Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

This year’s AFC North promises to be one of the best divisions in the NFL.  Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh all threaten to be playoff teams.  And Cleveland……..well, they still suck.

Predicting the order of finish this season is going to be tough.  Let’s take a look at each of the four AFC North teams.

Cincinnati Bengals- The Bengals swept the AFC North last season.  Not many people saw that coming.

The most surprising thing about Cincinnati’s season was that they won by playing Steeler football.  The Bengals ran the ball well, and their defense was stout against the run.  Sound familiar?

It was the Bengal’s defense that led the way in 2009.  They were the 4th ranked defense in the NFL.

Despite having Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco, it was running back Cedric Benson that led the Bengals’ offense.  The Bengal’s passing game was ranked #26 in the NFL.  That’s nothing to brag about.  In an effort to improve their passing game, the Bengals brought in free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens.  They also drafted tight end Jermaine Gresham from Oklahoma.

The big question is whether Carson Palmer is still the elite quarterback that he once was.  In my opinion, the answer is “no”.  Palmer is probably the 3rd best quarterback in the AFC North.  Similarly, I think the Bengals are going to be the third best team in the AFC North this season.

Baltimore Ravens- On paper, the Ravens look to be the Steelers’ toughest opponent in the AFC North this season.  They are extremely well-balanced.  They too, seemed to win last season by playing Steeler football.  The Ravens had the #3 ranked defense in the entire NFL last year, and they had the top rushing attack in the AFC North.

The Ravens are always a threat with their defense.  However, the defense is getting older.  Ray Lewis is 58 years old (okay, maybe not that old), and Ed Reed spent the preseason on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list after undergoing hip surgery.

Like the Steelers have done in recent years, we may see the Ravens transition into a passing team in 2010.  The Ravens have a talented young quarterback in Joe Flacco.  Ozzie Newsome did a great job of bringing in more targets for Flacco to throw to.  As if Anquan Boldin weren’t enough, the Ravens also recently signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

As much as I hate to admit it, the Ravens look good.  They should provide the greatest challenge for AFC supremacy this year.

Cleveland Browns – The Browns suck.  Need I say more?

Pittsburgh Steelers – I am surprised at how many Steelers fans I hear say that the Steelers are going to have a bad season this year.  I don’t see that happening.  In fact, I anticipate the Steelers having a great season.

The Steelers defense suffered due to injuries to Aaron Smith and Troy Polamalu last season.  Either of those would be a devastating loss.  But losing both of them proved to be an insurmountable loss.

The Steelers’ defense never looked good in 2009, despite finishing the regular season as the #5 defense in the NFL.  In fact, they were the third ranked defense in the AFC North, behind Baltimore and Cincinnati.

The Steelers have both Polamalu and Smith back this season.  Moreover, they have added a slew of young, talented linebackers.  I truly believe that the Steelers’ defense will be greatly improved this year.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will miss the first four games of the season, but I have confidence that Dennis Dixon can lead the Steelers to a few victories in Big Ben’s absence.  In fact, not having Roethlisberger may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

In 2009, the Steelers became too dependent on the pass.  They were the worst running team in the AFC North.  That’s right.  They finished dead last in rushing.  That’s almost blasphemy for a Steelers team.

With Big Ben out of the line-up, the Steelers may be forced to re-emphasize the running game.  That should ultimately help the team.

With a rejuvenated running game, and their already potent passing game, the Steelers offense should once again be the class of the AFC North.  Moreover, the defense should also regain their rightful place as the best in the division.

Having said all of that, my predicted order of finish for the AFC North in 2010 is as follows:

#1 – Pittsburgh Steelers

#2 – Baltimore Ravens

#3 – Cincinnati Bengals

#4 – That other team

I’d love to hear what my readers think about my analysis and my predictions.  Am I being too much of a homer?  Do you agree with my predictions?  Leave a comment and let me hear your thoughts.

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Yesterday was the deadline for NFL teams to submit their final 53-man rosters to the NFL office.  The Steelers turned in their final roster along with all of the other NFL teams.  If you haven’t seen their 2010 roster yet, please click here.

After having some time to digest the roster, I wanted to share a few thoughts about the 2010 Steelers.

Overall thoughts:

I go into every season thinking that the Steelers are going to win the Super Bowl.  I’m just that kind of fan.  Everybody is 0-0, so why be pessimistic?  Sure, the Steelers didn’t make the playoffs last year, but they were Super Bowl champs the prior year.  Have they really changed that much?

In some ways, we are actually stronger than the team that won the Super Bowl.  But in other ways, we look awfully similar to the team that missed the playoffs in 2009.  Let’s take a look at the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:

Quarterback – The quarterback position is clearly a strength for this team.  We all know what Big Ben can do.  And I was pleasantly surprised to see a very serious debate going on among Steelers fans about who should start in Ben’s absence.  Some felt that Byron Leftwich was the best choice.  Others were advocating Dennis Dixon.  Still others felt that Charlie Batch was the way to go.

