SteelerWatch

Well, lack of time didn't keep me down long.  I'm an avid writer and, more importantly, a rabid Steelers fan.  While I don't have the time anymore to do this entirely on my own, I've been brought on board with one of the most respected names in sports blogging, MVN.com.  Beginning…well…sometime soon…I'll be one of the faces of The Steel Tradition on MVN.  So check me out along with Tony, Jim and Dave as we bring you all things Steelers.  And with that, SteelerWatch officially bids you adieu.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, SteelerWatch is closing indefinitely.  Maybe next season, maybe later this season, I'll re-open it.  I just don't have time to maintain it, which has become obvious on the last month.  Thanks to everyone who helped make this fun.  Go Steelers!

Well, that time is upon us.  It's that point in the pre-season where we have to stop rooting for that underdog, because he never quite measured up.  So, understanding that, SteelerWatch presents his 53-Man Roster Prediction.

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This is the only half of meaningful football we're going to see all pre-season, so I think it warrants being covered.

The thing that stands out most is that the offense is mostly crisp.  Pass protection has been more than adequate except on a few blitzes, and he running game started looking okay late in the half.  Roethlisberger threw an interception early, but upon further review it was revealed that the pass was deflected at the line and knocked off course by about 10 degrees, and also shorter than intended.  It was an ill-advised throw, though, as Ben was under heavy pressure and all but wrapped up.  It would have been better to take the sack even without the deflection.

The defense has been stout, too.  For the first time all pre-season, they've shown a good pass rush that provided three sacks and a lot of hurries.  On the first drive, the defensive backs were playing way too far off the line, but Deshea Townsend showed great patience on the Eagles' first drive by not overpursuing a receiver, stopping him after a short gain rather than allowing a big play.  On the Eagles' third drive, he went stride for stride deep with Kevin Curtis, showing he still has the speed to play with quick receivers.

The defense's best moment of the night so far came on a great goal-line stand after Dan Sepulveda shanked a punt, giving Philly the ball at the Steelers' 20 to start their drive.  On third down, Anthony Smith met the intended receiver at the goal line and hit him hard enough to knock the ball loose and break up the pass.  The best part was that the hit would have stopped the receiver short of the end zone even if he had held on to the ball.  Philadelphia's only points of the half came on the ensuing 21-yard field goal.

The Steeler offense managed to get into the red zone three times, and looked like a sure bet to put up a touchdown on their third drive after Heath Miller made an outstanding catch.  The moment the ball got there, so did safety Sean Considine laying a good lick on the big tight end.  The collision actually sent considine to the ground, and Miller sprinted toward the end zone, finally being brought down at the 1-yard line.  Unfortunately, Willie Parker went into the pile a few plays later standing as straight as Lady Liberty, and wound up coughing up the ball for the second turnover of the night.

On their fifth possession, the Steelers finally got on the board by marching 80 yards in 10 plays — including a 20-yard screen to Parker, 14- and 22-yard passes to Santonio Holmes and an 18-yard scamper up the middle by Parker to seal the deal.  Mike Tomlin ought to look at that touchdown very carefully before he makes a decision on whether or not to keep Dan Kreider around.  His block, as well as a great smackdown by Chris Kemoeatu and a good downfield block by Holmes, was what sprung Parker into the second level and, ultimately, into the end zone.

The offense got one more shot after a three-and-out by the Eagles, and they moved 53 yards in five plays before settling for a late field goal by Jeff Reed.

If there's anything worthwhile in the second half, you'll find out about it here.

Now that the family issues have settled down to a dull roar, and I've consumed enough beer (even a few Iron City aluminum bottles thanks to my good friend John — they aren't easy to find here in North Carolina but he knows a place) to knock out a herd of elephants for a week and a half, I'm ready to get back on the horse.

I promise you I will never go away for this long again.  Not so much because readership is down to an all-time low, but because of the hundreds of spam comments I had to weed out of the legit ones.  Ugh.

Fortunately this week's game is on primetime, national television.  I won't have to catch the replay on the NFL Network during the week.  But here's what I saw:

- Don't fear for the running game.  If my count is right, they only kept the ball on the ground for seven — seven — plays in the first half.  Clearly, Mike Tomlin wanted to see the passing game under pressure.  And as long as they were between the twenties, they looked awesome.  Now it's time to make good on that promise to use the tight ends in the passing game.  Sending 6'-7" Matt Spaeth up to fight for a ball in the end zone sounds like a battle I'd be willing to let them fight.

