Former Steelers cornerback Crezdon Butler suffered a dislocated ankle in practice on Thursday according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic and he could miss a significant amount of time with the injury. There are some rumblings that he could miss the rest of the 2011 season. The Cardinals aren't commenting on the severity of the injury right now according to Somers. Butler was drafted in the fifth-round of the 2010 draft by the Steelers, but was waived during the final cut-downs earlier this month. Butler was claimed off of waivers immediately by the Cardinals and he was reunited with former Read more [...]

I have been asked quite a bit why the Steelers have not re-signed Flozell Adams back after right tackle Willie Colon was lost for the season this past Sunday and the simple answer is there just is not enough cap room to meet his likely salary demands. I finally cleared up my 2011 salary cap numbers following the final cutdowns and prior to the new contract signed by Troy Polamalu, the Steelers were roughly $2.23 million under the cap. The new official contract numbers have yet to surface, but it figures it would only slightly increase or decrease his original 2011 cap hit of $8.595 million. The Read more [...]

It was easy to see coming and as I predicted following the Saturday release of cornerback Crezdon Butler, the Arizona Cardinals claimed Butler off of waivers today. The Cardinals were down to just 4 cornerbacks after their final roster cuts on Saturday and you had to know former Steelers defensive backs coach Ray Horton would be watching the Steelers waiver wire closely. Horton had Butler under is wing last year after Butler was picked by the Steelers in the 5th round of the 2010 draft. Horton said last year that Butler worked at both corner and safety and always seemed to have glowing reports Read more [...]

The Steelers final cuts are in and overall none are a huge surprise in my opinion. Crezdon Butler might be the one that most are scratching their head about, but he certainly was on the bubble. The Steelers stuck to their recent history of keeping six cornerbacks and when Cortez Allen finally hit the field Thursday night against the Panthers, he showed glimpses of why they drafted him. Butler had an easy interception return against the Falcons for a touchdown and while it was a splash play, it was an easy play to make and it was not enough for him to keep his job. Had he had the offseason mini-camps Read more [...]

Below are the individual coverage stats and totals from the Thursday night preseason game against the Carolina Panthers. The top table is by play and consist of which Panthers player was targeted with the pass, the yards gained on the play and the yards after the catch the receiver had on the play. Also included is the number of pass rushers the Steelers used on the play and if they blitzed or not on the play. I have included the down and distance as well as well as the direction of the pass. There were three plays not included as they were running back screens behind the line of scrimmage. Coverage Read more [...]

The final preseason game is now complete and now it is time to trim the roster down to 53 players for the final time this offseason. I have been all over the map in the previous versions of my final roster prediction and it is easy to understand why when you watch each preseason game 10 times each as you see new things every time through. It is easy to fall in love with certain players from game to game and it will cloud your judgment along the way. Enough with the setup, here is my final Steelers 2011 53 man roster prediction and the reasoning behind it. Heading into tonight several had Read more [...]

The Steelers beat the Carolina Panthers 33-17 in their final 2011 preseason game on the road in Charlotte. Charlie Batch got things started with a 10 play, 80 yard drive that used 5:06 of the clock. Batch was 4 of 5 on the drive that culminated with a 10-yard pass to Mike Wallace that he fumbled into the endzone from the 1-yard and it was recovered by tight end David Johnson for a touchdown. Running back Isaac Redman rushed for 29 yards on the drive. The Panthers answered with a 9 play, 71 yard drive of their own that was fueled by a 19 yard run by Panthers quarterback Cam Newton on a 3rd and Read more [...]

Below is the defensive participation chart for the Steelers third preseason game Saturday night versus the Falcons. Like the offensive chart this week, nothing sticks out as far as the rotation into the game. The starters, as expected, saw a great deal of work as the starting linebackers and safeties topped out at 60 plays. Chris Carter is missing from this list as he injured his hamstring early on special teams. Crezdon Butler led the way with 75 well needed plays on defense. Click on the image below to see the full PDF version of the defensive participation chart. #PlayerPOSPLAYS Read more [...]

The Steelers beat the Falcons 34-16 Saturday night at Heinz Field in their 3rd preseason game of 2011 and it is now that time again to dissect the roster and project the 53 man roster that will start the season. If you missed versions 1-3 of my 53 man roster prediction, you can view version 1, version 2 and version 3 at each of the links. The first change this week is at quarterback after Byron Leftwich broke his left arm on a meaningless scramble. It was a nasty injury and Leftwich will miss some considerable time by most reports. We may now never know if the Steelers were truly showcasing Read more [...]

Below are the individual coverage stats and totals from the Saturday night preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons. The top table is by play and consist of which Falcons player was targeted with the pass, the yards gained on the play and the yards after the catch the receiver had on the play. Also included is the number of pass rushers the Steelers used on the play and if they blitzed or not on the play. I have included the down and distance as well as well as the direction of the pass. There were five plays where it was impossible to tell who really had coverage as three of those were running Read more [...]

The Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-16 in their 3rd preseason game of the 2011 season Saturday night at Heinz Field. The game got off to a fast start as Antonio Brown returned the opening kick-off 51 yards to mid-field. The Falcons were penalized for a horse collar tackle on the play so the Steelers started their first possession on the Falcons 35-yard line. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit tight end David Johnson on the first two plays for 17 yards each to set the Steelers up at first and goal on the Falcons 1-yard line and Rashard Mendenhall punched it in on the next play. Inside linebacker Read more [...]

The Steelers take on the Falcons Saturday night at Heinz Field in their third preseason game of the 2011 season. The Steelers rebounded last week against the Eagles after a dismal performance against the Redskins and will look to build on the showing they made last. This will be the last game for 10 roster hopefuls as the first wave of cuts will be made Sunday or Monday as they cut down to 80 players. A few questions still linger as far as the 53 man roster goes. As I do every week, here are my 7 things to watch for tonight. Rookie Blind Side - Rookie left tackle Marcus Gilbert will likely get Read more [...]

With a handful of weeks left before the final roster cut-downs take place, the Steelers seem to have 8 cornerbacks vying for 6 or 7 roster spots on the 53 man roster. One of those 8 players is veteran Bryant McFadden. McFadden has been sidelined the last several weeks with a hamstring/quad type injury and he has yet to play in any of the two preseason games the Steelers have had. With McFadden sidelined, third year cornerback Keenan Lewis has received the starting nod at the left outside corner spot and seems to be finally turning the proverbial corner. In addition, free agent Donovan Warren Read more [...]

The second Steelers preseason game is in the books and now it is time to post my 3rd version of the 2011 Steelers Final 53 Man Roster Prediction. If you missed the pre training camp 53 man roster projection edition or the 2.0 version, you can read them by visiting the links. There will be 2 more of these as we slowly work our way down to the final 53 man prediction following the last preseason game against the Panthers. The first change you will notice in this version is that I am now only keeping 5 receivers instead of 6. Arnaz Battle has been removed as I think the receiving corps is deep Read more [...]

The Steelers got back on the right track Thursday night at home as they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-14. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 8 for 12 on the night for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ben led the Steelers on two 14 play drives on their first two offensive possessions. The touchdown tosses were to Antonio Brown and Hines Ward. Byron Leftwich chipped in a 20-yard touchdown pass to new receiver Jerricho Cotchery. Cotchery chipped in one other catch to end with 49-yards receiving. The offense was 10-17 on the night on 3rd downs and put up 403 total yards. The Steelers starting defense Read more [...]