The Blitzburgh Report

Ben Roethlisberger put in another gutty performance last Sunday against the Jaguars. He has almost single-handedly won some close games for the Steelers this year. He is emerging as a leader for the offense, someone that the guys can rally behind.

But it makes me wonder-just who is the leader on defense? I’m not so sure that they have a true leader. They have a number of guys like Troy Polamalu, Casey Hampton, and James Farrior who are great players, but more of the lead by example type. I am starting to think that they need more of a vocal leader.

The defense has the talent and coaching to be the top defense in the league, that has been proven. But the times that the team has needed the defense to step up most, they haven’t. How many times this season have we seen the opposing team march right down the field, quickly even, when the team needed a huge stop? It happened last Sunday on the Jaguars’ last drive. It happened against the Browns (luckily they missed the field goal). It happened against Denver where they kicked the game winning field goal. It happened in the Jets game where they went down the field and tied it to send the game into overtime.

That’s where I think a vocal leader is needed. Someone to rally the players, get them pumped, and get them focused. You can say what you want about Joey Porter, but being a leader was a large part of what he brought to the team. The Steelers were right in getting rid of him, as proven by his play with the Dolphins. However, they still ended up losing the defense’s leader, if not the team leader at that point.

There just hasn’t been anyone who has taken his place. He may have looked foolish sometimes, or gone too far at others. But you can see the power he had just by looking at the 2005 playoffs and the effect he had on the team during their Super Bowl run. Remember the “weak Colts” and Jerramy Stevens?

Bill Cowher being gone is another lost leader, I believe. He was the so called “players coach”, someone who showed a lot of emotion, especially for defense. Mike Tomlin is quite the opposite in this regard. I understand that there are different approaches to coaching, and pros and cons to each. I’m not even sure I could tell you which method is more effective and this is not a knock on Tomlin’s style. But, when the game is on the line and the pressure is turned up- I want to see the guys fired up and ready to take someone’s head off.

The defense is good; they wouldn’t be number one in the league for most of the season if they weren’t. But they have had so much trouble stepping up, being physical, and showing emotion when it matters most. I really think that is when guys like Joey Porter or Bill Cowher shined, and the team really misses that. The Steelers are going to need someone to step up and be the person that the defense rallies behind.

Anthony’s Big Mouth

Anthony Smith guaranteeing victory over the Patriots was just not a good move on the young player’s part. I am not going to go as far to say that it is going to motivate the Patriots , but one thing I do know is that it doesn’t help the matter in any way, for a number of reasons.

First, to whatever extent, it can be used as motivation for the Pats. That’s the obvious one. But secondly, I’m not sure that it really helps motivate the Steelers. It’d be one thing if it came from Joey Porter when he was here, or from James Farrior. I’m just not sure that Anthony Smith yet carries that type of role with the team. If anything, it gives the team another distraction as they try to prepare for their biggest test yet this season.

While I must admit that I enjoyed a lot of Joey Porter’s moments, a lot of it had to do with him having the resume to back it up. I’m excited about Anthony Smith, his big hits, and the excitement he brings. I just don’t know if it is his place to make guarantees for the whole team.

The last issue is that it doesn’t reflect well on the team. One thing that I’ve always enjoyed about the Steelers is that they’ve been one of the good guys; for the most part a model franchise. They were more about letting their play on the field do the talking. I think a young player like Smith saying that, in the end, looks a bit silly. As I said I like the guy and am excited about his future with the team, but he probably should have kept his mouth shut there.

The Race for #2

Have you ever started to write up your thoughts on something, feeling strongly about it, only to convince yourself of the opposite position halfway through? Well, I’ll admit that I started to write a piece on why the Patriots game, while huge, maybe wasn’t as big as it was being made out to be. But as I went on I think I changed my mind.

Now, I didn’t change it because I think beating the Patriots is important, but because I think getting the win is very important. Obviously, winning is always the goal and as a Steelers fan living in New England I’ve love for nothing more than for them to beat the tar out of the Pats. But looking toward the playoff seeding it is extra necessary here.

Originally I was going to say that if the Steelers lost they would still be in good position. While that is true, I think making a run for that second seed in the AFC is a big deal. The Steelers are only one game behind the 10-2 Colts and they’ll want to keep pace with them. The Colts face some teams that could trip them up (Baltimore, Houston, Tennessee), but they have it fairly easy compared to the Steelers.

The Steelers end with the Patriots, Jaguars, Rams, and Ravens. That is quite a stretch, especially with the Baltimore game to end the year. They always play the Steelers tough and the last thing you want heading into the playoffs is to be hurting and tired. Not to mention that if the Steelers are the third seed, they’ll have to play likely either the Jaguars or Browns right away. Both of those look like some difficult match ups. The bye week that the second seed provides could be a huge help.

A Week in the Life of Big Ben

If you’re like me, you’re curious about the day-day operations of a football team, and how they prepare for the game each week. If you are, then you’ll enjoy this article that takes a day by day look at Ben Roethlisberger’s week.

