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More about 'More (Rich)

2005-11-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty much with Weegie as far as identifying the key offensive storylines this week. I'm also happy about the possibility that the offense can get 13 and we might still win handily. Or, even more conservatively, the offense can get 6, the defense can get 7, and we can win with the same 13.

On the other hand, there are things I really want to see out of the offense. I want to see if Tommy Maddox can snap out of it on the road where he'll hear fewer boos. I want to see if we give Randle El one designed series the way we used to give Kordell when he first started. I want to see if Tommy got the memo about Heath Miller being really useful. I want to know if anyone but Weegie and I had noticed the Randle El semicircular reverse thing--which, admittedly, served him well on the TD to Hines. I want to know if we could make Cedric Wilson's head explode by throwing three passes to Quincy Morgan and two to Jerame Tuman. I want to see Verron Haynes' face when he reads an article about our "three-headed running back" and how many phone calls national and local reporters have gotten from a mysterious "Mr. VH" pointing out that #34 is the only halfback who's been active for every game. I want to see if the no-huddle is going to continue working to get Tommy going. I want to see what the message boards look like this week if Tommy throws for 426 yards and 4 TDs.

Finally, what I really want to see is a healthy #7 under center in 9 nights.

--rich erenberg

Deep 13 offense, and how to not use it. (Weegie)

2005-11-18T01:06:00.000-05:00

The story floating around the city this week was of course, "Crap, now what do we do?" Nobody's exactly looking forward to the notion of the Tommy Maddox start, but there is the realization that, if we want Ben to play in January, it's probably good to keep him away from the team that wouldn't mind going off Reichenbach Falls if it took its mortal enemy with them. So we find the story rife with B plots. Will Tommy recover after the Jaguars game? Signs say we hope so, he'll have a better cast to go with this time. Are we going to let the Ravens do what they nearly did on Halloween? Signs say we hope not, and our chief ally in this is Kyle Boller, a man who can't be the modern Vinny against the Steelers, simply because he's the modern Vinny against every other team as well. But the absolute riveting story this week was the possibility of us going with Randle El at QB. He's going in as the 3rd string this week, and there was some notion that him starting would be savvy, as it sounds like Marvel Smith won't be on line offering protection, so mobility would be useful. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a couple trick plays here, and that's what worries me. This is the type of situation where we get cute, and die. We made our mint in the Mularkey era with the occasional gimmick, maybe one a game, go to two of these, and it's something people expect. And Randle El right now, is what people would expect.

I also don't like the angle Randle El typically takes on reverses, he seems to run almost a perfect semi-circle, which means he's too far back at the time when the defense realizes what's up. Contrast this with Hines, who used to run a far less deep reverse, which was usually far more effective than anything 82's generated on that play. And if I remember correctly, the worst example of this recently was Halloween against the same Ravens.

This week would be perfect for the crazy trick play only designed to get force the Ravens to call a time out. Put Randle El and Ward in the backfield, Miller and Max Starks as tight ends, Parker or Polamalu on the wing. Something so blatantly completely insane that the defense for it doesn't exist, and the other team has no choice but to call a time out to deal with it.

Otherwise, I think the best course of action this week is grind, grind, grind. Run, run, run, switch out and put the next runner in. If you pass, play the safe, quick routes. The key here is keeping ahead, making few mistakes, and protect your possible losses if a mistake happens. Ugly but effective.

Notes on the Start of the Second Half (Rich)

2005-11-13T09:42:00.000-05:00

First off, the P-G has a nice piece this morning that discusses why the Cleveland Browns v.2.0 have struggled. It's crazy, as someone who grew up in the Kosar era, that the Ravens and Bengals have each in turn passed the men from the Land of Cleve as our primary rivals. Really, it seems to come down to poor personnel decisions: Couch over McNabb, Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren over anyone, Winslow over the handlebars, etc.

In breaking news, we cut Weegie-bugaboo Willie Williams this morning to elevate Matt Kranchick and have two healthy tight ends tonight. Willie had been passed by the whole slew of youngsters at the position, particularly fast-rising #2 pick Bryant McFadden, and had been a healthy scratch for the last several weeks. Willie did yeoman's work for us last year, but may have been the biggest part of why we were torched deep repeatedly in the AFC Championship Game. Ironically, he'll probably be picked up on Monday by the Patriots, where he might be starting within 3 weeks. Meanwhile, I fully expect that the Browns will key on The Heath Bar, and Kranchick will get open for his first career TD tonight.

Finally, I've got to respond to Weegie's playoff math. For a team to miss the playoffs in the AFC at 12-4, both quality and zaniness on an unprecedented scale would have to happen over the final 8 weeks. At least three non-division winners would have to finish at least 12-4. There are only four non-division leaders right now who don't have 5 losses already: the Pitt/Cincy loser, Jacksonville, KC, and San Diego. San Diego already has 4 losses, so we would need all but one of the following to happen: Pittsburgh goes at least 6-2, Cincy goes at least 5-2, Jacksonville goes at least 7-1, K.C. goes at least 7-1, San Diego goes 8-0. Plus, all that would have to happen while Indy and Denver maintained their division leads, or lost their division leads while going no worse than 12-4 overall--so let's add to the list: Indy goes at least 4-4, and Denver goes at least 6-2. Now add the fact that every divisional matchup in that mess still has a second game to be played, plus Indy still has to play Pittsburgh, Cincy, and San Diego. That's at least 8 losses to be accounted for on one side of the ledger or the other. Bottom line: it probably can't happen, and it definitely won't happen.

Here's how I see it playing out:

Indy cruises to the #1 seed at 13-3 or 14-2
New England gets the #4 seed by default, at 9-7 if it's lucky
The Pittsburgh/Cincy rematch winner takes the division at 12-4, although even if we lose the rematch, we might beat out Cincy thanks to a craptacular schedule featuring the Browns twice, the Ravens, and 3 more Norris teams, while Cincy has to go to KC, and we both have to deal with the Colts and each other. The non-winner gets the #5.
Someone, don't ask me who, emerges in the West and gets the #3. Someone else in the West maintains and battles Jacksonville for the #6. Someone fades and gets nothing. (OK, if you twist my arm: KC emerges, Denver maintains, San Diego fades--largely based on schedule, plus KC's football karma for the end of the Oakland game, plus I always presume the Shanahan/Plummer combo will blow it.)
The third team in the West might get shut out at 10-6, but I think it's more likely they fall to 8-8
Jacksonville is the hardest team for me to deal with. They don't seem like better than a 10-6 team, but Matt Leinart has a tougher schedule than what the Jags face. They have the least daunting 3-week road trip in NFL history (at TEN, at AZ, at CLE), they also go to Houston, and they host Tennessee, San Fran, and Baltimore. Their one game with a contender is hosting Indy. I suspect they'll blow it somehow and fight some West team for the #6 slot at 10-6. But man, I can also see them running the table and putting the fear of God into Indy if Indy loses to Pittsburgh and Cincy. If they go 7-1 or 8-0 down the stretch as they very well could, and the Pittsburgh/Cincy winner gets the other wild card, this could be the most competitive AFC playoffs since...well, I gotta go back to 2004-05.

--rich erenberg

The halfway point (Weegie)

2005-11-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, let's update our estimates from the Quarter Pole.

