What happened to the Steelers?

[jefferyepayne]

I'm curious what Steelers fans think about their loss to the Broncos. What is just a matter of the injuries piling up that did them in or is there more to the story? It's unusual for a team with the #1 defense and #10 offense to go down during wildcard weekend.

jeff

[vintagetoppsguy]

What happened to the Steelers?

They got lit up by a Tim Tebow 80 yard touchdown strike in OT...and they just got out played the rest of the game too.

[barrysloate]

How on earth did Tebow throw for 316 yards?

[vintagetoppsguy]

Although I picked the Steelers, I am not sure why everybody is so surprised by Tebow (and the Broncos). In college, he won two National Championships, Heisman (probably should have been twice) and owns many NCAA records. Doesn't that count for something? I realize he has to prove himself again at the next level, but isn't he doing that?

[dstraate]

I don't think anybody questions his accomplishments. That's a resume if there ever was one. I think the reason it was so surprising was because the Broncos looked terrible, not even close to playoff worthy for 3 straight weeks against lesser opponents (save the Pats) going into a game with a playoff tested team.

Still, I'm with you, Denver dominated every phase of the game, the D looked great, and Tebow looked like a passer. It was exciting, and I found myself pulling for them down the stretch, even if I have to go this week without listening to sports radio.

[vintagetoppsguy]

I think the reason it was so surprising was because the Broncos looked terrible, not even close to playoff worthy for 3 straight weeks against lesser opponents (save the Pats) going into a game with a playoff tested team.

I understand what you're saying, but couldn't the same thing be said about the Texans? They lost their last 3 straight as well (to teams they should have beat), but nobody is surprised that they beat the Bengals (or at least it's not making headlines like the Broncos win).

Tebow will be a great quarterback in the NFL. I did pick the Steelers in that game, but I really wasn't surprised by the Bronco's win. I've already made my picks for this weekend and I chose the Pats to beat the Broncos, but I thought long and hard about that pick. We might see another upset.

[autograf]

Was surprised about the outcome a little but you can't count Tebow out. When he has a whole preseason to work with the receivers and they get some more pieces and start running a more 'traditional' NFL system, he will be better than the average quarterback. There are so many sub-standard STARTING QB's in the NFL that Tebow will surpass with a little more work. If he'd had time to develop like Aaron Rodgers did, he'd have come out of the gate a little stronger. And you can throw a pass on a play that the offensive coordinators don't call.........I'm not a Broncos fan but you can't help being a Tebow fan. A great guy for kids to emulate....better than Rothlisberger for sure.

[novakjr]

As a Browns fan, I have to say that I've been noticing a trend this year, where they just keep helping the Broncos.

Week 6- Browns injure Jason Campbell. Browns still lose, and Raiders start season 4-2, but are now without a starting quarterback. Despite eventually signing Carson Palmer(who was rusty at best, not to mention an interception machine), the team finishes up the season 4-6. Including week 8 loss to Denver, in which Palmer throws 3 INT's in his first full game back. Had Denver not won that game, it was over for them.

Week 14- Browns injure Ben Roethlisberger.
Week 17- Browns injure Rashard Mendenhall.

Both injuries contribute to Denver beating the Steelers in the Wild-Card game..

However, Thank You Denver. You may have just gotten the Browns a higher draft pick. Had Denver lost, they would've been the worst of the WC losers, and earned them a higher DP. Instead the Steelers fall into the bunch of WC losers, and improve Atlanta's pick, which the Browns received in a trade in last year's draft.

[glchen]

I have to say that I am not a believer in Tebow. This Steelers team was a shadow of what they were earlier in the season, with many injuries, especially to Big Ben. There's a world of difference between this Big Ben and a healthy Big Ben. Normally, he is very mobile, accurate on the run, and extremely hard to bring down. However, in this game even though he had flashes of his old self, he normally plays much better than this.

About Tebow, there are plenty of other college stars such as Vince Young, Leinart, etc, who won Heisman's and National Championships, and did absolutely nothing in the pros. So just because he had a college resume means squat. I watched most of the game yesterday, and Tebow threw a lot of wounded duck lob passes. Most of his passes didn't have much mustard on them (although I did see a couple that were nice throws). I fully expect the Patriots (horrible Pats defense and all) to blast the Broncos by a similar score as they did earlier in the season (something like 41-23). This is not saying that Tebow can't improve to become a semi-decent QB. Even when Tom Brady played in the year the Pats won their first SB, Brady was just known as a dinker and dunker and not like he is now. However, I don't think he'll ever become Brady. I think the best he can be is someone like a Trent Dilfer who can run like Steve McNair.

[jefferyepayne]

I am not a Steelers fan but when your QB (Rothlisberger) is playing on one leg and you lose Mendenhall, Clark, Pouncey, Hampton, Keisel, and Starks, that's a lot to overcome for any team. Injuries are always part of the game but they had more than usual late in the season.

Plus they got Tebowed. Gotta give the guy credit ... he figures out how to win.

jeff