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2> A loss is a loss is a loss. Brady and the Pats tried to hand them the game, but they weren’t able to take the gift. Can’t wait till they get back to full strength, if and when that ever happens.

3.Heyward and Tuitt are extraordinary talents, and their ability to take up blockers and bust up plays is the single biggest key to the success of this defense. You take away either of these guys, the linebackers aren’t nearly as good.

3b. No. No. A thousand times no. Damned few of the new linemen have ever played anything like the Steelers’ 3-4. Mitch is as good a DL coach as there is. It’s just that you can’t plug a guy into a defense that is so radically different from what most of them have experienced and expect it to work. It takes too damn much time, but that’s the cost of doing business. Pay up and suffer.

4. Ben. AB. Bell. Shazier. Jarvis Jones. Burns. Davis. And everybody else.

5. Hines Ward and Ryan Clark departed, this a time when the team got older, slower, and less brutal. The Steelers went through a huge transition – the kind that causes some teams to go 4-12 – and the Ravens beat them badly at first and then seemed to get into their heads last year. Of course, there was also the infamous Tomlin Two-step. A combination of bad timing, bad luck,and bad play. The trifecta from hell.

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Who gets bumped is interesting. I would have thought that Grimble was just going to be a placeholder, but has shown great potential and I think we lose him if we cut him. Maybe you write off Cody Wallace for the season and hope that Finney or Hubbard can step up in case of an emergency.

2. The team had every reason to collapse given the circumstances. Indeed, many of us were not expecting much. It turned out to be a winnable game against arguably the best opponent in the league, without Ben, Cam and a host of others. Who’d of thought? This was more of we lost rather than we were beaten, and there’s a difference. If it is possible to win without Ben (not recommended), then this is a team that holds its destiny in their own hands, even if the injury gods do not smile favorably upon them week to week.

3. Most years the fate of this defense rises or falls on the performance of the linebackers. With this group, and perhaps league wide, it may come down to the defensive line.

3b. If the above is true then it may eventually be appropriate to hold the preparation of this group to a different standard.

4. On offense, Todd Haley and Ben. Unless he is injured Le’Veon Bell should never be restricted to 10 touches a game. That’s just dumb. All weapons aren’t equal. Learn how to be more strategic Get the ego out of it and also do some things that protects and enhances the chances for the success of the defense (get early leads and consume time such that opponents can’t use their entire playbook, for example). Doesn’t mean you can’t take your shots, but at least consider what position you place the defense when you swing for the fences in the first quarter and miss. On defense the front seven has to, first of all stop the run at all costs and then try for more pressure if not sacks. The secondary has to stop channeling Ike Taylor.

5. 2011 was the end of the Hines Ward era, and with it one helluva mean streak. Perhaps this team has taken on too much of Tomlin’s personality and may be a bit too respectful of the opposition. With Steelers/Ravens its really punch or get punched in the mouth. Those are the only two options.

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