The King is dead!
The Pittsburgh Steelers laid an egg on the shores of Lake Erie Thursday night as the Cleveland Browns beat the defending Super Bowl champions, 13-6 to all but end the Steelers' playoff hopes for the 2009 season.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked EIGHT times in the bitter cold of Cleveland and the Browns (2-11) found some solace in their season by knocking off their rivals. Pittsburgh is now 6-7 and facing near impossible odds for making the post-season.
This was the fifth consecutive loss for the Steelers and they are currently on the short end of numerous tie breakers for the wild card spots, including against the Baltimore Ravens, which reside in the AFC North division with Pittsburgh.
The Steelers still have to play the Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens to finish the season. All three of their remaining opponents are in the thick of the playoff race in their respective conferences.
"We were outplayed in all three phases of the game tonight," Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin said after the game.
Indeed.
The Browns outrushed the Steelers and outplayed them on defense as well. The Browns' Josh Cribbs ran for 87 yards and also returned a punt 46 yards to set up the first score of the game for the Browns, a field goal to make it 3-0. The Browns led at halftime 13-3 and the Steelers, which managed a paltry 216 yards in total offense, could manage just a second half field goal the rest of the way.
This would be the second time in four years the Steelers would miss the playoffs the season following a Super Bowl title. The 2006 Pittsburgh team went 8-8 following their championship the year before.
Think about this... the Steelers have lost five in a row and with a 6-7 record, they have losses to Cincinnati (twice), Baltimore (6-6), Chicago (5-7), Oakland (4-8), Kansas City (3-9) and Cleveland (2-11).
Go figure.
The Steelers will likely have all of the post-season and off-season to think about that.
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