Here we are in week 3 and the Steelers are 2-0 without Ben Roethlisberger, without Byron Leftwich. They also were without starting nose tackle Casey Hampton and starting left tackle Max Starks last week in Nashville. Can you say defense? It should not be surprising that Dick LeBeau has this unit firing on all cylinders already. The linebacker play has been out of this world and the secondary looks galvanized by the return of Troy Polamalu. All that said, the Steelers must now travel to a hot and humid Tampa to face an undefeated Bucs team. Per my usual, below are my 7 keys to the game that I believe Read more [...]

The Steelers wrapped up practice preparations on Friday for the week 2 game against the Tennessee Titans this Sunday in Nashville. T Max Starks (ankle) and NT Casey Hampton (hamstring) both sat out for the third straight day of practice and both are listed as out for this week. NT Chris Hoke will start in place of Hampton while T Jonathan Scott will likely get the nod at left tackle in place of Starks. LB Jason Worilds (shoulder) and WR Emmanuel Sanders (quad) both sat out again and both are listed as doubtful. This means that rookies LB Thaddeus Gibson and WR Antonio Brown will both likely be Read more [...]

The Steelers got in their second official practice of the week on Thursday in preparation to play the Tennessee Titans this coming weekend. T Max Starks (ankle) and NT Casey Hampton (hamstring) both sat out for a second straight day. As expected, WR Hines Ward (not injury related), LB James Farrior (not injury related) and DE Aaron Smith (not injury related) all returned to practice fully on Thursday after getting their veterans day off yesterday. DE Nick Eason (not injury related) reportedly did not practice again on Thursday, but is not listed with an injury. WR Arnaz Battle (knee) returned to Read more [...]

The Steelers began practice preparations for the week 2 game versus the Titans on Wednesday with QB Byron Leftwich (knee) being very limited today, while  NT Casey Hampton (hamstring), T Max Starks (ankle) and WR Arnaz Battle (knee) all sitting out today with injuries. T Jonathan Scott worked at left tackle in place of Starks. The veteran Wednesday days off have begun as WR Hines Ward, DE Aaron Smith, LB James Farrior and DE Nick Eason reportedly had the day off. WR Emmanuel Sanders (quad) and LB Jason Worilds (shoulder) were limited today while CB Bryant McFadden was limited today without an Read more [...]

Opening Statement: So much has happened since the final 2009 season game against Miami and the start of the season must be a welcome sight for the Steelers players and coaches. The preseason was a bit of a blur and was overall a success until quarterback Byron Leftwich went down with a MCL injury in the final game against Carolina. The roster has been paired down to 53 and features 8 rookie draft picks and 17 players 30 years of age or over, 10 of which are defensive players. The picture heading into the 2010 season is pretty clear for the Steelers as franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Read more [...]

Oh how things can change so quickly. One play of the preseason even. As it stands right now, it looks like Byron Leftwich has some MCL damage. Early reports say it is torn, but that is not confirmed. This 53 man roster prediction of mine assumes he will be placed on IR. If not, I get one mulligan before the cuts are made Saturday. Here is the 53 man prediction from last week and I will note the changes and why I made them. First I added Kraig Urbik back because I feel he has improved greatly over the last 2 weeks. This takes me from 9 to 10 lineman. The next change is the releasing of Joe Burnett Read more [...]

The Steelers trimmed down to 75 players on Tuesday morning and now will need to cut 21 more by September 4th. Why 21 and not 22 you ask? This is because quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be moved to the reserve/suspended list, so technically that will not be a cut. I have listed 10 players that will likely be seeing the Turk soon and 16 players who could be considered on the bubble right now in my opinion. None of these are locked in stone mind you and this list is for entertainment purposes only, so no one get your feelings hurt until the cuts are made as ANYTHING can happen in these final days Read more [...]

