Steelers Ground the Eagles

The Steelers bounced back from their week 1 defeat to the Redskins by grounding the Eagles "Dream Team" 24-14 Thursday night in Pittsburgh. The Steelers dominated the Eagles forcing five turnovers and holding Eagle starters to 71 yards and only 5 first downs in the first half. The score really gave the Eagles more credit than they deserved too as Vick threw three interceptions to Steeler defenders and the defense stifled the Eagles air and ground attack all game.


The Steelers began their domination right at the start as Ben Roethlisberger orchestrated an 80 yard drive, capping it with an Antonio Brown touchdown. The first teamers played two offensive series, taking up plenty of time as they moved easily on the Eagles touted defense. Big Ben orchestrated two long scoring drives, the first taking 14 plays for 80 yards using up 7 minutes and 36 seconds while the second took 14 plays for 96 yards and 8 minutes 15 seconds.

The Steelers run game was amazing as Rashard Mendenhall and Issac Redman each carried the ball six times for 28 and 26 yards respecfully. The Steelers dominated the game from the line of scrimmage even when it looked as if they taken a turn for the worse. Starting left tackle Jonathan Scott went down with a knee injury and shortly after rookie second round pick Marcus Gilbert went down with the same injury.

The first team line held their own against the Eagles pass rush, giving up only one bull crap sack on the second drive. They picked up the Eagles pass rush rather well and gave Ben enough time to throw as he finished his two series 8 of 12 with 125yards and two touchdowns. Tony Hills played well at right guard and then left tackle as he filled in for the two injured lineman. Marcus Gilbert was impressive before his injury and the line seemed to get better as the drives went along.

On defense, well what can you say beside they were amazing? The Steelers defense pressured and confused Vick into throwing three interceptions in the first half. Ryan Clark grabbed the first one with Keenan Lewis snatching one on the very next series and Troy Polamalu not too long after him. James Harrison and second year Michigan corner Donovan Warren met up at Vick bringing him to the ground for the Steelers first and only sack.

The secondary really stepped up in this game which was a pleasant surprise since both Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden where out with injuries. The secondary recorded the before mentioned three interceptions and also had a forced fumble by back up saftey Will Allen in the second half. Donovan Warren really made a case for a roster spot as third round draft pick Curtis Brown wasn't really impressive and undrafted rookie Niles Brinkley played terrible at the end of the game.

Hines Ward and Antonio Brown each caught one pass in the game and both were touchdowns. Brown caught a 29 yarder on the first drive of the game while Hines caught a 20 yarder on the second drive. The biggest story of the receivers was the newcomer Jerricho Cotchery though. Jerricho showed amazing hands as he grabbed two passes for 49 yards and a touchdown from Byron Leftwich. Cotchery showed his versatility as he caught a pass over the middle and the other between traffic to score. Cotchery will be a great addition to the young Steeler receiving corp.

FIRST HALF REVIEW
The Steelers first team offense played the first two series and the defense played the entire first half and both sides of the ball played phenomenal. The team seemed to easily take care of the Eagles and their star studded roster all game long. The Steelers first teamers amassed 252 yards to the Eagles 71 and had 16 first downs to the Eagles 5. Ben was extremely crisp and it was good to see the defense playing so well behind the number 3 and 4 cornerbacks.

SECOND HALF REVIEW
The second team defense kept up the great performance in the third quarter as they forced two more turnovers. The first came from Larry Foote as he intercepted Vince Young and the second from Will Allen as he forced former Pitt start Dion Lewis to fumble. Donvan Warren played the entire game and finished with 4 tackles and .5 sack but dropped an interception that would have ended an Eagle scoring drive in the fourth quarter. The Eagles really padded the yardage stats on the final two drives as Mike Kaftka connected with Jones for two garbage scores at the end of the game against a poor Niles Brinkley.

FINAL GAME NOTES
Swayze Waters, who is competing with Shaun Suisham had a field goal blocked and missed a 27 yard chip shot in the second half. While newly signed Macho Harris and Kevin Dockery were missing in action, which was to be expected but the rest of the secondary really stepped up. The team really left fans wanting more and I think that their August 27th match-up with the Falcons is going to be a great game.

Eagles Preview

The Steelers (0-1) will take on the Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) in Pittsburgh tonight during the second week of the 2011 preseason.

The Steelers are coming off a 16-7 lose to the Washington Redskins, while the Eagles are coming off a 13-6 win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers are 12-9 all time versus the Eagles in the preseason including two straight victories in 2007 and 2008.

The Eagles have had a busy off season acquiring former Pro Bowlers Jason Babin and Nnamdi Asomugha, former first round picks Ronnie Brown and Vince Young and all this while breaking in a new offensive line coach, defensive coordinator and still figuring out who is going to be their starting linebackers.