Indianapolis - Still Real, still holding the lead. Is it going to be 16, 15, or 14 at the end?
Denver - Apparently I was wrong, though I'm still struggling to see how this team rolls through the second half like the first.
Cincinnati - Ahead of the Steelers on a quirk of schedule which should evaporate this weekend. The Steelers-Bengals game II will basically establish whether they're going to be dangerous in the playoffs or on the outside looking in.
New England - At this point I think we know their fate: They'll be the 4th seed. The only question is not who do they face in the first round. The only question now, will they at least make it competitive and get to 8-8.
Kansas City - With Priest out, does this make them vulnerable to being caught by the Chargers. Given their second half schedule, I think they will be.
Jacksonville - They're in as a wildcard. Their opponents between now and then: BAL, CLE, HOU, ARI, TEN, TEN, SF, IND. I can certainly see 12-4 for them.
San Diego - They may catch the Chiefs, but unless they catch the Broncos it doesn't matter. In fact, unless they go undefeated, it won't matter. The way it stacks up right now, 11-5 makes you the 7th best team in the conference, and that won't cut it.

Which leaves us with Pittsburgh. If the Steelers play mistake free football, we're looking at 14-2, 2nd seed. If they don't we're looking at as low as 12-4, 6th seed. So debacle free football gets us in the playoffs.

Of the eight I pointed two at the quarter pole, only KC looks like a certainty to fall away. Good and bad with that, as seven for six slots is pretty good odds, but it's striking how we could see a team at 12-4 miss the playoffs in the AFC. Depending on tiebreaks that could happen to Denver, San Diego, Jacksonville, or even the Steelers.

-- Weegie Thompson

Get a Grip, People (Rich)

2005-11-08T15:54:00.000-05:00

So it's an established fact that Steeler fans have the perspective of Picasso with depth-perception issues, but this week's reaction is really taking the cake in my mind. Admittedly, Green Bay is horrible--in September I was telling anyone who'd listen that they're a 4-12 team, and I may have over-estimated their abilities (though Ahman Green was still healthy then, and they are in the Norris). However, consider these facts:

The Steelers won by 10
On the road
In Lambeau Field
With their 2 top backs combining for 5-for-13 and inactive respectively
Against a Hall-of-Fame quarterback
Whose skills have diminished, admittedly, but who still has his great days

One might think this would be interpreted as a positive result, but not in and around the Confluence. One blogger gave the following grades: D-line: C; LBs: D; DBs: C-. Note that the defense gave up exactly 10 points, and only had a +/- of 3, scoring a TD of its own. So, um, WHAT?! The P-G's grades are limited to "Insiders" only, but were not substantially better.

The fact is, some fans can't deal with success. They either want to distrust it and say that beating a bad team by a small margin translates into losing to better teams, or they pick out a play here and there to show that disaster lurks just behind a perceived weakness that was "exposed" based on what little success the lesser team managed to have. The bottom line is this: the other guys are on scholarship too, and no NFL team is going to score blowout wins week in, week out. There's no BCS in the NFL, and margin of victory doesn't count. The plays you give up against one team's wide receivers because you're focusing on stopping the run do not mean you'll get torched by a better passing team, because you'll be scheming more to take away that aspect when that game comes along.

Here's what the Steelers are right now: One of 5 legitimate Super Bowl contenders in the AFC, along with Indy, Cincy, Denver, and New England. Of those 5 teams, the Patriots seem like they've absorbed one too many losses this year (that loss being named Rodney Harrison) to do their thing, though I'm not counting them out until someone has put a stake with a silver bullet on the end of it through Tom Brady's heart. (Not that, as a future member of the bar, I'm literally adovcating such behavior. Much.) Cincy is up and coming in a hurry, but has exactly as much NFL playoff experience as Weegie and I do. Denver still has Jake Plummer at quarterback.

That means that the Steelers and Colts are the two teams best positioned right now (remember: we have three games against the Norris, and 3 against the once and future Brownses left) in the league's dominant conference. Halfway through a season where 3 QBs and 4 RBs have split substantial amounts of playing time, in which we've lost one game in OT and one other game at the final gun and that's it, I'll take the hell out of that.

--rich erenberg

Haunted by the Ghost of Schneck (Weegie)

2005-11-01T17:46:00.000-05:00

Given Cowher's post-game conference, where he actually went into near tirade mode about the botched snap which resulted in the bizarre Chris Gardocki pass play, I have to think that somewhere Schneckenfraude is occurring. It's rare enough a game turns on special teams, but for it to nearly turn on a longsnapper, that's just a little odd.

Of course the entire game was a little odd. That shouldn't have happened at all that way. It should be a wake up call to the team not to take anyone lightly for the rest of the year.

Waiting for Halloween (Weegie)

2005-10-31T16:23:00.000-05:00

The oddest thing about this clash tonight is probably how the rivalry feels here in our little town. It's not a big thing this year. You can talk about how it feels to be back on the MNF stage, but it doesn't escape the constant feeling that this game has an almost funereal buildup. It's almost like the Ravens' heart stopped beating, and now we have to make sure they're dead. With their offense basically brain-dead (J. Lewis totally misfiring, and the offense in the hands of Anthony Wright), and the two components we expect to spark them to life on defense (Reed and R. Lewis) both out, it almost seems like the Steelers have been placed here to kill zombies, not defeat an NFL team. It's a very odd feeling, a different sort of trap game awaits tonight. There's not much to look forward to here, just get clear of this game uninjured.

Football Math For (and by) Dummies (Rich)

2005-10-25T16:45:00.000-04:00

I'm generally pretty easy on network commentators as sports fans go, because it's really hard to speak for 3 straight hours without saying something stupid no matter how smart you really are, and because all fans are pre-disposed to hate you because you aren't actively rooting for their team.

With that disclaimer, Randy Cross said something impressively stupid during the Steeler-Bengal game, probably the dumbest thing I've heard from a broadcaster all year. On the Bengals opening drive they dropped a touchdown pass, had another touchdown pass overturned by replay, and missed a short field goal. As the Steelers took possession, Cross reviewed this chain of events and proclaimed that the Bengals must really be kicking themselves, because: "that's a 17-point swing right there."

Um, NO NO NO NO NO NO! Not even a little bit!

--rich erenberg

Cincy, and the Ball, Downed Skillfully (Rich)

2005-10-23T22:41:00.000-04:00

Huge win today. There are no two ways about it, we really needed this one. There are many things to like about this game: the defense going nuts in the second half, the continued Heath Miller emergence, Fast Willie busting loose. But I want to focus on something mundane and picayune, and which therefore has bugged me for years.

Inside of two minutes to go, the Steelers lined up in "Victory Formation," which has been standard practice since the Eagles pulled a ridiculous victory out of a fluky late return touchdown; er, I mean, since the Eagles pulled a ridiculous victory out of a fluky late return touchdown. The major distinguishing feature of this formation is the presence of a "safety" 8 yards deep, positioned to tackle anyone who might bust through with any potential fumble. No tiny detail of football has boggled my mind more than the fact that the "safety" in this formation is generally a wide receiver. Why Why Why? But today, as the Steelers went into Victory, I noticed a massive pile of hair falling out of the "safety's" helmet--yes, you guessed it, instead of a "safety," the Steelers had inserted a safety. Nice detail work there by Cowher and co.

--rich erenberg

Unintentional Comedy from Steelers.com (Rich)

2005-10-15T10:45:00.000-04:00

The link to this story on the main page has this headline:

Advisory for Sunday’s Steelers Game; Bradshaw's Daughter to sing anthem

--rich erenberg

It's a Trap! (Rich)

2005-10-15T10:27:00.000-04:00

This game has all the makings of a classic NFL trap game:

It's sandwiched between two apparently bigger games, the emotional Charger win on Monday night, and the first of two games with Cincinnati that look like they'll decide the division.
The Steelers have a short week following a red-eye flight. I've taken two red-eye flights this fall, and they screw you up for a couple of days afterward, even if you have no need (ok, ability) to perform at world-class-athlete levels that week.
Jacksonville is stout. They may be tougher than they are good at this point, but that means they could easily manhandle any team that comes in without being at the top of their game.
The injury situation is grim. Tommy Maddox will probably be the QB, although you can't help but feel that the uncertainty all week isn't good for anyone. Perhaps more importantly, Hines Ward seems likely to miss the first game of his career. Ricardo Colclough is also out, which means Bryant McFadden probably goes from inactive all season to the dime cornerback against a WR corps that goes four-deep (Smith, Williams, Jones, Wilford).

