Beer We Go Steelers

The Steelers take on the Jets today, a rematch of the AFC Championship from two years ago. I am reporting deep behind “enemy” lines as my neighborhood in NY is mostly Jet fans! 

The Jets despite a miserable preseason unloaded on the overmatched Buffalo Bills last week and Mark Sanchez got the Tebow boo birds off his back for another week. The Steelers dropped their opener to a rejuvenated Peyton Manning and looked sluggish at times.

No Revis for the Jets and no Silverback for the Black and Gold takes a little bit of shine off this, but it should be a good game.

Keys to a Steelers victory:

 1. Jump them off the bus! The Steelers need to score early and put the pressure on Sanchez and keep the Tebow Wildcat on the bench. The best way is to get Wallace involved early and often.

2. They need better pressure off the corners. The pass rush was spotty last week. With Silveback out, the Steelers need Carter to step up the pass rush.

3. Keep the Offensive Line on the field. Continuing the horrible trend from last year the Steelers lost two out of five OL guys in the middle of the game last week. A good offensive line is not the five best players, is the five guys who play TOGETHER the best. This line has great potential but needs to be consistent, that only comes with playing together.  

4. Stay the course. It amazed me how people got on Todd Haley already after one week. I thought the offense looked terrific, accept for the last series and getting Heath Miller more involved is a great thing. If the Steelers executed the game plan better they would have pulled out last week.

5. Run the football. This is pretty obvious, but the Steelers need to run better than last week and a healthy O-line should make that happen.

This week will post tonight or tomorrow AM

Also will post pictures from the Joe Namath Golf Outing where I met three Steelers, Including Dermonti Dawson who was outstanding!

Sorry for taking so long to post this. I do appreciate people calling me out on it and actually… I am a little flattered. I am not going to do a full game recap as it is already old news, but I will do some quick observations.

The Steelers lost a bizarre opening game to the Denver Broncos. Despite dominating time of possession and putting together several good offensives series, they lost by double digits. Peyton Manning, as we correctly predicted, was the player to watch. He had a terrific game and absolutely had the Steelers on their heels every time he touched the ball. He put on a clinic on how to read pass coverage and sniff out blitzes. It was a great performance and he deserves the accolades.

The good news is that the new offense looks very good! Watching Heath Miller slice Denver up was the highlight of the night for me. Ben needs more time in it but there was plenty to be excited about. The Steelers converted 11-19 3rd downs and got yards when they needed them. Eight different receivers caught passes, and if the execution had been a little better the Steelers would have built a huge lead.

The downside was that one of BWG’s favorites had an AWFUL game….Doug Legursky. The Offensive Line was doing a great job in protection until both Foster and Gilbert went out. Legursky looked slow and was wrecked on three series. 

The defense played poorly. I am going to give them a pass on this one though, which is going to draw the ire of some of you but here is my reasoning;  First, they played without Silverback and Ryan Clark and it was noticeable, Second… sometimes you have to give the devil his due and Manning was just outstanding. Keenan Lewis and Ike Taylor held their own, while Cortez Allen struggled. The pass rush was spotty at best. 

I will be behind enemy lines this Sunday, as my new neighborhood is a cabal of Jets fans. Look for a big bounce back this week against the Jets and I will be on a regular posting schedule next week!

BTW, does anyone know if Tim Tebow is on the NY Jets…. asked no one…. ever! 

BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!  

My “GAME BEER” goes to: Heath Miller, I always believed in this guy and think he will have a breakout year. Love when the crowd yells “HEATHHHHHHHHH”. Also considered was Larry Foote who had a great game and filled in admirably as James Farrior’s replacement.  

Where I watched the game: My new house with just KGB. I am getting the impression that people don’t enjoy me screaming at the TV and throwing the remote as much as I previously thought. We had IC Light for the game as my local guy carries it. We had to ditch a family party early to get home for kickoff.

My Stat of the week: Heath Miller caught 4 passes for 50 yards. While that didn’t lead the team, what it does represents is that Todd Haley’s offense is actually going to use Heath. This could be huge!

