82 Seconds changed the game. Two turnovers created by the Steelers defense, and three TD passes (one of them from A. Brown) was all this team needed to change momentum and beat the Texans.

This is the team that had the sky falling all over them after last week’s loss. If, at the 2 minute warning before halftime someone went for a beverage, he left the scoreboard showing 13-3. Coming back at halftime, the score was 24-13. And while the offense converted those TDs, credit goes to the defense.

Turning points: while the 43 yard gain by Bell on 3rd and 10 at the Steelers 14 yardline (2nd quarter) got the offense going, scoring their first points 5 plays later, the biggest turnaround came from our first fumble recovery, which led the Steelers to score a TD and grab the lead for the first time in the game. Kiesel’s interception was also a huge play, that kept momentum going for the Steelers.

 Offense:

• The Steelers had 12 offensive drives and managed to score on 6 of them, and get on Victory formation in the last one. While our offense was held to only one 3 & out for the whole game, the other 4 drives ended with a fumble by Roethlisberger, a run for no gain by Blount and two incompletions to Wheaton.
• On the same day he had a season-low 57 yards rushing, Le’veon Bell was the most impactful player on the field (accounting for 44% of the Steelers total offense), Steelers first 10 points came after big plays from him, who continued being a factor after that (mostly in the passing game).
• Antonio Brown had his classic performance, and was one half-toe away from scoring another TD. That long completion where he managed to keep both feet inbounds seemed to be a lot more difficult than that pass to the endzone, when he was ruled out of bounds after replay. If this team somehow finishes with 10 or more wins, Brown would be getting NFL MVP votes.
• Wheaton continued to be Ben’s target on 3rd down early in the game, and continued to accumulate incompletions (not all of them have been his fault), but after that, Ben preferred to look elsewhere. Meanwhile, and still too early to judge on him, it seems like M Bryant will get better with 1st team reps.
• On his first game as a Steeler, Martavis Bryant gets targeted 5 times (4 of them on long passes) and grabbed his first reception for a nice TD. He helped stretch the field and contributed by creating space for other route runners. Great concentration on that TD (he slid his 2nd foot properly, and didn’t drop the football even after being pushed to the wall).
• Moore and Heyward-Bey made clutch grabs (a TD and a long 3^rd down conversion respectively), but could be seen as one year insurances if both Bryant and Wheaton can play consistently.
• And, suddenly, letting Derek Moye walk away and not dressing J Brown seem to be the right choices from our FO.
• Our offensive line gave up 3 sacks and 3 runs for a loss. And still, get credit for keeping JJ Watt far from being a factor for most of the game: one sack, no fumbles forced, batted passes or interceptions, with 1 fumble recovery. Adams picked up for Gilbert (concussion) and performed a decent game. Pouncey and DeCastro both had awesome blocks on Bell’s runs and catches, but seemed to get confused on some of Houston’s blitzes. This unit is still struggling on 3^rd and short sometimes, while not being able to push the DL for 1 yard.
• Not trying to be a pessimist, but analyzing our drives, we scored 17 points off turnovers while starting them inside their 40 yard line (39, 8 and 2 yardline respectively), and scored 13 points when starting our drives from everywhere else.

Defense:

• Creating 3 turnovers in a game will calm critics a bit, as they led to 17 Steelers points.
• Despite allowing 20 points, the Defense showed it can perform (still, better hold your horses: it was not the Colts or Broncos offense that we stopped).
• A total of 5 Houston drives were stopped due to 3 & outs (2) or turnovers (3).
• Wonder why, at the end of the game, we dropped 8 men into coverage and still let Fitzpatrick complete several passes while getting a TD. If pass pressure was working, and our CBs are not able to hold their receivers for long (and here I go again), why aren’t we blitzing more often?
• Opening the game playing Nickel allowed Houston to take advantage of it, and run the football for more than 80 yards in the 1^st qtr. After that, even when playing Nickel, Polamalu played close to the line of scrimmage, giving the defense an exotic 4-3 look, pretty much like what the Steelers played last season. Talking about it: that happened when Foote went down, and is happening while Shazier is out due to injury. Is this trend ending when Shazier comes back?
• The defense allowed Houston to run the ball for 132 yards. With McLendon injured and the way Cam Thomas was dominated, it shouldn’t be long until McCullers gets more playing time. Even though neither him, nor Tuitt registered a tackle, both seem to be poised to get more and more reps, creating opportunities for them to shine.
• Timmons, V Williams and Spence all made plays, but also missed reads and tackles on their running game. Timmons had a sack, two stops on 3^rd down, all of that after… well, you know what I mean.
• Worilds, Moats and Harrison had their moments. While some complain they’ve been dropping into coverage too often, that’s been the essence of this defense: mixing blitzes, keep opposing QBs wondering who will drop and who will pressure.
• Gay and McCain were the best coverage corners, while C Allen struggled to cover Andre Johnson. Is someone in the FO second-guessing himself for giving Allen a contract extension?
• Mike Mitchell: 2 consecutive games making plays for this team. And counting. Here’s hoping to see it again in the next 2 weeks. Where were those plays for the first 5 games of the season?
• Nice to see Polamalu running the football once more. Still, his attempts to be his old self continue to fall short.

