Steelers Look Good Vs. Philly in Pre Season Game 2

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 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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!