Attached is the preseason Broncos game Steelers offensive player participation chart for all plays on offense and does not include penalties considered no plays. You can follow along play by play with the gamebook here. The thing that jumps out the most this week is that veteran Justin Hartwig received so many snaps in relief of Maurkice Pouncey and Doug Legursky received no snaps at center and all snaps at right guard in relief of Trai Essex. It makes you think that both Hartwig and Legursky might both make the 53 man roster. Ramon Foster and Kraig Urbik rotated series at the end at left guard Read more [...]

About 10 days ago we thought rookie wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders would be using the Denver game to test out his return skills. Instead, we will get a look at how he can adapt to the flanker position as Mike Tomlin said Thursday that Sanders will get an extensive look at flanker this week instead of split end. Tomlin loves position flexibility and Sanders seems to be better than fellow rookie Antonio Brown in the route running category and especially in the blocking category. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians commented Thursday that Sanders has shown a physicality in his blocking that's really Read more [...]

I received an email asking me to post the cumulative pass target stats through the Steelers first two preseason games of 2010. I got these together in a hurry, so here they are for those that value them. You can see that rookie Antonio Brown leads the way with 5 catches of 5 targets thus far for 96 yards and 1 touchdown. Player TARG REC YDS AVG LG TD Antonio Brown 5 5 96 19.2 68 1 Emmanuel Sanders 5 4 56 14.0 24 0 Mike Wallace 5 3 91 30.3 68 1 Antwaan Randle El 5 3 37 12.3 17 0 Heath Miller 4 4 37 9.3 13 0 Arnaz Battle 3 2 62 31.0 51 0 Isaac Read more [...]

Steelers right guard Trai Essex insists Flozell Adams will be starting the season at right tackle and noted that he has not lined up at right tackle one time in camp. Ed Bouchette notes in the article that the Steelers thus far in two preseason games, have run 76 times in 120 plays or 63.3 percent of the time. Speaking of the offensive line, former Steelers lineman and current sidelines reporter Craig Wolfley joined 105.9 THE X to discuss the offensive line and the win over the Giants this past Saturday. Scott Brown checks in on wide receiver Tyler Grisham who is facing the numbers game at Read more [...]

What can Brown do for you? Perhaps the better question is, what can Brown do to Stefan Logan and Arnaz Battle? If the Steelers rookie wide receiver Antonio Brown continues to make a strong showing during training camp and in preseason games, he could force the Steelers into some interesting roster decisions on the final cut down day. Brown has been told that he will get his chance in the return game Saturday night versus the New York Giants and if he flashes there and continues his upward development at the receiver position, both the specialist Logan and veteran receiver Battle could become Read more [...]

Following the Saturday night preseason win versus the Detroit Lions, the sports talk radio shows were full of calls suggesting that Dennis Dixon should be the starter over Byron Leftwich. The quarterback controversy is not surprising considering the history of Steeler Nation and the fact that Dixon did have the better game all be it versus a defense made up of second and third teamers. His quarterback rating was inflated due to the incredible yards after the catch numbers that both Arnaz Battle and Antonio Brown put up. We have plenty of time to dedicate to a quarterback controversy once we Read more [...]

Saturday the Steelers will host the Detroit Lions to Heinz Field for the first preseason game of the 2010 season. We have listed below 10 things to look for Saturday heading into the game. Robo Kickoff Guy? - Daniel Sepulveda was allowed to kickoff last Friday under the lights and reportedly Mike Tomlin was happy with what he saw. Preseason is the perfect time to have a live game battle between Jeff Reed and Sepulveda for the rights to kickoff this year. I hope Robo punter gets a chance to become Robo kickoff specialist. Tomlin said it depends on how many kickoffs they get so hope for a ton Read more [...]

By Chris Gates New special teams coach Al Everest told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review he has four goals for the return teams. They are: 1. Ball security. 2. Positive yards. 3. Return the ball in scoring position. 4. Scoring touchdowns. I’d love to hear what his plans are for kick and punt pursuit. While the Steelers defense was the popular choice to blame in 2009 for their 9-7 record and failure to make the playoffs, other factors played a significant part. For one, the offense was horrendous inside the redzone. Another was time of possession in the fourth quarter. But the third Read more [...]