1st Monday Nighter of the Year

After the bye week , the NFL made us wait an extra day before getting back to Steeler Football. I have a feeling it will be worth the wait. Normally, the bye week is useful this late in the season because it helps injured players get back on the field. Unfortunately, that isn't the case for the Steelers. Our D will be missing 4 starters tonight. Aaron Smith we know won't be playing for the rest of the season. However, we weren't certain about his replacement, Travis Kirschke. It now looks like he won't be playing along with Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Clark. The bye helped one defensive player get back to near full strength, Troy Polamalu. Luckily for the Steelers, the Broncos offensive is not their strength. Hood, Eason and Sonny Harris will fill in the spot emptied by Smith and Kirschke and Keyron Fox takes over for Timmons. He has played well this season, especially his key pick six against Minnesota. Tyrone Carter will take Clark's spot.

Clark is an interesting story. The Steelers have been playing games all week, saying he might play but anyone who is familiar with what happened the last time the Steelers were in Denver, realizes there is no way he suits up tonight. On our last visit to Mile High, Clark, who suffers from sickle cell anemia, which was aggravated by the high altitude, had to have his spleen removed, lost 30 pounds and missed the remainder of the season (and nearly died). Clark has been practicing all week with the team. Officially there has not been any word from the Steelers regarding his status for the game tonight. It seems like, Clark really wants to play in this game, but ultimately the decision will be made by Coach Tomlin. I doubt that he would risk the life of one of his players for one regular season game. Ty Carter is a decent back up and I think his style of play is much more suited for filling in for Ryan Clark than it was for filling in for Troy.

Two Steezbros will be at the game tonight so check back for pictures and stories tomorrow. Sorry you can't join us Alex, we will miss you.

Here are some links to peruse until kickoff tonight:

The PG has a bunch of stories analyzing matchups for tonight and reliving games past. HERE


Pre-Game Zone Blitz from BTSC. Always a good read. HERE

A comparison of how Mike Tomlin and Josh McDaniels career paths are similar. HERE

A video preview of tonight's game from AFC Bloger, James Walker. HERE

5 keys for the Steelers. HERE 5 Keys for the Broncos. HERE

Enjoy the game tonight. It should be a good one. GO STEEZ!!!!

Any predictions?

Gunslinger

I had a lot of good stuff I wanted to post about the Denver game this week. But, paying the bills got in the way.

That made me sad.

Hopefully, watching this makes you happy. Especially around the 1:21 mark.

Tomlin Thursday Denver Edition

Tomlin leads the team into Denver this week for a Monday night clash with the 6-1 Broncos. Denver just happens to be where two of the three Steezbros reside. You better believe we will be out searching for Tomlin, once the team arrives to the Mile High City. We will also be attending the game on Monday in full Steeler's regalia, so be prepared for alot of pics next week from Invesco Field.

I posted this in my links column on Friday, but since it is a rap about Tomlin (He's the boss), I thought it should be posted again in this space. So, once again, the Tomlin rap:

http://psamp.com/2009-articles/october/mike-tomlin-is-such-a-boss.html


Our weekly literary showcase continues with another stellar effort from Jenn Z.:

Mile High Stadium will be filled with crowds,

Watching football from the clouds.

They’re gathered to watch the phenom coach;

But a win tonight, the Broncos won’t approach.

Tomlin’s too smart, and his supporting crew

Will hand McDaniels the worst loss he knew.

The victory will be sweet, but with a touch of injustice,

For in the stands, the Steezbros. But at home, the rest of us.

I recently found a ton of pictures from the Superbowl. It made me think about last season and how we were pretty much in the exact same place at this point last year. I am fully confident in Tomlin's and the teams ability to get us back to the promised land. Here is what we are shooting for:

In case you forgot, we are still the defending champs. 5 year grace period. We are actually in a double grace period this year and next. Let's make next season a triple! I liked this pic because it is a picture of Tomlin holding a picture of himself!

Tomlin might be closer to his players than any other coach in history, yet he maintains their respect.

I call this respectful Tomlin, but maybe they were planning for Hines to have one of his best seasons ever after winning the Superbowl. It's pretty incredible the year he is having, especially considering the physical condition he was in after the season.