The Eagles were solid against the Ravens, sacking Raven quarterbacks six times and keeping the Baltimore team confused all game long. The same could not be said for the Steelers defense that looked rather suspect against the inconsistent Rex Grossman. The Redskins amassed a mind blowing 452 yards against the usually potent defense. With starters James Harrison and Troy Polamalu making their preseason debuts tonight, I doubt to see the same type of yard production.

Now that the team has a preseason game under their belt they have a better idea of where to put their focus. On offense the Steelers need to decide who their best five is on the offensive line and allow them to begin to jell with each other. The running game is there and the Steelers have the talent at the wide out and tight end spot to get them out of jams.

On defense the Steelers need to figure out their secondary. The Steelers will get All Pro Troy Polamalu back for the game but I don't expect him to play long. Ike Taylor will miss the remainder of the preseason as he recovers from surgery on his broken thumb and this really helps the younger and newer players to earn a roster spot.

Inactives:
Ike Taylor, Crezdon Butler, Bryant McFadden, Cortez Allen, Emmanuel Sanders

So, what should we all be watching or tonight? Here are my focuses for this preseason match-up.

Secondary:
The Steelers brought in two veterans this week by signing former NY Giant/St. Louis Ram Kevin Dockery and former Philadelphia Eagle/Washington Redskin Macho Harris. With Ike Taylor sitting the rest of the preseason with a broken thumb the rookies Cortez Allen, Curtis Brown and Niles Brinkley will have a bigger chance to impress the coaches. I expect Dockery and Harris to play little in the game but I am curious to see who can step up and earn a roster spot.

Widereceiver:
With Limas Sweed being released, the competition on Tyler Grisham just loosened up a bit for him to make a run at a roster spot. Grisham is going into his third year with the Steelers and the former Clemson receiver needs to impress the coaches now or forever hold his peace. Wes Lyons and Arnaz Battle were horrible in the week 1 preseason game against Washington and Grisham now has a chance to walk away with a spot in the Steelers young receiver rotation, if he can produce.

Linebackers:
I am still waiting on Mario Harvey to take the field and show the fans what he can do. In the meantime Mortty Ivy stole the show last week and I am curious to see if there is a encore for the fans. With the Steelers trimming cap space and the aging veteran Larry Foote backing up the starters with his three million dollar contract, there is a chance that Ivy could impress the coaches enough to steal a spot from Foote. All he has to do is stay consistent and this week is the next step to proving that.

Roster Moves

The Steelers made a series of roster moves today. The team signed former Virginia Tech standout and defensive back for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins, Victor "Macho" Harris. The team also brought in former Mississippi State Bulldog and cornerback for the NY Giants and St. Louis Rams, Kevin Dockery. To make room for these two defensive backs the Steelers released practice squad TE Eugene Bright and second round bust Limas Sweed.

Macho was a touted back coming out of Virginia Tech in 2009 and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 5th round 157th overall. At Virginia Tech Macho recorded 15 career interceptions returning four for touchdowns. In his two year NFL career he has recorded 44 tackles with the Eagles and Redskins.

Dockery played his college ball at Mississippi State where he recorded 195 tackles, 6 interceptions, 22 pass break ups, and 2 touchdowns. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the NY Giants in 2006 where he recorded two interceptions, his first ever being a 96 yarder for a touchdown against the Cowboys. In his five year NFL career he has recorded 124 tackles with 3 interceptions along with 22 pass deflections and has 2 career touchdowns.

Limas Sweed is the big one in these series of moves. Sweed was drafted in the second round 53rd overall in the 2008 NFL draft. At Texas Sweed caught 124 passes for 1,915 yards and 20 touchdowns. He was expected to be the first or second receiver taken in the draft but fell to the Steelers at 53 and was the ninth receiver taken.

His career never took off in Pittsburgh only catching 7 passes for 69 yards in three seasons. Sweed had a problem with dropping passes and staying healthy enough to compete for a spot on the roster.

In December of the 2009 season, Sweed was placed on the Reserve/Non-Football/Injury list for what is still and unknown injury. In May of 2010, he tore his achilles tendon and was placed on IR for the duration of the season. With the emergence of Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown,he became expendable.

 Eugene Bright is a former Purdue tight end who has never made an NFL appearance. He was signed as an undrafted free agents by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009 before signing with the Steelers in 2010.

Tony Hills Time

For years experts and fans alike have put the Steelers offensive line under a microscope, analyzing and braking them down to see exactly how good they are.

