Antonio Brown flips into the endzone following a 57 yard pass from Roethlisberger during Sunday night's win over the Colts 26-24.

What We Learned in Week #2 in the NFL Preseason:

• Sanchez and Tebow compete for worst QB in New York against the Giants
• Peyton throws 2 INT in Mile High debut
• Replacement officials still stinking up the joints
• Steelers defense picks off Luck twice

In the preseason, final scores don’t mean a whole lot.  The stats aren’t even recorded for any kind of official purposes.  The main reason for the games is to evaluate the rosters and implement formations and schemes.  What is important in the preseason is how the first team offense and defense performs in the limited amount of time they are on the field.  Typically, the 3^rd game of the preseason will have the starters seeing most of the action but the second week most starters played the majority, if not all, of the first half of the games.  Some had success; some have some work to do, and some just plain stink. (more…)

The Ancient One must be careful with his schemes as the defense has little room for mistakes. Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

The Pittsburgh Steelers held the Eagles and Mike Vick in check during the preseason opener last week… well at least the first squad did.  The Steelers kept Mike Vick to a 3 of 4 for 6 yards and a sack.  No points, and as he left the field was seen holding his wrist.  The Steelers continued to keep the Eagles and did not allow them to score until midway through the 3rd quarter – pretty much when the third team was out there.

Grant it, it was third and fourth team vs third and fourth team, but we’ll never see that in a regular season game.  The intensity on the field was genuine in the first two quarters (unlike something you would see in a Pro Bowl) for a preseason game.  It was a fair litmus to see how the offense and defense are beginning to stack up against the competition.  Philly isn’t a great offense, but they aren’t bad either.  I would say the defense receives an B+ in the first half and a dismal F in the second half.  I’m not worried, and I think the defense is on its way up for the start of the season.  However, according to Elliot Harrison from NFL.com, the Steelers fell in power rankings after their loss to the Eagles and said that the defense had its hands full this year.  He criticized LeBeau, Polamalu, Clark, and Larry Foote as weaknesses in coverage.  They seemed to do a fine job on Thursday.

There’s no denying that after last season’s ‘old, slow and done’ to ‘#1′ to ‘Tebow’ed’ defensive performance those men will be under the microscope all season long.  LeBeau will need to keep this group focused, and he will need to be flexible in his play calling to make sure offenses can’t adjust and burn the linebackers and safeties in the middle of the field.

As per usual with me, what will scare me the most this season are the ‘trap’ games.  And though while the game against Indy is far from one because it’s a preseason contest, it is a bit of a crystal ball as to what games against Kansas City, Oakland, and Washington might be like.  Will the defense play up or down to its competition?  Andrew Luck had a mighty fine start to his NFL career even though it was against a hapless Rams defense.  Regardless, he looked strong in the pocket, scrambled when he needed to, and did the most important thing a rookie QB can do – take care of the football.

The Steelers very well could have their hands full against a QB like Luck.  I wish this game came later in the preseason.  The team is still coming off of ‘training camp’ practices – more drills than plays.  The first teams will leave the field sooner than later.  It would be great if this game came in as the third or even fourth game of the preseason.  It would give the defense a good long time to work with a team and QB that could be the a surprise this season.

So what are your thoughts about the Steelers defense against the Colts and Andrew Luck this Sunday?

The faceless voters who cast ballots for the NFL’s annual year end awards finally got one right in naming Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year.

The Silverback collected 101 tackles this year, 16 of which were sacks ( a new team record).  He also forced 7 fumbles with his patented tomahawk chop and even picked off a pass for good measure.  Pretty good for an undrafted free agent who was on Baltimore’s practice squad then sent to NFL Europe before finding a home with the Steelers.

Harrison also tied for 4th in the MVP voting, an award he should have also won if not for the ignorant and shortsighted media types who select these things.  He tied with Adrian Peterson, who fumbles if a stiff breeze blows through.  They trailed one behind Chad Pennington, the noodle-arm last seen flinging wounded ducks to Raven defenders and whose qualifications seem to be winning three less games than us in a worse division with a last place schedule.  Clearly, Peyton Manning won the award on reputation alone as he basically didn’t show up the first six weeks of the season and has a head shaped like a #2 pencil.

Oh well, hope that underserved award keeps you warm at night, Pey-Pey, as you watch the rest of the playoffs from the comfort of your home.  As usual.

Going into this season, the Tennessee Titans were considered an afterthought in a division which contained the perennially powerful Colts and up-and-coming Jaguars.  Although they also made the playoffs last year, losing to the Chargers in the Wild Card Round, people seemed to think Jacksonville was the team primed to make the jump to the next level when Peyton Manning and company began their eventual decline.

The Jags were quickly exposed as an overrated farce of a team while Indianapolis stumbled out of the gate due to injuries to key players.  Meanwhile, Tennessee got off to a fast start and never looked back.  Throughout the majority of the season, the Titans have consistently been ranked the top team in the AFC.  While it was easily justied when they were undefeated, the team has gone 2-2 over the past four games and could even wind up losing the #1 seed in the playoffs if they were to lose this weekend.

