Steelers reaction: Something's different

Three Weeks ago, it would have been a loss.
One year ago, it would have been a loss.
Two years ago, it would have been a loss.
But on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to pull out as gutsy of a win as I've seen from them in quite some time, and I do not feel that I exaggerated that sentance one bit.

Before Sunday's contest with the hated Cincinnati Bungles started, it had the potential to be a trap game. The Steelers have clearly been a better football team than Cincinnati has this season, but the combination of Pittsburgh consistently losing to scrub teams, along with the unpredictability of a rivalry game, made it seem like the perfect trap. The first half appeared to confirm all of Steeler nation's fears. At best, it was a slow start. At worst, Pittsburgh got their butts handed to them on a silver platter.

I was not nearly as upset about this as some yinzers seemed to be. Photo creds to SI.Com

At the half, the Steelers were down 20-9. The offense could not move the ball. The defense was getting hit in the mouth, and topping it all off; Pittsburgh shot themselves in the foot with penalties. As the first half drew to a close, I tried to keep my thoughts positive. Well, is this proving anything we don't already know? Well, if they beat Baltimore, they still win the division. Well, they are still as good as anybody when they are on." If it were a typical day, the Steelers would have either blown away in the Ohio River wind or fought hard, only for a comeback to fall short. But this was not a typical day.

The Steelers were resilient. The defense allowed no points in the second half, as Cincy's running attack could do absolutely nothing. The offense chipped away, as three more Chris Boswell field goals (he had three in the first half) got the game to within two points. Finally, about midway through the 4th quarter, the Steelers put the Bungles in a position to do what they do better than any other team in North American sports; lose their heads in the worst possible moments.

Chirs Boswell kicked six field goals; and made them all. (Photo creds to stillcurtain.com)

Five plays. Five Bungle penalties. 30 free yards in total. This moved the ball from the 48 all the way down to the 18 and led to Ben Roethlisberger finding Eli Rogers in the end zone for the winning score. Fantastic. Maybe it was the product of playing an evil and horribly disciplined football team. Maybe it was the Curse of Cope coming back to bite Jeremy Hill. Or perhaps, this Steelers team is different from any we've seen in the past five years?

Over the past several weeks, the Steelers are debunking some of the myths that have plagued them in recent years. They've faced two prototypical "traps"; one in Buffalo and the other in Cincinnati, and have conquered both of them. Their defense has been playing at a level that I haven't seen in sometime, even without their best player, Cam Heyward. Best of all, it looks like they just may be getting back to the Pittsburgh Steelers of old, and not the "lets score some points and have some fun" football team that we have seen. These Steelers are focused. They are tough, and they have a division title and a home playoff game in their grasps.

As I rave about these men, I am well aware that it still comes down to Christmas Day. I know that, with 60 lousy minutes, the hated Dirty Birds can put a stop to everything and ruin Pittsburgh's chances of a division title, and possibly the AFC playoffs. But as of right now, through 14 weeks, I feel a hell of a lot better about the Pittsburgh Steelers then I have since I was a Middle School boy.

I know that there is still a lot of work to be done. I am aware that the notion of this being an inconsistent football team could still be alive. But I also know that the Pittsburgh Steelers are on fire, and when everything is clicking, as it was in the second half at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday afternoon, there isn't a team in the NFL that they could not beat.