A Commanding loss

There are questions that have plagued philosophers, theologians and drunks throughout history. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? If you lose to the worst team in the league, who's really the worst?

Once again, the Power dropped one this week. Things started off fairly well. The game started with Superman making one of his best non-scoring returns of the year to get down to the red zone. Although the Power needed a lot of tries and some help from one of KC's (many) penalties, we got in.

Things continued back and forth most of the game, with Berry being the standout performance of the evening. He was our top receiver, averaged almost 20 yards a return and had an important pick. Turner and Joystick also made their normal contributions. Refreshingly, our new kicker could actually kick, missing just one PAT on the evening. Finally, there was the fact that Coach Siegfried made his first call in weeks that I agreed with - he put Cassidy back in.

Problem is, we still had turnovers, picks, failed defense, lack-luster offense and overall "meh." We kept it close and didn't lose by much, but....damnit, it was the KC Command. "Close" shouldn't have ever entered into the equation. It should have been "handily" or "crushingly." This loss - our fifth in a row - was shameful.

Apparently, the Powers that be feel the same way. Siegfried is out. Gone. Fired. That's the good news. The bad news is that our Defensive Coordinator Derek Stingley, who coached last year for the woeful New Orleans Voodoo, has been promoted to head coach. Also, we've added Offensive Coordinator Mike Tomczak - yes, that Mike Tomczak.

So...yeah. We have a bye week this weekend to let this all sink in and see if there's any season left to salvage.

Elsewhere in the League

• Georgia had me wondering. I called them to win, but Milwaukee jumped out to a huge lead early on (21 points, if I remember correctly) and looked to be delivering a solid whoopin. Unfortunately for them, they fell apart in the second half until they were tied up right at the end of regulation. Georgia booted a 31-yard field goal over the uprights to pull ahead. The Mustangs tried to out-do them with 2 seconds left and a 61-yard attempt. Georgia blocked it and went home winners.
• The Voodoo and the Predators pulled the same kind of game. Orlando played the Voodoo hard, brought the pressure and even sacked Rocco. It looked like the game was theirs until the Voodoo dug deep and brought the game home late in the second half.
• Out in Spokane, the Shock started the game by just pounding on the Soul. It got out of hand rather quickly until Dirty Dan and his unstoppable team came b- Wait. No. The other thing - they lost by almost 20 points.
• This one, I never saw coming. Early in the game, the struggling Sharks pulled off two picks from the Barnstormers and just rode the wave to victory. It was a crushing defeat for Iowa, who fell 55-19
• Well, I was right about Tampa Bay - they lost on the road again. This makes Cleveland the only team in our division to win this week, moving them up to second place in our division. Also, we're not that far behind the Mustangs, so there's still a chance for the Power.
• Lots of shake up in the West. San Jose got beat pretty handily by the Talons, which I didn't see coming, and the Rattlers beat the Blaze, which I did. This means the Ratts take the top spot, the Cats fall to number two and the Blaze stay at three. But, once again, the Ratts find themselves only a half game away from the team right behind them.

Time to Take Command

Okay, Power. This is it. Your clear and undeniable chance to hit the high point of your season and...wait for it...

Beat a team that's not Orlando.

The Kansas City Command is the worst team in the league. They haven't won a game this season. They've barely come close. There were two games this season where they were ten points behind. So far, they've only scored more than 40 points once.

My point is, if we can't beat them, that will be an embarrassment that would leave the Power no choice but to change their name and go into witness protection.

For the Power's part, it looks like they're still going with the "throw everything against the wall and hope to God something sticks" tactic. We've picked up a new kicker in the hopes that he might know which end of the field to aim for. LaRico Stevenson is now on reassignment - which has been increasing been code for "I don't want to play here anymore" - which is a blow because he's one of the only people in our secondary who can tackle. Christian Wise is on injured reserve, so with the two of them, we're down two DBs (Wise is listed as a WR/DB, so it counts)...but gee, we've activated/signed two OLs.

In short...I have no idea what to expect, and I'm not entirely sure that they do, either. The good news is, if there was ever a safe team to just try random stuff out on, it's the KC Command.

