Legendary Steelers coach Bill Cowher announced on CBS’s Sunday Pregame Show that he will not return to the sidelines in 2009. Instead he plans on spending another year trying to decipher the Captain Caveman-like mumblings of Shannon Sharpe. This news is no doubt a shattering blow to pretty much every franchise that missed the playoffs and/or just plain sucks and thinks The Chin is the man to save them.

The past week saw Cowher linked to every coaching vacancy and even a few jobs which aren’t currently vacant. It began with the Cleveland Browns making an overture to which Bill responded LOL. Memo to Cleveland: the man wants to WIN and everybody knows the Browns will never win anything. Then the New York Jets put him on their wishlist. ESPN had a crawl all day Thursday noting “Cowher and the Jets show mutual interest.” This interest was so mutual that Cowher rejected their interest the next day, having not even bothered to MEET them. Only in NY do people seem to think everybody is just dying to be used and abused by their ignorant disloyal fans and douchebag media.

In any case, Cowher did leave the door open by saying he will re-evaluate his retirement on a year-by-year basis. So next year when the axe falls on a half dozen inept coaches the day after the season ends, expect to hear Chris Mortenson, Jay Glazer, and that Crypt Keeper-looking dude on ESPN bring up his name in connection with every opening. And also expect every blog or fansite which follows a lousy team to keep bringing his name up as the one true savior who can come along and make everything right again.

Here’s hoping he stays retired. No need to ruin his legacy by coming back to a bad situation like Kansas City or Jacksonville and then stumbling through several good but not great seasons before becoming a victim to the unrealistic expectations of the fans.

Besides, Joe Pa can’t stick around forever. Who wouldn’t want to see The Chin lead his Nittany Lions on to the field down in Happy Valley?

Wild Card Weekend Playoff Wrap-Up

Pittsburgh West Cardinals over Falcons 30-24: The Cards were playing possum the past month as a string of phoned in performances were replaced by an amped up intensity which the young Falcons couldn’t match. Former Pitt superstar WR Larry Fitzgerald made an incredible 42 yard TD catch for the first score of the game and Atlanta simply couldn’t keep up when the game turned into a shoot-out. NFL Rushing Leader Michael Turner was bottled up and Rookie of the Year Matt Ryan had several rookie moments as the Card advanced to face the Carolina Panthers next week.

Chargers over Colts 23-17 (OT): The best game of the weekend ended with yet another early playoff exit by the underachieving Colts and undeserving NFL MVP Peyton Manning. The Colts have made the playoffs something like 8 straight years but been one-and-done in half of them. In fact, if not for Steve McNair outchoking Pey-Pey back in 2006, he could very well be football’s version of A-Rod (minus the purple lipstick and washed up pop star girlfriend). I’ll have more on the Chargers later this week as they come to Pittsburgh for an AFC Divisional Playoff game.

Ravens over Dolphins 27-9: Baltimore laid a total whuppin’ on Goldie Hawn’s favorite team, utterly exposing Chad Pennington and humbling the Fins in Miami. Pennington threw 4 picks, topped off by one being returned 64 yards for a TD by notorious ballhawk Ed Reed. Former Pitt recruit Joe Flacco became the first rookie QB to win a road playoff game as his steady play aided by an excellent running attack advanced them forward to a rematch with the top seeded Tennessee Titans next Saturday in Nashville.

Eagles over Vikings 26-14: Minny QB Tarvaris Jackson proved overmatched for the Eagles defense while superstar RB Adrian Peterson was held mostly in check (except for a 40 yard TD scamper, he was pretty well contained). Donovan McNabb made enough big plays, mostly set up by the return abilities of WR Desean Jackson, to put the Eagles ahead. RB Brian Westbrook sealed the deal with a 71 yard TD which began as a 3 yard screen but he took all the way to the end zone. Philly heads to the Meadowlands next week for a third game against their hated divisional foe New York Giants.

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.

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I’ve had it.

I’ve seen more offensive coordinators than I can remember. I’ve seen every quarterback from Cliff Stoudt to Bubby Brister. I’ve seen good teams. I’ve seen not so good teams. I thought I’ve seen it all.

