As I was a day late in seeing the game and then some personal stuff got in the way, I am late in reporting on the Steelers loss to the ‘Skins.

There were very few positives. I will say that I was impressed with Ike Redman and Mewelde Moore. I thought both played very well and I was impressed with their efforts. Antonio Brown continues to distinguish himself and looks like a possible big threat.

Now the bad news. The scores of these games don’t matter, the key is not to get hurt. Well the Steelers lost on the scoreboard and Ike Taylor was seriously injured leaving him out for at least three weeks. This weakens and already weak secondary.

Ben was also nicked up as the line still has trouble with multiple blitzers. The line had a terrible night from the first team through the backups. To say the O-line is a question mark is an understatement, after the way they played this week. NO ONE played well. Look for the third string center to get cut this week. He nearly got Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon killed with a lollipop snap. I couldn’t even find him on the roster.

As for veteran roster cuts, I would say goodbye to Arnaz Battle as he couldn’t catch a cold. I also think that if the Steelers can’t trade Dixon than Batch will be a fatality.  

Just a rough night all around for the Steelers, they dial it up again this week against the Eagles. Let’s hope for a better showing.

The Steelers ink Cotchery!

The Steelers added a veteran receiver to their already talented core. This unit with the exception of the linebackers is probably the most talented on the team. This is a great pickup and adds excellent depth!

ESPN Rankings:

ESPN is ranking the Steelers number 5 in their preseason pole. Ray Poulette one of the readers of BWG was livid as he alerted me to this. The Steelers are ranked behind the Jets. My response is, who cares? The Steelers are always discounted and they play their best when they are the hunters not the hunted. I live in NY and have to listen to Rex Ryan talk about the Jets defense like they are the Steel Curtain and the 85 Bears roled into one! As I write every week the Steelers do their talking on the field. The Steelers cleary proved they were better than the Jets last year and they will prove it again this year. So let Rex and ESPN talk all they want

I just hope someone tells Silverback not to burn down ESPN headquarters.

The Plax Situation:

Be easy on Plaxico Burress. I saw alot of fans hating on Plax because he signed with the Jets for more money. While I wanted Plax to come back to the ‘Burgh. He did what was best for his family. He lost three years of prime earning potential after being railroaded by the NYC Mayor. So if he sells himself to the highest bidder, it is hard to be critical. He was a very good Steeler and I will remember him for that! It could have been worse he could have gone to Baltimore or our interstate rival the jerkoff Eagles!

Here is a quick note on key positions:

O-Line: The Steelers are in need of offensive line help. This is not exactly news and has been a fact for about four years. The word around camp is that Max Starks was in the running to come back, but is way out of shape and not ready to play. The Steelers are investigating bringing back “The Hotel” Flozell Adams. If they did that it would prompt the team to move Colon inside to guard. That is a crushing front five on run blocking albeit a little slow on the pass block. A few teams in the north are switching to the 4-3 so this seems like a reasonable move.

I am not sold on Jonathon Scott as the starting left tackle. Look for him to get competition from Marcus Gilbert if he can stay healthy and on the field. Also look out for Trevis Turner to make some waves if Flozell isn’t resigned. He is a “project” guy but has all the physical skills to have a shot at making the team.

Cornerbacks: The much maligned cornerbacks will be something to watch. This is the make it or break year for Keenan Lewis, he looks slow out of the gate with nagging injuries but should challenge for playing time against Willie Gay and Bryant McFadden. Curtis Brown got reps with both the first team and second team and seems to be making a good impression.  

D-Line: The D-line which is showing some years, but looks great. I love “Steel-Head” Heyward, the key is giving him a year to develop and have him replace BWG Favorite Aaron Smith next season. This looks like the breakout year for Ziggy Hood and he will challenge for serious playing time.

Keep the feedback coming…also send me any scoops you may have.

Keeping together the best linebacker tandem in the NFL was an offseason priority for the Steelers. They did it! LaMarr signed the richest deal in the history of the Steelers defense and he is now the second highest paid player in Steelers history.

He got a “chunk of change” up front in the form of 22.5 million. This was a great deal for everyone involved. LaMarr has been a flat out superstar and with Silverback they are the best tandem in the league. The linebackers have been the lifeblood of the Steelers defense and this signifies the Steelers confirmation of that.

LaMarr is a favorite of BWG! So welcome back!

The Steelers brought back 3rd down back Mewelde Moore. Mewelde is an excellent 3rd down back and will most likely battle for that spot. He came back at the right price and does everything that you need from a 3rd down perspective.  

Willie Gay is a “Jeckyl and Hide Cornerback”. He is a solid nickelback but not much more. The Steelers dramatically need to upgrade their Cornerback play. Only Ike Taylor could claim to have a “good year” last year. Both Gay and starter Bryan McFadden were basically abused to the tune of 70% passes completed on their side of the field. Teams would literally abandon the run and start trying to bomb the defense. This is a make it or break it year for Gay.

The wild card in this is Keenan Lewis who also is a bubble guy. He physically has the tools and is getting the experience. Look for him to push Gay and McFadden hard.

Big Willie Colon a New York native and Hofstra graduate is returning to the Steelers this year. Colon took less money to stay with the Steelers. Unfortunately that meant Flozell had to go. Flozell did a good job last year and was a major reason the Steelers were able to hang tough with a banged up line.

Starks was a starter and has had some of the strangest contracts in Steelers history.  This included being the highest paid player in Steelers history at one point. He has done a good job and I think they will have him back at a reduced cost.

The Steelers should look outside the organization for help and sign them ASAP. The line looks thin again with Flozell and Starks being gone. This has been a glaring issue for the Steelers since the departure of Alan Faneca and the retirements of Jeff Harting and Marvell Smith. I am hoping Marcus Gilbert can step in and be the next Joe Thomas!

