Depression sets in

The Steelers have dropped their third game in a row. My Monday mornings are beginning to feel more and more dreary by the week.

This is the fifth game this year the Steelers weren't able to protect a lead in the fourth quarter. All the games the Steelers have lost were close. They lost four games by only three points and one by six points. This means two things. One, the Steelers are really not a bad team at 6-5, but more frustrating is that the Steelers simply cannot win close games. They cannot seal the deal. That's ugly, period. Especially if there is any chance of going into the playoffs, I don't feel confident at all in this team winning even the first round. They are extremely talented and smart, but their minds are not in the game, especially when it counts the most.

Another scary stat is that the Steelers are 2-4 when Polamalu doesn't play and 4-1 this year in the games he starts. For one, it shows how valuable Polamalu is to this team, but it also shows how the rest of the defensive unit cannot seem to get the job done without him. This is supposed to be an 11-man unit. Polamalu should not count so much towards the wins and losses of a team.

Even more scary is the fact that this Defense has allowed 29 pass plays of 20 yards or longer, six of which were of 40 yards or more. Thats in only 11 games played. Last year, they allowed only 22 plays of 20 yards or more, two of which went for 40 yards or more throughout the course of the entire season.

The big plays have come against this defense way too often, and most of them seem to take place in the fourth quarter when the defense we know gets to the QB and forces turnovers or at least stops opposing offenses in their tracks.

I will say this, I'd much rather not see the Steelers in the playoffs this year than watch them blow games in the post-season in this fashion.

My heart simply cannot handle the stress. I'm 24 years old and my wife keeps finding more and more gray hairs on my head each week. I'm sure that's correlated (at least in part) to Steelers performances.