But the 2008 incarnation of the Pittsburgh Steelers is quickly establishing itself as the most maddening offense I’ve ever seen.

When we had bad offenses before, it was understandable. Maybe our talent at wide receiver wasn’t so good. Or there were the days when a knock-kneed scrambler with a porno ‘stache was taking the snaps. I even remember Mike Malarkey and his ingenious strategy of throwing screen passes 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage or running 5 yard outs when it was 3^rd and 15. That was bad.

However, the level of offensive ineptitude on display this season is all the more frustrating because there are no excuses. The talent is there. The schemes are there. Somewhere in between is a breakdown which is holding this team back. Because make no mistake, there is a championship caliber defense in place. If only the other side of the ball would get their act together.

Obviously, the source of this venomous post is yesterday’s 24-20 defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts.

Once again, the defense played fairly well. I know some people are going to point to cement-handed Marvin Harrison and the two easy TD catches he dropped. I point to two key catches by Reggie Wayne, one for a TD and one for a crucial first down, both of which were deflected off CB Ike Taylor and bounced into his greasy mitts. Luck, both good and bad, balanced out in the end. Sure it would’ve been nice if Butter Fingers Ike or Troy Polamalu could’ve held on to the sure INTs that hit them between the numbers. And it would’ve been nice to get a bit more pressure on Peyton Manning.  Once again, I can’t fault a unit which only surrenders scores when the ball is gift-wrapped to the other team so every scoring drive begins on our side of the field.

Don’t start with O-Coordinator Bruce Arians.  I’ll get to him soon enough.  Or the O-line. I’m sick of hearing about them. They share a measure of blame for the poor offensive play, no doubt. But the one player single-handedly dragging the team down with a series of terrible decisions and sub-par performances is none other than Ben Roethlisberger.  Ben is supposedly one of the top QBs in the game and he hasn’t played like it this year. In fact, watching the G-Men manhandle the Philly team that crushed us, I’m starting to think maybe Eli and Ben were drafted exactly where they should’ve been.

Roethlisberger had a statistically decent game as far as completions and yardage is concerned but the only number any of us should care about is his 3 picks. The first INT was just an absolutely atrocious and inexcusable throw. With 1:30 left in the half and facing 3^rd and short from deep in his own territory, Ben forced the ball into double coverage trying to convert a meaningless first down. What was he thinking? Was he even thinking? Even Rex Grossman was slapping his forehead over that one.

INT #2 was an equally Favre-ian bit of gunslingery where he rifled a pass late (mistake 1) down the middle (mistake 2) on a slant (mistake 3). The announcers pointed out Santonio Holmes appeared to break off his route but I honestly don’t see how you can blame him. The pass appeared to be a good 4-5 feet away from him so even if he had continued through, the S coming across the middle would’ve been in better position to make a play on the ball. Again, why was he attempting this risky pass in his own territory nursing a slim lead? Why?

I don’t mean to dump this entire loss on Big Ben. Bruce Arians is hand-down the worst offensive coordinator I’ve ever seen. He seemingly has no plan or strategy when it comes to his playcalling. Some teams use the run to set up a pass. Or use play action to free up the run. Or use a no-huddle to prevent a defense’s substitutions. Everything is done for a reason and with a purpose in mind.

Not so with Arians. He appears to be pulling plays out of a hat. His choices are totally random. For example, every drive in the first half began with a run. Every drive. Unless that run broke for big yards, the next two plays were invariably passes. If a short route worked, he’d try a long route. If a post worked, he’d try a fly. He suddenly remembered you could throw to the TE, which he forgot when Heath Miller was still healthy.  Still, he threw to Matt Spaeth, who appeared to be open all day, then would promptly ignore him and keep trying to hit the double covered Holmes. It’s like he’s calling plays while completely ignoring the results.

The Colts are weak against the run. Even with S Bob Sanders back, they still give up a decent chunk of yardage per game. RB Mewelde Moore ran the ball effectively on the first Steeler drive, ending with a TD. He also ran well on the 2^nd TD drive. Otherwise, he was given a token carry here and there with no real commitment to the ground game. And when there is a situation, such as at the goal line in the 3^rd quarter, where you need some play action or a bootleg or something tricky because the defense is stacked against the run, what does Arians do? Has Moore run straight up the gut three times in a row, then settles for a FG. Those four points were the difference in the game, bonehead.

