In 2014, the National Football League is one in which there are weekly stories regarding player suspensions and arrests. It is one in which the Dallas Cowboys, who appeared to have no semblance of a defense entering the season, are 5-1 after they just beat the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in front of that loud and proud “12th man” crowd. It is one in which Tom Brady and Drew Brees have shown signs of mortality, Bruce Arians leads a 4-1 Arizona team, and players are being fined more for wearing Beats headphones than for illegal hits on defenseless opposing players.
This season has also established one terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing: the Cleveland Browns are quite a bit better than the Pittsburgh Steelers. Don’t spit out your Iron City and don’t choke on your Primanti’s…you know it to be true and, sadly for those donning the black and gold, it is time to accept what was once thought seemingly impossible. If you want to research a documented and inarguable domination between two professional sports franchises in this country, look no further than this combination over the past two decades.
Clevelanders can brandish their eight NFL championships which date back to the Stone Age when there were a mere handful of competitors, and that’s fine. They deserve that recognition and do not get it because of the “Super Bowl Era” that has redefined success in the annals of NFL history over the past 48 years. What Browns fans cannot deny is the trash heap their organization has been since Art Modell picked it up and moved it to Baltimore, only to have it replaced with an expansion team of lovable misfits. Consider how difficult it is to start that way and build a winner. Sure, Carolina, Jacksonville and even Houston have had quicker success to provide recent examples, but these Browns have had it hard having to compete year in and year out with the likes of Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
Guess what, friends? They have arrived and Sunday’s assault on the Steelers has all but officially turned the tables. Remember when Pittsburgh led 27-3 out of the gate 30 minutes into the season opener? We were all envisioning a big run towards another playoff appearance and beyond. Two halves and six weeks later, the Browns have outscored their nemeses 55-13 in six quarters. They could and should have won that first game, if not for the Steelers having the ball last and escaping on a field goal. They are 3-2 and have been in every game, losing a close one to Baltimore. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, lost miserably to woeful Tampa Bay and got destroyed by Baltimore, the two teams’ only common opponent thus far.
Forget the Browns for a moment and focus on what lies ahead for Pittsburgh. At 3-3 overall and 1-2 in an extremely competitive AFC North, all is not lost. But a turnaround will be very difficult with a similarly up-and-down, mediocre Houston team on the schedule next week on Monday Night Football. I don’t know about you, but the prospect of J.J. Watt plowing towards Pittsburgh’s offensive line has me quivering. That is then followed by Andrew Luck’s Indianapolis Colts and a second meeting with Baltimore. All are at home, which should bode well for the Steelers who will need the support, but what good is a home field advantage if you can’t beat Tampa Bay there?
When Mike Tomlin inherited the roster Bill Cowher left behind, it did not take long to return to and win a Super Bowl as the Steelers did in 2009 against Arizona. Two years later, his team was right back and, despite the loss to Green Bay, all was well for a proud and victorious city and franchise. Little has gone right since, though, and the wheels seem to be falling off. Many call for the coach’s job and even more yearn for the dismissal of the offensive coordinator, Todd Haley. Haley’s offense, in general, does a better job of protecting the franchise’s greatest asset (Roethlisberger) and plenty of yards are gained each week, but the points are not there. The red zone efficiency is not there. Stupid penalties and costly turnovers are rampant. A few games does not a trend make, but entire seasons worth do, and that is the case with this frustrating unit.
And forget not about the defense. Dick LeBeau is enormously respected and no one and nothing can take away from his Hall of Fame career. They already enshrined him and unveiled his bust in Canton. With all due respect, the players who have made his schemes successful are past their prime and the league has more than figured it out. It hurts to wish for someone like LeBeau to go away, but perhaps that time has come.
Perhaps the time has come for a change of philosophy, a change of regime in Pittsburgh. Whether Kevin Colbert and/or Art Rooney feel the same way remains to be seen. My guess is no. If that’s the case, get used to the type of debacle witnessed on Sunday in Cleveland. It will probably get even worse before it can get any better. Roethlisberger is not getting any younger, literally no 2014 draft pick is making much of an impact aside from the now-injured Ryan Shazier and the salary cap situation suggests that our government may emerge from underneath the national deficit before the Steelers’ front office can.
These are dark times in Pittsburgh football. Others who have not had nearly the success experienced here will scoff and beg for the tears to dry up. That’s probably because they have never expected success the way Steelers fans have. Those lofty expectations are not at all being met, and why should anyone accept that? Look no further than Sunday’s game to understand and feel the disappointment and the failure, that which will not easily be replaced with a seventh ring anytime soon.