I realize that my last few posts have come across as really pessimistic, but really, that's only because they have been. The Power is continuing to be stuck in the midst of a crisis. I'm not sure if it's because the whole strike thing broke them at the beginning of the season, or if it's because of bad luck, or a result of bad coaching - but the result is the same.

I will still be down at the arena with metaphorical bells on. It's always fun, and I encourage all you you to come down and prove that we can support a struggling team. After all - we still go to Pirates games.

Elsewhere in the League

• First up, is Georgia at Milwaukee. This is a tough one to call as Georgia is 1-2 on the road and the Mustangs are 1-2 at home. Georgia has the better record, but Milwaukee always keeps it close. In the end, I'm picking Georgia because of their record and the fact that I want the Mustangs to lose.
• In past years, I couldn't say this, but the Game of the Week should be a lock for the Voodoo over the Predators. The Voodoo has been playing hard, and as mentioned earlier, the Predators are a broken team.
• The late game is Philly at Spokane. The Shock is a decent team, but decent isn't enough to beat Dirty Dan and the Soulcrushers.
• On Saturday night, the Sharks host the Barnstormers at 7:00. The Barnstormers are hanging in there in a tough division, and the Sharks are floating in the middle of a somewhat soft one. From what I've seen out of both teams, the Barnstormers are the safer pick in this one.
• At 7:30, the Tampa Bay Storm travel to Cleveland in the War of Teams that Used to be Pittsburgh. Tampa is having a good season, but in a bit of weirdness, they are the first team to hit this point in the season winless on the road and undefeated at home. Add to that the fact that Cleveland is a tough team, and I don't see that changing this week.
• Later in the evening, the Talons host the Sabercats. As much as I like Garcia, Quiroga and Willis, I just don't see them winning. The Cats are great, and they handled the Talons rather handily earlier in the season.
• Arizona once again finds itself in the position of being tied up with a division opponent that they're playing. Right now, they're half a game ahead of the the Blaze and really, really don't want to lose this one. Tommy Grady and his crew in Utah are solid, and so are the Ratts. Close call, but I'm going to go for the Rattlers - though I fear that might be loyalty speaking.
  

Talons Strike, Draw Blood

It was no great surprise that the Pittsburgh Power lost Saturday night. What is surprising is how badly they were beaten when they statistically played so well, save for a few key and devastating areas.

Randall's performance (with an exception to be mentioned later) was pretty impressive. He made almost twice as many attempts as Garcia and threw for around 120 yards more. He also went the night pick-free. Great for him in specific, and pretty darn good for a QB in this league in general.

Receiving was respectable, with our third-best in terms of yardage (Joystick) only 3 yards shy of the Talons top performer (Wilson.) Superman had a monster night with 188 yards in the air and 148 yards on returns. We even out-rushed them, though neither numbers weren't that impressive.

Even the defense wasn't having a bad night. The opening drive, they actually held the Talons to a field goal. During the rest of the game, they came up big on a few third and fourth down plays and sacked Garcia twice.

So, with everything coming up Pittsburgh, why did we lose 68-52?

Fumbles, sacks, special teams, dumb calls and kicking. Yes, I realize kicking falls under the umbrella of special teams - it was just so fucking bad that it has to be mentioned.

Randall flat-out fumbled one, got stripped another time and Joystick dropped another one. I don't know what's going on, but we have had a serious problem with that this season. Also, it isn't just the fumbles themselves - it's the falling on the damn ball part. Hell, we forced three fumbles ourselves, but failed to recover a single one of them. That's 6 lost balls in this game, and the Talons came up with all of them.

Our offensive line just could not protect Randall in this game, either. Besides the stripping, Randall got put on his back 7 times during the game for a loss of almost 40 yards. That's no good. We can't instill confidence in a QB if he knows he's going to get beat.

Now to address the disgraceful performance on special teams, which will include the kicking and dumb calls. The Talons had pretty free run of the field on returns. Three different players fielded the ball and racked up a cumulative 99 yards and two touchdowns.

As for kicking - and it's tempting to give them a pass on the fact that they're on their third kicker in three weeks - the Power did not make a single PAT during the game. Siegfried finally said to hell with it and started going for two on every touchdown. Now, he probably should have done that last week as well and I'm not going to fault him for it. However, it's a sucky, sucky situation to be in.

