Steelers vs Ravens: Overtime rewind

• The Steelers won the coin toss and chose to receive to start overtime
• Mendenhall on two carries gets the first down.
• Dennis Dixon throws the ball deep to Mike Wallace but out of bounds
• Steelers punt the ball out of bounds to the Ravens
• The Ravens go three and out and punt to the Steelers
• Dennis Dixon throws an interception on 3^rd down and the Ravens return the ball 20 yards.  Ravens are already in field goal range and are about ready to kick a field goal to win the game in overtime.
• On 3^rd down, Ray Rice runs for a 1^st down.  The Ravens have only a 32 yard field goal to win the game.
• Ray Rice runs the ball again for another first down
• The Ravens kick a field goal to win the game.

Score: Ravens 20 Steelers 17

Mendenhall to start against Vikings

Rashard Mendenhall, the second year 1^st round pick from Illinois is set to start against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.  This is the first time in Mendenhall’s career that he is set to start when both he and Parker are healthy.  According to head coach Mike Tomlin, Mendenhall has officially passed Willie Parker on the depth chart by indicating that Mendenahll has the “hot hand”.

This has been an incredible turn of events for Mendenhall.  Less than a month ago, Tomlin didn’t play Mendenhall one snap against the Cincinnati Bengals because he didn’t feel comfortable that Mendenhall knew his assignments and lacked game time preparation throughout the week.  Now, Mendenhall has impressed coaches, teammates, and fans alike with his running style that’s been averaging over 5 yards a carry.  Mendenhall has showed a great, and decisive burst through the hole, speed, hands (in the passing game), and the ability to break tackles.  He’s been one of the pleasant surprises this year along with Mike Wallace.

Mendenhall will have a difficult task this week against a very strong Vikings defensive front.  Many critics of Mendenhall say that his success is due to the weak run defenses of the San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions, and Cleveland Browns.   This week, Mendenhall has the opportunity to silence those critics.

Fantasy Focus: Steelers vs Browns

This week kicks off another entry of our fantasy football prediction blog.  Steelers face off against the 1-4 Cleveland

Browns today at 1pm at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA.  The Steelers have the opportunity to win its 3^rd straight game against a struggling Cleveland Browns team.  Last week, the Browns somehow pulled out a 6-3 victory against the Buffalo Bills which was one of the most painful games I had to watch in a long time.  Starting Browns quarterback, Derek Anderson went a miserable 2-17 in passing, but somehow the Browns were victorious.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a 28-20 win against the Detroit Lions.  The Steelers offense looked impressive again with Rashard Mendenhall averaging over 5 yards a carry and Ben Roethlisberger distributing the ball nicely to a wide range of his weapons including Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward, Heath Miller and rookie, Mike Wallace.

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Not so impressive was the Steelers defense.  Again, the defense allowed an inferior team to come back in the first quarter until a streak of sacks by LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison ended the game.  From the defensivie perspective, the good news is that all-pro safety, Troy Polamalu is returning to action for the first time since the season opener against the Tennessee Titans.  The bad news is standout defensive end, Aaron Smith, who is critical to the Steelers 3-4 is out for the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff.

And now for our Predictions:

Pittsburgh Steelers

Ben Roethlisberger – Big Ben is off to one of his best starts in his already very successful career from a statistical perspective.  Roethlisberger is 1^st in the league in completion percentage and second in total yards only behind Peyton Manning. Roethlisberger is being considered a league Most Valuable Player (MVP) by most and I expect his numbers to only get better especially against a struggling Browns team.  Big Ben is a strong pickup this week amongst fantasy owners.

Heath Miller – Miller is on pace for his first Pro Bowl appearance and has been exceptional for the Steelers passing game so far this season.  Miller is second on the team with 29 receptions and 235 yards. He also leads the receiving corps with 3 TD’s.  Expect about 60 yards receiving and another touchdown for Heath Miller this week.

Hines Ward – Ward is the Steelers leading receiver thus far this season with 33 receptions and 440 yards receiving.  With Holmes wrist injury continuing to be a nagging problem, Ward will see more balls thrown his way.  However, it’s concerning to fantasy owners that Ward only has 1 touchdown so far this season.  With all things considering Ward is still a good play this week against the Browns.