Also, Randle El is out again. This was a move that everyone figured on, with the development of the Steelers young receivers this was inevitable. Randle El was one of my favorite players because he was very exciting and he did an awesome job running the Steelers gadget plays.

The PPG is reporting that Ike Taylor has resigned, the Steelers will make it official on Friday. He has been steady and played well over the past decade.

Also returning is Shaun Suisham who did a good job filling in after Skippy was sent packing. This fills a glaring need, Suisham is a good signing because he is a passable kicker and we know he can kick at Heinz field. It would have been hard to upgrade on this one and the Steelers got it right.

The Steelers also brought in a punter Aaron Bates to compete with Jeremy Kapinos and the often injured Dan Sepulveda. This looks like an insurance policy as Sepulveda has been on IR twice in three years and Kapinos was passable but not exceptional last year.  

The next target is the O-Line. The Steelers need O-Line help in the worse way and have shown interest in brining back both Willie Colon (YEAH HOFSTRA) and Flozell Adams who played well last year. Getting both would be a good stop gap move and I would move Colon inside to Right Guard. Colon is probably on the move.

The NFLPA ratified the new CBA deal yesterday, bringing labor peace to the NFL for the next ten years.  

Let the madness begins!

The Steelers will open camp this Thursday at St. Vincents. They will be holding a practice without pads on Friday and a practice Saturday with Pads. Here is the list of rookie free agents from the Post Gazette:

I would like to see some of these guys stick, but it is highly unlikely!

What will be fun to watch is the madness that will be this week.

Teams need to sign free agents this week as opposed to the four months they usually have. While this is going to be hell for GM’s, I think it will be awesome for fans! I am very excited, I think there will be a host of bargains to be had as well!

Stay tuned…

The lockout is over and a new collective bargaining agreement should be done by this afternoon! After the NFLPA nearly botched this whole thing, it looks like they are about to bring this in for a landing!

They need the players ratification that for some reason DeMaurice Smith didn’t have lined up. The economics of the deal were worked out more than a week ago. 

That included how the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues will be divided (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about $120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011 — and at least that in 2012 and 2013 — plus about $22 million for benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on first-round draft picks; and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons.

Look for a whirlwind to begin this week. The best analogy I heard is, this is like merging Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter into one day!

Teams need to sign free agents and open camps THIS WEEK!!! While this is not ideal, I think it is going to be a hell of alot of fun! Keep your eye on BWG and I will do my best to stick with it giving our analysis.

Top Priorities:

1. Getting either Ike or another CB signed!

1a. Signing Woodley!

2. Offensive line help

3. Another running back to help Rashard! (Tiki Barber come on down)

Ben Roethlisberger got married this weekend! Every member of BWG nation is hoping this will curb Ben’s “night life”. The security was indeed tight as even Ambassador Rooney had to show his ID. The attendee list was the Who’s Who, of Steeler Nation, including Silverback James Harrison. I hope this squelches anymore rumors about the rift! Only Captain Tailgate was not in attendance as he usually gets drunk and throws potatoes salad at these types of affairs. (Ask former Rams Quarterback Marc Bulger!)

The affair was held at the famous convention center and he hosted over 600 guests!

We at BWG wish Ben and Ashley the best of luck!!! Unfortunately I believe his honeymoon will be at St. Vincent’s, as Labor peace should be here today!

All is forgiven buddy!!! Alright maybe our devotion to the Steelers has gone too far now.

Here is the text of the PR guys, I mean Silverback’s apology:

“I’ll start by offering my apologies for some of the words that I said during the four days in May that Men’s Journal was invited to my house to discuss what the NFL has recently been portraying as their attempts at ‘player safety’ rules and regulations, and to cover my everyday workout routine.

“I did make comments about my teammates when I was talking about the emotional Super Bowl loss, but the handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation and the context was lost. Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben’s or Rashard’s fault that we lost the Super Bowl. That would be ridiculous. Both Ben and Rashard are great players and great teammates. Clearly the entire team bears responsibility for the loss, me included. It was a team effort and a team loss. My teammates know me well, and hopefully understand the things I said were not meant to accuse them of the loss. We all have discussed several things that went wrong in the Super Bowl since that day. What I do apologize for and take full responsibility for is for speaking in such a candid manner to someone outside the team.

“I also need to make clear that the comment about Roger Goodell was not intended to be derogatory against gay people in any way. It was careless use of a slang word and I apologize to all who were offended by the remark. I am not a homophobic bigot, and I would never advocate intolerance of gay people.

“As far as the photo that was shown on air yesterday, collecting guns is a hobby of mine, and I advocate the responsible use of firearms. I believe in the right to bear arms. I like to go to the shooting range. I like to hunt. I like to fish. I could just as easily have posed with my fishing poles but it obviously wouldn’t be an interesting picture for the magazine. I am not promoting gun violence by posing for that photo. There are also other photos in the magazine story that were not shown on air yesterday – including me with my sons, with my mom and as a kid.

“Unfortunately, the above items and other comments have detracted from the original purpose of the story – a position I have been advocating for some time now. If player safety is the NFL’s main concern, as they say it is, they are not going about it in an effective manner. There’s nothing about extending the season or issuing exorbitant fines on defensive players that makes any shift toward the prevention of injury to players.

“I believe that the league may have been feeling increasing pressure about injuries and concussions last year, and that they panicked and put rules in place that weren’t fully thought out. I’m not advocating more flags and fines, I’m just saying that the current rules are not completely fair, and I don’t believe in the way that the league is handling their position as overseer of the NFL and the well-being of its players.

“As far as the character and reputation hits I may suffer as a result of my comments in the article, I’ll take those hits and more if it brings increased attention to the re-examination and installation of rules and regulations that would create a REAL impact on player safety.”