A Little Perspective [Part III]...

Picking up where we left off - When we last heard from the Steelers, they were 7-4, a game back from the Bungles in the division and heading into crunch time. The remaining games were Cincy, Chi-town, the Arctic Circle Vikings, the Brownies, and Jerome Bettis' hometown Lions (quarterbacked at the time by Joey Harrington, field general).

So Ben hadn't exactly impressed in his triumphant Monday Night return against the Colts. But he fully made up for it against the Bengals the following Sunday, throwing for a disgusting 386 yards and 3 TDs. Problem was, he also threw 3 INTs. And the Special Teams allowed a 94 yard Tab Perry run back. And, despite Hines Ward's 9 catches for 135 yards (and one imitation of the Icky shuffle), he also fumbled. Just too many mistakes. So to the AFC North leader went the spoils, and Cincy edged us 38-31, taking a firm hold on the division at 9-3, while we fell to 7-4. Notably, Cincy's resident psychopath eccentric, Chad Johnson said after this game, "It used to be Pittsburgh's time. Now, it's Cincinnati time." He would, of course, eat those words approximately six weeks later.

And we pressed on, facing the Chicago Bears the following week in the snow at Heinz Field. After starting the season 1-3, the Bears were riding an unprecedented eight game win streak coming into the game. Kyle Orton was their leader, and Thomas Jones was their workhorse. But on this day, they weren't enough to overcome our Steelers and their thirst for a playoff berth. We carried the day 21-9, Jerome Bettis leading the way with 17 carries for 101 yards (his first 100 yard game of the season), 2 TDs and one spectacular moment in which he bulldozed the formidable, Brian Urlacher. It was indicative of what was to come for the Steelers. On the rise, but yet still trailing the Bengals by two games, with only three games left in the season, it would take all the team had to rally and finish the season well enough to advance to the post season.

The following week we traveled North to dance with the Vikings, who were also riding a winning streak similar to the Bears - six games. Unfortunately for them, they were also recently distracted by the now infamous boat/sex party extravanganza that resuled in the suspension of four Vikings, including starting QB, Daunte Culpepper. Not to mention, the Steelers were hungry, and frankly, the Vikings were an inferior team from the ancient Brad Johnson down to Michael Bennett and Marcus Robinson. The Defense robbed Johnson twice, and scored the final points of the game on a safety when Larry Foote tackled Michael Bennett in the end zone. Final score, 18-3. They only got 3 points. Yep. But the best game of the season was just on the horizon...

Moving on, the team jetted down to that Landfill next to Lake Erie for the ever-entertaining rivalry game against the Cleve Brownies. I don't really know what to say about this game that hasn't already been said about Afghanistan. The Browns looked bombed out and depleted. We asserted our will readily on both them, AND their fans. In fact, the highlight of the game came when Silverback bodyslammed a Browns who had so intelligently wandered his ass onto the field. The Offense lit the Browns up for 457 total yards and the Defense sacked Charlie Frye 8 times (he fumbled 4 times), contributing to the Steelers 41-0 victory. I, for one, fully expected the team to be brought up on charges following this one. Because we murdered them!

Miraculously, the Bengals lost to the Bills that weekend, dropping them to 11-4. The Steelers were at 10-5 and well in line for a wild card spot. So a win the following week was the only thing on their minds as they came home to battle the Lions and their anemic offense. But the story of the day wasn't the Lions Offense sucking so much as it was Willie Parker and the Bus steamrolling the Lions Defense. Bussy and FWP combined for 178 yards, with Willie netting 131 and Bus contributing 47, not to mention 3 TDs. And luckily so. Because Ben threw two picks and only managed to complete nine passes for 135 yards, and the Defense allowed Joey Harrington(!) to throw for 212 yards and 3 TDs. 34-20, Steelers. A win, and they were in (well, a win and a Bengals loss). Sure, they were the 6 seed and had a tall order on their hands. But they were in the playoffs, which was more than they could say even a week or two before.

And thus concludes our look back at the 2005-2006 regular season. As you may have noticed, we had a lot of ups, and at least an equal amount of downs. Big Ben had knee surgery, Willie Parker was hit or miss, the Defense looked great at times and not so great at other times, and of course, we lost both our final game against, and the division to, the friggin' Bengals! So you get the idea. A lot can happen in 17 weeks. The Steelers were Super Bowl favorites coming out of the gate, but became rather large underdogs, going into the playoffs as a six seed needing to win three games on the road just to make it to Detroit. Of course, they did. But media darlings or not, shit happens. Bottom line.

So here we are, three days wiser, with perspective from a Super Bowl season.

Now, who gives a shit? We play the Browns in three days! I, for one, am ready to play right now. Can't someone speed up the rotation of the earth's axis? Come on Tomlin, put in a call to Al Gore. I'm sure he's got that shit under control.

Thoughts? Reflections? Hate mail? My ears (and the comments) are now open...