Rashard Mendenhall – Mendenall has looked real impressive the past couple of weeks with Willie Parker being out due to a turf toe injury.  In two games, Mendenhall is averaging over 5 yards a carry and has 3 touchdowns.  Against the league’s worst running defense Mendenhall is expected to start and will see the majority of all carries with Fast Willie being the change of pace back as he recovers from his injury.

Ben Roethlisberger Jersey
Hines Ward Jersey
Rashard Mendenhall Jersey
Heath Miller Jersey
Santonio Holmes Jersey

Cleveland Browns

Joshua Cribbs – Unfortunately for the Browns, based on their play thus far this season, Cribbs is the only guy I would consider as a fantasy owner this week.  With Braylon Edwards being traded to the Jets, Cribbs should see some increased action as a 3^rd WR.  Aside from that, Cribbs is well known to be an extremely dangerous kick-off returner and has had prior success against the Steelers special teams unit.

Steelers Edge Lions

The Pittsburgh Steelers edged out another close one Sunday with a 28-20 victory against the one-win Detrot Lions.  Once again, the Steelers jumped out to an early lead only to let Daunte Culpepper resurrect the team.  Culpepper lead his team down the field with less than 2 minutes to play executing a drive which easily could have been the game tieing score.  The Steelers defense had other plans which resulted in 3 straight sacks of Culpepper and ultimately ending the game with James Harrison leading the way.

Steelers fans have reason for concern.  The Steelers have not been able to close teams out.  They need to be able to put the “nail in the coffin”.  In years past, the Steelers were able to control the clock with running the football.  Well, those days seem to be long gone for this Steelers group.  Against the Lions, the Steelers had no trouble moving the football but actually scored to quickly in respect that the Lions controlled the clock the majority of the second half. 

Game Stats

Ben Roethlisberger –  23-30, 277 yds, 3 tds
Rashard Mendenhall – 15 car, 77 yds, 1 td
Hines Ward – 7 rec, 85 yds, 1 td
Heath Miller – 5 rec, 54 yds, 1 td
Mike Wallace – 2 rec, 52 tds, 1d

Fantasy Focus: Steelers vs Chargers

This week kicks off another entry of our fantasy football prediction blog.  The Pittsburgh Steelers play at home for the first time since the NFL opener against the Tennessee Titans.  This is a must-win for the Steelers in order to keep up with the division leaders, Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens are currently up 2 games on a struggling Steelers team and the Steelers are looking to rebound against a very talented San Diego team after losing two close games in which they should have won convincingly.  Here is a list of fantasy football matchups that you may want to consider:

Pittsburgh Steelers

Ben Roethlisberger – Big Ben is going to have to come through against San Diego’s solid defensive front.  Even with the loss of Jamal Williams, the Chargers defense is loaded with playmakers.  However, Ben plays his best against good competition in prime time moments.  I expect more of the same from Big Ben.  Ben will put up 30 points on this

Chargers defense, at home, in primetime and display to the NFL why he is an elite quarterback in this league

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Mike Wallace – Wallace has been the only pleasant surprise for the Steelers this year.  He caught the most passes of any Steelers receiver last week totaling over 100 yards.  Wallace is a mismatch waiting to happen at the #3 spot.  He’s got amazing speed and quickness and hasn’t dropped a pass this season.  During the NFL draft, Wallace’s stock fell because scouts said his hands were suspect at best.  I don’t see that with this young kid, however I can’t say the same for Limas Sweed.

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Heath Miller – Miller is “Mr. Dependable”.  He always seems to do his job and do it well.  He has great hands and is a good blocker.  He “seals the edge” when lined up as a tight end and does surprisingly well when lined up as a fullback.  Last week, he was dominant on the first couple of drives as a receiving tight end.  But for some reason, offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians stopped designing plays to go to Miller.

Arians has been heavily criticized by Steelers fans and rightfully so.  Why would he not get Miller more involved in

this offense?

Heath Miller Jersey and other Steelers Apparel

Rashard Mendenahll – This is a “dark horse” pick.  Per Mike Tomlin, Mendnenall didn’t play one snap last week because he didn’t feel comfortable that Mendenhall knew his assignments (i.e. he failed the weekly written game plan test).  We need Mendenhall to step up now and I think he’ll show-off some of his talent this week (IF HE ACTUALLY RECEIVES PLAYING TIME).

