Good News and Bad News: Steelers at Raiders

Not a lot of good news, particularly after an ugly, frustrating loss like this one, but let's get the good news out of the way first:

1. Ben Roethlisberger played a fantastic game, only getting sacked once in 50 dropbacks, not throwing an interception, averaging 7.8 yards per attempt, throwing four touchdown passes, and going 8-for-14 on third down.  I know the Raiders were thin in the secondary -- safety Michael Huff played the entire game at cornerback -- but this was still a very impressive effort by Roethlisberger, especially considering that the running game was non-existent.
2. I like the fact that they got Mike Wallace and Heath Miller prominently involved in the passing game.

Bad News:

1. The pass rush didn't generate nearly enough pressure and hasn't all season.  The only time they get sacks or generate pressure is either when LaMarr Woodley makes an exceptional individual effort or they rush six or more guys.  They don't have the talent in the secondary to cover receivers for more than three seconds.  Most teams don't.  I'd like to say this issue will be fixed when/if James Harrison comes back, but I don't think it will.  I know that Harrison -- or even Jason Worilds -- would be a big upgrade in terms of pass rush ability, but I don't know that upgrading one spot is going to be the silver bullet that fixes everything.
2. They went to prevent defense mode far too early, which is one reason they blew two ten point fourth quarter leads.
3. Rashard Mendenhall can't come back soon enough.  I think it's smart that the Steelers have been trying not to rush him back, but I also think they can't wait any longer.  Issac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer and Baron Batch aren't bad players, they're just not as explosive as Mendenhall.  They don't have the speed to get to the edge, so defenses can focus on clogging up the middle and waiting for Redman and Dwyer and Batch to run into them.  Since defenses don't need to worry about protecting the edge, it makes it easier for them to defend the run.  When it becomes easier to defend the run, they have to worry about it less and can focus on defending the pass.  All of this means that it's going to get harder and harder for Roethlisberger to keep having the season he's having.
4. Special teams hasn't been very special thus far this season and yesterday was another example.  Shaun Suisham had two line drive kickoffs that didn't make it to the end zone and Oakland returned both of them for a total of 87 yards.  Antonio Brown had a punt return for a touchdown called back. At that point in the game, it would have made the score 21-7 if it counted and would have probably sent the Raiders into a tailspin.  Instead, Dwyer fumbles, Oakland scores, and it's suddenly a ball game again.
5. Technically, they've "forced" two turnovers thus far this season, but they haven't actually forced any turnovers.  One turnover was the result of a muffed punt in the Jets game and the other was an interception by Ryan Clark that occurred after Denarius Moore slipped and fell down.  They've only committed three turnovers, which is good, but the defense isn't good enough -- or young enough -- to face drive after drive and not be expected to buckle.

There were a number of things that went wrong yesterday, but the biggest cause for concern is the fact that Oakland is hardly an offensive powerhouse and they scored 34 points and what was supposed to be a solid defense.  The Raiders scored 14 points against the Chargers in Week 1 and only 13 against the Dolphins in Week 2.  The Steelers have already allowed two opponents to score 30 or more points against them and we're only in Week 3.  They allowed 30 points in a game once in 2010 and once in 2011.

Their issues on defense go beyond just the pass rush, but getting guys healthy and finding ways to get more pressure on the quarterback is the best "quick fix" option that they have.  Hopefully Harrison, Mendenhall, and Polamalu will return after the bye and things will get closer to normal. 

But, I have a feeling that there really is no quick fix and that we could be in for a long season.  This isn't based just off the loss to the Raiders or the loss to the Broncos, even though both of those sucked.  It's based off the fact that they've been underwhelming thus far this season and I think things will get worse before they get better.

Steelers Preseason Game 2 Watchlist

My biggest takeaway from the first pre-season game against the Eagles is that we need the NFL officials to negotiate a contract with the NFL and come back.  The replacement officials aren't cutting it.  There were missed calls on both sides that both helped and hurt the Steelers.  The effect on the game really isn't worth arguing because it was an exhibition game, but you know how people like to ticky tack back and forth about this call or that call when the games actually count.  I'm not one to do that, regardless of how it affects the Steelers in a given game, but the fact that the replacement officials were entirely too inconsistent was driving me crazy.  So, I guess one of the things on my watchlist for this game is the officials.  I want to see if they're getting any better or not.  My guess is that they won't be any better and it will make me miss the old referees even more.