My thoughts on Next Week: Being trapped in Jets hell in my new neighborhood, it should be a fun week. I think coming off a tough loss and playing at home we should look for a good bounce back week.

Here are our opening day quick hits:

-“The Emperor Chazz” Chuck Noll when asked if he was worried about how tough his schedule was replied, “Our schedule isn’t tough; we don’t have to play the Pittsburgh Steelers.” I think Peyton Manning would agree.

-The player to watch in Denver is Peyton Manning. Not really a shock; the future Hall of Famer brings his pedigree to the table and to a new city. While Tim Tebow is safely stealing every headline in NY, Manning will have to answer for the “Denver Debacle” of last year.

-Art Modell passed this week. His legacy is extremely complicated. I never liked Art Modell and it would be hypocritical for me to pretend I did now. He reminded me of Mr. Potter from “It’s a Wonderful Life”. What he did to the fans of Cleveland was one of the worst things, in the history of pro sports. He is the Walter O’Malley of football but without the same causes that O’Malley had. But it would also be extremely short sighted and unfair if that was his all he was remembered for. He brought the NFL back to a great city in Baltimore and he is the father of the Ratbirds. That is a huge contribution. He also saw the value of TV and helped make the NFL better because of it. Lastly, he was a pioneer when it came to the issue of race which is still complicated in the NFL today. RIP Art Modell.

-I have a family obligation on Sunday so the NFL schedule makers have smiled on me with the night game.

The good news is, the Steelers finished 3-1 and showed some really great flashes of brilliance. The bad news is: Injuries, Injuries, Injuries!  We lost two of our three top picks in the draft to injuries, in addition to losing our starting H-Back(Dave Johnson) and racking up dozens of other injuries.

Last night’s casualty was Sean Spence, who was having a monster camp. He had a brutal knee injury and looks to be done for the entire season. For those keeping track at home, that is Dave DeCastro: knee injury possibly done for the season, Sean Spence: who looks to be done for the season with a knee injury as well, Veteran David Johnson: done for the season with a torn ACL, and promising running back John Clay: also done for the year with a torn quad.

The loss of Spence took away the joy of the victory and what will possibly be the last appearance by Charlie Batch. Batch had a great night and made his case to finish out his career with the Steelers. He could very well be a roster casualty today given the injury situation with the team.

It was also great to see Big Snack; Casey Hampton out there playing and eating up blockers as well. Hampton looks like he is ready for one more season of stuffing the run in the middle of the D-Line.

Dave DeCastro’s season may not be over yet. No decision will be made until after surgery is completed. DeCastro still could play this season, which is GREAT NEWS.

Also, Fast Money is Back! Mike Wallace is back and ready to roll!

The Steelers pounded the Bills on Saturday 38-7 but broke the cardinal rule of preseason; they lost Brett Kiesel and possibly Dave DeCastro to injuries with DeCastro possibly done for the season. The question now becomes, how serious are the injuries and will they return this year.

MORE TO COME

In a surprise move the Steelers fired Al Everest, Special Teams Coach. There is obviously something not quite right here. The Steelers special team has been their weakness for more than a decade and since Everest took over things have been considerably better.

It has to be a personality conflict or some type of breakdown internally.

The Steelers offense looked like it was making progress last night. The first team offense was responsible for 14 points and some nice drives, including a 57-yard touchdown that began as a short pass to Antonio Brown. With some great blocks by Baron Batch, Leonard Pope and Heath Miller he was able to scurry for an exciting over the top TD!

It was a fairly nice showing by the defense including two much needed picks by the secondary. Ike Taylor who had a great season last year despite few turnovers made a great play and had a pick six. Cortez Allen also had a nice pick of the hands of TY Hilton. LaMarr Woodley iintroduced Wonder Boy Andrew Luck to Steelers football.

The special teams actually contributed in a positive way(Which is something I don’t think I have ever typed on this Blog) with a punt block by Mortty Ivy and a nice showing by backup kicker Daniel Hrapmann, who kicked the game winner.

