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I am generally an upbeat Steelers fan, but so far this season there are several areas which make me think that this just may not be our year. The following things need to change for the Steelers to make the Super Bowl run that we all believe they are capable of:
1. Injuries The Steelers seem like they are having an unusually high number of injuries this year. I don't think there has been a single game this year where at least one offensive lineman hasn't gone down and been unable to return to the game. As a result it has been completely impossible for the offensive line to develop the cohesiveness that is so critical. And now the injury bug has hit the defensive line--it looks like we only have 4 healthy D lineman for the Arizona game. Add in the injury to Harrison, and the Steelers have had more than their fair share. Is this just bad luck, or is it a function of having an older team? Probably a little of both, since the Offensive lineman who have been injured are relatively young, certainly in comparison to the Defensive lineman who are currently out injured. Injuries are part of the game of football, and sometimes the best team doesn't win because they have too many in a particular year (like the 1976 Steelers). But we need to get everyone healthy and have better luck on the injury front.
2. Lack of Takeaways. The Steelers only have 2 takeaways in the first 6 games of the season, which is historically bad. Last year the Steelers averaged over 2 takeaways per game, which is 6 times better than what they have been doing this year. Since 1940 only 20 NFL teams have gotten 2 or less takeaways in the first 6 games of the season. When you consider that the Steelers also had no takeaways in the Super Bowl against Green Bay or in the second half of the AFCCG against the Jets, the Steelers have gone nearly half a season with 2 takeaways. This is no way to win a championship. One of the major consequences of the takeaway failure has been that the Steelers offense never has a short field. Going into last week's game against Jacksonville the Steelers had only started 2 drives out of 44 in the opposing teams territory, and both of those were the result of good punt returns by Brown. I don't recall starting any drives against the Jags in their territory last week, which means that 96% of the time this season the Steelers have started on their own side of the 50 yard line. This is one of the reasons the Steelers offense has struggled to score points this season (albeit not the only one). So what is the reason for the lack of takeaways, lack of intensity by the Steelers or bad luck? As with the injuries, it's probably a little of both. I just don't think that the Steelers defense so far this season has played with the kind of intense , reckless abandon that cause turnovers. But even bad teams get more takeaways than the Steelers have been getting. There is definitely an element of the ball not bouncing their way. An example of this is the opening kickoff to the Texans which was fumbled but recovered by the Texans, who then went on a 10 minute opening drive. I think that might have been a very different game if the Steelers had managed to come up with that fumble. Same with Green Bay's fumble of the first punt in the Super Bowl. Hopefully the Steelers D will start to play with more intensity and the ball will start bouncing our way more often.
3.Special Teams. One of the biiggest failings in the lost season of 2009 was on Special Teams. I think that the Steelers gave up 5 or 6 return TD's that year, which just killed us. Now even though Special Teams have not given up any return TD's so far this year, they have made critical errors in each of the last 3 games. Against Houston there was a relatively easy FG attempt that was blocked and would have been returned for a TD if not for an idiotic blocking penalty by the Texans. I believe that was the first FG blocked since the 2001 AFCCG against the Patriots. The following week against the Titans, there was an onside kick recovery and a blocked punt. And against the Jags there was a roughing the kicker penalty which led to the only Jags TD and a shanked punt that led to a Jags FG. With everything else going on, Special Teams needs to stop making such critical errors.
I gotta say, the game in Arizona this week scares me.
1. Injuries The Steelers seem like they are having an unusually high number of injuries this year. I don't think there has been a single game this year where at least one offensive lineman hasn't gone down and been unable to return to the game. As a result it has been completely impossible for the offensive line to develop the cohesiveness that is so critical. And now the injury bug has hit the defensive line--it looks like we only have 4 healthy D lineman for the Arizona game. Add in the injury to Harrison, and the Steelers have had more than their fair share. Is this just bad luck, or is it a function of having an older team? Probably a little of both, since the Offensive lineman who have been injured are relatively young, certainly in comparison to the Defensive lineman who are currently out injured. Injuries are part of the game of football, and sometimes the best team doesn't win because they have too many in a particular year (like the 1976 Steelers). But we need to get everyone healthy and have better luck on the injury front.
2. Lack of Takeaways. The Steelers only have 2 takeaways in the first 6 games of the season, which is historically bad. Last year the Steelers averaged over 2 takeaways per game, which is 6 times better than what they have been doing this year. Since 1940 only 20 NFL teams have gotten 2 or less takeaways in the first 6 games of the season. When you consider that the Steelers also had no takeaways in the Super Bowl against Green Bay or in the second half of the AFCCG against the Jets, the Steelers have gone nearly half a season with 2 takeaways. This is no way to win a championship. One of the major consequences of the takeaway failure has been that the Steelers offense never has a short field. Going into last week's game against Jacksonville the Steelers had only started 2 drives out of 44 in the opposing teams territory, and both of those were the result of good punt returns by Brown. I don't recall starting any drives against the Jags in their territory last week, which means that 96% of the time this season the Steelers have started on their own side of the 50 yard line. This is one of the reasons the Steelers offense has struggled to score points this season (albeit not the only one). So what is the reason for the lack of takeaways, lack of intensity by the Steelers or bad luck? As with the injuries, it's probably a little of both. I just don't think that the Steelers defense so far this season has played with the kind of intense , reckless abandon that cause turnovers. But even bad teams get more takeaways than the Steelers have been getting. There is definitely an element of the ball not bouncing their way. An example of this is the opening kickoff to the Texans which was fumbled but recovered by the Texans, who then went on a 10 minute opening drive. I think that might have been a very different game if the Steelers had managed to come up with that fumble. Same with Green Bay's fumble of the first punt in the Super Bowl. Hopefully the Steelers D will start to play with more intensity and the ball will start bouncing our way more often.
3.Special Teams. One of the biiggest failings in the lost season of 2009 was on Special Teams. I think that the Steelers gave up 5 or 6 return TD's that year, which just killed us. Now even though Special Teams have not given up any return TD's so far this year, they have made critical errors in each of the last 3 games. Against Houston there was a relatively easy FG attempt that was blocked and would have been returned for a TD if not for an idiotic blocking penalty by the Texans. I believe that was the first FG blocked since the 2001 AFCCG against the Patriots. The following week against the Titans, there was an onside kick recovery and a blocked punt. And against the Jags there was a roughing the kicker penalty which led to the only Jags TD and a shanked punt that led to a Jags FG. With everything else going on, Special Teams needs to stop making such critical errors.
I gotta say, the game in Arizona this week scares me.
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