Wow, so, I just saw that it's been a month since I've written anything about the Steelers. Oh, and in other news, the Steelers somehow snuck (sneaked?) out of Miami with a win today.
So why no writing on this lovely blog? Part of it is that the last month has been super-hectic. But also, what is there to say about those 3 games since the Tennessee game? You HAVE to feel good about how the team has performed, coming into this morning. 38-13 over Tampa. We killed them. It was lovely. 17-14 loss to Baltimore? A bummer, but really, not a big deal. 28-10 over Cleveland? Exactly what we needed in Ben's first game back.
So, let's get to today. What did we learn? Well, let's start on the offense, and work our way through. At QB, Ben looks very good. He still has some of that sketchiness to him - his two fumbles were not OK. He was trying to do too much. But, with that said, he's throwing the ball as well as ever. He sailed a couple this week, but that's done from a half-dozen last week, so we're headed in the right direction. He looked excellent in the 2-minute drill, and so I think Ben is well on his way to being as effective as ever.
Let's cover wide-out while we're at it. Hines looks as good as he's looked in years. Mike Wallace is the best deep threat in the league this year. Heath is a rock. Emmanuel Sanders has made some timely catches, and in a weird way reminds me of Santonio ALOT. A little undersized, but still lanky. And FAST. And great hands. And yeah, he fumbled today, but he followed it up with what seemed like 3 separate 40+ yard returns.
Let's then cover running back and o-line at the same time. Rashard didn't look great. But he looked worse as the game went on. The heat clearly had a major effect on the big guys, and it showed. I thought Mendy looked impatient, but I'm not sure how much of that had to do with him getting nailed in the backfield a few too many times, and as a result, feeling like he couldn't wait for his blocks to develop.
The play calling was a little bit curious. There were a few too many wide receiver screens. But it's clear to me that the heat really affected both sides of the game.
On defense, the d-line is starting to look pretty rough. I'm hearing that Aaron Smith may have a torn bicep (and is out for the season). I'm not going to lie, I'm not surprised. In the back of my mind, I assumed that we would be watching a Smith-less line at some point this year. What does that mean? Well, it certainly doesn't mean the end of our season. But Keisel needs to get healthy, and the Ziggy/Eason combo is going to need to elevate it's game. Which is most definitely doable. They're expecting to turn Smith's spot over to Hood at some point, so I'm excited to see what he can bring to the table.
With that said, we played with only 2 d-lineman at various times in the game, and that's when Miami's run game really started to heat up. It also hampered the offensive game. Early in the game, we were moving the ball almost at will. But it became clear that we were moving the ball TOO well, and the defense was wearing down as a result of it. Our ability to run the ball effectively is going to be key to our defense the rest of the way.
Linebacker. As usual, we have more talent they we know what to do with. LaMarr went out with an injury (unclear as to what's up with that), but I think that Jason Worilds has all the tools to step in and at least provide some pass-rush help. Woodley's pass-defense skills will be missed, though, and may limit what everybody else on the D can do blitz-wise.
The d-backs looked fine again. I really like how Ike Taylor's been playing, he is clearly the guy on that defense who felt most humiliated by their performance for much of last season, and it's showing in a positive way. He's playing tighter coverage, and is forcing throws into tighter spaces. Troy wasn't terribly involved today, but there was clearly concern over Brandon Marshall. He was not up near the line much today, and a lot of passes were underneath. Really, this defense will give up field goals all day long, and Miami took that all day long, essentially. And lost.
This team is going to be tough to beat, even without Smith. The defense just doesn't give up TDs, which means teams will be scoring 10-18 points most games. This offense will score 21 most games. And by my math, that translates into a lot of wins.
Big game in New Orleans next week, and I think it's unlikely that they throw 4 INTs next week. They'll be pissed, but it also won't be mid-to-upper 80s, which I think will allow us to open up both the offense and defense.
