Miller could have a nice day tomorrow. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-US PRESSWIRE

Going to the Middle & “Dink & Dunk” and the Advantages

I believe that Miller will be a focal point early tomorrow in a heavy Pittsburgh “Dink & Dunk” attack because of how much potential havoc New York’s pass-rush (21.0 Sacks, T-7th) can ultimately wreak on an opposing Offensive Line.  Although they started the year a bit slow, the Giants’ famous pass-rushers have stepped up their games’ recently and recorded 13.0 Sacks over their last three games and harassed Tony Romo, Robert Griffin III, and Alex Smith into poor decisions and costly Turnovers.  Although Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka have been quiet through their first eight games (1.0 Sack apiece), Jason Pierre-Paul (5.5), Osi Umenyiora (3.0), and big Linval Joseph (4.0) have been very effective this season.  If those guys were not enough to strike fear into the Steelers’ Offensive Line, Rocky Bernard and recently healthy Chris Canty (1.0 Sack apiece) can chip in with pressure and stout play off the bench as well.

If the New York’s pass-rushers do indeed put massive amounts of heat on Big Ben tomorrow, Pittsburgh’s signal-caller will need an athletic, sure-handed, solid route-running, big-bodied safety-valve at his disposal to make his way through the Secondary, get open underneath and give his Quarterback chances to unload the ball early in inclement conditions.  This is a situation in which Miller could be a dangerous matchup for the Giants because of the multitude of weapons Big Ben has at his disposal in the passing game, and the injuries and poor-play which have struck the middle of New York’s Back Seven as of late.

How the Steelers & Heath Can Match Up Well

While the Giants’ 16 Interceptions rank them tied for 1st in the League, their Secondary has not been stellar or played “shut-down” against the pass this season. New York ranks 26th in Passing Yards Allowed per Game (274),  30th in Passing Yards per Attempt (8.3), and recently allowed three pass-catchers to go over the century mark last weekend against the Cowboys.  As nice as the Turnovers have been for the Giants’ Defense, teams like Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Dallas have moved the ball effectively through the air against them, and Pittsburgh will look to do the same tomorrow afternoon.

Unfortunately for the Giants’ Secondary, the Steelers’ corps of pass catchers are not only talented and fast, but quite deep personnel-wise as well.  New York’s Defense will likely not be able to divert a significantly large amount of attention to Miller tomorrow in the passing game because they must contend with “The Young Money Crew” inside and outside the hashes.  Cornerbacks Corey Webster, Prince Amukamara, and Rookie Jayron Hosley will all have their hands full with “Young Money” members Mike Wallace (36 Catches for 459 Yards and 6 TD’s), Antonio Brown (40 Catches for 480 Yards and 1 TD), and Emmanuel Sanders (22 Catches for 282 Yards), and the middle of the field should be open to Heath as he faces a Safety trio and Linebacker corps struggling to get/stay healthy.  Containing the Steelers’ top three Wide Receivers is a difficult enough task for any Defense, especially when the unit must account for Miller as a pass-catching option.  But what I believe will make the Giants’ task of stopping Pittsburgh’s passing game (especially in the middle of the field) extremely trying has to do with the team’s recent injuries at the Linebacker and Safety positions.

Not only will Linebackers Chase Blackburn and the athletic Jacquian Williams be sidelined tomorrow, Keith Rivers is also listed as doubtful and unlikely to play too.  The task of stopping Miller with a Linebacker man-coverage situations will fall to the talented Michael Boley and 2nd year man Mark Herzlich.  The injuries however are just not limited to the Linebacker corps for the Giants.  Although Safeties Kenny Phillips (knee) and Antrel Rolle (concussion) should play, both are nursing injuries and surprising (5 INT’s) 3nd year man Stevie Brown will likely see a significant amount of snaps if the Steelers spread the field and go into pass formations.

Hobbled an undermanned at both Safety and Linebacker, Miller will have his chances to succeed, and I am sure that Big Ben will be looking his way in heavy formations when drives enter New York’s Red Zone.  Whether or not Miller can take advantage of New York’s injuries at Safety and Linebacker will be an interesting matchup to watch.  Yet the chances exist for Heath to contribute a great deal tomorrow, and he has proved to be quite the reliable and effective passing game option for Big Ben to target when he has been in need over the years.

Final Thoughts

Make no mistake Steelers fans, tomorrow’s game will not be a proverbial “picnic” by any means.  The Steelers have had their issues on the road this season (1-3 record), and the Giants are a solid 6-2 team and the defending Super Bowl champions.  I even believe that New York has a better chance to win tomorrow because their pass-catchers match-up extremely well with Pittsburgh’s suspect Secondary.  Despite my doubts, I do have faith in the Steelers’ Offense to keep the game close and possibly pull out this all-important victory.

