After last Saturday’s debacle in Minnesota, where the Pittsburgh Steelers vaunted offense couldn’t manage a touchdown, the new look offensive line played downright offensive, and supposed superstar rookie RB Rashard Mendenhall couldn’t keep his hands on the ball, I suppose for our collective sanity we should move on to happier subjects.

With that in mind, NPC continues its 2008 Steeler team preview by focusing on the one aspect of the team that did look pretty good last Saturday, the defense. 

2008 BLITZBURGH DEFENSE

The Steelers still use the 3-4, although everybody keeps waiting for them to go to the Tampa 2 scheme coach Mike Tomlin allegedly prefers.   That won’t happen as long as grizzled defensive genius Dick Lebeau patrols the sidelines though.  Keeping Lebeau during the changover from the Cowher regime was a really smart move by the Steeler brass as I don’t believe there is a more clever blitz-caller in the league. 

Projected Starters:

RDE: Brett Keisel
NG: Casey Hampton
LDE: Aaron Smith
ROLB: James Harrison
ILB: James Farrior
ILB: Larry Foote
LOLB: Lamar Woodley
CB: Deshea Townsend
CB: Ike Taylor
SS: Troy Polamalu
FS: Ryan Clark

The D-Line is aging but still good as Casey Hampton is one of the best DT/NG’s in the game when his fatassery doesn’t land him in the dog house.  Aaron Smith is entering his prime as a run stopper and pass rusher. James Harrison is an incredibly athletic pass rusher coming off his breakout season. Both Larry Foote and the newly resigned (5 year deal) James Farrior are also getting up there in age but remain quality ILBs.  Farrior is the veteran QB of the defense and Foote, while unspectacular, will likely be platooned with 2007 first round pick Lawrence Timmons sooner rather than later.  Everybody liked what they saw out of Lamar Woodley last season and this year everybody expects him to be a more than adequate replacement for Clark Haggans.

The corners are decent but nothing exciting.  Townshend and Taylor recently flip-flopped the right and left CB spots for reasons I’m not entirely clear on.   Those two plus Bryant McFadden comprise an excellent cover secondary but they fall short when it comes to ball skills.  Slippery Hands Ike allegedly concentrated on his receiving skills this offseason so maybe he’ll be able to snag one or two of the enemy’s passes instead of simply swatting them away. 

Troy Polamalu is a superior safety when he’s healthy.  But that’s the big question mark with him as last season he was a shell due to injuries and he’s been seemingly plagued by a rash of problems this year as well.  A peak Polamalu would take the defense to another level.  Ryan Clark seems to have battled back from his season-ending spleenectomy.  Tyrone Carter has looked okay as his backup.  And I’ll say it, Anthony Smith is actually a very talented guy.  If you watch him closely, his size and speed make him stand out.   It’s just that despite his million dollar body, he was only given a ten cent brain.  If he could somehow find the wonderful Wizard of Oz to hand him even an average portion of intelligence, he could easily be a starter and a very good one at that.

Also for your perusal:

–The NFL Network has decided to follow my lead by doing a Steeler preview of their own.

–Hugging Harold Reynolds pokes fun at Steeler fans with this obviously photoshopped picture.  Bud Light?  Members of Steeler Nation aren’t sissies who drink light beer.  Somebody obviously confused us with Patriot fans.  Even our women drink and drink hard.   That’s why we have no need for cheerleaders.  They’re all the entertainment we need.   

Well, that didn’t take long.

A little more than twenty-four hours into the Pittsburgh Steelers 2008 training camp, two key members of the defense found themselves placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list. This means they are not officially part of the roster, not permitted to work out with the team, and if they remain on the list at the end of camp, they would not be allowed to play until the sixth game of the regular season.

NT Casey Hampton was placed on the list for basically being a fatass. Yes, shocking as it may seem, the player nicknamed “Big Snack” reported to camp a tad overweight. By a tad, I’m guessing about forty pounds. Get Dan Marino on the phone, pronto. Hook a brother up with some NutriSystem, Danny.

Hampton was unable to complete the first day running drills and Coach Mike Tomlin disgustedly booted him from practice until he’s in physically better shape. Hampton’s argument is running has nothing to do with playing football. Okay, big fella. Sorry to break it to you but part of the reason our run defense was repeatedly gashed during the tail end of last season probably had something to do with conditioning. I also hate to break it to you but despite making the Pro Bowl (when other players bowed out), you didn’t have that good a year. In prior seasons, Hampton was a force, making tackles, disrupting plays, and occasionally creating pressure up the middle. Last year, he mostly did nothing but occupy space.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, All-Pro Safety Troy Polamalu did complete the first day running drills. Unfortunately, this lead to him spending the next day with his leg wrapped like an extra from the next Mummy movie. Polamalu, who is the highest paid defensive player in Steeler history, had an injury-riddled year in 2007. From a partial PCL tear to an abdominal strain, his play suffered greatly while he battled injury after injury. Yes, he was named to the Pro Bowl but it was an undeserved honor based mainly on reputation as Polamalu will be the first to admit he didn’t have the interceptions, quarterback pressures/sacks, or general level of play which is expected of him.

Amazingly, despite injuries to key players, the Steelers still had the #1 ranked defense in the NFL. This is a bit misleading, though, as after DE Aaron Smith went down, our run defense which hadn’t allowed a 100 yard rusher in like two years allowed two 100 yard rushers in the same game. And our pass defense, despite having perhaps the best trio of cover corners in the league, simply didn’t create any turnovers.

For Blitzburgh to reverse both those trends in 2008, Hampton and Polamalu will need to work through their issues and be physically ready to go by week one. With the slate of offenses we’re scheduled to face this season, we’re going to need them.