Steelers recap and more

Steelers:

• Penalties - I can forgive the rookies for making mistakes this early in the year. Chalk it up to excitement, but the veterans? Troy Polamalu? Sorry. Stupid. Cost us.
• Defense - We can't be wishy washy on defense. After halftime the defense came out like gang busters stopping the Ravens cold. Then when the offense couldn't make anything happen the defense came back out and what? Decided that they didn't have to do anything since the offense didn't do anything? Can't happen that way.
• Coaching - Mike Tomlin has got to find a way to fire up this team. He is calm on the sidelines, but sometimes calm isn't what these guys need, especially when playing a division rivalry that hates the Steelers with a passion.
• Focus - Yes, the Ravens had an exciting week with the whole Ray Rice situation, but seriously who doesn't have some time of issue during the work week? We all have to learn to put aside our problems when working or else take a sick day. Did the Steelers think this was going to be a walk in the park because the Ravens were so caught up in drama? Pfft. Most of the time that sort of drama fires up a team.
• Offensive line - Where were they? Same old, same old. If I were Ben Roethlisberger I would be all over those guys the next day. At some point he has got to stress to them the important role they play in the game of football. Protecting the quarterback has got to be number one. Hello!
• Polamalu - Where was his head? Not in the game. He missed tackles left and right and then because he was frustrated made stupid mistakes that resulted in penalties that gave the Ravens opportunities to score. He only came alive when the kicker came out on the field and that was just more frustration in my opinion.
• Antonio Brown - He was forced out of the game in the first drive with a major hit that required concussion management per the new NFL rules. Without him the Steelers deflated. One man should not define a team for heaven's sake. This is football. Players are going to get hurt daily. Suck it up and carry on. If not for the team, then for the player.
• Big Ben - First time in 30 games that he hasn't thrown a touchdown. Bound to happen sometime, but why did it have to be this game? We should be determined more on the games with this team then any other. Jeez.

Ray Rice Situation

• I've seen the video. Horrific. But I also wonder why I'm not hearing more about his wife's, then his fiance, part in all of it. She too was throwing out some violence, hitting Rice and spitting. While that doesn't warrant what happened to her I think her actions need to be talked about as well. Why aren't we talking about how hitting ANYONE isn't acceptable?
• The NFL f&;%$^ed up. Bottom line. And as far as I'm concerned the NFL is Roger Goodell. All of the teams, except for the Pittsburgh Steelers, voted to put everything in Goodell's hands. He is the judge and jury in the NFL and he dropped the ball. Period. He should walk away.
• Goodell dealt with the situation several months ago. Whether he saw the video or not he handed down his punishment, a lopsided two game suspension based on whatever went through Goodell's mind at that time. Rice served his sentencing by the courts, going through a treatment program, and was currently serving his NFL suspension. To come back now and say, oops that video is going to make people mad we better do something more? Roger Goodell should step down.
• The NFL has got to flat out say that if a player is arrested, FOR ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING he will be immediately suspended. Arrested for drugs? Suspended. Arrested for smacking your wife around? Suspended. Arrested for jaywalking? Suspended. Immediately. Suspended until a player has his day in court or a sentence is handed down. Then and only then will the NFL deal with you and your job. That might just make players think twice before they raise a fist, smoke weed, get behind the wheel intoxicated, party all night at a night club, etc.
• The Ravens stood by their man even after they knew what happened. Surprise. Pfft. NFL teams constantly ignore what happens off the field with their players. I give huge kudos to Steelers owner Dan Rooney who told Roger Goodell that if he didn't deal harshly with Ben Roethlisberger, during his alleged assault on a woman, then the Steelers would. And they did. Rooney had Ben in his office where he was given an ultimatum. Straighten up or we'll ship you out. And let's be clear here. Ben was never arrested. Right or wrong that is different. Had he been arrested I don't think he would still be leading this team. The Ravens wiped the Rice situation under the rug until the video surfaced, the same video that has been available all along. What did everyone thing happened in that elevator after seeing what video was released; that of Jaynee Rice lying unconscious on the floor half in and half out of the elevator. The Ravens acted, but only after they knew the public wasn't going to stand for that video.
• And why doesn't the public get angry until we see telling evidence? Why after a player is arrested don't we say, that's it? Burn the jersey at that time. Move on to another player. Why do we support these guys? Believe me., after Ben was accused of sexual assault I did not let my daughter wear her Roethlisberger shirt. That thing was boxed up and out of sight.  I did not put Ben in my Steelers room for years. While I believe that he has straightened out his downward spiral, has gotten the help he needed, and has taken steps to redeem himself I will never buy a Roethlisberger piece of memorabilia. I just can't. And he wasn't even arrested, only accused. We, the public, have got to stand up sooner.

Adrian Peterson

• Yikes. Arrested for child abuse. On his son. The incident occurred last October when Peterson's son was visiting him at his home in Texas. Peterson disciplined his son with a switch he cut from a tree. The cuts were still visible on the boy's body a week later when he returned to his mother in Minnesota. She took him to the doctor who reported the incident. Seriously, it takes almost a year to get an arrest?
• The Vikings immediately suspended Peterson for their home opener this weekend. Right move, but you know it was only because of the whole Ray Rice video that they did it. If I were Ray Rice I would be worried Peterson might came after me with a switch.
• And what is one game suspension? Are the Vikings waiting for video? Better not wait too long. In this day and age of electronics, something tells me that we shouldn't be surprised if the other Peterson child didn't videotape his father's "whooping" on his brother.
• If the NFL would adopt my policy then Peterson would be suspended indefinitely while his case goes through the court system. None of this one game suspension nonsense. And gee, what will Roger Goodell do with this little gem? He is so willy nilly with his suspensions and fines. How does the man base his punishments? I would really like an answer to that.