Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall spent his off day in Monroeville helping fans over at the FedEx Office get their packages out in time for the holidays.  It’s part of FedEx’s national “Pack and Ship” promotion giving customers a chance to win 2011 season tickets by simply going online and registering at www.fedex.com/packwiththepros. Given Mendy’s occasional butterfingers, I sure hope none of those boxes were marked “Fragile.”

After playing the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday, perhaps Rashard can share a few packing tips with Marvin Lewis. When this season is over, he’ll be boxing up his belongings as he seeks gainful employment elsewhere.  Hey, I hear Pitt is in the market for a new head coach.  Once he’s finished babysitting immature clowns like Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco, dealing with nineteen year old frat boys will seem like a walk in the park.

STEELERS DEFENSE vs. BENGALS OFFENSE

Credit where credit is due:  Owens absolutely tortured the Steelers in the first meeting between the two teams.  Since then, the Bengals have lost four straight as T.O. thinks of new and creative ways to throw his team under the bus.  He’s only signed for this year so it’ll be interesting to see who’s the next sucker to take him.  Despite being more cancerous than an asbestos jock strap, somebody will give him a contract.   Hello, Dan Snyder!

Cedric Benson has completely fallen off the map while Carson Palmer has struggled to the point there are whispers in Cincy that it may be time to take a quarterback with what appears to be a top 5 draft pick.  I think Palmer would benefit greatly by getting away from the stench of failure which follows this franchise.  Put him on a team like Minnesota or San Francisco and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins Comeback Player of the Year.  There seems little point in keeping a 30 year old QB who’s never won a playoff game around when the entire team is need of rebuilding.

Remember, the Steelers had a Comeback Player of the Year of their own by the name of Tommy Maddox on their roster when they drafted that Ben Roethlisberger fella.  Smart teams always plan two steps ahead.  Then again, the Black and Gold are the ideal for how to run a franchise while the Bengwads are pretty much the poster boys for what not to do.

Anyway, back to the match-up.  The Steelers have a crappy secondary.  Bryant McFadden is coming off his worst game of the year and Willie Gay was the guy T.O. repeatedly torched the first time.  When the Steelers play a good QB capable of getting the ball off quickly, problems ensue.  Which is why despite a 20 point fourth quarter deficit, Palmer was able to bring the Bengals to within a completion on 4th and 5 from likely pulling ahead.   Hopefully, Dick LeBeau will learn from his prior mistakes, stick Ike Taylor (our only decent corner) on Owens, and then dial up enough pressure to cover everybody else’s shortcomings.

STEELERS OFFENSE vs. BENGALS DEFENSE

The first game saw the Steelers build a huge lead thanks to a fumbled kickoff, a blocked punt, a Palmer pick, a missed Bengals FG, and a TD pass by Antwaan Randle-El.  While you can certainly count on the fact a gutless team like Cincy will always find a way to lose, you can’t expect they’ll make that many mistakes.  Then again, the Steelers played an uncharacteristically sloppy game with Hines Ward fumbling, Big Ben throwing a lazy INT, and Skippy missing a crucial boot.  If both teams bring their “A” games, I don’t like Cincy’s chances since that match-up is roughly the equivalent of bringing a knife to a bazooka fight.

Our offensive issues in that first meeting were largely due to the fact the offensive line was absolutely decimated as the game progressed.  The bad news is the O-line is still a mess.  The good news is Flozell Adams, despite a high ankle sprain, practiced the past couple days and is expected to play.  The even better news, particularly if your name is Jonathan Scott, is the Bungles rank dead last in team sacks with a pitiful 14 all season.

Heath Miller, still suffering from post-concussion symptoms thanks to the dirty cheap shot by Jameel McClain, is not expected to play.  Ginger Dictator, if you’re reading, I would like to propose a simple rule change.  Instead of random fines or the Wheel of Justice, how about when a player is concussed thanks to a helmet-to-helmet hit, the guy who hit him is suspended until the injured player is cleared to return?   McClain losing $40,000 while we lose Heath for an extended period of time is hardly a fair trade.

Big Ben has practiced after the emergency nose job and other than wearing a plastic nose guard should be good to go.  By “good to go,” I mean “beaten to hell.”   I’ve seen pinatas suffer less abuse than Ben did last week.  But he’s a gamer and after a quarter or two, I expect he’ll be right back into the groove he found last week.  The Bengals give up points in bunches (fifth worst in the league) so scoring shouldn’t be a problem.

