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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.
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