On the other hand, the Steelers have several things going for them as well. Fred Taylor might not play, which is a big loss for the Jags. Last year's team survived several equally troubling looking games, including a late-season battle with these very Jags that added mightily to the lore of Big Ben. And of course the biggest one is home-field advantage.

Given all that, I expect this game to be just as close as last year's. There shouldn't be any panic if we lose this one, provided we use the week to get healthy. The real potential for disaster is if one or more times this week we hear: Oh, it looks like he's aggravated that injury, and they aren't talking about Fred Taylor.

--rich erenberg

The Ward Administration (Weegie)

2005-10-13T10:07:00.000-04:00

My home town makes Hines the mayor for a day. I could hope for alcohol liberating ordinances, but I'm more than a little curious about the "Rebirth of the City" festival. Either the city was reborn when they basically collapsed Washington Mall in favor of big boxes (as that's the only thriving industry), or it hasn't been reborn at all.

Meanwhile, the return of Pittsburgh's own Rod Rutherford ends our ability to make Samp jokes while at the same time continuing the trend that you basically can't remove Pitt Panther quarterbacks from league rosters unless your stake has a silver handle.

-- Weegie Thompson

The Quarter Pole (Weegie)

2005-10-11T22:49:00.000-04:00

Yes. Relax, good. Coming into last night's game I wouldn't have liked us to lose, but I would have understood it. Assuming what we had seen from the Steelers this season, I didn't think they had the offense to run with the Chargers circa week 3 and 4. Fortunately neither of those teams showed up. A better and more diverse offense, featuring a rusher that could choke the time out of the opposition, and yes Rich, there was a Heath Miller sighting. All good.

While I think that Willie could do it eventually for us, it wasn't his night to do it. Bettis' best attribute for us at this point is not the tough yards, it's that feeling of inevitability he delivers to the opposition. Even if we don't have faith in him to always deliver, (cf. New England last year) his presence gives the opposition the feeling of "This is what we're going to do to you. We're going to run over you, through you, until we get to where we want to go. You don't matter in the equation." This may lead to that feeling that opposition doesn't matter in that fleetingly lucid moment Mark Madden had.

With Heath doing a reasonable integration into the offense at this point, that's also a good thing. The rare instances where the tight end got utilized under Cowher it did take a couple weeks to figure the plays, and he's a rookie. We shouldn't expect any less. If in week 8 he's tied with either Cedric or Quincy for third on the team in receptions, that's going to be incredible progress.

The defense had lapses last night, which felt a whole lot like the Tortoise plan going awry. It was more troubling in that it wasn't so much the one big play that feels like it kills us, as much as the constant barrage of LT keeping them going. The Chargers, more than any other team out there have their own supply of inevitability and it's LT. The good news is, we probably face only one more team with that level of power until playoffs. (Okay, maybe two with the Bengals.)

Ben is sounding like he could be back for the Jaguars, but even I wouldn't mind Batch in for a game. The thing is, that was literally an inch in any direction away from blowing his season. If it hurts, let it get better. I'm feeling really good about the judgement to keep the two expensive backups at this point, with Maddox also down. (Yeah, I admit I was wrong.)

So we're now 1/4 of the way through, a little ahead of expectations (I wouldn't have been surprised with 2-2, I wouldn't have panicked either.) If we continue on this path, where does that put us at the end of the year?

Well, at worst, it puts us a game under in the division. The Bengals do appear to be real. And on a worse case scenario, we end up losing both our games to them, which pretty much would have to give them the division. And at that we become a 5 seed, which really could only absolutely kill us when the 4 seed's the Patriots.

In spite of people saying the AFC is the utter and complete power conference, its more that the AFC has all the top power teams, because there's a LOT of chaff there right now. Houston, Tennesee, Oakland? And let's not forget the Ravens, who look like they're about two games away from going "Last Boy Scout" and packing heat on the field. And then there's the AFC East, where Miami is looking positively reasonable as a sleeper, if the Patriots don't recover from injuries. Of course, we will get to see Ricky integrated into their offense now, so that should ruin everything. Much as I'd like the Steelers to get a shot at our own personal Vinny, I just can't see that. And Buffalo's about to see Dr. Mularkey and TV's Sam, go down in Deep 13 and try to invent something to get through to J. P. Lossman. I suggest magic voice. People are on the NFC West and North, but the AFC East could join them with a division champ at 7-9 if they're not careful.

So who's real in the AFC right now?
Colts (Right now 10/10 on a metaphysical scale of reality.)
Steelers
Bengals
Broncos (Easily the 4-1 most likely to become 4-4, but we give them the spot now.)
Chargers (Do you want to face them again? I don't.)
Patriots (Of all the things that worry me about the Patriots, the one that should keep every AFC team fan up at night, what if Bill Belichick also has Wayne Fontes-like unkillability?)
Chiefs (The apparent vanishing of Tony Gonzalez aside, the moment their defense gains an ounce of traction, you'll see a transformation not unlike the Colts thus far. And the fact it can happen that unexpectedly is why I'm keeping them here for now.)
Jaguars (We err on the side of caution, and we'll find out Sunday.)

8 Teams, 6 slots. I like the odds, but the Steelers have to keep at it.

And..................Exhale (Rich)

2005-10-11T19:23:00.000-04:00

Steeler Nation breathed a sigh of relief this afternoon. I can personally attest to some of what Charlie Batch can do--ask me privately to relate how, as a Steel Valley Ironman, he personally ruined my high school senior homecoming. But no one thought that 3-4 weeks of Charlie as our starter during a tough stretch of games was going to work out for the best. When I first saw the replay of Ben's injury last night, I said, "That's a month." But the black and gold lucked out.

As for the game itself, this was a huge, huge win. Going down a game and a half in the division to a very.....good...(spit it out).....Bengals team would have been troubling. Showing a continued inability to stop good pass-catching backs and tight ends--and inability to exploit teams that allow good pass-catching backs and tight ends to prosper--would have shown a major strategical chink in the armor. Instead, we demonstrated an ability to contain, if not shut down, two of the premier threats at those positions, and we also brought the first round pick out of mothballs.

In a game like this, I hate it when people complain about the other team making plays--those guys are on scholarship too. But you do have to feel flustered when you blow opportunities, and the big one here was a 25-yard bullet to Quincy Morgan ("The Coroner") at the end of the first half that could've turned into a whole lot more, but it was dropped. Usually, you can't flounder opportunities like that against good teams on the road and win.

One of the cool things about this win, too, is the weird transitivity--the New England, Pittsburgh, San Diego triad has split its season series over the last three weeks, with the road team winning each game. Strangely enough, Michigan, Michigan State, and Notre Dame pulled off the same feat this season. OK, maybe I'm the only one who finds this cool.

--rich erenberg

So Cold... So Cold... (Weegie)

2005-10-06T23:54:00.000-04:00

I'm looking for confirmation of what I heard tonight. During the local radio preview they aired a snippet from a charity album for the New Orleans effort. Now, ordinarily I follow the premise that charity's fine. But this...whoa. It was Steelers Kids Rock. Now please imagine the unholy combination of Kidz Bop at the grade school assembly level, where they replace the phrase "Rock & Roll" with "Black & Gold". Horrific yes. Now realize they're doing Ramones' songs. It hurt. It hurt bad.

