Browns targeting Steelers Free Agents

I saw something interesting on Twitter today. Are the Cleveland Browns targeting three of the Steelers free agents?

Keenan Lewis, CB - The Browns have a need on the opposite side of Joe Haden. Sheldon Brown will be playing elsewhere, and Lewis is a tremendous upgrade and gives Cleveland two top corners in a conference with Ben Roethlisbeget, Joe Flacco, and Andy Dalton throwing the football around. They would also be weakening a big division and historical rival with this move, it makes sense. I think he's a top re-sign priority for the Steelers, and if he values winning over the most money he can get, he should stay in Pittsburgh.

Mike Wallace, WR - The Browns could use an upgrade at this position, especially since Norv Turner offenses like to throw downfield and Wallace is one of the fastest receivers in the league. However, if the coaching staff likes what they see in he growth of their receivers, the Browns may choose to spend their money elsewhere. Word is the Steelers will try to re-sign Wallace and they won't let him go to a division rival without some type of fight.

James Harrison, OLB - Harrison is one player who the Steelers will not be trying to re-sigh, seeing how they just cut him. New defensive coordinator Ray Horton, a former Steelers defensive coach, is switching the Browns to a 3-4 defense and one of the best 3-4 outside linebackers in the last decade is Harrison. The two know each other, and Harrison has already stated that he would like to at for his hometown Browns...and show the Steelers twice a year that he's still a top pass rusher. This is an area of need for the Browns and I can see them doing this if they can't get a younger player at the position in free agency.

Where Is The Defense?

Normally after a game I would do a The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. However this week, I am not doing one. Instead, I am wondering just one thing....where is the defense?

This is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Defense is what this team has been built on since way back in 1933. Even when the team was one of the absolute worst in the league, you didn't want to face Pittsburgh because you came out of the game bloody and bruised, worse for wear.

The Steelers defense has been made the poster child for "illegal hits" by Roger Goodell. How did they respond? They didn't change a damn thing. They would still hit you with all they had and then some. They would force turnovers. They would sack quarterbacks.

I remember back when running backs never ran for 100 or more yards on the Steelers defense. Yesterday we let our first 100 yard rusher in Darren McFadden. Last year we let a lot more backs run for triple digits on us than I would have liked.

I know yesterday we were without Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. But if this defense collapses due to missing one or two players, that says a lot about how substandard the rest of the defense is. I mean...we are relying on a 34 year old linebacker who's having chronic knee and back issues...and a 31 year old safety who has suffered multiple knee and ankle injuries the past few years.

These two players aren't going to be playing for much longer. Both are former Defensive Player of the Year winners, both have been big time contributors on Super Bowl Championship teams. Polamalu is a future Hall of Famer. James Harrison is one of the better players in Steelers history.

If this is how our defense looks without them for a short amount of time, I am afraid to see what our defense will look like once these two retire. I know there is never going to be another Troy Polamalu, but we need a better backup. We have yet to find someone that can spell Harrison much less replace him.

I blame our loss to the Raiders on two things: Antonio Brown's fumble and bad defensive play. If our defense holds the Raiders to one field goal instead of a touchdown...they walk away with a win.

If this is how the defense is going to play for the majority of this season, it will be a long season. The Steelers better make some adjustments, because nobody is exactly sure when Harrison or Polamalu will be coming back, or just how effective either will be when they do return to the field.

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.

Who's the most indispensable Steeler?

Earlier this week, NFL.com had an article asking who was the most indispensable player in the NFL. Most of the people who contributed to the article went with either the Saints' signal caller Drew Brees; or the new quarterback in Denver, Peyton Manning.

This got me to thinking, what player in the Steelers is the most indispensable?

The players that came to mind for me were:

QB Ben Roethlisberger - The Steelers won zero Super Bowls between the Bradshaw and Roethlisberger eras. Since Roethlisberger has become the Steelers' starting quarterback, the team has won two Super Bowls and been to a third.

C Maurkice Pouncey - Most people wouldn't consider an interior offensive lineman indispensable. However, Pouncey is one of the top two centers in the AFC, if not the entire NFL. He makes a lot of the line calls and is the anchor of the offensive line.

OLB James Harrison - The attitude of the defense comes from Harrison. He plays mean, angry. He doesn't want to injure anyone, but he's not opposed to hurting somebody (his words, not mine). When he missed those games with a broken orbital bone (that's his eye socket), the Steelers defense had trouble getting to the quarterback.

OLB LaMarr Woodley - Woodley is another sackmeister, and it was obvious that the pass rush was hurt by him missing games and then being limited by a hamstring injury. When Woodley and Harrison are both on the field together, they are one of the best pass rushing duos in the league and big plays often happen. He has also won a Defensive Player of the Year award.

