Good News and Bad News: Steelers at Chiefs

I was talking to a co-worker about the game this morning.  He's from Argentina and follows soccer a lot more closely than he follows the NFL, but I thought he summed last night's game up nicely.  He said, "The Steelers sucked last night.  Fortunately, the Chiefs sucked even more."  That's about all the information you really need, but you can read on if you want to check out the good news and the bad news.

Good News first...

1. They won.  And, gosh darnit, a win is a win.  They'll need to keep winning games in which they suck, because the hated Ravens don't look like they're going to go away any time soon.  Baltimore plays Cleveland twice, Indy, at San Diego, and at Cincinnati the rest of the season.  The Steelers also draw Cleveland twice, Cincy once, and they get to play the Rams, but they also have to travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers on a Monday night.  If the season ended today, the hated Ravens would win the division and the Steelers would be the #5 seed.  The only way to improve that seeding is to win out and hope Baltimore drops another game.
2. They forced four turnovers.  I don't care that Tyler Palko played a horrible game and basically gift wrapped three of the turnovers.  The defense still took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them and they haven't been the most opportunistic bunch thus far this year.  One of those turnovers closed out the game, which has also been an issue since about Super Bowl XLIII.
3. Max Starks did a great job against Tamba Hali.  I'm not sure what got into him.  Maybe it was being unemployed and out of shape that lit a fire under him.  I've been unemployed and out of shape before and I don't recall improving this much in a two month period, but whatever.  I'm happy that he's in at left tackle and playing well.
4. Ike Taylor continues to impress.  He had another great game with four tackles, an interception, and two passes defended.  Yes, one of those "passes defended" was an interception that went through his hands and bounced off his facemask, but we all knew going into this game that Taylor can't catch.  What was particularly impressive to me was that he accomplished everything he accomplished in man coverage and he was generally assigned to Kansas City's hottest receiver all game.  He lined up across from Steve Breaston and Dwayne Bowe at different points in the game, depending on who Dick LeBeau thought was going to get targeted.  In general, Palko was smart enough to avoid Taylor, which means his hottest receiver was unavailable to him for most of the evening.  That's a pretty nice weapon for LeBeau to have in his arsenal.
5. Suisham converted both his field goal attempts.  Jeff Reed is still available.

Now for the Bad News:

1. The box score says that the Chiefs had one sack and four quarterback hits.  If you saw that and didn't watch the game, then checked Steelers N At and saw that Starks played well against Hali, then you'd think that the offensive line had a good game and Ben Roethlisberger wasn't pressured all that much.  Fortunately, we both watched the game and we've gotten to the Bad News section of the post, so we can dispel that misguided assumption.  The offensive line sucked.  Without Pouncey to make the line calls and fortify the middle of the line, they got shredded up the middle and Roethlisberger was dodging defenders all night.  Really, the only pass rushing weapon the Chiefs have is Hali.  Stop him and you're supposed to stop their pass rush.  Given the fact that Hali was stopped and the pass rush still harassed Roethlisberger all night, we had all better hope that Pouncey doesn't miss a significant amount of time.  The interior of the offensive line got abused by a bunch of marginal players.  That's very, very bad news considering that they don't play a lot of teams with marginal players on the defensive interior the next few weeks and they certainly won't face any in the playoffs.
2. I really have no idea what was going on with the offensive game plan.  This is not to take anything away from the Kansas City defense, because they played extremely well, hung in there, and didn't have any lapses in coverage like they did against the Patriots.  I know Mike Wallace didn't play well -- he had two drops, looked like he quit on a few other routes, and was not a very enthusiastic blocker -- but you still need to get him the ball.  If the defenders are giving him a 10 or 11 yard cushion, throw some slants or some quick screens.  If they crowd him at the line, throw deep.  This is a strategy that also works for Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown.  All three of those guys are fast and explosive and are dangerous in the open field.  Hines Ward is no longer that guy, if he ever was.  Why throw a bunch of those quick screens to him when you have Brown, Wallace, and Sanders?  Why keep trying to throw deep to Wallace when two members of the secondary are essentially lined up at the goal line?  Bruce Arians has never been great at making in game adjustments, but the two adjustments he made -- the screens to Ward and putting Wallace in motion to get him away from Brandon Flowers -- were bad ideas and also didn't work.  It could be that Roethlisberger was supposed to audible to a screen or a slant or a 10 yard out when he saw the cornerbacks playing off and never did.  But, if he missed that the first time, it's up to Arians or quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson to remind him.
3. They turned the ball over twice, with one of those turnovers coming in the red zone.
4. They were 1-for-3 in the red zone, including the aforementioned turnover.
5. I'm concerned about the illness that got Pouncey pulled from the game.  Is it just the flu?  Is it something worse?  Does he have Lupus?  It's just weird that team doctors said, "illness" instead of just saying that he had the flu.  I guess we'll check the injury report on Wednesday and see if this mysterious ailment still has him sidelined.  I'm just suspicious because the Steelers are keeping everyone in the dark, which only adds to the conjecture.  Whatever the illness is, I'd prefer that they just tell us and get it over with.
6. I'm more concerned about Troy's injury.  If it was a concussion or "concussion-like symptoms" (whatever that means) that kept him out of the game, then maybe he should shut it down for a few games.  He's got a history with brain injuries going all the way back to Southern Cal and you only get one brain.  Ever since Crosby took an extended leave because of his concussion injuries, I've been thinking that football players should be treated even more gingerly.  Sure, they wear better helmets and more padding than hockey players, but the guys they're hitting and getting hit by are bigger and stronger.  Again, I'm not a doctor, but I'm thinking the Steelers should err on the side of caution and not rush him back, even if he keeps insisting on it.  I'd rather see him out of the line-up than become a vegetable or lose his mind like Mike Webster did.
7. According to the stats, Jason Worilds had the team's only sack and four quarterback hits.  To me, he looked really uncomfortable and awkward when he had to rush the passer.  I can't wait for LaMarr Woodley to come back.

