Steelers' play-calls went, pass, pass, pass, pass, run, pass on one possession. Then pass, run, pass, pass, pass on a second. 
"That's against a Miami defense ranked 25th against the run."
Dale Lolley at The Washington Observer-Reporter makes an interesting point about Jason Worilds:
"... there's no way the Steelers can afford to allow Jason Worilds to walk. 
There really isn't a comparison between Worilds and Keenan Lewis. Lewis made some plays last season, but nothing nearly as impactful as the way Worilds has played. Lewis is also 27 this season, while Worilds is 25 and would play an entire 4-year contract extension under the age of 30. 
The Steelers might have tipped their hand with what they're planning with Worilds when they kept him at left outside linebacker and moved LaMarr Woodley to the other side."
If the Steelers are serious about keeping Worilds, they would almost certainly have to move Woodley -- and we don't mean to the other side of the linebacking corps, but rather off the roster, mainly because of his salary cap hit, which will be significant in any case.