Special teams:

• Great kicking game: Suisham converted three FGs from 30, 40 and 44 yards. Two punts by Wing were downed inside the 7 yard line. Three kickoffs were kicked for touchbacks, while allowing returns of 4, 10, 17 and 25 yard returns (with outstanding hangtime and kick coverage). Ventrone (a.k.a. Polamalu’s younger brother) has played lights out on Special Teams so far.
• Our return teams missed badly on their trickery (allowing them to convert on a 4th and 1, with the score 24-13), while our longest kickoff return was good for 19 yards.
• On their onside kick, the ball slipped from Heyward-Bey’s hands, passed through Wheaton and Archer, before Palmer was able to fall over it at the Steelers 36 yard line (yes, the ball traveled 30 yards, and could have been Houston’s ball at our 36 yard line with 1:26 to play).

Just Wondering:

• And, just as everyone predicted, DL #99 was a key factor, creating pressure and returning an interception to the opponents’ 8 yardline (which led to a TD 2 plays later). No, not JJ Watt. We’re referring to Kiesel: kudos for showing spirit all over the field.
• Is the 2014 draft class the one having the quickest impact so far for Coach Tomlin?
• Steelers Offense scored more points in 82 seconds, than their previous last 9 quarters combined (10 points vs Jax, 10 vs CLE, 0 points 1st Qtr vs HOU).
• If Palmer hadn’t fallen over the football on that onside kick, Fitzpatrick could have had his chance to look like Montana, as Glennon and Hoyer did against us.
• Is Pouncey still blocking Mohamed? On a 2nd quarter 28 yard pass reception by Bell, Pouncey started blocking Mohamed at the Steelers 35, and was still pushing him at Houston’s 45 yardline. Bell made nice moves while running behind Pouncey, showing patience to let his center lead the block and was able to get 28 yards on the play.
• Wheaton was targeted twice, both on 3rd downs early in the game. And both were incompletions. After that, he disappeared.
• Cleanest game overall so far? Of our 6 penalties, two were intentional delays of game (Ben & Wing). One was an early Superman jump by Polamalu (encroachment) and other one was a late hit by Harrison to Fitzpatrick (close call). Offensive false start and pass interference by C Allen.
• Was Lawrence Timmons auditioning to play Willie Beamen? Our starting MLB threw up uglier than the Shark’s QB (movie Any Given Sunday), and then returned to the game to have a sack and two 3rd down stops.
• Good decision not going for it on 4^th and 1 late on the game. Wonder how many were hoping Tomlin went for it.
• Steelers defensive linemen have one more interception than their safeties combined so far this season.
• Wondering what’s the difference between being flagged or not after hitting a QB late? Ask James Harrison (got flagged) and JJ Watt (not flagged) if they think their reputation as bad/good guy influence referees? On both plays, hits looked equally late.
• Someone has to stop the WR celebrations after each TD before another flag is thrown.
• Kudos to Spence, for his awareness: While most of the defense was celebrating a stop of Arian Foster, he was the one who saw the football and recovered it, changing the momentum of the game to the Steelers side.
• So far, Martavis Bryant has been activated for 1 NFL game, and on his 1^st touch of the football he had already as many TD receptions as Markus Wheaton, Justin Brown, Derek Moye and Limas Sweed on their careers combined.

Starting the home stretch with a win helped our chances. Still, the Steelers must win at least one of their 2 following games at home (receiving Colts and Ravens on consecutive weeks) to stay close within the Division. Next week Baltimore plays at Cincinnati, and a Steelers win vs Indy will put them in striking distance of being 1^st place in the Division.