- Willie Colon is clearly the top right tackle for the team.  And Max Starks can be an adequate backup if need be.  Let's just hope Marvel Smith makes it the whole season, because if he goes down, the O-line will look very different.

- I don't know if you're aware of this, but Ben Roethlisberger is 12-of-17 (that's 70.5 percent) with no interceptions so far in the pre-season.  His passes have mostly been crisp, aside from missing a golden opportunity in the end zone last weekend.  While it's far too soon to declare that he's "back," he sure looks like he has a ton more confidence in the pocket this year — even behind a line that has been shaky at best.  He's getting out of the pocket to buy time, and even scrambling when necessary.  That's the Super Bowl Ben, not the Windshield Ornament Ben.

- Alan Faneca may have turned into a royal asshole, but he's still the best guy on the offensive line.  Maybe — just maybe — the front office will take one last shot at making him happy.  The good news is that his backup, Chris Kemoeatu, hasn't been half bad so far.  But he's still no Faneca.

- Here's hoping the backup secondary gets their act together.  We've got a damn good defense as long as everyone stays healthy, but one injury among the defensive backs could cause a domino effect.  The only position that could handle an injury at this point is free safety, where either Ryan Clark or Anthony Smith can play with absolutely no fall-off between the two.

Tomorrow I'll have a preview of the Philly game.  This one is particularly close to my heart — because there's no team I love more than our Steelers, and no team I love to hate more than the Eagles. 

Between family issues and not feeling well, I've been pretty much absent this week.  But it's time for the pregame update.

- Training camp is over.  We made it out with no significant injuries that will keep people out for indefinite periods.  If memory serves me, the only one with a lingering injury is James Harrison, but he could play tonight.  I'm honestly not sure right now.  And Lawrence Timmons finally got back into practice this week.

- Willie Parker will play tonight, as will Timmons.  Thank everything Holy for that!

- The starters are mostly expected to play at least a quarter tonight.  It's possible that some guys, like Parker and Timmons, could be limited due to having been absent from most activities for the last three weeks.

- Look for the starting offensive line to start resembling what we expect come the regular season: Marvel Smith, Alan Faneca (if he plays tonight), Sean Mahan, Kendall Simmons, and Willie Colon.  This isn't based off any insider information, just pure observation from camp and the first two preseason games.  If not this week, then definitely next week.  The line needs to be settled soon so these guys can start to jell.

- Even with the problems dropped balls, expect Nate Washington to continue to be the number three receiver.  Bruce Arians, while beginning to take notice of his drops, continues to be high on the young wideout and would like to give him time to overcome the issue.  It is believe that it is purely a concentration issue, and not just rock-solid hands.  We'll see.  What we do know is that he can work some magic once he actually catches a ball, so it would be in our best interest to try and improve the situation quickly. 

- We face the Redskins tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET.  The offense should be able to effectively move the ball against their defense, so this will be a good chance to see what they can do when they get into a rhythm.  The defense will also be facing a largely inexperienced, but mobile, quarterback.  We could see some improved pass rush tonight — at least if Lawrence Timmons is as good as the front office thinks he is.  When it comes to linebackers, I don't question Steelers' management, so we'll look at this with the glass half full. 

Officially, pre-season football has started.  And last night, the Steelers basically played the second half with their asses.

I need to warn you at this point that we didn't see the game here in Raleigh.  We aren't that lucky.  But yours truly followed the action on NFL.com.

The first half was all Pittsburgh, if it was all anybody, except for a late, two-minute-drill drive by the Packers that eventually led only to a field goal.  Ben Roethlisberger and selected other "locked in" starters played just the first two series.  The first one ended after Cullen Jenkins beat Max Starks off the left end and forced a fumble when he sacked Roethlisberger.  Starks has given up three sacks in two games, all from the left, where he has never played as an NFL lineman.  He has lined up at right tackle his entire career.  We can officially call the Starks-on-the-left experiment a flop.

