Random thoughts on the loss

Toward the end of Chuck Noll's tenure in Pittsburgh, the Steelers pulled out an unexpected win in Cincinnati against Sam Wyche's Bengals. After the game a Steeler's assistant was overheard to say, "that's just like Wicky-Wacky. Best talent in the division and he always finds a way to lose."

I'm not sure Pittsburgh had the best talent in the big games they've lost, but they certainly mirror the wicky-wacky Bengals of the mid-1980s: we keep losing on badly executed finesse plays. As Michael Irvin said Sunday night about Cowher's repeated failures in big games- "it's possible to out-think yourself."

With a shaky rookie QB in the biggest game of his life, a couple of gadget plays early might have made sense. An end around, a reverse, a flea-flicker, a bootleg. (Note: I am not contradicting myself-I think a gadget play early in a non-critical situation is entirely different from a sideline pass on 3d and three in the fourth quarter.)

The Steelers defense was burned deep over the middle twice. The Patriots were selling out to stop the run but were never exposed deep. Was that great defense, poor play calling, or a bad quarterback?

I wish just one Steeler had as much pride as Don Beebe. Two long interceptions returns in the playoffs and not a single Black and Gold jersey in sight in pursuit.

Speaking of pride. The Patriots have it by the truck load. They have a special intensity in the play-offs that other teams don't show.

For all the talk of Blitzburgh, the Steelers defense had been close to average in terms of sacks and takeaways the last two months.

Cowher blamed the QB for the interceptions that led to the loss. I'm not buying it. To paraphrase Goldfinger: One big game lost to interceptions; that's poor play at QB. Two big games lost that way is a bad break. Five big games lost on interceptions by three different QBs-that's play-calling and coaching.

Going back to the Washington game, the Steelers have struggled early in games due to interceptions and sacks. Yet, the game plan never changed. That strikes me as evidence of rigidity and arrogance.

After watching the Patriots play with their injury-wracked line-up, how can any coach plead lack of talent as an excuse? When Hank Poteat played for Pittsburgh he got burned in coverage. New England pulls him out of the classroom, drops him into a big game, and the defense does not miss a step.