-- Weegie Thompson

Bye Week (Rich)

2005-10-06T15:46:00.000-04:00

You may have been asking ("You", our theoretical, non-existent readership) what the Best Available bloggers have been doing with their extended bye week. Here's a sampling:

Marveling that the same people who talk about how much they love the Steelers' smashmouth running game claimed that the Patriots "wasted their time" running in the first half against us when they were able to complete 12 of 12 for over 150 yards in the 4th quarter. Hmmm...maybe time of possession actually cuts both ways, and having the ball for 35+ minutes somehow enables you to go 12 for 12 in the 4th quarter. Intriguing.
Wondering if the NFL printed off the same letter of apology from a couple of years ago for clockgate, or whether they wrote a fresh one. Then wondering if they just have a form that allowed them to substitute in "Lions" and "Mariucci" and "overturning a touchdown for no damn reason."
Really wondering how the other black-and-gold lost out on a hometown hero by waiting too long to call him on the Monday the off-season began. But I guess you can't outwit a management juggernaut like the, um, Detroit Tigers.
Watching the Chargers dismantle the Pats in Foxborough, and wondering if they sent Cedric Wilson a thank you note for taking out Rodney Harrison's knees.
Talking ourselves into the idea that having four good, healthy running backs (or, three and Verron Haynes, anyway) isn't subtraction by addition.
Realizing that the Pats' consistently good field position might have been mitigated if The Eel had been healthy for the game.
Catching up on the brilliant Clint Barmes saga.
Really, really starting to worry about the Bengals.
Cackling with glee at the thought that Vinny T. is once again an NFL starting quarterback.
Reading the most rational two paragraphs Mark Madden has ever written or spoken.
Running out of gerunds.

--rich erenberg

Big Game This Week (Rich)

2005-09-21T20:52:00.000-04:00

After a really impressive 2-0 start, the Steelers take on New England at home this weekend. I'm not really sure what to say about it. I've had several conversations this week where Someone Who Knows I'm a Steeler Fan comes up to me, and we have this exchange:

SWKISF: Big game this weekend
Me: Uh-huh.
(awkward silence)

There's just not a whole lot more to say. We know this one is important symbolically and in the sense that every game is important. We also know from last year that this one doesn't really matter in the end, or as Chris Hope said this week: "If I had an opportunity to see the future, looking back at how we played last year and how it turned out last year, I'd let them win the first one this time."

Coach Cowher probably didn't like that quote, but you know many members of The Nation are feeling the same way. Still, if we posit that there's no correlation or causation between who wins this game and who wins a theoretical rematch in January, I'll vote for winning.

How does the game play out? Part of the problem is that you never know what the Patriots are going to do until they do it (and sometimes you still aren't sure afterwards), but you've gotta think that they remember rushing 6 times for 5 yards, or 5 times for 6 yards, or whatever it was last Halloween. You've also gotta think they noticed that the rare negative plays for the Steeler defense in the first two weeks came against the run. Since Cowher and Co. no doubt noticed this too, I suspect the Pats spread us out and throw 55 times--or perhaps scarier don't spread us out, but find a lot of tight ends open over the middle. On offense I expect more of the same, though I'm still delusional enough to think Heath Miller is going to get more touches sooner rather than later. And if you read Cowher's press conference transcript, it's as hard for him to avoid saying "we're going to exploit the hell out of Monty Beisel and Chad Brown" as it was for Colonel Jessup not to admit to ordering the Code Red.

I don't have a prediction--all I can say is Go Steelers!

I think.

--rich erenberg

Texans fire offensive coordinator Palmer (Weegie)

2005-09-19T13:24:00.000-04:00

Well, the Steelers do have that effect on some teams, getting people fired. Chris Palmer, the LaPlaca standard of NFL Expansion Coaching is gone. In his place Joe Pendry, a name familiar to our purple and orange brethren. Though as bad as the Texans played yesterday, I have to wonder if they have Ellis Rainsberger on speed dial.

What to Watch for in Week 2 (Rich)

2005-09-17T23:03:00.000-04:00

Football fans are always nervous when they know what to worry about, but on some level are more nervous when they're not sure what to be worried about. On paper, the Steelers are much better than the Texans, and should handle them. Somehow, the lack of any one big concern is even more disconcerting--because it means if something reaches up and gets us, it'll be something surprising--say, outgaining your opponent by an order of magnitude yet repeatedly turning it over for scores the other way.

The scariest Texan, no doubt, is Andre Johnson, so the nightmare scenario par excellence would be for Carr to hit Johnson on several deep balls. This presumes Ike Taylor can't stay with Johnson (which may be true) and Carr can stay upright (almost certainly not true). NFL road games are always dangerous--those of you who lost you suicide pools the first week on the Rams or Broncos are morons, because there's no reason to ever take a road team in those things. But a loss in Houston, if it happens, will be the result of the devil we don't know.

More interesting this week will be the divisional games. Cincinnati might be for real, and beating Minnesota would go a long way toward showing it. Baltimore might not be for real, and struggling in Nashville could show it. If I know anything about football, Cleveland vs. Green Bay is a matchup of eventual 4-12 teams.

Of course the other story for the week will be whether Willie Parker is a one-game wonder. The best guess here is that he isn't, but that he's also not going to continue his 2,576-yard pace. I'm guessing he goes for 90 if Duce is active, 115 if he isn't, and that Big Ben attempts at least 16 passes this time. If any Steeler offensive player has a breakout game, my vote's on Hines.

--rich erenberg

In Defense of the Tortoise (Rich)

2005-09-14T16:38:00.000-04:00

Fans who have been burned before (and over a course of years, that's fans of pretty much every team in every sport) have a tendency to distrust success. I get that. We here at BAB will inevitably find ourselves complaining after wins this year. If you really want to play amateur psychoanalyst on a group of fans, noting what they complain about in victory might be particularly instructive.

From stillers.com this week comes this article about the Steelers' "Turtle" tendencies when leading games in the second half. In my mind, after AFC title games, Steeler Nation's biggest complaint about the Cowher Administration is its Turtling tendencies--sitting on the football when up big. This past week presented an extreme but not atypical example, as the Steelers threw two passes in the first 3 minutes of the second half, and then none for the rest of the game.

Even "Hesske," the author of the Turtling article, recognizes that the strategy has been effective. Hesske says Cowher is "5,000-1-1 when leading at halftime." I don't know about that stat, but as of the middle of last season Cowher was 70-1-1 in games where the Steelers led by 14 at any point in the game, good for third all-time.

I confess that I find the Turtling strategy maddening and even a bit boring at times. For instance, on three occasions the Steelers ran a third-down shotgun draw handoff against Tennessee, and each time I was kind of bugged, and yet was even more flabbergasted that the Titans didn't seem to know these plays were coming. On the other hand, I know enough about sample size to know that I have absolutely no right to bitch about the Philly and Atlanta games that make up the "-1-1" part of the stat above, without acknowledging that a more wide-open approach may have jeopardized at least some of the "70 [and counting]." That's not to say, either, that a wide-open "boot-to-the-throat" approach can't be effective either--note that the overly-maligned Mike Martz also appears on that top 5 list. Still, 70-1-1 is pretty compelling.

I'll leave with two observations, one in favor of the Turtle and one skeptical of it at least as utilized this week. The argument in favor is that the "Turtle" name unfairly presumes that going to an exclusively or very predominantly ground-based attack equals giving up on scoring. Exhibit A here: the Steelers scored 14 points on offense Sunday after abandoning the pass. That doesn't sound like giving up, unless you're talking about the Titan D-line. The argument against is simple: while Turtling is effective in general, the first game isn't just about winning the first game, it's about setting you up for success for the whole season. The passing game looked just fine, but there are plenty of new receivers and receivers adjusting to new roles, and at least on third and medium to long, it would have made sense to give the passing game some practice.