In many ways, this game is the key to the rest of the Steelers season.  Pittsburgh has only one tough game remaining after Sunday (the Jets next week) with two gimmes against the Panthers and Browns to finish out the year.  And if anybody watched that debacle Monday night, you know the Jets are far from unbeatable.  So I fully expect a 3-1 record down the stretch.

That would put the Steelers at 12-4 and almost certainly ensure a first round bye.  With the injuries this team has suffered, I believe they need a week off if they hope to make any noise in the postseason.  While on paper the Black and Gold are clearly the better team, Cincy always seems to find a way to play the Steelers tough.  A loss here and the Jets game becomes almost a must-win (which, as I said, isn’t impossible but far from a sure thing) as does playing out the string against the two bottom feeders.  So, for once, let’s hope the Steelers do things the easy way, win the game they should win, and turn their attention to next week’s battle of the titans.

Allow me to take you back in time.  It’s 2002 and Kris Brown signs an offer sheet from a brand-spanking new expansion franchise called the Houston Texans.  The Pittsburgh Steelers elect not to match, allowing their solid if unspectacular kicker to leave.  In his place, they bring in veteran Todd Peterson.  Unfortunately, Peterson has no clue how to kick at Heinz Field, missing almost 50% of his attempts before getting “injured.”  Bill Cowher brings in three kickers, lines them up, and basically says, “Whoever puts the most balls through the uprights wins a job.”

Thus, the Jeff Reed era begins.

Now comes word that era is about to end in much the same way.  ESPN’s Adam Schefter, one of the few reliable NFL Insiders, is reporting the Steelers will hold a kicker try-out this afternoon.  If one of them sufficiently impresses the coaching staff, the Steelers will cut Skippy shortly thereafter.  EDIT: Which Jeff Reed has been. It’s confirmed, he’s been cut.  In fact, there are reports he was already cut last night and today’s “try-outs” were just a formality.  Former Redskin Shaun Suisham is your new kicker. More detailed thoughts about Suisham to follow tomorrow.

Quite a turn of events for the man tabbed the team’s Franchise Player this past off-season.

Of course, Skippy brought this all upon himself.  His antics are something the Black and Gold would barely tolerate from a real football player, never mind a lowly kicker.  The only reason he’s survived fighting with cops, beating up towel dispensers, and basically acting like a drunken fool is his remarkable ability to kick at Heinz Field.   Well, this season he’s currently dead last in home field goal percentage.  Between that and the fact he’s failed to make clutch kicks on three separate occasions (Ravens, Saints, Bengals), it would seem his “Get Out Of Jail Free” card has finally been played out.

The final straw appears to be his bizarre post-game rant following Sunday night’s beatdown at the hands of the New England Patriots.  From James Harrison‘s “I try to hurt people, not injure them,” to Mike Tomlin‘s “It would be tough for me to care less about their opinion, to be honest with you,” we’ve had some all-time great quotes this season.   But the Jeff Reed Manifesto may trump of all them.  As told to the Post-Gazette:

“I’m not going to make excuses.”

Great!

“If you’ve played any kind of sports in your life, you realize that what we play on is not very good turf. It happens.”

Err…   That kinda sounds like an excuse, Skippy.

“It hurts me that I don’t help this team get points. But percentages are way overrated.”

A quick reminder: NPC and Hatchette Book Group are giving away two copies of Merril Hoge‘s fantastic autobiography, “Find A Way.” Check out the post below for details on how to enter.

Last week, I noticed a bunch of sites doing mid-season reviews. Great except week eight isn’t really the mid-way point any more. With the bye, most teams don’t play their eighth game until week nine. Since I’ve always been a stickler for details, here are my Pittsburgh Steelers Mid-Season Awards, which we’ll call The Chinnys.

Chinny For Most Pleasant Surprise of the Year:  Maurkice Pouncey

From Mike Webster to Dermontti Dawson to Jeff Hartings, the Steelers have a tradition of excellence at center. Since Hartings sudden retirement in 2006, the position has been in disarray. And as the center has floundered, so has the entire offensive line. If the O-line is the brick wall which protects the fortress, then the center is the keystone which holds the whole thing together.