With the running game basically decimated by injuries at the Running Back position, Pittsburgh’s Offense will need to bring their “A Games’” when it comes to effectively throwing the football tomorrow.  The “Dink & Dunk” if executed properly should take an immense amount of pressure off of Big Ben, take time off the clock, and allow his athletic play-makers to have chances to shine, and his sure-handed target Heath matchups to win.

Regardless of the outcome, I feel like the game will come down to whichever team’s Back Seven blink first.  I just hope that it is New York’s as opposed to Pittsburgh’s.

Stats Courtesy of: Team Rankings.com, ESPN.com

Is the game against the Super Bowl Champ Giants and Eli the most crucial this season? Credit: Jim O US Presswire

The Steelers’ 2012 schedule is a bit of a tough nut to crack with regards to how ‘tough’ or how ‘easy’ it is.  It appears to have stretches of weeks that seem very manageable and others that will test the toughness and fortitude of the Black & Gold.  And, of course, the NFL has done another lovely job of packing in the most heated rivalry in the league.  But which game will the be the most crucial for the Steelers?

The team faces two AFC West opponents in the Broncos and Raiders and a weak AFC East Jets within the first three weeks of the season.  Peyton Manning joins the Broncos in hopes to ramp up what was a rather barren Tebow’d offense.  As the first game of the season, the Steelers will have a young offensive line going against a defense that ranked 18th defending the pass and 24th defending the run.  Not a huge test, but it will be the first time where it counts for a line that could potentially have two rookie starters.  Peyton is sure to test the defense, and our defense will need some inspirational injected play all season long if they want to redeem themselves and get the team back to the playoffs.  The defense was the top ranked defense, once again, last season.  But, they were just about the root cause of why the team lost in the Wild Card round and made Tim Tebow look like Bart Starr.  Is this first game of the season the most crucial game for the Steelers?  Last season, the team suffered a crushing loss to the Ravens in Week 1 and put themselves in a deep hole in the AFC North race.  They never were able to surpass the Ravens for the division and drew the Broncos in that Wild Card game.

The Steelers have a bye week in Week 4 then face the Eagles, Titans, Bengals, and Redskins the next four weeks.  None of those teams appear to be a huge threat for the Steelers.  The Eagles will be looking to recover from the failed Andy Reid ‘experiment,’ the Titans are still wondering if the real Chris Johnson will ever show up, the Bengals have yet to really prove how ‘good’ they are with Big Red (or if it was just a rookie cinderella story), and the Redskins might still be working out the kinks with rookie QB, RGIII.  The Steelers will need to be careful when playing the NFC East teams this season.  Any of them (even though I just pointed out some problems with two teams) could prove to be dangerous one week and a bust the next.  Will the Steelers get caught in a trap game with the Skins or Eagles, only to have the Ravens or Bengals beat both?  The Bengals will be an important game because of the divisional standings.  But is it the most crucial because it’s in Cincinnati?

The Steelers follow up that four week romp with a game against the reigning Super Bowl Champs at MetLife Stadium.  Yikes.  The Giants, like most teams coming off a Super Bowl win, could still be shaking off the hangover.  But will that be evident this late into the season during Week 9?  Eli is always poised for a win, and if Tommy C can coach his men like he did during last year’s playoffs, then this game spells big trouble for the Steelers.  The Giants prove to be one of the bigger threat teams.  And, it may not be awful if the Steelers lose to them because every team in the AFC North could bow out against the G-men.  Most crucial or not?

The Steelers then face the Chiefs and then the Ravens two times in three weeks with the three legged Browns squeezed between.  The Chiefs will be a very interesting game just because of the implications of Todd Haley facing his old squad.  Most crucial?  I’m not so sure, but it could be a real kick in the junk to Haley and the offense if the Chiefs win big with a score like 28-3.  Now, the easy answer to our question would be the games against Baltimore.  The Ravens have been the Steelers most hated rival, most physical team they play all season every season, and are always in contention against the Steelers for the AFC North division.  One of the two teams have won the division eight out of the last ten seasons.  Both games are always epic and intense.  Is one more crucial over the other?  Do the Steelers need to at least win the first game at home in case they lose on the road?