That said, it's still hard to argue with a 27-point margin of victory, and with 70something-1-1.

--rich erenberg

I Like It, I Love It, I Want Some More of It (Rich)

2005-09-13T17:21:00.000-04:00

It's hard to complain about Sunday's game on any level, which kind of renders me speechless for the moment. If I had to pick something to gripe about, it would be the run defense, which was not great until the point where the Titans could no longer afford to pass. But the other guys are on scholarship too, and you've gotta think the game plan was all about containing McNair, which we did admirably. One long pass and one long drive is not a bad amount of offense to allow to a professional offense.

Today's news is not shocking--Andre Frazier played his way onto the team and Charlie Batch is back, so Nate Washington became the odd-man out. Presumably, he was the guy most likely to catch onto the practice squad. Going with 4 real WRs and a Tasker-type looks bold, but it's not as if Washington was going to be active on gameday anyway. Besides, even Quincy Morgan may have a hard time seeing the field if Heath Miller's the 4th receiver in four-wide sets. So even though it's not the move I saw coming, it feels right.

I am not the slightest bit concern that QM got no touches--he was on the team for 5 days, and we only threw 11 balls, none in the last 27 minutes of the game. I assume he's a rare 5th option, unless they have some special deep passes or reverses designed specifically for him. I'd be more worried about Hines only getting 2 catches, but again the circumstances were unusual.

One surprise to me was the presence of Bryant McFadden on the inactives, but I'm going to chalk that up to pure "numbers game" at CB rather than to any deficiencies on his part. Colclough, Taylor, and Iwuoma were all required on special teams, and the first two are apparently ahead of him on the CB depth chart anyway. If as Weegie seems to assume Willie Williams gradually has a reduced role, I wouldn't be surprised if Willie becomes the inactive CB (we'll have one every week since there are 6 on the roster) since he probably wouldn't play special teams.

--rich erenberg

After 1 game (Weegie)

2005-09-11T16:08:00.000-04:00

From our best case/worst case, all except the Heath Miller, Quincy Morgan, and Defense issues fell on the best case. Not bad at all, and a perfect quarterback rating to boot.

I can't even say for sure whether Willie Williams played, which is good, because I did see Ike, Deshea, and Ricardo playing.

The Heath 1 for 3 with a TD is both good and bad. Good given it was as expected, and given the passing game was voluntarily shut down at the half. Bad given 1 for 3 with a TD is exactly what I expected.

The QM 0 for 0, is less good, but if Cedrick holds his own, we'll live.

-- Weegie Thompson

Five things to watch in today's kerfuffle (Rich)

2005-09-11T11:05:00.000-04:00

1. The elevation of Big Ben's passes. As Weegie suggests, this could be a problem, and everytime a pass flies just over the head of Randle El or Wilson, the erstwhile Mr. Burress will be the first name out of color commentators' craws. (Not the craw, their craws.) Just remember that contrary to what they will be telling you: (a) Hines Ward has been our #1 WR for years, not The Tall Guy, and (b) Ben's most prolific passing game came against the Giants last year, with Plex injured, playing for neither team.

2. The rook. We like the Heath Bar. We fully expect that he's a 50-60 catch guy, at least next year if not this. Again piggy-backing on Weege, it's entirely possible for a TE to disappear after one game, but it's more often because the TE caught 3 for 35 yards and a TD on opening day, and fans overreacted because the Steelers don't never throw to the TE, they just rarely do. Tuman and Riemersma combined for 5 TDs last year, and Tuman is Jerome Bettis's favorite receiver. If Heath has the proverbial 3 for 35 and a TD, then maybe he's not catching many this year. But if instead Heath has 5 for 52 and either Tuman or Kranchick has 1 for 5 and a TD, then the TE renaissance may well be underway.

3. The O-line. Do Parker, Verron, and (gulp) Herron have running room? Does Ben have time to throw? Does the right side continue its reasonably solid preseason? Do Jeff Hartings' knees finally give up the ghost? If theses guys are good, the offense will do just fine despite itself.

4. The secondary. Having more faith in McNair, Chow and Bennett than Mr. Thompson, I'm concerned about this. We should have a deep corps of corners to play the nickel, but I don't know if anyone matches up well with Bennett deep. We're going to have to hit 20 to win today, not 7 in my book. This is subject to revision if the Titan offensive line collapses like (Editor's note: the joke that was going here has been marked "TOO SOON").

5. The long-snapping. My personal worst case scenario involves hearing Craig's computer playing calliope music every time we attempt a punt or FG, with special teams hijinks leading to one of those games where you give up 150 yards, rack up 400, and still look up late in the game and are inexplicably trying to come back from 11 down.

Honorable mention: Does Casey Hampton come back from knee surgery to be a destructive force or a Steed-esque solid plugger? Is Sean Morey playing linebacker by the end of the game? Will Phast Willie run wild? Is Pacman Jones the victim of a vicious Hines Ward block, and does someone else beat me to the "Act 1: They Meet" joke? Do we get Gus Johnson and Brent Jones despite going 15-1?

--rich erenberg

Best Case, Worst Case (Weegie)

2005-09-11T01:27:00.000-04:00

Let's plot out the Best and Worst Case Scenarios for the Steelers-Titans Game.

Issue 1: Passing Offense
Best Case: Ben figures out how to take one foot of height off his passes. Randle El finds effective space past 10 yards, and as a result Ward isn't double teamed on every play.
Worst Case: I think we've seen this already. I hope.

Issue 2: Phast Willie Parker
Best Case: Passing game works, keeping the 8th man out of the box, and he breaks two 30-yarders out.
Worst Case: Nine in the box, and he can't take the pounding.

Issue 3: Where do you hide to have your Heath?
Best Case: TD strike.
Worst Case: TD strike. It seems like every year the Steelers employ the tight end effectively, but only in the first game. So for our purposes, it doesn't matter what we see from Miller this week, it's next week that's the test.

Issue 4: Quincy Morgan
Best Case: He plugs into 4-wide, and delivers a couple receptions and something nice on kickoffs.
Worst Case: I start making jokes about this fumble being a QM Production.

Issue 5: Defense and possible injuries.
(As of T minus 12 hours, both Haggans and Williams were looking doubtful due to injuries)
Best Case: Haggans isn't that bad he can't get out there and Williams is that bad. We already have Harrison ready to step in for Porter, we really don't want to have two to bring in. Note that Andre Frazier is now back sending Charlie Batch onto the street.
Worst Case: Williams starts. As you know, I have enough issues with Willie Williams starting while healthy. A dinged up Williams just strikes me as the sports poster child for Bad Idea Jeans.

Issue 6: The game itself.
Best Case: When the Titans have the ball, you're putting a very strong defense against a very weak offense, and whatever benefits Norm Chow will have won't be seen since Polamalu spent college scrimmaging against Chow's offense. 3 TD's one each for Willie, Heath, and Hines. 24-6 Steelers.
Worst Case: Steelers offense sputters, and power punting by the NFL's second greatest player to wear #15, Craig Hentrich, keeps the Titans close. Steelers defense and special teams keep us just ahead. 9-6 Steelers.

-- Weegie Thompson

"Babies..., ships..., longsnappers." "Things that are christened" DING! (Weegie)

2005-09-11T01:00:00.000-04:00

I am not amazed that the papers are noting a changing of the guard at longsnapper. Howeven the headline "Long-snapper Warren about to get christened" combined with the description just make it sound like a euphemism for either a hazing or a prison rape.

-- Weegie Thompson

The Ballad of Lee Mays (Rich)

2005-09-08T10:47:00.000-04:00

With apologies to damn near everybody...

The Ballad of Lee Mays

Call him drop-prone Lee Mays
He won't answer anymore
Not the former 4th receiver
Who'll be vexing us no more.