Yes, Pouncey was a first-rounder. Yes, he was the eighteenth pick in the entire draft. But expecting a rookie to start, let alone play at an All-Pro level, was asking a lot. The center has to recognize the defense and change protection schemes accordingly. It’s a lot of responsibility beyond simply snapping the ball and blocking your man. Pouncey has handled it all and then some.

Chinny For Most Unpleasant Surprise of the Year:  Bryant McFadden

I live-blogged the draft this past April and other than Pouncey in the first round, the biggest buzz from Steeler Nation was over the trade bringing B-Mac back from Pittsburgh West Arizona.  With good reason as William Gay plays corner about as well as he raps.

Unfortunately, the expected improvement hasn’t materialized.  In fact, it’s gotten worse.  The Steelers are currently ranked 24th against the pass as opposed to last year when the much-criticized secondary finished 16th.   B-Mac played well during the Super Bowl run of 2008 but that is looking more and more like an anomaly as time goes on.

The Steelers should have made a play for Antonio Cromartie, a legit shutdown corner who the Jets stole for a lousy 3rd round draft pick.  I mean, let’s not pretend like the Steelers really give a crap about character any more.  Cro hasn’t committed any crimes except banging groupies while riding bareback, anyway.   Think what an unbelievable defense we could’ve had for a middling draft choice and a box crate of Trojan Ultra-Thins.

Chinny for Coach Of the Year (Steelers staff only):  Sean Kugler

When your previous O-line coach’s biggest claim to fame is sending links to Japanese bukkake videos to Dan Rooney, your bar is pretty low.  And having a superstar rookie like Maurkice Pouncey doesn’t hurt.  But when a line which gave up 50 sacks last year cuts that number to 16 half way through this season, the offensive line coach must be doing something right.  Especially considering all the injuries Kugler has had to deal with.

Willie Colon was lost during OTAs.  Flozell Adams was brought in and switched positions.  Trai Essex has missed significant time with an ankle.  Kemo has battled injury.  And I’m sure you’ve all heard Max Starks was placed on injured reserve yesterday, ending his season.

The line has been absolutely decimated to the point Matt Spaeth was practicing his blocking technique last Monday in case they needed him to come in and play tackle.  And yet no matter who shuffles in and who shuffles out, the line play has remained pretty steady.

Chidi Awouma Memorial Special Teams Chinny:  Jeff Reed

Chidi was a special teams ace who seldom failed to deliver.  I was going to go positive with this award, giving it to Emmanuel Sanders for averaging 26 yards yards per kick return and causing that pivotal fumble on Monday’s opening kickoff.  However, Stefan Logan, now with the Lions, is averaging 30 yards per return and has a 105 yard TD to his credit so I can’t really say we upgraded in that area.

Therefore, I’m going negative and giving the Chidi Chinny to Jeff Reed as his farewell present.  I suppose he may be back next season but I wouldn’t count on it.   Skippy was tagged as the team’s Franchise Player during the off-season, then whined about wanting to be one of the game’s highest paid kickers, then whined some more when the season started and he didn’t receive a long-term contract.  He’s only hit 70% of his FGs this season, a career low, while missing clutch kicks in the Baltimore, New Orleans, and Cincy games.

Chinny For Anti-MVP:  Troy Polmalu

I love Troy.  He’s a great player and a true gentleman.  However, something has gone terribly awry with him this season.  After the Titans game where he made that incredible flying tackle on Kerry Collins at the goal line, I was ready to start a Troy4MVP campaign on Facebook.  Where has he been since then?

He’s been a non-factor.  Troy’s made a career fooling QBs into thinking he was doing one thing when he was doing another.  He’s not fooling anybody this year.   In fact, his guessing in the New Orleans game left guys wide open on several big plays.   You know how many sacks he has this year?   NONE.  ZERO.  ZIP.  BUPKISS.

But the crowning moment of suck was Monday when he got his ass hair handed to him by Peko on that goal line stand.  I hope Head & Shoulders gets tire tracks out ’cause he got trucked.