Issues have been prevelant for years but it has never seemed to really matter and last year the team seemed to make strides, while getting back to the pounding football team they use to be. The Steelers again this year have made even more offensive line issues by releasing Max Starks and Flozell Adams, Adams being one the better lineman in the Super Bowl. Both moves were probably made in an effort to get under the cap, but where does that leave the line this season?

The Steelers have battles at every spot on the line except left guard which is held by road grater Chris Kemoeatu and at center held down by young Pro Bowler Maurkice Pouncey. With familiar names like Ramon Foster who started eight games last season, Jonathan Scott who started nine games last season and Willie Colon who is back from injury all in the mix, my thoughts were turned to Tony Hills.

Hills was drafted by the Steelers in the fourth round, 130th overall in the 2008 draft out of Texas. Tony Hills has spent his career as a backup playing in only four games since being drafted. Hills has been buried behind veterans and has never really had the opportunity to play. With the Steelers trying players at every position Hills has received time at a variety of positions and has made the most of his opportunities.

Hills is a big man standing 6'6 and weighing in at 304 pounds and is young at only 26 years old. For years when injuries have came up Tony has been buried behind people and it has led me to wonder, when will it be Tony's time? I think that time is now. The Steelers have no front runners at left tackle, right guard and right tackle and Hills has be very impressive at the right guard spot.

Hills has earned the right to legitimately battle the other lineman for a spot. He is going into his fourth year in Pittsburgh and he now has the opportunity to start as the Steelers are still deciding who their best five is.

I think that it is time the Steelers give him a shot, its Tony Time in Pittsburgh.

Steelers Lose First Preseason Game

The Steelers dropped their first preseason contest to the Washington Redskins last night at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. Most fans are on one side of the spectrum or the other, they either are worried about how well the Skins moved the ball on the Steelers or they are under the mindset that the preseason doesn’t matter. With these two sides in mind I decided to breakdown how the preseason fared versus the regular season over the last decade.

2010       3-1          12-4       Div. Champs      Lost Super Bowl XLV

2009       3-1          9-7                                  missed playoffs

2008       3-1          12-4       Div. Champs      SB XLIII Champs

2007       4-1          10-6       Div. Champs      Lost Wild Card

2006       0-4          8-8                                  missed playoffs

2005       3-1          11-5                                SB XL Champs

2004       2-2          15-1       Div. Champs      Lost AFC Championship

2003       1-3          6-10                                missed playoffs

2002       2-2          10-5-1    Div. Champs      Lost Divisional

2001       3-1          13-3        Div. Champs        Lost AFC Championship

Personally I think that this offseason is different because of the lack of OTAs and mini-camps. I don’t worry about the Redskins much either way because the team is 5-10-1 against Washington in the preseason. The Redskins touchdown drive in the first half was also scored on the second team defense by the Redskins first team offense…I think they should have scored more if they were actually any good.

I don’t think that we need to spend much time on the first team seeing how they played a whole three drives or so. Some players played longer but the bulk of first teamers were gone before the teams switched sides for the first quarter break.

The first team defense allowed a long 88 yard drive at the beginning of the game, but is true form inside the redzone they shut down Grossman and the Skins forcing them to attempt a FG (that former Bengal/Patriot Shayne Graham missed)

The secondary was very poor in this game but I will say that the bulk of the snaps went to Keenan Lewis and Crezdon Butler, who really did nothing to impress this fan. In a real surprise William Gay looked really good in the nickel packages and could actually do halfway decent this upcoming year. In other secondary news, Ike Taylor broke his thumb but without more information I do not feel that it will cause him to miss anytime.

There were two linebackers that really stood out in this game Stevenson Sylvester aka Sly and second year man Mortty Ivy. Sly was really no surprise as he was in on a lot of plays and blew up quite a few and was a disruptive force the entire time he played. The Monroeville product Mortty Ivy was very impressive in his Steelers debut. The former WVU standout recorded six solo tackles and showed real skills as a backside tackler. On the underside I felt that Larry Foote was very poor in this game and with the great play of Ivy and the hope that Mario Harvey (who was held out of game) could step in, Foote and his three million dollar contract could be on the chopping block.

One of the biggest position battles is between the eight guys the Steelers have competing for two receiver slots that are free. The Steelers will have Ward, Wallace, Sanders, Brown and most likely Cotchery on the roster opening day but who will be the last two?

Wes Lyons was terrible last night dropping whatever was thrown at him; that should be no surprise really, that was his claim to fame at WVU and I don’t think he will make the cut. Arnaz Battle was a dropping machine last night and with younger (cheaper) guys playing well last night, he should be cut as well. Speaking of young guys the 6’7 rookie from Idaho Eric Greenwood made an amazing 29 yard grab in the fourth quarter and Grisham was solid even though Dixon could get the ball to him to save his life.

