Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

The Pittsburgh Steelers are now 2-0 in the preseason, after defeating the New York Giants 24-17.  The Giants were without starting quarterback Eli Manning, who is still recovering from an injury received during the Giants’ first preseason game.

Though Eli Manning didn’t play, one quarterback who DID play was Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.  Big Ben did not play in the Steelers first preseason game, but he was the starter for this game.

Ben looked a bit rusty, and the rust was evident in his statistics.  Roethlisberger completed 6 of 8 passes for 76 yards.  However he was sacked once, and he threw an interception during his short time in the game.  And as he usually does, Big Ben held onto the ball waaaaaaay too long.  Because of this, he was often running for his life.  The Steelers’ porous offensive line didn’t help the situation.  New York Giants players were constantly in the Steelers’ backfield applying pressure.

Big Ben passes under pressure.

Big Ben ended his short stint in the game with a sub-par 64.6 quarterback rating, the lowest among the three Steelers’ quarterbacks who played during the game.

When the second quarter began, Roethlisberger was replaced by Byron Leftwich at quarterback.  Like Roethlisberger, Leftwich was constantly under pressure.  However, unlike Roethlisberger, Leftwich got rid of the ball.

On one play in particular, Leftwich made a play which we seldom see from Roethlisberger.  Leftwich saw speedy wide receiver Mike Wallace racing down the field, and he threw the ball past him so that Wallace could run under the ball and catch it in stride.  Steelers fans have gotten used to seeing Roethlisberger under-throw Wallace on his deep routes so Wallace usually has to come back to the ball rather than catch it in stride.  Because Wallace was able to catch the ball in stride, the play resulted in a 68 yard touchdown.

Leftwich played the entire second quarter, and completed 3 of six passes for 95 yards and a touchdown.  His final quarterback rating was 135.4, the highest among the three Steelers’ quarterbacks.

In the second half, Dennis Dixon started at quarterback, and he played the entire half.  Just like he did against the Detroit Lions, Dixon appeared to be the most effective of the Steelers’ quarterbacks.  He marched the team down the field for touchdowns on both of his first two offensive series.  Dixon also provided a running threat that neither of the other quarterbacks offer.  On one play, Dixon broke a 22 yard run that he probably could have gotten into the end zone.  However he was running along the sideline, and his momentum carried him out of bounds.

Dixon completed 7 of the 8 passes that he attempted.  He ended the game with 82 passing yards and a 109.4 quarterback rating.

So just like in the Steelers’ first preseason game, Dennis Dixon made a strong argument for why he, rather than Byron Leftwich, should be the Steelers starter during Ben Roethlisberger’s 4-6 game suspension.

Steelers’ Head Coach Mike Tomlin may ultimately decide to go with Leftwich as the starter, but Dixon is certainly making his decision much more difficult than he anticipated.

Other points of interest:

• Punter Dan Sepulveda handled all of the kick-offs for the Steelers’ second preseason game.  Sepulveda practiced kick-offs regularly during Steelers Training Camp, but was not called upon to kick-off during the team’s first preseason game against the Detroit Lions.  Several of Sepulveda’s kicks seemed short.  However, he did get 2 of his 6 kick-offs into the end zone, and one was downed for a touchback.  Last week, Jeff Reed only got one of his 5 kicks into the endzone, and none were downed for touchbacks.

• Rookie Antonio Brown handled the majority of the Steelers’ kick and punt return duties last night.  He averaged 10.8 yards on 4 punt returns, the longest of which was for 18 yards.  He also averaged 25 yards on 2 kickoff returns.

• Isaac Redman once again made a strong case for being the backup to starting running back Rashard Mendenhall.  Redman rushed for 34 yards on six carries.  He also scored a touchdown.

Isaac Redman scores TD.

• Justin Vincent was the Steelers’ leading rusher with 37 yards on 6 carries.  However, most of his carries came in the 2nd half against the Giants’ second and third string defenses

• Rashard Mendenhall didn’t look particularly impressive running the ball.  He carried the ball 8 times for a total of 11 yards.  His 1.4 yards per carry was the lowest among the Steelers’ running backs.  He also continues to do that annoying spin move anytime he senses contact coming.  Mendenhall almost seems reluctant to face contact head-on.

• Steelers’ cornerback Ike Taylor was ejected from the game after getting in a fight in the opening minutes of the game.  Dumb, Ike.  Really dumb.

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This is part 7 in a series evaluating the Steelers’ off-season needs.  So far, we’ve looked at the cornerbacks,  safeties, linebackers,  defensive linemen,  offensive linemen, and tight ends.    The next position that we’re going to look at is quarterback.

It wasn’t that long ago that I would have told you that it was silly to even talk about the quarterback position.  I would have said that Ben Roethlisberger was the most secure player on the entire Steelers roster.  But now, I’m not so sure.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think the Steelers are going to trade Roethlisberger.  And I definitely don’t think they’re going to cut him.  But I once believed  there was 0% chance of either of those things happening, but now I believe there is actually a slight possibility that Ben could be dealt.  Notice I said “slight”.  Slight means less than 5% chance, so I’m not even going to explore that possibility.

