Although the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Miami Dolphins tomorrow, their actual enemies are the list of teams blocking their path to a Wild Card playoff berth.  And to be even more technical, their enemy isn’t so much the teams ahead of them in the standings but the teams they are going to play.  If more teams follow the disgraceful example of the Indianapolis Colts and purposely tank games in order to “rest their starters,” our playoff hopes quickly go from slim to none.  So before we worry about the Fins, let’s take a look at what needs to happen tomorrow:

1) Steelers win and Houston loses or ties and New York Jets lose or tie.

2) Steelers win and Houston loses or ties and Baltimore loses or ties.

3) Steelers win and New York Jets lose or tie and Baltimore loses or ties and Denver loses or tie.

Mister Woodley already made his thoughts known on what he thinks other teams are going to do.  The Ratbirds travel out to Oakland while the Broncos have the Chiefs.  Assuming those teams win, our best hope is for scenario number one.  Displaying the class and dignity absent from the Colts, Bill Belichick has told Tom Brady that he is going to start against Houston.  I can’t believe I just typed that.  The Jets play the Bengals on Sunday night and Ochocinco has been talking trash on Twitter all week indicating the starters are also expected to play in that game.  The problem is both New England and Cincy are locked into the #3 and #4 seeds so regardless of what happens, neither team can earn a first round bye which means how long the starters play is anybody’s guess.

Of course, all these what ifs are pointless unless the Steelers take care of their own business against the Dolphins.  The Fins were basically eliminated from the race last week so they’re mostly playing the role of spoiler here.  The 1-15 Dolphins of 2007 probably weren’t that bad while the 11-5 team of last year probably wasn’t that good.  The 2009 team likely lies somewhere in between.

Offensively, they made great strides last season thanks to solid QB play from Chad Pennington and RB Ronnie Brown‘s exploits running the Wildcat.  Both players were lost to injury earlier in the season so the offense has had to change a bit.  Thanks to a resurgent Ricky Williams, they are still one of the top rushing teams in the NFL.  Former #1 overall pick Jake Long anchors a solid offensive line and former WVU Mountaineer Pat White provides a new twist to the Wildcat.  QB-of-the-future Chad Henne has come on as of late although this is still for all intents and purposes his rookie season.  He’s a stronger thrower than noodle-armed Pennington and has good instincts although their WR corps is pretty weak.  Basically, don’t let the Wildcat beat you and your chances of winning the game are pretty good.

Which is my one big concern this week.  Last week, the Steelers were gashed in the running game.  The loss of Aaron Smith and the abject failure of Lawrence Timmons as a run stopping LB finally reared its ugly head.  Also, the Wildcat is a formation which does very well against a pursuing type defense where players fly toward the ball and leave their gaps.  The Steelers fit that tendency to a tee.  I hate to remind people of this but recall the debacle in Cleveland a few weeks back where Josh Cribbs killed the Steelers running out of the Wildcat.  If the D can stay in their lanes and play a disciplined game, even our horrific secondary should be able to contain the Dolphins offense.

Defensively, Miami managed to hold nine opponents to 17 points or less last year, primarily due to a superb run defense.  Woodland Hills alum (and Dancing With The Stars champion) Jason “Twinkle Toes” Taylor returned after a one year vacation in Washington to shore up the pass rush while old friend Joey Porter continues to play at a high level.  Recognizing a weakness in their secondary, they used their first two draft picks on CBs Vontae Davis and Sean Smith.   Rookie CBs tend to struggle early on and thus Miami currently ranks near the bottom of the league in pass defense.

Which is obviously going music to the ears of newly elected Team MVP Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the offense.  Even though Hines Ward is playing on two sprained hamstrings, he’ll suit up because the man is a warrior.  And the passing game still has plenty of  weapons regardless of his effectivenesss.  I’m most impressed by Steelers Rookie of the Year, Mike Wallace, who is quickly emerging as future star.  If Ben learns to air out the ball instead of underthrowing Wallace every damn time, we could be treated to a whole bunch of 40+ yard TDs for years to come.

Finally, a sad note.  Troy Polamalu had targeted this game for his return.  Although he has practiced in a limited fashion all week, all indications are he will not play.  Actually, I’m happy for that.   Not that I wouldn’t love to see #43 flying all over the field.  In practical terms, this game means nothing.   If the Steelers win and don’t get help, Troy rushed himself back for no reason.  If the Steelers win and manage to sneak into the playoffs, I’d rather have Troy back for that game than this one.

Let’s just hope there is one more game left to play after this week.

I’m turning over a new leaf.

After stewing over Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Indianapolis Colts, I’ve decided to stop dwelling on the negative. There’s no point in rehashing the past. What’s done is done and we must march onward toward the future.

I think I’ve watched one too many Mike Tomlin press conferences.

Anyway, instead of criticizing what’s gone horribly wrong with the Pittsburgh Steelers, I’m going to try and help them. From now on, this blog will be solutions oriented. Obviously, Tomlin and Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians need all the help they can get. I may have never coached one down of football at any level but I kick all kinds of ass when it comes to designing plays on Madden ’09 so I feel qualified to offer my advice. Arians probably blows at video games.

With that in mind, I’ve devised four easy-to-implement solutions which can’t help but drastically improve our offensive play.