Best of the Rest:

Sepulveda had punts of 62, 51, 54 and 37 with the latter being a pooch punt to pin the Redskins at the fourteen yard line. Of his four punts three were inside the twenty (1, 18, and 14) Weslye Saunders was great blocking and really made a case to be the third TE. Redman was a bruiser last night and is the most underrated runner in the league and at some point could be the number one back. And you can’t talk about the game without bringing up first round pick Cameron Heyward who played most of the game. He was solid and played amazing opening up lanes for the linebackers all night, they just failed to capitalize.

FIRST HALF REVIEW

The Steeler backups looked solid against a large first team makeup from the Skins. The best performances were by Issac Redman and Antonio Brown who lite up the Skins with a 22 yard touchdown run and a 49 yard grab. In a “FIRE BRUCE ARIANS UPDATE” the team tried four receiver sets on third down twice and both the play ended in sacks. They tried it again with Dixon in the second half, and it had the same result.

SECOND HALF REVIEW

As they dug deeper into the backups the offense played worse but the defense seemed to hold, big shocker there. There were a lot of bright spots on the young defense; Corbin Bryant, the 6’4 rookie DE from Northwestern recorded one official tackle but stuffed numerous plays and was around the ball all night. Mortty Ivy was also impressive and really made a case to make the team.

FINAL GAME NOTES

The biggest surprise was that the Steelers did not record a penalty until 9:53 left in the fourth quarter, which was for twelve men on the field (which was decline and didn’t count) The first accepted penalty was at the 4:06 mark in the fourth quarter. The Steelers also committed no turnovers; which was huge for the team and is rather unheard of for first through third string players to pull that off. Finally, the Redskins seemed to celebrate…A LOT and for a preseason game that really made no sense…hope they enjoy their seven wins this season.

Redskins Preview

Tonight the Steelers kick off the most anticipated preseason in recent memory. Lets face it these games are not about the veterans, they are about the young guys and those guys on the bubble.

The Steelers have openings in their depth positions available at WR, DB, LB and on the OL.



Inactives:
TE Eugene Bright, LB Mario Harvey, G Chris Kemoeatu, WR Emmanuel Sanders, CB Cortez Allen and CB Bryant McFadden

So, what should we all be watching tonight? Here are my focuses for tonight's preseason match-up:

Wide Receiver:
I for one am extremely curious about the depth at WR. Behind Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown there are a few open spots and the Steelers have eight other players in camp with only two or three making the roster.

The Steelers have a trio of big guys with Limas Sweed (6'4) Wes Lyons (6'8) and Eric Greenwood (6'7) but the most intriguing is second year man Tyler Grisham. Grisham caught one pass for fourteen yards as a rookie and is a huge fan favorite.

Linebacker:
This is simple...DEPTH. The Steelers have some intriguing prospects in camp like Chris Carter, Mario Harvey and Mortty Ivy. With the Steelers cutting salary Larry Foote may be on the chopping block along with his three million dollar contract which opens another roster spot up for a young guy.

Tightend:
With Matt Spaeth gone the Steelers are looking for a new number two guy and the Steelers have five options in camp. David Johnson is a Tomlin favorite so I expect him to make the roster as a FB/TE hybrid but there are still some great prospects. Jamie McCoy has been impressive with his blocking skills and I am excited to see how Weslye Saunders performs.

Off Subject

This will not happen too often but since football is in a hiatus right now and I haven't posted in a while, I figure I would throw something different out there. So, I decided to kind of make people think about July 4th.

For instance, do you know that one of the major reasons the colonies decided to cede from England and therefore start the revolutionary war was the fact that King Edward was removing more governing abilities of the colonies. Now, the colonies always answered to the crown but England (due to the distance) allowed them to govern themselves somewhat. As the crown took more and more power the colonies grew more impatient.

An even bigger thing to think about is the fact that one of the major issues the colonies had with England and the King was the fact that our suppressors were going to require the colonies to borrow money and pay interest on that money from the Reserve Bank in London. Thomas Jefferson himself said “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” Benjamin Franklin himself listed this idea of borrowing their money as one of the major reasons for the start of the revolution.

So, think about these two things...Power being removed from the colonies and the idea of paying for your countries currency from a bank...sounds kind of like the US Government removing powers from the states (via health care, marriage laws, and excessive taxation) and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Crazy huh? To think in 1775 we started a war over these things (plus others) and in 1913 and 2011 we are doing exactly what we didn't want to do.

By the way...the Federal Reserve Act was passed by Democrat Woodrow Wilson and we all know about Democrat Obama's laws removing decision making abilities of the states by health care and various other items.

God Bless the Pittsburgh Steelers!