Steelers-Bears Week 2 postgame: Wide left

in Sports by griffn — September 21, 2009 at 8:00 am | 2 comments

Bears 17, Steelers 14
Game notes from this weekend’s debacle:

▪ It’s been five years since Jeff Reed last missed two kicks in the same game.  Two weeks ago, Reed rejected the Steelers latest contract offer, meaning he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season.  I’m wondering if the added pressure that comes with kicking for his next contract is taking its toll, ‘cause he didn’t look all that great in the preseason either.  Here’s what he said after the game: “I missed two kicks and basically what it was, I was trying too hard on both of them.”

▪ At some point, Roethlisberger is going to have to learn not to take sacks in the red zone.  The difference between a 28-yard field goal and a 38-yard field goal cannot be overstated, especially in sloppy conditions.

▪ Special teams basically won the game against Tennessee last week, and basically lost the game this week.  Moral of the story: Don’t leave the game up to your special teams.

▪ I still contend that the Steelers are a top five defense without Polamalu, but they really missed him this week.  Both of Cutler’s touchdown passes were completed just out of the reach of Tyrone Carter and the Bears tight ends were running free over the middle all day.  To Carter’s credit though, that hit he put on Greg Olsen was vicious.

▪ LaMarr Woodley had zero tackles and zero sacks.  I’m not sure what that means, I’m just surprised to see him that far down that stat sheet.  I may have to rethink that Defensive Player of the Year prediction.

▪ That roughing the passer penalty James Harrison took in the end zone was tough.  On the one hand, he did run into Cutler late.  On the other hand, he was thrown off balance as he came around the corner and there was no possible way he could have stopped.  But, yeah, you have to throw that flag.

▪ Seems like the minute the rain started falling, the Steelers offense shut down.  That’s one of the dangers of being a bad weather team who can’t run the football.  Although, to the offensive line’s credit, this is the second game in a row Roethlisberger stayed relatively clean.  And the running game wasn’t a complete liability.

▪ The reports of Willie Parker’s demise (by me) were only mildly exaggerated.  He still didn’t look all that great in the open field, but at least he was getting there.  In other news, Rashard Mendenhall for the first time in his career looked like he belonged in the NFL.  If he can keep the ball off the ground, he may start to take some serious carries away from Fast Willie.

▪ Ed Bouchette and Gerry Dulac at the Post-Gazette are taking shots at Santonio Holmes for dropping that over-the-shoulder pass in the end zone.  For the record, the ball was definitely tipped; you could see it in the replays.  Although, Holmes did let two other passes go through his hands.

▪ Now might be a good time to trade for Matt Forte in your fantasy league.  He’s had two bad games in a row against two solid defenses, but the Bears aren’t going to stop giving him the ball and his schedule from here on out is ice cream cake.  He’ll face Seattle, Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Arizona before midseason.

Related posts:

1. Steelers-Bengals Week 3 postgame: Two-minute drilled
2. Steelers-Vikings Week 7 postgame: Drinking Brett Favre’s milkshake
3. Steelers-Lions Week 5 postgame: Getting a little greedy
4. Steelers-Browns Week 6 postgame: “Subpar performance”
5. Steelers-Chargers Week 4 postgame: First-round knockout

Tags: Ben Roethlisberger Chicago Bears fantasy football Jeff Reed Matt Forte NFL Pittsburgh Steelers