While their opponents, the Pittsburgh Steelers, have marched through the toughest schedule in NFL history, a close examination of Tennessee’s year reveals an assortment of creampuffs and pushovers.  Rather than just knee-jerk declaring them the best team in the AFC due to their record, it becomes more and more apparent that this is a team whose reputation is built on a lie.  In fact, going week by week through their schedule, it becomes more and more clear that this team hasn’t beat anybody at all.

1 – Jacksonville W (17 – 10)     Jacksonville (5-9) stinks.

2 – Cincinnati W (24 – 7)       Cincinnati (2-11) stinks.

3 – Houston W (31 – 12)     Houston (7-7) came on late but stunk early.

4 – Minnesota W (30 – 17)     Winning record but Gus Frerotte?  Really?

5 – Baltimore W (13 – 10)    Rookie QB on a team that we beat twice.

7 – Kansas City W (34 – 10)     KC (2-12) stinks.

8 – Indianapolis W (31 – 21)     Manning, Harrison, and Sanders were all hurt.

9 – Green Bay W (19 – 16)     Green Bay (5-9) stinks yet came thisclose.

10 – Chicago W (21 – 14)     Kyle Orton?

11 – Jacksonville W (24 – 14)     See above.

12 – NY Jets L (34 – 13)      Jets are overrated yet blew them out at home.

13 – Detroit W (47 – 10)     Detroit (0-14) really really stinks.

14 – Cleveland W (28 – 9)       Cleveland (4-10) stinks.

15 – Houston L (13-12)        Another loss, this to a non-playoff team.

From what I’m seeing, they have two quality wins (Baltimore and Indianapolis).  The games against the NFC North teams don’t count because that division is the NFL’s version of a Cripple Fight.  Two of them don’t have quarterbacks, the one that does has no defense, and the fourth is the Pittsburgh Pirates of football.  Every other game is either against a bottom 5 team or a loss.  Color me unimpressed.

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I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving. While you were huddled over your 22 pound turducken, passing Grandma the candied yams, maybe you saw a bit of the annual NFL action out of the corner of your eye. And when you did, I hope you remembered to give thanks for being a Steeler fan.

Now, on to this week’s contest with the New England Patriots. When they lost franchise quarterback Tom Brady to a season-ending knee injury, they could’ve easily shrugged their shoulders and wrote the year off. Instead, they picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and have managed a very respectable showing thus far. While they’ve been aided by the easiest schedule in the NFL, they’ve also had to overcome even more injuries to their best defensive player (S Rodney Harrison) and every member of their backfield.

For maintaining competitiveness and working through adversity, head coach Bill Belichick deserves a great deal of credit. Whether this coaching tour de force is enough to erase the taint of Spygate is another thing.

If there’s one lesson to be learned from the Spygate fiasco, it’s that Bill Belichick is a complete bullshit artist. For years Belichick went out of his way to mention how much he loved the game and respected the sport, his fellow coaches, and the players. Yet the scandal put a sizeable dent in the game’s integrity and Belichick’s wrath at actually being accused of cheating (which he most definitely did) led to the Patriots disrespectfully running up the score on teams throughout the season. The lesson was that Bill Belichick did have a great deal of respect for the game…as long as he was its unquestioned genius.

STEELER DEFENSE vs. PATRIOTS OFFENSE

In honor of Black Friday, here’s what everybody in the NFL will want under their Christmas tree this year: Matt Cassel. Write it down, he will be a starting QB in the NFL next season. If not for the Patriots, then for the likes of Detroit or San Francisco. Brady’s injury couldn’t have come at a better time for Cassel, who is an unrestricted free agent after this year. With the low quality of quarterbacking in the league, he’ll be the best FA QB prospect since Drew Brees. The only real question is how far along is Tom Terrific’s bum knee and will the Pats have to franchise Matt in order to protect themselves next year?

The other burning question is whether Cassel is actually a talent or a product of a winning system. Is he the next Steve Young or is he the next Rob Johnson? The first month of his tenure was rough, of course he was starting for the first time since HIGH SCHOOL. After those early games when the team was averaging about 10 pts/per, the Pats shifted to a run-based/ball control/West Coast offense. Cassel slowly began to thrive until the coaches have gained enough confidence in his throwing that they’ve began running an offense more in line to what they had under Brady. Cassel has passed for over 400 yards in two consecutive weeks.

Still, let’s be realistic. A lot of what makes the Patriots so tough is they have a motivated Randy Moss, arguably the greatest deep threat WR ever. They also have Chad Jackson, while not a great receiver, he was drafted to stretch the field with his speed. With that, opposing defenses are forced to use a lot of double safety help over the top, a fact Anthony Smith probably still has nightmares about. The vertical passing game opens up the underneath passing game for Wes Welker, the best slot receiver in football.

And if those guys were covered, they can still go to TE Ben Watson or excellent screen runner RB Kevin Faulk. Faulk missed time due to injury but he is one they got back. The rest of their RBs have not been so lucky. They primarily feature Benjarvis Green-Ellis, an undrafted free agent who was on their PRACTICE SQUAD although Sammy Morris has returned in recent weeks and will get some playing time.