The way that I see it is that the Steelers have 4 very capable quarterbacks.  Any one of them can lead their team to a win in the NFL.  Each of them has different strengths and weaknesses.  But they are all capable.  Not many teams have as backup quarterbacks that are as talented as ours.  So that is a very good problem to have.

Linebacker – The Steelers have always been known for having great linebackers.  And this year’s linebackers are as good as any in recent memory.  Not only are they good, but they are deep.

I was concerned that the team was going to be forced to cut one of their talented rookie linebackers in order to get the roster down to 53 players.  But they surprised me and kept 9 linebackers on the roster.  That was a great move.  I challenge you to name another team that is as strong at linebacker as the Steelers currently are.

Running back – Some believe that the Steelers are going to be more of a running team in Ben Roethlisberger’s absence.  Personally, I’m not convinced.  I don’t believe that Bruce Arians will ever allow that.  But if he did (he won’t), we have a great group of running backs to carry the load.

One of the most notable things about this group of running backs is that they are all capable of breaking runs to the outside, or getting tough yards between the tackles.  With Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer added to the mix, I don’t think the Steelers are going to struggle in short yardage situations the way they did last year.

Wide receiver – This group has a good mix of youth and experience.  Hines Ward is the same dependable receiver he’s always been.  Mike Wallace is going to get a lot more opportunities, so that is going to be great for the team.  I think he is ultimately going to be a better receiver than Santonio Holmes was.  And the two rookies, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown, should both to have long, productive careers with the Steelers.  It wouldn’t surprise me if one or both of the rookies ended the year ahead of Antwaan Randle El and Arnaz Battle on the depth chart.

Defensive line – Aaron Smith is back.  Need I say more?

Weaknesses:

Defensive line – I know that I just said that the defensive line was a strength.  But it’s also a weakness.  Our line is old.  In fact, Ziggy Hood is the only defensive lineman that we have who is under 30.  That’s not good.  We have to address this problem in next year’s draft.

Offensive line – I feel like a broken record each time I say this.  But our offensive line just isn’t that good.  Max Starks tries hard, but he just isn’t quick enough to handle speed rushers.  Trai Essex wouldn’t start on most NFL teams.  And Flozell Adams is past his prime, and is a penalty waiting to happen.  By the 3rd game of the season, when Flozell has accumulated his 20th false start penalty and his 50th holding penalty, Steelers fans are going to start clamoring for a change at right tackle.

Fortunately, the Steelers drafted Maurkice Pouncey in the first round.  Pouncey is already the starter, and I anticipate nothing but good things from him for the next 10 years.

Cornerbacks – Our cornerbacks got torched last year.  They made mediocre wide receivers look like Randy Moss.  The couldn’t stop anybody.  They didn’t record their first interception until the last game of the season.  And unfortunately, they haven’t looked much better in the preseason.

The team did bring back Bryant McFadden, but McFadden didn’t record a single interception last year with the Arizona Cardinals, so he isn’t likely to help in that regard.  Hopefully, Ike Taylor will return to his old ways and will be able to stop the opponents’ best receiver.  Also, I’m hoping that either Keenan Lewis or Crezdon Butler steps up and beats out William Gay for the nickel position.

So those are my initial thoughts as I look at the players who made the Steelers’ final 2010 roster.  Do you agree or disagree.  Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

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The Steelers announced their final 53-man roster today.  The players who were kept are as follows:

Quarterbacks: Charlie Batch, Dennis Dixon, and Byron Leftwich.

Ben Roethlisberger will be added to the roster after week 4, and Charlie Batch will probably be released.  They won’t keep 4 quarterbacks.

Running backs: Rashard Mendenhall, Mewelde Moore, Isaac Redman, and Jonathan Dwyer.

I thought Stefan Logan would make the team, but it looks like the Steelers used his position to keep an extra linebacker.

Wide receivers: Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Anwaan Randle El, Arnaz Battle, Emmanuel Sanders, and Antonio Brown.

This group is young, but very talented.

Tight ends: Heath Miller, Matt Spaeth,  & David Johnson.

Same tight ends as last year.  No surprises here.

Offensive linemen: Max Starks, Chris Kemoeatu, Maurkice Pouncey, Trai Essex, Flozell Adams, Doug Legursky, Jonathan Scott, Ramon Foster, and Tony Hills.

I predicted that the team was going to cut Justin Hartwig, and they did.  However, I thought that Kraig Urbick was going to beat out Tony Hills, but I missed on that one.