Despite the off-field issues that have gotten all of the attention lately, Ben actually had possibly the best season of his career last year.  He established new personal highs for pass attempts and passing yards.  In fact, he exceeded his old record for passing yards by almost 1,000 yards.  He also recorded the second highest QB rating of his career.

QB Ben Roethlisberger

Unfortunately, Big Ben also established a new career high for sacks in a season.  The 50 sacks that he suffered in 2009 were the most in the NFL (tied with Aaron Rodgers).  His 50 sacks were 4 more than Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady suffered combined.  That’s right, Ben took more sacks than those 3 combined.  Think about that for a moment.  Moreover, think about how valuable Ben would be if he could cut his sack total in half.  Or if he could reduce his sacks to around 15 per year like the three quarterbacks mentioned previously.

Dennis Dixon proved that he is a viable backup for Big Ben last season when he had to start against Baltimore.  Dixon was kept on a tight leash in that game.  I’d love to see the Steelers turn him loose a bit this year.

Charlie Batch recently signed a new contract and will be back as a Steelers back-up quarterback.  Unlike last season, I think Batch will begin this season as #3 on the depth chart.  But I think that both he and the Steelers are comfortable with that idea.

What  should the Steelers do?

Nothing.  That’s right, the Steelers should do nothing.  At least as far as cutting Ben or trading him.

He is the first franchise quarterback that the team has had since Terry Bradshaw.  Franchise quarterbacks are EXTREMELY difficult to come by.  So once you have one, you do everything possible to keep him.  And you definitely don’t cut him or trade him to “send a message”.  You use wide receivers for that (e.g.  Cedrick Wilson and Santonio Holmes).

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that Ben should get off easy.  Even though he wasn’t found guilty of committing a crime, Ben still embarrassed the organization.  He showed poor judgment, and needs to do better in the future.

The organization has already spoken to Ben in private.  Sternly.  He will also probably suffer a suspension, and lose some money.  Those are things Ben understands.   But after that, I consider the issue to be over.

I don’t believe the Steelers are going to trade Ben.  They’re also not likely to draft a quarterback early in the upcoming draft.  They may take one late to compete for a backup position, but that’s about it.  Therefore, I’m not even going to bother discussing any of the quarterbacks who are available in this years NFL Draft.

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I have tried very hard not to comment on the Ben Roethlisberger situation.  I really didn’t want to talk about the topic at all.  After all, it is more of a tabloid story, and has little to do with football.  But after thinking about it, I realized that I have to talk about it.

For those of you who have been living in a cave, Big Ben has been accused of sexual assault (again).  A woman in Milledgeville, GA (where the heck is Milledgeville?) has accused Big Ben of sexually assaulting her in the restroom of a college bar.

Like the rest of you, i don’t know if Big Ben did it or not.  But regardless of whether he did it or not, this new incident has raised several concerns about Ben.

Ben Roethlisberger & "friends"

Here are a few of my concerns.

Lack of good judgment

Ben seems to like hooking up with the ladies.  He’s a young, handsome, rich, celebrity athlete, so I can completely understand that.  However, Ben has been down this path before.  He should know better.

What was he doing in a college bar?  Ben is 28 years old.  The average college student is 18-22 years old.  Ben is too old to be hanging out on campus.   Besides, Millegeville is almost 100 miles from Atlanta and 40 miles from Macon.  It’s in the middle of nowhere.  So why was Ben there on his birthday?  He could have been in any of the hottest night clubs in Atlanta, but instead he was in a remote college bar.  Why?  Was he fishing for a tenderoni?

Initially it was reported that Ben admitted to having sex with the young lady, but that it was consensual.  Now he claims that they never had intercourse.  This is starting to sound like Bill Clinton-style semantic games.

Regardless of whether it was intercourse or not, why is he having ANY TYPE of sex with a young girl in a college bar?

Ben is a target

Does Ben understand that his wealth and fame make him a target?  He can’t continue to put himself in situations where he is hooking up with total strangers.  He doesn’t know their character or their motivations.  When some women look at Big Ben, all they see is dollar signs.

Perhaps Ben should go back to dating celebrities like Natalie Gulbis or Jamie-Lynn Sigler.  At least then he’ll know that they aren’t after him for his money.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Ben is embarrassing people who love him or look up to him

Does Ben realize that he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the proudest franchises in all of sports?  Does he realize that the the Rooney family strives very hard to run a classy organization, and that character is very important in their eyes?  Does he realize that Pittsburgh is a blue collar town that likes their players to be wholesome, family-oriented, and hard working?  Think Aaron Smith, Hines Ward, or Troy Polamalu.  The Tony Stark-like millionaire playboy routine really isn’t a good fit in Pittsburgh.  Nor is the repeat offender routine.

Steelers fans have grown tired of Jeff Reed’s off-court antics.  But these accusations against Big Ben make Reed look like a Boy Scout in comparison.

C’mon Big Ben, you’re better than that.  I know you are.

