The Sports Monitor

We're 10 games into this football season and there still are many unknowns about this year's Steelers team. Questions about the defense, the ability to make the playoffs, the play calling, the offensive line, the health of key players, kickoff coverage and more. The list can go on, but I think you get the idea. However, there's one thing we're keenly aware of: This team is much different without Troy Polamalu. With Troy playing a full game, this team is undefeated. Without Troy playing a full game or even a half, the Steelers have lost to the likes of the Bears and the Chiefs. Not to mention the Bengals twice. It hasn't been pretty. The Steelers are 6-4 and have a now-important game with the 5-5 Ravens on Sunday night. A loss there, and the mighty Steelers will be in third place in the AFC North. Polamalu should miss that game and could miss the two others that follow -- at home against the Raiders and at the Browns. Coach Mike Tomlin and the players w...

The Steelers loss to the Bengals on Sunday wasn't all that surprising. The Bengals clearly are a good team, especially after beating the Ravens twice before taking out the Steelers 18-12 at Heinz Field and planting themselves firmly in first place of the AFC North. The big surprise for me was the conciliatory and somber tone in the Steelers' locker room after the game. "They're clearly the best team in the division," Ryan Clark said. It sounded like the Steelers were eliminated from the playoffs after getting trounced on their home field. Sunday's loss easily could have been a win. The defense was stout, even without Troy Polamalu for most of the day. The offense did move the ball, even without a running game. One touchdown in the red zone instead of a field goal, and just maybe, the outcome would have been different. But give the Bengals some props. They won. They outSteeler-ed the Steelers, as a Cincinnati newspaper headline screamed. It'...

Bill Belichick gambled against the Colts on Sunday night. Peyton Manning made him pay. Leading 34-28 with about 2 minutes left in the game, the Patriots faced a fourth-and-2 from their own 28. Common sense dictates punting from that spot and turning the game over to the defense. Belichick is anything but common. The Patriots gained 1 yard, the Colts got the ball and scored. Then the debate began. Was it a good call? There shouldn't be a debate. Such a call shouldn't be made. Only someone so full of himself would even consider going for it. Only someone with a warped sense of the sport would attempt to pull of such a stunt. "We tried to win the game on that play," Belichick said after the loss. Yeah, right. No. He tried to show his superiority. Now we have a better idea what kind of "genius" he really is. It's not very often when a coach truly is responsible for losing a game. Usually, it's the players' fault. Not this ti...

I don't put much stock into speeches before or during a sporting event. Usually, they're overrated and it's someone shouting at the top of their lungs. Such was the case at the opening of Monday Night Football where Broncos safety Brian Dawkins was trying to fire up his teammates before playing the Steelers. Well, it didn't work so well for Dawkins. The Steelers scored three touchdowns in the second half on their way to beating the Broncos, 28-10. And, man, what a half of football that was. The offense did what they wanted, piling up 321 yards (including 130 on the ground by Rashard Mendenhall) and the defense put the clamps on Denver. And it all got started after quarterback Ben Roethlisberger delivered a better speech than Dawkins. It looked like Ben wouldn't need that speech. After driving the Steelers toward an apparent touchdown and a commanding lead, Roethlisberger was hit, fumbled and the Broncos returned it for a touchdown and a 10-7 lead. It was a big m...

After going out and celebrating the Steelers' 27-17 win late Sunday night, I turned on a national talk radio show. I wanted to hear what they were saying about the Steelers' win. It turned out, the host wasn't all that impressed. He kept saying there was something missing from this Steelers team. Maybe he didn't watch the game. He could be going on accounts from stories or highlights. There wasn't much missing Sunday from the Steelers' win. In fact, it looked like their wins against the Chargers and Cowboys last season. Those were victories triggered by huge defensive plays. Their win against the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game had one too, if I remember correctly. The point is, the Steelers defense provided the signature moments throughout the 2008 season, except for that brilliant catch by Santonio Holmes in the Super Bowl. But the defense is back. The Minnesota Vikings have one heck of an offensive line, but the defense got pressure o...

The Cleveland Browns are bad. Terrible. Pitiful. Awful. Horrible. Yeah, I like to pile on sometimes. But back to the Browns. During their loss to the Steelers on Sunday, it got me thinking that it would be terrible being a Cleveland Browns fan. I know a few at work, and the Steelers' domination combined with the Browns' ineptitude has taken all of the fun out of a Steelers win in the rivalry. Those fans are miserable. They expect bad things to happen. They don't expect good luck. Again, it would be terrible being a Cleveland Browns fan. Their ownership stinks, their management stinks, their players stink. But I stopped myself. I'm a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. I have it just as bad, or perhaps, worse. Our ownership stinks, our management stinks and our players stink. So, I simply ask this: Would you rather have the Nutting ownership running your favorite team or the Lerner ownership that has run the Browns?

Don't mess with the Terrible Towel. Everyone scoffed at that idea last season after the Tennessee Titans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-14 to secure home-field advantage in the playoffs and the No. 1 seed in the AFC. On the sidelines, running back LenDale White and other Titans could be seen stomping on the Terrible Towel after the game. Defensive end Jevon Kearse pretended to blow his nose in the Towel. Bad move. The heinous acts cause an outcry in Pittsburgh and throughout Steeler Nation. You don't mess with the Terrible Towel. Period. Everyone else laughed. It's just a towel, they said. The didn't believe in the magic of Myron Cope's creation. Steelers fans knew better. They believed. The Titans lost their final game of the regular season, but no one really paid too much attention to that as they finished with a 13-3 record. Plenty of NFL experts thought there would be a Steelers-Titans rematch in the AFC Championship Game. Didn't play out that way. The Tita...