There have been worse games we've lost...

But not many.

The game against Oakland in 2006 was worse than this. Then there was one against the Ravens later that year that got really ugly. Our losses to KC and Oakland this year are up there, but probably not as bad as tonight's.

Losing to the Pats in 2004 sucked, just because it looked like they had robbed the Bus of a championship.

The game we played against the Eagles last year, that was a bullshit game.

Those are the ugly ones that come to my mind since becoming a Steelers' fan. Tonight is going to be up there.

It's really very simple how it happened: we lost the battle at the line of scrimmage. Our front seven failed to stop the run, and our offensive game plan failed to dial up the run.

I get it, Mendenhall wasn't lighting the world on fire with his 3.3 y/c. BUT HE ONLY GOT 16 TOUCHES!!!!!! WHAT DON'T YOU GET, ARIANS!?!?!?!?!? KEEP GIVING HIM THE BALL!!!!!

Our first series of the night:

1st-10, PIT15 12:22 R. Mendenhall rushed to the right for 5 yard gain
2nd-5, PIT20 11:42 R. Mendenhall rushed to the right for 4 yard gain
3rd-1, PIT24 10:58 B. Roethlisberger sacked by C. Williams
4th-10, PIT15 10:27 D. Sepulveda punt.

!!!!!

Second series of the night:

1st-10, PIT6 7:08 R. Mendenhall rushed to the right for 5 yard gain
2nd-5, PIT11 6:29 R. Mendenhall rushed to the right for 2 yard gain
3rd-3, PIT13 5:45 B. Roethlisberger sacked by H. Poteat
4th-13, PIT3 5:01 D. Sepulveda punt.

Starting to see a pattern here????

I don't know if I've talked about this before, but here's how a defensive line works: on first and second down, a 3-4 defense will have their NT on the field, and the DEs will be angling themselves at the interior of the offensive line. This is to prevent running lanes from forming. On 3rd down, or a passing down, the NT comes off the field, and the DEs angle themselves outside the offensive tackles, because they know the QB will be dropping back to pass and they'd like to try getting by his periphery with their speed, instead of bullrushing in his line of sight. Anyway, when you take the running threat off the field on 3rd down, you're essentially giving the defense a free pass to pull the NT and angle everyone to blitz from the edge. When the running threat is on the field for third down, it means the defense can't sell out and blitz the QB. Thus the QB gets sacked less when a RB gets into a defensive's head.

The proof is in the pudding: Ben got sacked EIGHT times, Quinn got sacked once. This is because our D-line was busy catching their breath, while the Browns' defense was seeing every one of our plays telegraphed.

A couple more:

1st-10, PIT28 7:01 B. Roethlisberger incomplete pass to the left
2nd-10, PIT28 6:53 R. Mendenhall rushed to the right for 3 yard gain
3rd-7, PIT31 6:04 B. Roethlisberger sacked by D. Bowens
4th-18, PIT20 5:30 D. Sepulveda punt. J. Cribbs returned punt for 6 yards

1st-10, PIT7 11:52 R. Mendenhall rushed to the left for 3 yard gain
2nd-7, PIT10 11:15 R. Mendenhall rushed to the right for 2 yard gain
3rd-5, PIT12 10:30 B. Roethlisberger incomplete pass to the right
4th-5, PIT12 10:16 D. Sepulveda punt, no return

POUND. THE. FOOTBALL. !!!!!

I don't care if you go 3-and-out on three straight run plays. Doing that at least forces the other team to remain in the trenches and wonder how far you're willing to go with the physical challenge. Tonight Cleveland stayed in the trenches on offense, and just kept pounding the ball. They kept Casey Hampton on the field for more downs than he's used to, and it worked.

I'd like to congratulate the Browns and have it not be conditional, but the truth is, we did everything possible to lose, and they only did enough to barely win. Knowing this city, I know they'll take it. But don't be fooled: we didn't get beat by some sleeping giant defense (I have to say this because the stats are an eye-popping 8 sacks, 6 points, 216 yards), we simply stunk. We simply played out the dumbest gameplan possible, and there's no reason to think any team could have lost to us tonight.

Final thought: it was all too much fun sitting out in the subzero cold for this; win or lose, I love these guys.