NFL Preview – Pittsburgh Steelers 2012
Causes for Concern but
Still a Solid Contender
The
Pittsburgh Steelers enter this season with a bit of uncertainty hanging over
their heads with the pain of last year’s overtime defeat at the hands of the
Denver Broncos. Their defense, while
still stingy against the run, is susceptible to spread passing attacks and is
getting a little long in the tooth. Key
playmakers such as James Harrison, Troy Polamalu, Casey Hampton are getting a
step slower which makes recent draft picks and other additions on defense more
important than ever. You see, it is all
about the linebackers in “Blitzburgh” and the Steelers continued dominance has
relied on their ability to reload and not rebuild
their linebacking core. From Kevin
Greene to Greg Lloyd, to lesser knowns like Kendrell Bell and James Farrior,
running the ball and seven-step drops were all thwarted by an ever-changing, yet
always fearsome army of linebackers rushing from all angles in the Steelers 3-4
defense. That may not be true anymore
for Pittsburgh and teams will have plenty of tape, watching when Arian Foster
and Ben Tate carved them up last year-- and they gave up 150+ rushing yards two other times in 2011. Their hated rival, the Baltimore Ravens, beat
them twice for Pete’s sake!
Hold
on; say the Pittsburgh faithful, “If (Free Safety) Ryan Clark had played that
[Denver] game, yada, yada...” True, to a point. However, slippages were
noticeable all season particularly with Troy Polamalu one of the most loved and
dynamic Steelers ever. Last season, when
forced to cover in the slot or in “space”, while still a feared defender, he did
not exhibit the same one-on-one man
coverage skills to shut down an entire side of the field, like his All-Pro
contemporary, Ed Reed in Baltimore.
Teams used three, four and five receivers to get Troy in one-on-ones in
space—we saw this in Super Bowl XLV against Green Bay (although the
“Polamolecules” were not at 100%). There
is a recipe to defeating Pittsburgh at least on defense, but their offense has
been hard to stop in recent years, much more than the days of Neil O’Donnell
and Bubby Brister.
Unfortunately
the offense has just as many question marks.
Ben Roethlisberger is still playing at a high
level and they have some depth and speed at wideout. However, new albeit
prickly, offensive coordinator Todd Haley brings his run-oriented offense into
town, coming in with a mixed record in a few years with the Chiefs. They’ll run more in Pittsburgh, and with
quite a few guys delivering the mail.
Starter, Rashard Mendenhall is still out until at least October, by all
accounts, still dealing with his nasty ACL sprain of last year. Isaac Redman, who filled in quite ably in the
latter games and in the playoff against Denver, will likely deal with a hip
injury all year and hasn’t shown the flexibility in the passing game to be true
three-down option. Young backs Jonathan Dwyer and Chris Rainey
were prolific backs in college, albeit with very different skill sets; the
bigger Dwyer comes from a option offense at Georgia Tech that routinely rushed
from 300 yards a game and Rainey is a scatback from pass-friendly Florida. Pittsburgh fans would hope that Dwyer could a
poor man’s Arian Foster, as he is a kind of slashing, one-cut runner where
Rainey is ultra-quick with some toughness a la a poor man’s Darren
Sproles. These are all best case
scenarios however, with both having limited NFL experience. Reliable tight end Heath Miller will still be
called upon to block well and catch around fifty balls.
Speedster
and Pro Bowler Mike Wallace is also a cause of concern for Steeler fans, on top
of his fading production in the stretch run in 2011, is his return from a
lengthy holdout in the offseason. How
will his role change in the new offense?
Will Antonio Brown, who had over 1,100 yards in 2011, become Ben’s
go-to-guy? This offense will still need
to throw the ball to win (as all teams do in this new era). The Steelers wideouts tend to be fast, quick, and slight of stature--they excel in getting deep and exploiting coverage after
Ben rolls out and buys time. Haley needs
to not try to fit square pegs in round holes on offense. With a bevy of talented running backs, they
may need to pass to set up the run and get Rainey in space on screens and
draws. This will open up Wallace who has
the wheels to blow the top off of defenses, as he did for much of early 2011.
Reliable tight end Heath Miller will still be called upon to block well and
catch around fifty balls. Overall, this
unit will again be at least a Top 15 offense, perhaps falling slightly due to
some growing pains and offensive line struggles. If they keep Ben upright, he will still
dissect defenses with his trademark high yards per attempt, an underrated
statistic.
The
team’s offensive line got major help in what many think will be the steal of
the 2011 NFL draft at pick at 24, when they drafted guard David DeCastro. from Stanford. Unfortunately he injured his ACL in MCL in
the preseason. The team expects him back
sometime later this season. This will
force the team into their annual shuffling of the offensive line; Steeler fans probably
can’t remember the last time offensive line was intact without glaring
deficiencies, particularly inside.
Pittsburgh’s defense is still
what makes them a contender (fewest points allowed last year in the NFL-227). Most
teams still won’t waste energy trying to line up and play smash mouth football against
the likes of Keisel, Harrison, Hampton and young playmakers Ziggy Hood and
Lawrence Timmons, although the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos had some
success doing so. When teams try to
spread Pittsburgh out, the Steelers have effectively masked holes in the
secondary by dialing up Dick LeBeau’s exotic blitzes and this season should be
no exception. The Pittsburgh Steelers secondary typically strong at the safety
spots and thin at cornerback will also be tested by AFC opponents. Demaryius Thomas embarrassed them, especially
Ike Taylor, all game long in the playoffs last January. If Ryan Clark, who was sorely missed in that
game can retain form and a healthy Troy Polamalu can join hopefully serviceable
newcomers Keenan Lewis and Cortez Allen in the secondary they will have enough
defense in the back to thwart most passing attacks. Good
news for the Steelers is their rivals in the division don’t have the prolific
passing attacks complete with nightmare mismatches at tight end and receivers
like other divisions. They can do what
has worked, run the ball a little more, and go 10-6 providing key players stay
healthy. They could get exposed in the
playoffs by a team like Houston or New England who can get them out of their blitz-happy
comfort zone. Mike Tomlin is in the
elite category of NFL coaches and the Steelers typically surprise when they are
overlooked. It promises to be another
season of hard-hitting Pittsburgh football with some new wrinkles on both sides
of the ball. Bottom line, you can expect
them to be fighting for a trip to New Orleans this winter among the usual AFC
suspects.
Overall
Prediction (10-6) 2nd in AFC North, AFC Wildcard Team
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