I was going to write this after the game, but I couldn’t.

Then I was going to write this this Monday morning, but I couldn’t.

I still don’t feel ready, but you know, they say confession is good for the soul, so I guess I just need to let my freak flag fly and get this over with. The sooner I can get what happened yesterday out of my system, and in the rear view mirror, the better.

Let me start by saying this – the Eagles are a good team. A really good team. Much better than I thought they were.

I called out their defensive line in the preview to this game, but man, they are better than I gave them credit for. They dominated us on both sides of the ball. We had a nice drive to start the game, and then, as sometimes happens, things went to Hell in a hand basket.

But let’s be honest and give credit where credit is due. The Eagles kicked our butt. At least yesterday, they were the better team. I think if we played 10 games, we’d win more than we lost. I think we are, overall the better team, but we were not yesterday.

(I may have to write a whole post about the use of terms like “we” and “our” and “us” because while, of course, I, nor any member of Steelers Nation suits up, these are “our” guys, and we feel like we are part of this team. We know we aren’t. We know we are fans and not really a part of the kinship that exists between the players, but in a very real way we suffer right along with them in a game like yesterday, and we celebrate right along with them in a game like last weeks against the Bengals. All I can say is that if you don’t like me using that language, you only think you’re a fan. End of rant).

I’m going to alter the order again, and make this the Ugly, the Bad and the Good. Why? Well, because I’d like to end on something positive (and it gives me more time to actually think of something positive).

The Ugly

I feel like just writing “everything” and moving on. The truth is that’s not a fair assessment of things though.

Really, when I think about it, there is a lot of bad, but how much “ugly” is there? I can think of one thing that really stands out as ugly.

The Injuries

That’s ugly. Not that it was anyone’s fault (unless you want to blame the Eagles, or Lincoln Financial Field). Injuries are a part of the game – but good gosh almighty, how many injuries did we have?

Ryan Shazier tweaks his MCL (or more than tweaks – that guy was in a lot of pain, and he kept coming back in).

Lawrence Timmons has to go to the hospital with a shin.

Mike Mitchell, Jarvis Jones, Eli Rogers, Robert Golden and worst of all Ramon Foster, all got hurt at some point during this game.

I like B.J. Finney, and I think he can be a serviceable backup, but when Foster left, we stopped running to that side. When Foster left, we lost leadership, we lost communication, and Big Al lost the guidance and help that Ramon provides.

Here is hoping that the Big Ragu can make it back for Kansas City.

The Bad

There is very little that can’t be called out as bad.

We had a blocked kick, we had dropped TD passes, we had awful blocking, and our really awesome (and I still believe they are really awesome) offensive line was made to look like a JV squad at times.

Ben was under pressure almost all night long, and they knew from the beginning of the second half on that the Steelers weren’t running – they were passing. All that did was let those D-linemen rush with abandon.

Between the injuries and the missed opportunities, the Steelers just had no answer for the Eagles yesterday – so overall, it was all bad. I do have to make a few special callouts though.

Markus Wheaton

I hate doing it to him, because I love Markus Wheaton, and think he’s a really important guy for this season (and I love listening to him with Craig Wolfley on “Chalk Talk” or “Greet the Wheat” or whatever that show is called).

Markus had a bad game yesterday.

I know he hasn’t gotten much practice time, and I know that means his timing is off, but I do have to wonder if that game unfolds differently if he doesn’t drop that first touchdown. It was just a bad game for Mr. Wheaton, and I hope he can put it behind him and have a better one next week. Hey, at least he did finally drag one in before the game was over.

The Good

Jordan Berry

Man has Jordan Berry been great so far this year. I mean, that guy has been one guy for whom business really has been “Boomin”!

Berry had 3 punts with an average of 55 yards, and a long of 63. His net average was 49.7.

That’s a weapon my friends.

That’s a weapon we haven’t had in a while.

Kudos to Mr. Berry for being one of the more outstanding elements of an otherwise frustrating game.

Antonio Brown

This is just because AB is AB. He had 12 catches on 18 targets for 140 yards. That sounds great, right?

Well, the average was 11.7, and his long was 20.

Those aren’t AB-like numbers. In most games if he has 12 catches, you’re thinking 200+ yards.

What was impressive to me about Antonio Brown yesterday is that almost every catch he made was contested, and they did everything they could to stop him. If Ben had had anywhere else to go with the ball, maybe the Eagles would have had to take some of that attention off Brown and put it elsewhere.

But nobody else stood up and was consistently a threat.

Conclusion

I really don’t want to talk about this game anymore Nation. I still love our guys, I still rep my colors (Black & Gold don’t hide – we wear it with pride).

That being said, yesterday was a game we all just need to put behind us and move forward. I know many of you out there are gearing up with the chants of “Fire Tomlin” and “Fire Haley”. Look, we all have those crazy cousins, uncles and aunts that we wish we could forget about, but whom always seem to pop up and make themselves heard.

It was a bad game.

A really bad game.

But it’s just one game, and in the long run, means nothing. It was non-conference. We still have two games with the Ravens and Browns and one more with the Bengals, and those games mean a heck of a lot more than this game against the Eagles.

Look at it this way, if the Eagles really are this good, they’ll beat the Ravens and the Bengals for us, and that makes this loss a wash as far as the standings go.

Yes – it hurts; but having played in high school and a little in college – trust me when I say it hurts the guys in that locker room more than it does us.

Let’s look ahead to next week. I guarantee a win – I’ll tell ya why next time.

Until then Nation!