One interesting point is that this year Ben is getting the preliminary game plan at least a full day earlier then he did under Ken Whisenhunt. This gives him more time to review the plays and provide his input. In fact, he has a whole lot more input on the plays now and even spends time with Bruce Arians marking down which he likes and which he doesn’t.

Another one is how Ben watches film on the Steelers’ upcoming opponents:

“Every night, Roethlisberger studies a DVD of that week’s opponent, an end-zone view that allows him to see the defense the way it will appear to him in a game. He plays it on the 120-inch projection screen at his home. The home theater is part of a game room that includes pool and poker tables.
While he studies a team’s tendencies, he’ll spread out his paperwork before him. He isn’t a coffee drinker, so he might pop open a Gatorade and stand before the screen, like he’s in the shotgun formation, holding his clicker.”

Also, a few quick notes:

-The team stays together in a hotel the night before games even for the home games.

-On how much time he’s spending preparing this season compared to previous ones: “I know it’s dramatically more than it was (last year),”

-Arians says of himself, “”As the game progresses, I’m not one to repeat a lot of plays.”

-It appears that Whisenhunt didn’t ask much for Ben’s input on all the plays he liked, only asking sometimes what his favorite one or two plays were.

It sure sounds a whole lot like Ben wasn’t crazy about Whisenhunt, not that we didn’t already know that. The article is a good read, however, so go check it out.

It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. The Steelers have had a lot of ugly games lately, haven’t they? Fortunately they’ve won most of them, but that doesn’t make them any less concerning. They had some bad penalties, turnovers, and close calls. But the defense really stepped up and shut down the Bengals offense, no matter how hard the Steelers offense tried to let them back in the game.

• The Steelers continued to struggle getting started. Even in some of their best games they’ve started out very slow; on both offense and defense. But the team really picked it up as the first half wore on. They are going to have to start games faster because against better opponents they could find themselves 14 or more points down before they know it.

• As great punts that Daniel Sepulveda has had this season, he has had some real stinkers as well. I think I mentioned him in my recaps every week for the first 8 or so, but he’s come back down to earth a little. He really helped the team out last week with field position, but was a bit shaky again last night. He closed the game out a lot better then he started, however. I am willing to cut the guy some slack right now because he is a rookie. I think he’s going to be a great punter for the Steelers, but he obviously still has some consistency to work on.

• That Ben Roethlisberger run for a touchdown in the first half was so reminiscent of the Super Bowl run he had. I was holding my breath as the Steelers lined up for the extra point as I waited to see if Marvin Lewis would challenge it. I am really surprised that he didn’t. I can’t say for sure that Ben got the ball over. I’m not complaining or anything obviously, but from the limited replays they showed of it I think Lewis could have won a challenge, or at least it would have been worth the try. (By the way, it was great to see Ben run it there instead of trying to force a throw).

• Willie Parker’s fumbles were a huge disappointment. He tied for the most fumbles for running backs last season with six and he seems to be continuing the trend here. He got lucky on the first and third fumbles as they were reviewed to not be, but they were both very close (especially the third). To me he still lost control of the ball on each play and whether it was official or not he still fumbled.

  Also, how does Willie come out again right after the third (non)fumble then be so careless with the ball and lose it again? The review didn’t save him on the fourth. I know it was wet, but losing the ball four times is unacceptable, especially losing the ball on two plays in a row.

• The Steelers’ secondary was solid after a slow start. It seems like they used the same game plan this time as in the last game. I remember James Harrison said some time after that game that they purposely didn’t do as much blitzing (presumably to help with coverage). Whatever it was, it worked. I know a lot of fans have been upset that the team hasn’t had a lot of interceptions, but they aren’t giving up a lot of big yards either. That works for me.

• In fact, the whole defense was great. That four-down goal line stand late in the fourth quarter after Ben’s interception was a thing of beauty. In fact, the way the Steelers offense was playing late in the game, they came up huge, holding the Bengals after the fumbles and interception. James Farrior was constantly in the right place at the right time. Clark Haggans was getting pressure. Brett Keisel was batting down balls. It was great to watch.

• Good thing the Bengals are still the Bungals. They had some bad plays, in particular two in the 4th. They had a safety taken away by defensive holding call, and an off-sides on a Steelers punt gave them a first down. There’s nothing like watching the Bengals do themselves in.

• Two of the the Steelers’ weak spots played pretty well last night and deserve mention- the offensive line and the kick coverage unit. The line gave Ben time and gave up no sacks. It was good to see them bounce back and usual scape-goat Max Starks was actually solid in place of Marvel Smith. On the special teams side, the Steelers went back to normal kick offs (instead of pooch kicks) and contained the returns. They also did well covering punts.

• Man, wasn’t it great to see T.J. Houshmandzadeh so frustrated out there? I loved seeing him sulking on the bench at the end of the game. Also, is it me or did it seem like Chad Johnson didn’t realize it was fourth down on the Bengals’ last play?

