Eight.
As in eight turnovers.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense had more turnovers than points (7) in Sunday's brutal-to-watch 20-14 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
The day was better served to prepare for Cyber Monday shopping than enjoying a Steelers game.
Charlie Batch looked like, well, Charlie Batch.
The running game was 4-for-4, as in four different running backs with four lost fumbles.
And despite all of the deficiencies on offense, the Steelers still had a chance to win the game in the closing minutes.
I guess that chance existed in theory only. If you turned on the television late in the fourth quarter, you might have clung to the hope of a last-minute touchdown drive.
The rest of us knew how it was going to end -- a loss to the lowly Browns.
And while I just called them lowly, they are better than their 2-8 record coming into the game indicated. Their problem was closing out games, something they were able to do against the Steelers.
At least the defense looked strong, and they converted a Brandon Weeden interception into a touchdown, something that wasn't happening this season.
Now the Steelers head into Baltimore with a 6-5 record that seems very likely to turn into 6-6.
Pittsburgh is clinging to a wild-card spot, but they could be on the outside after next week.
If they miss out, and despite my Monday-morning Steelers hangover lamenting they still have a shot to make it, they have a season's worth of errors to look back on.
The Steelers' 34-31 loss to the Raiders (3-8), their 26-23 loss to the Titans (4-7) and their loss to the Browns will all stand out if they miss the postseason.
All of those games should have been wins.
It's been that kind of season.
As in eight turnovers.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense had more turnovers than points (7) in Sunday's brutal-to-watch 20-14 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
The day was better served to prepare for Cyber Monday shopping than enjoying a Steelers game.
Charlie Batch looked like, well, Charlie Batch.
The running game was 4-for-4, as in four different running backs with four lost fumbles.
And despite all of the deficiencies on offense, the Steelers still had a chance to win the game in the closing minutes.
I guess that chance existed in theory only. If you turned on the television late in the fourth quarter, you might have clung to the hope of a last-minute touchdown drive.
The rest of us knew how it was going to end -- a loss to the lowly Browns.
And while I just called them lowly, they are better than their 2-8 record coming into the game indicated. Their problem was closing out games, something they were able to do against the Steelers.
At least the defense looked strong, and they converted a Brandon Weeden interception into a touchdown, something that wasn't happening this season.
Now the Steelers head into Baltimore with a 6-5 record that seems very likely to turn into 6-6.
Pittsburgh is clinging to a wild-card spot, but they could be on the outside after next week.
If they miss out, and despite my Monday-morning Steelers hangover lamenting they still have a shot to make it, they have a season's worth of errors to look back on.
The Steelers' 34-31 loss to the Raiders (3-8), their 26-23 loss to the Titans (4-7) and their loss to the Browns will all stand out if they miss the postseason.
All of those games should have been wins.
It's been that kind of season.
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