heels, sox & steelers
O-line is sucking. Special teams are solid so far and Fox really looks like a solid player. Let's see if the D can have a strong game.
Ah, yes. Preseason football. Gotta love it.
Well that was interesting.
That was terrible. I like that they went for it, but the execution was poor. Did Hartwig fall down again?
Eh, I can't get too worked up about the o-line -- the Vikings' front four is pretty formidable. Meanwhile, Larry Foote hurts his ankle, and Juan gets beat on the very next play for a 20-something yard gain. JUAN IS A BUST!
I don't know how they didn't flag Carter there.
Uh, yeah, forget what I said about the o-line. Big Ben just took two sacks in the time it took me to get a beer. Not good.
IKE!
IKE
(Tim, that counts toward his regular season total)
They said on the radio that Foote was carted off.
James Harrison just walked right through Steve Hutchinson.
Defense has looked awesome tonight. Lamar Woodley just steamrolled somebody.
Odd that Foote would be carted off after we saw him walking reasonably well to the sideline. Dat sux.
If I could offer Byron one word of advice: THROW IT HARDER!
That is all.
Yes..his throws lack velocity...
Oh, O-line..why can't you be true?
WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!
Ok what did I miss? Just returned home, taped the game, and well tried to see updates on my cell phone...I saw Mendenahll fumbled and our offense couldn't move the ball
I just watched it in bits and pieces..but there was one horrendous series in the first half where they Vikes made the starting O-line look like Division II. That was depressing.
Mendenhall fumbled twice, but also ripped off a few nice runs behind the 2nd unit O-line who did a pretty good blocking and pulling job on his runs.
Dan Dierdorf is still a dork.
Just finished watching... Ranom recap: Rockhands Rashard... OL embarrassing... OK first team D... Juan seemed to be everywhere (despite one whiff on a missed sack)... Ike caught something... Leftwich decent... Skippy all the points... And Dierdorf called Carey Davis Troy Polamalu.
Minus the two fumbles I thought Rashard was pretty impressive. Big minus I know...but still a little better than I was expecting given some of what's been written so far this preseason. And Willie Reid snagged some nice Byron darts.
Is that cereal real?
I thought the Steelers looked pretty good against the formidable Vikings defense. I was happy to see Roethlisberger escape only sacked twice. If it was a regular season game, I have all the confidence that the Steelers would have won.
Sitting in Seattle airport waiting for my flight home - had a great time wearing my Steelers jersey to the Mariners-A's game yesterday evening. My favorite comment received was from the lady at the gate handing out free gift backpacks who just looked at my jersey in disgust and said, "go to the game" as I looked in the box to see what the giveaway was.
Dierdorf also called Deshea Townshed Bryant McFadden and vice versa. They should have, I dunno, a cheat sheet or something.
The OL is busmeat. I'm putting the o/u on sacks this year at 50, and taking the over. In case you haven't noticed, our clever plan to avoid Ben getting sacked is to split him out as a wide receiver. GENIUS! All of a sudden, the idea of extending Marvel Smith seems as smart as giving $7M to your backup tackle, and Willie Colon needs to grow longer arms. But the worst POS on that line is Kendall Simmons God Lord. He's the guy in the prison shower who drops his soap. He was flat out awful. A turd with maggots on top. George W. Bush, only less competent. Jamaine Stephens, reincarnated. I'm done with Simmons. DONE.
Otherwise, it was just, ya know, the usual preseason stuff.
So I'm at a family party yesterday and was reduced to having to 'watch the game' via play by play on my cell phone - which was annoying - I'll watch the game today...
But I'm thinking....do we take anything from the fact that the Steelers actually won their game versus the likes of the Browns and Pats who were trounced? Just a thought
SteelerBill, no. Finnegans, yes.
You know, I'm less pessimistic about the win than others. Look, the Vikes' defense ain't exactly the Cleveland Browns. The Williams sisters are bad asses. That's not to absolve Simmons of skrugglin' but I don't think it was as bad as a typical '07 game. I though Kemo did well in space and definitely finishes his blocks. Hartwig struggled at times, but again, Williams sisters. Marvel looked slow, but maybe that was because Jared Allen is fast.
I know it sounds like I'm making excuses (it's because I am), but I love that Ben's getting rid of the ball more quickly, and he's not afraid to throw it away instead of taking a ginormous hit. All in all, it was a good showing, and Skippy got some much needed crunch-time work. Given the schedule, that could come in handy.