The bottom line is that they needed to win to keep pace and they won and kept pace.  They can't play this sloppily against the Bengals and hope to win.  They can't play this sloppily again this season if they expect to win -- not even against the Browns or the Rams.

Let's just hope they keep sucking a little bit less than the competition.

Preseason Review: Falcons at Steelers

Well, I had to jinx Maurkice Pouncey.  I had to talk about how he's the best guy on the line and how he gives the line some much-needed stability.  Then, last night, he goes out and hurts his ankle.  His injury didn't seem as severe as the knee injury sustained by Keenan Lewis or Byron Leftwich's broken arm, but it's still significant.  If it's a high ankle sprain or a break, Pouncey probably won't be able to make it for the start of the regular season.

That's really the only bad news that came out of last night's game.  The defense gave up a lot of yards and seemed to be in full-on retreat mode for most of the first half, but they were able to (mostly) hold things together in the red zone.  The score could've gotten way more out of hand if they hadn't held the Falcons to field goals inside the 20.

It looks like Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Roddy White are all worth grabbing for Fantasy purposes.  White had eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown on ten targets in just the first half.  Jones would've had a much more productive night if he had been able to hang onto that 48-yard bomb from Ryan in the second quarter.  It also looks like Michael Turner will not have a productive season.  I know it's only the preseason and it's no time to panic, but he just looked slow to the hole and finished with 19 yards on seven carries.  He got 11 of those yards on one run.  With great blocking and a big hole, he wasn't able to explode into that hole the way he used to.  The old Michael Turner probably would've gained 30 yards or so when given that kind of opportunity.

Ultimately, I think this game came down to the fact that the Steelers made big plays when they had the opportunity and Atlanta did not.  If Jones hangs on to that touchdown, the game is very different.  If Antonio Brown isn't able to get his feet under him and split the safeties, he gets tackled before he can scamper off for a 77-yard touchdown.  I'm not discounting any of those plays.  The Steelers still had to make those plays and you can't look at this game without putting them in there.  But, the Falcons ran 86 plays to the Steelers' 51.  Atlanta had 25 first downs, the Steelers had 15.  I understand that the goal is to score in as few plays as possible, but this defense isn't going to hold together -- for an entire game or for the balance of the season -- if they have to face 86 plays every week.  On average, you give up a lot more than 16 points when you face 86 plays.

The Falcons were 10-for-20 on third downs.  That means that, not only did they convert on half of their opportunities, they also faced third down a full 20 times in this game.  That's a lot of chances for the Steelers to get off the field, but it's also way too many chances for the other team to stay on it.  If the first team played both halves on both sides, I have a feeling that the defense would have eventually caved in.  They actually did a good job of containing Ryan -- he completed only 52 percent of his passes, threw an interception, and his quarterback rating was 65.6 -- but they also let him throw 42 passes in the first half.  He had 42 attempts in one half of football.  Yes, Lewis went down in the first half and McFadden and Taylor didn't suit up for the game, but that's a ridiculously high number.  Teams are going to focus on spreading the Steelers out and throwing the ball all season, so I guess we had better get used to it.

I thought the offensive line played well in pass protection, especially considering that the Falcons were blitzing like crazy.  I also think that, after the last two weeks, the teams on the Steelers schedule this season realize that blitzing Ben Roethlisberger is a bad idea.  That's unfortunate, because most of the big plays he's made thus far came against the blitz.  I also think that the Atlanta coaches called that insane, jail break, Cover 0 blitz in the second quarter just to see what would happen.  I think the whole team came on that thing, with Mike Smith sprinting in from the sidelines.  I doubt we'll see that in their playbook once the 2011 season kicks off.

The bad news on the offensive line is that the same issue that has plagued the team since 2008 is still there: I doubt that we'll be able to run for one yard when we absolutely, positively need to.  Mendenhall didn't have a lot of room to run and his stats were padded by that touchdown on the first series (yes, I'm aware that it was a one-yard score, but I stick by what I said).  None of the running backs saw a lot of daylight, which means that this could be a passing offense that struggles in the red zone... kinda like how the Falcons looked last night.

On defense, I think the front seven is ready for the season to start.  Lewis -- if healthy -- and Gay have gained some valuable experience and the Steelers are going to need four quality cornerbacks if last night is any indication (and it is).  The secondary should be fine, provided Troy and Ryan Clark stay healthy, since they seem to be able to cover up for a lot of the shortcomings of the cornerbacks.

Of course, Antonio Brown is awesome.  He played an outstanding game and was running with the first team.  But, I think everyone needs to temper their optimism and realize that this is the preseason.  Yes, Brown had 246 total yards and two touchdowns last night, but Crezdon Butler also led the team in tackles and had a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown.  I believe that Brown has locked down the third receiver job and I think he's going to be very involved in the offense this season.

I also heard that, in a recent Fantasy Football draft, someone took Brown in the fourth round.  That is more than a little crazy.  The plays that Brown scored on last night both looked really familiar and I couldn't figure out why at first.  I eventually realized that they were kinds of plays usually called with Mike Wallace in mind.  I think that the Steelers coaches were testing Brown to see what he could do in those situations and they were very pleased with the results.  But, being pleased with the results and giving Wallace's touches to Brown are two different things entirely.  Ward and Wallace will still be the main guys in this group and they'll get most of the targets in the passing game.  It's good to know that Brown will be able to do a lot with the opportunities he gets when he gets them.

With one game left to go, I have to say they look pretty solid.  Let's just hope they escape next week without any major injuries.

Steelers Draft Review

My top three selections from this draft (in order):

1. Bryant McFadden (fifth round)
2. Maurkice Pouncey (first round)
3. Byron Leftwich (seventh round)

Those are the three guys on this list that will be able to help the team right away. In that order. As you'll notice, two of those guys are people that we traded draft picks for. They were also on the 2008 Steelers, who won Super Bowl XLIII, in case I failed to mention that we won that game.

When the Steelers failed to re-sign McFadden, I called it a John Jackson/Rod Woodson level failure, or something like that. I thought that McFadden was going to go out into the world, dominate everyone, sign a huge deal, and make the Steelers look like idiots. Well, that didn't happen. He failed to win a starting job for Steelers West and was quickly traded in the offseason like he was some wide receiver in a contract year that had judgment issues.

I still have faith in McFadden. He knows the system, LeBeau knows how to use him, and he's no worse than the merry band of turnstiles that we had last season, so there you go. I'm not saying that he comes back in 2010 and dominates, but I think he'll do better with us than he did in the desert.

I am not a Leftwich fan, but I realize that he's somewhere between Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch on the upside/downside meter. With Batch, you know what you're going to get. You're going to get a guy that has played like four downs of football since the Bush administration (not the first one). With Dixon, you're not sure what you're going to get. With Leftwich, you know you're going to get a statuesque passer that has a 12 second delivery and will, most games, complete 60 percent of his passes and not make any big mistakes. The Steelers refuse to listen to me anyway, but I am happy about the fact that, as some kind of fanboy Goldilocks, I at least have a debate between cold, hot, and just right, with the knowledge that I should pay $78 for the right to eat whatever porridge is selected for me and be happy for the privilege.

To clarify: I am not down on the Steelers, the NFL, or fandom. I am simply preparing myself for the 6-10 season in 2010 and the bitterness that will ensue. By proxy, I'm preparing you. So, you're welcome.

