Five sacks, stupid penalties, no offense, we can’t stop the run, and are being outgained by a wide margin in total yardage by the worst team in the NFL (although now that we are poised to lose to the Browns, have lost to the Raiders and the Chiefs, we might own that title now).
This about sums up the mood in the Cole household:
It isn’t just that we are losing, but that we are just really, really bad. I mean, bad as in Pirates bad, where it isn’t even fun to watch the game.
The Dangerman
I grew up a Rams fan and someone claiming the title of “Worst Team” without talking about the Lambs, er, Rams is just plain wrong.
Bubblegum Tate
The Steelers have given up on this season. As have I. Fuckin’ fuckers.
arguingwithsignposts
It is not possible.
James K. Polk, Esq.
As a Raiders fan, to you I say:
Who won that Super Bowl last year?
Cheer up, Buttercup. It could MUCH worse (trust me).
J.W. Hamner
Dammit! I hate how this site makes me empathize with Steeler fans… it’s like you’re real people or something. But, yeah, the Ravens suck too.
The Dangerman
Rams: PF: 139 PA: 314
Browns: PF: 145 PA: 309
Until the Rams can score another TD (yeah, as if), I rest my case.
wmsheppa
Very rarely have I ever considered turning off a Steelers game, but Dragon Age is looking a lot better right now than the Steelers are… is there one positive about this game? I can’t think of it.
phantomist
When you feel exactly like you do right now, for 52 years…….
Lions Fan
Keith G
John, step away from the pigskin. Take up curling.
J. Michael Neal
Any chance you could schedule a game against the Lions for sometime in the next couple of weeks? We could use the pick-me-up.
None of you clowns should be trying to claim the title of Worst Team Ever. If your team has won more than one (1) playoff game in the last 50 years, you aren’t worth talking about. Even the Cardinals managed to eliminate themselves from the running last year, though the Kitties would still have won the tiebreaker by managing to lose 16 games in a single season.
John O
At least the Steelers came out strong in the second half. Showing me a lot of pride.
John O
@J. Michael Neal:
Right. I’m a Cubs fan. I take no quarter with being tortured as a sports fan.
You have no idea.
John O
Shoot, I was snarking in my last comment, and now the Steelers actually ARE showing me some team integrity. They are, after all, going to get good field position.
The Dangerman
@John O:
About the time I started rooting for the Cubs, along came Bartman. I almost feel responsible.
Did that poor bastard have to go into Witness Protection after all?
wmsheppa
@phantomist I roomed with a Lions fan on and off for four years, and never really appreciated what he was going through… though at least he had no expectations.
J. Michael Neal
@wmsheppa: Look at it this way. We had one of the three greatest running backs in NFL history, and couldn’t win a playoff game with him. Then the team decided to make everyone try out for their jobs all over again, and he decided he had better things to do with his life than set the all time rushing yardage record.
The worst part is, Sanders was right. He had much better things to do with his life than play for the Lions.
Svensker
Hey, Kellen Clemens is going to QB the Jets this Sunday. That should make the Steelers look like playoff champs by comparison.
mr. whipple
It’s just that sort of defeatist attitude we look for when we recruit to swell our ranks.
/ cleveland fan
New Yorker
Well, as much as Roethlisberger’s disastrous night is probably going to end my season way too early in one fantasy football league (playoffs start this week), at least my opponent has him in the other league.
John O
@The Dangerman:
He actually moved out of the city, I remember that. Had to suck to be him, but he should have had more presence of mind.
Tom
I can’t believe the Browns are up 10 on anyone. I went to the Browns/Bears game earlier this season. There Bears played terribly; repeatedly booed by the fans. Yet they still won by 30.
Then again, Anderson was quarterback then, so maybe that’s the difference.
arguingwithsignposts
From the previous NFL thread, I posted this:
bernini
Seriously, bring back Dock Ellis:
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6b71020f4b/dock-ellis-the-lsd-no-no
wmsheppa
@J. Michael Neal: Don’t get me wrong, you guys get a lifetime achievement award for futility.
It’s not like we couldn’t theoretically come back from this… but when we’re doing our best Pirates imitation, I’m not optimistic.
At least when Bonds ditched the Pirates for greener fields, he promptly ruined his legacy… that took some of the sting out of it.
John O
*switching to South Park reruns*
awsp, that was funny, and deserved to be moved up.
John O
And am immediately treated to the classic “Guitar Hero/Heroin Addict” episode!
My first good call of the night.
+4 but holding. Gotta get stuff done tomorrow.
arguingwithsignposts
@John O:
Okay, now I gotta check out the SP reruns. Thanks for the tip.