• Congratulations to Hines Ward for grabbing his 64th career touchdown reception to put him in the lead all-time for the Steelers. He beat out two Hall of Famers in John Stallworth and Lynn Swann. Do you think Hines will be voted into the Hall of Fame? I’d like to think so but you never know with the voters.

The win was huge last night, especially because the Browns lost earlier. They are in fairly good shape heading into Foxboro next week. We’ll have to see how the injuries play out and who will be ready to go. They are probably about as ready as they’ll ever be to face the Pats. I think they’ve got a good shot but as Hines said after the game, each player is going to have to bring their A game.

Steelers’ MVP
This week I am giving the MVP to Hines Ward. It was close between him and the defense, but I have to give it to Hines because of how big he was catching on third downs and also because of his record-setting day. Congrats to Hines on the Steelers’ record for touchdown receptions.

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Heading into the bye week, the Steelers are off to an impressive 4-1 start, in which they dominated their four wins. Here’s a brief look at some of the stats so far:

Offense

Passing:

• Ben Roethlisber already has 1013 passing yards, with a 61.8 percent completion rate. He has 9 touchdowns versus 3 interceptions. His quaterback rating is 99.2. He has been sacked 11 times.

Rushing:
• Willie Parker leads the NFL in rushing yards with 507. He has 121 attempts for an average of 4.2 yards, and an average of 101.4 yards per game. He has one touchdown.
• Najeh Davenport has 209 yards on 28 attempts for an average of 7.5 yards per attempt, and 41.8 yards a game. He has three touchdowns.

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The Steelers were impressive today in their beat-down of the Cleveland Browns, winning 34-7. The Defense was fierce, special teams was a strong point for once, and the offense was efficient. Things are looking good, but we must remember it is still early and it was only the Browns. Without further delay, here’s the good and the bad of week one:

The Good

-The Steelers got all kinds of pressure today, sacking the Browns quarterbacks six times.

-The Steelers defense also caused five turnovers.

-Ben Roethlisberger was very poised today and threw a career high four touchdown passes. He was in command and looks like he will excel in his new expanded role.
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Hines Ward, James Farrior, Clint Kriewaldt and James Harrison were selected by their teammates yesterday as captains for this year’s team. Ward was named offensive captain, Farrior was named defensive captain, and Kriewaldt and Harrison were named special teams co-captains.

Last year, Ward and Alan Faneca were offensive co-captains, but Faneca stated that this year if he were voted as a captain he would have to decline in light of his situation with the team. With his public unhappiness over not getting a contract extension and this seemingly his last year, Faneca did not think it would be right to be named a captain.

On the eve of the Steelers’ 2007 training camp, a number of players enter the season with something to prove. Here are the highlights:

Hines Ward- The 2006 season was, for the most part, a team effort in it’s mediocrity. Hines Ward was slowed some by injuries, and Big Ben’s erratic season certainly did not help, but Hines still had a relatively quiet season. He likes to speak his mind and walks a fine line sometimes with his comments about the team or the organization- and for the most part he backs it up by laying it all out on the field. Hines is no T.O., but his act can possibly get old pretty fast if laying it all out still isn’t good enough anymore. This is Hines’ time to prove whether or not he belongs with the all-time greats.

Ike Taylor- There was more then enough publicity given to Ike Taylor’s struggles last year as he spent most of the season in Bill Cowher’s doghouse. Quite simply, Ike needs to regain his 2005 form and prove wrong those who say the Steelers jumped the gun in inking him to a new deal.

James Farrior is just one Steeler
with plenty to prove this season

James Farrior- James Farrior seemed like was on track to be the next Steelers start linbacker- and he was for one season in 2004. That stellar season left everyone with high hopes, but Farrior’s 2005 and 2006 compaigns, despite being solid, failed to live up to his All-Pro season. Farrior is a leader and dependable, but he is going to have step up his game to prove his best years haven’t rapidly passed him by.

Ben Roethlisberger- It is a shame that Big Ben is going to have to prove himself all over again after all the success he had his first two seasons, but after everything that happened he is going to need to. Was last season a fluke, brought one by all his offseason woes? Even after his first two successful seasons, there were critics who thought he was just a game manager or did just enough to win. It is time for Ben to step up, become the new leader of the team, and prove to everyone that he is the Steelers’ franchise quarterback for many years to come.

Max Starks- Max Starks has to be looking over his shoulder a lot these days. Mike Tomlin recently praised Willie Colon’s progress and it appears he is on the fast track to a starting position, possibly Starks’ right tackle spot. Not to mention the Steelers were not overly impressed with Starks’ play last season and opted not to sign him to a long-term deal just yet. If Starks wants a future with the team then he is going to have to step it up. Although with the line situation the way it is presently don’t be surprised if he is kept even after another mediocre season.

Troy Polamalu- I suspect that Troy is going to get a huge contract in the coming weeks and he deserves it based on his past play. However, he is going to be under a ton of pressure to show that he’s worth all that money into the future. Troy is a great player who has the chance to be legendary if he keeps up his work ethic and fine tunes the little things.