After those 2 games the Steelers visit the Jets (1-6) and Titans (2-5), before the Bye.

Trivia question: And that was the first TD pass thrown by a Steelers leftie since…?

By the numbers:

3 turnovers created by the Steelers (most since week 12, 2013).

6th time in 7 games where the opponent has scored on their 1st possession of the game.

7 Straight games with more than 100 yards from scrimmage for Le’veon Bell.

17 points scored by the Steelers from Houston’s 3 turnovers.

23 Antonio Brown consecutive games with at least 5 receptions-50 yard games, NFL record & counting.

63 Penalties by the Steelers this season (league leading –tied with NE).

82 Seconds, span in which the Steelers scored 21 points.

1991 Last time the Steelers lost a Monday Night game in Pittsburgh.

2002 Last time a team scored 21 points in a 90 second-span.

A tale of two teams: One on the upswing, the other in the middle of a free fall. This time, the Browns are getting hot, while the Steelers were exposed for a 4th time this season (exceptions at Carolina and -barely- Jacksonville).

If you show anybody the game stats without showing the scoreboard, their guess would be that it was a close game. That close, really? Key Stats show just that: (PIT-CLE): Total yards: 359 / 368, turnovers: 1 / 1, sacks: 1 / 2, Time of possession: 33:05 / 26:55, Penalties: 6 for 42 yards / 6 for 60 yards, 3^rd down conversions: 37% / 36%.

This loss was on offense, defense and special teams. No unit was able to prevail, compete or shine this week. During the first game against the Browns this season we had no idea on what to expect from Hoyer. This time around, the Browns played most of the game without one of their key RBs, their star WR, center and had only three healthy defensive linemen. And we took no advantage on offense or defense from it.

Situational execution, lack of concentration. 3rd and short rushes for a loss, 3rd down incompletions (where receivers seemed to be out of place, running a couple of steps more than what Ben expected, or him throwing too early), LBs and DBs not reacting to bootlegs and play action passes, failing to hurry Hoyer, letting their receivers get behind our DBs. Most of that is poor execution and lack of concentration, attributable mostly to the players.

Adjustments and game planning gave the Browns too much advantage. First game vs Browns, the Steelers outscored them 27-3 in the first half. After that, we were outscored 24-3 in the 2nd half. This game, the Steelers were outscored 31-10. That makes a total of 55-13 the last six quarters or football against them. Their defense knew what to expect, and their offense was able to move the football and score on us. It’s not just execution (which is an issue). Clearly, they had the edge on adjustments for the 2^nd half of the first game, and a better game plan for the 2^nd game, and that goes directly to our coaching staff. You can have talented players and compete, and can compete to win if you put your most talented players in position to take advantage and make a play, which the Browns did and the Steelers didn’t.

Offense: multiple personalities = lack of identity?