Not that the Steelers were stunning last night or anything, but imagine being a Viking's fan today trying to assess the game. The best O-line in the league got keelhauled. God's own running back went nowhere, fast. And the best quarterback on the team is Mr. Ford City Frerotte. To think these guys are one of the chic pick's to go to the Superbowl this year.
Also, I'd forgotten how skinny Tommy Gun's arms were. Scary to think we once had so much hope for him.
I thought Limas looked terrible last night, he dropped at least three balls. I have no problem being patient with him as he develops, but it's tough to learn soft hands. I'm concerned
Is Limas any worse than Plax was his frosh year? No.
Simmons was worse than 07 form, if that is even conceivable. He got knocked flat on his fat worthless ass, and more than a few times it looked like he was in the fatass 400 relay, because he wasn't stopping his man so much as, what?, handing him a baton on the way by? Worthless.
FW. I have a stinging rebuttal to your negativitism!
Somewhere around here...ummm..wait a sec..I was sure I put it right over..uhhhh..
Forget it..its all true.
and we get to play the Giants this year? What's the over/under on sacks in that one?
LOL...
"Lucky" for us, Osi Umenyiora is done for the year. Knee injury.
I ask again, is that cereal box real?
I didn't see the game, but I'm relieved that the Steelers got through the game with only one minor injury, Foote.
I don't like preseason games on stupid indoor turf.
Cols,
THE CEREAL BOX IS REAL. I think. Either way, Tommy Gun is AutoMaddox. Your bad.
I vote we all pitch in and buy a Kendall Simmons jersey for FW for his birthday...
Ok...I watched the game and a few random thoughts from the FWIW Department:
BigBen was off - but after hearing his interview by CBS I believe he was sick...Keyaron Fox is a keeper on ST...Rashard is going to be special - the fumbles don't concern me, yet....did the light finally go in for Willie Reid?....Our D is F A S T, Fast....Tyrone Carter was all over the field....I have confidence in Limas....Duck! Byron just threw another fast ball....Vanilla, vanilla vanilla...we didn't go deep at all on O and ran some crazy stuff that Dierdorf correctly pointed out will cause the Texans to look at more film...
Ryan,
If we begin the Ike totals now and give him until the end of the playoffs(hopefully) i would still go less than 10. And yes i was watching whne it happened and almost fell off my cocuh, cause i must admit. it was a nice pick.
Other thoughts:
1. Lloyd's of London wouldn't insure Ben at this rate
2. Mendenhal hits holes hard and fast. In all reality, how long before he starts(not necessarily this season, but really...how long?)
3. Willie Reid made some nice catches, but do you trust him?
4. Dierdorf is a dolt, but i'd still prefer to listen to him over Joe Theisman ANY day!
5. Go Yankees
I have to say, if I were the Vikings I would start Ferrote over Jackson.
About Ben being off, I don't know if he was sick or not, but I remember on at least 2 games against the patriots, where Brady was reported to be sick, and as soon as I got excited to the fact that he might be off because of it, he was already ripping our D apart... As much as I don't like him and the patriots, have to recognize that being ill does not faze great players.
So I hope Ben was just trying to make the Texans think he sucks....
Seems like the middle of the line implodes whenever we play an above average NT in a 3-4 or DTs in a 4-3. And those plays seem harder for Ben than a speed rush of the edge where he can still see his receivers and step up from the rush. It would be nice to see an FB or TE used to help with this. Along with, you know, Kendall and co. blocking people.
I don't have much confidence in the middle of our o-line (shocking, I know). Against teams with decent to below average lines I honestly expect them to put up 40 points a game. But against teams with a good too great defensive line... sack city.
The problem is there are a lot of good teams with good defensive lines on the schedule - and I can't think of a serious AFC contender that doesn't have a good defensive line. I don't want to over react here but if there are two top notch offensive lineman in next years draft, I'd be OK with trading our '10 1st rounder to get 'em both now.
okay, thought of this while watching the Bills-Colts last night: should the Steelers send a first-rounder to Buffalo for Jason Peters? A first-rounder might sound steep, but that's the going rate for bad-ass LTs.
I usually abhor the "hey, about THIS trade!" discussions, but, well, the Steelers' o-line is sort of a problem.
> And the best quarterback on the team is Mr. Ford City Frerotte.
Hey, I'm originally from Ford City. Gus Frerotte is a god up there. Well, actually no. Frerotte hasn't exactly followed in the footsteps of Unitas, Namath, Marino and Montana as Pittsburgh area legends. He's still most remembered for the Head Butt, I think.
Ryan--You are a good man to have the ability to "think" while listening to Sterling Sharpe announce the game last night. All I could think about is what if the NFL Channel made Emmitt Smith the color man and Sterling play-by-play?
