11/16/2025
Brief steelers thoughts, week 11
Whatever happened in this game might not matter, because the Steelers' ability to do anything down the stretch with the defense as mediocre as it is depended on Aaron Rodgers. Not a medical expert but if I had to guess by how he fell and the fact he didn’t come back in the game, he might have a fracture, which would put him out at least a few weeks. If that’s the case, pack it up, all due respect to Maga Mason.
Maga didn’t do too bad in the 2d half and most of all he didn’t turn the ball over, which is the #1 job of backup QB. But he was playing against the worst defense in the NFL (even though they played a lot better against the steelers than they do any other team). ⅔ of the Steelers’ next games are vs. the Ravens and Bills, AFC rivals with playoff/seeding hopes. That brings up the question of how much of a leash do you give Mason if the offense isn’t clicking now that the Will Howard is off IR?
I love the passion Jalen Ramsey plays with but if I’m Mike Tomlin he gotta be fined for the crashout that got him tossed. At that point it was still a one-possession game, the Steelers secondary was already depleted and playing against an offense capable of scoring at any time. Give the rest of the defense credit for shutting down the Bungles offense for the remainder of the game, but unless Jamarr Chase spit on him (and that’s possible given how he reacted), Ramsey can’t get himself tossed in that situation. Just can’t.
It’s hilarious watching Darnell Washington catch and run. You can hear the “aw hell” from dbacks when he’s running full-speed at them. If only he was fast…but how fast can you be at his size?
Thanks, Captain Obvious Award to Bengals HC Zac Taylor, who said in his sideline interview at halftime that turnovers were going to play a major role in how the game went. At that point neither team had turned the ball over. The Steelers never did. The Bengals gave up two TDs on turnovers in the second half.
Speaking of turnovers, it’s a big part of how the Steelers win games, even though the defense overall isn’t performing at the level expected. They’re obviously coached to be opportunistic and that’s good BUT, one of the main deficiencies they have is missed tackled and I wonder how much the two things are connected. I can point out every week plays where receivers break tackles on Steelers DBs who, instead of wrapping, are punching at the ball.
It’s way too early to start thinking about playoff seeding given how inconsistent this team has played but here’s one way technology impacts how we watch games: On Sunday Ticket I’m constantly watching other division or AFC games in the multiview when commercials come on. Today that was the Bills/Bucs and I kept hoping the Bucs would pull it out to help the Steelers with seeding, you know, if… Meanwhile, currently hoping the Browns deliver a favor against the Ravens.
BTW, Browns fans are so demoralized at this point tickets were available to a home division game for $6 today, according to the Browns’ pregame show on WKNR. They were booing Dylan Gabriel after an incompletion in the first quarter.
Last thing: I’ve written twice in the last year about legalized sports betting and the scandals in MLB and the NBA. Today was the first time I thought about gambling possibly impacting a game in real time. Can’t remember which quarter (2nd??) but Connor Heyward ran a t**h push and was clearly short of a first down, but the side judge, who was right there, gave him the yardage anyway. I ain’t saying that dude cheated but the problem is that it’s now harder to look at what could be a simple officiating mistake without thinking about that possibility and the leagues can only blame themselves.
Go Browns or whatever.