FS Ryan Clark - Ryan Clark is a hard hitting safety. He plays within the scheme and allows Troy Polamalu to be Troy Polamalu. He missed the playoff game against the Denver Broncos last season and Tim freaking Tebow (TEBOW OF ALL PEOPLE!!!!!) had his best game as a QB. If Clark is there, I think the Steelers probably win that game.

That's a pretty good list of candidates. They are all excellent players. They have all been to a Pro Bowl, they all have Super Bowl rings. However, none of them are the most indispensable player on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That indication goes to Troy Polamalu.

He is the only player on the defense that's allowed to play outside of the scheme. He's allowed to play completely on instinct. He causes big plays. He's the one player on the defense in which the other team's quarterback has to know exactly where he is when the QB snaps the ball, not that it matters much because that spot is likely not where he will be when the ball is thrown.

Troy Polamalu is the ONLY player that I have ever seen dive over the offensive line and sack the quarterback. And he's done it twice.

If he's lined up at the line of scrimmage like a pass rusher, he's likely going to end up somewhere in the defensive backfield breaking up as pass or coming up with an absolutely stunning interception. If he's way back at his spot at safety, next thing you know he's in the offensive backfield chasing down the quarterback or stuffing the running back for a loss.

This is the guy that makes the Steelers defense so good. He allows Dick LeBeau to call a lot of those exotic schemes and blitzes. When Polamalu isn't players, it's a watered down version of the defense.

Steelers Pro Bowl Selections & Snubs

Yesterday the Pro Bowl rosters were announced, and five Pittsburgh Steelers made the team. Now while some people put a lot of stock into making the Pro Bowl, I do not. It's more of a popularity contest than anything else in my opinion. Players and coaches aren't watching all the games, they see game film of who they play and maybe Monday Night and/or Sunday Night games. Fans vote specifically for players of their favorite teams, rather they deserve to go or not.

Steelers who made it:

Ben Roethlisberger, QB: 3856 yards, 91.5 QB Rating, 21 TD, 14 INT

I think he deserves a backup spot to Tom Brady, partly because the AFC quarterback play is down this year. Phillip Rivers is the third QB on the roster, but he had a very bad season. I think Andy Dalton deserved to get to the Pro Bowl over Rivers who made it on name alone. This is Ben's second Pro Bowl.

Mike Wallace, WR: 71 receptions, 1182 yards, 8 TD


This will be Mike Wallace's first ever Pro Bowl, and I think he deserves it. His production has dropped off some lately, but that's partly because he's seeing more double coverage so Roethlisberger is looking for his other receivers a little bit more.

Maurkice Pouncey, C: 13 games started


Pouncey went to the Pro Bowl last year as a rookie, but didn't play because the Steelers were playing in the Super Bowl the following week. Pouncey has missed some time this year due to an illness and then injury, but he has played very well this season. I do think he's the second best center in the NFL behind the New York Jets' Nick Mangold.

Antonio Brown, KR: 24 kick returns, 664 yards, 27.7 avg, 2 TD; 30 punt returns, 325 yards, 10.8 avg, 1 TD


Brown made the Pro Bowl as a kick returner, but I am sure he will see snaps at receiver also. He was electric on returns this season and set the Steelers record for all-purpose yards in a season with one game to add onto it. He is deserving of his Pro Bowl nod.

Troy Polamalu, SS: 89 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 11 PDef, 


Polamalu is considered one of the best two safeties in the NFL. This year he hasn't been the turnover machine that Steelers fans are used to, but he has been a disruptive force for this defense. He is the one player that the other team absolutely has to account for before every snap on this defense because they don't know what he is going to do. While some people feel he's going based off of his name and not his production this season, I think he is deserving.

And those who were snubbed:

Ike Taylor: 42 tackles, 2 INT, 13 PDef


Ike Taylor plays for a defense that is one of the best in the NFL...but they are known more for stopping the run than their pass defense (even though this year their pass defense has been better than their run defense). Ike Taylor is never going to have a big interception total, he has hands of bricks. But he does more-often-than-not shut down the opposing team's top receiver. He's a shutdown corner and one of the best in the entire AFC. He deserves a Pro Bowl spot.

Ryan Clark: 96 tackles, 1 INT, 5 PDef


Ryan Clark isn't going to get a ton of interceptions either, but he's a vicious hitter who can knock the ball out of a receivers hands and is a solid tackler in space. While his backfield partner, Troy Polamalu, is the bigger name...Clark is also deserving of being a Pro Bowler.

Two players I am not listing as snubs, though many people feel they were snubbed, are outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. Both have missed a lot of games this season due to injury and/or suspension and I feel that keeps them out of the snub category.

Those are my thoughts on the Steelers' Pro Bowl selections. Like what I had to say? Don't agree? Feel free to leave comments and let me know! HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!