Hey, which one of you guys said you were going to the game on Thursday night? I can't find it, or remember who it was...
The awffensive line was awful.
On the plus side, the linebackers (especially Woodley, Harrison and Timmons)look awesome so far. Woodley looks like a special player.
The OL looked bad, yes, but I've come to grips with that. I still don't think it will be as bad as last year. As far as trading picks for so and so stud, not gonna happen.
- I worry about Arians playcalling more than I worry about the OL. One thing Cowher/Ehrhardt/Whisenhunt understood was you can run a few vanilla series and punt. It is ok. Sometimes I get the feeling Arians is playing (chess) with himself and the opposing D-coordinator is standing there laughing, saying "Yeah... ok. Great move!" Its hard to argue with 32 TD passes, but I like 22 alot better if Ben doesn't set get-sacked records. The Rams' and Ravens' games really skewed Ben's passer rating last year.
- Its the pre-season... TGIP-s. I saw one series by the offense and it was the 2sackshandofftoMoorefromtheshotgun. Wow.... I baby-barfed after watching that. Good Lord?! Who was it that got thrown sideways?
- There is no telling what will happen once the real bullets start flying. Yes, I said that last week.
- I'm glad Mendenhall fumbled (now). Better he do it now than later. That problem is fixable.
- Dare I say Ike's hands look "softer" than in the past? Like someone took a file to those claws?
- I'm with ryan, I'll take a 12-10 win in the pre-seaon any day. Bring on the Texans! This team looks decent...maybe we'll do something in December and beyond.
I just had Savran and Junker on live and they said that Mendenhall has to carry a ball around with him and Hines and someone else (I wasn't paying complete attention) are paying $100 to anyone who takes it away from him, on or off the field.
As to Ryan's trade idea..I'd do it in a heartbeat. It would entail moving Marvel to RT (if he'd do that)and would immediately shore up 2 positions. Move Colon inside to take Simmons place and we have a functioning line, I feel.
But I know ..and you know..and Ursain Bolt knows..and he'll tell Michael Phelps,,,who'll blab it to Mark Madden..that it ain't going to happen.
The second Ben goes down under a devastating blow from some fire breathing pass rusher who beats the RS of the line like a rented mule? I'll be in the bathroom screaming into a towel. Showing the grace and good genes I have been blessed with.
Other than than, I am looking forward to the season.
Sorry, Ryan, but PFT is reporting that Mike Potts was among the first group of cuts. Also Jeremy Bloom and Montarviousfd Prince were let go.
And Sepulveda is officially on IR.
Sugar Bear
Are we really going to start complaining about play calls during the pre-season? The Steelers had a terrific offense last year, and besides that stupid end around on 3rd and 6 (which would've been brilliant, had it worked) and some questionable calls at the end of games, I think the consensus is that Arians did a pretty good job in his first year.
So I am chilling at home for a few days (use-it-or-lose-it vacation by August 31) and finally cracked open the 'Road to XL' four DVD set of the Steelers '05 playoff games.
I am currently through the first two.
More observations later, but at the outset:
- Max Starks was crushing people that year. If he could only get back to that level . . .
- CBS' camera work on the Vanderjagt missed field goal was phenomenal. I had forgotten about this live (likely because I was bouncing around my apartment), but they did great slow-motion shots of each of the following mouthing "he missed it:"
Dungy: Disbelief
Cowher: Like a 10-year old kid on his birthday
Bettis: Pure elation
Manning: I can't stand that guy (Vanderjagt)
I really wish that Starks would have gotten a chance to beat out Colon this camp. Maybe the coaches see something different, but Starks was pretty good that year, especially in the run game.
Cols714,
You're probably right. Complaining about 393 (or so) points is silly. I just don't like some of the calls he makes. It's more of a "style" thing. Parker's all-or-nothing tendency probably over-shadows those times the right call was made and I simply saw a bad result.
My man Martavius Prince got cut. Oh well. Do players that get cut right now end up on the practice squad later sometimes? How does that work?
The worst kept secret in Pittsburgh sports history is now official - Hartwig is your starter...
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/0...8/906879-
66.stm
>> "Hey, I'm originally from Ford City. Gus Frerotte is a god up there..."
No real knock was meant on Ford City, Glenn. I just liked the alliteration.
Go Hartwig!!
Now we need to campaign for Mahan to start over Simmons.
> No real knock was meant on Ford City, Glenn.
None taken, Randy. You don't see me still living there or anything. Not a hell of lot going on there...
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