Once upon a time, you could count on Troy making one or two big game-changing plays every week.  This season, I can’t think of any since the second game of the year.  I grant you part of it is offenses staying away from him and part of it is him dropping into coverage a lot more to help our crappy secondary.  But we spent an entire off-season thinking, “If we only had Troy, we wouldn’t give up fourth quarter leads.”  Troy’s back and guess what?  We’re still struggling in the fourth quarter.  This defense is very good but for it to be great, we need Troy to be Troy.

Chinny For MVP:  Lawrence Timmons

NPC readers picked Timmons and I wholeheartedly agree.   It’s funny, last season many of us were discussing if Timmons could be considered a bust.   He certainly had a rough first year as a starter.  When the Steelers re-signed Larry Foote, many (including myself and the legendary Stan Savran) felt Foote should start in the base defense with Timmons playing on passing downs.

This year, Timmons has been an absolute beast.   He leads the team with 58 tackles, including 3 sacks and a forced fumble.   In addition, he has 2 INTs and 6 passes defensed, thus proving he’s as valuable dropping back as rushing the passer.  He’s been stout against the run and is so fast that he’s capable of covering tight ends and slot receivers.   Clay Matthews, who most feel is the front-runner for Defensive Player of Year, is a fantastic player but compare their stats.  Matthews racked up 10.5 sacks but only has 28 tackles and 2 passes defensed.

There isn’t a linebacker in the league who can do what Timmons does.  In a way, Timmons is almost the new Troy Polamalu.   Troy used to be the guy who played all over the field and you never knew where he was going to attack from.   Now it’s Timmons who lines up like he’s going to blitz but falls back into coverage or moves like he’s been fired from a cannon in running a RB down from behind.  When someone as dense as Peter King acknowledges that LT is the best linebacker on a team filled with great linebackers, you know he’s something special.

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.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have some unhappy training campers over at St. Vincent’s.   The team which refuses to negotiate contracts during the season has decreed all off-season contract discussions have officially ended.

This is interesting because several important players are in the final year of their deals.  Ike Taylor, the only corner on the Steelers who doesn’t attempt to cover receivers by giving them a five yard cushion, hasn’t griped.   Linebacker LaMarr Woodley has.  In fact, he’s been quite upfront with his displeasure over not getting a new deal.   Although I usually trust Kevin Colbert and company, I do not like hearing that Mr. Woodley is upset.  If I were the Steelers, I’d present him one of those big ass Publishers Clearinghouse checks in whatever dollar amount he wants.

Another pending free agent who’s not too happy is kicker Jeff Reed.

Reed, you see, was a free agent this summer.   The team tagged him as their Franchise Player meaning he was obligated to play for them this season for the average salary of the top 5 players at his position.   In 2010, that amounts to $2.8 million.

But Skippy is not pleased about this situation.  Yes, being paid almost three million bucks to kick an oblong ball through two upright sticks would make most people happy.  But Jeff feels he’s been lied to, mislead, taken advantage of, hornswoggled, and bamboozled.

Forget about the oil spill in the Gulf, why isn’t President Obama doing anything about the human rights violations taking place in Latrobe?   This is a travesty of the highest order!   If we allow kickers to be mistreated in such a heinous manner, where will these sickening abuses end?  Who’s next?   Punters?

“I’m really disappointed … extremely … little bit bitter,” said our courageous kicker in this article published in the Post-Gazette. I would be disappointed too!   How can people call the Rooneys honorable owners?   Why they’re modern day slave drivers if you ask me.

Poor Skippy has to go out there every day in his Bermuda shorts and kick a half dozen or so footballs and then drink some Gatorade.  It’s hot out there!   And then during the season he kicks even more, during actual game situations!   That’s stressful let me tell you.  And then there are the kickoffs!   Sure they only travel about 40 yards but he has to actually RUN up to the ball!    He’s also expected to run across the field to make a tackle if the return man escapes containment.   But physical contact isn’t really Skippy’s job.  He saves that for towel dispensers and the groupies he meets down at the Strip.

Tackling is for those stupid “football players” to do.   He’s perfectly content to run in the opposite direction once the ball is in the air.   Who would kick field goals if some horrific injury, such as an ingrown toenail, were to befall him?  Casey Hampton?  Jeff Reed is a kicker, man!  83.3% lifetime you know!

For all this backbreaking work the Steelers have THE NERVE to only pay him three million dollars?

Let’s all shed a tear for Skippy.