The cherry on the sundae was the fact that we attempted 3 onside kicks. I'm not a coach. I can't say when there's no other choice. I can say that there's about a 14% success rate in the AFL with them (citation be damned) and to succeed, you need an accurate kicker and great ability to dive on the ball. You need a kicker that can get it at least ten yards, hit an opposing player hard enough (or awkwardly enough) that it bounces off them at some weird angle, and then have special teams guys that can track that odd bounce and dive on it like a live grenade in the middle of a mass baptism where all the grandparents are war heroes.

To sum up: You need accurate kicking, surprise, good special teams and the ability to cover a loose ball. Go re-read everything I just wrote above and consider how mind-numbingly stupid that plan is. We lost by two touchdowns - and one of those was a return off of an onside kick. Let that marinate until next week when we play the worst team in the league and risk some serious embarrassment.

Elsewhere in the League

• I was unable to watch the NFL game of the week, which is unfortunate, given the division implications. However, the Gladiators were able to hold off the Mustangs.
• The Blaze and the Sabercats faced off in a brutal rivalry game that was - as I suspected - a lot of fun to watch. At 70-59, the Sabercats' victory was decisive, but hardly an easy win. Regardless, they stand alone at the top of their division, and continue to support my theory that they and the Soul will have a rematch at the end of the season.
• NOLA lost, but they hardly laid down for the Shock, 68-62
• Tampa Bay lost the top spot in their division again this week and sit a half game behind the Georgia Force after losing a tight one to the same. 44-41
• Philly had no trouble defeating the Sharks 56-38.
• No upset out in Iowa, as the Barnstormers tromp on the (still) winless KC Command, 62-42.
• Last game of the week was the Chicago Rush visiting the Arizona Rattlers. As I suspected, the Rush's glaring procedural errors were no match for the solid team out in the desert. Final score, 77-43.
  

Time to Trim Some Talons

I might as well skip to the chase: We're going to lose this week.

There is the hope that such a bold statement will humor both the Football Gods and the Vegas Oracles and cause them to make a fool of me, but I doubt it. We've lost too many games against teams that we should have beaten to really have much hope against the San Antonio Talons.

Led by Aaron Garcia, the fourth greatest Arena QB in history, the Talons are currently sitting on a 5-3 record. The three games they've lost have been against the Shock, Sabercats and the Rattlers - and at least two of them have the right to dream of going to the Arena Bowl (and, the last three Arena Bowls have featured one of those three teams.) Also, we're playing them on the road.

So, yeah - it's an uphill battle, to be sure.

Garcia has been in the league for 18 years and holds almost every record he can hold. Last year, he became the first QB (in any league) to pass 1,000 TDs. The main thing that we have to accept about him is that he cannot be pressured in the pocket and he's not afraid to throw it long. Now, the silver lining here is that I said we can't pressure him. He can be hurried, he can be sacked and he can be picked. These are all symptoms of extremely experienced quarterbacks. They've seen it all (and Garcia has) and they think, "I can hold this for a few more second- OH CRAP!" or "Sure, what the heck - I can make this pass..."

The games that the Talons have lost this year are ones where they were on the wrong side of the turnover battle or where Garcia got beat up. The former of these, we know we can do. The latter we can do better than we have been, so hopefully this is the week we do. When he played for the Sharks last here, he beat us by 25 points, but whatever.

Garcia has four mean targets in former Preds star Robert "I made the right choice" Quiroga, Jomo Wilson, Carl more and his favorite, our own Jason "Whatchu Talkin' Bout/JWill" Willis. They're good. That's all that can be said. Willis is his favorite target, and we know him. That's our advantage. Also - even if it didn't work out last year - Siegfried used to be one of Garcia's coaches. This is something that needs to be exploited.

On our side, Randall will be starting again so, say what you will, it's a bit of consistency. Also, I'm glad "Vampire" Kramer gave me something to write about last week, 'cause he's already gone again. Wagner's on league suspension now, so we'll have another unblooded kicker starting for us. So that's....great. We'll see how it shakes out.

In the meantime, my favorite mutt will continue her voodoo-doll antics with her favorite toy, Garcia.

It was relevant when he played for the Sharks.

