SteelerWatch

Regardless of what legacy Mike Tomlin eventually leaves Pittsburgh with, one thing he has already cemented in his tiny patch of history is that he is a man of his word.

On Thursday Tomlin reportedly stated that he believed all draft picks would be signed before the players report for traning camp, and Sunday evening that came to fruition with the signing of first-round pick Lawrence Timmons to a five-year deal.  The deal promises to be fairly lucrative, with base pay ranging from $12 million to $15 million depending on incentives and more than $8 million in guaranteed money, including his signing bonus.

This leaves the Steelers with few outstanding issues — the only pressing one at this point being the contract extension negotiations surrounding strong safety Troy Polamalu.  His agent has stated that he expects the deal to be completed by tomorrow, but no early indications have risen over the weekend that would specify the outcome of the negotiations, one way or the other.

Mike Tomlin looks to make good on his word that all draft picks would be signed by the time Training Camp opens. With Saturday’s signing of cornerback William Gay, only first-rounder Lawrence Timmons remains unsigned. Camp opens Monday afternoon, with practice starting Tuesday. It looks as if all rookies will be ready to go, assuming the team and Timmons’ agent can come to an agreement in the next 30 hours.

Let’s hope this is a little foreshadowing of things to come from Pittsburgh football this fall.

The Pittsburgh Passion, the city’s National Women’s Football Association franchise, took it to the Columbus Comets yesterday in the league championship game, shutting out their Ohio foes 32-0.  In doing so, ‘Burgh Ball, Women’s Division stepped up and showed the world that it doesn’t matter who dons the City’s pigskin colors — we’ll still stomp any Ohio football team into the ground.

The championship caps an amazing 12-0 season including playoffs.  During the post-season, the team defeated opponents by an average score of 44.5 to 7.  Their utterly dominant defense gave up a total of 53 points during the regular season; by contrast, their offense scored at least 52 points in five of their eight games leading up to the playoffs, including a 77-0 stomping of their in-state rivals, the Central Pennsylvania Vipers.

Now, let’s hope Ben Roethlisberger can lead the other professional football team in Pittsburgh to a similar fate.  Heck, after last season’s let-down we’ll settle for a wildcard berth in the playoffs.

Four and five wide receivers. Spreading the field. A small, quick running back.

Sound like the finesse-driven Indianapolis Colts? No, it’s your Pittsburgh Steelers.

For a team that has spent decades pounding the ball up the middle and, for the most part, only throwing when throwing was necessary, these terms sound like a conflict of interest — nay! — they sound like oxymorons. The two philosophies just can’t co-exist.

Or can they?

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The Steelers have come to an agreement with third-round draft pick Matt Spaeth, a tight end.  The signing comes on the heels of yesterday’s inking of second-round pick LaMarr Woodley and leaves just first-rounder Lawrence Timmons and fifth-round pick William Gay to be signed.

Coach Mike Tomlin has said he believes all draft picks will be signed before training camp begins Monday.

And then there was One.

A quick glance at the 2006 statistical line of Troy Polamalu shows nothing too significant. 77 tackles, three interceptions, one forced fumble and a sack in 13 games. It’s pretty much par for the course, where he’s concerned. In his first two full seasons as a starter, he averaged 5.9 tackles per game. Last year, he averaged…5.9 tackles per game.

However, if you’ve ever watched other strong safeties in the league, and then watched Polamalu, you immediately see what it is that he brings to the table. He looks like something out of a video game: stops and turns on a dime, runs all over the place before the snap like a player controlled on the screen by some twelve-year-old with a severe case of ADD, and he blitzes when logic tells you he should be covering the pass. And yet, somehow, his instinct for what to do when the ball is snapped is exactly correct an overwhelming majority of the time.

This Samoan Warrior has a way to get in an opposing quarterback’s head — not just to mess with his mind, but to read it. It’s as if “Taz” is controlling the entire game.

And to a certain extent, he is.

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New coach Mike Tomlin has very quickly earned the respect of a lot of people in Pittsburgh — from the Steelers; front office, to players, to the notoriously hard-to-please Steeler fans.  It’s going to be a lot of tough love, though, if he follows through on his promise of a grueling training camp.

The Post-Gazette is reporting that Tomlin has scheduled up to 15 two-a-day sessions, dramatically more than players from nearly any NFL team are accustom to.  A heavy emphasis in the morning session of those practices is being placed on special teams, where it was either feast or famine for the Steelers during the Cowher era.

Tomlin has said numerous times since being named head coach that he doesn’t care what his players think of him.  Well, Mike, we as fans love to see that you’re working them hard, especially after last year’s dismal performance (you know you’re a Steeler fan when 8-8 isn’t just an off year, it’s a “dismal performance”) .  Just don’t expect to be too popular with the players on opening day.

Not that we care, though, as long as you win.

All-time team leader in receptions.  Single-season team record-holder for catches (112) and receiving touchdowns (12).  Three-time team MVP.  Four straight Pro Bowl appearances.  Known as the best blocking receiver in the league — maybe in the history of the NFL.  Super Bowl XL MVP.  700 yards shy of breaking John Stallworth’s 20-year-old team record for most career receiving yards.  The consummate professional.  And he’s the only wide receiver, to my knowledge, who has given a linebacker a concussion.

How do you not put a guy like this in the top two?

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The Steelers have, for decades, been known for their offensive line. Chuck Noll was a big supporter of run-first offense, and his successor, Bill Cowher, didn’t change a thing. Steeler runners have long been comforted knowing their blockers were some of the best in the business. That has held particularly true with the guys who have played since 1998, and they’ve been led by left guard Alan Faneca.

The landscape has changed a bit, though. Faneca is no longer happy with his contract and wants out of Pittsburgh. But, a few temper tantrums this spring aside, Alan has been the consummate professional when it came time to work. That simply underscores his career-long work ethic that resulted in him being named as a team captain three times. The question now, of course, is whether or not a player who has put himself in a lame duck position by publicly stating he does not want to re-sign with his current team should be put in a position of leadership.

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When you think 3-4 defense, you think linebackers.  This is due in large part to Steelers’ defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and his mid-1990s scheming that spawned the Zone Blitz.

But the true anchor in a 3-4 defense is the Nose Tackle.  Without a good Nose Tackle, a 3-4 defense is going to get beat all the time.  The reasoning is simple: when you have three men on your line taking on five men on the offensive side of the ball, someone has to be responsible for two guys.  If the defensive line can’t occupy the offensive line, there will be no where for those linebackers to go.  The upper-hand just went back to the offense, and before you know it they’re scoring on you at will.

In 325-pound Casey Hampton, the Steelers have one of the best Nose Tackles to come along in the last decade.

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