Why the Steelers Need to Bring Their "A" Game to Texas

Just click your heels and the Steeler offensive line will be fixed

If it was only so easy, I would put on those red slippers like Dorothy did in “The Wizard of Oz”, click my heels together and the bad stuff would all go away.  (I know I will get comments from some of my friends about that sentence.)  Right now, the bad news for the Steeler offensive line is like the runaway train in “Unstoppable” (filmed in Pennsylvania in 2009-2010).  Every day, more and more bad news comes rolling down the tracks.

On Friday, Doug Legursky and Jonathan Scott were ruled out of Sunday’s game versus the Texans.  Now there are many Steeler fans who let out a big cheer when that was announced but when they came back to their senses, they realized who would be taking their places, Ramon Foster and Trai Essex, and they popped a few Rolaids to keep their lunch down.  I’m not hating on Foster and Essex, it’s just that if they aren’t starters on an offensive line that is struggling, then how bad can this get?  I didn’t blame all of the problems last week on the offensive line, I thought it was a collective disaster.

The problem with the offensive line is that there isn’t any consistency.  There have been players shifted between positions since day one of training camp.  The offensive line is unique, think of it as a chain on a bike.  If one link is off, the whole bike can’t move forward.  The entire offense is similar, in that everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to: the snap count; the blocking scheme; the timing of the play; the handoff from the QB; and the patience or urgency of the running back when hitting the hole.  If the timing is off or players are confused or indecisive at the point of attack, then you are in a load of trouble.  The lack of consistency in the offensive line has resulted in a running game that is ranked 23^rd in the NFL in yards/game (85.7) and an offense with twice as many turnovers (10) as TD’s (5).  All this is coming at a time when teams are lighting up the scoreboard.  Needless to say, this is NOT Steeler football.

The reason why this is such a big deal is that the Steelers face a pass rusher in Mario Williams who can dominate one side of the offensive line.  On the other side, JJ Watt is proving to be no slouch himself.  He was selected in the first round of the 2011 draft out of Wisconsin, the 11^th pick overall.  He is the total package of big, strong and fast.  They also have DeMeco Ryans who would be a starting linebacker on every other NFL team and Brian “Juice” Cushing who can ‘needle’ his way into any backfield. 

Now I know some people might take exception with my assessment here but the numbers and the successes don’t lie.  The brain trust behind the Texans’ defensive improvement this year is none other than Wade Phillips.  Although Wade has had a less than stellar career as a head coach, his defenses have always been much closer to the top than the bottom.  Last year, the Texans defense was 29^th overall.  This year, they are 10^th…..and that’s after Drew Brees lit them up for 40 points last week (then again, Drew Brees lights most teams up for 35+). 

Offensively, the Texans are loaded with talent.  They are averaging 30 points/game and they are ranked 5th in rushing yards/game (138yds) and 12th in passing yards/game (262yds).  Matt Schaub is everyone’s 2^nd level QB behind Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers.  Andre Johnson is an amazing athlete and wide receiver.  He is big, strong and fast and he has a focus on the field that is unmatched.  The Texans also have a supporting staff that is better than most in the NFL: Owen Daniels; Eric Winston; Arian Foster; Kevin Walter; and Ben Tate (and the only throwing Matt Leinart is doing is throwing beer parties for college girls). 

Is it all gloom and doom?  No.  The Steelers must play their best game of the year.  They need to play like they did against the Eagles in the preseason.  If they can limit their mistakes, play as a cohesive unit and exploit the weaknesses that the Saints pointed out last week, we could see a big Steeler victory deep in the heart of Texas.  Here are some keys to winning.

What the Steelers need to do to win:

1)    Run the football—keep the ball out of the hands of the Texans stars and establish an attitude with the O-line

2)    Get a big play defensively—the Steeler defense has only 1 turnover in 3 games.  Really?

3)    Win the special teams matchup—if the Steeler offense can’t get rolling then field position will be much more important.  A score on special teams would be a big help.

4)    No turnovers—you can’t give the Texans 13 points like the Steelers did with the Colts.

5)    Hit Matt Schaub—Schaub has never been confused with being a tough guy.  Send a message by hitting him hard and often.

Pat Kirwan, a longtime NFL executive and host of “Moving the Chains” on Sirius NFL Radio, said that he likes the Steelers in this game because throughout the Super Bowl era, you rarely see the Steelers play 2 bad games in a row.  He’s right and I hope that this claim holds true on Sunday.  What are your thoughts?  Please comment below.