Elsewhere in the League

• The NFL Game of the Week really is, as far as I'm concerned. Cleveland travels to Milwaukee in a great division matchup. I'm feeling the Mustangs in this game.
• The battle for number one in west division continues in San Jose for the late game Friday. The Utah Blaze is looking to settle things with the Sabercats, and this one is going to be close. The Cats might not have a lot left in the tank after their brutal battle against the Rattlers last week, and the Blaze might be able to pick up the win and the lead in the division.
• The Voodoo have had a slight fall from grace in the past few weeks, and they'll be looking to get back in the hunt in the late, late game against the Shock. Rowley has had some trouble, but I think he'll prevail this week.
• Another battle for the top slot kicks off Saturday night between the Storm and the Force. Not only because they beat us last week, but because the Storm hasn't been that impressive, I pick the Force.
• Philly will get right back on the horse against Jacksonville and get back to their winning ways
• The Barnstormers have lost three in a row against tough opponents and I know they want to beat someone up bad. Lucky for them, they're hosting the KC Command. If you're the type that likes to play the long odds for an upset (and bets on AFL games), this is the one.
  
• Finally, late Saturday, the Rattlers host my boys from Chicago. The Rush have just been playing way too sloppy (even though they tend to win) to be able to beat a team like the Rattlers on the road, that many timezones away.
  

The Force was too strong (Again)

Man, this season has just been brutal. For a while now, I’ve sat down to write my pre/review and started to say, “Well, we’re halfway through the season, and…” Then I realize that we’re not there yet…and we’re still not. This was only our eighth game. So, I guess the good news is that there’s still a lot of football left this season, and hopefully I’ll be able to write another column or two about our awesome win the preceding weekend.

Not this week, though.

Once again, the Force beat us, but at least it was competitive this time. We started strong by actually causing them to go 4-and-out on their first possession. On our possession, Berry put us on the board right away, and we were off to the races. We ended the first half down only a point and came out swinging in the second. We scored on our first drive, and then got a pick that went all the way back.

Our lead was blown late in the game on a couple of very well-played drives by the Force and some perfectly thrown interceptions by Randall. Final was 55-52.

It was another (mostly) well-played game by the Power, but we unfortunately came up short. Randall was looking pretty good, and despite having the same number of picks as last week, he threw a lot fewer straight to the opposing team. Our new addition Oderick Turner had a standout performance in this one, and he has some great hands. With him and “Hands” Hymes on the same line, the team was pulling off some fantastic snags.

So, where did it go wrong? Well, for one thing, Joystick is still having some issues holding onto the ball. I really, really don’t know what’s going on there. These last few weeks, he’s had a costly fumble that boned us. This week, no one was even touching him when he lost it – he just dropped it.

Also, the Force had Berry’s number on kickoff returns. He was only getting 10 yards on average, which started us with crappy field position on most drives. Now, we were able to do as well with our crap position as they were with their much better position (Johnson was averaging more than 25 yards) but we had to work a lot harder. It doesn’t take an expert on the sport to understand that spending less time marching down the field leaves more time on the clock to get an extra possession or two.

The other thing this week was the universe continuing to conspire against me and my feelings on kickers. Wagner is out, being listed on recallable reassignment. I haven’t been able to find out any information about this, but given that he only had one bad game, I think Keller’s theory of him working out for an NFL team might have some legs.

This week, we had Trey “The Vampire” Kramer starting for us, and damn, is he ever a big ball of WTF. To say that he has a background in football is technically accurate (unlike his kicking), but in the “everywhere else in the world” sense. He was a soccer player in college and semi-pro – a goaltender, no less – before just deciding one day that he wanted to kick field goals. Apparently the Blue Racers of the similar-to-but-different-than-the-Arena-League, Indoor Football League shrugged and said, “what the hell?” By all accounts, in that league he was fairly good, being about 80% on PATs and about 50% on field goals. In the NFL that would suck, but indoors, that’s commendable. This did not materialize for us this week in his first AFL game.

His kickoffs had serious power, but the accuracy was all over the place. Some boomed down the field, some dropped right into CJ Johnson’s hands and one went wide left of the rebound nets. When it came to PATs, he missed three and had one blocked. Recheck the score of this game and understand the frustration.