Another player having an awesome season, Bungy (Ben). I would like to be in on this hug.

Bring on the Broncos!!!! GO STEEZ!!!!!

Great interview with Ben Roethlisberger

From PGH

Steelers need special teams help; Madison released by Browns

The question isn't should we sign him, it's who should we release when we sign him.

The most likely players include Keiwan Ratliff, who has been bad on defense and special teams, Carey Davis, who is a good special team player but has been inactive b/c of David Johnson, Patrick Bailey, another special teamer, or Limas Sweed.

I don't think Sweed should be or will be cut.

My vote is Ratliff. Keenan Lewis or Joe Burnett can replace him in dime packages.

A Conversation with Coach Tomlin

For many Steeler fans, it would be a dream come true to meet Mike Tomlin. I'm sure some of us have imagined the conversation we might have with him if we ever did get to meet him. Here is one fans dream conversation. It isn't what I would go with, I would throw in some questions here or there but hey, it is his dream not mine. What would you ask if you had the chance to meet Mike Tomlin?

Me (Dave Scerbo): Coach I just want to personally thank you for choosing to come to coach in Pittsburgh.

Coach: Thank-you it's my pleasure to be associated with such a great organization.

Me: As a life-long Steeler fan, I feel you truly embody the fundamentals and ideals that this franchise stands for.

Coach: You seem like a pretty smart guy, maybe you'd like to come watch a practice some time.

Me: That'd be great, I consider you one of my heros and you truly are an inspration; not just as a coach, but as a man.

Coach: Maybe after this we could go grab a burger.

Me: I just want to say that I really admire your focus, and your desire to be at your best, always improving and learning from the past.

Coach: You really sound like you know what you're talking about. How would you like to an assistant coach. You can follow me around on the sideline and make sure I don't trip over the cord that goes to my headset.

Me: ROCK!

Me: By the way; You had one sweet-ass flat-top back in the day.

Coach: Thanks, that thing was known to hold bricks straight up in the air without any deformation what-so-ever.

Me: That's one gnarly weave!

1st Half Developments: Offensive Line

With the bye week complete, we have at least nine straight weeks of enjoying Steeler football. Let's hope it's much more.

The Steelers have a big matchup with the 6-1 Denver Broncos this week. After being manhandled by the Ravens, expect the McDaniels' crew to bring some extra intensity against the defending champs. Of course, the Steelers are coming off of a bye week, so they've had extra time to prepare. Hopefully, that will counteract the very real homefield advantage of playing in Denver and the several players that may not play due to injury (Travis Kirschke, Lawrence Timmons) or chance of death (Ryan Clark).

Monday night games are awesome. Especially, when yours truly will be in attendance.

But before we get to game previews, let's review some of the interesting developments of the first half of the season. With the Steelers approaching the midway point of the season, there have been some major surprises in the first 7 games. We think it will be instructive to look back at those games to see if we can get a handle on what will happen over the next 9 games and, fingers crossed, deep into the playoffs.

The first major development worth discussing is the improvement of the offensive line.

It's rare for the national media to focus on non-skill position players. But even the national writers were lamenting the state of the offensive line prior to the season. After the opening game against the Titans, the criticism increased. Here at Steezbros, we have been critical of the O-line and the front office for not addressing the position through the draft or free agency.

It may be time to eat some crow.

Or as Big Ben put it after the Super Bowl, "who's laughing now O-line"?

That's not to say the line is one of the best in the league, but they have certainly made major strides from last year. Even though the team is once again in line to allow 40+ sacks, Big Ben isn't under nearly the amount of pressure of past years. And because of that, he is on pace for a career year in completion percentage (don't even get me started on how ridiculous it is to complete more than 70% of your passes with a yards per attempt around 9) and yardage. Despite running the ball less frequently than any Steeler team in history, the average rushing yards per game is up from last year and the line is providing enough holes to allow Rashard Mendenhall to average more than 5 yards per carry.

It's gotten to the point that offensive line is not one of my top three concerns going into most games*. If this development continues, Pittsburgh will be a very tough opponent to play in December and January.

Kudos to the offensive line and the coaching staff that believed in them. Keep up the good work.

*Bonus: I don't claim to know the intricacies of offensive line play. So I'll just link to a columnist that follows the O-line very closely.