• Roethlisberger, Bell, Brown, Pouncey and DeCastro will have multiple Pro Bowl appearances when retired. Wheaton and Blount could be starters on some teams. So, this team has talent and weapons, but hasn’t defined what kind of attack they want to establish? If you are Coach Haley, running into Mr Rooney at the Steelers facilities is not on your bucket list.
• After being criticized for not running the football enough, Coach Haley decided that he would approach most 1^st and 2^nd downs running the football, mixing his horses (Bell, Blount, Archer). Of our first 24 plays, only 3 were pass attempts. On 3^rd down, it has become a tendency to find an open receiver and manage to fail the conversion. Is anyone on this roster able to catch 3^rd down passes in a consistent basis? Why were the Steelers approaching 3rd and short with their passing game, to their 2nd receiver (not Brown, nor Miller, who have been much more effective on critical situations)? Isn’t this called the best RB tandem in the league, behind an All Pro Center and a Pro Bowler at guard? Why isn’t it working so far?
• Bell, Blount & Archer combined for 133 rushing yards on 29 attempts (4.6 yds/attempt). Still, they couldn’t break one for more than 15 yards, with 2 rushes for a loss (both of them on 3^rd and short).
• Looking for drive killers? With Ben and his receivers out of sync, we missed six 3^rd down completions due to incompletions, with most of them having an open receiver, who was  either overthrown, thrown to too quickly, or managed to drop the football. Off-tempo =  Lack of reps? After 6 weeks, and playing with the same core group of receivers –with the lone exception of Moore-, can it really be a lack of reps situation?
• Our failed 3^rd down conversions: Bell run for -1, on 3^rd & 1. Blount for 1, on 3^rd& 3. Incompletions to Wheaton on  3^rd & 3, 3^rd & 6 and 3^rd & 1. Completion to Bell for 1 yard on 3^rd & 10. Incompletion to Moore on 3^rd and 17.  Interception (Really?). Incompletion to Brown, 3^rd & 4. Completion to J.Brown for 7 yards on 3^rd & 16 (Incompletion to Wheaton on 4^th down).
• How does gaining 359 yards, while giving up only 2 sacks and 1 turnover, end with only 10 points? We had 7 drives that ended inside Cleveland territory, and managed to score only 10 points. This is where and how those drives ended: FG from Cleveland 2 yardline, Failed FG from Cleveland 17 yardline, Punt from Cleveland 47 yardline, End of 1^st half, Punt from Cleveland 37 yardline, turnover on downs at Cleveland 7 yardline, TD from Cleveland 26 yardline.
• Why give Haden so much respect? He wasn’t really tested during the 1^st half, while AB has proven he can get some separation from him. Was it part of the gameplan, or Ben was showing respect (or fear) to look at his side? AB was double-teamed frequently, particularly on 3rd downs, but still wasn’t targeted enough when left on single coverage.
• Why is Heyward-Bey not used to stretch the field? Any difference, besides special teams, holding Bryant back?
• Where is Heath Miller on 3rd downs? Is it lack of confidence from Coach Haley, or they just liked Wheaton’s chances too much?
• The game was over when, at the beginning of the 3^rd quarter we approached their 30 and took consecutive sacks getting out of FG range. After that, the Browns managed to score a FG to make it 24-3, mid 3^rd quarter.

Defense: Where’s the pressure on their QB, part V?

• First series, sack by Heyward. Hoyer had just 18 dropbacks, and was pressured by Kiesel and Polamalu (once each). After that, pressure was close to non-existent, particularly lost were our defensive linemen and linebackers on bootleg plays, giving Hoyer enough time to establish himself and throw to his always-open-target (you name it, they got it) crossing the field. Isn’t anyone responsible for making leverage? Our ILBs (Spence, Timmons) were fooled by the run fakes and gave a step, either to their receivers or their blockers, giving them enough advantage to make this play consistently.
• While the browns had 158 yard rushing, they got the most from their passing plays. Long completions and a key interception (which was, at best, a questionable call), set up 28 of their points. Browns scoring drives were: 5 plays, 68 yards, TD. Key play: Cameron 42 yd pass. 4 plays, 60 yards, TD. Key play: Cameron 51yd TD pass. 9 plays, 85 yards, TD. Key play, 3 & 9 conversion, pass to Austin for 17 yards. 6 plays, 52 yds, FG. Key Play: 31 yard pass to Dray.
• The Browns didn’t really need to test our pass-D frequently; while they were pretty effective (Hoyer completed 50% of his passes, but averaged more than 27 yards per completion).
• Our LBers are the first unit responsible for what happened on those bootleg and play actions that beat us: Either lack of leverage, misreading the play, or taking a step forward while trying to attack the line of scrimmage, this clearly was a result of Browns coaches watching enough tape of our LBers reaction tendencies.
• Why wasn’t Gay targeted like Allen? While it could look as if Gay had good coverage, it was mostly to do with a) Allen not being even close to his receivers, and struggling with Cameron, and b) the Browns having only 17 pass attempts all day.
• We have dropped 7 men into coverage frequently, and still manage to make opposing QBs look like proven heroes (Glennon, Hoyer). When blitzing with DBs, we got some pressure and forced bad throws. For sure, Coach LeBeau sees this issue too. Is his lack of confidence on our perimeter holding him from using exotic blitzes?
• Polamalu, out of spot frequently. He’s been relying on his old instincts, guessing too much and playing close to the line of scrimmage. That makes him vulnerable on bootleg crossing routes (as we saw), giving also an edge to opposing QBs while he turns around to run after a receiver, while losing notion of where the football is. Also, he becomes vulnerable while trying to stop the run if it’s handled as a misdirection, because he always seems to react to his 1^st read, lying on his old ability to recover and get himself in position to make a play, even after misreading something. He has become an older, slower and mistake-prone version of his old self. Once a fan favorite, now being called by many to be part of our problem.
• Ok, so we got a taste of what Mike Mitchell can do for this defense, playing his best game as a Steeler so far. He needs to do this week in and week out, and find a consistent basis. A forced fumbled and a couple of broken passes (not deflecting them, but hitting the receivers while they attempted to make a catch) is what we expect from him. A shame if he misses time right now as he seems to be gaining momentum.