Strangely, the area he shined was tackling. Seriously. He had three on the night. I don’t mean he threw himself at the legs of a returner as a last-ditch attempt to trip him up like any self-respecting kicker – I mean full-on, slam-them-into-the-boards tackles. His third one, he did something I’ve never seen a kicker do: He sized up the returner, looked left, looked right…then lowered his shoulders and charged forward to get him. It was beautiful. I mean, a couple-three PATs would have been better, but it was still a sight to behold.

Bottom line in this game was that, statistically, we out-played Georgia. Picks, fumbles and terrible kicking lost this for us – again. I could bitch about the officiating, which in the fourth was worse than the Vampire’s kicking, but when it came right down to it, didn’t really screw us the way it felt down at the arena. We have one more game in the first half of our season, and we still can’t get all the ingredients, and I wonder if the Power is going to get it figured out in time to have a winning record, much less a slot in the playoffs.

Elsewhere in the League

Upsets….oh, the upsets. Glad I didn’t make many grand, sweeping declarations in my predictions this week.

• In the NFL Game of the Week, NOLA owned Jacksonville…for the first three quarters. Some determination by the Sharks and some costly mistakes by the Voodoo (Most notably a stupid, stupid drop by Kurt Rocco in the end zone) flipped this game around. Voodoo drop all the way to 4^th in their divison.

• Spokane and Utah was not nearly as close as I was expecting. On the first drive of the game, Rowley got sacked for a safety and kinda set the tone for the whole game. Tommy Grady has got some unbelievable moves in the pocket, and his arm and patience lead the Blaze to an 84-63 victory.

• In our division, what did I say needed to happen to make the world a brighter, happier place? We needed to win, and Philly and Milwaukee just needed to keep doing what they do. Instead, we lost and Philly ended up dropping this game 64-63 to the Mustangs. Going into this week, Philly was the only team ever to go 60+ points in seven consecutive games and the Mustangs had only 10 total points making the difference between a 2-5 season and a 5-2 season. Philly keeps their streak, but vindicates the Mustangs’ abilities.

• Predators continue to struggle, dropping the latest installment of the War on I-4 to Tampa Bay, 55-31.

• Talons break their “win every other game” pattern by (understandably) thwumping the hapless Command 47-31. No matter how bad things are for the Power, it’s comforting to look at KC and Orlando, at least.

• As predicted, the Sabercats/Rattlers matchup was a prize fight that went all the rounds. Both teams said screw defense and just decided to see who could score last. Showing their skill, both of them pulled off an onside kick during the game (though Arizona failed on a second one) and ran the score over 140 total points. In the end, San Jose was able to put that last score up and end the night victors, 77-70.

• In the Sunday afternoon game, Chicago (again, understandably) had Coach Ho and JJ Ratterink’s numbers. Sacking him three times and hurrying the Barnstormer offense, they were able to pull off another win and the season sweep of their rivals. However, sloppy play abounded. Barnstomers showed me that a safety can happen on a kickoff return, and later, the Rush returned the favor by running a play while inside their own end zone – and losing yardage. Both teams also held up proceedings while trying to challenge without any timeouts left, and Chicago continued to show poor clock management.

Hate is the Only Thing Stronger Than Hope

A wise man (Donald Sutherland), once said (in the Hunger Games movie), "Hope, it is the only thing stronger than fear."

I politely disagree with Mr. Sutherland and posit that there is something stronger than Hope: Hate. Hate, it is the only thing stronger than hope.

When I first heard that the Penguins were going to be playing the Flyers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, I felt fear.  When they went up three games to none on the Pens, that fear was confirmed.  I then felt hope, that the Pens would come back against the Flyers and ultimately defeat them in the best-of-seven series.  When that didn't happen, there was only one thing left to feel: Depression.

Well, that, then Hate.  See, I hate the Flyers more than any other team in the NHL and they're my second-most hated team overall after the hated Ravens.  I actually had to start referring to the hated Ravens as "Baltimore" at some point because I was tired of typing "hated Ravens."