I’m not trying to sound like an alarmist “the sky-is-falling” more excitable member of Steeler Nation. Honestly I’m not. But it’s better to panic a little while problems can be fixed than to panic a lot when a situation is totally out of control. We have to be honest with ourselves and admit there is something wrong with Ben and something wrong with our offense. The only time we look reasonably decent is when we play horrible teams like Jacksonville or Cincinnati. Against good teams like NY or Philly it’s almost embarrassing and even in the games we wind up winning (Washington, Baltimore) those are due more to our defense saving the day than our offense pulling their weight.

We’re 6-3 and have fallen into a virtual tie with Baltimore for first place. Our schedule only gets harder with San Diego, New England, and the undefeated Titans on the horizon. Coach Mike Tomlin has got to put away the jockspeak and platititudes and get to work hammering these problems out. This team needs an identity. It needs a focus. It needs to figure out what it wants to do and then impose their will on other teams in that regard. Our defense already has that mentality. Now our offense must follow suit or not only is a championship in doubt but the playoffs might not even be in our future.

After finally getting the monkey off their back by winning the Super Bowl, it appeared that the Indianapolis Colts would be following a pattern similar to other recent winners. They would struggle the next season then see head coach Tony Dungy retire so he could return to the NFL after a few years with a much more lucrative contract. The offense would still be the heart of the team but they’d eventually seek to replace some of their aging skill position stars with younger and cheaper alternatives. The first part held true but the others didn’t as Dungy continues to coach the team and the Colts are still sticking with the Manning-Wayne-Harrison Trifecta.

Despite competition from an improving Tennessee squad and usually tough Jacksonville, the Colts managed to maintain superiority in the AFC South last year. This year, however, they stumbled out of the gate and are currently behind the eight-ball being stuck behind a Titans team which remains undefeated. Barring a monumental collapse, it looks like Indy’s only hope for a playoff spot will be as a Wild Card. They currently sit at 4-4 meaning realistically they can only afford two more losses for those hopes to remain realistic. Otherwise, this may very well be the swan song season for many of the old guard as Dungy, DE Dwight Freeney, and probably WR Marvin Harrison are nearing the end of their run.

STEELER DEFENSE vs. COLTS OFFENSE

I’m sure we all know the “no huddle” offense the Colts use as the sight of QB Peyton Manning waving, signaling, hopping on one leg, doing the hokey pokey and turning himself around is one sadly familiar to Steeler fans. One of the beauties of Peyton’s ability to audible is that it allows the Colts to run a pretty simple scheme if the players can understand the audibles. They usually keep the WR’s in the same positions with Harrison out wide right, Reggie Wayne out wide left, and Anthony Gonzalez or Dallas Clark in the slot. Occasionally, if they get in some tight games and the offense can’t get going they’ll start motioning the receivers to see if they can fool the defense but this is essentially an offense that believes that Peyton can get them into the right play and then they can just out execute the opponent.

Obviously, this puts the onus on Peyton Manning to make the whole machine run. You can directly attribute Indy’s early season struggles with Manning’s sub-par play. He had two knee surgeries this off-season and missed the entire preseason. He came back rusty, out-of-synch with his receivers, and badly immobile. Peyton was never to be confused with Kordell Stewart but with today’s pass rushers, you need to have some niftiness in the pocket or you’ll never complete a pass. One of the reasons Manning was one of the most durable QBs of this generation is he was always mobile enough to avoid the big hit. His knee better be healed because with the most vicious pass rush in the NFL flying in at him from every angle, he better be able to duck and cover or he will take a beating.

Another of the issues that the Colts had was that Peyton was more or less the team’s O-Coordinator. While he usually calls the right play, he had some problems that your typical O-Coordinator has, particularly with falling in love with the pass. Unfortunately, the Colts didn’t have anybody in place to “veto” some of Peyton’s play calling and get him into the run. The year they won the Super Bowl, Peyton finally realized that the Colts needed to run the ball in the red zone because teams like the Patriots were looking for the pass in those situations. Again, the problem with the team this year is every one of their backs has missed time due to injury.