Defensive linemen: Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, Brett Keisel, Ziggy Hood, Nick Eason, and Chris Hoke.

No real surprises here.  I did think Sunny Harris might be on the final roster, but he is not a real loss.

Linebackers: LaMarr Woodley, James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison, Keyaron Fox, Larry Foote, Jason Worilds, and Thaddeus Gibson, and Stevenson Sylvester.

This was probably the toughest decision for the coaches.  They always keep 8 linebackers.  But the rookies all played so well that they made it impossible to cut any of them.  So they cut Sunny Harris instead, and kept an extra linebacker.  Good for them.

Safeties: Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Ryan Mundy, & Will Allen.

No surprises here either.

Cornerbacks: Ike Taylor, Bryant McFadden, William Gay,  Keenan Lewis, Anthony Madison, and Crezdon Butler.

I thought that the team would keep Joe Burnett and try to sneak Crezdon Butler onto their practice squad.  However, I guess they were happier with what they saw from Butler, because Burnett was cut.  Anthony Madison made the team just as I predicted he would.  He’s too valuable on special teams to let him go.

Specialists: Jeff Reed, Dan Sepulveda, and Greg Warren.

No surprises here.

Injured reserve: Willie Colon, Tuff Harris, Limas Sweed

Reserve/Suspended: Ben Roethlisberger

Physically unable to perform (PUP): Chris Scott

So the Steelers stayed old on the defensive line, but got much younger at wide receiver and linebacker.  Overall, this looks like a talented bunch.   I do hope that we’ll see more from the defensive backs than they showed us in the preseason.  The offensive line remains a concern, but that’s nothing new.

Overall, I am happy with the final 53-man roster.  How do you feel about it?  Leave a comment and let me know.

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Today is the deadline for NFL teams to announce their final 53 man roster.  So it is time to give my best guess at who will make the Steelers.  Then later today, we’ll see where I was right and where I was wrong.  So here it goes.

Quarterbacks: Charlie Batch, Dennis Dixon, and Ben Roethlisberger.

Charlie will now enter the season as the starter.  Dennis Dixon will be the back-up.   And Ben will take over after his suspension ends.  Byron will likely be placed on injured reserve.  Once he is healthy, the Steelers will have to decide between Leftwich and Batch.

Running backs: Rashard Mendenhall, Mewelde Moore, Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer, Stefan Logan.

Logan should make the team despite decent performances by Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders in the return game during preseason.  In my opinion, Frank Summer just didn’t do anything to help his cause.  Dwyer, on the other hand, played his way onto the roster with his performances over the past 2 preseason games.

Wide receivers: Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Anwaan Randle El, Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown.

Lots of youth on the team at wide receiver.  But these kids have played well.  Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown are the real deal.  And we all know what Mike Wallace can do.  So it looks like another year on the practice squad for Tyler Grisham.

Tight ends: Heath Miller, Matt Spaeth, David Johnson.

Same tight ends as last year.  I’ve never been a Matt Spaeth fan, but the Steelers don’t have anyone who can beat him out of his roster spot.

Offensive linemen: Max Starks, Chris Kemoeatu, Maurkice Pouncey, Trai Essex, Flozell Adams, Doug Legursky, Jonathan Scott, Ramon Foster, Kraig Urbick.

This is the first major roster surprise.  I don’t think that Justin Hartwig is going to make the team.  Hartwig is definitely better than Doug Legursky.  However, he makes too much for a back-up center.  Once Pouncey beat him out as the starter, Hartwig was in jeopardy.  The Steelers never really tried him at guard, so that said to me that his time as a Steeler was over.

Kraig Urbick still hasn’t shown much, but he is still a young player.  Tony Hills, on the other hand, has been around for a year longer than Urbick, and he hasn’t shown anything either.  So he loses by default.

Defensive linemen: Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, Brett Keisel, Ziggy Hood, Nick Eason, Chris Hoke, and Sunny Harris.

Personally, I think that Doug Worthington has more long-term potential than Sunny Harris.  However, Harris has more time in the defense, and he understands it better.  The Steelers lost Harris to free agency last year, so they probably won’t take the risk of losing him again this year.  Nick Eason and Chris Hoke are both veterans in the system, and they both had good preseasons.  So they are probably safe despite their age.  That leaves Worthington on the outside.

Linebackers: LaMarr Woodley, James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison, Keyaron Fox, Larry Foote, Jason Worilds, and Stevenson Sylvester.

In my opinion, linebacker is the toughest position to choose.  We have so many talented linebackers right now.  Frankly, I played with the idea of cutting James Farrior, but I just don’t think the Steelers are going to do that.  Jason Worilds is a lock.  And Stevenson Sylvester played so well during preseason that I believe he forced the Steelers to make a decision that they hadn’t planned on making.  I believe that the team wanted to keep Thaddeus Gibson, but Sylvester outplayed him during preseason.  That leaves Thaddeus Gibson as the odd man out.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate this scenario.  I loved what I saw from Thaddeus Gibson during training camp.  The guy has the potential to be a future star.  But I don’t believe the team will keep more than 8 linebackers.

