Steelers @ Broncos - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers opened their season last night in Denver against Peyton Manning and the Broncos with a loss. I absolutely hate playing in Denver, because that means the team has to hold FS Ryan Clark out of the game because he has sickle cell trait. The last time he played a game in Denver, he had to have his spleen and gall bladder removed, therefore he doesn't play there as a precaution.

Also missing from the game was Pro Bowl linebacker James Harrison due to a knee injury.

So here we go with it...The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Good

1. The offense wasn't horrible. This was a fear that many fans had going into this game, that the offense would be completely inept. The Steelers changed offensive coordinators during the offseason with Bruce Arians either retiring or being fired (whichever you believe) and Todd Haley being brought in to make the offense more efficient. Well, the efficiency wasn't where they would want it to be, but I saw an offense that once they get in sync should be nearly unstoppable.
2. The no huddle is going to be used in Pittsburgh. With Arians, there was a lot of talk of using the no huddle offense more often, but normally it was just used when the Steelers were trailing or when it was the end of the half. The offense seems to be better in the no huddle, so I like the fact that it's being used in situations that do not absolutely call for it. 
3. I am optimistic about the Steelers receivers after this week. It looks like Heath Miller is finally going to be used as a red zone weapon instead of an extra blocker. It's going to take Mike Wallace a week or so to get into "game shape," but he caught a touchdown last night and I think once he gets into sync with Big Ben, he'll have a typical Wallace season. Antonio Brown is going to have a really big season and might possibly become Ben's favorite target. He's going to be making big plays all season long. 

The Bad

1. The offensive line suffered another injury last night when RT Marcus Gilbert went down with a knee injury. It has not been announced what the injury is or might be, and according to ESPN  he is currently listed as questionable. In the preseason we lost our first round pick, OG David Decastro, to a devastating knee injury. Last season and the season before we lost Pro Bowl Center Maurkice Pouncey to ankle injuries. If the Steelers are going to go anywhere this season, the line has to stay relatively healthy. Luckily, second round pick Mike Adams stepped in for Gilbert and played well. 
2. Ben Roethlisberger made a bad decision on the pick-six that he threw towards the end of the game that sealed it for the Broncos. This has been a problem for Big Ben his entire career, sometimes he just gets a brain fart and makes a dumb throw. Hopefully there are less of them this season because Todd Haley will be holding Ben responsible for his mistakes, something people feel Bruce Arians did not do.

The Ugly

1. The defense just simply looked bad last night. They had trouble stopping the run, and they damn sure couldn't stop Peyton Manning once he knocked the rust off. I know the defense was without Ryan Clark and James Harrison, but I still expected a better showing from our defense. I mean, Demaryius Thomas scored a long touchdown on a screen pass! Manning ended up just toying with us, he even ran for a first down. 
2. The offensive line as a whole couldn't open holes for our running backs and gave up five sacks last night. This has been a problem for years that we hoped would be fixed with the drafting of David Decastro who is out for the season, and Mike Adams who lost the starting left tackle job and might be playing right tackle if Marcus Gilbert's injury causes him to miss some time. If any other quarterback played behind this line, he would be on IR or retired before being killed during a football game. It looks like this season the offensive line will be as ugly as it's ever been...and will find itself in this section of my blog on a weekly basis.

Next week, the Steelers open their home schedule at Heinz Field against the New York Jets. Let's hope that they end next week at an even 1-1.