The other big thing I'll be watching is the offensive game plan.  Todd Haley mentioned a week or so ago that the entire offense is installed at this point.  That means that the largely "horizontal" passing game we saw against Philly might be what we see for the rest of the season, especially if Mike Wallace doesn't come back.  Now, I know that coordinators usually strip things down and keep things vanilla for the pre-season, but that seemed a little too stripped down and too vanilla.  If we see more of the same on Sunday night, that may be what's in store for the offense during the season.  I hope not, though I'm glad they're running more screen passes, but I guess that's why they play the games.

Other stuff I'll be watching:

1. I was not impressed with Curtis Brown and any of the back-up safeties not named Ryan Mundy.  I hope that, with a week of practice under their belts, they'll improve their overall awareness and cover their assigned areas (70 yard touchdown pass in game one was mostly Myron Rolle's fault, but Brown never should've lost track of him).
2. It looks like Keenan Lewis is now in the driver's seat for the #2 cornerback position, which means that Cortez Allen will probably get the start.  I was impressed with both of them, but I'd really like to see some consistency there.  Whoever is the starter, start getting them more reps with the first team.
3. Chris Carter looked pretty lost and slow last Thursday.  Maybe he improves, but I think a better plan is to start saying novenas that Harrison and Worilds get healthy.
4. Steve McLendon was solid in limited action against the Eagles and I want to see more of him.  Given the fact that Casey Hampton and Rashard Mendenhall just got activated off the PUP list, this seems like as good a chance as any for McLendon to show what he can do.
5. Speaking of guys that will get a chance to show what they can do, Baron Batch and Jonathan Dwyer are both going to get a lot of touches with Mendenhall and Redman not available and I'm excited to see how the perform running behind the first- and second-team offensive lines.  I've said all along that I think Batch is really just Verron Haynes, Jr; a guy that can carry here and there but is mostly a third down back.  If he can be an every down guy or at least looks a lot better than he did against Philly (which shouldn't be difficult), then that would make me less nervous about the running back position.  The fact that Mendenhall was taken off the PUP list doesn't make me less nervous.  It makes me think they're going to test him a little, find that he's not anywhere near ready, and put him on IR.  I'm thinking that about Big Snack, too, which is why they should put McLendon in there as much as possible.
6. Mike Adams can't possibly be as bad as he looked against the Eagles.  He played poorly, then got hurt, which is not an auspicious way for a guy to begin his career.  I'd like to see him play a bunch of snaps against the Colts, but I honestly don't think he's going to secure the starting job.  He's too far behind and the coaching staff loves Max Starks too much.
7. I think DeCastro is going to do just fine and he'll open the season at right guard, but I'd still like to see him get a lot of snaps and work out some of the kinks.  
8. Both rookies looked great in the running game, which makes me think that Pouncey has some work to do yet on line calls.  The past two seasons, he was mostly surrounded by guys that had been there longer than him and already knew what to do.  That's probably not going to be the case this season and he needs to step up.
9. They need to get the ball to Chris Rainey eight times on offense.  He may lose eight yards on the first seven touches, but he could also break that eighth touch for a 60 yard touchdown.  The guy is explosive and I want to see more of him and how he works in different personnel groupings, especially against the opponent's first team defense.
10. Dear God: Please no injuries to Roethlisberger and Leftwich.  Thanks.

That's it.  Game's on Sunday night football on NBC.  Pre-season football... feel the excitement!

Preseason Game 2 Review

I have to come clean.  I didn't watch the first preseason game.  The Arena Bowl was on (read Weidman's review, because it's awesome), then I went out of town for the rest of the weekend, then I didn't watch the recording because I read a lot about the game and figured I knew enough from that.

Also in the interest of full disclosure: I'm started this at halftime of the Steelers-Eagles game, because the second half will mostly just determine whether the third and fourth string guys for the Steelers are better than the third and fourth string guys for Philly.  In this game, at least, the first string guys for the Steelers dominated.