Rashard Mendenhall Jersey and other Steelers Apparel

San Diego Chargers

Philip Rivers – Rivers was expected to be an MVP candidate this year.  He has loads of talent and is surrounded by talent. This could be a shootout-type game resulting in a classic Rivers vs Big Ben show down.  I expect both quarterbacks to put up good numbers this game.  With the Steelers pash rush less than desirable, Rivers could be in for a big game.

Antonio Gates –  Gates is in for a big game against this struggling defense.  With Polamalu out with an injury, the Steelers don’t have a good solution for the All-Pro tight end.  Lawrence Timmons has the speed and athleticism to cover Gates but it will be a challenge as is for any linebacker in the NFL.

Darren Sproles – Sproles is the type of running back the Steelers always have trouble with.  He has great cutback ability (i.e. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew) and has acceleration through the hole.  He’s also difficult to find behind a massive San Diego offensive line at 5-8 185 pounds.  Sproles might be most dangerous as a kick-off returner.  The Steelers special teams and defense must stay in their lanes and play disciplined football or Sproles could take one to the house on any given play.

Discuss at the Planet Steelers Forum

The Steelers 2008 Bust Class

Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed continue to disappoint Steeler Nation as well as their coaches.  Let’s start with

the 2008 1^st round pick standout from Illinois, Rashard Mendenhall.  Last season, Mendenhall’s rookie season was cut short when Baltimore Ravens, Ray Lewis laid a crushing hit on the rookie, fracturing his should and ending his season in the process. This year, Mendenhall has seen very limited playing time with Willie Parker as the primary back and Mewelde Moore seeing the majority of 3^rd down duties.  To top matters off, Mendenhall was basically benched by head coach Mike Tomlin because he wasn’t satisfied with the running back’s preparation going into Sunday’s division showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals.  It was reported that Tomlin requires his players to take a written test leading up to each game to determine how well each player knows their assignments.  Likewise, it’s an indicator of how well each player prepares for an upcoming game.  Shame on Mendenhall.  He should be embarrassed to let his more veteran teammates down.  What type of work ethic does this show about Mendenhall?  With the amount of money that 1^st round picks are making, and knowing he’s probably the future running back of the Pittsburgh Steelers, you would think he would make more of a conscience effort to help his team win.

Rashard Mendenhall Jersey

Now for the 2008 2^nd round pick from Texas, Limas Sweed.  Also a great athlete and standout during his college days,

the 6-4 220 pound receiver has a great combination of size and speed and a rare ability to beat defenses and get open down the field.  So, what’s the problem you may ask?  The guy can’t catch the ball.  He reminds me of Nate Washington in the early part of his career but worse.  He dropped a touchdown pass during the AFC Championship Game (AFCCG) which would have clinched the game.  Now, he drops a touchdown pass that inevitably costs the Steelers the game in their second straight loss of the year against the Bengals.  In Sweed’s defense, his drop wasn’t the primary reason for the Steelers losing against the Bengals (it was actually poor defense and coaching) but still.  When is this guy going to learn to hold onto the ball?  Coach Mike Tomlin threatened him this week by saying that he better catch the next pass thrown his way or he’ll be demoted to the 5^th wide receiver.  What a disappointment he has been this year.  It was thought that Sweed would fill in nicely as the number 3 wide receiver with the departure of Nate Washington.  With Sweed’s combination of size and speed, fans were hoping to see that “big target” that Big Ben has been wishing for.  Instead, we see a guy that was already replaced by rookie Mike Wallace as the number 3 wide receiver.  Regardless if Sweed keeps his number 4 wide receiver spot, he won’t see many passes thrown his way at all this season unless he regains that number 3 spot.

Limas Sweed Jersey

The 2008 Steelers draft class is looking like the poorest caliber of players in recent memory.   Let’s hope that changes in the very near future.

Discuss at the Planet Steelers Forum

Redskins top Steelers in second preseason game

The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped their first preseason game 13-17 of the year last night to the Washington Redskins. The game gave us a good opportunity to see the first team for the first couple of series. However more importantly it gave the youngsters an opportunity to showcase their skills in hopes of making the 53 man roster.

