I received an email asking about how the Steelers performed against 4-3 defenses last year and I thought I would pop up some quick stats on it. In the 1st table, I listed the 8 games in which the Steelers faced a true 4-3 defense or in the case of the 1st game against the Ravens, a predominate 4-3 look through most of the game. The 2nd table are the stats against 3-4 defenses. Firstly, the 6-2 record against 3-4 defenses jumps out versus the 3-5 record versus 4-3 teams. Next, the Steelers rushed for almost 25 yards more a game and passed for almost 85 yards more a game on average against 3-4 Read more [...]

It is hard to believe that after this past weekend’s Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions that only 21 receivers are currently enshrined in Canton. The latest was a no-brainer, first ballot enshrine in Jerry Rice. That discussion should have lasted all of 2 minutes as Rice’s stats dwarf everyone both active and retired. Every year following the induction ceremonies, the talk begins of next year’s class as well as current players chances of one day getting a bust of their own. Several Steelers come to mind with the list being led by Jerome Bettis, Dermontti Dawson and Hines Ward. I have Read more [...]

There has been a ton of talk that second year receiver Mike Wallace will have big shoes to fill in 2010 with the loss of Santonio Holmes, because the assumption that Wallace will see better coverage competition going forward. The reality though is when Wallace was in games in 2009, he was often lined up outside and against the teams No. 1 or No. 2 corner. He worked against some good cover men in 2009 albeit not seeing much double coverage. The biggest shoes for Wallace to fill of Holmes in 2010 will be his short and intermediate route running against that same competition. It is no secret that Read more [...]

The most significant thing that came out of the Steelers Friday Night Lights practice in Latrobe last night was that punter Daniel Sepulveda was allowed to show what he could do on kickoffs. Sepulveda has been working on kickoffs for years now, and head coach Mike Tomlin finally let him show off what he had in relief of regular kicker Jeff Reed. Sepulveda kicked off four times during the second special teams period, to the liking of Tomlin. "Sepulveda may provide us with a legitimate option there," Tomlin said. Sepulveda slipped on his first attempt and still sent it eight yards into the end zone Read more [...]

Lawrence Timmons said on Wednesday in an interview that he knows where the money is and it lies in the sack stat column. Timmons is shooting for double digit sacks in 2010 after recording 7 in 2009. According to a recent blog post of his, Timmons says he has been working out like a dog so camp will be easy for him and that he is in some serious shape. Timmons was inactive for two games in 2009 and also slowed all season with an ankle injury, but it did not stop him from putting up a strong year. According to Pro Football Focus, Timmons clocked in at number 9 overall in their rankings of inside Read more [...]

This post is going to be a close spin off to the Steelers and Rashard Mendenhall needing to run better against the division post I did a few days ago. Tuesday, Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians talked with John Seibel and Joe Starkey about the running game where Arians said in the first 15 seconds of the interview, "We ran the ball well last year from the 20's, 20 to 20!" Stop the tape right there. In all of my recent research, I thought something did not sound right so I researched the numbers. In the first table below, I compiled all 32 teams running back stats from their own 20 Read more [...]

I have a new stats program I am playing with an wanted to isolate some running game stats against the teams in the division. I compiled stats all the way back to 2002 of just the running backs and their rushing stats versus the other teams in the AFC North. In the same table I also compiled the stats of the Steelers running back with the most carries in each year against the Ravens, Bengals and Browns as well for comparison. Lastly in the bottom tables I broke down the individual stats of Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall against the division in 2009 and all games outside of the division. Mendenhall Read more [...]

The TO Show has arrived in Cincinnati on Tuesday as free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens signed a one year deal to play for the Bengals in 2010. Owens joins fellow reality TV teammate Chad Ochocinco and the two together look to strike fear into AFC North secondaries. Everywhere in the AFC North except for Pittsburgh, that is. The Steelers have handled both Owens and Ochocinco relatively well respectively over the recent years. Below I have listed Owens stats for his last 2 games versus the Steelers as well as the stats of Chad Ochocinco since 2004 versus Pittsburgh. I stopped at 2004 as it was Read more [...]

Mike Florio was on 93.7 The Fan a week ago and was talking about the LaMarr Woodley contract situation. Florio had a quote that intrigued me when he said, “Is it the system or is it the player? Sometimes they decide it’s the player and they pay the player. Sometimes they decide it’s the system and they let the player walk away.” I went back and compiled the stats of Steelers left outside linebackers going back to 1994 and the numbers have been fairly consistent for the most part over the years. For years that players did not start all 16 games, I added the stats of the players that started Read more [...]