Big Ben doesn’t seem to understand his importance to the team

Possibly the most concerning aspect in all of this is that Big Ben doesn’t seem to realize that he has a team and a town that all depend on him.

Sure, Dennis Dixon did okay in his one start last season.  But he is not a franchise quarterback.  The success or failure of the Steelers does not depend on him.  But it does depend on Big Ben.

Without Ben Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh Steelers have no hope of returning to the Super Bowl.  None.  He’s that important.

I am old enough to remember the Cliff Stoudt era.  And the Mark Malone era.  And the Bubby Brister era.  And the Mike Tomczak era.  And the Neil O’Donnell era.  And the Kordell Stewart era.  And frankly, I don’t want to go back to those days.

Big Ben is the first franchise quarterback that the Steelers have had since Terry Bradshaw.  And in today’s NFL, it is almost impossible to win a championship without a franchise quarterback.  Just ask the Oakland Raiders.

Ben has to understand that the hopes of a city rest squarely on his shoulders.  He has to be mature enough to bear that burden.  And right now, I’m not sure that he is.

We all hope that Ben is innocent.  But the truth is that none of us really knows.  But one thing that we do all know is that we’re getting tired of hearing Ben Roethlisberger’s name mentioned in the same sentence as the words “sexual assault”.  I just wish that Big Ben understood that the same way that we all do.

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Thank you, God.  Thank you, God.  Thank you, God.  Thank you, God.  Thank you, God.

Okay, now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the Steelers’ 37-36 win over the Green Bay Packers.

In a game that unfolded totally differently than most experts predicted, the Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive.  Prior to the game, most experts assumed that a game featuring the Steelers and Packers, two of the best defenses in the NFL, would be a low-scoring defensive struggle.  Instead, it turned out to be a high-scoring offensive shootout.  Who woulda thunk it?

The two teams combined for 973 total yards of offense.  Some “defensive struggle”.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had the best game of his career, passing for 503 yards.  He was 29-46 with no interceptions and 3 touchdowns. 

Hmmmmmm, this looks familiar.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers tried his best to keep pace, finishing with 383 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions.  Rodgers also rushed for a touchdown.

While it was exciting to watch such an offensive shootout, it was a sad day for both defenses.  The Packers surrendered 537 net yards, and the Steelers defense surrendered 436 net yards.  That’s not something that either team will be bragging about.

Despite the positive outcome of the game, a few aspects were still a bit troubling.

Firstly, the Steelers’ secondary continues to look like a high school junior varsity team.  William Gay was burned repeatedly.  Ryan Clark was beat badly on a touchdown.  Tyrone Carter took his fellow defenders out of a play, thus allowing a Packers’ touchdown.  And none of the Steelers secondary looked like they remembered how to tackle.

Secondly, the offense still lacks balance.  The team only ran the ball 19 times.  Meanwhile, they passed the ball 46 times.  Mike Tomlin says that he wants the offense to be balanced.  Well, 19 runs and 46 passes is NOT balanced.

Thirdly, the Steelers had another 4th quarter letdown.  Sure, they walked away with a win, but they allowed the Packers to score 22 points in the 4th quarter.  They had only yielded 14 total point in the first 3 quarters.  So why can’t the defense play a consistent 60 minutes?

Finally, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made one of the most baffling calls that I’ve ever seen.  After taking a 2 point lead with 4:03 remaining in the game, the Steelers chose to go for an on-sides kick.  Unfortunately, the play failed and the Packers got the ball at the Steelers’ 39 yard line.  In less than 2 minutes, the Packers scored a touchdown and took the lead.

Fortunately for the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger led a textbook 2-minute drill that was culminated by a touchdown pass to Mike Wallace that looked eerily reminiscent of Roethlisberger’s game-winning pass to Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII.

Mike Wallace imitates Santonio Holmes

So the Steelers ended their losing streak and kept their playoff hopes alive.

They also got help from several of their AFC rivals who are also fighting for their playoff lives.  Denver, Jacksonville, Miami, and the New York Jets all lost.  Those losses mean that the Steelers are still mathematically in the playoff race.

I think Steeler Nation needs to say one more collective “Thank you, God”.

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Losing can have unexpected effects on a team. Like causing frustrated players to make stupid comments. That’s exactly what Hines Ward did.

Ward, one of the Steelers veteran leaders, made comments in an interview with Bob Costas that I’m sure he’d like to take back.

Ward implied that Big Ben should have played in a game that was as important as the Steelers’ game against the Baltimore Ravens was.  Ward’s frustration seemed to be due to the fact that the team thought that Big Ben was going to play, and weren’t informed until Saturday that he wasn’t.

The video below shows coach Tomlin’s response to Hines Ward’s comments.

From what I can tell, both Hines Ward and Coach Tomlin were at fault in this incident.

Tomlin should have explained to the team exactly why he wasn’t playing Big Ben. Whenever there is a lack of information, people tend to use their imaginations to fill in the vacuum.

Hines Ward was equally culpable. Since, by his own admission, he didn’t have adequate information, he should have kept his mouth shut. Instead, he put his foot in it.

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