When either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin slumps, and the rest of the Penguins are faring just fine, that's the perfect problem to have. Because soon enough, both will be what they've always been. Stars aren't the variables. All the other guys are.
Revolutionary thought, huh?
Yeah, I know. But hey, that hasn't stopped me from expressing it for years, and I'm not about to stop now that I've covered the Steelers losing in Cleveland -- sorry, tying -- and seeing that scale left level largely through a lousy performance from their franchise quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions, fumbled the ball away twice, was sacked four times and threw 18 incompletions among his 41 passes.
There's nowhere to hide from all that and, to Ben's credit, he didn't, assessing afterward, "You can’t win a football game if you turn the football over that many times.”
Not even against the bleeping Browns.
And it wasn't just the common stats cited above. Our Chris Carter, as part of his weekly War Room project, counted 10 bona fide bad throws -- meaning misfires and/or poor decisions -- among those 18 incompletions. One of the three interceptions was on Jesse James for allowing a strike to slip through his gloves, but the other two were errors, one a fling into triple-coverage, the other an air-mailed prayer that never should have left his hand.
Blame it on being banged around?
That might be fair. Mike Tomlin disclosed at his Tuesday press conference that Roethlisberger's got an elbow injury and described his practice status as limited. That means he's highly unlikely to practice Wednesday. At the same time, Tomlin stated flatly that the elbow didn't affect Roethlisberger's performance Sunday, and Roethlisberger didn't raise the issue at all on his weekly radio show an hour earlier.
Blame it on the new coordinator?
That'd be weird, right? Considering Randy Fichtner is basically Ben's handpicked choice.
Blame it on the rain?
Whatever, but the Browns' Tyrod Taylor was just as wet, and he had far more unwelcome company in his backfield, and he still held the damage to one pick despite an absurd 25 incompletions in 40 attempts.
Blame it on the line?
Sure, Alejandro Villanueva was tormented by Myles Garrett all afternoon, but the overwhelming majority of Roethlisberger's incompletions came without duress.
Just blame it on Ben. It's OK. It happens.
This throw happened:
That was the Steelers' first third down of the game. Antonio Brown does his part, beating the safety, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, off the line and putting himself into precisely the same position JuJu Smith-Schuster would later assume -- exactly the same play call, just different jersey numbers -- for a 67-yard splash.
Only the throw was the throw.
It's no big deal in the broader perspective, though. Because soon enough, if not Sunday against the Chiefs, Roethlisberger will be what he's always been. Stars aren't the variables. The other guys are. And in Cleveland, the Steelers' other guys and other situations saw way more pluses than minuses, even among those who might have been expected to be minuses.
If James Conner had been anything less than what he was, serious questions would have dogged the offense. Let's not pretend otherwise. He's a hero now, but he wasn't functioning with a whole lot of room for forgiveness if he'd have failed. And he did beautifully.
The line did its part, too. Villanueva could have used more help with Garrett, but the overall pass-blocking was OK, and the run-blocking ranged from good to exceptional.
The defense had the occasional letdown, but the linebackers, the most prominent position of doubt, cranked out six of the seven sacks of Taylor -- T.J. Watt had four, Bud Dupree and Jon Bostic one each -- while Vince Williams had a dozen tackles, and the linebackers and secondary combined for nine passes defended plus Cam Sutton's interception.
Worry when those guys start stumbling.
• Can't believe I just described Watt's day without additionally mentioning the 11 tackles, four for losses, three quarterback hits and, oh, yeah, this:
At the risk of beating the point, ask what meant more in the longer run: A star being off, or that.
• Should Roethlisberger have put in more time in preseason games than just the cameo against the Titans?
That requires conjecture, obviously, but this is now two years in a row he's started slowly against a terrible opponent, so there's at least a pattern in place for his age 35 and 36 seasons. Might be worth considering. Even if it's just a few snaps in the preseason finale.
But if that happens, society as a whole needs to pinky-swear not to criticize the coach over any preseason injuries, OK?
• AB conceded, in not so many words, that his connection wasn't all there with Roethlisberger, albeit without coming close to criticizing anyone.
"We just need to be better," he'd say.
He's right, but he needs to be better, too.
Not sure if something was said on the CBS broadcast to influence this, but there seemed to be a public misperception that the Browns were doubling or tripling AB most of the game. It simply isn't true. The Browns did apply extra bodies once the Steelers reached the red zone, but they typically had him in single coverage against Denzel Ward, the No. 4 overall pick in the most recent NFL draft. Ward's wonderfully talented, as his two picks showed, but he also was making his professional debut.
• Scapegoating specialists can slam Dupree all day long -- he's clearly the new Jarvis Jones in that regard -- but Bud was in a damned-if-he-does-or-doesn't setting Sunday, lining up across from a rookie left tackle in Desmond Harrison, and all he delivered was five tackles, four of them solos and one for a loss, plus a sack, two passes defended and a forced fumble.
Bud's got flaws, but he isn't the second coming of Jones. Jarvis could only have dreamed of an NFL day like that.
• Speaking of scapegoating, by all means, let's recite ad nauseam the narrative that Tomlin teams play down to lesser competition. Because winning 11 of their past 12 games against sub-.500 teams -- Chicago last year, amid the anthem flap, was the exception -- clearly doesn't count toward that. And because the Steelers, to repeat, would have won this one going away if Roethlisberger had been anywhere near standard form. Or if Chris Boswell had booted home a 42-yarder. Or if NFL replay officials had noticed that the punt did, in fact, hit that orange helmet.
The preparation, very evidently, wasn't enough. But singularly focusing on it is doing nothing more than force-feeding a worn-out meme.
• Same with the penalties. The Steelers drew 12, the Browns 11, and the officiating crew was further exposed as flag-happy by the NFL's chief replay guy, old friend Al Riveron, taking one of them back. That's the equivalent of a public finger-wagging.
• Mamas and papas, raise your boys to become quarterbacks. Because if Nathan Peterman can still be in the mix in Buffalo, then that job might as well be open casting. He wasn't particularly special at Pitt, he absolutely bombed in two starts for the Bills as a rookie last season, and in another start Sunday in Baltimore, he completed -- sit down for this -- 5 of 18 passes for 24 yards with two picks, three sacks and a 0.0 passer rating that, remarkably, might have inflated his value.
• This will already be forgotten by most, but Sutton's interception on a deep ball shortly after being victimized by Taylor and Josh Gordon for a touchdown -- same sideline, same type of throw -- was good stuff. That kid's had his hands all over the football all summer, and he deserved better than a week of sleepless nights for being scorched on the initial play without ever having glanced back.
• Down goes Jeremy Hill and, just like that, the Patriots have lost a running back for the year.
Purely for fun: Could there be any circumstance where the Steelers would/should do a sign-and-trade involving Le'Veon Bell to anyone in the AFC?
Not just New England. Anyone in the conference.
Good luck.
• No way I'd get this far without something on Conner vs. Bell: