I have to say that the preseason snuck up on me this year. I could've sworn that the draft just happened, then suddenly I turn around and Training Camp is opening.
Here's what I'm going to be watching for tonight, since it doesn't make sense to put much stock in who wins and loses. It's only the preseason, but there are some interesting things to watch.
Zone Blocking Scheme:
They're implementing a new blocking scheme this year and it's a zone blocking scheme instead of the traditional "everyone has a guy they're assigned to block" scheme that they've used since The Chief bought the team.
It's a change in strategy, but the word on the street is that it's not Todd Haley's idea/fault. The Steelers wanted to move to this kind of blocking scheme since 2011, but they didn't have the athletes at tackle to pull it off.
This is just for the running game, not the passing game. The idea is that, unlike a man blocking scheme, where you "put a hat on a hat" and everyone blocks their assigned guy, each lineman is responsible for a zone and needs to block anyone that is in that zone/comes into that zone. The tackles push to the sidelines and interior linemen push towards the middle of the field. In theory, that creates seams and cut-back lanes in the defense that the running backs will then be able to run through.
Honestly, I don't think we have the athletes at running back to pull this off, but I am willing to try anything that will improve the running game. In this blocking scheme, the running back needs to have great short area quickness to burst through the seams and cut-back lanes, excellent vision to see those openings develop, and good decision-making ability (or at least the ability to make quick decisions and commit to them) so that he hits the hole before it closes. No one on the roster in 2012 fits that bill, with the possible exception of Rashard Mendenhall. He might have been a good fit, but he's now in Arizona. Word is that Le'Veon Bell has the right kind of skillset to run behind this scheme and be successful, so that's another thing to watch.
The Rookies:
Really, there are two rookie classes to evaluate in this game, since DeCastro and Adams were hurt most of last season, third round pick Sean Spence missed all of last season on injured reserve, and Alameda Ta'amu went on a drunken rampage through South Side, which hurt his chances to crack the line-up.
Adams and DeCastro will be in starting roles and it'll be nice to see them in action, along with the fact that they'll be working in the new zone blocking scheme. Spence and Ta'amu will be playing more, because they're lower on the depth chart, but they're both playing positions -- Spence at inside linebacker and Ta'amu at defensive tackle -- where there isn't an entrenched, established guy. If they play well, they could unseat the guy in front of them on the depth chart, which is always interesting to watch.
I mentioned Bell, who has apparently had a great camp. Jarvis Jones has also done extremely well by all accounts and I'm most excited to see him play. I really need to see him step into the void that James Harrison left behind, especially since I don't trust Jason Worilds any farther than I can throw him.
Since all the cornerbacks on the roster are working through some type of injury, Shamarko Thomas will be playing nickel back with the first team defense tonight. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play. His natural position is safety, but if he can also help out as a nickel cornerback, then that's another thing he can do to help this team. Ryan Clark and Troy aren't getting any younger, Ryan Mundy will be on the other team's sideline, and it would be super nice if this kid stepped up and started playing well from the get-go.
Rookie receivers Justin Brown and Markus Wheaton should get a lot of work, since there are now open spots at 4th and 5th receiver after the Plaxico Burress injury. There are actually a lot of warm bodies at the position -- there are 11 guys in total, counting Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Jerricho Cotchery, and Plax, who probably won't have to fight for their roster spots -- and I'm hoping that this fosters competition for remaining roster spots. The more tough decisions these young guys can make the coaches make, the better the depth at the position.
Explosive Plays:
The Steelers were a really, really boring team last year. They didn't generate a lot of explosive plays on offense and they played things ultra-conservative on defense. Dick LeBeau knew that he didn't have the personnel to take a lot of chances and try to make a lot of splash plays, so he tried to teach the guys on defense to keep everything in front of them and not be a hero. The result was that they didn't allow a lot of 20+, 30+, or 40+ yard plays, but they also didn't record a lot of sacks or force very many turnovers.
On offense, they were hesitant to stretch the field and go for the big play and their running backs were mostly "two yards and a cloud of dust" guys that didn't get yards in chunks.
You ended up with an 8-8 team that played vanilla games that didn't feature many big plays on offense or defense, not a lot of sacks or turnovers, and a lot of low-scoring slugfests. The 2009 Steelers finished 8-8, but at least they were exciting. They forced turnovers like crazy, turned the ball over like crazy, and big plays were all over the place. Another team like that may kill me, but it's a chance I'm wiling to take.
At this point, I suspect that the 2013 Steelers will finish anywhere from 6-10 to 8-8 and I'm prepared for that. I just don't want it to be boring.
What I'm looking for tonight is whether or not the young kids have the swagger and the skill to go out and try and make something happen. They may let up some big plays, they may make some big plays, but in the end what I'm looking for is something interesting and exciting. With the number of players that are going to either retire or get cut in the next couple of seasons, I want to see what this next generation is made of.
No Injuries:
Just wanted to make sure I said it. As long as we make it through tonight without anyone getting seriously hurt, that's a net win.
Showing posts with label plaxico burress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plaxico burress. Show all posts
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Barber and Buress
There have been rumblings that Tiki Barber is interested in the Pittsburgh Steelers. These rumblings have been fueled primarily by... Tiki Barber, to the point where, if you Google "tiki barber" the first suggestion you get is, "tiki barber steelers." He wants to play for a competitive team and the Steelers are a competitive team with a lot of veteran players. Well, Tiki, I'm sorry to say... no. Emphatically. No.
Take away the fact that he's 36 and left his wife to go bang an intern. We'll just take that right off the table (after mentioning it, because it's still important). The fact remains that he's a tailback and he's well over 30. Take away that and you are still faced with the fact that he retired following the 2006 season. You know who else retired following the 2006 season? Bill Cowher. Right? Seems like a long time ago. That's because it is.
You know who else retired in 2006? My Dad. Six months after he retired, we were supposed to meet at his house on a Saturday to move some stuff. He called me and left me a message at work that Saturday, saying that he needed to push the time back and asked if that would work for me. I had been working a 9-5 job for six years at that point. This is not to say that my Dad is a feeble-minded old man. He's not. This is just making the point that, when you're out of the game, you lose things. You lose your "edge" for lack of a better word. In games played at the NFL level, you cannot afford to lose that edge. Most teams know this and Barber will discover it. On top of all that, the Steelers would really only have interest in Tiki's brother Rhonde, since he plays cornerback and they need more of those. They should be all set at running back, especially if they retain Mewelde Moore.
For similar reasons, the Steelers should -- and probably will -- say no to Plaxico Burress. Take all the "out of the action" stuff for Barber and add, "because he was in prison." Remember when Jamal Lewis went to prison? There you go. For every Michael Vick example, there are a bunch of Jamal Lewis examples. Actually, Vick is the only guy that came back from prison and was worth something. That was also in his second season after he returned. The Steelers have enough talent at receiver -- and enough holes to fill elsewhere -- that they can afford to pass on Burress.
According to NFL.com, Burress is going to meet with the Steelers on Friday or Saturday. He has a history with the team and my guess is that Ben Roethlisberger rallied pretty hard for Coach Tomlin to meet with Burress. I thinking this is just a courtesy meeting, but there may be something there. I'm also thinking that the Giants will be able to offer Burress a better contract, since the Steelers were already over the salary cap before they signed Ike Taylor.
This team needs to get younger, not older. They usually sign their guys before signing free agents. For all these reasons, I don't think there's anything there.
Take away the fact that he's 36 and left his wife to go bang an intern. We'll just take that right off the table (after mentioning it, because it's still important). The fact remains that he's a tailback and he's well over 30. Take away that and you are still faced with the fact that he retired following the 2006 season. You know who else retired following the 2006 season? Bill Cowher. Right? Seems like a long time ago. That's because it is.
You know who else retired in 2006? My Dad. Six months after he retired, we were supposed to meet at his house on a Saturday to move some stuff. He called me and left me a message at work that Saturday, saying that he needed to push the time back and asked if that would work for me. I had been working a 9-5 job for six years at that point. This is not to say that my Dad is a feeble-minded old man. He's not. This is just making the point that, when you're out of the game, you lose things. You lose your "edge" for lack of a better word. In games played at the NFL level, you cannot afford to lose that edge. Most teams know this and Barber will discover it. On top of all that, the Steelers would really only have interest in Tiki's brother Rhonde, since he plays cornerback and they need more of those. They should be all set at running back, especially if they retain Mewelde Moore.
For similar reasons, the Steelers should -- and probably will -- say no to Plaxico Burress. Take all the "out of the action" stuff for Barber and add, "because he was in prison." Remember when Jamal Lewis went to prison? There you go. For every Michael Vick example, there are a bunch of Jamal Lewis examples. Actually, Vick is the only guy that came back from prison and was worth something. That was also in his second season after he returned. The Steelers have enough talent at receiver -- and enough holes to fill elsewhere -- that they can afford to pass on Burress.
According to NFL.com, Burress is going to meet with the Steelers on Friday or Saturday. He has a history with the team and my guess is that Ben Roethlisberger rallied pretty hard for Coach Tomlin to meet with Burress. I thinking this is just a courtesy meeting, but there may be something there. I'm also thinking that the Giants will be able to offer Burress a better contract, since the Steelers were already over the salary cap before they signed Ike Taylor.
This team needs to get younger, not older. They usually sign their guys before signing free agents. For all these reasons, I don't think there's anything there.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Jagr Saga
Since there is no free agency news because of the NFL lockout -- and since the Steelers never sign any free agents anyway -- I am going to chime in on the Jagr Situation.
The timeline, in case you missed it, is as follows:
Now, I wasn't all that into hockey when Jagr pouted, demanded a trade, and shook off the Pittsburgh fans and his awesome mullet for the Washington Capitals. This means that I don't bear any ill will towards #68. I do understand that there is still a healthy contingent of Pens fans that still do harbor animosity towards Jagr.
[Weidman: Interestingly enough, while Pittsburgh is all a-twitter about the possibility, it really is hard to find any buzz about it in Detroit press.]
To those people, I say get over it. Sure, he's 39, but those are hockey years. It's not like a tailback or a quarterback or even a shortstop or power forward. Gordy Howe played until he was like 85. Dwayne Roloson almost made it to the Stanley Cup Final and he's 41. He just signed a new contract with Tampa. Plus which, it's not like Jagr has just been chilling out in Eastern Europe eating Kit Kats and watching the Czech equivalent of Maury Povich for the last three years. He's been playing against a very high level of competition -- granted, not NHL level, but still very high -- since he left the league following the 2007-08 season. A number of scouts for a number of good teams took a look at what he could do and determined that he still has something left in the tank.
Also, I will never forget Game 4 of the Pens-Rangers series in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs. New York was well on their way to getting swept by a far superior Penguins squad when Jagr stepped onto the ice and decided that there was no way in hell he was losing that game. He still had it then, I think he still has it now.
I still think he can score 30 goals. The Pens desperately need wingers. Odds are that Sid, Malkin, and Staal will play the bulk of the 2011-12 season. Providing that James Neal can emerge from his scoring coma, they'll have a potent offensive line-up through all four lines.
If you're thinking about the third line, the ardent pursuit of Jagr has not distracted Shero from taking care of day-to-day business. They signed Arron Asham on Tuesday and they're working diligently on hashing out a deal with Tyler Kennedy. If they keep Kennedy and add Jagr, this team could be downright scary next season.
For anyone still clinging to Jagr Hate even after my stunning rebuttal three paragraphs ago, I have one more thing to say: It's not his fault. He was used to winning. He could see the wheels coming off. The fans were starting to get fed up with the zone-trap that ended up in 0-0 ties every night. He was tired of it. He was entering his peak. The only way a hockey player can get attention is by whining like a little girl and holding his breath until the front office relents. That's uncharacteristic behavior from a hockey player, so he either gets what he wants or he's trading before he starts to tear apart the dressing room.
Finally, if I can forgive Barry Bonds and apologize to Kordell Stewart, Jagr deserves a second chance. (Editor's Note: I still HATE Eric Lindros.)
In other free agency news, there have been rumblings that Tiki Barber is interested in the Pittsburgh Steelers. These rumblings have been fueled primarily by... Tiki Barber, to the point where, if you Google "tiki barber" the first suggestion you get is, "tiki barber steelers". He wants to play for a competitive team and the Steelers are a competitive team with a lot of veteran players. Well, Tiki, I'm sorry to say... no. Emphatically. No.
Take away the fact that he's 36 and left his wife to go bang an intern. We'll just take that right off the table (after mentioning it, because it's still important). The fact remains that he's a tailback -- remember just recently when I mentioned that it wasn't bad that Jagr was older because he wasn't a tailback -- and he's well over 30. Take away that and you are still faced with the fact that he retired following the 2006 season. You know who else retired following the 2006 season? Bill Cowher. Right? Seems like a long time ago. That's because it is.
You know who else retired in 2006? My Dad. Six months after he retired, we were supposed to meet at his house on a Saturday to move some stuff. He called me and left me a message at work that Saturday, saying that he needed to push the time back and asked if that would work for me. I had been working a 9-5 job for six years at that point. This is not to say that my Dad is a feeble-minded old man. He's not. This is just making the point that, when you're out of the game, you lose things. You lose your "edge" for lack of a better word. In games played at the NFL level, you cannot afford to lose that edge. Most teams know this and Barber will discover it. On top of all that, the Steelers would really only have interest in Tiki's brother Rhonde, since he plays cornerback and they need more of those. They should be all set at running back, especially if they retain Mewelde Moore.
For similar reasons, the Steelers should -- and probably will, if they haven't already -- say no to Plaxico Burress. Take all the "out of the action" stuff for Barber and add, "because he was in prison." Remember when Jamal Lewis went to prison? There you go. For every Michael Vick example, there are a bunch of Jamal Lewis examples. Actually, Vick is the only guy that came back from prison and was worth something. That was also in his second season. The Steelers have enough talent at receiver -- and enough holes to fill elsewhere -- that they can afford to pass on Burress.
The timeline, in case you missed it, is as follows:
- Jagr decided he was tired of playing overseas and declared that he was interested in a return to the NHL for one last shot at a championship.
- He met with several teams, including the Penguins. Also met with the Red Wings, which is mildly infuriating. It's like Hossa all over again.
- Mario Lemieux got all excited.
- Ray Shero declared on Tuesday (6/28) that the Pens were interested and offered Jagr a one-year contract. He told the Tribune-Review that "Wednesday (6/29) is the day," for Jagr to make a decision, even though NHL free agency doesn't start until Friday, July 1st.
- On Wednesday, Jagr got on a plane.
- Jagr has since disappeared, to the level where he may end up gunned down by a SEAL team.
Now, I wasn't all that into hockey when Jagr pouted, demanded a trade, and shook off the Pittsburgh fans and his awesome mullet for the Washington Capitals. This means that I don't bear any ill will towards #68. I do understand that there is still a healthy contingent of Pens fans that still do harbor animosity towards Jagr.
[Weidman: Interestingly enough, while Pittsburgh is all a-twitter about the possibility, it really is hard to find any buzz about it in Detroit press.]
To those people, I say get over it. Sure, he's 39, but those are hockey years. It's not like a tailback or a quarterback or even a shortstop or power forward. Gordy Howe played until he was like 85. Dwayne Roloson almost made it to the Stanley Cup Final and he's 41. He just signed a new contract with Tampa. Plus which, it's not like Jagr has just been chilling out in Eastern Europe eating Kit Kats and watching the Czech equivalent of Maury Povich for the last three years. He's been playing against a very high level of competition -- granted, not NHL level, but still very high -- since he left the league following the 2007-08 season. A number of scouts for a number of good teams took a look at what he could do and determined that he still has something left in the tank.
Also, I will never forget Game 4 of the Pens-Rangers series in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs. New York was well on their way to getting swept by a far superior Penguins squad when Jagr stepped onto the ice and decided that there was no way in hell he was losing that game. He still had it then, I think he still has it now.
I still think he can score 30 goals. The Pens desperately need wingers. Odds are that Sid, Malkin, and Staal will play the bulk of the 2011-12 season. Providing that James Neal can emerge from his scoring coma, they'll have a potent offensive line-up through all four lines.
If you're thinking about the third line, the ardent pursuit of Jagr has not distracted Shero from taking care of day-to-day business. They signed Arron Asham on Tuesday and they're working diligently on hashing out a deal with Tyler Kennedy. If they keep Kennedy and add Jagr, this team could be downright scary next season.
For anyone still clinging to Jagr Hate even after my stunning rebuttal three paragraphs ago, I have one more thing to say: It's not his fault. He was used to winning. He could see the wheels coming off. The fans were starting to get fed up with the zone-trap that ended up in 0-0 ties every night. He was tired of it. He was entering his peak. The only way a hockey player can get attention is by whining like a little girl and holding his breath until the front office relents. That's uncharacteristic behavior from a hockey player, so he either gets what he wants or he's trading before he starts to tear apart the dressing room.
Finally, if I can forgive Barry Bonds and apologize to Kordell Stewart, Jagr deserves a second chance. (Editor's Note: I still HATE Eric Lindros.)
In other free agency news, there have been rumblings that Tiki Barber is interested in the Pittsburgh Steelers. These rumblings have been fueled primarily by... Tiki Barber, to the point where, if you Google "tiki barber" the first suggestion you get is, "tiki barber steelers". He wants to play for a competitive team and the Steelers are a competitive team with a lot of veteran players. Well, Tiki, I'm sorry to say... no. Emphatically. No.
Take away the fact that he's 36 and left his wife to go bang an intern. We'll just take that right off the table (after mentioning it, because it's still important). The fact remains that he's a tailback -- remember just recently when I mentioned that it wasn't bad that Jagr was older because he wasn't a tailback -- and he's well over 30. Take away that and you are still faced with the fact that he retired following the 2006 season. You know who else retired following the 2006 season? Bill Cowher. Right? Seems like a long time ago. That's because it is.
You know who else retired in 2006? My Dad. Six months after he retired, we were supposed to meet at his house on a Saturday to move some stuff. He called me and left me a message at work that Saturday, saying that he needed to push the time back and asked if that would work for me. I had been working a 9-5 job for six years at that point. This is not to say that my Dad is a feeble-minded old man. He's not. This is just making the point that, when you're out of the game, you lose things. You lose your "edge" for lack of a better word. In games played at the NFL level, you cannot afford to lose that edge. Most teams know this and Barber will discover it. On top of all that, the Steelers would really only have interest in Tiki's brother Rhonde, since he plays cornerback and they need more of those. They should be all set at running back, especially if they retain Mewelde Moore.
For similar reasons, the Steelers should -- and probably will, if they haven't already -- say no to Plaxico Burress. Take all the "out of the action" stuff for Barber and add, "because he was in prison." Remember when Jamal Lewis went to prison? There you go. For every Michael Vick example, there are a bunch of Jamal Lewis examples. Actually, Vick is the only guy that came back from prison and was worth something. That was also in his second season. The Steelers have enough talent at receiver -- and enough holes to fill elsewhere -- that they can afford to pass on Burress.
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