Flu season is a horrible time of the year. The silver lining is that while one is incapacitated, one has ample time to ponder on the effectiveness of and/or the shortcomings of their favorite football team. Bed-ridden, I have been. And, ponder, I did.
For weeks, I have said that the Steelers possess the ability to win a championship, but that they were not living up to that potential. Then, last week, I mentioned that maybe the defense would gel...and against Minnesota, gel, they did. For those who love statistics, here is a glaring one for you: Pittsburgh's defense held Minnesota to twenty-five total yards of offense in the second half.
Of course, the nay-sayer in me points out the fact that in order to stop the Vikings, the Steelers had to force two red-zone interceptions. In other words, Pittsburgh's defense was not really as good as it appeared: it did not really "stop" the Vikings. Then again, at the same time, the optimist in me points our the fact that Pittsburgh's defense created those turnovers by harassing and/or confusing Brad Johnson. Whichever way you choose to look at it: the defense played pretty darn well.
I said it last week, and I will say it again: against Cleveland, it will be the offense's turn to come together. If so, the the Steelers will be hitting their stride just in time for a run at the championship.
One final note: I apologize for the terseness of this report...but, this darn flu-bug only allowed me an hour to parlay my thoughts unto you. Having finished, I must return to my bed, my Pedialyte, and my thoughts of Hines Ward scoring three touchdowns against the Browns.