The starting offense was solid, but nothing exceptional.  On both drives, they moved the ball but stalled after several promising plays.  he second drive was ended when Najeh Davenport, who was having a fairly good game, was stuffed on third-and-one.   Roethlisberger was 2-for-2 for 14 yards, making him 4-of-5 for 87 yards so far in the pre-season.  Not a bad stat line for a quarterback who last season led the league in interceptions and completed well under 60 percent of his passes.

Willie Parker did not play again and has been all but ruled out for next week's game.

The second-string offense got things going, with Walter Young pulling in a 41-yard touchdown from Charlie Batch.  However, even with a number of practices focusing entirely on special teams so far in camp, the extra point attempt was blocked.  Kicker Jeff Reed did, however, hithis only field goal attempt of the night, a chip shot from 27 yards out.

Fortunately for the Steelers, the vast majority of Green Bay's offense came in the second half, with their future franchise quarterback, Aaron Rogers, on the field against the Steelers third- and fourth-string defense.  They marched 71 yards on eight plays to score their only touchdown, and added two additional field goals.   One would have been enough, though, as the Steelers didn't manage a single point in the second half.

The Steelers walk out of this one with their offensive line still up in the air.  Willie Colon played very well as the starter at right tackle, but Max Starks has played well there too, despite his shortcomings at left tackle.  Chris Kemoeatu played well in place of Alan Faneca, who was injured last week against New Orleans.  While there is no way he will unseat Faneca, he may have helped his case for bumping Kendall Simmons from the starting lineup at right guard.

The starting defense allowed virtually nothing, having now given up just 29 yards in two games.  They only managed one sack, but they have kept up the pressure they brought last week and the secondary has played coverage about as well as any team possibly can.  The concern now is who comes next on the depth chart at nearly all positions.  Cornerback William Gay, the team's fifth-round draft pick, helped his case with a sack, but also gave up a first down on a pass interference penalty that also gave the Packers 19 yards.  The drive ended with the final field goal of the night.

The running game has its own problems — namely, too many guys playing well.  Gary Russell put up 56 yards on nine carries, Davenport added 34 more on seven carries, and Kevan Barlow covered 25 yards on six carries.  Each of the three had runs of at least 17 yards.

Oh, and there was one more good point last night: all indications are that Nate Washington — who started the game as the slot receiver — did not drop a pass that hit him in the hands.  That, alone, is reason to celebrate. 

I hate to keep rehashing the HoF game.  It was a fantastic pre-season outing by our guys, and it was nice to see the team, as a whole, looking so crisp.  But this is a very good, very in-depth recap — not so much of the game, but of the players, much as I did here Sunday and Monday.   And, as Mondesi's House put it, "any Steelers-Saints recap featuring Newman is OK in my book."

Read it all here. 

The Steelers won in convincing fashion, shutting down the Saints at all points throughout the game.  It's too early to make any predictions, but the team looked exceptionally crisp for such an early outing.  Their performance is a credit to the hard work and tough drills that Mike Tomlin brought to his first training camp.

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The second half of a pre-season game is about as exciting as a rectal exam, so here are just a few highlights.

- The Saints were finally able to move the ball once the Steelers put in most of their third- and fourth- string defenders.  The nearly eight-minute drive took 16 plays and covered 72 yards, and featured passes of 14 and 18 yards.  The drive was nearly stalled, as the touchdown came on fourth and goal from the one-yard line.

- Kicker Jeff Reed finished the night 3 of 4 on field goals, but only three attempts counted.  A holding penalty nullified a successful 28-yard attempt, but the follow-up 39-yarder was even better.

- Rookie cornerback William Gay had two fantastic fourth-quarter plays.  The first was a vicious hit on Saints' receiver Robert Meacham.  Meacham was able to get up but sat out two plays.  Then, nearing the tw-minute warning with the Saints beginning a drive, he made an excellent break on a well-thrown ball and pulled down the interception.

- Quarterback Brian Randall finished the game 0-for-2.  He was playing with the bottom of the team's barrel, but he didn't look to have the poise of an NFL quarterback.  St. Pierre, who Randall is competing with for the third quarterback, looked very poised and started off completing seven of his first 11 passes before settling down to finish 8-for-11 with a game-high 129 yards and the team's only passing touchdown.