Cleveland Browns legend Joe Thomas threw some shade at the Steelers for their Wild Card loss on Sunday night against the Chiefs.
Thomas, of course, never saw much postseason success himself in Cleveland. The Browns failed to make the playoffs even once with Thomas at the helm, despite the fact that the Wisconsin product was an anchor of their offensive line for over a decade.
Fact is, most of the Browns success is very recent — I’m talking the last three years or less. When Thomas was in tow, Cleveland was routinely a laughing stock, at least as far as professional football was concerned. A rotating door of head coaches and quarterbacks will do that to a team.
Despite his hypocrisy, making fun of a divisional rival was too tempting for Thomas to avoid altogether.
Steelers great Brett Keisel, who played against Thomas in his day, quickly came to the franchise’s defense.
Game, set, match.
Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers falter on offense
Pittsburgh’s offense has routinely been among the worst in football all season long. Much of that has to do with an inept offensive line and an aging quarterback at the end of the line in Big Ben.
But offensive coordinator Matt Canada cannot be absolved of blame here, either. Canada didn’t show an ounce of creativity all season, and when the Steelers desperately needed a sustaining drive against the Chiefs on Sunday night, specifically near the end of the first half, Canada’s unit went three-and-out. It’s an all too predictable result.
Pittsburgh’s vaunted defense gave up 40 points for the third straight playoff game. That can’t be ignored, and Keith Butler deserves some heat along with the rest of the unit. But the Steelers were on life support from the second quarter-on against the Chiefs without an ounce of rest.
Once the tables turned, there was no going back.