Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Well, the 2009 season is a wrap for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Despite beating the Miami Dolphins 30-24, the Steelers didn’t get the help that they needed from other teams in order to get into the playoffs.  So the team goes into the off-season with lots of questions to answer.

But before we get to that, let’s review the game.  Several players had especially good performances that are worth noting.  Firstly, LaMarr Woodley had his coming out party in 2009.  With Troy Polamalu on the sideline, Woodley became the most dominant member of the defense.  Woodley showed no mercy to Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne, despite the fact that they were college teammates at Michigan.  Woodley sacked Henne twice, and pressured him many more times.

Willie Parker also had a very good game.  Despite not being utilized very much this season, Parker rushed for 91 yards on 12 carries against the Dolphins.  That was a nice final performance as he enters free agency.  Good luck next year, Willie.  You won’t be playing for the Steelers.

Big Ben also had a very good game.  He threw 3 touchdowns without an interception.  2009 was a great year for Big Ben.

The Steelers’ cornerbacks finally got an interception.  Both Ike Taylor and Deshea Townsend got interceptions against the Dolphins.  It’s too bad they also made Dolphins 3rd string QB Tyler Thigpen look like Dan Marino.

Mike Wallace also had a good game.  He caught another long touchdown pass.  I knew this kid was going to be good.  I could see it back in training camp.  I even wrote about it here.

Finally, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians called a pretty good game.  I’ve been pretty tough on Arians this season, so I owe it to him to point out when he calls a good game.  Bruce actually called a pretty balanced game.  He used his running backs 32 times, and called pass plays 28 times.  You can’t get much more balanced than that.  Moreover, Ben had a great game while the backs rushed for almost 200 yards.  See, you CAN run the ball and pass it too.  Of course Arians did call for that asinine pass by Santonio Holmes.  But I’m going to ignore that, and focus on the positive.  Good game, Bruce.

But despite their victory over the Dolphins, Sunday was not a happy day for the Steelers.  The bad news started early, and just kept on coming.

The bad news started when the Houston Texans beat the New England Patriots.  The Steelers needed the Texans to lose more than any other team.   Once the Texans won, the Steelers needed the Oakland Raiders to beat the Baltimore Ravens.

The Raiders were actually beating the Ravens, but then their quarterback got hurt and they had to call on JaMarcus Russell.  The moment JaMarcus Russell came into the game for the Raiders, any hope the Steelers might have had went out the window.  Russell is probably the worst quarterback in the NFL.  Having to depend on him to win a game is like depending on Whitney Houston to say “no” to crack; it’s just not going to happen.  So the Raiders lost, and the Ravens were in the playoffs.  Then, to toss salt in the wound, the Cincinnati Bengals completely shut it down against the New York Jets.  Not that it mattered at that point, but I’m sure the Bengals enjoyed knowing that they did absolutely nothing to help the Steelers’ chances.

So the Steelers now head into the off-season with a long list of questions.  Will Casey Hampton be signed to a new contract?  Will Ryan Clark be with the team next year?  Will Troy Polamalu’s knee heal completely?  Will Willie Gay get burned for touchdowns even when the Steelers aren’t playing?  Will Bruce Arians return as offensive coordinator?  Will the Steelers hire a new special teams coach?  Will Jeff Reed be back for another season with the Steelers, or will he get arrested first and force the Steelers to let him go?

The Steelers won’t be in the playoffs, but the off-season is still going to be very exciting for Steeler Nation.  The team has lots of questions to answer.  I expect this team to make significant changes in the months to come.  Stay tuned.

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The Steelers take on the Miami Dolphins this Sunday.  Steeler Nation’s attention will be focused on the outcome of a bunch of other games to see if the Steelers will luck out and make the playoffs.

That’s all fine and good, but the reality is that the most important game to pay attention to is the Steelers-Dolphins game.  If the Steelers don’t win, then the outcome of all of the other games becomes moot.

The Steelers MUST beat the Dolphins.  Period.  End of story.

If the Steeler lose, it’s a wrap.  The Steelers won’t make the playoffs, regardless of what anyone else does.  So beating the Dolphins is the only thing that anyone should be worried about.  Everything else is out of our control.

So let’s take a look at the Dolphins.  What do the Steelers need to do to beat this team?

The Steelers have won 4 of the past 5 games against the Dolphins, including their last meeting which was the muddy mess of a game in 2007 that the Steelers won 3-0.

The Dolphins are 7-8 going into the game.  The Dolphins were primarily a run-oriented team.  They average 142.1 yards per game on the ground.  Much of their ground yardage came from their wildcat offense.  Fortunately, the Dolphins’ running game has been hampered by injuries.  The Dolphins lost Ronnie Brown in November due to a foot injury, and Ricky Williams was hurt last week and is unlikely to play on Sunday.  So the Dolphins’ running game is basically screwed.