I received a few emails from readers wanting combine or pro day numbers of the 2010 Steelers draft picks all on one page. I have compile them below and they are combined of both NFL combine and Pro day numbers and stats. Rnd Player Hght Wght Arm Hand 40 225 Vert Jump 20S 3Cone 1 Maurkice Pouncey 6044 304 32 1/2 10 5.29 27 26 7'11 4.92 7.74 2 Jason Worilds 6012 254 32 7/8 9 1/4 4.72 24 38 9'06 4.29 6.95 3 Emmanuel Sanders 5107 186 32 9 1/4 4.41 12 39.5 10'06 4.1 6.64 4 Thaddeus Gibson 6020 243 33 8 3/4 4.79 32 32 9'07 4.27 6.84 5a Chris Read more [...]

A few people are asking about the combine stats for both Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders. Seems several are trying to compare the two which is wrong to do. I aim to please so here are the combine results I have on both below. Sanders is a bit smaller as you can see and as good of leaper as he is, Wallace still out leaped him. Sanders will be groomed as a slot guy, a number 3 receiver so to speak. This year though expect him to be #5 or #6 on the depth chart for the start of the season. MeasurablesEmmanuel SandersMike Wallace Height51076003 Weight186199 Arms3231 3/8 Hands9 1/49 Read more [...]

Looking for the 2011 NFL Combine Results click here! The 2010 NFL Scouting Combine is underway in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Lucas Oil Stadium. The scouting combine is an invitation only event, open only to invited college players and NFL team officials. The testing and evaluations include: physical measurements, injury evaluation, drug screen, cybex test, wonderlic test, interviews, 40 yard dash, 225 lb bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 20-yard shuttle, 60-yard shuttle, three-cone drill and position-specific drills. Below are links to each specific player position grouping. The combine Read more [...]

I had a few emails this past week asking about the Steelers offensive line stats for the 2009 season. I finally got around to compiling them thanks to Stats.com. I have ranked the lineman by sacks allowed. I also included the sack yardage allowed, penalties as well as penalty yardage. Player Games Started Pen Pen Yards False Starts Holding Sacks Allowed Sack Yards Max Starks 16 16 7 55 3 4 8 44.5 Willie Colon 16 16 6 40 4 2 8 38.0 Justin Hartwig 16 16 3 31 0 3 7 49.0 Chris Kemoeatu 12 12 4 35 1 3 4.5 37.5 Trai Essex 16 16 3 20 2 1 1.5 21.5 Ramon Read more [...]

The word came down last weekend that Art Rooney II wants to run more effectively in the redzone and in games in which the Steelers have the lead. Here is what Rooney II told Scott Brown in a recent interview. “We need to be better at running the football. We were not consistently good at running the football this year, and I think that was a problem, and it’s certainly something that traditionally has been one of the foundations of the team and we need to get back to that. We need to be able to run the ball to be successful. Some of or troubles in the red zone this year, I think, can be traced Read more [...]

The Steelers officially named Sean Kugler as the new offensive line coach on Thursday and instantly it sent shock waves through Steeler Nation. Kugler spent the last 2 seasons as the Bills offensive line coach before being let go at the end of the season. Kugler coached a Bills offensive line in 2009 that was ravished by injuries and saw 9 different starting line combinations during the season. Center Geoff Hangartner was the only lineman to play every game at the same spot and 4 linemen who started during the season finished on injured reserve. The Bills 2009 line had only 91 combined career starts Read more [...]

This is not a post that will make you jump out of your chair. All of Steeler Nation knows how much the loss of strong safety Troy Polamalu has been to the defense. Where they are really missing him most is in the 4th quarter. Another "Captain Obvious" statement I know, but the numbers in the 4th quarter show the huge disparity. 4th Quarters With Troy TEAM CMP ATT CMP% PYD Y/A FD PTD INT QBR CLE 2 7 29% 33 4.7 2 0 1 7.1 MIN 16 20 80% 176 8.8 9 0 1 82.5 DEN 3 11 27% 20 1.8 1 0 2 0.0 TOTAL 21 38 55% 229 6.0 12 0 4 33.7 Through Read more [...]

The 2009 NFL Combine starts on Thursday in Indianapolis with weigh ins of height and weight measurements and interviews. We will have the complete results of the combine stats in sortable fashion. Drills and 40 yard dashes begin on Saturday. Please follow the links below to keep up to date with all of the NFL combine results as we get them. 2010 NFL Combine results are now being updated! Offensive Linemen Combine Results Tight Ends Combine Results Quarterbacks Combine Results Wide Receivers Combine Results Running Backs Combine Results Defensive Linemen Combine Results Linebackers Combine Read more [...]