Steelers vs. Broncos Review

Okay. I'm ready to talk about it now. Yesterday was... too soon.

The season, is, effectively over. I really wish we could hook up Madden 2007 and simulate the rest of it (we might have a decent shot of going 8-8 if we did that), but that's why they play the games.

And, even though it sucks, it's kinda liberating. I mean, really, who cares what happens the rest of the year? I'll still scream at any Steeler that drops an easy pick, fumbles inside the other team's 20 (like that would ever happen), or takes a dumb penalty (ditto). The thing is that the season won't be hanging in the balance. As much as I loved the playoff run last year, it was damn stressful. I needed a break from football until about June. I seriously didn't start thinking about the season until Ben's accident.

This year? I'm going to sit back and watch the scary talent the Steelers possess try to play spoiler against a lot of teams with less talent and better records. I mean, everyone knows that Denver's got a top 5 defense. Going into the Indy game, they had let up two touchdowns all season. And we put up 499 yards on them. It took Ben about 90 attempts, but he threw for over 400 yards. Once again, we outgained them. We're going to finish the season as the best team (statistically) ever to finish 6-10. I don't doubt that we'll be in the top 10 on offense and defense (which is measured in yards per game) at the end of the season.

We've got a lot of talent. But, bad special teams play and turnovers will kill you. And they've been killing us all year. Sunday's game was a microcosm of the whole year. All year, we've been going, "Yes! Yes! Go! Ahhhhhhh, SHIT!" All year. I think I did that 38 times on Sunday. I must have done it 489,153 times this season. They run up and down the field, then they turn it over. Unless they turn the ball over before they get started (like a fumbled snap, a fumbled punt, or an INT at the beginning of a drive).

Our defense isn't terrible. We just haven't gotten pressure on the QB, because we miss Kimo and Hampton, Porter and Haggans have either been injured or ineffective, and LeBeau's too afraid to send Foote, Farrior, or Troy on a blitz unless we really really really really need something good to happen. Let me put this in all caps: OUR PASS DEFENSE IS NO WORSE THAN IT WAS LAST YEAR. It's just that we were able to mask the fact that our defensive backs struggle in man coverage by blitzing a lot and playing more zone. This year, I think we assumed that Ike Taylor was suddenly going to be a shutdown corner because we paid him a lot of money and Deshea Townshend was going to keep playing solid forever, just because he was a nice guy and came back for less money. It's not Ryan Clark. It's not Troy. It's not anyone in the defensive backfield. It's the guys up front and their inability to pressure the quarterback.

I'm going to state this again for any new readers (all three of them): When the Steelers struggle on offense, it's the offensive line. When they struggle on defense, it's the linebackers. And that's it. Why then, have we been drafting defensive backs and receivers in the first three rounds the past few years? Okay. I don't have an answer for that one. But I know what position we should draft from with our top 10 pick in next year's draft, and it ain't receiver.

And I'd really like to see some stats on average starting field position for the Steelers this year. Our average start has to be our 23 yard line, whereas the opponent must be starting at about their 45 yard line. If not midfield. Watch the games. Sure, we've given up 176 points in 8 games, but how many of those points have come when the opposing team has a short field to work with? Most them. When teams have to drive 70 or 80 yards on our defense, it hasn't happened. Or, at least, not often.

Then there's the fact that we absolutely SUCK in the red zone. We miss the Fat Man. Davenport may be fat, but he's a poor substitute. Holmes may be short, skinny, and shifty, but he's a poor substitute for Randle-El. I know that I said we weren't going to miss them when Fat Man retired and El signed that huge contract with the Redskins. I remember. But, you have to admit that there's no way you thought our red zone performance would be this bad or that Holmes would be this terrible. There's just no way. In previous seasons, I'd be all excited when we got down by the goal line. When El went back to return a punt, I'd wonder what amazing thing he'd do once he caught the ball. This season, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's a sickening feeling to watch game living in abject terror, trying to figure out how we're going to screw up a great opportunity so it won't be as shocking when it happens.

All in all, I really think it'd be better if we just knew we had a lousy team. Fans in Cleveland, Oakland, and Detroit are aware that they root for bad organizations with crappy players. They're used to it. With the Steelers, the carpet doesn't match the drapes.

A few other things, while I'm thinking about it:

1. Duce Staley needs to go. If he's not contributing, other than looking FANTASTIC in those sweats, he needs to be cut. The other option would be to have my buddy, Weidman, take his roster spot. Weidman is 6' tall and weighs 300 pounds. He'd be a fat, jolly man on the sidelines and a great cheerleader. I can't speak to how good he looks in sweats, but I'm sure it's not that much different. We're currently paying Duce $2.5 million for this season. Weidman, in a tremendous show of team spirit, is willing to work for half that. Sure, he's still re-habbing from a severe fracture to his ankle, but I'm sure the Steelers' medical staff can see to that. Weidman gets some medical attention, gets to stand on the sidelines, and the Steelers get to save $1.25 million. In addition, if it got out that someone from Pittsburgh made the team after not playing football in high school or college that has a broken ankle, I think the fan base would still root for Weidman more than they would for Duce. The man hasn't dressed for a game since the Super Bowl. It's time to drop the Duce and put Weidman on the payroll.
2. The decision to pull Santonio Holmes off the kick return team should've been made after the Kansas City game. Doing it this past Sunday is a case of too little, too late.
3. Anyone else think Cowher's situation is a distraction for the players? I sure do. He doesn't seem as passionate, as disciplined, or as angry any more. In his press conferences, he sounds like an insurance agent that adopted a troubled kid from the ghetto... "We keep trying. I keep telling them to hold onto the football. Things happen. The past is the past. We just need to go out and try hard next week. I still believe in them..." GO OUT AND BUST SOME FREAKIN' HEADS! While we're at it, I don't think Cowher believed anything he said in the off-season about "last year being last year." At any rate, the players certainly didn't buy into it. I don't think they've gone out and put maximum effort into any game. Maybe not even the KC game. I think they just expect to go out and dominate because it's their birthright.
4. Along those lines, the team seems to go out on the field and wait for the other shoe to drop. Just the looks in their eyes. They don't have the confidence they once had and, judging from Sunday, don't seem to have faith in each other anymore, or faith that they can overcome a bad situation. When they were down by 10 on two separate occasions in the playoff game against Cincy last season, it seemed like we were down by a field goal, or even tied. When we were down by 7 against Denver on Sunday, it seemed like we were down by three touchdowns. It's a weird feeling.
5. As much as I hate to say it, we need to put Hartings on IR and let Okobi finish the season. Hartings is going to retire after this season and we need to see what Okobi can do.
6. Cowher's going to "retire," after this season, then Parcells is going to leave Dallas, then Dallas is going to sign Cowher to an offer he can't refuse. Just making sure everyone's prepared.
7. Given the fact that we got killed on the salary cap the last two years when Ben met every "likely to be earned" incentive, as well as most of the "unlikely to be earned" incentives on his contract, we get a break this year because he's having a bad season. Throw in the $6 million we'll save when Hartings retires, the $2.5 million we'll save when we drop a Duce, the credits from the incentives we thought Ben would earn but didn't, the fact that we won't have to count "likely to be earned" stuff next season, and the fact that the salary cap is going to go up another $10 million, and we'll have plenty of space to sign free agents. And our top 10 draft selection.