My hatred for the Flyers actually has a longer history than my hate for the hated Ravens, since the hated Ravens have only been in existence since 1996.  I have hated the Flyers for almost my entire life.  I'm sorry, I'm sure I hated them in the womb and for the first three years of my life, but I had more pressing concerns, like getting out of the womb, finding my hand, and pooping in a designated location.  When the Flyers advanced to the Cup Final in 2010 and a lot of people were rooting against Hossa and his quest for the Cup, I offered up some hate and was ultimately rewarded.

That is why I believe in the power of hate. Until recently, I wasn't able to hear the name Eric Lindros without balling my hand into a fist.  I hate Eric Lindros and I hate the Philadelphia Flyers and that hate has made me powerful.

I hate the New Jersey Devils, but I hate them less than the Flyers, so they are the lesser of two evils.  I will root for the Devils to win.  I have hope that they will win because I hate the Flyers.  I will root for whoever wins the Rangers-Capitals series to beat the (expletive redacted) (expletive redacted) (expletive redacted) (expletive redacted) Flyers even if it's the (expletive redacted) Capitals and that (expletive redacted) (expletive redacted) Ovechkin.

Therefore, I am not going to trim my playoff beard until the Flyers are eliminated.  The hockey gods respect hope, but they also respect hate.

Steelers Draft Review: 2012

I already chimed in on what I thought about the DeCastro pick in my Rounds 2 and 3 primer and shared my thoughts on the Adams and Spence picks in the Rounds 4-7 primer, but I figured I'd put everything together and add some more on Adams and Spence.

First of all, I love the DeCastro pick.  I know taking a guard is a boring way to go, but it also makes a lot of sense.  I didn't include anything about DeCastro in my round one preview because I didn't think he was going to be available.  The Steelers got the best guard in the draft and a top 20 player at 24th overall.  Not too shabby at all.  He's smart, he's tough, he plays with a mean streak, and he reminds me a lot of Alan Faneca.  I think he'll be starting at right guard when the 2012 season kicks off and he's going to make a big impact on the interior of the offensive line.

Mike Adams has tons of talent, but there are character concerns, namely that he tested positive for marijuana at the combine in February.  I can only assume that's because every grocery store in Indianapolis was out of cranberry juice, but whatever.  I have no problem with guys smoking weed on their own time, but the league has a big problem with it.  The Steelers have a big problem with it, which is one of the reasons they traded Santonio Holmes.  I'm sure everyone has heard by now that they found out he tested positive and they took him off their board entirely (had a first round grade on him at the time).  Then Adams, who lives in western Pennsylvania, called up the Steeler headquarters and asked to meet with Tomlin, Colbert, and the Rooneys.  He convinced them that he had gotten past his demons and was seeking counseling for marijuana addiction (which is apparently a thing).

My thinking is that he's been scared straight, at least for the first two or three seasons (like Holmes), and the Steelers get a first round talent at a need position in the second round.  I don't think he'll be starting at the beginning of the season, but I can definitely see him following in the footsteps of Marcus Gilbert and cracking the line-up at some point in the middle of 2012.  If nothing else, these two picks give the Steelers the kind of youth, talent, and options that they haven't had on the offensive line in a long, long time.  That's huge.  Anything they do to help protect Ben Roethlisberger helps them win games.  This is a rebuilding project that really started with Maurkice Pouncey in 2010, but I love that they kept at it, kept adding guys, and those guys worked out.

Sean Spence was a four year starter at The U, their linebackers have a history of playing well at the NFL level, he's better in coverage than any linebacker on the roster not named Timmons, and he plays faster than his stopwatch speed.  He'll contribute in the nickle and dime packages and on special teams and he'll back up Timmons.  Solid guy, solid pick, but I'd be surprised if he ever starts.  He could play a lot of snaps and contribute a great deal -- especially if teams continue to favor throwing the ball -- but I think his upside is limited.  He's a guy with a high floor and a low ceiling.  I'm fine with that in the third round.

I'd like to point out that I (kinda) called the Alameda Ta'amu pick.  Second time's a charm and I will take it.  He's a huge dude, he eats up a lot of blockers in the middle of the field, and he wins at the point of attack.  He doesn't have polished pass rushing moves and he'll probably need to come off the field on third down and in sub packages.  Well, so what?  Casey Hampton has been playing this role (and playing it well) in this defense for the last 11 seasons.  If Ta'amu can replicate Hampton's performance and results, then this is a fantastic pick.  If Ta'amu struggles with his weight and balloons up to 400 pounds, then the pick isn't so great.  I'm thinking the pick will end up being fantastic.