This is an article from JJ Cooper at AOL Fanhouse:

For three years I rewatched every Steelers game with an eye on the offensive line. And a good bit of the time, it wasn't pretty. Whether it was a debacle against the Raiders in 2006 or the mass of confusion against the Eagles in 2008, there have been plenty of lowlights. After watching the Steelers win the Super Bowl last year despite a struggling offensive line, I kind of figured that if everything went well, Pittsburgh could figure out a way to do it again. They had enough defense and enough skill position players on offense to make up for the offensive line's problems.

That appeared to be what the Steelers thought as well--they brought back the starting five from the Super Bowl team, although Darnell Stapleton (sitting on injured reserve) has been replaced at right guard by Trai Essex. It was a somewhat scary formula--stick with what you got and hope for the best. But after rewatching the Steelers-Vikings game with a focus on the line play, it's clear that I was wrong. The defense may be good enough and the skill positions (thanks to Mike Wallace) are even better than expected. But if the Steelers managed to defend their Super Bowl title this year, the biggest reason will be because the offensive line is significantly improved.I haven't watched the Steelers offensive line in detail every week this year like I have in past years, but with them facing off against the Vikings--the NFL's leader in sacks and the team with arguably the best front four in football, it seems like a good time to check back in on the Steelers O-line.

What I found was pretty impressive. In watching the Steelers against the Vikings, the offensive line actually got the better of the Vikings for much of the game. Defensive end Jared Allen, one of the top pass rushers in the game, finished the game with two tackles and no sacks. Kevin Williams, one of the top defensive tackles in the game, had only one tackle. Not only did he end up with one tackle, but right tackle Willie Colon put him on the ground several times on running plays. Colon's play stood out more than anyone. Colon showed dominating run blocking while also showing dramatic improvement in pass blocking from previous years. The Steelers ran nine called running plays to the right for 78 yards. They ran nine other called runnnig plays up the middle or to the left for a grand total of 25 yards. Colon was a big reason for that. When he teamed up with Essex to block Kevin Williams, he put Willams on the ground on three different occasions. On other running plays, he did an outstanding job of sealing the corner.

Over at the other tackle spot, Max Starks had the toughest assignment of anyone. He was asked to block Allen, who came into the game second in the NFL in sacks, one-on-one throughout the game. Pittsburgh didn't give Starks an inordinate amount of help, but his combination of long arms and good footwork allowed him to neutralize one of the game's best pass rusher. I counted only four plays in the game where Allen clearly beat Starks--one pass deflection where Allen got his hands up at the line, a run play where he missed his block but it didn't play a part in the play and two pass plays where Allen got free eventually, but not in time to really bother Roethlisberger. When Allen tried to bull rush, Starks swallowed him up and showed that he could throw out an anchor that kept Allen from driving him back. And when Allen tried to beat Starks with a speed rush, Starks was able to get his hands on Allen quickly enough to win the race to the corner.

Essex wasn't as dominating as Colon or Starks, but he was quite impressive. He doesn't have Colon or Chris Kemoeatu's strength that allows them to plow people at times. But what he did show was an impressive awareness of angles and of his responsibilities. Essex's best play may have been as a pass blocker early in the first quarter. He got in his initial punch on Brian Robison, only to watch Robison loop away on a stunt. Essex quickly handed Robison off, picked up defensive end Ray Edwards looping around and then handed him off to block Jared Allen, who had come all the way around from the other defensive end spot.It may not sound like much, but those handoffs from one offensive lineman to another are the kind of switch-offs that cause sacks every week, usually because a lineman drops his head and fixates on the man he is currently blocking. Essex instead keeps his head up and looking around, which makes it much easier to stay alert to line stunts and loops. Last year, the Steelers were an easy mark for a team that blitzed and stunted to create confusion. This year, they seem to handle it like veterans who have played together and who know what everyone else along the line is doing.

Pittsburgh line still isn't one who will blow teams off the ball. But there pass blocking has improve to the point where it gives Roethlisberger the time to carve up defenses. Because of Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh will continue to have high sack totals--eight of his sacks this year have come on plays where he's held the ball for 3.5 seconds or more--but the improved pass blocking also explains why Roethlisberger is second in the league in passing yardage.