Don't call it a comeback, Ben has done this for years. Wreckin' his peers. Puttin' defenses in fear. Makin' Browns tears...rain down like a monsoon.
Alright, alright. I will give up my career as a pseudo-rapper. But, at the same time, I know that after watching Ben Roethlisberger's second half comeback performance against the Browns on Sunday, I was not the only person who had the lyrics for "Mama Said Knock You Out" running through their head. Well...maybe I was indeed the only person singing a rap song from 1990. But, that does not make the correlation between the opening to that song and the game any less true...although, I will admit that the correlation might not be a tad irrelevant ( i.e. 20 years too late).
Still, the word "comeback" keeps reverberating in my mind, because I have not seen a second half rally of that magnitude (by the Steelers) in a very long time. At one point, the Steelers trailed the Browns 21-6. Cleveland impressively drove down the field for a touchdown, then had a score set up by a long kick-return, and finally scored another short touchdown off of an interception. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh's offense was stalling inside of the red-zone (dropped passes, poor throws) and had to settle for field goals.
To clarify, I am not just talking about the score: the Browns owned the Steelers in the first half. Sure, the Steelers did not help matters, by dropping easy receptions, giving up tons of return yardage, and turning the ball over, but it was more than merely the fact that Pittsburgh was playing poorly: Cleveland was kicking Pittsburgh's rear, up and down the field.
Then came the second half.
The Browns offense, that looked so productive in the first half, went three-and-out on its first possession of the second half. But, it was not that Cleveland's offense looked less effective; it was that Pittsburgh's defense was on fire: Cleveland's wide-outs were smothered, running lanes were nonexistent, and Derek Anderson was rattled, rushed, and ransacked on every play. So much so, that the Browns did not score a point on offense in the second half. (Note: Joshua Cribbs scored a touchdown on an amazing kick-off return.) In fact, Cleveland's first four possessions of the second half were: punt, punt, interception, punt. Again, Pittsburgh's defense made a complete 180 in the second half.
Meanwhile, Ben Roethlisberger and company decided to start finishing their drives. They had already been moving the ball, but as I mentioned earlier, they had failed to score touchdowns. Receptions that were dropped in the first half, became miraculous catches in the second half. Passes that were slightly askew in the first half, were dead-on on the second half. And, running-lanes that had been clogged in the first half, were suddenly open. Cleveland's pass-rush was still present...but, Ben figured out how to elude them. Ben was making plays happen, by moving around in the pocket, finding a open receiver, and completing first-down pass after first-down pass. Simply, Cleveland was at a loss. For example, on one particular play, Cleveland's secondary left no one open and their the pass-rush was closing in on Ben; just as Browns fans were about to cheer an "obvious" sack, Ben scrambled 30 yards for a touchdown. In other words, try as they might, the Cleveland Browns at their best, could not keep pace with the Pittsburgh Steelers at their best.
In a nutshell, Pittsburgh is bigger and deffer.
I know I know: enough with the references to 1990's rap songs.
In summation, in a game where Cleveland's skill-players (Edwards, Winslow) finally showed their first round potential and where the Browns legitimized their position among the top third of the teams in the NFL, the Steelers simultaneously solidified their position as one of the top three teams in the league. Simply, the Browns are very good, but the Steelers are even better. Furthermore, the Steelers now know that they can trail a play-off caliber team by more than two touchdowns, and still mount a comeback. In other words, when the Steelers are hitting on all cylinders, there are very few (if any) teams that can match them. They're...uh...bad!
