sportsjabber.net

The Pittsburgh Steelers did their best to lock up a wildcard spot for this year’s NFL playoffs, but fell just short.

Not that it wasn’t their own doing. They certainly shot themselves in the foot by putting themselves in the position to rely on teams to win games in which they were the underdogs simply to secure the spot in he playoffs.

The Baltimore Ravens effectively knocked the Steelers out of contention this afternoon on a day where running back Willis McGahee looked absolutely unstoppable and the New York Jets simply put emphasis on it about an hour ago.

At the end of the day, there’s nothing more that can be said than, good effort men. Learn from the mistakes made this year and push onward for next. Come out firing on all cylinders, once more you’ve got a chip on your shoulder and something to prove.

There will be no excuses made for this team, they don’t deserve to be remembered like that. Injuries happen. Losing heart doesn’t. Or shouldn’t, rather.

Let’s look at the good things that came about this year.

The emergence of both running back Rashard Mendenhall and wide receiver Mike Wallace were stars that shined bright throughout the losses.

Mendenhall ran 222 times for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns with an average of 4.6 yards per carry. He also hauled in 24 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown.

The best thing about Mendenhall is that he proved that he can be an every down back in the NFL. He showed good blitz recognition and blocking skills along with his running ability.

Mike Wallace quickly became a rookie sensation, hauling in 37 catches for 692 yards and five touchdowns. One of those touchdowns was a last second game winner against the Green Bay Packers that required him to keep his feet in bounds in a high pressure situation.

To go along with those two, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a career year, a record setting year with his 4,108 passing yards. He now holds Steelers records for both passing completions and passing yardage, eclipsing Hall Of Famer Terry Bradshaw.

Wide Receivers Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes also eclipsed the 1,000 receiving yards mark to go along with their pair of Super Bowl MVP trophy’s.

A lot of good things came about this season, I’m simply asking that we try and focus on these instead of playing the ‘woe is me’ card.

http://fanhuddle.com/pittsburghsteelers/2010/01/04/pittsburgh-steelers-season-so-this-is-how-it-ends/