Can we get something special from our special teams? Again, it seems like Brad Wing (remember TB?) chose a bad moment to make a mistake, while the Steelers had 3 punt returns for a total of 6 yards, and returned 3 kickoffs for an average of 21.

Just Wondering…

• If your Pro Bowl center is carted off, you’ve got two options: Cry foul and use it as an excuse for your offensive miscues for, let’s say, 4 weeks. Or manage to get more than 150 rushing yards and keep your QB clean. Steelers opted for the first option last season. The Browns did the opposite this Sunday.
• Is Hoyer that good or is our Defense that bad?
• Wondering what a Pro Bowl QB or RB could do to this defense? Well, lucky you that the answer will be revealed during the next two weeks, since Arian Foster and Andrew Luck are next in line.
• That tackle by Keisel on the first long pass showed his spirit. And showed also that neither a DB, nor a LB were even close to Cameron.
• If this is the last stop on Polamalu’s way to Canton, he’s only hurting his chances.
• Next man up: Martavis Bryant, Stephon Tuitt, your time has come. Can’t be any worse and should be getting real game reps.
• Was Shazier, Taylor and J Jones presence underrated?
• First game vs Cleveland, we had Shazier and Jones. Second game, Spence and Moats started. Same result, while giving up more than 150 rushing yards. Are our LBs weak and soft, or just a consequence of a dominated DL? Try both.
• Is Harrison doing enough to be kept on the active roster after J Jones returns? For sure, this wasn’t what he had in mind while walking away from retirement to get a last stint with the team. And his time is running out.
• Our Defense could be without 5 Defensive starters for next week’s game (Taylor, Shazier, J Jones, McLendon, Mitchell).
• Which one is the real Cortez Allen? The one that made plays vs Jacksonville, or the one who struggled to cover a TE against Cleveland? He isn’t proving to be worth a contract extension.
• How can you have 5 pro bowl caliber players on offense, and still manage to score 19 total points in 8 quarters?
• Coach Tomlin says Cowher’s and Ward’s criticisms are like “music on the elevator” (who called the defense “soft” and the offense “finesse”). Free advice to Coach T: Better get out of the elevator quickly, before that music starts annoying your bosses.
• Is our Coaching Staff paying too much attention to stats? If so: Are they lobbying for themselves at the Steelers Front Office?
• Memo to whoever evaluates stats: 91 of our 221 passing yards came on garbage time, either at the end of the 1^st half, without an opportunity to score, or at the end of the game (with a 31-3 score).
• Memo #2 to whoever evaluates stats: A total offense that gains 731 yards and produces 19 points is nowhere close to being called effective.

Next 3 weeks, Cleveland has the softest schedule, visiting Jacksonville, and then receive Oakland and Tampa Bay (opponents: 1-16 combined) Baltimore plays against Atlanta at home, visits the Steelers and visits Cincinnati (8-8-1 combined). Cincy will play at Indy, then receive both Baltimore and Jacksonville (8-10 combined).

Steelers next 3 games are at home, against Texans, Colts and Ravens (Combined 11-7).  Managing to get out of that stretch with 2 wins will keep our chances of having a winning season (and a possibility of playoffs) alive. Lose two of them, and probably someone who works at the Steelers facilities –not named Tomlin- will be unleashing hell.

By the numbers:

1^st time the opponent doesn’t score on the opening drive. (As if it really mattered).

3 Steelers drives ending inside Cleveland’s 20 yardline, getting 1 Field Goal, 1 missed attempt and a turnover on downs.

6 Straight games with more than 100 yards from scrimmage for Le’veon Bell

7 Steelers drives ending inside Cleveland territory, for net 10 points.

15 sacks given up by the Steelers, projecting 48 for the season.

19 points scored by Steelers offense the last 8 quarters.

22 Antonio Brown consecutive games with at least 5 receptions-50 yard games, NFL record & counting.

27 yards per completion for Browns QB Hoyer.

57 Penalties for the Steelers this season, leading the NFL.

59 Points allowed to the Browns this season.

731 offensive yards for the Steelers last 2 games, good for 19 points.