Steelers not alone in misery
The Steelers may have won Sunday, but don’t be fooled.
This is a team with more problems than Jay-Z.
Pittsburgh still can’t run the ball — the Steelers are 31st in the league in that department at 61 yards per game.
The Steelers can’t protect Ben Roethlisberger, necessitating a dink-and-dunk style. I have never seen a team throw more wide receiver screens in a game than Pittsburgh did against the Jets.
This is the kind of season it has been for the Steelers: their starting left tackle two weeks ago, Mike Adams, was not only benched, but inactive this week. The dude they brought in to replace him in a trade from Arizona, Levi Brown, was injured during pregame warmups and may be out for the season.
And they are still 1-4 and have a long way to go.
With that said, the defense actually forced this thing called a turnover (twice) and held the Jets to just six points.
So, that’s something.
The Black and Gold are by no means the only NFL team having problems this season.
Here are some others:
• Houston Texans: A team with Super Bowl aspirations coming into this season are watching their hopes swirl down the toilet.
Even more ugly than the 2-4 start is how the fans have treated quarterback Matt Schaub.
You thought Philadelphia was bad for booing Santa Claus and cheering when Michael Irvin nearly broke his neck?
Well, Houston fans are trying to get into that worst-fans-ever conversation.
First, a fan went to Schaub’s house and yelled obscenities leading up to Sunday’s game against the Rams, then the fans cheered when Schaub was injured in the second half.
Stay classy, Houston.
• Jacksonville Jaguars: It’s a bad sign when a 16-point loss is seen as a team making progress.
But that’s the Jags. It was a quasi-victory that they only lost to Denver 35-19 Sunday.
Jacksonville has a real shot at being the second 0-16 team in NFL history.
• New York Football Giants. They are 0-6. Eli Manning has been awful. The defense has been worse and a painful expression is permanently affixed on Tom Coughlin’s face.
Still not as bad as this team ...
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Where to start here?
The Bucs have lost 10 of 11 dating back to last year, ran the franchise leader in just about every passing category in Josh Freeman out of town for a rookie quarterback, acquired one of the best man-to-man cover corners in NFL history in Darrell Revis ... and play zone defense.
Throw in a coach in Greg Schiano who may be less popular than Hugh Culverhouse, who may be himself less popular than Satan in the Tampa area, and you have lots of problems.
But wait. There’s also a nasty MRSA outbreak.
Yes, Tampa wins most dysfunctional NFL franchise of the year.
Congrats.
