Ryan Clark: Pittsburgh Steelers a 'spoiled bunch'
By Kareem Copeland
Around the League Writer
Published: Nov. 27, 2012 at 09:21 a.m. Updated: Nov. 27, 2012 at 09:51 a.m.
This is a problem most teams around the NFL would love to have.
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark had to respond to widespread panic after a 20-14 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. The Steelers are 6-5 and would be the second wild card if the playoffs began today.
"You lose one game in Pittsburgh and the sky is falling, it's just part of the culture," Clark told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's part of winning six Super Bowls, it's part of being 12-4 three of the last four years. We're a spoiled bunch and overall we've become entitled. But you can't be entitled, you can't walk into places and just think because you're the Pittsburgh Steelers you're going to win.
"We need to execute and we haven't been executing. Do we need to win next week? Without a doubt. We could have needed to win next week had we won this game."
Execution becomes that much more important when you're down a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and a former defensive player of the year. Not sure you're allowed to panic when the team is playing without Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu and Antonio Brown. LaMarr Woodley, Mike Adams and Willie Colon all left Sunday's loss with injuries. The Steelers were down to Charlie Batch under center with Byron Leftwich out.
Sometimes injuries derail a season and the Steelers haven't been truly healthy all year long. The bottom line: the Steelers are not championship contenders without Roethlisberger.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100...-spoiled-bunch