Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Well, the Ravens are the Super Bowl champions, while the Steelers didn’t even make the playoffs.  That’s not quite a zombie apocalypse, but it’s close.

But despite the despair that we all feel, life must go on.  So it’s time to review the Steelers 2012 team.  Let’s start at the quarterback position.

It might be easier if I just pulled out last year’s quarterback review and re-posted it.  After all, not much has changed.  Ben Roethlisberger is still the entrenched starter, and Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch are still the aging backups who are only called upon in dire emergencies.

So let’s start with the backups and work our way back to the starter.

Charlie Batch

I know everyone loves Charlie Batch.  So do I.  He’s a great guy.  He gives back to the community.  And he’s from Pittsburgh.

But let’s face it.  Charlie’s old.  In fact, he’s practically prehistoric by NFL standards.

Most NFL quarterbacks are out of the league long before they reach their 38th birthday.  But Charlie’s still holding on.  Unfortunately, it’s time for that to end.

The Steelers need backup quarterbacks who are in their 20′s, not approaching their 40′s.  Fans are quick to point out that Charlie beat the Ravens this year.  But they’re just as quick to forget that he lost to the Browns.

After 14 seasons in the NFL, it’s time to say “goodbye”.  Sorry Charlie.

Byron Leftwich

I used to be a big supporter of Byron Leftwich.  But not anymore.  Frankly, if I had to choose between Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch, I’d choose Batch.

Byron just doesn’t seem to have it anymore.  He’s always had problems with his slow delivery.  But he threw the ball so hard, that the zip on his passes made up for his slow delivery.  But these days, it seems like Byron is more of a liability than an asset.

Is it just me, or does it seem like Byron’s accuracy has completely left him?  His QB rating this year was only 54.9.   That’s JaMarcus Russell territory.  Not good.

In the two games that Byron appeared in this year, he completed less than half of his passes, threw 1 interception, was sacked 3 times, and threw no touchdown passes.  Couldn’t a 24 year old developmental backup give us that same level of production?   He’d be much less expensive than Byron, and he’d give us just as much on the field.

It’s time for the Steelers to once again do what they did when they brought in Byron and Charlie.  It’s time to sign a veteran to be the Steelers’ primary backup.  Then they need to add a developmental quarterback who is in his 20′s to be the team’s third string QB.

Ben Roethlisberger

Big Ben is the Steelers’ starting quarterback, and he will be for the foreseeable future.  He’s the team’ best hope of picking up a 7th Lombardi Trophy.

Ben had a good, but not great season in 2012.  But much of that wasn’t under his control.  Ben was having a stellar season until he got hurt.  when he came back from his injury, he didn’t seem to be the same quarterback.

But the biggest issue with Ben this season was his adjustment to new offensive coordinator Todd Haley.   Haley’s system was both a blessing and a curse for Ben.  It made him a more efficient quarterback, and it drastically reduced the number of times Ben was sacked.  But it also took away what made Ben great in the first place.

Ben is a strong-armed quarterback who loves tossing passes waaaaaaay down the field.  But Haley seems to have eliminated that portion of Ben’s game.  And both Ben and Mike Wallace have suffered because of it.  Ben had the 2nd lowest yards-per-pass average of his career, and Mike Wallace was rendered ineffective as a possession receiver.

Ben also got rid of the ball a lot sooner than he had in the past.  He threw the ball away, or dumped it off to a running back, rather than scrambling around and playing “sandlot football” like he’s done for most of his career.

Frankly, I like the changes.  I never liked seeing Ben take 40+ sacks per season.  But I do miss the long passes to Wallace.   That had become my favorite part of the Steelers’ offense.

In  summary, I think the Steelers should only bring back one of the three quarterbacks currently on their roster.  Do you agree?  If not, why not?

It’s no secret that Pittsburgh Steelers fans are spoiled.  REALLY spoiled.

After the team’s 8-8 season, many fans have demanded that the team “Fire Mike Tomlin”.  Others have said that the Steelers should cut ties with Mike Wallace, Larry Foote, Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, Max Starks, Ramon Foster, Willie Colon, Rashard Mendenhall, and many others.  I agree with some of those assessments.  I disagree with others.  And I’ll be writing an article soon to talk about who I think the Steelers should keep and who they should cut ties with.  But that’s not what I want to talk about today.

What I’d like to discuss is why an 8-8 record isn’t the end of the world.  8-8 basically says that the Steelers are a “middle-of-the-road” team.  They lost to as many teams as they beat.  They’re “average”.

For Steelers fans, being average is perhaps the worst sin that the team could possibly commit.  Steeler Nation has come to expect better than average.  And we expect the team to be “better than average” every single year.  Even though that expectation makes no sense.

The problem with consistently being a playoff team is that you consistently get to draft in the latter portion of the draft.  And that’s not good.

But that’s exactly what’s happened to the Steelers over the years.  They’ve been a victim of their own success.  How can a team infuse their roster with top talent if they consistently have to make their draft selection in the latter portions of each round?

Sure, you can draft the best guard, or center, or tight end in the entire draft with the 30th pick.  But you can’t get the best cornerback drafting there.  After all, there are certain positions that can only be replenished with top talent if a team is drafting near the top of the draft.  For example, a team simply isn’t going to get a franchise quarterback drafting 30th.  And they’re not going to get a shutdown cornerback drafting 25th.  And it’s highly unlikely that a team will find a Pro Bowl caliber left tackle with the 32nd pick in the draft.

