This was the kind of game you love to watch as a Steeler fan, especially in the second half. After a close affair in the first, the Steelers eventually took control and dominated the second. It looked like what it was: a mature and experienced team taking over and beating a team that hasn't been winning for long. Huge recap after the jump.

Hello, Blitzburgh readers. Last week during the Bye, Blitzburgh made a move and signed a new writer to complement Bam and Norm. That writer is me. My name is Brian. You don't care about me though, so let's talk Steeler football. Tonight the Steelers play the upstart Broncos in Denver. Here are a few things to keep in mind. Jump.

The BlogPoll NFL Power Rankings are out after this past week's action

Here's how we voted for our top ten:

1. New Orleans
2. Indianapolis
3. Minnesota
4. Denver
5. Philadelphia
6. New England
7. Cincinnati
8. Pittsburgh
9. Baltimore
10. Houston

It's a bye week for the Steelers but we're still here. At 5-2, the Steelers are close to the midpoint of the season. We've seen enough football now to know how has showed up for the season and who hasn't. Seven games isn't a huge sample size, but it's enough to make some snap judgments.

Here's five players who have showed up and played big roles so far in 2009. They are guys who might have been coming in under the radar or guys who just broke out from obscurity.

Jump it...

The Steelers needed a pair of 4th quarter TDs by the defense -- both over 75 yards to hand the Vikings their first loss of the season.

All season long it felt like the Steelers were playing down to the level of their opponent. This week, they elevated their game above and beyond that of the Vikings.

The Steelers felt like the better team right out of the gate but a few early red zone mistakes kept the Vikings in the game. Then Brett Favre went to work, AP bulldozed a few Steeler defenders and all of a sudden the game came down to the 4th quarter.

More on mistakes by both teams and where the Steelers stand in comparison to the rest of the league after the jump...

It pains me to waste virtual ink on another stupid Jeff Reed story, but I suppose I ought to.

Reed was cited again last night for public drunkeness and some other junk. Matt Spaeth got caught up in the whole think too.

Like BTSC, this is probably the nail in Reed's coffin with the Steelers. I don't think there's anything too terrible with what he's done and he's mostly harmless. It's not like he's out carrying handguns or beating women.

But this type of behavior is annoying and has become a pattern for Skippy. It makes the Steelers look classless and is certainly against the workman-like attitude that the Steelers are known for.

The Steelers probably see Reed as an embarrassment and also a way to save some cap room if they let him go after this season.

I, for one, I'm just tired of reading about this senseless and needless behavior all of the time and think this makes one incident too many for the Skipster.

Yeah, there were some big mistakes by the Steelers today: a kick return coverage unit that let Josh Cribbs return one for a TD and then pooched the ball and gave Cleveland great field position the rest of the way; Willie Parker's disastrous return; and an offense that struggled on third down.

But all that aside, this was as close to a dominating performance that the Steelers have shown so far this season. Ben Roethlisberger threw for over 400 yards and the offense was very productive all day. The defense pitched a shutout in the 4th quarter and only allowed the Browns one scoring drive all game.

After struggling early in the season, the Steelers now sit at 4-2, tied for the AFC North lead. The teeth of the schedule is ahead with the Vikings, Ravens, Broncos, and Bengals ahead. Kansas City is the only game where the Steelers are a lock to be favorites in the next five. That's a scary thought and the Steelers "best" win so far has been against San Diego.

With Polamalu (hopefully) in full health next week and a running game slowly coming around, the Steelers will need all the pieces to click starting next week if they want to stay in the divisional race.

Today was a good start to getting everybody operating at full speed and hopefully the trend continues.

The strange season for the Steelers defense continued with another up and down performance against the lowly Lions on Sunday. The defense kept backup QB Daunte Culpepper in check most of the game, but faltered again down the stretch. A dominant series to end the game was nice to see, but it was hard not to be at least a little frustrated with the soft defense we had to watch down the stretch yet again.

Read on...

Ben Roethlisberger stole the show again yesterday against Detroit, with another solid performance from Rashard Mendenhall helping him out.

The Steelers moved the ball with ease until the 4th quarter, where Bruce Arians' curious reliance on the passing game led to a few short drives and helped Detroit claw back into the game.

Grades after the jump...

I could have not watched this game and probably written the script of how this game would go. Games like these are slowly becoming the blueprint for the 2009 Steelers.

The Steelers did whatever they wanted to on offense for a quarter a half and looked like they were well on their way to a blowout victory over the hapless Lions.

Then Ben Roethlisberger made an ill-advised throw and the Lions had a quick TD and were back in the game. Roethlisberger threw a couple TDs after that and the rout was on again.

Until the 4th quarter rolled around and the Lions dominated both sides of the ball, nearly coming back to tie the game.

Week after week, the Steelers flash the dominance that you'd expect them to show. But it's only in bits and pieces and a lot of mediocre football shows up between the good times.

Ben Roethlisberger is playing the best football of his career. Rashard Mendenhall dominated for the second week in a row. James Harrison tore apart the Lions offensive line.

There's a lot to like about the win.

But there is just a sinking feeling that this team is lacking the killer instinct that it had last year in big situations. You can get away with taking your foot off of the gas pedal against the Chargers and Lions, but if this isn't fixed, it will be the Steelers downfall.

Grades on the way the next couple of days...