Gather round me 'Burgh fans
There's a story I would tell
About a UTEP wide receiver
You should remember well

...

He was cut one Tuesday morning
With injury settlement he was waived
The signing of Quincy Morgan
Was the end of ol' Lee Mays

Call him drop-prone Lee May
He won't answer anymore
Not the former 4th receiver
Who'll return kickoffs no more.

--rich erenberg

Steelers sign Quincy, W.R. (Weegie)

2005-09-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

Article

I'll keep using the joke I had when someone drafted Quincy Morgan last year. You know Quincy had more drops than his opening montage.

As a result, Lee Mays only becomes more enigmatic.

-- Weegie Thompson

Where is the SAMP? Oh! The practice squad (Weegie)

2005-09-05T23:38:00.000-04:00

Apparently a late edition to the practice squad, which reinforces the notion that Mr. Gibson got on with his life's work, we have something called Chris Samp, which comes from Winona State.

This rather surprised me as I was convinced samp was some kind of root crop. Which admittedly could come from Winona State's Ag department, were it not for the fact that they don't have an Ag department. I then did some research and found I was confusing it with ramp, Appalachia's contribution to high fashion cuisine, but samp, which my Food Lover's Companion lists as "Broken or coarsely ground hominy", is pretty close to the original joke.

I propose we all welcome him into the Steelers nation by having a bowl of grits while wearing a Free Winona T-Shirt. Or don't.

-- Weegie Thompson, feeling the cold medicine kick in.

PRACTICE?!?! (squad) (Rich)

2005-09-05T15:35:00.000-04:00

The roster at steelers.com has now been updated to include the practice squad, which is slightly unusual in that it consists entirely of guys who were with the team in camp:

Andre Frazier
Jim Jones
Shaun Nua
Dedrick Roper
Eric Taylor
Zach Tuiasosopo
Walter Young

I'm curious about the fact that Young and not Fred Gibson will be manning the WR slot; I assume this was Gibson's choice and not the team's, and maybe he's been picked up for another team's squad or even a roster spot. Also, somehow I thought Jones was an old guy, so I was surprised to see this--I think I confused him with another "Jim J." who was a longtime Jet and short-time Steeler OT and whose last name eludes me at the moment. Tuiasosopo also can't be a surprise given that we stuck with one fullback (although wouldn't you kinda like to see what Brett Keisel could do in short yardage?), and Matt Cushing is probably only so patient with the speed-dial. I imagine Roper and Frazier are also likely candidates for the 53-man if anything happens to anyone at LB. I was vaguely aware that there's something called Eric Taylor, and I'd have to look up his position, if I actually cared.

In other news, our fourth WR for the opener is Sean Morey who I would like to officially nickname "The Eel," especially if he ever wriggles out of a tackle. If the team has adopted Weegie and my idea that it should hire an actual demon as its special teams demon, then we can expect diabolical things from that position. Hopefully this also means that Heath Miller will see a lot of time alongside the top 3 WRs and Haynes/Parker on third and long.

Finally, I vaguely recall something about the number of inactives changing or possibly being done away with this year. Presuming I'm wrong about that, I'm guessing our inactives for week 1 will look something like: Duce Staley, Jerome Bettis, Lee Mays, Trai Essex, Chris Kemoeatu, Bryant McFadden, and Joey Porter.

--rich erenberg

Okay, did we keep anybody? (Weegie)

2005-09-03T18:53:00.000-04:00

Steelers Finalize Roster

We now have a big pile of shockers, don't we?
1. I'm utterly shocked that we kept none of Frazier, Roper, or Jackson. I had to figure one of these three was going to win the competition between them.
2. I'm equally shocked that given the first premise, that BOTH Eric Taylor and Shaun Nua missed out.
3. The countdown is 1 quarter until we hear Tunch say "and Willie Williams is getting utterly abused out there." Given I figured this was a battle between Carter and Williams, a minor shock has to be them both making it over Stuvaints.
4. Did anyone see anything out there that said Barrett Brooks was a lock to make this team? A little baffling.
5. There had better be a reason they forgot to note the cutting of the final remains of Marco Battaglia, otherwise I'm going to scream.
6. Mr. Gibson, Mr. Farmer... Mr. Farmer, Mr. Gibson...

We'll need to do a breakdown by positions, but I'm more than a little surprised by everything here.

-- Weegie Thompson

The Cruelest Cut (Rich)

2005-09-03T08:04:00.000-04:00

Indeed it is a sad day for the Best Available Bloggers, who have pondered buying matching #54 Schneck jerseys on multiple occasions. Schneck always embodied the principles of long snapping--snap the ball accurately, try to make the tackle, collect an NFL paycheck. I hope he gets work wherever throwing something between your legs and then chasing something else is valued.

Conversely, our sadness is tempered by the end of the Alonzo Jackson Experiment, which only goes to show that you can convert a 4-3 DE to a 3-4 OLB, but only if they went to college somewhere in Colorado.

--rich erenberg

SCHNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECK! (Weegie)

2005-09-03T01:58:00.000-04:00

This is probably going to result in the lamest online petition ever, but I'd sign it.

Jackson, St. Pierre, Schneck cut

You know, of all the vowels to shout in a KHAAAAAN! like way, short e is pretty much the worst.

-- Weegie Thompson

Plus/Minus for the Carolina preseason game (Weegie)

2005-09-03T01:56:00.000-04:00

Tuman -1 (0/1)
Randle El +1 (1/0)
Williams -1 (1/2)
Foote 0 (1/1)
Farrior -1 (0/1)
Hampton +1 (1/0)
Logan +3 (3/0)
Faneca -1 (0/1)
ASmith +1 (1/0)
Kirschke +2 (2/0)
Taylor +1 (1/0)
JHarrison 0 (1/1)
Haggans +1 (1/0)
Roethlisberger -1 (1/2)
Hoke -1 (1/2)
Roper +2 (2/0)
Colclough +1 (2/1)
McFadden +3 (3/0)
Starks +1 (1/0)
Herron +2 (3/1)
Morey +3 (4/1)
Miller +1 (1/0)
Wilson +1 (1/0)
Kemoeatu -1 (0/1)
Wallace +2 (2/0)
Batch +1 (3/2)
Kriewaldt 0 (1/1)
Stuvaints +1 (1/0)
Iwuoma +1 (1/0)
Jackson -1 (0/1)
Carter -2 (0/2)
Keisel +1 (1/0)
Patton -1 (0/1)
Gibson -1 (1/2)
Kuhn -1 (0/1)
Frazier +2 (2/0)
Kranchick +1 (1/0)

Notes:
1. I saw the game in the rebroadcast, so I did find out who had been cut early during the game, when I switched over to check the Pirates score. Oops.
2. Morey may have secured a spot based on this, but I really don't want to see him as an option for passing.
3. Kuhn and Jackson may have played themselves off the team in this game.
4. Tyrone Carter may also have played himself off, if this game meant anything to that, meaning that Willie Williams may have not played himself back on. Somehow I'm neither over-, nor underwhelmed by this. In fact, I'm pretty much whelmed by it. The fact exists, and I recognize it as an inevitability.
5. We still have an issue here with the offense, it's not panic-level, run-around, fire-at-rescue-helicopters bad, but it is an issue, and it needs fixed.

-- Weegie Thompson

The Redskins and The Turk (which only sounds like a weird picaresque novel)

2005-08-30T17:25:00.000-04:00

I watched a good bit of the Redskins game on fastforward, thanks to the magic of Tivo, and with my eyes half open thanks to the magic of sleeping really poorly the three previous nights. The list of players who impressed me was pretty short. I remember Rian Wallace looking good, and perhaps Andre Frazier, although honestly it's kind of a blur at this point.