According to the latest reports, it looks like the Three Amigos will ride again in our secondary. Deshea Townshend, coming off a sprained hammy, and Bryant McFadden, nursing a broken forearm, both practiced on Thursday which usually indicates they’ll give it a go. Good timing as they’ll join Ike “Can’t See Me” Taylor to face the daunting task of covering those Patriot receivers.

The other important thing to note is Brady’s Kryptonite has always been his statue-like pocket presence. Cassel is much more mobile so even if our hellacious pass rushers get in on him (and to be honest, the Pats O-Line is a bit overrated), they will be dealing with a far more maneuverable QB.

STEELER OFFENSE vs. PATRIOTS DEFENSE

NE still empoys a 3-4 scheme although they’ve made changes over the years to use more four down linemen formations and using more 1 gap 3-4 instead of 2 gap 3-4 schemes. The defense wasn’t all that hot last season but they did have a knack for making the right plays at the right time. After the David Tyree miracle catch, Archie Manning noted that he and his sons talked about how if the game gets close, Eli could not afford to get sacked because they noticed over the years that the Patriots had an uncanny knack for getting big sacks in crunch time.

This is a big defense as they rarely ever find a team that is more physical than they are. However, their size and physical play comes at a price as it’s often difficult to find linebackers who are both big and can cover. For the past few years they had to move our old friend Mike Vrabel to the inside to help with coverage. Now that his cover skills have diminished, he’ll probably stick to playing the outside backer spot and just rush the passer. He’s about as incredible as they get when it comes to making the timely big play. Honestly, it’s amazing he’s become the clutch big game player he’s been for this team when everybody who remembers his lone year starting for the Steelers will recall how ineffective he was as a pass rusher.

Adalius Thomas was their best cover LB. He was another tremendous loss as he’s out for the year with a broken arm. They’ve been forced to play rookie 1^st rounder Jerrod Mayo probably a lot more than they would like but the noob has risen to the occasion. He’s a tremendous prospect and just the type of player they badly needed; an athletic smart player who can cover inside and mow down runs to the outside.

They lost Asante Samuel to free agency but it wasn’t as devastating as some might have thought. The Pats don’t place too much value on corners because they are primarily a zone defense team which stresses scheme over individual talent. They have been more susceptible to the pass than the run this year but they’re still middle of the pack in both categories. That’s not much different than last year, only people didn’t worry so much last year due to the comfort of knowing their offense was good for at least 30+ points every game.

Pothole Willie Parker’s knee is bothering him again as excessive swelling prevented him from practicing this week. At this point, I think we can safely hang the tag of “injury prone” on FWP. Luckily the one-two punch of Mewelde Moore and Gary Russell has proven quite effective in relief. They’ll have to rise to the occasion on Sunday since a ball control/possession type offense is still the best way to deal with the Patriots. Then again, O-Coordinator Bruce Arians hasn’t committed to the run all season, why start now?

The rest of the offense looks good to go so it’ll be interesting what Arians has planned for a very smart and well-coached defensive team. Whenever we’ve played intelligent D-Coordinators (Jim Johnson, Steve Spagnulo), they’ve coached rings around ‘ol Bruce. This week we get Belichick and whatever puppet he calls his DC so in this battle of wits, hopefully Arians doesn’t come unarmed.

Speaking of arms, if QB Ben Roethlisberger can keep his pointed in the direction of our WRs and not their CBs, he should have a decent day throwing the ball. I don’t anticipate the pressure being too overwhelming nor do I think the secondary is stifling enough to really hamper that aspect of our game. Big Ben has looked much stronger and healthier in recent weeks so if he stays within himself and avoids game-changing mistakes, he should have a pretty productive day.

Also of note, Mitch Berger makes his triumphant return as Steeler punter this week. Paul Ernster and his 30 yard average were sent packing to nobody’s surprise. Daniel Supulveda was lost for the year so we held a competition between Ernster and Berger. Ernster stunk so we went with Berger. Berger stunk so we brought back Ernster. Ernster was beyond atrocious so here comes Berger again. I know this is a radical idea but HOW ABOUT TRYING SOMEBODY NEW?!?

You can’t tell me those two clowns represent all there is in the free agent punter talent pool. Whoever kicks better do a good job as Ellis Hobbs had a great year on returns last year, averaging 26 yards a kickoff while Wes Welker is not explosive on returns but consistent at putting his team in good field position.

Unlike previous years where the division was wrapped up by mid-season, the Patriots are in a real dogfight with the streaking Jets. Failing a division title, they’re also looking at a three way battle with the Ravens and Colts for a Wild Card spot. The Steelers follow this week with Dallas, Baltimore, Tennessee, and Cleveland. Only one of those is a gimme (I leave it to you to figure out which) and with Baltimore one measly game behind, we really need to pick up at least two wins. This appears to be the 2^nd most winnable game of the five. One thing is for sure, the loser of this game will be in an almost no margin for error situation if they hope to make the playoffs.