Steelers Win “Dress Rehearsal” But at What Cost?
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They call it the dress rehearsal game. The third game of the pre season is the game where the starters play the longest, the teams go deeper in their play books and the fringe guys really play as hard as they can to make one last case to make the team.
The Steelers showed up for their dress rehearsal and won by a convincing 34-16 margin over the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta was a good draw for this game as they are considered one of the better teams in the NFC and by some even a Super Bowl contender. It was nice to see the black and gold go out there and put up a nice victory.
Since its pre season we won’t detail the game for you but we will point out the positives and some of the unfortunate negatives that came from this game. Big Ben looked sharp throwing for two TD’s and leading the team down the field like a pro bowl QB. A lot of his impressive work was outshined by 2nd year WR Antonio Brown who looked like a Super Star. Brown had 2 great TD catches and looked as fast as Mike Wallace! He also looked pretty good on special teams in the return game. Right now we’d have to say he’s the man for the number three receiver job considering Emmanuel Sanders hasn’t played this pre season due to injury and Jerricho Cotchery has only been on the team for two weeks. Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer are the main candidates to play as Rashard Mendenhall’s backup and both looked good but we’d have to say Redman is the guy. He just looks more consistent and a more fluent runner. He may play a very important part on this team this year. The linebackers looked good and we liked what we saw in the secondary out of Keenan Lewis, making his third straight start of the pre season but left with a knee injury. Overall we were pleased with the win but the team certainly had some issues.
The biggest issues last night were injuries. The team lost Byron Leftwhich to a broken left arm, possibly for the season. This means that Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch are both guaranteed roster spots, which we thought good ole Charlie was probably the odd man out before this. Possibly more concerning were injuries to Maurkice Pouncey (ankle) and Casey Hampton (elbow). We think Big Snack and his elbow looked ok and should be fine by opening day but it’s tough to say regarding Pouncey. As you all know, the team needs him and needs him asap. He’s their leader on the line and their best player on the line as well. Let’s hope he gets back by 9/11 vs. the Crows.
Aside from injuries we are still concerned about the play of the O Line, but we will always be until they prove us otherwise for at least a good stretch of regular season games. The secondary, another one of our consistent concerns are under that same level of scrutiny and must prove themselves for just as long in our eyes before we acknowledge they are a successful and strong unit. To further prove right now that they are NOT a good unit back there (aside from Troy of course) they could NOT get off the field on third down, again. That was a major problem last year and it could be again this year too. We do realize that this is preseason and the games don’t count, but how you play does. The only thing really that doesn’t count right now are the wins and losses.
It’s still two weeks away from the regular season but some things need fixing, and fixing soon. Other facets of the team look like they are in mid season form and ready to make another run at a title. One last tune-up on Thursday and then it’s time to put the pedal to the metal!
Steelers Look Good Vs. Philly in Pre Season Game 2
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Pre Season game two saw a complete turnaround for the black and gold. Last week they got whipped up and down the field by the Washington Redskins, this week, the boys from Pittsburgh did the whipping. The Steelers dominated the Vince Young proclaimed “Dream Team”. They faced a far more explosive QB this week in Mike Vick and they forced him into 3 INT’s. They didn’t allow much on the ground and the defense came to play. One thing to note, last week James Harrison and Troy Polamalu didn’t play, this week they did. You can tell they made a difference, they always do. It was nice to see the good old fashioned Steeler football on display.
Offensively Big Ben ran a couple series and led the team to two touchdowns. Rashard Mendenhall looked solid and Isaac Redman seems to have solidified that number two RB spot. We were very happy with what we saw with newly signed Wide Receiver Jerricho Cotchery and 2nd year running back Jonathan Dwyer. Another good thing that came out of the game was Dennis Dixon. He looked damn good. Granted he was playing against 3rd stringers, but he looked solid. We believe Charlie Batches days are probably over as a Steeler. We actually would also make the case that Dixon should be the 2nd QB and Batch the third and the Steelers should trade Leftwich to somebody for an offensive lineman. Why you might ask? They lost two left tackles last night. Both Jonathan Scott and Marcus Gilbert got hurt last night with knee injuries. How severe? First word says not too bad, but you never know when you’re talking about a knee. Either way, we still aren’t convinced this offensive line is all that good anyway, so adding another man wouldn’t hurt.
A couple of things we didn’t like from last night were seeing a play call that involved a Ben Roethlisberger draw. It’s the pre season, why do that and risk him injury? We didn’t like the 2 missed field goals but Waters isn’t going to make the team anyway so no big deal. Polamalu intercepting the pass off Vick was fantastic, the run back was fantastic, but since it’s pre season we wish he would have gone down earlier, Vick took him down by the knees! He’s the heart and sole of the defense, we don’t need him hurt! Lastly, we didn’t like the trick play call with Antonio Brown throwing the pass downfield. Not that it’s a bad play, just why show it now when the games don’t matter?
Overall, the team dominated, most guys looked good and the Steelers won 24-14. We’ve said it before, the score of these games don’t matter, but what does matter is the individual performances and you play. Last night against the Eagles, the Steelers played well and had some big performances, they passed the test.
Next week is the big test as pre season game 3 is always the one that really sees the starters play. Let’s see what happens and start counting down to 9/11/11 vs. the Baltimore Crows!
Steelers Lose Pre Season Opener
The 2011 Pittsburgh Steeler football season is officially under way. On Friday the 12th the Steelers went into Washington ready to try to pick up the pieces from the Super Bowl loss, show they have no hangover from the big day back in February and get things moving for another title appearance this year.
The good news, it was a pre season game, and game one at that. The bad news, the team looked terrible. Now, with that latter sentence we need to re iterate that It was pre season game number ONE. A loss, a win, or a tie really doesn’t matter in the pre season. The games are simply played to tune up the players and see who’s going to make the final roster spots. The Steelers already have all 22 starters back from last season so there aren’t even any starting positions on the line.
The thing to keep an eye on here in the pre season are the position battles for back up running back, the number three, four and five receivers, the number three quarterback and perhaps the number three cornerback. Other than that, the battles are slim. We’d have to say that the most positive thing we saw last night was Isaac Redman running the ball. He’s battling for the 2nd running back job and he had a good showing. He carried the ball 5 times for 42 yards and a touchdown. He’s probably the leading candidate for that 2nd spot. The three, four and five receivers will probably be a battle between Antonio Brown, Emanuel Sanders and newly signed Jericho Cotchery. Neither Sanders nor Cotchery played last night so we only got a glimpse of Brown. He looked decent pulling in four balls for 64 yards. Other than that, the offense didn’t show much only totaling 186 yards. Dennis Dixon looked pretty awful, especially when you consider he was playing 4th string defenders. He completed only 1 of 10 passes for 29 yards. It was a nice completion but you really have to wonder if the kid has it don’t you?
Defensively the secondary appeared to be a concern again. They gave up over 200 yards passing in one half to journeymen Rex Grossman! That’s a concern but the Redskins spread the Steelers out and everyone knows that’s how you beat the black and gold. That’s exactly why the lost the Super Bowl. Again, it’s only game one in the Pre Season but we feel that area needs addressing immediately. They didn’t look great against the Skins rush attack either, but we’re not concerned with that. We never are. The linebackers will be fine.
The long and short of last night is this, the Steelers lost to the lowly Redskins 16-7 in a meaningless game. The big concern coming out of it is probably the secondary. The great news, nobody came out too banged up, they have three weeks to fix any issues they have, find the guys to make this team and get back on a Super Bowl run!