I'm not so concerned about the offense, which I think will come around. Commentators love to hold the following two beliefs simultaneously:

The preseason is completely meaningless, except for injuries.
A bad performance in a preseason game is a signal of existing problems and a foreshadowing of things to come.

I don't fully subscribe to either belief. I think preseason can be meaningful for a team on the rise or decline to the extent that it builds momentum, positive or negative. But for a team that has reached a certain level of performance (good or bad) and doesn't have any great reason to believe that will change, the preseason means diddly-poo. I think that's us--with the caveat that a record of 11-5 or above is basically the same level of performance in my mind.

I still expect Ben to get the ship righted when he gets full weeks of 100% of the snaps in practice and gets to play full games. People have rewritten last season as if Ben was a mere caretaker of the running game, but this ignores a couple of things. One is that we ran so much in the second half of games because we often put up points in the passing game( courtesy of Ron Jaworski) and built big leads early. The other is that Ben came through aerially in the one game he needed to win late, at Dallas.

As for the first cutdown date, it was a real yawner. Doering clearly wasn't making the team this time around after being signed a few weeks ago with Ward out of camp, and Cushing made a horrible decision to try to be the backup fullback on a team that never keeps a backup fullback. Still, I imagine he'll show up at some point for his annual catch, half-season pay, and solid blocking and special-teams play. The only other name of any note was Zamir Cobb, last year's flash in the pan, but the bottom line is that undrafted free agents are usually undrafted free agents for a reason. I was a little disappointed at the lack of news, not realizing that we got to keep 71 at this point, but that means 18 names get dropped on Sunday, with at least 1 or 2 no doubt raising eyebrows.

Down to 65 (Weegie)

2005-08-30T15:13:00.000-04:00

So we are now down to 65.

Nothing really unexpected here: Cushing, Doering, Cobb, Burr, Iorio, Davis, Verstraete, Young, Duff, Suisham

I'm less confident that Cobb will get practice squad'ed at this point, but I'm more confident he could be, given his release now means he'll be off the radar when the final cuts start rolling. Cushing will get a speed dial, and it looks like we'll need an actual wooden stake to kill Chris Doering's Steeler career.

The other point of note in the bullet points of this article is the possible reason Hines hasn't been locked in yet. If it's simply the point that his agent has botched so many other items that Hines is still at the bottom of the pile, I wouldn't be surprised to see Hines pick up a new agent. It's the rarely noted third side in the negotiations that has failed here.

-- Weegie Thompson

A little comedy, a little weightlifting (Weegie)

2005-08-27T01:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, that just sucked.

I kept records during the game marking a plus for a good action and a minus for bad action, I'll admit that I may have missed some things, and not all things are equal, even if they're scored that way. (For instance the interception by Polamalu gets one plus, while the play before where he leapt over the pile also got one, just because I'd love to think that that, which looked absolutely like something that would scare the opposition pantsless would have affected the next play.) Let's look at the numbers:
OFFENSE
Ben -3 (2 good/5 bad)
Bettis -1 (0/1)
Randle El 0 (1/1)
St. Pierre 0 (1/1)
Kranchick +2 (2/0)
Rasby +1 (1/0)
Haynes +1 (1/0)
Parker +1 (2/1)
Reed -1 (0/1)
Essex -1 (0/1)
Morey -2 (2/4)
Gibson 0 (1/1)
Washington +1 (1/0)
Wilson +1 (1/0)
Herron -1 (0/1)

Defense
Polamalu +3 (3/0)
Haggans +2 (2/0)
ASmith +1 (1/0)
Hope +2 (2/0)
Harrison +2 (2/0)
Logan -1 (1/2)
Colclough +1 (2/1)
Hampton 0 (1/1)
Townshend 0 (1/1)
Williams -1 (0/1)
Wallace +3 (3/0)
Farrior +1 (1/0)
Taylor -2 (0/2)
Stanley -1 (0/1)
Frazier +1 (1/0)
Jackson 0 (1/1)

So what are we to make of this debacle, and yes, I did use that term, because it fits, for probably the exact wrong reasons everyone thinks.

1. The argument that's being kicked around the sports channels is that Hines' holdout has affected the Steelers badly by knocking everyone out of sync. This just screams of the media looking to keep itself relevant by creating a crazy enough theory. I can't see this being a theory that lasts into the regular season, whether they fix it or not.
2. Ben is out of sync. It's not the recievers, it's Ben. There's only one way to cure this and that's reps in game. Does this mean that Pittsburgh's favorite miracle play, The Agony of St. Backup, will take another turn? Oh, yeah. It's Pittsburgh. (Yes, that could have been the Agony of St. Pierre, but that would have been too cute. By a half and an overtime period.)
3. Alonzo Jackson did get a good play off tonight, forcing a bad pass and laying out Jason Campbell. However, I still don't think he's going to stay. First of all, he seemed to be running around like the special kid. We've simplified his entire playbook to "GO GET THE BALL!" and well, he just runs after the ball, no matter where it goes, he can't catch up to it. I've never seen a Steeler so consistently be the last guy on the pile. This combined with the fact that he seems to have the turning radius of a taxiing 767 means he's being knocked out of position due to his own momentum.
4. The Wallace kid seems to be able to play. He is the depth we were looking for at LB.
5. Hope's +2 is decieving, both of those were on plays where he made the stop, but only because a lot of other people could have made the stop but failed.
6. Okay, Staley is out for a while, Bus is now dinged in a very dangerous spot in the undercarriage. If this continues into the season, oh we are screwed. The prevailing wisdom is start Parker, but then the prevailing wisdom turns around in mid-thought and realizes that Parker is so good that he takes us out of the slow grind offense which allows us to be dominant. The reasonable solution I can see out of this quandary is the Morris/Pegram rotation. Rotate them on drives, if we go up two scores, full Haynes, if we go down two scores, full Parker.
7. Morey demonstrated to me why he can't make this team as the fifth wideout tonight. The position he plays is cruise missile, he gets downfield and locks on to a target, but anything you throw at the missile bounces off. Great for special teams, but let's not kid ourselves that that's a viable recieving threat.
8. I think Mays was injured, but Gibson may have pushed him out the door tonight, not that Gibson was anything good, just that he was able to use his height and leaping to get a pass, and almost get the other one thrown to him. Yeah, he's still a project, but if Ben doesn't get it back down, we'll need somebody on a ladder to pull it down.
9. Look at that Kranchick catch passes. Freaky. Do you realize we had two consecutive plays where the TE caught a pass? And it wasn't even the same TE?
10. Herron didn't look nearly as good as his extended action in the last game indicated.
11. If I'm Cowher, and having seen this, I deliver this message to my first team offense. You're on that field against Carolina until you score a touchdown. Enough's enough, you have one game to get it together. We basically know our roster, there's only about four slots still up for grabs, and those are defense and special teams. You guys have to make it work.

--Weegie Thompson

Madden Ought Six (Rich)

2005-08-24T21:32:00.000-04:00

Some writer for the Post-Gazette has his panties in a bunch because of a supposed lack of respect for Big Ben from the producers of Madden '06. If you read the article, it turns out he's ranked 12th overall out of all NFL QBs. I love Ben as much as the next yinzer, but c'mon. Is he going in the top 12 in your fantasy league? Didn't think so. And Madden at heart is a version of fantasy football.

I do take umbrage with one thing about Madden '06, though. If you watch the commercial featuring the Donovan McNabb bird's-eye view, you'll notice he's playing the Steelers. If you're a picky freak like me, you'll notice that in the very first shot, there's a #59 charging McNabb. Now any Steeler nerd worth his salt knows that while Ernie Stautner's #70 is the only number the club has officially retired, by some bizarre coincidence certain numbers from the Super Bowl era have never again seen the light of day: #12, #32, #52, #58, #75, and of course, #59. Unless Dobre Shunka himself showed up to film the commercial, #59 should not show up in black and gold--not even in an ad snippet.