If the Dolphins can’t run the ball (which they shouldn’t be able to do against the Steelers’ defense), then they’ll have to rely on quarterback Chad Henne.  Henne’s role in the offense increased drastically after Ronnie Brown was lost for the season.  Henne has averaged over 40 passes per game the past 6 games.  That’s a lot of passing.

This is Henne’s first year as a starter for the Dolphins.  His results have been mediocre at best.  His quarterback rating is 74.4.  He’s completed 59.9% of his passes, and has thrown for 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while being sacked 24 times.

Unless things go in a way that is totally unexpected, the Steelers should have no problem stopping the Dolphins’ offense.  The Dolphins’ defense, on the other hand, might be another matter.

The Dolphins defense is a fairly blitz-happy bunch.  They’re 5th in the NFL with 41 sacks.  That’s only 3 fewer than the Steelers have.  The Dolphins are led by a guy named Joey Porter.  The name sounds slightly familiar, but I can’t quite remember where I’ve heard it before.  Porter leads the team with 8 sacks.  Jason Taylor is Porter’s partner in the Miami sack parade.  Taylor has 7 sacks.  The Steelers offensive line is going to have to work overtime to keep these two off of Big Ben.

Fortunately, the Dolphins’ secondary is even weaker than the Steelers’ (if that’s even possible).  The Dolphins’ secondary gives up more yards per pass than any other team in the NFL.  If the offensive line can buy Ben a little time, he should be able to pass for even more yardage against the Dolphins than he did against the Packers.  How does 600 yards sound?

For once, I might even be able to forgive Bruce Arians for having Roethlisberger pass the ball 50 times.  Okay, maybe not.  Brucie isn’t getting off that easily.

If they play up to their ability, the Steelers should beat the Dolphins.  Everything else is out of their control.  Steeler Nation will just have to pray that the football gods smile upon the them and make things fall into place the way we all hope that they will.

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Steelers Today has hooked up with 31 other NFL bloggers from around the country to do a bloggers’ mock draft. All 32 NFL teams are represented in the mock draft.

The mock draft is sponsored by Cleveland Browns blog No Logo Needed. For more details on the bloggers’ mock draft, click here.

With the 25th pick of the 2009 NFL Draft the Miami Dolphins blog The Phinsinder selects……

There were two ways to go about this pick.  I could have taken the player I like the most that is still on the board – which would have been either CB Darius Butler or CB Sean Smith.  That would have also addressed Miami’s most glaring hole.  But this is a mock draft – and I’m going to select the player that I think the Dolphins would most likely draft if the actual draft played out this way.

Bill Parcells loves linebackers.  That’s no secret.  And among Miami’s top three needs is the outside linebacker position (right up there with CB and WR).  Larry English has the size and strength that this regime loves.  And while I worry a litle bit about English’s ability to drop back into coverage due to his lack of fluidity in his hips, I do think that Larry’s upside here is tremendous as a pass rusher and potential heir to Joey Porter.  He’s also tough, smart, and a “high-motor” player – all things that Bill Parcells demands from his linebackers.

The draft results so far are shown below. Click on the individual pick to read each blogger’s rationale for his selection.

1. Detroit Lions: Mathew Stafford, QB (Georgia)
2. St. Louis Rams: Eugene Monroe, OT (Virginia)
3. Kansas City Chiefs: Aaron Curry, LB (Wake Forest)
4. Seattle Seahawks: Michael Crabtree, WR (Texas Tech)
5. Cleveland Browns: Rey Maualuga, LB (Southern California)
6. Cincinnati Bengals: Jason Smith, OT (Baylor)
7. Oakland Raiders: Jeremy Maclin, WR (Missouri)
8. Jacksonville Jaguars: B.J. Raji, DT (Boston College)
9. Green Bay Packers, Brian Orakpo, DE (Texas)
10. San Francisco 49ers, Everette Brown, OLB (Florida State)
11. Buffalo Bills, Clay Matthews, OLB (Southern California)
12. Denver Broncos, Malcolm Jenkins, CB (Ohio State)
13. Washington Redskins, Andre Smith, OT (Alabama)
14. New Orleans Saints, Brian Cushing, OLB (Southern California)
15. Houston Texans, Michael Oher, OT (Ole Miss)
16. San Diego Chargers, Eben Britton, OT (Arizona)
17. New York Jets, Tyson Jackson, DE (LSU)
18. Chicago Bears, Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR (Maryland)
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Percy Harvin, WR  (Florida)
20. Detroit Lions, Aaron Maybin, DE (Penn State)
21. Philadelphia Eagles, Vontae Davis, CB (Illinois)
22. Minnesota Vikings, Mark Sanchez, QB (Southern California)
23. New England Patriots, Knowshon Moreno, RB (Georgia)
24. Atlanta Falcons, Clint Sintim, LB (Virginia)
25. Miami Dolphins, Larry English, LB (Northern Illinois)

The Baltimore Ravens (booo!) are on the clock.

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