They should have Joseph Addai this week. He’s a vicious runner who catches passes well and got better and better in pass protection. He’s probably one of those guys that will be underrated for awhile given the small market city he plays in which is already occupied by the big stars. Then again, he’s going against the Steeler D which absolutely positively won’t let anybody run the ball on them anywhere ever. So I’d like to say they should utilize him but I don’t think he’s going to be able to do much of anything this week.

If Harrison’s knee is healthy, he’s one of the best WRs in the game. Big “if” because it appears that injury still nags him to this day. Reggie Wayne went from outstanding #2 to really the Colts top WR now. Wayne is extremely fast and has great hands which are a rare combination. Anthony Gonzalez did struggle with his route running and learning the audibles, but still ranked first in the league in DVOA for WR’s. Gonzalez took the Brandon Stokely third/slot receiver slot. He’s a good one although he gets a case of the dropsies here and there. TE Dallas Clark frequently lines up as a wide receiver. He’s deadly on screen passes although he can run deeper routes if they see a mismatch they can exploit.

I was worried last week about S Tyrone Carter replacing Ryan Clark but it really didn’t seem to matter. CBs Ike Taylor and Deshea Townshend completely shut down the Redskins wideouts although I think the Colts are a bit more talented and have a better QB getting them the ball. Of course, that won’t matter much if he’s flat on his back which is where I expect the Blitzburgh D to put him many times on Sunday.

STEELER OFFENSE vs. COLTS DEFENSE

Two guesses. Tampa 2/Cover 2 used here as that is the pet defense Dungy has loved since his days down in Tampa. A love he passed on to one of his protégés, a charismatic young man by the name of Mike Tomlin.

The Tampa 2 can be a good scheme with the right personnel although it is a pretty conservative defense outside of Dungy’s love for stunting his D-Line. The D-Line’s priority is to get to the QB and then worry about the run later. This appears to be the lucky week for the Colts as Pothole Willie Parker injured his shoulder on Monday and will not play. We still have the best bargain basement RB ever, Mewelde Moore, to shoulder (*groan*) the load. Can Moore keep up his string of impressive relief performances?

S Bob Sanders is the Troy Polamalu of their defense; the player who makes the whole thing work. In fact, he’s probably even more valuable as Troy takes the Steelers from very good to great but Sanders is singly responsible for making a below average defense decent. He’s constantly getting injured, though which makes me think maybe some day he’ll learn how to tackle correctly instead of trying to spear everybody.

Despite the Colts taking the mold of a typical Cover 2 defense (small in size, big on speed), this was an extremely physical defense in 2007 and it started with the attitude of Sanders and the rest of their physical defensive backs. Of course, the Steelers receivers know a thing or two about physical play so it should be interesting to see who blinks first when they get smacked in the mouth. I’m sure Herr Goodell has a bowl of popcorn and his dvd player ready to comb through the game tape to look for more ways to fine the Steelers.

If Dwight Freeney is healthy and returns to his old form, then their D-Line is a force to be reckoned with since Freeney is so tough to stop. Problem is that he suffered a bad foot injury and the way I understand it, it’s not too big of an issue if you’re very young but at Freeney’s age he’s unlikely to ever be the same. Ed Johnson was a hell of a find as he was a full season starter despite being undrafted. Raheem Brock had a pretty solid year as well.

The big question for the Steelers will be who will be behind that porous offensive line running for their life when the clock is started on Sunday. As of posting this, the question is very much up in the air. Ben Roethlisberger hasn’t practiced all week although he is reportedly going to take some snaps on Friday. If he doesn’t feel like his arm is about to fall off, they’ll probably give him the start although I still think that’s a huge mistake. Big Ben is significantly down this year from last in every significant statistical category. He’s clearly not right. Will one week off make a huge difference? I don’t know. But if you know a guy is injured and even question a little how effective he’ll be, I don’t see the point in letting him start. Byron Leftwich isn’t a long-term solution by any means. However, this game against this opponent this week, he very well might be our best chance for victory.