The Steelers were at home resting last night, but they still came away with a big victory. The lowly Jacksonville Jaguars pulled of a miraclous win at home over the Baltimore Ravens. The Jaguars didn’t score a touchdown, completed only 9 passes and fumbled the ball 4 times…..yet the Ravens could only muster 7 points of their own and lost 12-7.
The Ravens loss puts them in a virtual tie with the Steelers and the upstart Bengals — all three teams only have two losses.
Baltimore fans have to be frustrated. The Ravens played one of their best games in years against Pittsburgh in week one, but have played two awful games since against Tennessee and Jacksonville. They also have blown out a couple solid teams — Houston and New York Jets. Week to week, the Ravens seem to be a completely different team. Both of their losses have been on the road and their only road win is against the Rams. That bodes will for the Steelers/Ravens tilt at Heinz Field in a couple of weeks.
I tend to nitpick and get frustrated with the Steelers when they play poorly and win. The games against Indianapolis and Jacksonville are two good examples. But watching an AFC heavyweight like Baltimore drop two winnable games definitely makes me rethink the Steelers ‘ugly’ wins.
Pittsburgh has their share of problems: injuries galore, lack of a consistent running game and an awful turnover margin. But the Steelers are no more flawed than Baltimore or New England or San Diego or any other AFC team at this point in the season. After one of their worst performances in nearly three decades to start the year, the Steelers really are in great position at this point in 2011. If they can win 2 out of the next 3 games, the Steelers will likely control their own destiny the rest of the way. I’ll take that.