Onto the other picks...

We drafted three OLBs. I'm going to lump them all together because I didn't think that OLB was a huge position of need heading into the draft, but, as always, I was wrong.

Aside from the fact that Jason Worilds -- I have heard his name pronounced ten times and I still don't think I have it right -- went to Virgina Tech, I like him. I wanted the Steelers to draft Golden Tate -- who was still available, by the way -- but, it's their team, I guess, so they can draft who they want. The issue with this pick is that we already have two Pro Bowl guys in Woodley and Harrison, so it's going to be at least two years (barring injury) before Worilds sees the field in any significant way. Granted, Tomlin hates rookies, but I would have rather seen them pick Tate and have him supplant Randle-El in the return game and take over Santonio's role of "guy that catches the ball, then runs around 20 dudes on his way to the end zone." At this point, we don't have a guy like that. We need a guy like that.

Thaddeus Gibson has a bad-ass name. He went to Ohio State. I think we're done here.

Stevenson Sylvester has a name that sounds like he was cut out of an Oscar Wilde play because the character name was too absurd. He's listed as an outside linebacker, but he only weighs 231 pounds. Mike Tomlin said at the draft that he, "Likes guys that are 250 pounds and like to run around and hit people." That's a great sound bite, but it begs the question: Why draft Sylvester? Now, if you're fat like me, you understand the difference between 231 pounds and 250 pounds. Skinny people don't get it. There is a HUGE difference. Does he just contribute on special teams? Do we try to move him inside? He's still a little small for that? Do we treat him like veal and try to shove food down his throat while he can't move so that he gets fat? I don't understand. There were offensive linemen available at this point. There were cornerbacks. There were running backs. Why draft someone that would make me make an off-color veal joke? I just don't get it.

Emmanuel Sanders is an undersized player who projects to play out of the slot. Why, then, did we sign Randle-El? Arnaz Battle? Still wondering why we didn't take Tate.

Because we drafted Antonio Brown in the sixth round. He has no chance to make the roster unless he returns kicks. Golden Tate returns kicks. So does Antwaan Randle-El. Again, I am confused.

Let's move on to picks I actually liked:

I like Doug Worthington. He's big -- 6'6" and 292 pounds, about the same size as Aaron Smith -- and the knock on him is that he's not a pass rusher and he takes on too many blocks. How is this not perfect for a 3-4 end? Why didn't other teams take him? I know they were all busy passing on Golden Tate and Colt McCoy and Jimmy Clausen, but it's still perplexing. I think that Worthington has real potential, especially given that the average age of our defensive linemen is death.

Jonathan Dwyer, in my opinion, was a great pick. They got him in the sixth round, so there's very little risk involved and not really any expectations tied with the pick -- like with Worilds, who has a lot of Alonzo Jackson in him, but maybe I'm just bitter -- and he averaged 1,395 yards rushing the last two seasons. Granted, that was in the ACC. Granted, Chan Gailey was his coach. Granted, he was 255 pounds at the end of the season and lost 25 pounds to get down to 230 for the Combine. His weight needs to be monitored. He runs too upright. He has a fat man's feet -- the biggest asset that Jerome Bettis, the quintessential fat man, had was that he had the nimble feet and hips of a much smaller man -- and he's not fast. Not like, not 40-time fast, but really not fast. Like, if he has a run longer than 15 yards in the NFL, it will be because everyone on the defense has been knocked down. However, he was a tremendously productive college player, he runs well between the tackles, and he's money inside the 10. If he were a first round pick, I'd be upset. In the sixth round, I think he can contribute.

Now, the guy I'm not sure about:

Chris Scott, Guard, Tennessee. He could be the next DFS, he could be the next Trai Essex. The thing is that he's not fast or athletic enough to play tackle, but he's too tall and he's not mean enough to play guard. So... do like with Essex and make him the top back-up at both positions and pray no one gets hurt? I don't like where that's headed, but Essex was a third round pick and Scott was one of three fifth round picks, so I'm willing to take a whirl.

Draft Grade:

Since I have to take McFadden and Leftwich out of the equation, I need to give this draft a C. Basically, they took a bunch of fliers on a bunch of guys that could make it big or could totally bust out. If they make it big, I look dumb and the Steelers benefit. If they bust out, I look like a genius and the Steelers suffer.

Guess which one of those scenarios I'm rooting for, given that I am usually wrong?