Photo courtesy of tangoshoedivas.com

Why the new kickoff rule could change salaries and rosters across the NFL

Antonio Brown might have limited chances in the kicking game with the new NFL rules

On Friday afternoon, as I drove through the Pennsylvania countryside, I heard a commentator on Sirius NFL radio complain that the new kickoff rule in the NFL was ruining one of the most exciting plays in the game.  (For those of you who are not aware, teams will be kicking off from their own 35 yard line instead of the 30.  This has resulted in a drastic increase in touchbacks.)  I called Sirius and explained to the commentators that this could transform rosters especially when faced with multiple injuries at a certain position.  For example, say a team loses two defensive tackles early in the season.  If they have a strong kicking game, they could decide to kick into the endzone on kickoffs (more than likely resulting in a touchback) and punt the ball out of bounds on 4th down.  The team could cut their 7th defensive back and 7th receiver who both cover kicks and sign 3 or 4 defensive tackles to shore up the weakspot left by injuries (veteran players could pick up the slack on kick coverage).  The commentator pointed out that in bad weather situations the kickers might not be able to kick the same and there is no guarantee that the kicker will kick the ball into the endzone every time.  These are valid points and I would also add that there is no guarantee that the opposing team will take a touchback--but I highly doubt that head coaches are going to risk having the returners being tackled inside their own 20 during the regular season to make the game more exciting for the fans.  Just in case you are scoring at home, this weekend's pre-season games had 140 kickoffs with 44 touchbacks (106 of those kicks made it to the endzone so that means 62 were returned) and week 1 of the 2010 pre-season saw 150 kickoffs and 26 touchbacks (63 made it to the endzone). 

Date       # of Kickoffs     Reached endzone     Touchbacks (%)    Returned

8/2010         150                        63                           26  (17%)                     124

8/2011         140                       106                          44  (31%)                      96

They almost doubled the amount of touchbacks and that was with returners bringing the ball out when deep in the endzone.  For example, during last night's Jets/Texans game, the returners were catching the ball 5-6 yards deep in the endzone and returning it.  The explanation for this was that the coaches wanted to see their young players get a chance to make a play.  Pre-season games mean nothing (see my blog post from 8/13/11) so the coaches weren't risking anything by letting the young guys return kicks that the coaches would never allow in the regular season--and you can forget the playoffs.  So let's assume a team normally receives 5 kickoffs per game.  If four of those kickoffs go into the endzone then there is no reason to hold a roster spot for a kickoff return specialist.  If guys like Devin Hester and Josh Cribbs are limited to one touch per game in the special teams area, then their value drops dramatically.  You could use your 4th string running back to return a kick just in case it doesn't make the endzone and cut your high-priced return specialist.  So you go from paying a guy like Cribbs millions of dollars per year to a reserve player who is probably around the league minimum and you save a roster spot for an area of need.  To me, this is a no-brainer. 

For the last 20 years, the NFL has tried to jazz up special teams to make them more exciting.  Initially, they moved the kickoff back from the 35 to the 30 to reduce the frequency of touchbacks, now they are going back to the old way to reduce the head-on, full-speed collisions that can result in serious injury.  The NFL introduced the K-ball to make fieldgoals more exciting.  They eliminated the wedge block so that kick coverage teams could more easily attack the ball carrier.  Some people might say that this change is the further wussification of the game.  Only time will tell what strategies that special teams coaches will use to make their units more relevant but if the numbers play out, you can extend your bathroom break after a score for an extra minute.

ap photo robert smith

The Steeler Way

I know that around the league when people say "The Steeler Way" of doing things, it either sends a feeling of pride through the veins of a Steeler lover and a shiver of jealousy through the bones of the Steeler haters. But I think we saw 3 examples of "The Steeler Way" today from three players who love their team and what has become their town.

First, there was Willie Colon. I have been listening to Willie, on Sirius NFL radio for the last year, talk about how much he loves the Steelers and that he didn't want to play anywhere else. Some people questioned that loyalty because they knew that Willie would receive free agent offers from other teams that could very well rival what the Steelers could or would offer him. Willie agreed to a 5 year, $29 million contract with the Steelers today. You might say that $29 million buys you a lot of loyalty. But when a player is offered $3 million more dollars by another team (10% more than the Steelers were offering) and he has just come back from a serious injury, I think you can assume that he values "The Steeler Way".

The other two Steeler players that I am referring to are Emmanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace. James Walker, who writes the AFC North blog for ESPN, tweeted "after being told WR Emmanuel Sanders is aiming for 1000 yards, Mike Wallace then said his goal is 2000 yards receiving". This might be the most competitive group of wide receivers we have seen since Lynn Swann and John Stallworth were chewing Terry Bradshaw's ears off for the football. Word was that last year, the competition between Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders was so fierce, that coaches struggled up until gametime to decide who would be activated.

All in all, this team is a fiercely competitive one and failure is NOT an option.

Photo courtesy of Steelers.com