What I Liked:

1. Hey, so, we all know that Michael Vick had a really crappy game.  He looked lost and he forced several passes into double coverage.  The key for the Steeler defense is that they made him pay for those mistakes.  One of the biggest issues last year's unit had was that they didn't force a lot of turnovers.  Even if it was the preseason and Vick looked like he just graduated from Virginia Tech, it was still nice to see.
2. Troy sure doesn't look like he's coming back from an injury.  He was all over the place.  If it weren't for a pretty nice tackle by Vick, maybe Troy goes all the way on that interception return.  Credit for that interception should go to LaMarr Woodley, though.  Dude's supposed to be a rush linebacker, but he was 25 yards back in coverage and pivoted, jumped, and threw his arm up to tip that ball so Troy could pick it.
3. Lots of nice pressure, mostly by rushing just four guys.  The blitzes, when they came, were well timed and pretty exotic.  I didn't know Ryan Clark was allowed to blitz.  Turns out getting juked out of a sack was the best thing that could've happened on that play (led to the Polamalu interception after Vick scrambled).  Clark also did a good job of playing possum, then jumping on the ball on his interception (another throw into double coverage by Vick).
4. Defensive line should be in real good shape -- especially Casey Hampton and I'm sorry I said he'd check in at 400 pounds after the lockout -- and should be able to weather the injury when Aaron Smith goes on IR in Week 8.
5. Maybe the injuries to Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden have a silver lining.  Keenan Lewis and William Gay got a lot of reps against Philly's first team offense and they looked sharp.
6. Ben Roethlisberger has very strong hands. Mrs. Roethlisberger and a number of ladies in the Atlanta area are probably already aware of this fact, but I want to mention it.  That was a brilliant pump fake on the Antonio Brown touchdown.
7. The offense, in general, looked great.  Lots of nice holes for Mendenhall and Redman, Roethlisberger had ample time when the Eagles didn't jail break blitz, and Brown seems like he's progressing nicely.  This was against was it supposed to be a top five defense.  I know, it's only the preseason, but it was still encouraging.
8. As happy as I was when Baron Batch was drafted and as much as I wanted him to replace Mewelde Moore as the team's third down back, I have to admit that Moore looked good.  Maybe, possibly, Mendenhall or Redman or Batch would've scored on that wheel route Moore caught when Philadelphia overloaded the right side on third and short in the second quarter.  But, hey, he caught the ball and he gained a bunch of yards, setting up that second touchdown.  As bummed as I am that Batch blew out his knee and ended up on injured reserve, I'm happy that Moore seems to have found the Fountain of 2008 and looks to be back to his old tricks.
9. Arnaz Battle is still alive, which adds depth at receiver and helps the Steelers out on special teams.
10. Time of possession in the first half was almost 24 minutes to six.  With an old defense, those long drives will pay off over the balance of the season.

What I Didn't Like:

What's not to like about a first half that ends with the Steelers holding a 21-0 lead?  This is more like a list of things that concern me.

1. Why isn't Jerricho Cotchery working with the first team?  Is he hurt?  Taking a long time to learn the system?  Past his prime?  I know it takes time to learn a new system, but some dude named Tyler Grisham was working as the fourth wide receiver.  Maybe there's nothing to it, but you gotta think that Cotchery should be able to beat out some kid... unless he's got nothing left in the tank.
2. Where was Mike Wallace?  I know he was on the field.  I saw him and everything.  But, zero catches for zero yards.  I still think he's a fantastic receiver with a tremendous future ahead of him.  My only issue is that he might have a down year this year.  With all the injuries along what was already a pretty depleted offensive line, I have to assume that the Steelers aren't going to throw deep a lot in 2011.  If they don't, that takes a whole lot of targets away from Wallace.  Fewer targets means fewer opportunities means fewer catches means fewer yards means fewer touchdowns.  Right now, the Steelers seem to be running a "Clear and Sweep" offense, where they send Wallace deep, half the secondary follows him, and then they pick the defense apart with routes under 15 yards.  Judging by tonight's results, this doesn't appear to be a bad thing for the offense in general, but it's not a good leading indicator for Wallace, especially for fantasy purposes.
3. Injuries.  Jonathan Scott and Marcus Gilbert both left the game with knee problems and Redman hurt his ankle.  Given those injuries, I would think that Tomlin would want to get his first team defense off the field after a strong showing.  He didn't.  So, that concerns me.
4. Even though Gay and Lewis played well, the pass defense will suffer if Taylor and McFadden can't be back for the start of the season.
5. Man, I sure hope Shaun Suisham is OK.  I was not impressed by Swayze Waters.
6. Second Half Note: Dennis Dixon threw a lot of fluttering, helicopter passes.  Some balls had some nice zip on them.  But, I wouldn't say he's in a position to demand a trade so he can compete for a starting job or a top back-up job.

All in all, a strong follow-up to what I read was a pretty dismal effort against the Redskins.  It's too early to start designing the Super Bowl rings just yet, but tonight's game was certainly promising.