Some exciting players last night were Charlie Batch who looked like he still has some life in him, he lead some good drives with a very suspect line in front of him. Jerrod Johnson led the game winning drive. David Gilreath made the biggest catch of the preseason so far and looks like the leaders for the 5th receiver spot. Jonathon Dwyer is showing more burst and if he can stay healthy looks to be a lock on the team. Adrien Robinson had a non-stop motor all night and looks like a practice squad candidate. He was killing it on pash rushing and made some nice plays.

The bad news, the second team line and the replacement secondary in the words of the late Myron Cope were “El Stinko”. Dave DeCastro struggled in space but did show some good mobility. Trai Essex was downright awful and Mike Adams struggled against the Colts second and third teams.

A story that will never die is the “relationship” between Todd Haley and Big Ben. The announcers harped on it; the media has been non-stop all over it. Our comment on it is they seem to be on the same page as the results have been encouraging and BWG believes that both men are paid professionals and they will work together well.

On a personal note, one of the highlights of the night to me was seeing Greg Lloyd play. Usually we don’t highlight the other team but there was something special about watching Lloyd on the field and he is a spitting image of his old man. He had some nice plays and he has a chance at becoming a regular for the Colts.

 A new “feature” we will add to “The Facts” is stat of the week. I will pick out a stat from the game and highlight it. I am going to cheat and use something a commentator said instead of a game stat, since this is still preseason. The Steelers have had three head coaches in the past 43 years! That is a great stat and one that of course I knew but never get tired of saying.

To put it into perspective:

-the New York Jets have had 15 Coaches in the same time frame

-the “new” Cleveland Browns had three coaches in one year and five since 1999!

-The United States has had nine presidents.

-The Catholic Church has had four Popes.

-The New York Yankees have had…14 Managers and that stat is deceiving because they had Lou Piniella twice, Gene Michael twice, Bob Lemon twice and Billy Martin five times!!!

Beer We Go Steelers, Beer We Go!

We are in the heart of the pre-seasons with one game in and a host of interesting story lines!

We were remiss in not commenting on the retirement of four Steeler greats, which is where we will start today.

-Joey Porter, never wanted to leave the Steelers and had some very productive years after he left town including a 17 sack season with the Dolphins. He was as tough as they come and had a great career here. To me, his signature moment was when he came around the corner and crushed Peyton Manning to “seal” the upset against Indy.  Hey that’s how I remember it. He was a little outspoken and his mouth got him into trouble but no one can doubt his play making ability!

-Marvell Smith, was a building block and did a terrific job first on the right side opposite Wayne Gandy and then as the Left Tackle when Gandy departed. He was a pro bowler and of all the people who retired in this group, his departure is still felt. Never has a more important player toiled so anonymously.

– Aaron Smith, would also qualify as someone who was very important, the “when Aaron” plays stats v. when he didn’t were pretty glaring. He was universally loved by his teamates and although his body gave out, his heart never did! He was everything that a Steeler is supposed to be!

-“Fast” Willie Parker, was arguably the greatest non-drafted offensive player in Steeler history, if not the entire NFL. He burst onto the scene and made Deuce Staley and Verron Haynes footnotes in Steelers history. He holds the record for the longest rushing play in Super Bowl History, as well as most yards in a game for a Steelers RB. Injuries slowed him down and eventually he was replaced, but his stats are all over the Steelers record book!   

They were four great Steelers and will be missed.

Out with the old and in with the new…

-Antonio Brown and Ike Taylor had two fairly serious dust-ups. The one thing that I can say is that one is a hotshot young guy and the other a wiley veteran. It is 110 degrees in the shade at Latrobe and I am sure tempers raged a little. Hey so be it, they seem to be buddies today.

-Max Starks is back today. I think Max will start one more year and be the bridge to Adams or Gilbert. He did a good job last year when he was healthy.

-Well traveled veteran Justin Peelle was signed to replace David Johnson. I think the winner here is Wesley Saunders, who will most likely get a second chance when he gets back. Peelle is a short term solution and might just be a camp body.