Sure, there are sometimes exceptions.  Some players do slip through the cracks.  Tom Brady is the example that is most often cited.  But those instances are rare.  Typically, if a team wants a shot at the best players in the draft, they have to lose more than half of their games.  And the Steelers seldom do that.  8-8 is about as bad as it typically get for the Steelers.  Pittsburgh doesn’t know what it’s like to go through a 2-14 season.

The harsh truth is that an occasional bad season is actually a GOOD thing for a team.  If the Steelers hadn’t gone 6-10 in 2003, we never would have been able to draft Ben Roethlisberger.  Just think about that for a moment.

Similarly, if they hadn’t gone 6-10 in 1999, they wouldn’t have been able to draft Plaxico Burress in 2000.  If they hadn’t gone 8-8 in 2006, they wouldn’t have been able to draft Lawrence Timmons in 2007.

This year, the Steelers will draft 17th.  That’s not a bad draft position.  It’s not as good as drafting 1st, but it’s definitely better than drafting 30th.  And I really don’t think that Steeler Nation would be willing to tolerate the type of season that it takes to earn the 1st pick in the draft.  So 17th will have to do.

Go Steelers!

It’s time to announce the winners of this week’s haiku contest.  I apologize for the lateness of the announcement, but I’ve been traveling for the holidays, and finding dependable internet access has been difficult.

As you all know, we had a special prize for this week’s contest winner.  The winner is going to receive a new NFL Crock-Pot ® slow cooker.  The Crock-Pot ® slow cooker comes boldly imprinted with the Steelers logo.  It’s the perfect gift for a Steelers fan.

So without further delay, it’s time to announce this week’s winners.

In third place, we have Dan, who submitted this entry.

The Steelers offense
Needing a new running back
And fewer mistakes

In second place is Jim with this haiku.

Bengals get lucky
Merry Xmas from Big Ben
Don’t get used to it.

And in first place we have this excellent haiku that was written by Julie Hranica.

Give the Bengals hope
and a few interceptions
Playoff spot is theirs

Congratulations Julie!  Please send us an e-mail from the same e-mail address that you used to submit your entry, and tell us where you’d like to have your new Steelers Crock-Pot sent.

Go Steelers!

Everyone knows that I hate talking about Steelers losses.  And losses that eliminate the Steelers from playoff contention are the worst of all.  So I’m not going to bother recapping the debacle that happened yesterday.

But what I am going to do is proceed with our weekly haiku contest.

We have a sponsor who has donated some really great prizes, and I want to make sure that some lucky members of Steeler Nation receive all of them, despite what the Steelers did on the field.  Perhaps winning this week’s prize will make the loss a little less painful for one lucky member of Steeler Nation.

Just like last week, our prize this week is  a new NFL Crock-Pot ® slow cooker.   The Crock-Pot ® slow cooker comes boldly imprinted with the Steelers logo.   That’s right, it’s a Steelers  Crock-Pot ® slow cooker!  Every Steelers fan needs to have one of these in their kitchen.

Jim won one last week, so in fairness to other fans, he’s not eligible to win this week (although he can still submit a contest entry).

So how do you win this great prize?  The contest rules are simple. You must summarize the Steelers-Bengals game in a haiku.  A haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that contains only 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the third line has 5 syllables. Typically, haiku do not rhyme.

Please note, the emphasis is on syllables, not words.  Remember, 5/7/5.

I start the competition by offering a haiku of my own. Then you readers write a haiku of your own to try to beat mine. On Thursday I will announce this week’s contest winner.  But remember, your haiku has to be better than mine.  If none of your entries are better than mine, then I can declare myself this week’s winner and keep that really cool prize.  But I know that you all want a new NFL Crock-Pot ® slow cooker just as badly as I do.  So let’s have some really good entries this week.

Here’s my entry:

Early off-season
Will give Steelers time to heal
No playoffs this year

Okay readers, it’s your turn.  Lets see who can come up with the best haiku about the Steelers-Bengals game.  Your haiku must be about the game, or any other interesting topics that are directly related to the game (e.g. the division  rivalry, the playoff elimination, the offense’s struggles, etc).  You may enter the contest as many times as you like.

Any entries that do not follow the 5/7/5 format will be automatically disqualified, so remember to count your syllables.

Are you ready for some haiku?!!

It’s time to announce the winners of this week’s haiku contest.

As you all know, we had a special prize for this week’s contest winner.  The winner is going to receive a new NFL Crock-Pot ® slow cooker.  The Crock-Pot ® slow cooker comes boldly imprinted with the Steelers logo.  I can’t think of a better Christmas present for a Steelers fan.

So without further delay, it’s time to announce this week’s winners.

In third place, we have Bradley Rohr, who submitted this entry.

Steelers Lose Again.
The Playoffs Will Not Happen
Time For Good Draft Pick

In second place is Joe Marthey with this haiku.

Jerry Jones smiling,
Keep smiling Jerry but know
Pittsburgh has more gold

And in first place we have this excellent haiku that was written by Jim.

Offense still missing
Every Romo has his day
beats the practice squad

Congratulations Jim!  Please send us an e-mail from the same e-mail address that you used to submit your entry, and tell us where you’d like to have your new Steelers Crock-Pot sent.

Go Steelers!