1 – Establish Identity

The Steelers have been a running team going all the way back to the Dynasty teams of the 70’s. Ball control, grind-it-out offenses which throw the ball only as a complement to the ground game. There was a brief period when Jerome Bettis was hurt and our backups stunk where we became a high-powered run-and-gun offense under Tommy Maddox but that didn’t last long. And it wasn’t too successful either.

Over half way through this season and does anybody know what kind of offense we are?

We currently rank 24^th in rushing offense. Think about that. We’re currently behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks if both total yards and average/game.  Clearly we’re not a running team.

Maybe we’re a passing team. Hmmm… Well what do you know? We’re ranked a stunning 24^th in that category, too. Right behind the high-powered attacks of the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers. Guess we’re not much of a passing team either.

I’m sure some people will point to our injury situation this year. Those people are idiots. Every team has injuries and unless you’re ineptly coached or poorly managed, you should be able to work through them. Sometimes that means finding new players. Sometimes that means finding new strategies.  Blaming poor play on injuries is just the ultimate in excuse making for homers in denial.

The Patriots were a high-powered aerial attack under Tom Brady. He was lost for the season, then they lost not only their starting running back but his backup as well. Guess what? They’re 7^th in rushing offense this season using an undrafted free agent who was 4^th on their depth chart at the start of the year. Yet they’re winning using a primarily running based offense because that’s what works best with their current personnel.

Mewelde Moore is a more than capable back. Gary Russell has looked decent when given a chance. Our line doesn’t always excel at run blocking but that’s the kind of thing which tends to improve with repetition. There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to go back to old fashioned Steeler football. For that to happen, however, a commitment has to be made to the run. That means no more of this one carry and then two passes crap. You have to keep feeding the backs even if the first few carries don’t net many yards.

2 – Throw It Away

Ben Roethlisberger is a magician. He has escaped sure doom to make a big play more often than any QB not named Flutie. However, he has to be smarter when it comes to time and place.

The Steelers only had 2 sacks on Peyton Manning last week. One reason is when he felt the heat bearing down on him, he’d throw the ball away. Does anybody remember the last time they’ve seen Big Ben do this? I honestly can’t.

He tries to save EVERY play. That’s either extremely confident or stupidly cocky. In any case, it’s hurting the team more than helping. When it’s the first half and you’re facing a 2^nd and 10, there is no harm in throwing the ball away so you may live to fight another play. How many times this season has Ben faced this situation and while twisting and turning like Urkel on the dance floor, he ends up taking a seven yard sack? If he learned to throw the ball away, we’d have a lot more 3^rd and 6’s instead of 3^rd and 14’s.

Obviously, if the team is down by 10 in the 4^th quarter, sure you try to make something happen. If it’s 3^rd down at midfield, sure you try to make something happen. But if you’re nursing a 3 point lead deep in your territory, that is not the time to take chances. Be smart.

3 – Start The QB Who Can Make All The Throws

The Tiffin Thunderbolt Nate Washington caught a bomb to break the game open against the Bengals. He caught another one to break it open against the Redskins. Last week? Nada. Know why?

The answer can be found in the Post-Gazette’s Notebook item on Ben:

The quarterback threw with limited effectiveness in drills and had ice applied to his right shoulder before leaving the practice field.

He didn’t hit Nate deep because he couldn’t throw deep. Why the hell would you start a QB if you know he can’t make all the throws? That’s ridiculous. If they want a guy who can’t get the ball more than 20 yards down the field under center, they should’ve signed Chad Pennington instead of Byron Leftwich.

Determine exactly what Ben’s injury situation will allow him to do. If he can play up to his normal level or reasonably close, start him. If he can’t, he sits. Simple as that.

4 – Simplify Schemes

Let’s be honest, athletes are not the brightest bulbs on the tree. One of the reasons given for Ben’s tremendous season last year was the fact Arians supposedly simplified a lot of the playbook he inherited from Ken Whisenhunt.

The terminology might be easier to remember but the schemes appear to be more complex than ever. There’s always an occasional miscommunication between receiver and QB. We all know it when it happens but only a douche like Neil O’Donnell throws their teammate under the bus publicly.

This year, however, there seems to be a degree of confusion which extends beyond the occasional. I often see two receivers running oddly similar routes. Other times I see them making complicated dekes, bobs, and curls which would make Sidney Crosby jealous. And there have been a lot of times where throws have gone to one spot while the wide out has gone to another.

Our line takes a lot of heat and they are definitely weak. But anybody who knows the basics of football knows a QB only has an average of 3-4 seconds to drop back and let the ball go.  Provided you can count that high, time them yourself the next time you see them play and you’ll realize except for on all-out blitzes, the line usually provides that much time.

They have given Ben a chance to step up and throw the ball on a fairly consistent basis.  The problem has been the 3 seconds of time they allot the QB hasn’t been enough to allow the complicated routes to develop. By the time the WR is in position and Ben has spotted them, he’s got a guy in his face.

The reason the offense tends to look much better in No Huddle situations is because that’s when you’re dealing with a very simple and limited set of plays. They are just basic formations and routes and everything is quick hits. That’s what we need to see more of, not just in Two Minute Drills, but in any passing situation.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to draw up a few tricky Wildcat type plays for the sadly unused Dennis Dixon.