Though none of the shots were too painful, QB Brad Johnson had never before experienced 10 sacks in one game, as he did against the Steelers
by Brad Johnson
The Pittsburgh loss was a disappointing one, especially since it was at home. We expected to play better.
We knew Pittsburgh was a team that blitzed a lot and had a lot of different fronts and coverages. The real problem was that we fell behind, so in the fourth quarter, we ended up throwing 23 times and running one quarterback sneak.
Sacks [like the 10 on Sunday] come down to three factors: Missed assignments, coverage sacks, and the QB not getting rid of the ball. Sacks aren't always the fault of the offensive line. Anytime you throw that many times, a defense will tee off on you. It's something I've never experienced in my career.
Monday morning, I felt pretty sore. I don't think the hits hurt as much as exhaustion. I don't think they got too many hard hits on me, it was more like them dragging me to the ground. I was also pretty disappointed, more than anything.
The biggest thing right now is not to panic, but to have an unbelievable sense of urgency. We're 2-3. We're in this for the long haul, and we've dug ourselves into a huge hole. This week's home game against Minnesota, a division game, is a must-win for us.
The quarterback gets a lot of the blame, or the credit, and probably too much of both. It comes with the territory. Football is the ultimate team game and you count on everyone being able to make plays. And in all three phases of the game, we've struggled and been out-played.
I'll put my hand in as being a part of the loss, but it's a team game, and we all have to find a way to win.