The Steelers finish out the last four weeks against some teams that have enjoyed the regular season identity roller coaster.  And, by enjoy I mean loathed.  The San Diego Chargers visit Heinz Field in December.  The Chargers always self destruct early then have a surge at the end of the season.  They were 4-1 in their last five games last season, and that tends to be the norm.  Will the Chargers late season surge be trouble for the Steelers?  Possibly, but it’s not as crucial a game as one might think.  Unless you are a citizen of Steeler Nation who really really really needs to see Phillip Rivers – the ultimate quarterback (pfffffft) – blasted back into his childhood.  The Cowboys are next, and the Steelers face them in the mini-metropolitan area known as Cowboys Stadium.  The Cowboys are another team like the Giants who one week appear the team to beat in the NFC or lucky if Tony Romo knows how to tie his own shoes.  It’s an important game, as it rounds up the Steelers time against the NFC East.  By this time, the Steelers will more than likely be a bit beat up and struggling to eek out wins as the season winds down.  They will need to have a better NFC East record than the Ravens if they want a shot at the division.  Is this the most crucial game as the Steelers head towards the end of the season?

The last two weeks are against divisional teams.  The Bengals and Browns hardly ever finish strong and very well could be licking their wounds by the time the Steelers get them for the second time around in the season.  The Steelers will unquestioningly need to finish strong these last two weeks.  But are any more crucial than what the entire season has already thrown at the Steelers?

Ok Nation, time to vote.  What do you think is the most crucial game for the Steelers this season?

What was in that fine print again?

What We Learned This Week in the NFL Off Season:

• NFLPA files suit against the “cartel” NFL
• OTAs heat up around the league
• Mike Vanderjagt chokes a kid who was taunting him for choking
• Steelers head into Week 2 of OTAs

It seems to me that the NFLPA is starting to feel the effects of the fine print from the CBA they all signed last August and is attempting to fight back piece by piece in court.  This week, DeMaurice Smith on behalf of the NFLPA, filed a suit against the NFL claiming collusion in regards to the 2010 “uncapped year” and the penalties levied to the Cowboys and Redskins for violating the “uncapped year”.  Football in shorts began this week as OTAs opened up across the league.  No actual football was played, but the workouts were covered in some places about the same.  Mike Vanderjagt is finding retirement a little hard to deal with when being heckled by a middle school kid in Florida, Vanderjagt responded by choking him.  The Steelers will return to the South Side this week for a few more OTAs. (more…)

Ah, sweet sweet TIVO.  Allowing me to maintain some semblance of a social life and still blog about our fifth string wide receiver’s route running ability.

Some random thoughts from the Pittsburgh Steelers Meaningless Game #2:

QUARTERBACKS - Ben Roethlisberger saw his first action of the season.  He looked to be in mid-season form.  And by “mid-season form,” I mean he ran around in the pocket like a kid with ADD and then showed his typical bad decision making by throwing a poor ball that resulted in a pick.  He also held the ball too long on a 2nd and goal resulting in a sack and five yard loss.   These blunders helped contribute to his being the only quarterback who failed to lead a touchdown drive on Saturday.  To be fair, he appeared to be in good physical shape and showed some nice ability to roll out while making crisp throws on the run.

Byron Leftwich looked pretty good in his brief appearance, highlighted by a 68 yard bomb to Mike Wallace which he dropped in perfectly to the speedy wideout.  Of course, the ignorant bloggers and columnists are using this as proof positive that the Great QB Controversy of 2010 is over.  To them I say this:  the Giants were clearly playing vanilla schemes and generating ZERO PASS RUSH.  On one play, Lord Byron actually SCRAMBLED away from two defenders and lumbered forward for 5 yards.  The chances of him doing that in a real game are about as likely as the Pirates winning the World Series.

Mark my words, as soon as the season starts and he faces a real honest to goodness pass rush, his statue-like pocket presence will doom our offense.

Dennis Dixon looked fantastic as usual but it was strictly in mop-up time.  At this point, there’s no use in my singing his praises until we start the season 0-2 under the immobile Leftwich.

DEFENSE - The Giants held Eli Manning out after suffering a gaping head wound in their first preseason game while backup Jim Sorgi is hurt.  So they went the entire game with third stringer Rhett Bomar.   I’m not trying to sound any alarm bells based on meaningless games but you don’t exactly want to see practice squad fodder like Bomar lead a TD drive against your FIRST TEAM defense.  Which is exactly what happened in the second quarter.

Bomar bomar’d a deep pass to Other Steve Smith for a 45 yard play on coverage by Bryant McFadden.  Granted B-Mac was playing looser than a sorority girl down in Milledgeville but I’d like to see better from a secondary that was torched last year.

Then again, that secondary may have been a bit confused due to Ike Taylor getting tossed from the game four plays into the game.  I always figured players treated these contests like a joke but there was Face Me Ike swinging punches at Hakeem Nicks for some inexplicable reason.  Maybe he had dinner reservations at Tavern on the Green or something.