Chris Rainey sent a threatening text message and got suspended by the Florida Gators.  He was young, he was dumb, he'd take it back if he could.  I was young and still am dumb, so I can understand and move on.  Rainey, basically, played the Percy Harvin role in Florida's defense the last couple of years.  The major difference between Rainey and Harvin is that Harvin's bigger, faster, and more explosive than Rainey.  That's why Harvin was drafted in the middle of the first round and Rainey was drafted in the fifth round.

But, I think Rainey is plenty fast and explosive enough to make a difference if the Steelers get him 5-8 touches a game.  He's a running back by position, but he's lined up in the slot like a receiver and he's also returned kicks.  I think they get him involved in the return game right away to take some of the load off Antonio Brown then slowly work him in on offense.  He doesn't pass block well, so Kirby Wilson would need to show him the finer points of that skill before they put him in at tailback.  If the other team knows he can't block and he's in at tailback and he wasn't in for the other 40 snaps in the game, the defense knows where the ball is going.  Limiting his touches and setting him up in the best position to succeed will make sure that he gets the most out of his 5-8 shots a game.  For a fifth round pick in an offense that could use another playmaker, I think Rainey's another great pickup.

They traded their sixth round pick to move up and draft Ta'amu and I'm fine with that.  In the seventh round, I really have no idea.  This round has been mostly crap for the Steelers in the Tomlin era and, in general, there aren't a bunch of quality guys that emerge from the seventh round.

I like the Toney Clemons and Terrance Frederick picks.  I don't like the David Paulson and Kelvin Beachum picks.

Clemons is a big dude (6'2", 210) that doesn't run particularly well and likes to work the middle of the field.  That at least gives the Steelers a change of pace, since every other receiver on the roster is about 5'10" and about 190.  He also has inconsistent hands.  As I've mentioned before, that's not really something that can be coached out of a guy at this point.  He's had inconsistent hands for about 20 years.  He's had people try to teach him to do different things to get over it.  He's had coaches yell at him to stop dropping passes.  He's been through all that and won't suddenly have consistent hands just because a pro coach is working with him instead of a college one.

Really, he's Limas Sweed but less risky.  He was a seventh round pick and the Steelers are already pretty loaded at the position.  If he works out, he gives them variety and depth.  If he doesn't... meh.  Bonus coverage: This is what I wrote about Antonio Brown in my 2010 review: "He has no chance to make the roster unless he returns kicks."  That's it.  That's all I had.  But, he worked out just fine, so maybe Clemons will, too.

Frederick is another unremarkable warm body that plays cornerback and is much better at zone coverage than man coverage.  The Steelers need like five of those guys for training camp, with one guy hopefully emerging as a starter or (really hopefully) as a star.

Paulson isn't a great blocker and he isn't a great receiver.  He's just "good" at a lot of things.  My thinking is that's not good enough to make this roster, particularly after the Steelers signed Leonard Pope.

Beachum played tackle at SMU and projects as a guard in the NFL.  The Steelers have DeCastro, Legursky, Foster, Essex, and possibly Colon if he moves to guard.  That's five guys that are all way better than Beachum and they're competing for two jobs.  I don't think Beachum is good enough to overcome those odds, but I hope he proves me wrong (Essex is hogging a roster spot).  You hear that, Beachum?  PROVE ME WRONG.

All in all, I loved this draft.  Way more hits than misses, solid picks through the first five rounds, and two potential starters on the offensive line.

I was talking to a friend of mine last night about the draft.  He and I both have felt, since about December, that bad times are ahead for the Steelers.  After this draft, we both agreed that there is cause for optimism.  Now that's a powerful draft right there.

Steelers Grade: A

Feel the Force

Oooooooookay...so...here we go. Took me a while to get around to writing this. There really isn't a lot to say until the Power turns things around. While I toyed around with various ways of saying, "We need to win, or else," I took a look at what happened last time we played the Georgia Force. It was almost exactly one year ago today that we played them, and lost.