Remember, I am trying to guess what the Steelers will do.  If it were up to me, Farrior would be cut, Keyaron Fox would start, and Thaddeus Gibson would be on the roster.

One possible option here is to cut Stefan Logan, and to give his roster spot to Thaddeus Gibson.  Then the team would have to rely on Antonio Brown or Emmanuel Sanders for return duty.

Safeties: Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Ryan Mundy,  Will Allen.

Not a lot of competition at safety.  Frankly, I wish there were more.  I’m still not in love with  Mundy, and Clark is getting old and had a poor season last year.   But we have to go with what we have, so these are the safeties.

Cornerbacks: Ike Taylor, Bryant McFadden, William Gay, Joe Burnett, Keenan Lewis, Anthony Madison.

Keenan Lewis almost played his way off of the roster due to his performance against the Denver Broncos.  However, he redeemed himself in the final game against the Panthers.

It pains me to say that William Gay is going to be on the roster, but I don’t see any chance of him getting cut.

I believe that Crezdon Butler has more potential than Gay, and is currently a better cornerback than Anthony Madison.  However, Madison is a valuable special teams player.  The team probably believes that they can slip Butler onto their practice squad.

Specialists: Jeff Reed, Dan Sepulveda, and Greg Warren.

No surprises here.  However, I think the team will abandon the experiment of letting Sepulveda do kickoffs.  I think that we will see Jeff Reed kicking off, just like we have in past years.

So that’s my final 53.  The Steelers will be announcing theirs later today.  Which names do you agree with, and which ones do you disagree with?  Let me hear it.

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The final preseason game was supposed to be uneventful.  Teams usually try to protect their starters, and give most of the playing time to non-starters who are still trying to make the roster.  This is exactly what the Carolina Panthers did.  The only played their 3rd and 4th string quarterbacks.  The Steelers, on the other hand…….

In the 1st quarter, the Steelers started Ben Roethlisberger.  The team wanted to get him some final snaps prior to his suspension.  The coaches said that they wanted to get him more snaps in the “no huddle” offense as a final tune-up.

After Roethlisberger played two series, he was replaced by Byron Leftwich.  Leftwich was presumed to be the Steelers’ starting quarterback going into the regular season.  However, things can change quickly.

On his second series, Leftwich sustained a knee injury and had to leave the game.  MRI results haven’t been reported yet, but it is believed that the injury may be serious enough to prevent Leftwich from playing for at least two games.  If that’s the case, then the Steelers quarterback plans have suddenly been turned upside down.

Dennis Dixon had been battling Leftwich to see who would be the starting quarterback in Big Ben’s absence.  But once Leftwich got injured, the team immediately started questioning their quarterback situation.  Fourth string quarterback Charlie Batch, who has barely gotten any snaps during training camp or the preseason, suddenly emerged as a potential starter.

After Dennis Dixon’s poor showing against the Denver Broncos, the Steelers are probably reluctant to name him as the starter.  So Charlie Batch, who was probably going to be cut from the team, is now the most seasoned quarterback the Steelers have available to them.  More importantly, he may emerge as the starter.

Batch played the majority of the second half, though he mainly handed the ball off to the running backs.  After Leftwich’s injury, the Steelers didn’t want to take any more chances with quarterbacks, so the called almost no passing plays.

The final score of the game was 19-3.  However, after losing Leftwich, winning the game didn’t seem very satisfying.

Despite the bad news from the game, there were a few bright spots worth noting.  Rookie running back Jonathan Dwyer got a lot of playing time at running back, and he capitalized on it.  Dwyer carried the ball 20 times for 86 yards.  He led the team in rushing yards.  He was also the rushing leader in last week’s game against Denver.

Dwyer had been in jeopardy of not making the team, after sitting out most of training camp with injuries.  But his recent performances may have won him a roster spot.

Another player who may have redeemed himself is Keenan Lewis.  Lewis almost played himself out of a job last week when he lost his head and got called for several penalties.  Coach Tomlin chewed Lewis out for his performance and benched him for the rest of the game.

But Lewis played well against the Panthers.  He didn’t allow his man to catch any passes, and he seemed to be in the right place on most plays.

The Steelers have to submit their final 53-man roster to the NFL by Saturday, so they must make some very tough decisions over the next 48 hours.  Prior to Thursday’s game, the quarterback position looked like one of the easiest roster decision.  Now, it is suddenly one of the more difficult decisions for the coaches.

Stay tuned.

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