Slightly more encouraging was the play of second year corner Joe Burnett.  He made a fantastic reaching INT of a tipped Bomar pass.  Considering nobody in our secondary could hold on to a pass last year, I think Burnett may merit a move up in the depth chart past Willie Gay if he continues to show good hands.

Second rounder Jason Worilds saw his first action of the season and showed very little.  He got stood up at the line of scrimmage on almost every play which was the knock on him coming out of college (good rusher, bad run stuffer).  Speaking of which, Keyaron Fox showed very good sideline-to-sideline movement when in with the second team.  Meanwhile, speedy RB Ahmed Bradshaw beat beat both James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons to the outside on a 9 yard TD.

SPECIAL TEAMS - Daniel Sepulveda handled the kickoffs and may have taken the job away from Skippy.   His kicks traveled about 5 yards farther than Reed’s and more importantly, he’d get enough loft on the kicks that the coverage could get into place.

On returns, rookie Antonio Brown saw time as a kick and punt returner.  He didn’t set the world on fire but handled the job capably enough.  I wouldn’t say he’s an upgrade over Stefan Logan but I don’t think he’d be any worse either.   Which is my long-winded way of saying Joystick may be in danger of not making this team.

RUNNING BACK – The Steelers’ commitment to the run is admirable.  And necessary because they aren’t going to win without a good run game.  The problem is, we’re two games in and I’m not convinced they can run effectively.  Mendenhall ran 8 times for a measly 11 yards.

Which isn’t all his fault because anything up the middle is doomed due to massive penetration allowed by a leaky offensive line.  Runs around the corners aren’t much better.  Flozell Adams, in particular, seems to be struggling with the move to RT.  I’ll chalk some of it up to just not knowing the schemes (yet) but he needs to get up to speed soon.

Mewelde Moore had a couple nice runs which should solidify him as the #2 back.  Although Issac Redman continued to impress.  They used him as a fullback on some first team formations giving them the option of handing off to either FB/RB.  And he scored another red zone TD although this one was from 12 yards out.  At this point, I’d be shocked if he doesn’t make it as the 3rd back.

All in all, a good night for the Steelers against a depleted and half-assing Giants team.  With cut downs looming, there should be a couple hard decisions to make in the near future.

There’s an old saying about how nothing poisons people like the spoils of success.

Members of Steeler Nation have been burdened by those spoils for over three decades.  Most inferior NFL teams are happy when they simply make the playoffs. We’re only satisified with championships. The bar has been set high but thanks to people like Dan Rooney and his well-run organization, satisfaction is ours more often than not.

Every once in awhile, one of those teams which has been a proverbial dog for a long long time manages to get the sun to shine brightly on its ass. And when that happens, their fanbase doesn’t know how to react.

Take for example the Fighting Belicheats. New Englanders barely acknowledged their football team until Bill Parcells took them to the Super Bowl in 1996.  Once they started to cheat win championships, all of a sudden a rabid fanbase emerged from the woodwork.  This phenomenon isn’t unusual. When long-suffering fanbases begin to win, they tend to go from one extreme of not caring about their team to the other extreme of being obnoxious homers.

They don’t know how to enjoy victory with the humility and class of Steeler fans.  They don’t act like they’ve been there before because they haven’t been there before.  Oakland, Denver, Indianapolis, and New England are but some examples of this.  Philly and New York fans are D-bags as well but that has nothing to do with winning or losing because they come by their douchebaggery naturally.

Which brings us to the Arizona Cardinals. The Cards have been around for 60+ years and have tortured three different cities with their sad and pitiful ways. The most recent victim has been Arizona, where the Cards have finished in the bottom third of the league on a regular basis since moving there in 1988. They’ve done nothing but maintain a position as the doormats of the league until this year.

And now their fans don’t how to react. At first, they reacted with joy. Then joy turned to denial. This denial culminated in the disgraceful display of barely selling out the stadium for their first home playoff game in forty years.  But with more winning came a stampede to jump on the bandwagon.  Which has now culminated in the story of two yahoos who decided to celebrate their biggest ever win by using diesel fuel to burn pro-Cardinal slogans in the lawn of Eagles’ QB Donovan McNabb.

At first, I simply saw the act as sympathy for their Philly brethren who couldn’t get there to do it themselves.  Then I debated whether the criminal act was classless because they lit something on fire or because they lit something of McNabb’s on fire?   After settling on the latter, I noticed one of the fine gentlemen wore his Cardinal hat in his mug shot which told me it was indeed a show of support for the team.  A show of support against a team they already beat.  Well, they are unaccustomed to winning…

And to be fair, the whole incident would have been a lot smaller except McNabb tried to throw water on the fire with a bucket but came up 2 yards short.

Thank you, I’ll be here all week.  In the meantime, stay classy Arizona.