Now there are some interesting things that we can take from this game. When we lost to them last year, that put us at 3-4, which is actually only one game ahead of where we are right now. After that, we were still able to go on a serious roll and end up in playoff contention. That possibility still exists for us this year with some lucky breaks - it really does. Cleveland isn't playing this weekend, but Milwaukee is playing Philly. So long as Philly doesn't screw us, that will drop the Mustangs down to a tie with us (if we win.)

Now, last year we were on a run for first place and that's not going to be an option this year. However, the South division is a lot weaker this season, and that's our hope.

We know what to expect from the Power. Aside from mentioning that Randall is getting the start, not much to say. How about the Force?

Well, at quarterback, they have RJ Archer, who is someone we prepared to face in Milwaukee, but didn't because Guidugli got the start. Hopefully we still have the tape on Archer, but it is what it is. On the receiving side, they still have CJ Johnson and Larry Shipp and they're still favorite targets. They're good, but it's a bonus that we've played them before. They're a known quantity. Last time, they were able to put a combined total of 170 yards and 4 touchdowns on us, and I hope that we can keep them down.

Last week when they were playing the Rattlers, every. single. time. the announcers talked about their schedule, they repeated,

"Next week they travel to Pittsburgh."
"Beatable team."
"Yep. Beatable team."

That stung, but we can't deny that it's true. Thankfully, they eventually admitted that the Force has been streaky as hell this year. They hosted the undefeated Rush and beat them. Soundly. Yet, the very next week, they rolled into Orlando, all full of swagger...and handed them their first win of the season. They've also beaten Cleveland yet lost to Tampa - my point is, when they play a tough team, they can knuckle down and beat them. When they play a weak team, they get cocky and lose. That is our chance.

The main thing that we have to watch out for is their defense. Even if they have a losing schedule right now, they've made big stops in their games. They put up some huge stops against even Arizona, and we haven't performed well in those situations this year.

We lost the "easy" road to a playoff berth last week, but if we roll like last year and start putting up some wins, and the rest of the division helps us out by losing some important ones, we have a chance. At this point, I hope Philly wins everything except our next match. Any time Philly loses now, it dilutes and averages out the rest of our division. The division title is theirs, and we need them to win it as decisively as possible. So...root for Philly, is what I'm saying.

Ouch. I don't like saying that.

Elsewhere in the league

Okay...no pressure after my perfect run last week. I'm not even going to try this week, because there's too many games that could go either way. In other words, there are a lot of games worth watching this week.

• NFL Game this week is the Voodoo visiting Jacksonville. Voodoo needs the win to stay at the top of their division. The Sharks have put some serious points up and lost some close games. Basically, they're the Florida version of us. Smart money is on NOLA, but Jax is hungry enough to pull it off.
• At 9, Spokane squares off against rival Utah. Both teams are on a winning streak, and Spokane sits at the bottom of their division. The Shock lost their first game with Rowley by 4 points, and have won since. On the other hand, Tommy Grady is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league. This one is just too damn close to call. I'll give the home team (who also has the better record) the edge here, but not by much. If I'm home, I'll be watching this one, and you should, too.
• Saturday night, Milwaukee plays Philly at home. As stated above, it's better all around if Philly wins, and they should win without a problem, but I've got a very bad feeling about this one. Still taking Philly, though.
• Predators at the Storm. The Storm should have this one because, well, the Predators...however, they've been playing pretty weak recently, even when they've won. Last week against the KC Command, they had a score like the outdoor league most of the way through the second quarter. They should have steamrolled that team, and it took way too long to get going. Take Tampa, but don't be shocked with an upset.
• Talons at Command. Okay, Talon should win this one. Why? Because its the Command. Also, because the Talons have literally been winning every other game this season, and this week is supposed to be a win. Now, we better hope that they break said pattern - because we play them next.
  
• San Jose at Arizona. Oh boy, this one better get rebroadcast. I'll be dahn at Consol, of course and will miss the first half of this....but, as always, Cats vs Rats is fun to watch. These two teams are tied for first in the West, and last time they met, the Cats won by a single point. I'll give the Rats a 1-point edge at home. That's it.
• Final game for the week is Iowa at the Rush. Please re-read the above and change Cats to Barnstormers and Rats to Rush. Seriously. Every single thing I said in the last post holds true for this game.