BruceFromOhio
If you can WATCH the flucking game. TimeWarner is having trouble tying the fishing line to the beer cans in this wind, and I’m chasing web links.
J. Michael Neal
@John O: Oh, bullshit. This self-pitying myth that Cubs fans that Bartman cost them that game is ridiculous. For one thing, the ball was in the stands, and there’s no guarantee that Alou catches it anyway. It’s not like Steve Bartman was the only fan that tried to catch it; it was so obvious that they should leave the ball alone that about five fans were grabbing for it.
I’d think that you’d be a lot better off blaming Sea Bass for the error, or the fact that your pitching staff couldn’t get anyone out. If you’re giving up doubles to Juan Pierre and Mike Mordecai, you deserve to lose, and blaming it on a fan shows that you’re gutless.
J. Michael Neal
If you define “promptly” as almost a decade later.
arguingwithsignposts
@J. Michael Neal:
I’m blaming it on the helicopters. They weren’t joking.
John O
@J. Michael Neal:
No, no, JMN, that’s all true, I get it. I question my own ability to clear everyone out so Alou could catch the ball, but after 100,000 viewings I’m pretty sure I could have, therefore he could have. One has to understand the moment. And the rest of the collapse is well documented.
But competition is built on some degree of weirdness, luck, and karma in many cases, and I think that was one of them.
Fallsroad
Dear John,
As a life long Washington fan (they really need to change the team nickname to something a little less racist) suffering through the Danny Snyder era, all I can offer you is this: your team has been stinking up the joint a bit this season, but fer chissakes, they won the big enchilada twice in very recent memory, and more importantly, ownership hates losing and will work intelligently to fix the problem.
The same has not been true in DC, and will not be until Snyder removes himself from football decisions and fires Cerrato. This has approximately zero probability of happening.
So buck up, young man, and try to remember that some of us are currently rooting for teams that truly do suck, top to bottom, year in and out.
mcd410x
Did I just see the Stillers are 1 for 11 on third down? That’s not going to get it done.
scarshapedstar
Now you see what it was like to be a Saints fan in, well, any year that didn’t end in 09.
John Cole
Just kill me.
General Winfield Stuck
Shades of the Cardiac Kids.
nathaniel
Rothlesburger might try stepping up in the pocket now and again rather waiting until he gets hit before making any attempt to evade the rush.
mr. whipple
Well, that might be a bit of a stretch.
But for as much fire as Mangenius is under, the players sure haven’t given up.
Bosch's Poodle
Looks like 5 straight. Quite possibly the worst team playing now.
General Winfield Stuck
The Browns win this one and the 1 and 11 season is forgiven, at least for me.
D-Chance.
Don’t you mean the Coale household, Jahn?
Rock on.
John Cole
@Bosch’s Poodle: Without question. They are just fundamentally bad and have no identity whatsoever.
Let’s not minimize how well the Browns played. Their defense was dominant and their offense didn’t turn over the ball. Not that any of our secondary can catch, but still.
We suck, but the Browns wanted it and played for it.
I knew I should have bought a bottle of wine before tonight and that diet 7-Up would not cut it.
mr. whipple
@General Winfield Stuck:
I wouldn’t go that far, but I think the D is fairly solid & with a couple playmakers could really improve.
The O is some way off, but hope springs eternal.
General Winfield Stuck
Thank you FSM
BruceFromOhio
@General Winfield Stuck:
This.
I regret it is at the expense of our fine host, and that it takes a 12-degree Thursday night with the windchill below zero for Da Browns to figure out how to put together an offense.
@John Cole:
I renew an earlier offer – should you ever find yourself in Cleveland, please allow me to ply you with the wares of this establishment. It’s the very least I can offer for your kind words.
Cyan
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit reading Balloon Juice.
Gravenstone
@John O:
As opposed to the three assholes immediately beside and behind him who were doing the same exact thing? If he doesn’t reach the ball, the knucklehead immediately to his right does. Yeah, we all like to think we’d have the presence of mind to restrain ourselves and let Alou make the play. Bullshit, we would all go for the souvenir – every motherless son of us.
“Celebrating” 25 years of Cub fandom. May the gods have mercy on my poor, deluded soul…
Tom
I have a hard with this argument. I remember thinking prior to that play that there were only five outs until the series. If I’m in the front row and there’s a high pop up, the first thing I’m thinking is whether Alou can reach it or not. I’m watching him and I’m watching the ball. With a pop up like that, while it’s in the air, it’s very possible that it comes down in play.
I really don’t think I would have gone for it. And I think Alou makes the play if Bartman didn’t go for it. I don’t blame him, I just think that’s the truth of the matter.
It’s a shame that Bartman, not Alex Gonzalez, carries Leon Durham-esque infamy.