Are you past the Steelers Game?

[The Goat]

Is anyone else having a damn hard time letting the Steelers game go? It's bugged the hell out of me all week, I thought watching some ball this weekend would help me get passed it but I still can't. Here's what I keep thinking about:

1) Pitt is good but not great. Both NY and Philly dominated them, and IMO those are the best teams Pitt has faced. Looking at their schedule I see a lot of shitty teams they beat... so they win the games their supposed to but I will argue till I'm blue in the face Pitt is not a great team.

2) We lost in such ugly fashion. I know the score wasn't as absurd but Monday night felt a lot like the Pats last year. Just fucking dominated. And I hate it. Wouldn't get under my skin so much if I thought we didn't have the talent, but again I'll argue till I'm blue in the face we are a more talented football team than the Steelers.

3) And this is the big reason I can't stop obsessing... it feels like a defining point for us. An opposing defense utterly shut us down. They anticipated our calls. They were more physical. They highlighted our weaknesses over and again... meaning the tape exists for the next 7 teams we face to see exactly what worked and will work going forward. That is unless the offense gets more dynamic. (I'm not worried about the defense - a few busted plays against Pitt but I bet we'll stay the 4th best d for the remainder of the season and maybe even move up).

How the offense responds is key IMHO. It can't be more of the same: strong rushing w/ some short/medium underneath passes worked in. Some say we need more of the long ball and I think there's merit to that. After all, we've got a QB who can hurl the long bomb farther than any other in football and a guy who can outrun the defense on any given play. We've also got the league's MVP tailback who has shown great hands and quickness when given the opportunity. And... we've yet to work our heralded but unproductive rookie weapons into the mix. Why Fred Davis, a pass catching TE, if there was no plan to run two TE sets in which either/both guys can break loose for open catches underneath. And why can't a 6 foot 2 speedster phenom get the fuck open more than once a game! We should be scoring 30+ points a game, no?

I'm not bashing guys. I'm frustrated. Do we come out and turn heads the last seven games (does Zorn turn it up on offense), or do we see more of the same?