--Rich Erenberg

Projected Roster with Two Preseason Games to Go (Weegie)

2005-08-23T23:38:00.000-04:00

We had exchanged these beforehand and even now I'm starting to question my own list, but here goes:

QB(3): Ben, Maddox, St. Pierre
RB(5): Bettis, Staley, Parker, Haynes, Krieder
WR(6): Ward, Randle El, Wilson, Gibson, Washington, Mays
TE(3): Miller, Kranshick, Tuman
OL(9): Hartings, Faneca, Smith, Simmons, Starks, Essex, Okobi, Kemoeatu, Jones
ST(3): Reed, Gardocki, SCHNECK
DL(7): Kimo, Smith, Hampton, Keisel, Kirschke, Hoke, Nua
LB(8): Foote,Porter, Farrior, Haggans, Harrison, Kriewaldt, Wallace, Frazier
DB(9): Townsend, Polamalu, Hope, Colclough, McFadden, Taylor, Stuvaints, Logan, Iwouma

The notes on these:
QB--We see who we can deal to the Bears, it's entirely possible Maddox goes if the deal is right, but I have to think it needs to be very right.
RB--Herron can make it on this team, but I think he has to go through the practice squad to do it. He looks like he could get the tough yards for us, but that may be the effect of him making all his yards look tough. Haynes being a free agent next season also makes this more interesting than it should be.
WR--When I sent this list two days ago, I was more or less figuring that the guy on the bubble was Mays, as Gibson makes Mays' body type redundant on the team, but I figured also that they'd keep Mays for his last year because he knows the system. The recent reports out of camp (which I should take like reports out of the Kremlin circa Andropov) make this more interesting as Gibson sounds like he's not grasping the system well. Now I have to figure that Gibson's more safe since we took a size hit losing Plex, but the example of Danny Farmer is well remembered. And one of the reasons we cut a fourth-round wideout that last time was we didn't want to have to teach two rookies the position, and Nate Washington has looked quality. Still I'll stick with my gut. Meaning Morey is probably out.
TE--With Cushing trying to move to fullback, I think that dooms him making this team, but almost guarantees he's on Kevin Colbert's speed dial on the first injury at either RB or TE. So it's neither a dumb nor smart move. Wow, Marco Battaglia's still on the training camp roster.
OL--I figure Brooks could be the tenth man here, should Nua and Roper both go practice.
DL--Nua could make practice squad or make it here, it's all a question of whether you want the depth here, at OL, or at LB
LB--When I was penciling in my lines here, I had a hard time figuring out past 7 Linebackers. I had forgotten Kreiwaldt, and then I really started panicking because I realized there was a depth question here. I think Jackson goes away, and Roper isn't an impossibility here. Incidentally, Dedrick Roper just completely sounds like he should be the IBF number 3 ranked Lightheavyweight contender.
DB--I want to see somebody, anybody step up and move past Willie Williams. My projecting his being cut, and not immediately replacing him with Tyrone Carter is probably running counter to the team's thinking. Mr. Erenberg's analysis pointed out that 7 Special Teams Specialists seemed excessive, but I'd argue that we had 7 last year (Reed,Gardocki,Schneck,Morey,Kreiwaldt,Iwouma,Stuvaints)

Your practice squad people would be:
Herron, Kuhn(fulfilling that R.J.Bowers type role), Cobb(who just doesn't look recovered from injury), Roper, and other teams' castoffs. I want to see at least 2 RB's here or we could be in a position crunch in 2006 with Bettis gone, Haynes FA'd, and Duce not yet proven to run a full season in Pittsburgh.

-- Weegie Thompson

Projected Roster with Two Preseason Games to Go (Rich)

2005-08-23T21:30:00.000-04:00

Here's the current Steelers roster, which stands at 84, and which must be cut back to 53 by Sunday, September 4. Obviously the last two preseason games could have some effect, particularly if there are injuries. Assuming no injuries, here's my best guess for how the roster stands after final cuts.

QB: (3) Ben Roethlisberger, Tommy Maddox, Brian St. Pierre
RB: (5) Duce Staley, Jerome Bettis, Willie Parker, Dan Kreider, Verron Haynes
WR: (6) Hines Ward, Antwaan Randle El, Cedrick Wilson, Fred Gibson, Nate Washington, Sean Morey
TE: (3) Heath Miller, Jerame Tuman, Matt Kranchick
OL: (9) Jeff Hartings, Alan Faneca, Marvel Smith, Kendall Simmons, Max Starks, Trai Essex, Chukky Okobi, Chris Kemoeatu, Jim Jones
DL: (6) Kimo von Olhoeffen, Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, Travis Kirschke, Brett Keisel, Chris Hoke
LB: (9) Joey Porter, Larry Foote, James Farrior, Clark Haggans, James Harrison, Clint Kriewaldt, Rian Wallace, Andre Frazier, Alonzo Jackson
DB: (9) Deshea Townsend, Willie Williams, Troy Polamalu, Chris Hope, Ricardo Colclough, Bryant McFadden, Ike Taylor, Russell Stuvaints, Mike Logan
ST: (3) Jeff Reed, Chris Gardocki, Mike Schneck

The toughest call was putting in Jackson, but I just don't see who's going to beat him out unless it's Dedrick Roper, or unless they only keep 8 linebackers, in which case I guess Chidi Iwuoma makes it, but can we really afford 6 speacial teams specialists? (Counting Morey and Kreiwaldt.)

Obviously there are questions at WR and TE too; Kranchick would seem to be the upside guy, but they might be more comfortable with Walter Rasby. I almost typed "Walter Rasby or Matt Cushing" there, but it just wouldn't be final cuts without seeing Matt Cushing's name in agate type. Also, the WR projection presumes they go with Washington over Lee Mays, trading a little experience for a little upside and cap room. The other guy who could be a cap casualty if they're thinking that way would be Tuman--a nice player to have around, but possibly a luxury now.

I'm also wondering if Verron Haynes might get squeezed out now that he doesn't seem to have much of a role, but I don't know who you'd keep instead. Noah Herron? Zach Tuiasosopo? Cushing? I also assume that backup safety is a 3-man tossup for two slots, with Tyrone Carter my projected odd man out.

I assume Shawn Nua and Herron are strong practice squad candidates, and maybe Zamir Cobb and Walter Young.

I also predict that Charlie Batch shows up to the first game claiming to be Brian St. Pierre, but no one will buy it.

--Rich Erenberg

All Steelers All the Time (Rich)

2005-08-23T18:27:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Best Available Blog. Our goal here is to publish an ongoing conversation about all things Steelers--the games, the roster, the nostalgia, the moves, and The Chin--between two lifelong Steeler fans. With "Weegie Thompson" writing from the homefront and "Rich Erenberg" writing from the nether regions of Steeler Nation, we hope to be entertaining, fun, and just about but not quite so obsessive as to screw up the rest of our lives.

We are both of the generation that was born in time, but barely, for the Super Bowl teams, and for whom AFC Championship disappointment starts with Mark Malone and Louis Lipps, not Neil O'Donnell and Barry Foster. We've seen the Woodley/Blackledge/Brister era as well as the Kordell/Kent Graham era, which makes us especially happy at the prospect of a long and prosperous Roethlisberger era. We remember "Matt Bahr a-kickin' on a Chuck Noll Super Bowl team," "Chuck Noll is building but we don't know what, I hope it ain't the Maulers," and "And if we don't get in the end zone, we'll get 3 points off of Norm Johnson's toe."

OK, enough with the stage-setting, and let the Steeler talk begin!

--Rich Erenberg