On a side note, starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not play due to an injury to his achillies heel from starting left tackle, Max Starks (6-8, 340 pounds) stepping on it. Initial tests confirmed that the injury does not appear to be serious. I really worry about the health of Big Ben this year. He may get sacked 50+ times this year if Max Starks & Co. continue to perform at this level. This offensive line looks to be just as bad as last year if not worse. They’re pass protection was subpar and they have not gotten any push in the run game.

The preseason record does not really matter. It’s the analysis of the players, and the “sharpness” of the game. It was good to see of the rookies such as Ziggy Hood do well. As a team though, the Steelers looked flat. They didn’t seem to have a sense of urgency outside of a few players, and they certainly weren’t “sharp” (13 penalties). Below are some quick notes from what I’ve observed from the game:

Lawrence Timmons - Excels in “search and destroy” mode but I still don’t think he’s strong in the run game. Once these guards get their hands on him, he really struggles to fight through blocks. Everytime the Redskins ran to his side, they gained positive yardage, somtimes in huge chunks too. I do not think I have ever seen Timmons read a run play, fight through a block inside, and stop a running back at or behind the line of scrimmage. It’s obvious to me that 3-4 ILB is not his ideal position during run plays at this point in his career. To be honest, if this becomes a consistent problem, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Keyaron Fox on 1st down.

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Limas Sweed – Similar to last game, Sweed dropped a very easy first down catch. However, he made a very nice sliding catch for 17 yards.

Mike Wallace – The “speedster” continues to impress. He has good hands and isn’t afraid to go across the middle.

Rashard Mendenhall – Did not play with the first team offense at all. When given the opportunity, he did well averaging 5.2 yards a carry (5 carries for 26 yards). He looks a little hesitant out there though.

Offensive Line – In defense of the OL, they were down 2 starters if you consider Darnell Stapleton a starter. Overall, they played poorly. On the first play of the game, Max Starks almost got Charlie Batch killed. The DE ran right around Starks like he wasn’t even there. I swear, a lawn chair would have done a better job blocking than Starks did on that particular play. They hardly gave Batch any time to throw and Batch being very immobile doesn’t help matters. Wow, we are very lucky to have Big Ben as our quarterback especially behind this OL. The OL also got very little push in the run game.

Daniel Sepulveda – It’s great to have a solid punter again. He is really going to help out our defense (not like they need much help). Sepulveda had 5 punts averagine 47.8 yards.

Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes – Both had 2 very nice catches for 1st downs. Hines’ was spectacular in a leaping grab on a post pattern with LaRon Landry on the coverage.

Dennis Dixon - 8/16 for 68 yards. He also had a few nice runs. He definitely has his hot and cold streaks. At this moment, I would not feel comfortable with him as our #2 QB.

Joe Burnett - Allowed the ball to be stripped on a punt return. He may have a hard time making the 53 man roster if he doesn’t progress with special teams. He needs to protect the ball better.

Ziggy Hood – Another strong performance for the first rounder with 4 tackles and 2 sacks. I see him getting immediately involved in the rotation to keep our starters fresh. On a side note, he is very quick for a big man.

Ra’Shon Harris – Another rookie with a strong performance. Seems to hold his ground well and gets a little push into the backfield. If Harris can make the 53 man roster, this would be a great injection of youth to the Steelers defensive line. Could he possibly progress to our future NT?

Troy Polamalu – In typical Troy fashion, he looks like he’s in mid season form

William Gay - Looks solid both in coverage and run support. I don’t think we’ll miss McFadden much as a starter. I just hope one of the young guys such as Burnett or Wallace step up to provide added depth to our secondary.

Keyaron Fox – Overall, solid ILB. Last night, he was particularly strong in run defense and led the team with 5 tackles. Very good to have a quality backup at ILB.

Other Backup LB’s – Arnold Harrison and Donovan Woods looked solid. Some of our backups could probably start on other teams which is a good problem to have. I’m also seeing Bruce Davis progress as well.

Stefan Logan – Did very well in both kick and punt returns. Averaged 40 yards a kick return (60 yarder in the 3rd quarter).

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