Pittsburgh Steelers: The Ugliest Best Team in the NFL

To all the Ravens and Cowboys fans out there, my condolences. As a Steelers fan, I personally would much rather have my team win in a dominant, soothing fashion with no fourth-quarter comebacks leaving me reek of perspiration and grabbing for my yuengling.

But not this Steelers team, who have seemingly perfected the art of winning in the most ugliest of fashion.

Coming off of their second last minute win in as many weeks, teams are scratching their heads wondering how they let those rascally Pittsburgh boys  get away. I mean, let's face it, the offense is mediocre on a good day and they also have a penchant for letting teams get out to early leads.

Their running game is about as effective as throwing mud against a wall and the offensive line would have better luck protecting Big Ben by tying a mattress to his back. How on earth did these 11-3 Steelers just win their division, clinch the No. 2 playoff seed and all of the sudden became the last team anyone in the AFC wants to see come January? Here is my take.

 Mike Tomlin's Secret Recipe For Winning With A Team Beaten By The Ugly Stick

1. Defensive Excellence and Depth: Everyone knows the Steelers defense is great (They have a very real chance of becoming the only NFL team to NEVER give up 300 yards in a game). But not everyone realizes the sheer depth of this squad. When you can have playmakers come off the bench like Timmons, Gay, Hoke, Eason, Townsend and make serious contributions to a game it becomes impossible for any offensive coordinator to make a gameplan short of throwing his clipboard in the air.
2. A QB Who May Have Sold His Soul: There are a lot of Big Ben haters out there, always busting his chops for "Being a bus driver" and citing his obscene amount of wins being due to his superior team. Bull crap. For one reason or another, that maybe only Ben and the devil know, this guy is clutch. No matter how porous his O-line is, how many sacks he has taken or how crappy he might have been playing in the first three quarters, when the cards are down, Big Ben is better than any.

Really gents, that is it in a nutshell. Try to find a bright spot other than those two areas. I dare you. As for the Titans, Colts, Jets and who ever else we see in the playoffs, get your Kleenex's ready.

Remember not to cry too hard when you get beaten by a team that rushed for 22 carries 65 yards on the ground and a QB that threw 137 yards, 80 of them coming of that last drive.

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