Assessing the Steelers

The horrid play of the Steelers since the Jet’s game has been as disturbing to me as it has to any Steelers fan. Last night, in a victory against he Rams, we may have finally seen a few glimmering ounces of hope.

The Steelers have some very obvious weak points this year. The most obvious is special teams. The coverage team is just as bad as it was last year if not worse. We seem to be completely incapable of tackling people and in the case of Anthony Smith incapable of even making a move to tackle someone as last night he recreated the role of running 5 yards in front of the return man until either someone else tackled him or he scored a touchdown (as the case of Joshua Cribbs in the Cleveland game). I can’t for the life of me understand what Anthony is waiting for... but I digress. Every facet of our special teams sucks except the actual act of punting and kicking. Rossum is FUCKING PATHETIC as a return man and I can only hope he gets injured so we can have a hope of a decent return sometime soon.

The next obvious problem is the offensive line. They are a shadow of what they once were. Everyone understands how bad they are in pass protection as is proven by the record setting pace Big Ben is getting sacked this year. But they are also awful in setting up the run as Willie Parker has been getting hit in the backfield time and time again this year. And it’s not because he’s pussy footing around looking for a hole – he is getting drilled within seconds of touching the ball as he’s running in a straight line towards what is supposed to be a hole. People bitch and whine that we should have resigned Alan Faneca but maybe these people don’t see that he is part of the problem on the line this year. I wouldn’t pay more than a little above league average to sign him (which he isn’t willing to take) so I say, “good riddance, Alan, you played your ass off for us and I love you for it but you’re losing a step and you’re not worth the money you’re asking”.

The third problem was wide receivers. Behind Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes we didn’t really have any reliable threats. This became painfully obvious when both Ward and Holmes went down with injuries at different points of the season. I say “was” because in the last two games Nate Washington decided he wouldn’t drop every other ball that was thrown to him so maybe he’s actually on the verge of living up to his potential. But even then, we would only have 3 receivers which is at least one too short.

Even with those problems, we managed to start the season at 9-3. We had overcome a lot of adversity. The reason: Defense and Big Ben. Those were the rocks in our season that were unwavering.

But then came the New England and Jacksonville game which took the air out of the defense. Instead of the defense that led the league in points allowed, passing, and rushing allowed for most of the season, we saw a full time version of the defense that allowed Denver to win that debacle earlier in the season… and we saw them for 60 full minutes a game. Every god damned drive.

The defense played horribly against New England and Jacksonville. The secondary was pathetic (especially Anthony Smith at safety). We couldn’t stop the run either. The linebackers were inept because not only could they not stop the run they could not solve the problem of pressuring the quarterback which was a trend that started even earlier. It was so bad that an idiot like me watching at home could tell what the offense was about to do prior to the snap - but our own defense couldn’t. They were getting outplayed and outthought. It was a disgrace.

So what happened? How can a defense go from best in the league to basically worst in the league? Well surely losing Aaron Smith was part of the problem as he is arguably one of the best Defensive Ends in the league. But that can’t make an entire defense fall apart. Unfortunately beyond that I honestly don’t know what happened. I can’t figure it out. It really put me in a panic.

The good news is that even though we saw the shitty defense start the game yesterday we did see glimpses of the #1 defense at times. They are still there. Why they can’t come out and play 60 minutes is beyond me. But the fact that they are still there somewhere gives me hope that they can turn it back on.

Finally to Ben: He has been the sole bright spot in the Steelers season this year. He has played incredibly and he still seems to be getting better and better. If not for him we would be in much worse shape. And because of him, as bad as we can play there is always a hope of winning because of him.

That’s why the injury that scared me the most yesterday was not Willie Parker. It was when Ben went down funny on his knee and was in some obvious pain. If we lose Ben, I don’t think we can hold it together this year. I love Charlie Batch, but the team is playing so poorly right now that we need a guy that can carry the whole team on his shoulders. I don’t think Charlie is that guy. He can win a game or two or even three when the whole team is firing. But with the weight of the world on the QBs shoulder’s the only man that can make it out alive is Ben.

Strangely enough Willie’s broken leg wasn’t even the second scariest injury to me. That honor went to Najah Davenport when he tweaked an ankle. Why? Because as much as I love Willie Parker I’m still a sucker for the big running back. When Najah came in the game he was unstoppable. Was that because the Rams defense is total shit? Was that because the offensive line is better equipped to block a true power running (up the middle) game? Or was that because Najah is just a big fucking brute?

I don’t want to see Willie out for the season but I have to say I actually like our chances in the playoffs this year a little better with Najah leading the way than with Willie. This is counter to what all sportswriters will be talking about in the next week so feel free to call me crazy. But, when the Steelers ground game comes back to life in the next couple weeks and we start completely dominating on offense remember where you heard it first.

They say, “Oh, with Fast Willie gone the play action will be gone and Ben will have to throw the deep ball and he’ll therefore get dumped on his ass because the offensive line can’t protect him that long.” To that I say, “You don’t have to fuck with the play action when 8 men in the box can’t stop the bruising power of the Big Back.” Once we starting tearing off 5 yards per carry out of the good old fashioned I formation, defenses are going to have to stand up and take notice. And that will clear the path for Ben to throw deep.

Trust me on this. And Bruce Arians… if you’re listening. It’s called the I-formation. Look back on any Steelers game from 1993 to last year and you’ll see what I’m talking about. It will work with Najah.

In summary, last week (after the Jacksonville loss) I predicted the Steelers would lose in the first round of the playoffs (if they even made it to the playoffs). Now, with Najah leading the running game and a little faith that the defense can un-fuck themselves I’m willing to say we make it into the second round of the playoffs.

Hey, it’s not the superbowl, but its one game closer.

That said, the special teams and offensive line still suck balls and we need to address that shit in the off season. Fixing those two holes will get us back up to championship speed.

So here’s to the Browns getting their asses kicked this weekend and the Steelers destroying the Ravens in Baltimore next week. Because as much as I’m down on my team sometimes, I’m still a fan and therefore always have hope.

-David

PS: Willie Parker said a few weeks ago that he wished the Steelers would get artificial turf so he could run better (than he can in the current muck of Heinz field). I wonder if he still feels that way as he sits in a cast that he got as a result of a broken leg caused by artificial turf?

Fuck artificial turf. Keep Heinz field grass.

It's alive!

As usual, fall is busy. Sorry I have not been able to write too much during these turbulent times. Fantasy football was a nightmare this year almost on the scale of the hellish turn the Steelers season as taken. But in a few short weeks all these bad football dreams will end as the 2007 season does. We can go into the great cleansing that is the off season and dream again of Championships and moonshine.

And we can start writing anew now that our brains are not poisoned and our soul is not stolen from us in the night.

So welcome back to reality. Many thoughts have been running through my head and it’s time to sort it all out again.

-David